National Paint Schemes: For and Against

[Pieter Boelen]

My thoughts:
ON - Current situation
OFF - Any ship can be used by any nation, except those with refShip.nation set, in which case they're used only by that nation

 

[Pieter Boelen]

In PROGRAM\SEA_AI\AIFantom.c find:

        // KK: Periods -->
        if (iNation >= 0 && iNation < NATIONS_QUANTITY) {
            string sNation = GetNationNameByType(iNation);
            if (sNation == "britain") {sNation = "england";} // Screwface : Fix for other nations type under English flag
            if (CheckAttribute(rShip, sNation) == true && stf(rShip.(sNation)) < FRAND(1.0)) continue;
        }
        string sPeriod = GetCurrentPeriod();
        if (CheckAttribute(rShip, "period."+sPeriod) && stf(rShip.period.(sPeriod)) < FRAND(1.0)) continue;
        // KK: Periods <--

Replace with:

        // KK: Periods -->
        if (iNation >= 0 && iNation < NATIONS_QUANTITY) {
            string sNation = GetNationNameByType(iNation);
            if (bArcadeMode) // Replace with another setting if desired
            {
                if (sNation == "britain") {sNation = "england";} // Screwface : Fix for other nations type under English flag
                if (CheckAttribute(rShip, sNation) == true && stf(rShip.(sNation)) < FRAND(1.0)) continue;

            }
            else
            {
                if (sti(GetAttribute(rShip, "nation")) != iNation) continue;
            }
        }
        string sPeriod = GetCurrentPeriod();
        if (CheckAttribute(rShip, "period."+sPeriod) && stf(rShip.period.(sPeriod)) < FRAND(1.0)) continue;
        // KK: Periods <--

Theoretical result:
IF Arcade Game Mode, national chance values are used. If Realistic Game Mode, national chance values are completely ignored.
However, for those few ships that have refShip.nation set, these will only be used by that nation.
So we can still set the Dutch ships to refShip.nation = HOLLAND; to prevent them from sailing around under French flag.

Edit: TWO crucial typos fixed.

 

[Armada]

That seems like quite an elegant solution! Much less hassle than using two sets of national encounter chances.
All we'd need to do is ensure we have any nation-specific ships set to use their relevant refShip.nation lines, and the rest are left to unlimited use.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

Exactly. Easy does the trick on that account. It'd be easy enough to add refShip.nation to ships as soon as people run into inappropriate uses in the game.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

NOTE: If you used by above code, please replace it with the above; I found a stupid, but crucial typo that is now fixed.

Edit: And another one too. The game now actually runs with the above code.

 

[Armada]

LOL, it's amazing how such a small error can break the game so easily.
Good thing you caught that early on, too!

 

[Pieter Boelen]

It's rather obvious once your game refuses to start up. :?

 

[Legendary_Spider]

So how does this work exactly for us who don't know crap about the code? lol

 

[Pieter Boelen]

Find and replace the code I posted above.

Has anyone tried it yet?

 

[Armada]

So how does this work exactly for us who don't know crap about the code? lol

It basically does what Pieter explained above. If you're playing in Arcade mode, the ships will only be used by the nations their colour schemes belong to (e.g white stripe used by the US), but if you're playing Realistic or Iron Man mode, all ships can be used by all nations. The only exceptions will be the ones that are specifically tied to a certain nation (e.g unique Constitution, most Dutch ships etc).

Pieter: I haven't had chance to try it yet, but I might do later today.

 

[Hylie Pistof]

I have not tried it. What I have been doing is in options, selecting "standard" sails. This gives pirates black sails and other ships have national colors on their sails. In this screenie it is easy to see that these ships are flying under the Dutch flag and the 2nd ship is a warship.

 

[Legendary_Spider]

It basically does what Pieter explained above. If you're playing in Arcade mode, the ships will only be used by the nations their colour schemes belong to (e.g white stripe used by the US), but if you're playing Realistic or Iron Man mode, all ships can be used by all nations. The only exceptions will be the ones that are specifically tied to a certain nation (e.g unique Constitution, most Dutch ships etc).

Pieter: I haven't had chance to try it yet, but I might do later today.

Cool. I think everybody will be happy with that. I knew there was a way to please both parties.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

I always figured national emblems on sails are much less realistic than national colour schemes, so that's the reason for the default set-up of the game.
In fact, that's why the default setting also has pirate ships with white sails rather than black.

Does everyone agree on tying this change in with the Realistic vs. Arcade Game Mode switch? Can we tie it into something else? Does it need to be its own setting?
Personally, I don't see national colour schemes as being particularly arcadey. It seems to me rather important for judging ships' nationalities at larger distances in Realistic Game Mode.

 

[Armada]

Personally, I'm fine with the Arcade/Realistic switch. However, if there is any doubt whatsoever that it is the solution to please everyone, then it should become its own toggle.
Maybe the default settings should be national paint schemes for Arcade and non-national for Realistic, but the player should be able to override that setting based on personal preference.

 

[Captain Armstrong]

yeah I think it would definately be best if there was a seperate toggle

 

[Pieter Boelen]

Maybe the default settings should be national paint schemes for Arcade and non-national for Realistic, but the player should be able to override that setting based on personal preference.

That's more difficult than just separate toggles. I suppose then separate it is, eh?

 

[Armada]

OK, simple and separate it is.

 

[Legendary_Spider]

I agree a toggle would be the BEST thing.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

Too bad it introduces another setting though; we spent quite some effort before to decrease the number of settings.

 

[Armada]

Well this setting didn't EXIST back then, and if it did, I'm sure we would have opted to keep it. And it was your suggestion in the first place!