Initial number of neutral creatures, how to change them

[Vitirr]

Hi, anybody knows which files must be modified to change the initial number of neutral creatures for the different difficulty settings?

I think they are quite poorly balanced, and ranged and caster creatures should have much lower numbers than slow walking units, because right now, a mp map can be ruined by just bad luck with the creatures one and other player get in their territories.

Thanks in advance.

[Sir_Toejam]

there is a mod in the mod section that increases neutral stack sizes.

that should indicate for you which files to mod.

IIRC, the info you are looking for is in the defaultstats.xdb file.

[Vitirr]

Thanks Sir_Troejam but from what I've seen there, the only thing you can modify are coeficients that are applied for all the neutrals. So, you can make neutrals stacks bigger or smaller, but you can't specify exact numbers (I guess everything is relative to internal numbers used in other place, another data file perhaps), and worse, you can't set different coeficients for different creatures, which is exactly what I'd like to do.

[Sir_Toejam]

ahh, too bad. well, at least the information you dug up is useful.

what about scripting neutral stacks in the map editor?

there might be a way to do that, but of course you'd have to do it for every map.

[Vitirr]

what about scripting neutral stacks in the map editor?

there might be a way to do that, but of course you'd have to do it for every map.

You mean a script that when a hero enters a battle checks the kind of unit and set his number accordingly? Hmm, could work, though I don't know if it's possible to set the number of creatures through scripts, or if there's a trigger that fires when the hero enters battle.

Anyway I'm specially interested to make it for mp and right now scripts aren't working with those maps It is really strange that something so basic can't be modified through one of the data files.

[Sir_Toejam]

Hmm, could work, though I don't know if it's possible to set the number of creatures through scripts, or if there's a trigger that fires when the hero enters battle.

hmm, there was a map i played that had triggers that spawned specified armies and sent the hero straight into battle.

ahh, yes, it was New Master:

http://www.elrath.com/mapvault/index.ph ... &symid=914

that might give some clues.

[Vitirr]

Thanks Sir_Troejam I'll have a look at it

[Vitirr]

I had a look at it but I haven't found any trace of that kind of script. I have even played it, until I got mad because I couldn't find a key master to pass the bridge just to see later in the script that you don't have to visit one at all . Did I miss something?

[Najibarr]

From the script you've got in http://elrath.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=538
You could end up in a script that would check if the current creature is a ranged unit. And then it would remove the current creatures and replace them with a lower number (0.8 * original number or something) of the same kind of creature.

[Vitirr]

Thanks Najibarr, I think that could work. However the players wouldn't see in the map the correct creature numbers, which is annoying. By the way to make that script it should be added to every creature in his combat script tab right?

I have though about other thing though. A table with all the random monsters positions (made manually). Then in day 1, before any player do anything, the script remove all of them (with remove object), but before check the creature type, and number. After that, I add a creature (create monster) in the same position, with the same type and with a reduced quantity. I think it could work.

EDIT: well yes, it would work IF GetCreatureType and GetCreatureNumber were available in adventure map, which unfortunately is not the case