Capture the Flag Dogfight - Multiple Capture Point difficulties

[gunmetalstug]

Hello everyone! I've been working on a "new" mission type, or rather an adjustment on the standard Capture the Flag scenario. My goal is to build a multiplayer PvP tank combat mission where there are three flags to capture, each ticking a "point" every minute once captured. The more points captured, the faster the team ticks towards a victory at 100 points. However, I've been encountering significant challenges in building the scoring system. I'm very new at the Mission Editor (this is my first mission I've attempted to build), and I followed the Mission Editor and Server Manual to the letter until I had to make the required deviations.

 

The manual was very helpful, but I don't really know how to ensure that the flag captures have the desired additive effect on the timers that serve as the mission's scoreboard. As it stands, I think I've built it wrong - it looks like capturing additional flags past the first won't have any effect... as well as re-capturing flags not properly deactivating each sides' counter. I also haven't been able to test it properly, because DServer doesn't load the mission properly (or at least doesn't allow players to join). I have the mission and all its requisite files in a zip folder on my mediafire... is there anyone who can take a look in the editor and see what I'm doing wrong or may be able to point me in the right direction?

 

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

[JimTM]

I wonder if the guy who wrote the mission in the manual knew what he was doing.  

 

No time right now, but if nobody has a look first, I'll have a look at your mission on Sunday or Monday.

[gunmetalstug]

6 hours ago, JimTM said:

I wonder if the guy who wrote the mission in the manual knew what he was doing

Hey, it's the man himself! Like I said, the manual was indeed extremely helpful, but I've never been good at even basic CS-logic type stuff, so I've probably borked something up terribly, and none of the other online tutorials had insights towards completing my absurdly specific requirements.

 

In any case, I greatly appreciate the work you put into the manual, as well as the offer to take a look at the mission. There's no rush!

[JimTM]

On 10/8/2021 at 5:10 PM, gunmetalstug said:

...there are three flags to capture, each ticking a "point" every minute once captured. The more points captured, the faster the team ticks towards a victory at 100 points. 

 

...I don't really know how to ensure that the flag captures have the desired additive effect on the timers that serve as the mission's scoreboard. As it stands, I think I've built it wrong - it looks like capturing additional flags past the first won't have any effect... as well as re-capturing flags not properly deactivating each sides' counter....

 

@gunmetalstug, before I can do much with your logic, I would like to understand your objectives better. Are you expecting points to accumulate faster if multiple flags are captured? I'm not sure how to do that with the current capture-timer logic since the points accumulate based on specific capture times (1 point per minute). To accumulate points faster, you would need separate timer logic for one flag captured, two flags captured, and three flags captured. You would somehow need to switch between each set of timer logic depending on the number of flags currently captured.

 

I suppose an easier way to run it would be to have one timer logic and accept that a particular side would have a better chance to accumulate points if they kept their timer logic running by capturing multiple objectives (i.e., if one objective switched sides, they may have one or two more of their objectives still driving the timers).

Edited October 11, 2021 by JimTM

[gunmetalstug]

3 minutes ago, JimTM said:

Are you expecting points to accumulate faster if multiple flags are captured?

Yes, this was the goal. I wanted something similar to many FPS games with Capture Points as the objective - you'll still get points if one side has 1 of the 3 flags, but the other side will get more. However, I've also been considering a different logic set, where points are only accrued for the side that has 2 of the three flags, while the team holding 1 flag gets 0 points. In short:

 

First Logic Scheme - 1 Flag = 1 Point, constantly ticking no matter what.

 

Second Logic Scheme - 1 Flag = 0 Points, 2 Flags = 1 Point (ticking), 3 Flags = 2 Points (ticking).

 

 

[JimTM]

On 10/10/2021 at 9:24 PM, gunmetalstug said:

Yes, this was the goal. I wanted something similar to many FPS games with Capture Points as the objective - you'll still get points if one side has 1 of the 3 flags, but the other side will get more. However, I've also been considering a different logic set, where points are only accrued for the side that has 2 of the three flags, while the team holding 1 flag gets 0 points. In short:

 

First Logic Scheme - 1 Flag = 1 Point, constantly ticking no matter what.

 

Second Logic Scheme - 1 Flag = 0 Points, 2 Flags = 1 Point (ticking), 3 Flags = 2 Points (ticking).

 

 

 

FYI, I'm working on some logic to award points for all flags (more points for more flags), but it will take a day or two to complete the logic and do a preliminary test before I hand it to you for more extensive testing. It's quite different logic from the example in the book due to the nature of your requirement.

Edited October 12, 2021 by JimTM

[gunmetalstug]

3 hours ago, JimTM said:

 

FYI, I'm working on some logic to award points for all flags (more points for more flags), but it will take a day or two to complete the logic and do a preliminary test before I hand it to you for more extensive testing. It's quite different logic from the example in the book due to the nature of your requirement.

I can't thank you enough! I had a feeling what I was attempting was a little bit beyond my skills as a total Mission Editing noob - I really appreciate your help.

[JimTM]

@gunmetalstug, here is a DRAFT mission demonstrating the Timing and Scoring group for accumulating points based on how many objectives are captured:

DRAFT JimTM Test Points for Multiple Flags.zip

 

Note:

• The mission does not have any flags, but just timers on the left to drive a specific test scenario to accumulate points. You can replace the test timers and test tank spawn with flags/tanks to test your final scenario. The inputs to Timing and Scoring are:
  - IN CO Start Timer
  - IN Allies Captured Obj
  - IN Allies Lost Obj
  - IN Axis Captured Obj
  - IN Axis Lost Obj
• The yellow Allies and Axis scoring display icons on the right are stacks of eleven icons each. You can drag your mouse to select them all and move them where you like on the map.
• The logic handles up to three objectives. Points are awarded as follows:
  - 1 Objective Captured: 1 point
  - 2 Objectives Captured: 2 points
  - 3 Objectives Captured: 3 points
  The first side to reach 10 points wins (see AL Capture Counter 10x and AX Capture Counter 10x).
• The scoring logic checks the number of objectives captured at regular intervals (currently 10 seconds for testing). To adjust the scoring intervals, edit the chain of 10-second timers and subtitles in the middle of the group.
• The current test has objective-captured inputs at 10 second intervals, each occurring 5 seconds before the scoring checks the number of objectives captured. To change the input intervals, edit the timers and subtitles on the left of the mission screen. Here is the current test scenario:

  IP At    IP    Pts    Mission Elapsed Time (Check Captures)

  0:05    3      3     0:10

  0:15    0      3      0:20

  0:25    1      4      0:30

  0:35    0      4     0:40

  0:45    2      6     0:50

  0:55    0      6     1:00

  1:05     3      9    1:10

  1:15     1     10     1:20  <--- Axis only, so they win
   

• I have not yet added logic to handle simultaneous inputs or a tie situation.

I'll continue work on the logic as time allows. Please let me know if you run into any issues.

 

Enjoy!

Edited October 15, 2021 by JimTM

[Thad]

On 10/8/2021 at 10:53 PM, JimTM said:

I wonder if the guy who wrote the mission in the manual knew what he was doing.  

 

I've wondered that about a lot of things the manual creator presented. But I digress. ?

[JimTM]

8 minutes ago, Thad said:

 

I've wondered that about a lot of things the manual creator presented. But I digress. ?

 

The line for the peanut gallery is on the right.  

[gunmetalstug]

7 hours ago, JimTM said:

here is a DRAFT mission demonstrating the Timing and Scoring group for accumulating points based on how many objectives are captured

You're a saint! Although I can't test this out until after the weekend, I can already tell I was right to ask for help as there was no way I was going to find the solution on my own... at least not without significantly more experience with the editor.

 

I'll let you know how my own tests goes once I'm able to complete them!

[gunmetalstug]

@JimTM Long time, no update! Apologies, as I got sidetracked by a bunch of other projects and life stuff. Unfortunately, as I attempted to make edits to your draft mission, I'm finding myself lost. I tried to implement a single capture point (and tank spawns for each faction), but was unable to launch the test, even after passing the integrity check and binarizing the file.

 

Here's the mission. I feel like I'm misunderstanding vast swathes of this logic, and I apologize for likely missing something basic. ?

[JimTM]

Unfortunately, I won't have any time to look at this in detail for quite awhile. It's been so long that I don't remember a lot of what I did to adapt the logic from the manual.

[Thad]

4 hours ago, JimTM said:

I don't remember a lot of what I did to adapt the logic.

 

At my age, I say that more and more often.

[gunmetalstug]

9 hours ago, JimTM said:

Unfortunately, I won't have any time to look at this in detail for quite awhile. It's been so long that I don't remember a lot of what I did to adapt the logic from the manual.

 

All good, I really appreciate it regardless. I wish a relatively simple concept wasn't so difficult to implement.