11 replies to this topic

[fensome7]

Hello. Firstly I apologize if this is already on the forum somewhere, but search function brought up nothing relevant.

Okay I only just started a week ago in learning how to edit .ini file for bfme 2 & RotWK expansion, but encountered an issue when trying to edit the damage dealt by the Ballista. Editing the damage dealt by other weapons/units worked fine and I don't know what is going on. I though just simply increasing the ISENGARD_BALLISTA_DAMAGE value would work, but no matter what it is increased/decreased to it's still dealing the same damage to structures and units. I increased the weapon accuracy to see if that made a difference, but it didn't. I was using skirmish with Rohan as the map to check and It took 17 hits to destory an Outpost to the right of the base, 5 hits to kill a single Warg from the Warg lair, and 11 hits to destroy an enemy farm which was still level 1, each and every time.

Checked .ini for weapons, ballista unit and main gamedata but can't see any reason as to why it is happening.

 

Any help is appreciated!

[The Smoking Man™]

Hi,

 

First of all are you on BfMe 2 or RotWk?

 

(Note to all future posters - please indicate your game so I can specifically look into the issue).

[fensome7]

Rotwk. Installed as standard, not updated with patches nor any Mods!

[Ridder Geel]

Well depending on how you set up your mod, simply changing gamedata.ini does not work.

If you are simply editing the original files then it might be that you are editing an gamedata.ini that is being overwritten by a patch, check those ,big files

[fensome7]

Well depending on how you set up your mod, simply changing gamedata.ini does not work.

If you are simply editing the original files then it might be that you are editing an gamedata.ini that is being overwritten by a patch, check those ,big files

 What patch could have overwritten it? I haven't updated it, nor have I installed anymore after I removed them. It's installed as standard and Yes, i just edit main INI.big and searched through all the files in it and there is nothing in there which explains why increasing the damage isn't working.

[The Smoking Man™]

What I recommend you to do is first install patch 2.01, then update to version 2.02 since there is a new structural damage nugget in 2.02. Then try changing ISENGARD_BALLISTA_DAMAGE to a value like 0, and put the .ini file in a .big file named as ###ballista.big and put it in your game repository. I checked the .ini files and changing that value should work.

[fensome7]

What I recommend you to do is first install patch 2.01, then update to version 2.02 since there is a new structural damage nugget in 2.02. Then try changing ISENGARD_BALLISTA_DAMAGE to a value like 0, and put the .ini file in a .big file named as ###ballista.big and put it in your game repository. I checked the .ini files and changing that value should work.

 I do not like the patches, as they cause more problems than they fix. So far all I have seen from either patch is that they are mostly for those who play online (which i don't), playing WotR has left it completely unbalanced, hence why I am learning how to edit files and then eventually add things to suite the game as to how I like to play it.

 So for the ballista damage, I use finalBIG to edit the main INI.big. "try changing ISENGARD_BALLISTA_DAMAGE to a value like 0, and put the .ini file in a .big file named as ###ballista.big and put it in your game repository." Any chance you could explain this a bit clearer? i.e. how this works and why it would work?

[Samuel R. Kinsey]

I just go to weapon.ini, find the weapon code, and replace ISENGARD_BALLISTA_DAMAGE with a number, like 500. I've always found the ballista to have more attack than I like, though; I just brought it down to 300 on one of its two damagenuggets. Have you changed armor or health on anything?

[fensome7]

I just go to weapon.ini, find the weapon code, and replace ISENGARD_BALLISTA_DAMAGE with a number, like 500. I've always found the ballista to have more attack than I like, though; I just brought it down to 300 on one of its two damagenuggets. Have you changed armor or health on anything?

 Nope haven't changed armour or health or anything that would explain why it won't increase damage. Only thing changed is the Hitpercentage (put that is back to normal) and Damage which, as i say, doesn't seem to make any difference no matter how high I make it. I made it 7000 once to match the damage of the Mine to see if that made any difference and still does almost no damage to anything even when hitpercentage was 100.

 To tell the truth I have never actually edited the weapon.ini as the damage for the Ballista just takes it from the gamedata.ini (or it says it does). But i'll give it a shot now see if editing that instead of the gamedata.ini makes a difference.

 Did you edit the damage of the BallistaWarhead? As i cannot see anywhere to edit the damage for Ballista weapon itself?

Weapon IsengardBallistaWeaponWarhead
  RadiusDamageAffects = ENEMIES ALLIES NEUTRALS; NOT_SIMILAR


  DamageNugget                        ; A basic Nugget that just does damage
        Damage        = ISENGARD_BALLISTA_DAMAGE  ; Hella damage.  structures are on a different order of magnitude for hitpoints, and we want to be sure to outscore the fire damage so we can knock bits off.
        DamageTaperOff = 50
        Radius        = 50.0
        DelayTime     = 0
        DamageType    = SIEGE
        DamageFXType  = BIG_ROCK
        DeathType     = EXPLODED
            DamageScalar  = 0% ALL ALLIES            ; No damage to allies
            DamageScalar  = 25% ANY ENEMIES +INFANTRY
            DamageScalar  = 25% ANY ENEMIES +CAVALRY
  End

Edited by fensome7, 24 February 2016 - 03:08 AM.

[The Smoking Man™]

 

What I recommend you to do is first install patch 2.01, then update to version 2.02 since there is a new structural damage nugget in 2.02. Then try changing ISENGARD_BALLISTA_DAMAGE to a value like 0, and put the .ini file in a .big file named as ###ballista.big and put it in your game repository. I checked the .ini files and changing that value should work.

 I do not like the patches, as they cause more problems than they fix. So far all I have seen from either patch is that they are mostly for those who play online (which i don't), playing WotR has left it completely unbalanced, hence why I am learning how to edit files and then eventually add things to suite the game as to how I like to play it.

 So for the ballista damage, I use finalBIG to edit the main INI.big. "try changing ISENGARD_BALLISTA_DAMAGE to a value like 0, and put the .ini file in a .big file named as ###ballista.big and put it in your game repository." Any chance you could explain this a bit clearer? i.e. how this works and why it would work?

 

 

That's just not true, 2.01 is a big improvement over 2.00 but 2.01 was still a failure (both in terms of balance and bugs that heavily affect gameplay, EA rushed the patch), patch 2.02 is the result of years of bug busting and balancing which finally makes the game enjoyable, specifically for those who seek competitive gameplay. I have been developing 2.02 for long enough to know that I'm saying. If you love countless bugs and balance headaches, be my guest and stay on 2.00!

 

Nevertheless the reason I'm telling you to use 2.02 is because it uses a new proper structural damage nugget for the Ballista weaponset. I'm also recommending you to change the damage to 0 as it should deal no damage in-game (obvious to detect). If that's the case then at least you know you're doing it right, otherwise you're doing something wrong.

[fensome7]

 I have lowered the Ballista damage to 0 and it is working as it should i.e. not dealing any damage to the warg it is fired at. So I went back and increased the damage to its standard;

;------------------------BALLISTA-------------

#define ISENGARD_BALLISTA_BUILDCOST            300
#define ISENGARD_BALLISTA_BUILDTIME            40 ;30
#define    ISENGARD_BALLISTA_VISION_RANGE             520
#define ISENGARD_BALLISTA_HEALTH            2000
#define ISENGARD_BALLISTA_HEALTH_DAMAGED        1000
#define ISENGARD_BALLISTA_HEALTH_RECOVERY_TIME        10000

#define    ISENGARD_BALLISTA_LVL1_EXP_AWARD         10

#define ISENGARD_BALLISTA_PREATTACKDELAY         1000
#define ISENGARD_BALLISTA_DELAYBETWEENSHOTS         8000
#define ISENGARD_BALLISTA_FIRINGDURATION         7000
#define ISENGARD_BALLISTA_DAMAGE            600
#define ISENGARD_BALLISTA_UPGRADED_DAMAGE        900
#define ISENGARD_BALLISTA_RANGE                500
#define ISENGARD_BALLISTA_MINRANGE            300
#define    ISENGARD_BALLISTA_BOUNTY_VALUE            125
#define ISENGARD_BALLISTA_EXPANSION_AIM_DELTA        90

 

and now it is dealing the damage it's suppsed to, However increasing it any higher than this and it doesn't make any difference even when increased to the same damage value as the Explosive Mine.

[fensome7]

 So now I have edited the Ballista in the gamedata.ini to "ISENGARD_BALLISTA_DAMAGE = 0" and instead changed the IsengardBallistaWeaponWarhead damage value to 7000 (the same as explosive mine) and it is destoying most buildings in an instant like it should such as, farms, archery range's and battle towers etc.

 However, like i say "most buildings" as the fortress' of each faction, the elven barracks, green pasture (elves), barracks (men) and the hall of warriors (dwarves) are taking very minor damage. After watching and trying to pay close attention it appears the problem is the ballista projectile is hitting these building and shattering on impact therefore only delivering the minor shockwave damage to the buildings.

 So i went back into the weapon.ini and changed the IsengardBallistaWeaponWarhead damage value to 2000 and tested it again and same thing only the damage dealt to those buildings was less. Which is why I think it's related to the projectile shattering on hitting the building and only dealing shockwave damage. Also when I fire at the green pasture it hits the building and shatters again only appearing to deal shockwave damage, however when it hits the grass paddock just in front of the building, it was destroyed instantly.

 After spotting that i again attacked the fortress and many shots kept shattering on impact and doing minimal damage and then suddenly one of the projectiles seemed to fire through the face of the fortress and dealt the severe damage that it was supposed to. Then i replayed another game as Men and built a trebuchet and noticed that the rock projectile for it seems to go through the face of the buildings dealing the damage it is supposed to, just like the ballista projectile did.

 So if my suspicion is correct and the projectile is shattering and only dealing shockwave damage because it hits the building, could anybody offer any help or suggestions on how to fix this?

Edited by fensome7, 25 February 2016 - 07:48 PM.