Alpha I thought about that too(tracking improvements) and here is what i came up with:

have a variable say isDrought - and default it to -1.
When we have a drought set it to three and then decrement it bu 1 each turn. when it gets to zero remove the improvment and set it to -1. Too easy. Anyway the code that can be added to mine is:
1+2. Drought/Good Weather Building
I can't work out how to add a building to a city. anyone?
3. Add a earthquake code.

I also took the liberty to add floods as a natural disaster as there is already a flood function.

Enough rambling lets post some crappy code

code:

---

#include "msg.slc"
HandleEvent(BeginTurn) 'FirstTurn' pre
{
	Message (g.player, 'StartMessage'); //Message when you start a game
	DisableTrigger('FirstTurn')
}
HandleEvent(BeginTurn) 'EveryTurn' pre 
{
	int_t DisasterType;
	int_t FloodStrength;
	
	int_t isDrought; //Used to determing whether we are is drought, or something else.
	isDrought = -1;
	//The next will do two checks. If it is greater than zero, decrement.
	//If it is 0 then destroy all the 'Drought' buildings and set it to -1
	if (isDrought > 0) {
		isDrought = isDrought - 1;
	}
	
	elseif (isDrought == 0) {
		isDrought = -1;
		Message (g.player, 'DroughtEnd'); //Message when drought ends
	}
	
	int_t isWeather; //Used to determing whether we are is drought, or something else.
	isWeather = -1;
	//The next will do two checks. If it is greater than zero, decrement.
	//If it is 0 then destroy all the 'Drought' buildings and set it to -1
	if (isWeather > 0) {
		isWeather = isWeather - 1;
	}
	
	elseif (isWeather == 0) {
		isWeather = -1;
		Message (g.player, 'WeatherEnd'); //Message when good wheather ends
	}
	
	//Start the disaster code here
	
	DisasterType = random (10);
	if (DisasterType == 1)
	{
		Message (g.player, 'DroughtBegin'); 
		//Create the building 'Drought'
		for(m = 0; m <= player.cities; m = m + 1){
			//Insert Building Code here
		} 
		isDrought = 3;  //Three turns of drought
	}
	
	if (DisasterType == 2)
	{
		Message (g.player, 'WeatherBegin');  
		//Create the building 'GoodWeather'
		for(m = 0; m <= player.cities; m = m + 1){
			//Insert Building Code here
		} 
		isWeather = 3;  //Three turns of weather
	}
	if (DisasterType == 3 | | DisasterType == 4 | | DisasterType == 5 | | DisasterType == 6)
	{
		Message (g.player, 'Earthquake'); 
		//Do the Earthquake Stuff
	}
	
	if (DisasterType == 7 | | DisasterType == 8)
	{
		Message (g.player, 'Flood'); 
		FloodStrength = Random(3) + 1
		Flood(FloodStrength);
	}
}

---

I havent yet tested this(its not ready) so there may be careless spelling errors, missing ';'s, etc.

Alsoo I think this (part of it, anyway) should just be for large random disasters. I was thinking that up the top I could just at a
if(random(10)==1) then
and then there is only a 1/10 chance of anything occuring at all.

What do you think?

Question about using building for the +/- food. If this is a human player, what's to stop them from selling the building? I don't have another method for the +/- food at this point but just thought I would throw that out.

To add a building I didn't find a nice easy way, maybe someone else knows of one. Here are the functions I think you need to do it.

VOID ClearBuildQueue(city)
Remove all items from the build queue of the given city. Example:

city_t tmpCity;

int_t i;

for(i = 0; i < player[0].cities; i = i + 1) {

GetCityByIndex(player[0], i, tmpCity);

if(CityisValid(tmpCity)) {

ClearBuildQueue(tmpCity)

}

}

//clears the build queues of all of player[0]’s cities

VOID AddBuildingToBuildList(city, buildingType)
Add the building type to the end of the city’s queue. Example:

if(!city[0].buildqueuelength) {

AddBuildingToBuildList(city[0], BuildingDB(IMPROVE_CITY_WALLS));

}

//if the city is not building anything, it will put the improvement City Walls into its build queue.

2 events that may help

BuildFront(city_t)
Try to build the first thing in a city's queue

OR

BuyFront(city_t)
Rush buy an item in a city

BuildFront is probably better. It may not require gold since it looks like BuyFront does. The above set of functions and events may require you to determine the gold a player has, how much the rush buy costs and add enough gold using AddGold(city).

I haven't tried the event below but it may work nice and clean. Since int_t is integer I suppose you have to know the index number of the building you want to add. Hopefully this will work.

CreateBuilding(city_t, int_t)
Create a building

For getting rid of the building

VOID DestroyBuilding(city, building)
Remove the specified building from the city.

Example:

DestroyBuilding(city[0], BuildingDB(IMPROVE_SILO));

Radical:
Here's how to prevent sales:

code:

---

EventHandler(SellBuilding) 'SellBuilding' pre {
int_t	type;
	type = value[0];
	if (type = BuildingDB(IMPROVE_DROUGHT)) {
		return STOP;
	}
}

---

quote: Originally posted by Radical_Manuvr on 01-07-2001 08:58 AM Forgot to add that the flood function or event (forgot which it is) is like the global warming disaster. As far as I know that would affect all coasts and possibly swamps (if it works like CTP1) anywhere on the map not just those near a random epicenter.

Thats one of the reasons I avoided the existing flooding criteria. Assuming that it would flood ALL areas and i was also worried about the rerouting of rivers that happened on the first global warming (i assume its similiar in ctp2 also).

IF i get my work project done today, i want to slap some of these great ideas from you and Locutus in my game and try them out.

So far if it's centered on a city it may destroy a building depending on the size quake. Also depends on if the building is there or not. It may try to destroy a building that isn't built yet in which case nothing happens. If it's level 8 (highest) you'll lose city walls. That can be easily changed by anyone to something else or deleted.

Random tiles surrounding the epicenter may lose tile improvements.

Random units in or around the epicenter will lose hitpoints. At this point I don't have them getting killed. I have it tied to the scale of the quake but if their hit points are less than 8 I'm not taking hitpoints because they ended up with negative hitpoints in some cases and weird stuff started happening.

All this works with me specifying a location I know is a city. I'm working on the random location part but it's been crashing so far. I haven't tried with specifying a location say one tile from a city to see what happens. Probably gonna break for a while and watch some football. I'll post what works later today even if I don't get the random location part working. Maybe someone else can get that. I was trying to make it so this would work with any size map automatically. It may turn out that you just have to edit scenario.txt and plug in your map size.

quote: Originally posted by Locutus on 01-07-2001 02:26 PM To get non-global floods, you could use the Terraform function. My suggestion would be: check all squares in a 3 tile radius (or something similar) and if a tile is swamp, plain or grassland either adjacent to sea or with a river running through it, terraform it to beach/shallow water (whatever turns out to work best), do the same for all squares adjacent to it. (To get an adjacent tile, use a for loop and GetNeighbor). If a tile is of any other terraintype or doesn't have a river or sea near it, check the next tile. A good way to cycle through tiles could be to use a double for-loop with MakeLocation that has variables x and y(which range from location.x - 3 to location.x + 3, similar for y) as arguments, which come from the for-loops.

This this the same concept i'd use to see if a tile has a river so i can build a dam on it as a tile improvement?

quote: Originally posted by Locutus on 01-07-2001 04:05 PM Radical, post what you have, even if it doesn't work (the random part). I'll have a look at it. I got mapsize-independent location-generators working for CtPI and if needed I'll do it again for CtPII. Alpha, Yeah, I suppose that's possible. What effect should a dam have anyway? [This message has been edited by Locutus (edited January 07, 2001).]

I figured dams were early power generators, so they'd production. Figured it would give me another option for some forst tiles since this is were I like to build and i cant put farms or mines there. Then a wonder like TVA or Hoover would double that effect.

I was using huge map size for testing it so it may not work with other sizes. Put a city in the location, add some bldgs, and units all around and in the city and see what happens. Pretty cool, IMHO. It works at locations other than cities as well. I probably have some unnecessary stuff in this but it works (except the random part) anyway. Never claimed to be a programmer. I planned to add a msg and maybe have a city lose a pop if the epicenter was a city, but this is what's done for now.

scenario.slc

/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
// Script for the earthquake disaster mod 1.0 //
// last update 01-07-2001 by Charles Rothermel Apolyton name Radical_Manuvr //
/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

//////////////////////
// Global variables //
//////////////////////

int_t humanPlayer; // The human player number
int_t tmpYloc;
int_t tmpXloc;
int_t turnCount; // Number of turns elapsed
int_t turnMax; // Turns until scenario ends
location_t disasterLoc;
location_t disasterLoc2;

#include "EQ_func.slc" // Functions

//////////////
// Handlers //
//////////////

//---------------------------------
// Stuff to do when the game starts
//-----------------------------------

HandleEvent(BeginTurn) 'EQStart_F' pre {
int_t tmpPlayer;
if(IsHumanPlayer(player[0])) {
humanPlayer = player[0];

turnMax = 600; // if turnCount reaches turnMax, the game ends
turnCount = 0; // number of turns elapsed
// tmpXloc = 64; // max x for huge map, if using different size enter max x here
// tmpYloc = 128; // max y for huge map, if using different size enter max y here
// tmpXloc = GetMapWidth();
// tmpYloc = GetMapheight();
DisableTrigger('EQStart_F');
}
}

//-----------------------
// Stuff to do every turn
//-------------------------

HandleEvent(BeginTurn) 'EQEachTurn_F' post {
city_t tmpCity;
int_t i;
int_t tmpPlayer;
int_t tmpRichter; // Richter scale simulator
int_t tmpDestroy; // used to determine which building to destroy
int_t tmpnumberUnits;

tmpPlayer = player[0];
// tmpXloc = Random(63); // -1 from map size since random starts at 0
// tmpYloc = Random(127); // -1 same

tmpXloc = 29;
tmpYloc = 75;

if (tmpPlayer == 1) {
turnCount = turnCount + 1; // increment turn counter
if (turnCount > turnMax) {
if (humanPlayer == 1) {
Event:GiveMap(2,1); // this is temporary just need something here
}
} // temp for testing take out later
MakeLocation(disasterLoc, tmpXloc, tmpYloc);
tmpRichter = Random(8); // random number from 0-8
tmpDestroy = Random(52); // random number from 0-52
GetCityByLocation(disasterLoc, tmpCity);

if (CityIsValid(tmpCity)) { // if a city exists at the epicenter
tmpnumberUnits = UnitsInCell(disasterLoc); // number of units in cell
if (tmpnumberUnits > 0) {
QuakeDamage (disasterLoc, tmpnumberUnits, tmpRichter);
}
for (i = 0; i < tmpRichter; i = i + 1) {
GetRandomNeighbor(disasterLoc, disasterLoc2); // find a random tile one tile from epicenter
Event:CutImprovements(disasterLoc2); // destroy tile improvements if found
tmpnumberUnits = UnitsInCell(disasterLoc2); // number of units in cell
if (tmpnumberUnits > 0) {
QuakeDamage (disasterLoc2, tmpnumberUnits, tmpRichter);
}
}
if (tmpRichter > 5) { // if quake is 6, 7, or 8 a building will be destroyed if it exists
// if the building doesn't exist nothing happens to buildings
if (tmpDestroy == 0 | | tmpDestroy == 1) { // 2 in 52 chance
DestroyBuilding(tmpCity, BuildingDB(IMPROVE_VR_AMUSEMENT_PARK));
} elseif (tmpDestroy == 2) { // 1 in 52 chance
DestroyBuilding(tmpCity, BuildingDB(IMPROVE_ACADEMY));
} elseif (tmpDestroy == 3) { // 1 in 52 chance from here down
DestroyBuilding(tmpCity, BuildingDB(IMPROVE_AIRPORT));
} elseif (tmpDestroy == 4) {
DestroyBuilding(tmpCity, BuildingDB(IMPROVE_ANTI_BALLISTIC_MISSILES));
} elseif (tmpDestroy == 5) {
DestroyBuilding(tmpCity, BuildingDB(IMPROVE_AQUA_FILTER));
} elseif (tmpDestroy == 6) {
DestroyBuilding(tmpCity, BuildingDB(IMPROVE_AQUEDUCT));
} elseif (tmpDestroy == 7) {
DestroyBuilding(tmpCity, BuildingDB(IMPROVE_ARCOLOGIES));
} elseif (tmpDestroy == 8) {
DestroyBuilding(tmpCity, BuildingDB(IMPROVE_ARENA));
} elseif (tmpDestroy == 9) {
DestroyBuilding(tmpCity, BuildingDB(IMPROVE_BALLISTA_TOWERS));
} elseif (tmpDestroy == 10) {
DestroyBuilding(tmpCity, BuildingDB(IMPROVE_BANK));
} elseif (tmpDestroy == 11) {
DestroyBuilding(tmpCity, BuildingDB(IMPROVE_BASCILICA));
} elseif (tmpDestroy == 12) {
DestroyBuilding(tmpCity, BuildingDB(IMPROVE_BATTLEMENTS));
} elseif (tmpDestroy == 13) {
DestroyBuilding(tmpCity, BuildingDB(IMPROVE_BAZAAR));
} elseif (tmpDestroy == 14) {
DestroyBuilding(tmpCity, BuildingDB(IMPROVE_BEHAVIORAL_MOD_CENTER));
} elseif (tmpDestroy == 15) {
DestroyBuilding(tmpCity, BuildingDB(IMPROVE_BODY_EXCHANGE));
} elseif (tmpDestroy == 16) {
DestroyBuilding(tmpCity, BuildingDB(IMPROVE_BROKERAGE));
} elseif (tmpDestroy == 17) {
DestroyBuilding(tmpCity, BuildingDB(IMPROVE_CAPITOL));
} elseif (tmpDestroy == 18) {
DestroyBuilding(tmpCity, BuildingDB(IMPROVE_CITY_WALLS));
} elseif (tmpDestroy == 19) {
DestroyBuilding(tmpCity, BuildingDB(IMPROVE_COMPUTER_CENTER));
} elseif (tmpDestroy == 20) {
DestroyBuilding(tmpCity, BuildingDB(IMPROVE_CORNUCOPIC_VAT));
} elseif (tmpDestroy == 21) {
DestroyBuilding(tmpCity, BuildingDB(IMPROVE_CORRECTIONAL_FACILITY));
} elseif (tmpDestroy == 22) {
DestroyBuilding(tmpCity, BuildingDB(IMPROVE_COURTHOUSE));
} elseif (tmpDestroy == 23) {
DestroyBuilding(tmpCity, BuildingDB(IMPROVE_DRUG_STORE));
} elseif (tmpDestroy == 24) {
DestroyBuilding(tmpCity, BuildingDB(IMPROVE_E_BANK));
} elseif (tmpDestroy == 25) {
DestroyBuilding(tmpCity, BuildingDB(IMPROVE_ECO_TRANSIT));
} elseif (tmpDestroy == 26) {
DestroyBuilding(tmpCity, BuildingDB(IMPROVE_FACTORY));
} elseif (tmpDestroy == 27) {
DestroyBuilding(tmpCity, BuildingDB(IMPROVE_FLAK_TOWERS));
} elseif (tmpDestroy == 28) {
DestroyBuilding(tmpCity, BuildingDB(IMPROVE_FOOD_SILO));
} elseif (tmpDestroy == 29) {
DestroyBuilding(tmpCity, BuildingDB(IMPROVE_FORCEFIELD));
} elseif (tmpDestroy == 30) {
DestroyBuilding(tmpCity, BuildingDB(IMPROVE_FUSION_PLANT));
} elseif (tmpDestroy == 31) {
DestroyBuilding(tmpCity, BuildingDB(IMPROVE_GAIA_COMPUTER));
} elseif (tmpDestroy == 32) {
DestroyBuilding(tmpCity, BuildingDB(IMPROVE_GRANARY));
} elseif (tmpDestroy == 33) {
DestroyBuilding(tmpCity, BuildingDB(IMPROVE_HOSPITAL));
} elseif (tmpDestroy == 34) {
DestroyBuilding(tmpCity, BuildingDB(IMPROVE_INCUBATION_CENTER));
} elseif (tmpDestroy == 35) {
DestroyBuilding(tmpCity, BuildingDB(IMPROVE_MATTER_DECOMPILER));
} elseif (tmpDestroy == 36) {
DestroyBuilding(tmpCity, BuildingDB(IMPROVE_MICRO_DEFENSE));
} elseif (tmpDestroy == 37) {
DestroyBuilding(tmpCity, BuildingDB(IMPROVE_MILL));
} elseif (tmpDestroy == 38) {
DestroyBuilding(tmpCity, BuildingDB(IMPROVE_MOVIE_PALACE));
} elseif (tmpDestroy == 39) {
DestroyBuilding(tmpCity, BuildingDB(IMPROVE_NANITE_FACTORY));
} elseif (tmpDestroy == 40) {
DestroyBuilding(tmpCity, BuildingDB(IMPROVE_NUCLEAR_PLANT));
} elseif (tmpDestroy == 41) {
DestroyBuilding(tmpCity, BuildingDB(IMPROVE_OIL_REFINERY));
} elseif (tmpDestroy == 42) {
DestroyBuilding(tmpCity, BuildingDB(IMPROVE_ORBITAL_LABORATORY));
} elseif (tmpDestroy == 43) {
DestroyBuilding(tmpCity, BuildingDB(IMPROVE_POWER_SATELLITE));
} elseif (tmpDestroy == 44) {
DestroyBuilding(tmpCity, BuildingDB(IMPROVE_PUBLIC_TRANSPORTATION));
} elseif (tmpDestroy == 45) {
DestroyBuilding(tmpCity, BuildingDB(IMPROVE_PUBLISHING_HOUSE));
} elseif (tmpDestroy == 46) {
DestroyBuilding(tmpCity, BuildingDB(IMPROVE_RECYCLING_PLANT));
} elseif (tmpDestroy == 47) {
DestroyBuilding(tmpCity, BuildingDB(IMPROVE_ROBOTIC_PLANT));
} elseif (tmpDestroy == 48) {
DestroyBuilding(tmpCity, BuildingDB(IMPROVE_SECURITY_MONITOR));
} elseif (tmpDestroy == 49) {
DestroyBuilding(tmpCity, BuildingDB(IMPROVE_SHRINE));
} elseif (tmpDestroy == 50) {
DestroyBuilding(tmpCity, BuildingDB(IMPROVE_TELEVISION));
} elseif (tmpDestroy == 51) {
DestroyBuilding(tmpCity, BuildingDB(IMPROVE_THEATER));
} elseif (tmpDestroy == 52) {
DestroyBuilding(tmpCity, BuildingDB(IMPROVE_UNIVERSITY));
}
if (tmpRichter == 8) { // if quake is 8, city walls will be destroyed if they exist
// at this magnitude something should go
DestroyBuilding(tmpCity, BuildingDB(IMPROVE_CITY_WALLS));
}
}
} else { // no city at epicenter
Event:CutImprovements(disasterLoc); // destroy tile improvements if found at epicenter
tmpnumberUnits = UnitsInCell(disasterLoc); // number of units in cell
if (tmpnumberUnits > 0) {
QuakeDamage (disasterLoc, tmpnumberUnits, tmpRichter);
}
for (i = 0; i < tmpRichter; i = i + 1) {
// the higher the Richter number the more likely a tile improvement will be destroyed
// can be up to 8 tile improvements destroyed surrounding epicenter
GetRandomNeighbor(disasterLoc, disasterLoc2); // find a random tile one tile from epicenter
Event:CutImprovements(disasterLoc2); // destroy tile improvements if found
tmpnumberUnits = UnitsInCell(disasterLoc2); // number of units in cell
if (tmpnumberUnits > 0) {
QuakeDamage (disasterLoc2, tmpnumberUnits, tmpRichter);
}
// possible that it will use the same tile 8 times or other combos, ex. 1 twice, another once, another 3 times
// losing all tile impr. around epicenter should be rare
}
}
}
}

EQ_func.slc

///////////////
// Functions //
///////////////

// Damages all units in location
void_f QuakeDamage (location_t tmpLoc, int_t tmpNum, int_t tmpNum2)
{
int_t i;
unit_t tmpUnit;

for (i = 0; i < tmpNum; i = i + 1) {
GetUnitFromCell(tmpLoc, i, tmpUnit);
if (tmpUnit.hp > 8) {
DamageUnit(tmpunit, tmpNum2); // Subtract tmpNum2 hit points from the specified unit
}
}
}

quote: Originally posted by Radical_Manuvr on 01-07-2001 07:03 PM AW, please type your email address so I can send you the files. I'll post here but figured it would be eaiser for you if I sent them. I'll also send to Locutus and Herdie if his addy is here. Your addy came up strange when I clicked on the email icon.

CTPAlphaWolf@aol.com

When I setup that account on aol i set it up as CTP Alpha Wolf forgetting that the email address would freak out on the spaces. Took me a few days of harrassing poor Dan and Mark in order to figure out that my actual email address didnt have the spaces. Now I'm afraid to touch it in my profile....LOL

I think i remember seeing that buildings are assigned a number as its read into the database. If so, you can just do a loop thru the number of buildings and would save a ton of code.

Something like:

if (tmpRichter > 4) { // if quake is 5, 6, 7, or 8 buildings have a chance to be destroyed
// if the building doesn't exist nothing happens to buildings

for(b = 0; Building.Type[b] <> ""; b = b + 1)
{ //assuming this is how to identify the end of the array
if random(tmpRichter * 3) > 12 {
//chance any building will be destroyed
DestroyBuilding(tmpCity, Building.Type[b])
}
}

#include "EQ_func.slc" // Functions ????

I put the code into scenario.slc but the game crashes on that line.

code:

---

  ///////////////
 // Functions //
///////////////
// Damages all units in location
void_f QuakeDamage (location_t tmpLoc, int_t tmpNum, int_t tmpNum2)
{
int_t	i;
unit_t tmpUnit;
	for (i = 0; i < tmpNum; i = i + 1) {  
		GetUnitFromCell(tmpLoc, i, tmpUnit);
		if (tmpUnit.hp > 8) {	
			DamageUnit(tmpunit, tmpNum2);		// Subtract tmpNum2 hit points from the specified unit
		}
	}
}

---

############################################################

IMPROVE_DROUGHT {
DefaultIcon ICON_IMPROVE_GRANARY
Description DESCRIPTION_IMPROVE_GRANARY
EnableAdvance ADVANCE_AGRICULTURE
ProductionCost 0
Upkeep 0
FoodPercent -0.25
}

############################################################

IMPROVE_GREATWEATHER {
DefaultIcon ICON_IMPROVE_GRANARY
Description DESCRIPTION_IMPROVE_GRANARY
EnableAdvance ADVANCE_AGRICULTURE
ProductionCost 0
Upkeep 0
FoodPercent 0.25
}

############################################################

ANd it crashed saying
'buildings.txt:727: Record does not start with name'

quote: Originally posted by heardie on 01-08-2001 12:17 AM 'buildings.txt:727: Record does not start with name' not how can I fix this?

i got that error when i tried to add some wonders to the end of the wonders file. I moved them all to the top and the error went away. Made no other changes.

i dont know how or why but the line

for(m = 0; m <= player.cities; m = m + 1){

is being flagged as an wrror, because 'player is not a structure'. This must work,, shouldnt it?

Oh crud....while i was looking at valid flags I realized that we could code for labor strikes if a city riots and remove a percentage of PW. Someone turn my brain off before I have any more ideas....LOL

We probably want to use the "AddCenter(loc)" to center on the quake also. OMG, the examples show how to make a city immune to riots and revolts. I was so tired when I read thru this stuff the first time that I didnt realize how many things we can do.

And i wonder if we could use SLIC to have the AI build an effective army. Interesting that there is an unit.name but not an army.name. We could have had units join specific armies and when those armies = 12 units, off they go to war, like a blitzkrieg. I wonder how to tell which units are grouped.

whew, i finally switched the brain off for the night or I'll be up all night coming up with new ideas.

AW when you get the error about EQ_func.slc...did you create the EQ_func.slc file and enter the code? It was near the bottom of the code posting. Counting up from the bottom }, go up 19 lines including blanks. Everything below that line (EQ_func.slc) goes in EQ_func.slc. I probably should have made it more clear that you need 2 files.

I would have liked to use a for loop for the buildings but didn't see numbers for them anywhere. I didn't look real hard though. That wasn't the part that took long to do and I don't know whether it would make the game run slower. Maybe if the random number was for the bldg near the end of the list???

Random - I was assuming that Random(8) would give me a chance at 0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8. From this site:

· INT Random(range)
Return a random number from 0 to range.

I didn't think I'd get something like 2.37 and have it rounded. I'm pretty sure I got an 8 on my 18th turn in one test. I can't say for sure since I felt pressured and didn't get to make the message I had intended "reports of a magnitude 8 earthquake have come in from sector 3, 47". Anyway, I think random(any number) gives you "any number" + 1 (for zero).

On the last Heardie msg about structures - I found that sometimes you have to use your own variable instead of the built-in variables. In this case tmpPlayer.cities or something. I have no idea when or whatever, I just experiment when I get errors.

I'm going to try to swipe the "general" code from the shipped scenarios and see if i can get that too work too.

AW,
An Eyepointer is better than AddCenter, 'cause another AddCenter event might occur and you loose the center on the earthquake. An eyepointer is that button with an eye on it you sometimes see. Clicking on it centers on a location (or unit or city).

Using SLIC to improve AI will prove extremely difficult in practive (though a little 'push in the back' here and there will be possible). Checking if a units are in the same army is simple: cycle through all units in an army (using a for loop and army.size and GetUnitFromArmy) and compare.

Radical,
Random(x) should work from 0 to x-1. I tried Random(3) a couple of dozen times and never got anything but 0, 1, 2. Are you sure you got an 8 once? We should both try again if you are to double check our findings.

Here's fixed code from Radical. The weird thing is, it basicly works but a call to a random function seems to crash the game without an error message. I'm fairly sure it's the Random fuction causing the problem, but I have no idea what the problem is. This is very weird 'cause I've used it often enough in the past without problems. Maybe it can't handle values larger then 60 or something? I tested it on a 48x96 maps and I think Random(52) isn't causing any problems, so if there is a problem with large numbers, the critical number is between 52 and 96. AW, you're an expert now, could you figure this out? I'm gonna be very busy for the next two days at least, so I won't have time to figure it out, but I will ASAP, this affects everyone working with SLIC and the Random code including yours truly.

Note that there are no comments with this code, it crews up the thread so I just left them out. Shouldn't be too hard to understand anyway (all code can go in 1 file).

code:

---

int_t	humanPlayer;
int_t	turnCount;
int_t	turnMax;
location_t	disasterLoc;
location_t	disasterLoc2;
int_t	maxX;
int_t	maxY;
void_f QuakeDamage (location_t tmpLoc, int_t theNum, int_t theNum2) {
int_t	i;
int_t	tmpNum;
int_t	tmpNum2;
unit_t	tmpUnit;
	tmpNum = theNum;
	tmpNum2 = theNum2;
	for (i = 0; i < tmpNum; i = i + 1) {  
		GetUnitFromCell(tmpLoc, i, tmpUnit);
		if (tmpUnit.hp > 8) {
			DamageUnit(tmpunit, tmpNum2);
		}
	}
}
HandleEvent(BeginTurn) 'EQStart_F' pre {
	if(IsHumanPlayer(player[0])) {
		humanPlayer = player[0];
	}
	turnMax = 600;
	turnCount = 0;
	DisableTrigger('EQStart_F');
	maxX = GetMapWidth();
	maxY = GetMapheight();
}
HandleEvent(BeginTurn) 'EQEachTurn2_F' post {
city_t	tmpCity;
int_t	i;
int_t	tmpPlayer;
int_t	tmpRichter;
int_t	tmpDestroy;
int_t	tmpnumberUnits;
int_t	tmpXloc;
int_t	tmpYloc;
	tmpPlayer = player[0];
	if (tmpPlayer == 0) {	// && Random(2) == 1
		tmpXloc = Random(maxX);
		tmpYloc = Random(maxY);
//		value[0] = tmpXloc;
//		value[1] = tmpYloc;
//		Message(1, 'EQTest');
		turnCount = turnCount + 1;
		if (turnCount > turnMax) {
			if (humanPlayer == 1) {
				Event:GiveMap(2,1);
 			}
		}
		MakeLocation(disasterLoc, tmpXloc, tmpYloc);
		tmpRichter = Random(8);
		tmpDestroy = Random(52);
		GetCityByLocation(disasterLoc, tmpCity);
		if (CityIsValid(tmpCity)) {
			tmpnumberUnits = UnitsInCell(disasterLoc);
			if (tmpnumberUnits > 0) {
				QuakeDamage (disasterLoc, tmpnumberUnits, tmpRichter);
			}
			for (i = 0; i < tmpRichter; i = i + 1) {
				GetRandomNeighbor(disasterLoc, disasterLoc2);
				Event:CutImprovements(disasterLoc2);
				tmpnumberUnits = UnitsInCell(disasterLoc2);
				if (tmpnumberUnits > 0) {
					QuakeDamage (disasterLoc2, tmpnumberUnits, tmpRichter);
				}
			}
			if (tmpRichter > 5) {
				if (tmpDestroy <= 50) {
					DestroyBuilding(tmpCity, tmpDestroy);
				}
				if (tmpRichter == 8) {
					DestroyBuilding(tmpCity, BuildingDB(IMPROVE_CITY_WALLS));
				}
			}
			if (tmpCity.owner == 1) {
				value[0] = tmpRichter;
				city[0] = tmpCity;
				location[0] = disasterLoc;
				Message(1, 'EQCityHit');
			}
		} else {
			Event:CutImprovements(disasterLoc);
			tmpnumberUnits = UnitsInCell(disasterLoc);
				if (tmpnumberUnits > 0) {
					QuakeDamage (disasterLoc, tmpnumberUnits, tmpRichter);
				}
			for (i = 0; i < tmpRichter; i = i + 1) {  	
				GetRandomNeighbor(disasterLoc, disasterLoc2);
				Event:CutImprovements(disasterLoc2);
				tmpnumberUnits = UnitsInCell(disasterLoc2);
				if (tmpnumberUnits > 0) {
					QuakeDamage (disasterLoc2, tmpnumberUnits, tmpRichter);
				}
			}
			if (CellOwner(disasterLoc) == 1) {
				value[0] = tmpRichter;
				location[0] = disasterLoc;
				Message(1, 'EQNoCityHit');
			}
		}
	}
}
Messagebox 'EQCityHit' {
	Show();
	Text(ID_EQ_CITY_HIT);
	EyePoint(location[0]);
}
// in textfiles: EQ_CITY_HIT	"Sire, a horrible thing has happened! An earthquake of size {value[0]} on the scale 
// of Richter struck in the center of the  city of {city[0].name}. People are hiding or fleeing in panic 
// and the damage is enormous!"
Messagebox 'EQNoCityHit' {
	Show();
	Text(ID_EQ_NO_CITY_HIT);
	EyePoint(location[0]);
}
Messagebox 'EQTest' {
	Show();
	Text(ID_TEST_EQ);
}
// in textfiles: EQ_NO_CITY_HIT	"Sire, a report just came in. An earthquake of size {value[0]} on the scale 
// of Richter struck our empire. Luckily no large cities were at the epicenter, so damage is limited."

---

Now I have yet another problem. It doesn't seem to read any of the code in thee 'If's' after the message, because no buildings get created. This is what should work

code:

---

if (DisasterType == 1)
	{
		Message (g.player, 'DroughtBegin'); //doesn't read after here
		for(m = 0; m <= player[0].cities; m = m + 1)		
		{
			Event:CreateBuilding(city[0], BuildingDB(IMPROVE_DROUGHT));
		} 
isDrought = 3;  //Three turns of drought
	}

---

So I think having the occasional mega disaster that effects the whole world some and one part of it alot would be a good thing to have in the game. I'll try to dig up more info on mega-disasters, if people are interested. I highly recommend reading the book Catastophe mentioned below, btw. Lots of eyewitness accounts and records from just about every culture on major natural upheaval in the 500s AD, yet history books have completely overlooked this and other such episodes so far. Only in the past few years with greater advancement in the study of tree rings and ice core samples, plus the hitting of Jupiter by a large comet, has science found these ideas acceptable and really gotten into researching them. Before Shoemaker-Levy hitting Jupiter, the common wisdom was that it was impossible for a comet to hit a planet, even though there can be no other explanation for the large impact in Siberia in 1908. Its literally just in the last year or two that a flood of books and reseach has been finished on this, with Catastophe being one example, so we're all still learning a lot about history.

The Dark Ages May Have Really Been Dimmer

LOS ALAMOS, N.M., Dec. 17, 2000 -- The beginning of the Dark Ages may have been literal, as well as figurative, as the result of a massive volcanic eruption in the 6th century, according to a volcanologist at the Department of Energy's Los Alamos National Laboratory.

Ken Wohletz said an eruption in the Indonesian archipelago could have produced a 150-meter-thick cloud layer over the entire Earth, triggering a chain of climatic, agricultural, political and social changes that ushered in the Dark Ages.

Evidence supporting the catastrophe includes tree-ring and ice-core measurements, indications of a huge underwater caldera, and ash and pumice in the same area, said Wohletz, who discusses his work modeling such an eruption today (Dec. 17) at the fall meeting of the American Geophysical Union.

The 6th century was a turbulent, unsettling period in human history. The Roman Empire began to fall; nomads of central Asia migrated to Europe and the Near East; civilizations in Persia, Indonesia and South America collapsed; major religions experienced considerable change as natural events were viewed as omens.

Many of these social transformations resulted from widespread crop failures and the explosion of plague around the globe, which in turn were caused by major climatic changes, Wohletz said. Beginning in about the year 535, according to historical and archeological records, the weather was colder and drier, sunlight diminished, snow fell in summer and regions of persistent drought suffered floods.

Wohletz was a resource for a book postulating that the climate changes resulted from a huge volcanic eruption. The book, "Catastrophe: A Quest for the Origins of the Modern World" by David Keys, was published earlier this year.

Wohletz said he worked with Keys to try to identify a volcano that could produce such dramatic climate change. "We came up with an eruption that would certainly be the largest in recorded history, some four or five times bigger than the (1815) eruption of Tambora, which is usually considered the biggest eruption in the past few millennia," he said.

Such an explosion, he said, would eject some 200 cubic kilometers of material, and one-third to one-half of it would be lofted into the stratosphere, where it would remain suspended for months to years while being carried around the globe.

"It would have produced enough dust and water vapor (in the form of ice crystals) to form a cloud layer 150 meters thick over the entire globe, and that's a conservative estimate," he said, adding that a cloud of particles that thick may have diminished the transmission of sunlight by as much as 50 percent.

Wohletz said tree-ring data collected around the world and ice-core measurements in Greenland and Antarctica support the possibility of a huge eruption in the 6th century. Ocean depth measurements between Sumatra and Java ­ where Krakatoa exploded in a well known 1883 eruption ­ indicate the presence of a caldera up to 50 kilometers in diameter, and a recent survey uncovered evidence of ash and pumice layers formed in the area during the appropriate time frame.

Under a likely scenario, a large volcano, which Wohletz calls proto-Krakatoa, connected the islands of Sumatra and Java. When it erupted and then subsided, it created the Sundra Strait and left a ring of smaller volcanoes, including the present day Krakatoa. The ash, dust and water vapor blown into the stratosphere would disperse across both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres.

"This volcano would have had the potential to be a major player in destabilizing the climate around the world," he said. "An eruption that could produce a caldera 50 kilometers across would have been big enough."

Although definitive evidence for such a catastrophic eruption has not been discovered, the possibility deserves a full-scale field study, Wohletz said, in part because of the potential impact on the world if another such catastrophe happens.

"(Key's book) is the first detailed account of how closely humanity is linked to the natural world," he said. "If the natural world goes through some large upheaval, we'll all be affected."

The Black Sea had been a small lake in a large depression, but the Bosporous was closed off by a large natural dam - part of the mountains in the area. Eventually, the dam broke and flooded the basin. The lake, now a sea, rose hundreds of feet, covering what had been hills, marshes, and plains that supported small early human communities. Those communities fled into Southern Europe, the Causasus, and Anatolia, taking with them an oral history of the flood, which was steadily incorporated into their origin myths and creation stories.

You must insert the line "GetCityByIndex(player[0], m, tmpCity);" between the for line and the CreateBuilding line and declare tmpCity higher up in the code and use it instead of city[0] in CreateBuilding (so that tmpCity actually cycles through all cities). Maybe you can use city[0] directly as well but whenever possible it's safer to use a user-defined variable like tmpCity so if another event happens that changes the value of city[0], you're screwed - I'm not sure if it's possible for this to happen in CtPII but it was in CtPI and I for one think it's better to be safe than sorry.

I cut and pasted your last code in and got a delightful crash that required a reboot in order to load the game again. I broke it down to test if it was the Random() causing a crash by making my own slic file with just parts of the code posted. I was able to Random() any number I chose and display it in a message box without any crashes or errors. I included further pieces of your code and encountered a slic error (I have debugslic=yes in my profile.txt) in "object testingthis function_GetCityByLocation. Wrong type of arguement." I could close the little warning window and go back to playing though. It didn't crash the game. Anyways, from what I have seen Random() isn't causing problems.

*Edit*

Ignore the wrong type of arguement thing, I used int_t instead of city_t. Stupid me.

*Edit again*
Through trial and error (and a number of reboots) I found the troublesome part that was causing it to crash:
Event:CutImprovements(disasterLoc);
Commenting them out kept the game from crashing. Maybe we have to check if there are improvments there to pilliage first. If that doesn't work I guess we can terraform it to the same terrain type. (I think that would kill the improvements)

Still, that was such a wierd disaster its hard to see how it could be implemented in the game. Its a good example though of how the catastophists are getting the upper hand over the gradualists (those who think that large natural disasters almost never happen) through new revelations.

A reason why the gradualists have had the upper hand is because apparently the last 1500+ years have been unusually quiet. But that's just luck: an analysis of the ice cores shows there's a big comet hit about once every 1000 years. If the comet (or pieces of it, sometimes it breaks up entering the atmosphere) hits water, the effects are very different than if it hits land. Meteor hits are apparently much less common, but that did take care of the dinosaurs.

I think El Nino is too minor of an effect to include in the game though. Cities get 3 year starvation protection as default, and El Ninos rarely last that long. But a prolonged drought would be really interesting to play through. I wonder if SLIC can handle it well though, since Wouter says its weak in the food dept.

*heardie sighs and bangs head against table again!*

I did wait you said and go tthis error

In object EveryTurn, function _GetCityByIndex: Value out of bounds

code:

---

	isDrought = -1;
	if (isDrought > 0) {
		isDrought = isDrought - 1;
	}

---

Thanks a ton Locutus

quote: Originally posted by heardie on 01-13-2001 07:20 PM hmmm, I am a fool. It's always the simpilest errors that get you. It's the same with c++, they're a ***** to track down and when you see them, it is so obviouos.

Yep, it's always those little things that do it. Fortunately, as you become more experienced, you get a nose for them and tracking them down becomes a lot easier (or at least that's what's happening with me).

quote: Thanks a ton Loctus.

Can't anyone write my name correctly anymore these days?

quote: What would have been really cool was a debug window in the game where you cacn track variable values

Sorry, I seem to have overlooked your post for some reason.

code:

---

HandleEvent(BeginTurn) 'IWillCrash' post {
  location_t tmpLoc;
  location_t disasterLoc;
  if(g.year > 3) {
  MakeLocation(disasterLoc, 1, 1);
  Event:CutImprovements(disasterLoc);
  }
}

---