Latest Additions
Achievement Values
You can now get and set values for a campaign that are saved in the achievements file. New script commands
SetAchievementValue, 2, 2, "(name, value) set the value of the named achievementvalue. If doesn't exist will be created.") GetAchievementValue, 1, 1, "(name) get the value of the named achievementvalue. If doesn't exist, returns 0.")
Region Map Highlights
You can now enable dynamic highlights as the mouse moves over a region map. See UI#REGIONMAP.
String File Naming
You can now name string files with additional descriptive information. The filenames must be of the form:
Text<number><string>.TXT
Or
Text<number><string>_<tag>.TXT
Where tag is the standard 3 character language tag. Note that the string entries do not need to be the same for all the members of a given text file group. E.g. the follow would be valid
Text2General.txt Text2_FRE.txt Text2German_GER.txt
Restrictions are: you cannot start the description string with a number (can lead to ambiguous filenames). You cannot duplicate the _??? pattern at the end of a non-localised text filename.
Stricter String File Checking
There is now stricter string checking to determine that lines are either of the form
TAG,"string",
or
// comment
By default these check failures are shown as warnings, but you can enable error throwing by using the line
MAXDEBUG 2
in the USER.TXT file. Note that comments can still follow a correctly formatted string line.
ELO Reroll Allows
If there is a checkbox named LobbyAllowRerolls in the MP challenge setup screen, then an allow rerolls bool will be set in the misc data. This is passed into the MP lobby tooltip callbacks as an ALLOWREROLLS param.
There is a new callback in battle RESIGN_BATTLE_CALLBACK. This should return -1 to do nothing. If it returns 1, then the skip rating flag will be set when sending the turn. To facilitate this, there are new script commands:
GameAllowsRerolls IsRanked
UI and Font Scaling
Copy + Paste in Edit Boxes
You can now copy and paste in Edit boxes. There is a new tag SELECTIONCOLOUR which allows you to alter the colour of the selection box displayed when selecting for copy.
You cannot copy from a password box. You cannot paste over text (e.g. paste into a selection thus replacing it).
You can also copy from textmode listboxes (as used by the MP chat box). This is only possible if you add an ALLOWCOPY tag to the UI control. There is also a TEXTSELECTIONCOLOUR tag which can be set on these controls.
4:3 Ratio UI overrides
In the rare case where a UI file needs special formatting for 4:3 ratio screens, you can define a different UI file to be loaded where appropriate. Simply create a folder called 43 in the same folder as the UI files. Any file in the 43 folder, which has the same name as a file in the parent folder, will be loaded instead, when running at a resolution with a 4:3 aspect ratio or lower.
Pick Callback
Tile. Use the following HELPERS.BSF callback to control picking/selection in battle.
PICK_CALLBACK(blocking)
Where blocking is set to 1 when the mouse is over any UI block set with BlockUIArea during a render call. Return 0 to pick normally, 1 to prevent picking/selection.
Custom Mouse Handling
Tile. Callbacks exist for custom mouse handling. These are
MOUSE_CLICK_HANDLER(action, tilex, tiley) // in HELPERS.BSF DEBUG_MOUSE_CLICK_HANDLER(action, tilex, tiley) // in DEBUG_HELPERS.BSF when enabled
They are triggered on mouse up. action is 0 for LMB, 1 for RMB. Return non-zero in MOUSE_CLICK_HANDLER to prevent normal mouse handling.
User Folder Redirection
If the user places a REDIRECT.TXT file in their local folder (e.g. Documents/My Games/<game>) which contains the line
FOLDER <fullpath>
Then the game will treat the provided folder as the user folder for this game.
Hotkey Tooltips
You can now enable automatic hotkey tooltips. See the UI button documentation.
Hotkey Modifiers
Can now have UI control hotkeys with SHIFT and/or CTRL modifiers. See the UI documentation.
New Tile Callbacks
Tile. New callbacks
// Allows for additional text to be added to skirmish descriptions in the MP creation screen. // Place any string to be added in the first UI string FUNCTION SKIRMISH_COMMENT_CALLBACK()
// Called immediately after loading the userdata when a game is loaded // skirmish param is zero or one. Userdata is in the first work array. FUNCTION LOAD_USERDATA_CALLBACK(skirmish)
StartCampaign & ReplaceUnit Script Commands
Tile. StartCampaign can now take no params at which point it loads the ||SKIRMISH campaign as per skirmish battles. ReplaceUnit replaces one unit with another. In order to handle any custom setup (esp anything which is used in animation callbacks) there is a REPLACE_CALLBACK(me) callback where any required data can be set up after the new replacement unit has been initialized but before we try and sync up animations etc. So you will need to save out any specific attribs from the unit that you care about and then reset then in the callback (if needed) or after the ReplaceUnit call returns.
Screenshot/Movie Capture
Updates: there is now an onscreen flash when capturing a screenshot. You can also place entries for SCREENSHOTSFX and MOVIESFX into the UIDefaults.txt file in System. These should be numeric index values into the sfx list for sounds to be played when screenshotting, and when beginning a movie capture respectively.
Global saves
You can now pass an empty string into Load/SaveVariableData and it will load and save from a GLOBAL_DATA.TXT file in (e.g.) My Documents/My Games/FieldOfGlory2. This can be used to set up a global structure for persistent data across the game, e.g. hi scores or battles won.
Load Sequence Function
Tile. If the script CORE/LOADINIT.BSF exists then the function LoadInit from within it will be called at the very start of the main loading sequence, immediately after the first loadbar frame is shown.
Progress Bars Accept KEEPSQUARE
You can now use a KEEPSQUARE tag for progress bars if desired.
Global Orders
Tile. You can now include global orders which do not require a unit to be selected. These are defined in the CORE.BSF script, and should follow the template for standard unit orders (i.e. CHECK_, UIBUTTON_, etc functions must exist). These orders use a CORE_ prefix, rather than TILE_, UNIT_, or ALL_.
Gamma Adjustment
Two new commands allow for adjusting the gamma values when in fullscreen. To allow for saving of the gamma value (or others) there are 3 additional Custom* options values available. Custom1, Custom2, Custom3. All default to zero. Suggested values for gamma would be 0.5 to 2.0 or so, depending on the variation you wish to allow.
//set the gamma value, if possible. gamma is in 1000ths. SetGamma(gamma) //returns 1 if the current setup allows for gamma adjustment (e.g. driver support, or because gamma requires fullscreen). AllowsGamma()
Get/SetUnitString Script Commands
Tile. New commands to allow a custom unicode string to be attached to a unit.
//place the contents of the first UI string as a custom string for the unit. SetUnitString(me)
//place the contents of the unit custom string into the first UI string. Returns 0 if there is no custom string, 1 otherwise GetUnitString(me)
User Content Debugging
Tile. When in DEBUGMODE is set to 2, the system will additionally load list_debug.txt into the user content list from the server. This is to allow for simpler testing of user content from the server without polluting the release list.
GetSkirmishPoints & GetCurrentMod
Tile. New script commands to fetch the currently set skirmish points, and to query the current mod.
//sets the first 4 values in the first work array with the current skirmish points values (fixed0, fixed1, select0, select1) GetSkirmishPoints() //if a mod is selected, place the name of the current mod into the first UI string and return its index, otherwise return -1. Always returns -1 in multiplayer. GetCurrentMod()
Modding Updates
Tile. Mods can now override S4F and their animation files for units. They can also override scripts for AI, unit, HELPERS, and CORE BSF files. NOTE: to package global mods, you need a ModsPackage named button on the mod UI panel.
Lobby Colouring Tweak
Tile. You can now use the VALUE5 entry for the accept games list to define the RGB value for disabled games (where you do not have the necessary campaign etc). Alpha is set to 0xFF by the game. Zero uses the default colouring.
String Attribs
Tile. You can have up to 8 read-only strings attached to a squad template. These must be defined in the squads file using tags ##0 to ##7. The string data for each element must have 27 characters or less, and spaces are not permitted. You can then retrieve these using the new command
//place the given attrib string into the first work string. typeIndex is the index of the unit type. index is currently [0,7]. GetAttribString(typeIndex, index)
Note that the string returned will have been converted into upper case.
UpdateUserStringFromUI and GetUIEditboxToInt Script Commands
//take the UI string from an editbox object and update it if it has changed (or is new). Return 1 if a change has been made, zero otherwise. UpdateUserStringFromUI(objectName, tag) //takes the contents of the UI editbox and converts them to a string. If there are any non-numeric characters in the string, then the return value is invalidValue. Skips leading and trailing whitespace. GetUIEditboxToInt(objectName, invalidValue)
Review Battlefield After Battle
Tile. You can now set up the UI to allow the user to review the battlefield after a battle ends. To do this you should:
- Add a button the the EndBattle control called EndBattleReview
- Create a new UI screen to allow the user to exit after they have finished reviewing. This screen should be called EndReview, and should include a button named EndReviewOK. EndReview should not be modal, but should have the same HANDLER as EndBattle (DeployHandler).
This should allow the player to review the battlefield, with all units shown.
ShowUIListboxItem
New script command which moves the viewable area (if needed) to show the given item.
//move the UI listbox to show the given item index. Scrolls unless immediate is non-zero, in which case it instantly changes the view ShowUIListboxItem(objectName, index, [immediate])
GetString Control Change
If the UI object GetStringTitle exists, then the title text for the system GetString control will be placed there, rather than in the title of the GetString object window as per default.
DEPLOY_DRAG_CALLBACK
Tile. Unit script function that is called each time a unit is moved by dragging when in deployment.
FUNCTION DEPLOY_DRAG_CALLBACK(me, tilex, tiley)
Multiline for UI Edit Controls
Adding a CHATMODE tag to edit controls will now allow them to contain more than one line.
Further INCLUDE Functionality for UI Files
You can now use a prefix to rename included UI file components, allowing reuse of UI fragments. See here:UI
User Music Control
Tile. You can alter the music that is playing using the new script command
//switch to the denoted music track. Must be [0,5] currently as per the MUSIC.TXT file order. SwitchMusic(track)
Can be combined with the new tweak DisableDefaultMusic, which stops all hardcoded changes of music (NOTE: other than the initial playing of the main menu music, and some other changes back to the main menu music when internal code takes the UI back to the main menu).
It is also worth reminding of the existence of the SetMusicFile command
//set a music file to be loaded and used. Looks in local then core files. A ? as filename means leave the existing music entry. SetMusicFile(filename)
New Script Commands: GetMapStyle & DeleteUserCampaign
Tile.
//place the current map style string into the first work string. GetMapStyle() //delete a user campaign. The filename is expected to include the CAMPAIGNS or MULTIPLAYER path element depending upon where the campaign is. E.g. MULTIPLAYER/MYCAMPAIGN. NOTE: it is good practice to prompt the user to confirm deletion. DeleteUserCampaign(filename)
Including Templates in UI Files
You can now include other files in UI files. Note this should be used with care as objects with the same names are still prohibited. All includes must be the first thing in the UI file. Lines must be of the form
#include "file.txt"
or
include "file.txt"
The template files must be in DATA/UI/TEMPLATES
AreNewDownloads Script Command
//returns 1 if there are new user content downloads available, 0 otherwise AreNewDownloads()
Button Text Colour Updates
You can now define different colours for buttons to use when they are being actioned. These colours can be set globally in the UIDEFAULTS.TXT file using
BUTTONOVERCOLOUR <hex> BUTTONDOWNCOLOUR <hex> BUTTONDISABLEDCOLOUR <hex>
You can also over-ride these values on a per-button basis in the UI text file using
OVERCOLOUR <hex> DOWNCOLOUR <hex> DISABLEDCOLOUR <hex>
PRESTARTEDITOR Callback
Tile. There is now a callback when the editor starts. This can be located in either or both the CORE.BSF and scenario scripts. The function is of the same form as PRESTARTBATTLE:
FUNCTION PreStartEditor(mode)