[SCRIPT] Group Combat Commands

The place to discuss scripting and game modifications for X³: Reunion.

Moderators: Moderators for English X Forum, Scripting / Modding Moderators

Post Reply
User avatar
moggy2
Posts: 5505
Joined: Wed, 6. Nov 02, 20:31
x3ap

[SCRIPT] Group Combat Commands

Post by moggy2 » Tue, 3. Oct 06, 20:25

[Readme] . [Bug Tracking] . [Download]

Script: Group Combat Commands
Author: Xai Corporation
Download: http://www.xai-corp.net/project/XaiCorp-gcc
  • This is an addon for the Group Management System

    The ''Group Combat Commands'' allow you to broadcast combat commands to all group leaders of a specific group.

    Each command works in the same way. You enter the number of the group you wish to give the command to, and then all group leaders with that group number will be given that command

    The commands available are:
    • Group: Attack...
      Group: Attack all
      Group: Protect...

Star_Raider15
Posts: 1212
Joined: Thu, 15. Jun 06, 08:08
x3

Post by Star_Raider15 » Wed, 11. Oct 06, 14:34

hehe i was wishing for this for a long time now, good work m8 good work :thumb_up: gonna test it when i got an army lol
The answer is just another question.

DJ Wolf
Posts: 32
Joined: Wed, 25. Oct 06, 18:35

Post by DJ Wolf » Wed, 4. Apr 07, 23:37

It's a great script. Unfortunately, it does too much. Is it possible to get a trimmed down version that allows me to choose which ships to put in squadrons rather than just choosing the number?

Since I have organised my wingmen into the different loadouts and speeds for different puposes, I want the control of which ships to include in which squadrons. Can I determine which ships will be included in a wing by isolating them to another sector or will putting them in another carrier do the trick?

While the automatic choice by the script may have seemed to be the best option, doing it yourself in regards to intended strategies is where the fun is.

JBL
Posts: 234
Joined: Sat, 10. Mar 07, 20:51

Post by JBL » Sat, 7. Apr 07, 02:13

Could not figure out how to "un-group" ?
Windows XP/Vista (Dual Boot)
Pentium 4 3.6
Memory 4 GB
Video ATI X1600 512
Dual LG 22" Monitors
Saitek X52

User avatar
moggy2
Posts: 5505
Joined: Wed, 6. Nov 02, 20:31
x3ap

Post by moggy2 » Sat, 7. Apr 07, 14:06

DJ Wolf wrote:It's a great script. Unfortunately, it does too much. Is it possible to get a trimmed down version that allows me to choose which ships to put in squadrons rather than just choosing the number?

Since I have organised my wingmen into the different loadouts and speeds for different puposes, I want the control of which ships to include in which squadrons. Can I determine which ships will be included in a wing by isolating them to another sector or will putting them in another carrier do the trick?

While the automatic choice by the script may have seemed to be the best option, doing it yourself in regards to intended strategies is where the fun is.
Is this refering to the Group Management System? In which case, to isolate the ships into individual groups simply run the setup command on the leader of that group with a number of ships to add that's less than the number of ships in the group. All ships following the leader will be added regardless of the number you entered. This allows you to build the group manually, as you wanted.

User avatar
Jimmy Jazz
Posts: 794
Joined: Wed, 4. Jun 03, 17:20
x3

Post by Jimmy Jazz » Sat, 7. Apr 07, 14:40

Would it be possible to script in the garrison command from X2's Fight Command MK3? With this command the lead ship of a docked squadron scanned for hostiles and launched the group and attacked when enemies were detected. Was so cool to see a carrier launch all fighters when bandits came close.

A comprehensive squadron management system is something that is desperately needed in X3, I think this is a great start. I gave this some thought a while ago. It seems very inefficient to have all members of a squadron attack the same target. My idea was to allow only an even number of ships in a squadron and then have the script routine divide the squadron into wings of two, making sure that each wing attacked different targets close by or concentrate on one target if the other enemies are far away. This way, a squadron of 12 fighters could engage 6 enemy fighters at the same time and still ensure the advantage of numbers since they always fight 2 on 1 engagements. Might be very difficult to script though.

And one last thing, it would be cool if the script stored the number of ships in a squadron somewhere and when ships are lost you can order reinforcements, replenishing the squadron automatically maybe using a template ship, f. ex. group leader. If the group leader gets killed, a new one should be assigned automatically.
Pinky : "Gee, Brain what do you want to do tonight?"
Brain : "The same thing we do every night Pinky. Try to take over the world!"

User avatar
X-Freak Cartman
Posts: 4017
Joined: Mon, 2. Oct 06, 15:08
x3

Post by X-Freak Cartman » Sat, 7. Apr 07, 15:30

I'm working for 8 Months at my fleet management system including a completely new AI, which will be released tomorrow. It uses the Fight Command Software MK3 ;)

The Fleet Management itself will take a few more months, but the FCS MK3 includes some of the points you were talking about.

If you tell all the docked Fighters to protect the Carrier, they will stay docked until an enemy wants to attack the Carrier. That's the point of time when they all start and attack the enemy
If you tell them to attack the nearest enemy, they'll keep docked until any enemy ship gets 15 km to the ship.

Improvements in the AI are for example ships dodging lasers and launching missiles when they're not under attack. There's still some more you'll read about in the FCS MK3 Thread.

btw: There'll be some new wingmen commands and the FCS MK3 uses the old commands slots while adding two new commands. You'll be able to use the new AI by setting the old commands while the new software is in the cargo bay.

But that's another topic... I'm already working on the fleet management, which will be able to control the whole fleet on its own... when the player set the correct options ;)

User avatar
moggy2
Posts: 5505
Joined: Wed, 6. Nov 02, 20:31
x3ap

Post by moggy2 » Sat, 7. Apr 07, 17:03

Jimmy Jazz wrote:...It seems very inefficient to have all members of a squadron attack the same target. My idea was to allow only an even number of ships in a squadron and then have the script routine divide the squadron into wings of two, making sure that each wing attacked different targets close by or concentrate on one target if the other enemies are far away. This way, a squadron of 12 fighters could engage 6 enemy fighters at the same time and still ensure the advantage of numbers since they always fight 2 on 1 engagements. Might be very difficult to script though....
The beauty of the Group Management System is that you can organise your groups in any way you wish. I typically use between 2 and 4 groups when attacking Xenon Partols, each group getting a separate target.
Creating 6 groups of 1 leader and 1 wingman isn't a problem. Give them separate group numbers and you've got indiviual control, via group hotkeys, or groups combat commands, or even the games stock commands.

What is needed for GMS is some carrier operations commands. I just don't have time to write them at the moment. I'm not stopping anyone else from writing them though.
If the group leader gets killed, a new one should be assigned automatically.
That does happen already.

User avatar
Jimmy Jazz
Posts: 794
Joined: Wed, 4. Jun 03, 17:20
x3

Post by Jimmy Jazz » Sat, 7. Apr 07, 18:41

@moggy2: The script sounds like a great improvement to the vanilla game.

What I had in mind though was a more automated approach to fighter management. F. ex.: Enemy fighters enters a sector I control. The carrier protecting the sector launches its fighter squadrons. They split into wings (just like the wingman system in todays air combat) by themselves and pick and attack targets independently. In a large battle it is tedious to assign targets to each individual groups. The key word here is delegation which means the player gives the general order and the pilots are 'smart' enough to execute them in the right way without need of constant baby sitting.

This could be tied into a fleet management system. F. ex. you give your carrier group the order to patrol a sector + adjacent sectors. The carrier then launches squadrons patrolling the carrier sector and the surrounding sectors. If they spot enemies, they should use some kind of threat assessment and either engage or call in reinforcements from the carrier or send a message to the player if the group can't deal with the threat alone.

It would be great to be able to assign different roles to fighters too.

Interceptor: Attacks only M5s or M4s, evades M3s and bigger, player will typically assign fast M4s to these squadron.

Fighter: Attacks all kinds of fighters and in emergency situations also M6s. Avoids cap ships. Players will typically assign M3s to these squadron.

Bombers: Fleet will keep them supplied with heavy missiles/torpedoes, will be sent out by the fleet command ai to attack cap ships. Players will typically choose heavily shielded slower M3s with this type

Recon: Avoid combat, will be sent out by fleet ai, to scan for hostiles in the sectors and adjacent sectors. Typically fast M5 f. ex. Disco Raider

After the battle, a battle report will be sent to the player, giving the option to auto-replenish the losses.

I should stop writing this stuff and try and develop this script I am describing. Unfortunately I don't have the time nor skills :(
Anyway, I really like the sound of this script already as it is and will definitely give at a try as soon as I can afford a fleet. :D
Pinky : "Gee, Brain what do you want to do tonight?"
Brain : "The same thing we do every night Pinky. Try to take over the world!"

User avatar
X-Freak Cartman
Posts: 4017
Joined: Mon, 2. Oct 06, 15:08
x3

Post by X-Freak Cartman » Sat, 7. Apr 07, 20:00

...
The Concept of my fleet management includes everything you wrote plus strategic withdrawals, optional micro-management or auto-management, replenish during the battle per Cargo Transporter, Auto-Adding Ships to the Fleet, Squads that'll manage themselves using the options you set for this fleet (Enemy Searching, Big Ship Defending, ...)

As I said, my solution (which is almost 30% finished - including the completely new fighting AI) could run without need of the player until all the ships are destroyed or there's no more money ;)

I could give links to the german threads where my fleet management is described more detailled...

jlehtone
Posts: 21801
Joined: Sat, 23. Apr 05, 21:42
x4

Post by jlehtone » Sat, 7. Apr 07, 20:25

Jimmy Jazz wrote:The carrier protecting the sector launches its fighter squadrons.
... and the OOS combat resolution slaughters them. The Anarkis Carrier Commands do give that functionality.
In a large battle it is tedious to assign targets to each individual groups.
Much more so in vanilla than with Group HotKeys of GMS. The real power of GMS is in the ease of forming groups. Rearm, and return to formation after manual interruptions are there too. GMS does essentially simple operations, but that is way more than what vanilla offers. Simple tools to make manual controlling of a fleet more simple. That is different from fully automated fleets, which juggernaut all over the universe with no need for the player do a thing.

Smart target selection and improved AI can IMO be separate packages. X2 AEGIS had "Missile assault" command, which launched a missile at every foe. Similarly, smart targeting can make a (weighted) list of foes and available ships (group leaders), and distribute the work.

If you look for something really powerful from GMS, check the "Launch missiles" hotkeys form the GHK script. Launching 65 missiles from 65 ships at single target by one keypress is truly power under fingertip. Naturally, automated fleet manager lets you get away without making a single keypress, and just sends a bill afterwards. :wink: But here we have the division into "fire and forget" and "I do have control" approaches. Personal tastes.

A single 5-9 ship group, with 50% of escorts on 'Protect Lead' and another 50% on 'Attack target of Lead' is amazingly effective. Setting such up with GMS is trivial. Setting it up manually is tedious. And I rather send such five-ship group at a target, than two fighters.


However, I'm not quite sure about the merits of this OP script. The GMS-GHK seems seems to do the same, and so does "Broadcast to wingmen" in some circumstances. Interestingly, it does imply that a single group can have more than one leader, a thought that has not sunken in before. That is merely a product of creating several groups with same number. That may have interesting consequences, when such groups are together and one of the leaders do die. Gosh, this idle chat has given me an idea of what to test about GMS. 8)

User avatar
moggy2
Posts: 5505
Joined: Wed, 6. Nov 02, 20:31
x3ap

Post by moggy2 » Sat, 7. Apr 07, 20:33

Jimmy Jazz wrote:...Recon: Avoid combat, will be sent out by fleet ai, to scan for hostiles in the sectors and adjacent sectors. Typically fast M5 f. ex. Disco Raider...
check out Scout for Enemies

you might also find Combat Commands useful.


@jlehtone
The purpose of the OP script is to give some control over your groups from OOS when ofcourse the hotkeys don't funtion.

User avatar
Jimmy Jazz
Posts: 794
Joined: Wed, 4. Jun 03, 17:20
x3

Post by Jimmy Jazz » Sat, 7. Apr 07, 20:38

@jlehtone: Yes, the script sounds definitely like a great improvement compared to the vanilla handling. I will give it a try, don't have any fighters yet to form a fighter group with.

@X-Freak Cartman [KBG]: Sounds like a great script you are writing, more or less exactly what I was thinking about. Seems though, there is still an awful lot to do for you. :wink:
Really hope you get it out. The combat ai you were talking about releasing soon, will it be in the german forum first?

Anyway, I guess I will just check out your thread in the german scripting forum.

Den Link finde ich schon alleine :wink:
Pinky : "Gee, Brain what do you want to do tonight?"
Brain : "The same thing we do every night Pinky. Try to take over the world!"

User avatar
X-Freak Cartman
Posts: 4017
Joined: Mon, 2. Oct 06, 15:08
x3

Post by X-Freak Cartman » Sat, 7. Apr 07, 22:14

The Fight Command Software MK3 (The AI) will be released in both forums nearly at the same time, but there won't be a complete readme for it until Monday... in a week...
I'll enjoy my vacation next week and afterwards I'll write that readme ;)

Post Reply

Return to “X³: Reunion - Scripts and Modding”