Re: An Epic Generator...
 

You'd still need to figure out what was a relevant piece of information to include from the log though.

On a related note, something I could see a use for would be a "battle report" type of thing. Going down the narrative route should be easier (and would be kind of cool), but it would also grant a better insight into the AI's decision making process (at least if implemented well) no matter how it was done. Not only would it help newcomers understand how to script for battles, but I'm sure even veterans would be interested to know precisely why their water mage decided to spend all of his crystals on summoning elementals when the enemy began to rout http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif

Re: An Epic Generator...
 

The game supports a debug log now (even Dom2). A -d switch when you run the game creates an output that can be redirected to a log. Each d adds a level of info so -ddd is much more and -dddddd is huge logs that have to be deleted between each hosting. Basically, yes, you get to see the game "think".

That log is what I would work off of. Probably not on anything higher than 3 to 5 d's because after that it gets insane to pull out the important info.

Gandalf Parker

Re: An Epic Generator...
 

I have looked at the debug log output, and the spell selection process is probably the most accessable and useful part of the log. Here is a short sample from a game with my Prophet selecting/casting Sermon of Courage (no other spells had any value in this case):

<font class="small">Code:</font><hr /><pre>com Prophet cast spell (favspell Nothing) (mayusegems 1)
spellscore, Banishment score 0 (boost 101)
Eval: Banishment score 0 (fat 0)
spellscore, Blessing score 0 (boost 119)
Eval: Blessing score 0 (fat 0)
best Sermon of Courage this far, 37 16 (13 pnts)
best Sermon of Courage this far, 41 16 (15 pnts)
best Sermon of Courage this far, 37 17 (16 pnts)
best Sermon of Courage this far, 38 17 (18 pnts)
spellscore, Sermon of Courage score 19 (boost 83)
Eval: Sermon of Courage score 21 (fat 0)
best spell so far Sermon of Courage (score21)
spellscore, Smite Demon score 0 (boost 99)
Eval: Smite Demon score 0 (fat 0)
castspell: cnr42 spl604 (Sermon of Courage) vis0 x38 y17 spldmg1
vis 0 xvis 0
blastsqr: unr2053 x38 y17 aoe1 dmg1 eff17 spc12599296 as10218 al9
affectvic vic2061 hv1
affectvic vic2076 hv1
blastsqr: unr2053 x37 y16 aoe1 dmg1 eff17 spc12599296 as10218 al9
affectvic vic2159 hv0
blastsqr: unr2053 x39 y17 aoe1 dmg1 eff17 spc12599296 as10218 al9
blastsqr: unr2053 x38 y18 aoe1 dmg1 eff17 spc12599296 as10218 al9
blastsqr: unr2053 x37 y15 aoe1 dmg1 eff17 spc12599296 as10218 al9
blastsqr: unr2053 x37 y17 aoe1 dmg1 eff17 spc12599296 as10218 al9
affectvic vic2156 hv0
blastsqr: unr2053 x37 y18 aoe1 dmg1 eff17 spc12599296 as10218 al9
affectvic vic2056 hv0
blastsqr: unr2053 x38 y16 aoe1 dmg1 eff17 spc12599296 as10218 al9
affectvic vic2072 hv0
blastsqr: unr2053 x39 y18 aoe1 dmg1 eff17 spc12599296 as10218 al9
blastsqr: unr2053 x38 y19 aoe1 dmg1 eff17 spc12599296 as10218 al9
affectvic vic2074 hv0
</pre><hr />

You can the pass of spell selection with different "boost" values for different spells. There are multiple tries of each spell to create a best "score", which selects which spell is cast. Then the "castspell:" line shows the selected spell cast and the following lines each square hit and the "affec"ted "vic"tim.

It's very gratifying to see the actual number of repels in combat as well, much more common than I would have intuited.

Sill

Re: An Epic Generator...
 

Hehe. Wow, it's jarring to see how my personality changes from one forum to the next. I don't think I'd ever call anyone a devious bastard here on these forums ;-). Erm, I've been around, but I tend to not play M&amp;B too much while it's in beta, other than to look for bugs and make other constructive comments about the game. After I've given my opinions, I disappear for a while until the next version. I'll play it hard for about a week and then stop. I don't want to grow tired of the game before it releases. As for the forums, I've found that after a certain point, old things tend to ge rehashed, and I don't really have the time to go over them again. When the next version is out, I'll be around again for a little while. Maybe I'll even pop in before then for a little bit. It's always fun throwing ideas back and forth. That post you referenced, by the way; it seems fairly recent to me. I assumed you'd been around here a bit longer than that. My quest for the Dominions missionary who gave me life must continue, I suppose.

One other thing that could be useful about an Epic Generator is the method it uses to pick and choose what gets narrated. For example, it might be best if it doesn't try to narrate everything it has the ability to. Maybe some random element chooses pieces out of the history to become the highlights. This randomness might be good for a player, because it gives him a spin on his own story that maybe he didn't see himself. It could be a catalyst for inspiration. For example, if I think the highlight of the game was when I created this army of mages who can cast spell X, but the game instead narrates the fact that I won several battles with my SC, then it may cause me to write differently than I had anticipated. Either way, it gives the player a different perspective. Just a thought.

=$=

Re: An Epic Generator...
 

You do that. You do that right now. You're missing out on all kinds of great mods, the #mount&amp;blade IRC channel and most of all The Great TaleWorlds Dominions II Showdown 2, so you haul *** and get back there pronto, hear?

Well. I'd been around the TaleWorlds forum for several months at that time and I'd had Dominions 2 for a while, but I'd never posted about it on the forum before that. And if by "here" you mean the Dominions forum, I only just joined, as you can see. Never got around to it before.

Guess so. Good luck with that, fella. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

Re: An Epic Generator...
 

Once the game gets settled in abit we can make specific requests to Johan. Information that is more game info than "debug" info that we might get him to put out into the debug log so that it can be reworked by us. Its on my wishlist but not something I felt was appropriate during beta-testing