Two other questions about the game engine

[Mustang]

Just remembered to ask you this today.

One, in the map editor I often place Level 15 hills. However, there dosen't seem to be any extra movement price at all for moving over these very tall hills. How much level 15 supposed to represent? A 500 meter tall hill? That's almost a mountain! Very steep slopes (like a level 1 terrain bordered by a level 15 terrain) should probably be made impassable because they're practically cliffs.

Two, the AI dosen't seem to care about the waypoints I set for it in the scenario editor. Does the computer care at all about waypoints?

[Pyros]

Mustang,

These two questions are very tough to answer...

Concerning the Level 15 hills and their relation to the game mechanism...
You should accept that above every logical routine (in the map designing), there is the common logic of the designer.
In other words, if you try to design a map-model which will be in accordance with the principal Geo-morphological model, then you shouldn't put a level 15 hill (with anything else than impassable terrain) on top of a level 1 terrain.
If you need to represent cliffs then you should use the impassable terrain in order to restrict movement only to foot units.

Concerning the waypoints...

perhaps I am one of the few persons who has investigated in depth the mechanism of "waypoints".

The principal doctrine of the AI units is to move toward the nearest VP location.

From my experience the waypoint will work as a mean of movement deviation and speed control of an AI unit.

If now, you try to combine the movement of an AI unit toward a VP location by using the waypoint mechanism, then you may achieve better tactics for the AI.

Only a very experienced designer will be able to use effectively the waypoint mechanism.

Remember this rule: Use the waypoints in conjunction with the VP locations whenever you wish to dictate the AI movement. The VP location will dictate the general direction of movement, while the waypoint will allow you to make small deviations and better adjustment of the movement speed.

cheers,
Pyros