Materne Pond

[mcaryf]

I am sorry if this has been mentioned before but is it possible to do anything about the Materne Pond in QB? I have seen troops happily firing away whilst apparently under water. Either troops should not be allowed to enter it or the graphics should show water of about 3 foot depth. I had a quick look at the sources and I have not found any that describe its actual depth but also none saying it was fordable.

If I change the QB.csv map file to make the pond 1.0 rather than its current 0.9 impedance will that stop troops going into it?

Regards

Mike

[Little Powell]

Hi mcaryf - Changing that value to 1.0 will just make the troops slower and suffer more of a fatigue penalty. The pond has a "no move" border around it, just as large unfordable streams do, but unfortunately the system is not perfect and occasionally troops will still step into it.

I'm sorry that I don't have a better answer.. But again, the pond system has it's issues. It's either we remove it completely and have the troops walk through the pond freely, or have the border which helps out a lot, but is not perfect.

[Saddletank]

Making it shallow at about 3ft depth would be a third option.

The ponds on the fictional maps suffer the same problem, especially the north pond of Die Heugel. I don't see the barrier around that pond ever keeping troops out, including couriers.

If they can't be fully fixed, would prefer to see the ponds deleted.

[mcaryf]

I would not like the delete the pond option as the Materne pool was a real feature that troops used to anchor their position during the actual battle. A shallower depth would be preferable if possible as it is just about feasible to shoot whilst standing in water but obviously not whilst under water! Actually does being in or under the water afford any defensive benefit?

Regards

Mike

[Jace11]

In QB.csv change Unit Can't Halt entry for IDS_MAP_POND (Greyscale 12) to 1. By default it is set to 0 for the QB map but in all other maps that come with the game, POND is set to 1 for "Unit Can't Halt". This will make it impossible for units to sit in the water and fire. They will still occasionally move through it (especially when retreating) but on the whole they try and avoid it and it solved the problem for me.

Yesterday I also spotted another error in the file with the smoke effects for Lairalle and Grand Pierrepont being set to the wrong color (i.e location). This results in damage to one fort causing smoke to appear at the other. It's easily remedied by swapping the numbers highlighted below (in that file).

124257 113643 0 0 GFX_Smoke_1 SFX_Fire_1 20 300 600
124462 115875 0 0 GFX_Smoke_1 SFX_Fire_1 20 400 2000
122218 113718 0 0 GFX_Smoke_1 SFX_Fire_1 20 450 1200
154550 138036 0 0 GFX_Smoke_1 SFX_Fire_1 21 450 600
154751 139885 0 0 GFX_Smoke_1 SFX_Fire_1 21 250 2000
154732 71360 0 0 GFX_Smoke_1 SFX_Fire_1 22 250 600
154777 69029 0 0 GFX_Smoke_1 SFX_Fire_1 22 200 2000
156175 70181 0 0 GFX_Smoke_1 SFX_Fire_1 22 400 1200

[mcaryf]

Hi Jace11

I have tried that and it is much better than it was.

Many thanks

Mike

[Little Powell]

In QB.csv change Unit Can't Halt entry for IDS_MAP_POND (Greyscale 12) to 1. By default it is set to 0 for the QB map but in all other maps that come with the game, POND is set to 1 for "Unit Can't Halt". This will make it impossible for units to sit in the water and fire. They will still occasionally move through it (especially when retreating) but on the whole they try and avoid it and it solved the problem for me.

Yesterday I also spotted another error in the file with the smoke effects for Lairalle and Grand Pierrepont being set to the wrong color (i.e location). This results in damage to one fort causing smoke to appear at the other. It's easily remedied by swapping the numbers highlighted below (in that file).

124257 113643 0 0 GFX_Smoke_1 SFX_Fire_1 20 300 600
124462 115875 0 0 GFX_Smoke_1 SFX_Fire_1 20 400 2000
122218 113718 0 0 GFX_Smoke_1 SFX_Fire_1 20 450 1200
154550 138036 0 0 GFX_Smoke_1 SFX_Fire_1 21 450 600
154751 139885 0 0 GFX_Smoke_1 SFX_Fire_1 21 250 2000
154732 71360 0 0 GFX_Smoke_1 SFX_Fire_1 22 250 600
154777 69029 0 0 GFX_Smoke_1 SFX_Fire_1 22 200 2000
156175 70181 0 0 GFX_Smoke_1 SFX_Fire_1 22 400 1200

Thank for this; we'll make sure and address these issues in the next patch.

[Asid]

Regarding the pond

Can you not treat it as an obstacle? Like a building. This way the men need to go round and not through. If this is the case then can the men still fire through the space above it?

You could treat it as shallow so the men could wade through. Slowing them down.

I really feel this should be addressed as landmarks and features are at the heart of these games. They should not just be there for eye candy.

Regards

[Saddletank]

Sprites will sometimes walk through buildings as well...

[Asid]

Sprites will sometimes walk through buildings as well...

I have seen this :silly: