SE-5 : Batteries & weapons

[Kana]

You say we cant add new abilities, but we can add AI Tag's?

Do the AI tags act like 'abilities'?

If so, then we can add new abilities...

[Phoenix-D]

They act like abilities but they're finite in number.

[Fyron]

I think there is a semantic misunderstanding. You can not add any AI Tags. 20 such abilities are already defined by the game engine. You can use them, but you are not adding any new abilities by doing so.

[Captain Kwok]

You might be able to just make up names though for abilities. Blank abilities and the like are read by the game and can be used to add descriptions. I wonder if it might go one further and you can just create a fake name and reference that in other data files. I can test it out I guess.

[Kana]

Well we were supposed to be able to make our own damage types, but I guess that is just in how we define/use formula of pre-existing damage types...I dont see how we can make our own abilities?

Would be nice for modding...

So if I remember the use of AI Tags from SEIV, its just a coded device to trick the AI into doing something within the game, that in stock it isnt already doing...?

[Phoenix-D]

Damage types can be created. Abilities can't.

[Kana]

Phoenix-D said:
Damage types can be created. Abilities can't.

I guess if you consider a damage type as being something relating to

Does_Component_Have_Ability("Pre-Defined Game Element")

Or

Is_Component_Weapon

Which are abilities, or component/weapons with said ability. Yet if we cant make new abilities, then I would say NO, we cant really make new damage types. We more properly can only redefine damage types, that may not be currently part of stock...

[Fyron]

Neither of those have anything to do with the concept of damage type, though. Damage type is only what is on this line:

Weapon Damage Type Formula := "Normal"

Abilities are not damage types, so the "does have ability" is not relevant.

Is_Component_Weapon() relates to this information:

Weapon Type := Direct Fire

It returns false only when the component has that value set to None (well, bad values of weapon type might also return false, who knows). It is not related to damage types or abilities in any way.

=0=

For reference, AI Tags do absolutely nothing. They do not inherently tell the AI anything. You can use them to force different AI behavior by calling that ability instead of the real ability of the item, but you can do that with any non-functional ability too (like facility resource generation abilities in SE4 components file). The AI Tag abilities are merely there for easier legibility.

[Captain Kwok]

Kana said:...Does_Component_Have_Ability("Pre-Defined Game Element")...

Does_Component_Have_Name("Any Thing You Frickin' Want") would seem to disagree.

[Fyron]

Kana said:
NO, we cant really make new damage types.

I forgot to add: DamageTypes.txt would very strongly disagree with you, my friend.