Troubleshooting scripts in-game

[El Condoro]

I think I know the answer to this but I am hoping I'm wrong. I am in the process of designing a fantasy campaign and am trying to get the scripts right and the balance, too. There is no AI scripting, so the testing is all 'manual'.

Is there a way to modify a campaign - scripts, map settings, unit combat settings etc. - when playing it? I'm not talking about cheating but the design process. A couple of examples:

1. Let's say I have entered the wrong country number in a script so it doesn't run. It's a critical script and it doesn't appear until the campaign (tested in Hotseat mode) has been played for an hour. Can I edit the script, go back to a saved version and restart with the correct country number so it runs or do I have to restart the campaign from scratch (wasting an hour)?

2. I want to test the effects of changing combat values at a certain stage in the campaign. Can I revert to a saved game and change the values and play the same combat over to see the effects of the changes?

Basically, how can a complex and large campaign be tested without playing for an hour (say), finding an issue, fixing the issue and replaying from the beginning? How was it done with Storm Over Europe, for example in the design phase?

[BillRunacre]

Hi

I'm afraid not, but what I'd suggest with 1) is to set scripts to fire in turn 1 or 2, and then when you know they work ok, set them to fire at the real time.

On 2, perhaps make a test version of your campaign that approximates to that stage of the campaign. It won't need to be exact, but just enough things will have to be right to give it the feel for what you want to achieve.

I must admit that I only do this rarely, and you'll probably find yourself gaining in confidence with your scripts as you gain more experience, but these approaches are the best way of getting there.

[El Condoro]

Thanks for that. I set myself a huge campaign and have all sorts of scripts affecting other scripts and so on, all of which can affect the whole campaign significantly (especially those pesky mobilization ones). It's great fun but I have played the campaign so many times now and it's still evolving. Your suggestion for setting the date is a good one and I have done that in various forms to test some of the show-stopper scripts. For example, I have a purple worm tunnel through a mountain range and needed to be sure it would work using the loop scripts. It does now. Cheers.

[mroyer]

ORIGINAL: El Condoro
I am in the process of designing a fantasy campaign ... For example, I have a purple worm tunnel through a mountain range ...

Well.... com'on El Condoro... You can't toss that out there without posting at least a couple of teaser screenshots! Sounds awesome.

[;)]

-Mark R.

[El Condoro]

ORIGINAL: mroyer

ORIGINAL: El Condoro
I am in the process of designing a fantasy campaign ... For example, I have a purple worm tunnel through a mountain range ...

Well.... com'on El Condoro... You can't toss that out there without posting at least a couple of teaser screenshots! Sounds awesome.

[;)]

-Mark R.

OK, here you go. It's done in World At War, though.

Empire of the Eagle

[mroyer]

OK, here you go. It's done in World At War, though.

Very cool!
Nicely done.
-Mark R.

[BillRunacre]

Sounds great, looking forward to seeing more! [:)]