Club Amiga de Montreal - CAM/CAM_CD_1.iso/files/416.lha/EnergionBattleSystem_v1.0/modules.doc

Text File | 1990-08-30 | 17KB | 474 lines

                             EBS User's Manual

                                 Section 4

                       Selected Module Design Notes














































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4.1  The Force  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .    3

4.2  The Unit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .    4

4.3  Weapons  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .    5

4.4  Attacks  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .    5

4.5  Defenses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .    6

4.6  Tactics  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .    6

4.7  Strategies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .    7

4.8  Supply . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .    7

4.9  Movement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .    8



































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4.1  The Force

     A force may be a bit tricky to design.  It seems fairly obvious as a
simple collection of units and a match for the normal "side" to a conflict,
but in EBS, you may wish to use more than one force to define a side, and
even define normally extraneous elements, such as civilian population as
forces.

     As an example, if your scenario involves a mobile force attacking
across a static defensive line, you may wish to define the troops guarding
the static defensive line as one force, using the FORCESTATIC option and
forcing them to have no strategy but to guard the line as instructed.  The
attacking mobile force can then be defined separately and given its
strategy, such as a center penetration without causing the related units in
the trenches to also execute the same strategy.

     On the other hand, if you are using a group of mobile units, or units
not located in the line as a mobile reserve for defensive purposes.  In this
case, you can define the units in the trenches as one force, the mobile
units as another, and define a "rangefrombase" value, indicating how close
the attacking units must come to the mobile units before touching off their
reaction.

     These sorts of design make for more intelligent command of the forces
on the part of EBS, but they may also make play easier for a human player,
who will not necessarily want to play all the various more or less static
units, such as fixed artillery and soldiers in bunkers.  Those may be left
to EBS to play and allow the human player to concentrate on a smaller
portion of the battlefield and of the forces associated with his side.

     Another key area is the REVIEWBASE time for a force.  This is the time
which passes between several actions taken by a force.  Each time the
force's review counter counts down to zero, the force reviews the factors
which might cause it to launch a defensive strategy (are any units being
fired on, how close is the enemy to my units at the closest point, etc),
whether its objectives have been accomplished, and which of its units are
resupplying.  At this time, any unit lacking a tactics module will also
review its decisions.  Note that a tactics module is not necessary for a
unit.  Not having one simply indicates that all tactics for that unit are
the defaults for the force of which it is a member.

     The STRATEGYREVIEW value is another.  In general, the more often a unit
reviews its decisions, the "smarter" it is, as it adapts well to the
changing circumstances.  In the case of a review of strategy, excessively
short times can be more destructive than excessively long times.  Reviewing
the strategy every couple of minutes, besides wasting execution time, causes
confused movement of the units, as they are unable to progress toward a
single point.  A good length of time for strategy review should be play
tested, but a good basic time would be the length of time it takes for the
average unit in the force to cross the map.  It will be extremely rare for a

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unit to actually cross the map in that period of time, but if that much time
has elapsed, it may be valuable to relook at the strategic decisions,
including whether the force should be offensive or defensive and to what
extent.

     When EBS reviews the strategy, it looks at the entire situation as
though the game were starting at that moment.  It is generally assumed that
the placement of units at the beginning of the strategy is the result of
movement and/or previous battles.  Thus, to EBS, this is essentially a new
battle starting.  EBS will not necessarily change strategies due to actions
in the intervening time, but it may do so radically if units have moved.
Initial strategies are often based on inadequate information about the
enemy's strength and deployment, so a half an hour or so of combat may
change the overall view of the force.


4.2  The Unit

     The unit is the most complex element of the EBS system, because it
includes both many values of its own, but also looks to numerous other
modules in defining how it will behave.  In general, leaving out a module
results in default values.  The following is a list of what results from
leaving out various modules.

     Markers:  The unit is not part of the scenario.  It is not located on
the map at all, and it will take no actions and be the target of no actions.

     Defense:  The unit has a defensive value of zero to all attacks.  This
option could be used where all units are of similar defensive value.  Be
sure that weapon design takes this defensive value into account, otherwise
you could have a very bloody scenario where being seen is dying.

     Attacks:  If a unit has no attack chain, it will not be able to attack
any targets.  This would be valid for a truck or unit of trucks used for
transportation.  The trucks would have a defensive value against attack, but
would be unable to attack any targets themselves.  With proper options set
on the attacks of the troops the trucks are carrying may allow those troops
to attack while mounted on the trucks, however.

     Attacks with no Weapons:  These are of no value internally, but may
simply specify a script to execute whenever the attack would normally be
conducted.  Scripts can simulate spells or specialized weapons.  They may be
used to heal the unit or other units on its force or others.  Basically,
attacks without weapons simply become carriers for their scripts.

     Tactics:  A tactics module determines the behavior of a unit when it
has valid targets within its zone of control.  It is an optional module.
Units without tactics modules have infinite loyalty and morale, and always
choose default priority targets.  They review their decisions each time the
force comes up for review.

     Movement:  A unit without a movement module does not move.  Any unit

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intended to be static, such as a fixed artillery battery, or troops in a
bunker who are never expected to leave as part of the scenario do not need
movement modules.

     Force:  A unit with no force cannot be commanded by EBS and cannot be
accessed through the command window.  It is usually best to go ahead and
define a force (there are 32 of them and you are unlikely to run out after
all) and make all options available.  You can, however, command such a unit
through a script.


4.3  Weapons

     The key thing to remember about weapons is the difference between them
and attacks.  A weapon is the item which does damage, and an attack is the
way in which a unit uses that weapon.  Thus, a weapon definition includes
ranges, amounts of damage, time between shots with the weapon and chances to
hit.

     You must also distinguish when to use a weapon and when to use an
ifweapon.  Despite the fact that the ifweapon is so named for "indirect
fire" that is not the only type of weapon it covers.  It also includes
magical attacks and generally any form of attack which cannot be carried out
using a standard weapon, but which is not so complex as to require its own
script.

     Use a weapon for direct fire weapons (bows, crossbows, rifles, machine
guns, etc) and for melee weapons (swords, spears, knives, clubs, small trees
carried by giants, straight pins carried by pixies).  You can include simple
items which cause additional damage, such as flame on arrows, or exploding
bullets.  See section 1.3.6, The Attack for further information on weapons
and attacks.

     Use an indirect fire weapon for weapons capable of indirect fire
(howitzers, mortars, catapaults, pixies throwing gold dust over large rocks,
etc) and for any attack which leaves an effect on the map for a period of
time (chemical attacks, spells with duration, fire bombs, pixies throwing-
sorry no pixies for this one).


4.4  Attacks

     Ultimately, if you cannot work out your attack form using any of the
defined factors of the weapon or ifweapon modules, create an attack with no
weapon or ifweapon and write a script to accomplish its goals.  You can
include many things, including terrain modification, using the 'draw'
commands with the 'copy' option to make the redrawing a permanent part of
the map.  Thus, you could draw fortifications which are then attacked by
bombers whose attacks (bombs) destroy pieces of the fortification.

     If you believe that realistically a unit will remain supplied
throughout the duration of the battle, such as in a short battle, or one

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where relatively few shots will be fired, use "-1" as the ammunition value.
This means in constant supply.  In many scenarios supply can be ignored
without significantly impacting on the playing of the scenario.  If there is
no impact on the result, it is usually a good idea to leave a feature out of
your scenario.  Extraneous features simply take up processing time without
increasing the enjoyment.  I have chosen to make all features available, but
to allow them to be selected.


4.5  Defenses

     Defenses are not universal.  You must define a defense module to cover
the same range of weapon types as you use in a scenario.  Having a system
for certain types of scenarios, such as the Energion Campaign System for
fantasy scenarios, will help to organize this properly.

     You can simplify weapons and armor types by eliminating them
altogether.  Turn on the "ONEARMOR" option on your defense module, and enter
a value only in armor type one.  Then use weapon type one for all weapons.

     If an ifweapon is defined as "MAGICAL" then the "MAGICDEFENSE" element
corresponding to the "MAGICTYPE" element of the ifweapon is used in an
avoidance roll using the Energion Campaign System magic rules.  Again, if
you only need one type of magic and one figure for the unit's chance of
avoiding a magical attack, use only the first "MAGICDEFENSE" value, and
enter the "MAGICTYPE" of one in each ifweapon.


4.6  Tactics

     Most of the function of a tactics module is quite straightforward.
What I consider the most important part of it, however, may require some
additional elucidation--the closest point of approach or CPA.  The value is
an ideal, and is normally based on the ranges of the weapon which the unit
is using.

     If you provide a predefined CPA, this value will hold throughout the
course of the scenario unless you also select the option "FLEXCPA" from the
tactics module options requester.  The other way to use the flexible CPA
option is by simply setting this value to zero.  In that case, EBS will
select a CPA according to the ranges of the unit's weapons.

     EBS selects current weapon in order of range and damage.  If no target
is in range, it will make the current attack of the unit the one with the
longest range.  If there is a target in range of more than one weapon, it
chooses the one which will do the most damage.  Each of these weapons should
have an ideal range set, otherwise the unit will approach as close as it can
to the enemy.  If the ideal range is set, the unit will approach close to
that ideal range, then either stop and fire or maneuver to maintain range
and fire.

     To create an observer unit, such as an artillery spotter, set a CPA

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which is greater than the range of the unit's longest ranged weapon.  Thus,
the unit will never voluntarily engage in combat.  If an enemy unit fires
upon it, or comes into range despite the unit's best efforts, it will also
fire.

     Note that this CPA maneuvering is far from perfect.  In the simplest
case, the enemy unit has chosen the maneuvering unit as a target and the
attacker is faster.  Range will close and combat will occur.  Also, it is
possible in this version of EBS for a unit maneuvering to avoid one enemy to
stumble onto another one.  (I'll save a solution for that for a system using
the 680[insert very large number here]0.)

     The "OBSERVER" option is needed only for aircraft, which set their
destination to their CPA distance on the other side of the target, allowing
a bombing or strafing run.  If the "OBSERVER" option is on, the observer
will avoid overflying the target, and thus perhaps avoid being shot down.

     The "RANDSEARCH" option does not cause a unit to execute a random
search from the start, but if there is no enemy in sight, and no other valid
destination to set, it will begin randomly searching.  This option should be
used when there are expected to be enemies scattered around the map waiting
to ambush units, and the attacker wishes to flush them out.


4.7  Strategies

     Strategies and objectives interact with destinations in a somewhat
confusing way.  When there is no objective, EBS calculates a corresponding
target sector on the enemy's side for each friendly unit.  If there are no
deviations in the strategy module's movement data, all units should progress
across the map in a fairly straight line.  Deviations left and right will be
the exact number of degrees from a straight line.

     In the case of an objective, all units set their destination as the
objective, with no offset.  If the force's objective is at the center of the
enemy's side, and behind most of his troops, then a unit on the far left
will cut right for the center of the line, and one on the right will be
cutting left.  The 30 degree deviation values used in the built-in modules
will just about cancel the already existing turn and cause the unit's to
take a pretty much straight course halfway across the map, then turn toward
the objective.

     If you create a scenario with an objective, make the deviations
greater, to make up for this potential problem.

     If you have no supply modules in your scenario, that value will be
ignored.  It is not necessary to define two strategy modules, one for a
scenario with supply, and one for a scenario without.

     If you have no HQ units, that is, no chain of command entered, a unit
commanded to go for enemy headquarters units will select a target randomly
if it finds one.  This will result in the unit operating against enemy units

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independently, moving to destroy them.  If this result is undesirable,
change the "COMMAND" element of the strategy module to zero.


4.8  Supply

     Supply takes additional turn execution time.  If you are using a 68000
(non-accelerated Amiga), you may wish to just set ammunition values to
reasonable amounts for the duration of the scenario, and any which should
have full supply to "-1".

     Note that a unit which belongs to a force with supply modules, and
which runs out of ammunition, will set its destination to get supplies.


4.9  Movement

     There are several options on defensive units where interaction with
unit and movement module values can result in interesting effects.

     1.  If you set "ACTIVEDEFENSE" for the unit, and place it in the
heaviest cover within its force's strategy's "MAXDEVIATION" value (say that
10 times fast!) then it will not move from that position until it has unit's
behind it, and sometimes not even then.  This locks the unit exactly in
place.  If, however, you place it in light cover and there is greater cover
nearby, it will head toward that greater cover, then stay there in the same
manner.

     2.  If you want to lock a unit in place exactly throughout the
scenario, unless it is forced to retreat, use the "DEFENSIVE" option for the
unit.  This is good for units in fortifications or guarding specific
locations.

     3.  If you want the unit to stay in a patch of cover, but want it to
move within that, use the "SEEKCOVER" and "MOVEFREE" options of the movement
module.  It will generally not move to any location with less cover than the
one it is on.  Note that the "MOVEFREE" prevents very successful general
movement, but will work quite effectively when all surrounding terrain has
the same cover value.

     4.  If you want a unit to stay static under certain conditions, but
later launch strategic movement, you must set up a strategy module to do so,
or set up a tactics script for the unit.










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