Tutorial: Making campaigns

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I uploaded a template file for making campaigns to the sandbox. Campaigns take quite a bit of work. Each scenario needs to work individually and the whole campaign has to work as well. I hope with the template and this tutorial, it easier to make campaigns and that some modders or teams of folks will give it a try.

There are really not that many things to do differently if you make a campaign:

1. Set up the regimes. All scenarios have to have the same number of regimes in a campaign. So you should plan this up front. The template has 4 regimes and you can always add or subtract. In the 6th Army Campaign, I used a third regime to lock off hexes. But, additional regimes can be active.

2. Mark the arrivals. There is an exec that marks where transfered units from previous scenarios will land. I mark the German side using slot 1 code 1 and the Soviet side as slot 2 code 1. Please see the picture below

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Note that you should mark an airfield if you want to transfer planes. You should also mark water and ports if you want to transfer ships.

3. Transfer variables. Right now, all game vars between 400 and 500 will transfer from the scenario. As you see below in the code, I make the PPs of the regimes a variable. This allows me to transfer PPs between scenarios.

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4. In the first turn, I give the regimes the ammount of PP that they had in the previous scenario. Pls see the event code below.

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I also create an action card that allows the player to end the scenario immediately if they reach the victory conditions. As you can see above, this card is dealt out to both regimes.

5. Below is the event that ends the scenario. You can do this many ways. In this example, the scenario ends by simply getting to the other side of the map. There are a couple of events:

a. Research tranfer - Transfers the research of the selected regime to the next scenario. Only the research of the select regime is transfered. You might transfer some research if the campaign has a break (e.g., the ally side shifts from the West to the Soviets in the 6th Army Campaign)

b. Units transfer - Transfers the units of a side. Again, you might have a campaign break where you do not transfer units. Note that you can specify how many units goes into a hex. You also specify the slot you will transfer 2. You might end up playing with the slot markings of the next scenario and the depth in this event to get the right layout for the next game. I am not sure how the units are actually placed. Maybe Vic can comment on this.

c. Load - This immediately loads the next file. Do not put in any code you want executed after this. The file points the the scenario directory. It is probably a good idea to make a sub directory for all your scenario files.

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That is basically it.  You only need to know how variables transfer and the 3 events.  The mechanics are simple, just getting everything to work well and be balanced is tough.  A couple of other things I added:
 
- I have an AI help event.  If a regime is AI, it gets extra reinforcements.
- I have a give supply event.  It drops the required supply of a regime at the respective map edge. 
- I also made the units faster than standard speed.  I wanted to give a more tactical feel.
 
 
It would not be too difficult for a group to put together a campaign.  All you have to do is agree on a campaign structure and then farm out the individual scenarios.  Any scenario specific events should be written after the campaign specific events.  I hope that others give it a try.  Drop me a note if you are stuck.

[springer]

This is a great aid tweber.  Thanks!  One of the goals of my analysis of what you did is to get a sense of what makes a campaign different than a scenario.  I'm tempted to try my hand at one, particularly now since you've given us the basic mechanics.  The fact it took you nearly a year, and you are a proficient AT programmer, is a little bit intimidating. But as you said, the work can be farmed out. Also, the campaigns can be shorter.

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The actual programming part is not that long.  The research to a bit and the play testing also took a while.  Finally, I moved last year so that wiped out about 4 months. 
 
I would start modest.  Maybe try a 3-4 scenario campaign.