Heroes 4 Advanced Options Map Editor

[iLiVeInAbOx05]

And another update for the Advanced Editor, H3->H4 conversion edition. I think this feature is just about ready to be labeled version 1.0.

- Converting random monsters

- Finished mapping of spells and artifacts

- Massive speedup

It turns out that the biggest bottleneck of time here was parsing the image data from adventure objects. Adding an option to not parse that data sped up the conversion by more than 95%. An XL map took about 7 seconds to convert.

- Convert / transfer remaining interactive objects.

Dragon Utopia, Witch Huts, Eye/Hut of the Magi, Spell Shrines, portals, redwood observatories, black markets, taverns, oasis, swan ponds, watering holes, sanctuaries, warriors tombs. Also random artifacts and spell scrolls. And also obelisks and the grail.

Outstanding items.

- Ensure army objects are placed on passable grids.

This one is pretty big, but I feel like it's the last major thing to implement before calling H3->H4 conversion version 1.0.

It will require a passability map while reading in maps and placing / removing objects.

- Remaining objects: Refugee Camp, Altar of Sacrifice, Freelancer's Guild, and Sirens

These could be done with quest huts and scripting, but that would be a bit time consuming for me to tackle, so getting to these will probably be last on my list (behind my other projects).

- Rivers break passability

I had a simple idea to fix this that I tried out, but it completely failed so I'll have to come up with an actual real algorithm to trace rivers and keep them from becoming impassable.

This one probably also needs to be fixed to call this feature 1.0.

[iLiVeInAbOx05]

I'm looking at having the advanced editor be able to generate duel maps in the style of H5, where you start with a set amount of creatures (6 weeks growth by default, based on chosen faction before starting the map), a set amount of money, there is a nearby level up object, random towns linked to chosen faction for additional troops, artifact shops, skill shops / objects, and spell shops / objects.

I'll need to come up with settings that can be tweaked when generating the map, such as how many level ups the hero gets, artifacts available, starting amount of creatures, etc.

So far I've got heroes that can either be leveled up manually or automatically working, as well as giving creatures based on the selected weekly amount of growth.

Random town for hiring additional creatures added as well, so I'll finally get around to getting the building mask reversed and coded. At least for random towns anyway, though it should be simple after that to reverse the other towns.

The display so far is just a couple of number spinners for you to select starting level and amount of creature growth to start with, and a check box to select whether or not to auto level your hero.

[iLiVeInAbOx05]

Duel maps coming along



I am also just about finished with a quest shop creator feature, which will be available both in the duel map options (to customize items, spells, etc.) as well as when opening up any quest hut dialog (from the menu).

You can create categories to then add items to, or with a basic quest shop you can just add your items.

I have the advanced quest shop creator done except for a bit more testing, so I just need to add the panel for creating a basic quest shop, which will be quicker and easier than the advanced shop. Then I'll probably put out an update.

[iLiVeInAbOx05]

The H4 Advanced Editor has been updated! (finally)

What’s new:
- Duel map generation added (Generated duel map to try out here)
- Quest shop script creator added

Duel Maps
Summary: The duel map generator will generate an H5 style duel map, which is basically a hero vs. hero battle. You start with a set amount of resources (based on chosen difficulty) and creature growth (6 weeks by default but can be changed), visit a level up structure to level up your hero (unless you generated the duel map to auto-level the hero), purchase artifacts, skills, stat increases, spells, and/or creatures before heading off to battle.

Unlike most duel maps, you can fight more than once! Best of 5? Best of 7? Sure! Just set the number of battle wins to be declared the map winner when generating the duel map (or update it later in the generated map!).

Each successive round will see an increase in your creature amounts, so each successive battle will grow in scale. Your resources are reset each round, but currently do not carry over to successive rounds. You keep your artifacts from round to round, so plan ahead!

Generating a new duel map: Either use the file menu, File->New, or click the new file icon in the toolbar to bring up the new map panel and select “Duel Map.” Selecting a map size has no effect when using the duel map option.



Features:
- Multiple battle rounds to win the duel. The defeated hero is returned to town to be freed from prison the following turn
- Starting resources depend on chosen difficulty. Less money for higher difficulties to make your choices of what to purchase matter more
- Increased movement so everything can be done in a single turn
- Quest shops to purchase battle items and skills. All artifact quest shop items are limited to a single quantity, with only multiples of potions available (5 total per potion type)

Configurable settings during generation:
- Starting hero level (can be manual level up or automatic)
- Number of battles won to be declared the winner
- Available artifacts, skills, spells, stat increases
- Terrain type for the map



Configurable settings after generation (in configurable settings map timed event):
- Starting hero level
- Number of battles to win
- Starting weekly growth
- Amount increase for weekly growth in successive battles
- Starting resource amounts per difficulty level









Known issues:
- There is an issue that causes the game to slow down when you have an event with a really high number of scripts. It seems events take longer to find, but when they are run they still seem to take the usual amount of time to run. The events causing this are the ones to remove and give back artifacts.

We should be able to alleviate the issue by having fewer artifacts available for purchase to cut down on the number of scripts needed, but I’m not sure which would be best removed and which should definitely be present, so feedback is needed.

There are also a lot of artifacts, so going through to select the ones that you want takes some time as well.

- For the defeated player, it is a little odd getting started in the next round. You enter your town, click the prison to free your hero, exit the town, and reenter the town for your hero to be visible. Not anything that I can think of to do here, and having it this way makes the scripting easier anyway.

- Currently there aren’t any bonuses being applied for non-battle skills like Nobility and Scouting, but I plan to add them.

- Customizing resources per round not yet implemented on the duel map generation panel.

- Prevent army splitting stacks can be dismissed. I plan to add scripting to ensure those stacks remain on the map and will result in a loss if they are removed.

- Need to add more magical artifacts. Currently we have weapons, armor, shields, helms, rings, and potions.

- Can’t yet play vs. an AI opponent

- Water and lava river terrain types will result in an unplayable map. Water I plan to implement, but can’t do anything with lava river so I’ll need to not include that option

- No readme at the moment


Quest shop script creator
Creating shop scripts without having to click through a million conditionals and other scripts and adding more scripts has finally been implemented. This advanced scripting feature has been on my list of things to do for a really long time, so it’s nice to finally get it added.



Summary: There are two types of quest shops that can be created: Basic and Category. Basic quest shops just have items in them (basically just a single category). You can add whatever items you want. The top level ask script will provide you with a list of the items for purchase and ask if you want to buy any. If yes, you will be taken to each item to either purchase or skip.



Pretty straight forward. The name of the shop will be set as the site name for the quest hut, as well as included in the welcome message. The shop description will go in the quest log entry. To add items, simply click “Add Item” and you will get the shop item dialogue. To edit items, double click an item in the list.



In the shop item panel you can set a custom item name, or leave the default. Currently item description doesn’t get included anywhere, but I’m thinking at some point it can be included where items are listed out with a display script. Set the cost to whatever you would like (currently only gold can be set here). The Item type is the major item type, and it will set the filter type list when changed. Checking the limited quantity checkbox will make it so the item can only be purchased a set number of times (the value in the amount available field).

Category quest shops will contain items within each category. The top level ask script here will provide you with a list of categories to choose from and ask if you would like to browse them, and if yes, you will get an ask script for each category, where the items for purchase in the category will be displayed and you'll be asked if you want to purchase any.

Category quest shops also allow you to have a second echelon category. For example, if you wanted to group spells by faction and then by level.



Shop name and description are the same as for the Basic Shop. Add a category with the “Add Category” button, and edit categories by double clicking them in the list.



Category name is what you will see in the display message. Containing category is for the higher level category, and is an editable combobox which is shared across other categories. Category description is currently unused, but like the item description field, at some point I’ll probably incorporate it into the display message that lists categories in the shop.

Still more to come..

[iLiVeInAbOx05]

Hello!

The advanced editor has been updated.

- The advanced editor has been updated to no longer require users to install Java. The necessary JRE is now included with the advanced editor, and the main jar file is now wrapped by an exe. This means that everything is ready to go once you download and unpack the advanced editor.

- Updated to use the system look and feel. No more default Java (metal) look and feel.

- Renaming numeric / boolean variables has been (re)implemented. The previous way wasn't quite right, so I did it again in a better way. You can rename variables within an event, an object, or map wide.

To rename within an event: open the event and click the "Variables" button on the general tab. This will open a dialog with all numeric, boolean, and var variables within the event (you can navigate between the types by selecting from the drop down menu at the top of the window). Double click the variable to rename, update the text, and select Okay.

Renaming within an object is the same, except the "Variables" button is located on the object window.

Renaming within the map is the same, except the "Variables" button is located on the "Variables" sub tab under the map "Events" tab.

- Other minor updates and fixes.