Adding Ground Units

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marvin157th
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Adding Ground Units

Post by marvin157th » 2009-09-24 21:42:52

I've lurked around here and I don't think I can find the answer, so hopefully someone will help me out.

1) Is there a TCL to add ground units such as Tanks,infantry, engineers etc?

2) How important are the brigades etc, etc. Most of my campaigns I have manually added the ground units, and not really payed much attention to divisions and battalions. Ultimately what would I miss by not using those?

3) What is needed to make these ground units bahave?? For exmaple if there is a ground unit places, am I to assume the campaign engine will take over from there when it comes to attacking, defending etc. If I have ownerships set up, should these units not automatically try to regain the objectives currently under control of the enemy?

Thanks

ccc
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Re: Adding Ground Units

Post by ccc » 2009-09-25 01:13:46

1) Is there a TCL to add ground units such as Tanks,infantry, engineers etc?
SM can tell you :mrgreen:
3) What is needed to make these ground units bahave?? For exmaple if there is a ground unit places, am I to assume the campaign engine will take over from there when it comes to attacking, defending etc. If I have ownerships set up, should these units not automatically try to regain the objectives currently under control of the enemy?
well.. in campaign it's all up to campaign AI and TRI file setting. First you should have sufficient units to secure your own objectives. Then surplus units can do offensive maneuvor, by AI and TRI setting.

marvin157th
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Re: Adding Ground Units

Post by marvin157th » 2009-09-25 01:30:18

Can you explain the TRI stuff?

ccc
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Re: Adding Ground Units

Post by ccc » 2009-09-25 03:55:21

TRI, event trigger file.
please check PMC Wiki.

Snake Man
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Re: Adding Ground Units

Post by Snake Man » 2009-09-25 04:24:46

You should check out PMC Korean Campaigns, there is TCL files included. After that if you have some specific questions, feel free to post in this topic and I'll do my best to help you out.
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marvin157th
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Re: Adding Ground Units

Post by marvin157th » 2009-09-25 18:44:03

Sm,

Like always I keep getting "NO falcon4 found" error when trying to run install your campaigns? Are these just for AF or what? Can you not just sent me the TCL for adding ground units instead of me installing a campaign? :D

Jody

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Re: Adding Ground Units

Post by Snake Man » 2009-09-25 20:10:44

The campaign installing should be pretty easy.

The TCL files are included in the packet.
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Re: Adding Ground Units

Post by marvin157th » 2009-09-25 21:43:48

I agree it should be installed easy.. But it does not.. Can someone PLEASE send me this TCL file?

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Re: Adding Ground Units

Post by marvin157th » 2009-09-26 00:24:08

Ok, this is starting to get on my nerves.. I installed AF to install your 128 Korean theater. Now where are these TCL files? I even did a search in my entire harddrive for all *.TCL files and only show what currently is in my Tacedit folder?? :?

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Re: Adding Ground Units

Post by Snake Man » 2009-09-26 11:20:49

PMC Korea Campaigns, not PMC Korea 128 theater.
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marvin157th
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Re: Adding Ground Units

Post by marvin157th » 2009-09-27 01:41:34

Well am I not a complete idiot or what??? Thanks, now I know what I am doing!

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Re: Adding Ground Units

Post by marvin157th » 2009-09-27 03:22:46

Ok, so been playing around with it.. For some reason my units will not try and re-take back what objectives are controlled by the enemy. I even tried adding a massive amount of ground units. While tracking them in JSTARs, and seem as though they seem to back up and regroup and go into defensive mode, rather than offensive.

BTW this is a complete new Balkans campaign, not a Korea campaign I am working on.

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Re: Adding Ground Units

Post by derStef » 2009-09-27 09:24:19

that is none of the bad sides on TCL... you can't customize things so good as in Tacedit.

have you checked your unit flags, unit propreites, Aobj?

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Re: Adding Ground Units

Post by toonces » 2009-09-27 12:42:37

Marvin,
Look dude. People have been developing campaigns for 10 years now. How many have a working ground war?

I appreciate your enthusiasm. But if it was as simple as using a TCL script to spam units onto a map and the Falcon campaign engine would make everything work, don't you think there would be tons of "working" campaigns out there?

I am telling you this with all due respect- without even knowing you I can tell you that you have no idea how to build a working campaign.

Now, if you're serious about building campaigns, you should start by reading. There is a thread somewhere here on PMC, where we collected a bunch of ideas of how to make a working campaign. Read that. It will answer a lot of your questions. But it still isn't the whole answer.

Look in your campaign folder sometime. See all those different files in there? What are there, maybe 20-25 files? Most of those have some sort of input into the campaign and how it behaves. You're modding ONE. And you're not even modding it right probably. So...well, that's that.

Again, I appreciate what you want to do, but dude, you have a lot to learn and I'd argue that 50% of this site is dedicated to answering the question, "why won't my units move to capture the enemy objectives?" So, I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for a one sentence answer to that question.

Read. Read read read.

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Re: Adding Ground Units

Post by ccc » 2009-09-27 13:32:59

guys..marvin has been here since 2004.

welcome back. :mrgreen:

toonces
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Re: Adding Ground Units

Post by toonces » 2009-09-27 14:00:29

Oh, well in that case I'm sure he'll have his campaign up and running any moment now.

:wink:

marvin157th
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Re: Adding Ground Units

Post by marvin157th » 2009-09-28 00:29:59

Look dude....

Yes I understand all that.. I am asking for advice on other campaign builders.. I have never had issues with Korea Campaigns working, thus I am trying to sort the issues with Balkans. I know I will figure it out, as I have spent the last 3 months getting the airwar to work as I wanted. Now I am working on the ground war. I am simply asking what others are doing, and what success they have had. There is NO doubt in my mind I can get this working, it is just going to take countless frustrating attempts until I get it working. This is pretty much the case with every other aspect of this sim.

And for the record, these ground units were not placed with TCL, as I never realized these were specific to Korea.. What a waste that was.. :D So I am back to what I did originally which is placed them by hand.

Now from what I have studied, I THINK the problem is with my Balkans campaign being too complicated with neutral, friendly, etc etc countries neighboring the enemy country. If I placed Nato ground units they go balls to the wall.. Friendly units of Nato for some reason don't, although their air defences will attack Serbian airpower.

So instead of giving me your quiting and I give up speach, join in on the positive discussion, or take a hike! :mrgreen:

Happy thoughts... Anything can be done in Falcon!

Jody

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Re: Adding Ground Units

Post by DoctorX » 2009-10-02 01:14:05

FWIW here is a TCL script I use for creating ground units. It creates a "block" of the units of your choosing with a proper Division/Brigade/Battalion structure:

Code: Select all

###################################################################################################
#
# Create Division TCL Script for TacEdit ( CreateDivision.tcl )
# Written by Dave "DoctorX" Reynolds 8/6/2008
#
# Creates and populates divisions with battallions and brigades
#
# - Edit the variables below to determine the makeup of the divisions
#
###################################################################################################

#__________________________________________________________________________________________________
# SETTINGS-

#--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
# GENERAL SETTINGS-

# Division owner (1 = US, 2 = ROK, 3 = Japan, 4 = CIS, 5 = PRC, 6 = DPRK ):
set Owner 2

# Division starting x location:
set DivX 200

# Division starting y location:
set DivY 400

# Minimum reinforcement time:
set ReinfMinTime 2

# Maximum reinforcement time:
set ReinfMaxTime 120

#--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
# DIVISION SETTINGS-

# Number of divisions:
set NumDivs 3

# Division numbers:
set DivNameList [list 1 2 3]

#--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
# BRIGADES-

# Number of brigades in each division:
set NumBrigs 3

# First brigade name:
set BrigName 1

# Number of brigades in each division that are reinforcements:
set BrigReinfs 0

# Brigade type (Infantry = 88, Airmobile = 99, Armored = 86, Mechanized = 87, Armored Cavalry = 120, Marine = 100, SP Artillery = 101, Towed Artillery = 102, Rocket Artillery = 84, SS Missile = 89, HQ = 111, Engineer = 110, Supply = 109):
set BrigList [list 88]

#--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
# BATALLIONS-

# Number of batalions in each brigade:
set NumBats 5

# First batallion name:
set BatName 1

# Number of batallions in each brigade that are reinforcements:
set BatReinfs 1

# Unit types in the battalions:
set UnitList [list 57 727 727]


#__________________________________________________________________________________________________
# SUBROUTINES-

# Process to pick a random element from a list:
proc PickRandom { RandomList } {
	set Length [llength $RandomList]
	set Index [expr int( [expr rand( ) * $Length] )]
	return [lindex $RandomList $Index]
}

# Process to create a new brigade:
proc CreateBrig { BrigType DivNo Owner DivX DivY Reinf BrigName } {
	set NewBrig [unit create $BrigType ]
	unit set $NewBrig campid [unit get $NewBrig id]
	unit set $NewBrig control $Owner
	unit set $NewBrig x $DivX
	unit set $NewBrig destx [expr $DivX +1]
	unit set $NewBrig y $DivY
	unit set $NewBrig desty [expr $DivY +1]
	unit set $NewBrig bflags 2
	unit set $NewBrig name $BrigName
	if { $Reinf < 1 } {
		unit set $NewBrig unitflags 32
	}
	if { $Reinf > 0 } {
		unit set $NewBrig unitflags 131104
		unit set $NewBrig reinf $Reinf
	}
	unit brigade set $NewBrig division $DivNo
	printout "Adding new brigade: $BrigType to division: $DivNo"
	return [unit get $NewBrig id]
}

# Process to create a new batallion:
proc CreateBat { BatType DivNo NewBrigID Owner DivX DivY Reinf BatName } {
	set NewBat [unit create $BatType ]
	unit batallion set $NewBat campid [unit get $NewBat id]
	unit batallion set $NewBat control $Owner
	unit batallion set $NewBat x $DivX
	unit batallion set $NewBat destx [expr $DivX +1]
	unit batallion set $NewBat y $DivY
	unit batallion set $NewBat desty [expr $DivY +1]
	unit batallion set $NewBat bflags 2
	unit batallion set $NewBat name $BatName
	if { $Reinf > 0 } {
		unit batallion set $NewBat unitflags 131072
		unit batallion set $NewBat reinf $Reinf
	}
	unit batallion set $NewBat parent $NewBrigID
	unit batallion set $NewBat division $DivNo
	unit brigade set $NewBrigID nunits [expr int( [unit brigade get $NewBrigID nunits] + 1 )]
	if { [unit brigade get $NewBrigID nunits] == 1 } {
		unit brigade set $NewBrigID unit1 [unit get $NewBat id]
	}
	if { [unit brigade get $NewBrigID nunits] == 2 } {
		unit brigade set $NewBrigID unit2 [unit get $NewBat id]
	}
	if { [unit brigade get $NewBrigID nunits] == 3 } {
		unit brigade set $NewBrigID unit3 [unit get $NewBat id]
	}
	if { [unit brigade get $NewBrigID nunits] == 4 } {
		unit brigade set $NewBrigID unit4 [unit get $NewBat id]
	}
	if { [unit brigade get $NewBrigID nunits] == 5 } {
		unit brigade set $NewBrigID unit5 [unit get $NewBat id]
	}
	printout "Adding new batallion: $BatType to brigade: $NewBrigID"
	return [unit get $NewBat id]
}


#__________________________________________________________________________________________________
# MAIN PROGRAM-

# Create the divisions:
for { set k 0 } { $k < $NumDivs } { incr k 1 } {
	set DivNo [lindex $DivNameList $k]
	set DestX $DivX
	set DestY $DivY

	# Create the brigades:
	for { set i 0 } { $i < $NumBrigs } { incr i 1 } {
		set DestY $DivY
		set BrigReinfTime 0
		if { $i >= [expr $NumBrigs - $BrigReinfs] } {
			set BrigReinfTime [expr int( (rand( ) * (($ReinfMaxTime - $ReinfMinTime) / 3)) + $ReinfMinTime )]
		}
		set NewBrigID [CreateBrig [PickRandom $BrigList] $DivNo $Owner $DestX $DivY $BrigReinfTime $BrigName]

		# Create the batallions:
		for { set j 0 } { $j < $NumBats } { incr j 1 } {
			incr DestY -5
			set BatReinfTime 0
			if { $BrigReinfTime > 0 } {
				if { $j == 0 } {
					set BatReinfTime $BrigReinfTime
				}
				if { $j > 0 } {
					set BatReinfTime [expr int( (rand( ) * ($ReinfMaxTime - $BrigReinfTime)) + $BrigReinfTime )]
				}
			}
			if { $BrigReinfTime == 0 } {
				if { $j >= [expr $NumBats - $BatReinfs] } {
					if { $BrigReinfTime >= $ReinfMinTime } {
						set BatReinfTime [expr int( (rand( ) * ($ReinfMaxTime - $BrigReinfTime)) + $BrigReinfTime )]
					}
					if { $BrigReinfTime < $ReinfMinTime } {
						set BatReinfTime [expr int( (rand( ) * ($ReinfMaxTime - $ReinfMinTime)) + $ReinfMinTime )]
					}
				}
			}
			set NewBatID [CreateBat [PickRandom $UnitList] $DivNo $NewBrigID $Owner $DestX $DestY $BatReinfTime $BatName]
			incr BatName 1
		}

		incr BrigName 1
		incr DestX 10
	}

	incr DivY -35
}
To use it, copy the code above into a text file named "CreateDivision.tcl". Then edit the settings to create the division of your choosing...

- Under "General Settings", set the owner (team) number and optionally set the X and Y coordinates. This scripts doesn't actually place the units in any strategic location, it just creates the units in a grid where each row is a division and each column is a brigade. From there you can drag the units onto the map wherever you want.

- Set the min and max reinforcement times. If you specify these times and also specify the number of brigades and batalions you want to have as reinforcements, then some of the units will randomly be given a reinforcement time within the times you specify.

- Under "Division Settings" set the number of divisions you want to create and give them names (numbers). There must be as many names as there are divisions.

- Under the "Brigade" and "Battalion" settings set the number of brigades in the division and the number of batalions in each brigade (max 5 batalions per brigade), the number of those that are to be reinforcements, and the unit type. (Remember to subtract 100 from the unit type when using TCL scripts). The types of ground units generated will be randomly selected from the list. (Tip: if you want to have more of one type of unit, specify it two or more times in the list). Also you can specify the starting number for the name of the battalions and brigades (they will be numbered sequentially after that).

You don't need to worry about any of the rest of the code, unless you want to customize the script (which you are free to do).


Then run the script and you should have a rectangle of troops appear on the map that you can drag to their destination.

Repeat the process for each team (possibly multiple times for each team) until you are satisfied.

I recommend backing up your campaign each time before you run the script just incase anything goes pear-shaped. :wink:

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