Resize vanilla mission maps and other things

L

Laszlo Kis

Leslie860507
Hi guys and gals. I just looking to get some useful information before I dig myself back to fallout tactics map creation after 15 years (At that time was not even a single person who was able to help me with the map editor) so glad to meet some people who are experts on this matter.

My 3 biggest issues were at that time:

1 How to start creating your own campaign and add more missions (change multiplayer maps to single-player maps to add them to my campaign even)

2 Resize existing maps from the original campaign to add more content to them

3 How to make enemies do complex things like patrolling and be hostile against the player or other similar behavior setup

Any explanation would be priceless (If it come with screenshots then I'll praise your name forever :)
 
Ah hi there! I'll be happy to point you to some useful directions...

1. Making your own campaign involve developping your own campaign.txt file (like this one : https://fallout.fandom.com/wiki/Campaign.txt) and importing it in the Campaign editor (in FT tools.exe). There, you can import part or all of the campaign.txt informations, including the core, special or random maps lists, the random encounters, the recruit pool list and the quartermaster list.

The two last lists work as a series of keynames that you can invoke to do specific things, like add a bunch of items to the quartermaster, or add or remove a recruit. When you import the core map list (please only add missions to the BOTTOM of the list to make sure the placement of ALL the core missions is not lost), the new mission appear in a random spot on the map, so you need to first click the new mission name, then click on the worldmap to place it at the right spot.

You can also import a new worldmap image with its own movement speed map (same .png file name but with a "_something" added to it), but if you do so, prepare to be obliged to redo the entire content of the map, namely the placement of all missions, all random maps and, basically, everything else.

2. Resizing a map in Map editor is easy, BUT sometimes the map is a little bit too close to the west corner of the map maximum size area, the only corner that can never be extended.

Basically, you open you map, press the "Level" tab, than "Set top" button under Camera Bounds. You set the maximum camera zone of your map (yellow border), then you set the bottom part. Check the level of the map to make sure you set it at -1 or 0 "altitude", it will give you better results. If you save, you'll notice that the black gradient is no longer there if you increased the map size. You then need to add tiles and contents to expand the map until you can again see the gradient correctly, indicating that your map stretches correctly until the end of the playable area. You can at any time reduce or expand the map size and quickly save to see the change in the gradient.

3. AI behaviour is always set by players, then by teams. So to program complex behaviour, you first need to press "Level" tab, then "Teams...". You program some teams that will be used by the "players", namely the basic reactions to the player (friendly, neutral, hostile).

You then add a series of players with their assigned team, that will have specific behaviours under the "player..." button and then the "Setup AI..." button.

a) Controller type let you choose if the player is patroling, following random waypoints or specific waypoints. You can always change this whenever you want with triggers during gameplay. You can set a retreat zone too. If you scroll down, you can set Agression, Communication and Mobility scores for that player from 1 to 10. Agression basically determine (I think) the distance and the likeliness of that player to start attacking when they see the main player. At 1, for example, you can be close to that player for a while without any trouble, and they might just do their business without "noticing" you. Communication only happens after the death of one of the entity. The more Communication, the more the other entities of the same player risk knowing of your kill and rush to the scene to attack you. At 10, it covers the whole map. Mobility is the chance the player will start moving between waypoints. At low low value, there will be a long pause between each waypoints. At 10, the player will just jump from one waypoint to another without ever stopping to walk.

Here you go. There are a lot of other small informations to transmit, but ask any questions, I'll do my best to help you.
 
Good morning mate. :) I am so glad to see you're still here and trying to help people like me who are trying to get familiar with the FOT Tools. Thank you for your effort and your detailed answers to my questions. :notworthy:

Since I posted this request I've dived into the Tools and figured out some things thanks to your answer however I am a bit stuck at the moment with the building of my own Campaign. :D

The first thing is I was able to add several missions to the Core/locale/generic_missions (I used one mods campaign and missions to figure out things and learn what's what first so you might be familiar with these missions :D)

So my generic_missions.txt is the following:

team_attackers = {Attackers}
team_defenders = {Defenders}
team_1 = {Team 1}
team_2 = {Team 2}
team_3 = {Team 3}
team_4 = {Team 4}
team_5 = {Team 5}
team_6 = {Team 6}
team_7 = {Team 7}
team_8 = {Team 8}
failure01 = {Rest in peace, Warrior.}
failure02 = {You have perished.}
failure03 = {The wasteland has claimed your life.}
failure04 = {You have died. Your comrades will have to carry on the fight without you.}
//end 2001-01-24
// start 2001-01-26
// CORE MISSION NAMES
mission_name_01 = {Brahmin Wood}
mission_name_02 = {Freeport}
mission_name_03 = {Rock Falls}
mission_name_04 = {Macomb}
mission_name_05 = {Preoria}
mission_name_06 = {Quincy}
mission_name_07 = {Mardin}
mission_name_08 = {St. Louis}
mission_name_09 = {Jefferson}
mission_name_10 = {Kansas City}
mission_name_11 = {Osceolla}
mission_name_12 = {Junction City}
mission_name_13 = {Great Bend}
mission_name_14 = {Coldwater}
mission_name_15 = {Newton}
mission_name_16 = {Canyon City}
mission_name_17 = {Buena Vista}
mission_name_18 = {Scott City}
mission_name_19 = {Cheyenne Mountain}
mission_name_20 = {Vault Zero}
mission_name_21 = {Calculator's Lair}
mission_name_22 = {Ruins}
mission_name_23 = {Kalgar's Hideout}
mission_name_24 = {Mentats Lab}
mission_name_25 = {Buffout Lab}
mission_name_26 = {City Ruins}
mission_name_27 = {Shell Station}
mission_name_28 = {Quartz}
mission_name_29 = {Gargantua's Lair}
mission_name_30 = {Jackson City}
mission_name_31 = {Village}
mission_name_32 = {GreenVille}
mission_name_33 = {Satellite Station}
mission_name_34 = {Loc07}
mission_name_35 = {Loc08}
mission_name_36 = {Vault 16}
mission_name_37 = {Clip Town}
mission_name_38 = {Chili Clan}
mission_name_39 = {Ridgeway}
mission_name_40 = {Fortress City}
mission_name_41 = {RoadHouse}
mission_name_42 = {South Lake City}
mission_name_43 = {Airfield}
mission_name_44 = {Fertile Fields}
mission_name_45 = {Outpost Bunker}
mission_name_46 = {Loc19}
mission_name_47 = {Loc20}
mission_name_48 = {Sleeper Base}
mission_name_49 = {Alkida Mountain}
mission_name_50 = {The Forbidden Zone}
mission_name_51 = {Agarapichu}
mission_name_53 = {Caravan Camp}
mission_name_54 = {Prison Transport}
mission_name_55 = {Lakeside Home}
mission_name_56 = {Mountain Home}
mission_name_57 = {Estate Home}
mission_name_58 = {Agricultural Bunker}
mission_name_59 = {Prison Island}
mission_name_60 = {Sanctuary Island}
mission_name_61 = {Shoreline}
mission_name_62 = {Dirt Haven}
mission_name_63 = {Graveyard}
mission_name_00 = {Springfield}
// UNIQUE ENCOUNTER NAMES
mission_name_Z01 = {The Pipboy}
mission_name_Z02 = {Morte}
mission_name_Z03 = {Deathclaw Liberation}
mission_name_Z04 = {Canadian Invasion}
mission_name_Z05 = {Invasion Recreationists}
mission_name_Z06 = {Bazaar Day}
mission_name_Z07 = {Brahmin Poker}
mission_name_Z08 = {Pitch Black}
mission_name_Z09 = {L33tists}
mission_name_Z10 = {CPF vs PFC}
mission_name_Z11 = {B1000}
mission_name_Z12 = {Four Horsemen}
mission_name_Z14 = {Phil}
mission_name_Z15 = {Gas Station}
mission_name_Z16 = {Reaver Dance}
mission_name_Z17 = {Mir}
mission_name_Z18 = {Komodo Man}
mission_name_Z19 = {Brahmin Armor}
mission_name_Z20 = {Sixth Sense}
mission_name_Z21 = {Amelia}
mission_name_Z22 = {Brahmin Tipping}
mission_name_Z23 = {Titanic}
mission_name_Z24 = {Uprising}
mission_name_Z25 = {Brothers Grimm}
mission_name_Z26 = {Coppertops}
mission_name_Z27 = {Wabbits}
mission_name_Z28 = {Field Clinic}
mission_name_Z29 = {Goo Pond}
// BUNKER MISSION NAMES
mission_name_B01 = {Bunker Alpha}
mission_name_B02 = {Bunker Bravo}
mission_name_B03 = {Bunker Charlie}
mission_name_B04 = {Bunker Delta}
mission_name_B05 = {Bunker Epsilon}
mission_unknown = {Unknown}
mission_complete = {Complete}

Also I've added some new lines to the Core/tables/campaign.txt as well:

// CORE MISSION DEFINITIONS
// Format is path;name;radius;state;isBunker
// state can be covered visited uncovered
cores = {
"campaigns/missions/core/mission01.mis;mission_name_01;37;visited;false",
"campaigns/missions/core/mission02.mis;mission_name_02;37;covered;false",
"campaigns/missions/core/mission03.mis;mission_name_03;37;covered;false",
"campaigns/missions/core/mission04.mis;mission_name_04;37;covered;false",
"campaigns/missions/core/mission05.mis;mission_name_05;37;covered;false",
"campaigns/missions/core/mission06.mis;mission_name_06;37;covered;false",
"campaigns/missions/core/mission07.mis;mission_name_07;37;covered;false",
"campaigns/missions/core/mission09.mis;mission_name_08;37;covered;false",
"campaigns/missions/core/mission10.mis;mission_name_09;37;covered;false",
"campaigns/missions/core/mission11.mis;mission_name_10;37;covered;false",
"campaigns/missions/core/mission12.mis;mission_name_11;37;covered;false",
"campaigns/missions/core/mission15.mis;mission_name_12;37;covered;false",
"campaigns/missions/core/mission16.mis;mission_name_13;37;covered;false",
"campaigns/missions/core/mission17.mis;mission_name_14;37;covered;false",
"campaigns/missions/core/mission19.mis;mission_name_15;37;covered;false",
"campaigns/missions/core/mission21.mis;mission_name_16;37;covered;false",
"campaigns/missions/core/mission22.mis;mission_name_17;37;covered;false",
"campaigns/missions/core/mission23.mis;mission_name_18;37;covered;false",
"campaigns/missions/core/mission24.mis;mission_name_19;37;covered;false",
"campaigns/missions/core/mission25.mis;mission_name_20;37;covered;false",
"campaigns/missions/core/mission26.mis;mission_name_21;37;covered;false",
"campaigns/missions/core/mission08.mis;mission_name_00;37;covered;false",
//==============================================================================
// BUNKER MISSION DEFINITIONS
"campaigns/missions/core/bunker01.mis;mission_name_B01;25;covered;true",
"campaigns/missions/core/bunker02.mis;mission_name_B02;25;covered;true",
"campaigns/missions/core/bunker03.mis;mission_name_B03;25;covered;true",
"campaigns/missions/core/bunker04.mis;mission_name_B04;25;covered;true",
"campaigns/missions/core/bunker05.mis;mission_name_B05;25;covered;true",
//==============================================================================
"campaigns/missions/core/mission27 Ruins;mission_name_22;5;uncovered;false",
"campaigns/missions/core/mission28 Kalgar's Hideout;mission_name_23;17;uncovered;false",
"campaigns/missions/core/mission29 Mentats Lab;mission_name_24;25;uncovered;false",
"campaigns/missions/core/mission30 Buffout Lab.mis;mission_name_25;30;uncovered;false",
"campaigns/missions/core/mission31 City Ruins;mission_name_26;22;uncovered;false",
"campaigns/missions/core/mission32 Shell Station.mis;mission_name_27;8;uncovered;false",
"campaigns/missions/core/mission33 Quartz;mission_name_28;37;uncovered;false",
"campaigns/missions/core/mission34 Gargantua's Lair;mission_name_29;25;uncovered;false",
"campaigns/missions/core/mission35 Jackson City.mis;mission_name_30;37;uncovered;false",
"campaigns/missions/core/mission36 Village.mis;mission_name_31;17;uncovered;false",
"campaigns/missions/core/mission37 GreenVille.mis;mission_name_32;25;uncovered;false",
"campaigns/missions/core/mission38 Satellite Station.mis;mission_name_33;8;uncovered;false",
"campaigns/missions/core/mission39 LOC07.mis;mission_name_34;37;uncovered;false",
"campaigns/missions/core/mission39 LOC08.mis;mission_name_35;37;uncovered;false",
"campaigns/missions/core/mission40 Vault 16.mis;mission_name_36;25;uncovered;false",
"campaigns/missions/core/mission41 Clip Town.mis;mission_name_37;17;uncovered;false",
"campaigns/missions/core/mission42 Chili Clan.mis;mission_name_38;15;uncovered;false",
"campaigns/missions/core/mission43 Ridgeway.mis;mission_name_39;11;uncovered;false",
"campaigns/missions/core/mission44 Fortress City.mis;mission_name_40;44;uncovered;false",
"campaigns/missions/core/mission45 RoadHouse.mis;mission_name_41;20;uncovered;false",
"campaigns/missions/core/mission46 South Lake City.mis;mission_name_42;37;uncovered;false",
"campaigns/missions/core/mission47 Airfield.mis;mission_name_43;8;uncovered;false",
"campaigns/missions/core/mission48 Fertile Fields.mis;mission_name_44;25;uncovered;false",
"campaigns/missions/core/mission49 Outpost Bunker.mis;mission_name_45;8;uncovered;false",
"campaigns/missions/core/mission50 LOC19.mis;mission_name_46;15;uncovered;false",
"campaigns/missions/core/mission51 LOC20.mis;mission_name_47;8;uncovered;false",
"campaigns/missions/core/mission52 Sleeper Base.mis;mission_name_48;15;uncovered;false",
"campaigns/missions/core/mission53 Alkida Mountain.mis;mission_name_49;25;uncovered;false",
"campaigns/missions/core/mission54 The Forbidden Zone.mis;mission_name_50;37;uncovered;false",
"campaigns/missions/core/mission55 Agarapichu.mis;mission_name_51;15;uncovered;false",
"campaigns/missions/core/mission57 Caravan Camp.mis;mission_name_53;8;uncovered;false",
"campaigns/missions/core/mission58 Prison Transport.mis;mission_name_54;8;uncovered;false",
"campaigns/missions/core/mission59 Lakeside Home.mis;mission_name_55;8;uncovered;false",
"campaigns/missions/core/mission60 Mountain Home.mis;mission_name_56;8;uncovered;false",
"campaigns/missions/core/mission61 Estate Home.mis;mission_name_57;8;uncovered;false",
"campaigns/missions/core/mission62 Agricultural Bunker.mis;mission_name_58;8;uncovered;false",
"campaigns/missions/core/mission63 Prison Island.mis;mission_name_59;8;uncovered;false",
"campaigns/missions/core/mission64 Shoreline.mis;mission_name_61;22;uncovered;false",
"campaigns/missions/core/mission65.Dirt Haven.mis;mission_name_62;8;uncovered;false",
"campaigns/missions/core/mission66 Graveyard.mis;mission_name_63;8;uncovered;false",
}
//==============================================================================

However I am not familiar with some things:

for example campaigns/missions/core/mission66 Graveyard;mission_name_63;8;uncovered;false",

I understand what the content means after the core/ until the first ; (but I am not sure is this ok or should I just name my missions like "mission66.mis" or should I miss something because after I load my campaign on campaign editor and try to import missions the names of the missions coming up "Unknown" instead of their from generic_missions.txt that I gave to them.

- Also what does the second number means after the first ";" the size of the mission circle on the campaign map?

- What means covered, uncovered, visited means after the second ";"

- What does the "false" mean after the 3rd ";

Now I think that is for now but I hope after these problems are solved I can ask more questions to you if anything emerges :notworthy:

Looking forward to working with you nadeauhugo :ok:
 
Ah it's a real pleasure. I enjoy some good knowledge test from time to time, and it's not like it is difficult as I swim (and drown...) in this sinced so long :P So, le'ts get to business :)

- The second parameter really is anything you want it to be. It is just important to use the exact same name in your file, like you did on top: mission_name_B03 = {Bunker Charlie}. You could call it "bunker03" and it will work perfectly. It is a bit conterintuitive as the engine sometimes require the "name_" and "desc_" code words, and sometimes they do not, but still use them! So in entity editor for instance, your label might be "Chocolate", but your entries in items.txt will be name_Chocolate and desc_Chocolate. in generic_mission.txt, "name_" or "mission_name_" is never required, so you might as well not use it.

- Unknown: Any mission marked as "Uncovered" will display the label "Unknown" until you first visit the map. Then the map will stay green, but display the proper name. To show the mission name as soon as the location is revealed, use "Visited" instead. Another counter-intuitive set of keywords...

- If you want the green circle to turn grey upon visit, you simply use the "End mission" option in the map triggers. To end a mission like this, you need to use the code name for the mission, which is the infamous "mission_name_B03". If you use "Bunker03" instead, for instance, using it as a code name makes more sense too and is easier to remember.

- Yep, the second number represent the size of the circle, as seen in "core/gui/misc/worldm/". There are 4 sizes, again with somewhat unhelpful names : location10, location20, locationL and locationS. I realized that using value 10, 20, 25 (locationS) and 40 (locationL) was enough to properly use those 4 locations without thinking about the numbers much. But the precise number influence the name label position. Like if you chose 45 instead of 40, the label will be lowered by some pixels away from the circle. Can be useful if you have a bunch of missions glued together and you want to micro-manage them one by one. I also use 0 for the size of some hidden maps I don't want the player to ever visit, marking them as "covered" as well.

- So covered means that the mission in invisible, waiting for a trigger to mark it as uncovered or visible. Uncovered means it will be visible, in the list to the right of the worldmap, but marked as unknown. Visited is, like in Tactics, visible, in the list to the right and with the proper name.

- False: It means the mission is not visible as a bunker. If it was, it would still not change much. It would only mark the circle as blue instead of green, and that's it. You would not be able to save in this map if you have the bonus XP option, for that the map has to be flagged as a bunker for this.

Have fun with your campaign :D
 
Good afternoon nadeauhugo and thank you for the quick and again detailed answer, really appreciate the effort. :notworthy:

This time to implement your advice into action probably I need more time to try and digest them because tbh it's not as easy as it seems for the first lance but I'll try my best :)

So regarding displaying all the mission's names on the world map is to change the attribute from "uncovered" to "visited" on the relevant ".txt" file during the time until I place them to the right spot on the world map then change back them to "uncovered" so I would be able to reproduce the original mission progress on the map? :D

Also, It is possible to change my own campaign and update the mission order list to my own without any issue if I decide to keep the original mission flow? Or in that case, I should keep them as they then use the order as it is just now?

Like I want to add the 2 demo missions to my campaign but I want them to be attached to the First bunker :roll:

Like on the mission to cd I have to add my custom mission to this load order or it won't be relevant? If it's not relevant how to tell the game and create my custom mission order list? (Sorry for the odd explanation but I'm new to this part and I hope I could explain myself in the right manner :D

So for example am I have to change anything on this "txt"?

bunker01 = {A}
bunker02 = {B}
bunker03 = {C}
bunker04 = {D}
bunker05 = {E}

mission08 = {B}

mission01 = {A}
mission02 = {A}
mission03 = {A}

mission04 = {B}
mission05 = {B}
mission06 = {B}
mission07 = {B}

mission09 = {C}
mission10 = {C}
mission11 = {C}
mission12 = {C}

mission15 = {D}
mission16 = {D}
mission17 = {D}
mission19 = {D}

mission21 = {E}
mission22 = {E}
mission23 = {E}

mission24 = {E}
mission25 = {F}
mission26 = {F}

Also if I want to change this "txt"

// CORE MISSION NAMES
mission_name_01 = {Brahmin Wood}
mission_name_02 = {Freeport}
mission_name_03 = {Rock Falls}
mission_name_04 = {Macomb}
mission_name_05 = {Preoria}
mission_name_06 = {Quincy}
mission_name_07 = {Mardin}
mission_name_08 = {St. Louis}
mission_name_09 = {Jefferson}
mission_name_10 = {Kansas City}
mission_name_11 = {Osceolla}
mission_name_12 = {Junction City}
mission_name_13 = {Great Bend}
mission_name_14 = {Coldwater}
mission_name_15 = {Newton}
mission_name_16 = {Canyon City}
mission_name_17 = {Buena Vista}
mission_name_18 = {Scott City}
mission_name_19 = {Cheyenne Mountain}
mission_name_20 = {Vault Zero}
mission_name_21 = {Calculator's Lair}
mission_name_22 = {Ruins}
mission_name_23 = {Kalgar's Hideout}
mission_name_24 = {Mentats Lab}
mission_name_25 = {Buffout Lab}
mission_name_26 = {City Ruins}
mission_name_27 = {Shell Station}
mission_name_28 = {Quartz}

ects...


To this:

// CORE MISSION NAMES
mission_name_01 = {Brahmin Wood}
mission_name_02 = {Freeport}
mission_name_03 = {Rock Falls}
mission_name_04 = {Dirt Haven}
mission_name_05 = {Graveyard}
mission_name_06 = {Macomb}
mission_name_07 = {Preoria}
mission_name_08 = {Quincy}
mission_name_09 = {Mardin}
mission_name_10 = {St. Louis}
mission_name_11 = {Jefferson}
mission_name_12 = {Kansas City}
mission_name_13 = {Osceolla}
mission_name_14 = {Junction City}
mission_name_15 = {Great Bend}
mission_name_16 = {Coldwater}
mission_name_17 = {Newton}
mission_name_18 = {Canyon City}
mission_name_19 = {Buena Vista}
mission_name_20 = {Scott City}
mission_name_21 = {Cheyenne Mountain}
mission_name_22 = {Vault Zero}
mission_name_23 = {Calculator's Lair}
mission_name_24 = {Ruins}
mission_name_25 = {Kalgar's Hideout}
mission_name_26 = {Mentats Lab}
mission_name_27 = {Buffout Lab}
mission_name_28 = {City Ruins}
mission_name_19 = {Shell Station}
mission_name_30 = {Quartz}

ects...

Is that ok or do I must maintain the original mission order at any cost? Asli if it is a working condition then can I proceed to add more new missions that are assigned to Bunker 01 then Bunker 02 ects...

Thank you for your answer :notworthy:
 
Last edited:
Hi again :D

I think you can simply stick with uncovered if this is the way you want the game to display your maps, namely without their name until the city is properly visited. You can always see the mission code names list to the left of Campaign editor, so you know which one you click and place. But of course for more clear label on the worldmap while placing the missions, you can assign all of them to visited or covered, import and place them on the map, change them again in campaign.txt and import them again to hide their label.

The .txt example you shown me with letters seems to be good. You either use "mission15", "mission16", etc. or "mission_name_15", "mission_name_16", etc. In your mission list in campaign.txt, if you chose "mission15" system, you write your list like this :
Code: 
"campaigns/missions/core/mission15Great Bend.mis;mission15;8;uncovered;false",

Each and every .txt file you will encounter while modding EXCEPT campaign.txt will do nicely with any order. I usually sort all my .txt files, like items.txt and characters.txt alphabetically. It will only matter if you do the mistake of adding twice the same entry, like this :

Code: 
mission_name_19 = {Buena Vista}
mission_name_20 = {Scott City}
mission_name_19 = {Cheyenne Mountain}
I you do that, then mission 19 will use the name "Cheyenne Mountain" as it will be the last to be loaded.

Concerning campaign.txt mission maps importation, I really recommend you keep the original mission maps list as is and add your own missions AFTER it. You can of course sort the list the way you want it to be, but keep in mind that as soon as you make ONE change from the original list mission paths, all the mission placements will be lost and you will have to start over. But as long as you don't change any file path or the file paths order, you can make changes to the list without the placement being reset, like changing their code names. Just make some tests and see how it turns out :D
 
Good morning :D

thank you for the reply again its really helpful and I think I am getting there to understand this list (old programs are so difficult to use and assign anything, even the Fallout Creation Kit is feeling easier to use despite that is on full 3D :D but I'll be getting there, of course, thanks to you buddy :))

I am glad I did not make this so difficult for you and myself either but now there are a few other things that I want to ask about because I want to make sure I'll do it right (at least the second time :D)

So if I keep the original mission order then how can I make the game attach my extra missions to bunker Alpha for example? I want the new missions to be revealed as the old campaign one by one After Bunker to Bunker. How should I do this? :) Should I use the old CD loader ".txt" file to achieve this (like above)?

Secondly, If I add new missions I have to rename all the relevant files and folders (like speech folders under the LOCALE folder) in the Core folder to match that mission in the campaign.txt?

Thank you for the answers :D
 
Good morning!

Oh okay, I have to introduce you to triggers a bit. You see, it does not matter the order of the missions or the possible CD attached to the missions as they are not used by the game. What is used to reveal the missions or complete them are triggers set up in the maps themselves, either the bunkers or the mission maps. After you made the worldmap as you want it, you'll reveal and show the missions manually in the bunkers using triggers.

1. Tactics most of the time use campaign variables (variables remembered between all missions) to indicate a mission have been done, for example. Then the bunker detect that variable and reveal the next mission maps. Using the trigger "Set mission state" (to covered, uncovered or visited).

2. General (like general Barnaky) works as follows: using triggers in the mission itself, the mission is ended: trigger "end mission", making its circle grey. This will also mark the mission as completed in the general's list. To add a mission to that list, in green, you use the trigger "open mission". Both these triggers use the map code name, like "Mission26" or "Mission_name_26".

3. I don't know much about quartermaster, but you can also unlock items after missions, based on campaign variables again, with the "Add items to quartermaster list" trigger if I remember correctly. But there is an extra step as a needed rank is required for each item in campaign.txt.

4. Again, recruit master works the same, you call new recruits after missions using their global variables and a trigger (I forgot the name of it, but it looks like "Modify Recruit list", something like that).

As you can see, you'll have to go into the bunker and mission maps a little bit and see how they were done. So a bit more work than you thought, but it is pretty straightforward. And as it is not automatic, you have more freedom to play with all those. So you can make instead an item or science terminal give a new mission, for example, or a conversation in the bunker. You can even unlock some missions only if the player has reach a certain level or rank.
 
Good evening nadeauhugo :)

Sorry for the late reply I had a pretty busy day today with my final exam at college so it was a very busy day for me but I am really appreciated your answer as usual.

Yesterday I vetured into the triggers a bit and they looks quite difficult to understand for the firt glance so I decide to too some pictures and will sahre it with you make it clear which trigger doing what if thats ok (feels free to modified them and highlight the right trigger to me if to make it more simpler I would really appreciat it :D

https://ibb.co/PgYsCm7
https://ibb.co/gzndSD7
https://ibb.co/wM7zsrF

First things first I wnat to sort this out then Want to start focusing smaller things :D

Btw I was trying to open some of your missions in the editor but the maps are complete empty, however when I opened your worldmap I was amazed :D How did you created this unique worldmap? :O

Also I've tried to find some old maps across the internet (I posted in an another topicm thank you so much for the answer as well :notworthy:) but I rememeber there was alot more maps available but can't find the links. Is there any chance you have your own collection to share? :D

Also this is now releated to the campaign editing but want to ask because it's bugging me, so I've tried to modifiy a map and I've tried to put a door between two rooms but the doors under entities not tiles and I've noticed they are not easy to deploy then the walls or other tiles :D How should I place a door to the right place so it will blend into the right place not stand out from the wall?

Thank you for your answer. :notworthy:
 
Hello hello!

Good let me check that

Triggers
All the CVAR_ are campaign variables, so they are used to communicate between missions and bunker. As in the first picture you are in a bunker, it means each of those CVAR is used to change the behaviour of that bunker based on completed missions. You will see things like changes in the state of the bunker affecting the general speeches, dialogues of some characters, or even the addition of the next bunker. You might find there also the removal or apparition of some NPC, that are programmed to "appear" at the bunker after some missions. They all rely on campaign variables set in the missions.

SPEECH EVENT - This hook can fire after you talked to a NPC : "Speech occured" trigger is very useful to give items to the player, complete an objective, make the NPC dash to safety, etc. etc.

DEBRIEF - Debrief is a special action that you can "build up" using various text entries and positions (like : Add the entry "You_failed_nicely" at position 0, Add the entry "But_you_succeded_here" at position 1), creating a debrief text on the go. You then use a trigger action to display the debrief text at the end of the mission and voilà.

Worldmap
Okay first the worldmap you see in The Sum is probably the third or fourth version, so it evolved quite a bunch since the beginning of the project! I'm very happy about it now, but it used to be ugly as hell ha. To maybe help you in your quest, I will tell you how it went and what I learned from it:

- My first map was a bit overconfident. I tried to make it "final" and it really was not ready, so it was for nothing as I had to make it again and again. It was too similar to the satellite map I used to create it. I was not even sure what I wanted to do with it. For example, it was filled with highways numbers, highly visible roads and icons that were confusing to the player. It was also not conveying enough the feeling of a post-apocalyptic world. So the best is to keep it very simple like in Fallout 1. Terrain + easy-to-spot city ruins + water and mountains to act as landmarks.
- To save some work, I should have made a simple test map and wait until I was sure of what I want before making the worldmap. It is more a final content than a starting content the way I see it.
- My map is too large. I should have done something way smaller to save on work. It helps to convey the sense of emptiness and wilderness, but as I am implementing a travel hunger system, I realize this map is just TOO BIGGGG :P It will help the player have multiple playthroughs and focuss on some specific areas, but still...
- The worldmap is highly dependant on the landscapes (or random encounter) maps. So don't start adding different landscapes if you are not ready to add their corresponding random maps. Nothing worse than entering a random map to realize you don't end up in a city or near a lake like you planned, or that the worldmap has nothing to do with the random maps and you only cycle between a bunch of terrains. Don't hesitate to "steal" my random maps for your needs. I highly recommand you don't take my (250) maps (it is a torture when you need to work with them all), but maybe take some of them and remove all their triggers, important. If you keep them, the game will probably crash.
- Here are two pictures. Old stuff (my second or third worldmap I think), but it will give you an idea of what to do. The first is the map to import in .png - not .jpg - (map.png) and the second is the included movement rate map, also in .png, that needs to have the same filename with a "_move" attached to it (map_move.png). If you add full black zones (no movement allowed), please make a very clear distinction between movement (grey) and no movement (black). Don't go too close to full black using gradients. I realized on a previous version of my worldmap that the moving cursor might get completely or almost completely STUCK in those in-between zones...

Editor maps
Some of my maps (my starting maps) appear black, it is because I added a black "fog" to hide them for some seconds, the time I needed to teleport the main player to another location. You should be able to easily see all other maps and play with them.

Level maps
Ah yess you really need to understand the difference between tiles and entities. Basically, tiles are unclickable (except ladders) and takes very low ressources. Entities takes up more ressources to process, often dissapear if they are not in your field of view, and almost all of them can die (except of course doors and containers). Tiles are created using .zar and Entities using .spr (.bmp). Entities and tiles uses the same type of collision boxes, and all turn red if they have a collision with another tile or entity. To be able to place a door without getting an headache, make sure you have a "hole" that have 6 small squares large, and a hight of 10. Walls have usually a high of 12, so you normally need to add a "cap" on top of the door to compensate for the block of 2 missing. Some rare doors have a hight of the full 12, like container doors, so you don't need the "cap". What I do is just drag a door with the mouse, after making sure I am at the right floor (meter to the right with the various background colors). You can change the floor you are in using the mouse wheel. You will notice if you make it right that when you drag a door with the mouse, it just fits.

Have fun and come back to me when you need some more pointers.
 

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Good evening nadeauhugo :)

Thank you for the reply again it helped me a bit to understand some of these things but still, a few things are blank so I have to put some time into this to practice but now I need to focus on my course for a few weeks so progress may be halted a bit until the end of the month but will try my best :D

Thank you so much to let me use some of your maps however when I open any of your maps they are completely empty :O Nothing on them at all but they definitely contain data but in some way, they just appear empty when I load them on Tools :( Yours, not the only one I encountered a few other campaign mods doing the same doesn't matter which mission I load up :( Is there encryption on them so just the authorized person will be able to use them after you gave permission or else?

Oh also is there a limit to how many missions I can use on the campaign? Like 256 or 512 like the plugins on Fallout 3 or 4? :D Old games are used to have these limitations so I want to ask just in case :D

Thank you for the answer and will go and try to figure out the other things you just shared with me :D Looking forward to hearing from you :D
 
Heho. Don't think there are limitations regarding the number of maps, never heard of them and certainly never experienced them. So it is a good sign. Regarding map that appear empty, It might be because of 2 things. I used a program called FT Improver to make my maps, it allows some more scripts and tweeks. But it might happen than these maps are permanently changed in a way that ft tools is not able to load them anymore. Another reason might be simply that you try to open them with your folders, and those folders does not contain the tiles folders I heavily used for my maps. Clearly a BAD practice, but I was so confused with the vanilla folders that I made my own. They are located in the tiles folders and all have a + and spaces before another name. Still, another bad practice as I think it creates problems with wine ports of the game... too bad as I wanted to create a Linux version of my mod.
 
Good morning nadeauhugo :)

Thank you for your reply as always :)

It's really good to hear this game does not have those annoying limitations so we can add as much content as possible to the game so we can enjoy it :D

I just downloaded the FT Improver and was able to open your maps as you instructed however now the maps have tile gaps on them (probably because you mentioned your tiles are on different folders :D) so I am trying to sort those hope the issue will disappear. However, if it doesn't then what would cause the issue? So I should put back the tile folders together or I can leave them as they are until they are in the Tiles folder? :D

Some screenshots are below:

https://ibb.co/PcsnWJz
https://ibb.co/vdG9qNR
https://ibb.co/N6rVH66

May I ask just briefly what scripts you mentioned earlier and how those scripts can change a map? :) Also there are some big maps that I've tried to make a screenshot and I've got the "out of memory" message what is funny though cause I have 16GB of ram currently :D

Haha, don't worry every inventor going through the same until there's a solution then the problem can be solved :D

Also A wee question: Is there any chance you can modify the speed how you can explore the world map? Like it's slower when you don't have the hummer and much faster after that. I think it was available on FT2 somewhere or at least I've read it somewhere but cannot remember how to do it :D

Thank you for your answer as always :D
 
Haha yess, this happens to me too, the "out of memory" error. But not with a lot of maps. As it is a 32 bit old program, I guess this is as far as it can get. In no way those kind of old engines can use the potential of your machine or mine... :P But, yeah, that's ok. I usually launch 2-3-4 times Tactics in different processes at the same time, so I'm happy I have more capacity in my old box that what is needed by the game. Very practical when working on some maps, at the same time as entities, etc.

Worldmap speed: That's interesting... I never knew it was even possible to modify that, appart from changing the speed map like I showed you, or like you said using a vehicle. Don't know if using a tank is slower than using a scouter, though. I guess so...?

Ha, I found the pictures you sent me very funny, and also a form of negative witness to all the time I spent on those maps... All those holes are effectively the tiles from my "+ XXXX" folders. The maps look so empty, too, without the big number of plants I usually add to them. I will tell you: don't mind adding my tiles folders or any others. Mine are only 200mb in total for all of them sinced I started modding. And as I borrowed many maps for other creators, I had of course to implement their crazy folder names conventions too, that in no way are better than mine... This is why in The sum I have 35 folders to start with when opening the tiles folders, silly things like "New Tiles", "NEW", "myTiles", "fanTiles" and "test"... that I can't assemble the courage to remove, as some unknown maps will probably get allllll fucked... I managed to clean my entity folders some weeks ago, but the tiles will stay as is... :P

About the scripts that can change the map, here are the ones I know and use :

Open mission : Add the mission to the general's list, to show the briefing. You can do without if you don't use the general in your mod.
Mission Complete : Turn the green circle of the mission (by codename) grey.
End Mission : Go to Main Menu, World Map, Death Screen, Fail Screen or Win Screen. In a way, only World Map is useful :P
Set mission State : Hide (covered), reveal (uncovered) or reveal and show the name (visited) of a mission on the Worldmap.
Goto Mission : Instantly teleport to a chosen mission (by codename).
Modify RecruitPool list : Start an effect in your recruitpool list, using it's tagname.
Add items to QuarterMaster list : Same thing, but with items. You can use the same tagname multiple times for, let's say, add a piece of fruit, a Power Armor and a knife with one call of the function.
Set Random Encounter Enable : Interesting function to enable or disable any random encounter from the worldmap. If you kill all the rabbits, they might never come back :P

Here you go. I think it is the complete list in regard to missions.
 
Good morning nadeauhugo, sorry for the late reply just have to work on my college stuff (have a few assessments going on that make me way busier than I should) :D

Regarding the "out of memory" issue is there any way you can bypass or what is the map size limit for the program before it crashes? :D

Well regarding the world map speed its pretty obvious when you roaming the map (like before you obtain any vehicle) your movement on the map is much slower (then after you obtain the hummer and the tank it will catch up to their speed) then it is different after you roaming the map with vehicle so there's must be a setting somewhere where you could change this (cause despite its a huge distance between Chicago and Vault 0) cause its bit unrealistic to go around the map with this speed after you obtain any vehicle don't you think? :D

Well regarding the "empty tiles" problem, I just moved all the tiles from your folder as it was to my own fallout tactics folder and loaded them up but they look exactly the same (missing tiles) is there any way I can fix them this? :O So I have to keep the tiles in their original folder as you named them otherwise the tools won't find them and that's why they still look like missing tiles on the picture?

regarding the scripts: I'll try to use them as soon as I fixed the missing tiles problem so I don't even tried them just yet (plus wanna finish this semester at the college as well so need to study a bit more than after hopefully can dive into the deeper depths of the mission editing business :D

Looking forward to hearing from you as usual :D
 
I again! I am unsure how long it was sinced you wrote me, with I did not take my time too much to answer to you!

Yeah first, the "out of memory" issue can be bypassed in three ways:

1. By creating an alternative map with less entities and tiles. You first open the map using the "Open Tiles Only" option, getting rid of all the entities (the downside of this is that you will lose the doors too). Then you save that mission under another name to make sure you don't overwrite your map and lose everything. If the issue is still there, you remove all tiles under the floor level (usualy -1) as anyways you will not see them while creating an image.

2. By rendering only half the map. If that does not work, you select about half the map (all levels) using the tile selection tool + holding alt, then you remove that half. You can Ctrl+z your way to recover that half after or just reload the map. If it still does not work with that, it means your map is just plain too big an you should use the third trick.

3. By making screenshots. You make sure you have the highest screen resolution possible (4k is best), and you make sure your screen scaling is 100%. Then you open your level editor in fullscreen. You setup in the view menu the entities and tiles you want to see, and you place your view to a high level to see the whole map without seeing through buildings. Then you start to make screenshots of the map, one screen at a time. Your screenshots might only save in the clipboard, so continuously paste them to Photoshop or another tool as you make them, all in the same file, as layers. Then crop that file and recompose the picture from the map bits. This is a bit tiresome, but if this is your only option, at least you still have a way to get the full picture of your map.

Concerning vehicle, it is true that the movement is way too high. It was created with an improved gameplay in mind, but it is far from being realistic... Having a vehicle in the wastes have more chance of being counter productive than productive, and in so many places the vehicle might get stuck.... The game should have a second movement map completely for cars, making movement more fast in some areas and damn impossible or more slow in some other areas. I can't see how a humvee or even a scout vehicle could run through forests and mountains at high speed...

And finally as for the tiles problem, you really need to have the exact same folder names than me, or the tiles will not appear... You're stuck with those folder names. But a nice way to deal with them, in my opinion, is to add as little as possible, check the maps, and as soon as you have all your maps with the correct tiles, you forget about the rest of the tiles folders from other creators...

Hugo
 
Hi mate. Sorry for the late reply but I had to focus on my final exam in the last few weeks to get to Uni this September but now I can finally finish the exams and will be able to have some real fun with the Tactics missions :)

So regarding the last thing we discussed: I will try to use your tips to snapshot any maps that are slightly bigger than the rest hope I can work around the issue so thank you to let me know these options. :D

regarding the door, entity is a bit tricky for me cause I've tried to use your tips from before but still cannot figure it out so if you'd be kind and provide me a wee video about the process would be amazing if it's not that big hassle :D

Regarding the movement speed on the map I'll try to dig into some files and look for some evidence that can lead to this moving speed because that would be awesome if we can reduce the vehicle moving speed to a bit more realistic don't you think? :D

Anyways regarding to the missing tiles I just sorted that problem out by just adding your own folders to the original ones gladly that wasn't take too much space at all too keep them and the original ones :D Now I try to dig into the other stuff that controls the missions so I can start setting up them and put them in order :D It won't be easy but now I have the free time till the middle of September so can't wait. :D Hope to see some progress ;)
 
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