4DFAF Uploaded

Finally, after all these years! Thanks Resin. Can confirm that all units work as intended to, with the exception of the T2 Naval mine not being able to surface or dive, as the toggle doesn't seem to work. I tested this with BlackOps and BrewLan mods. Loved the Balrog's magma canon explosion graphics. I forgot how "beautiful" it was. Great work, look forward to seeing the other units.

For the uninitiated (me), what does this mod add?

"Design is an iterative process. The required number of iterations is one more than the number you have currently done. This is true at any point in time."

See all my projects:

@blackrobe the Naval mine is built on the surface and then should sink to deploy. It's a one way animation event.

Edit: There shouldn't be a toggle. Will check again later.

There are some instances with mines that they are seen. The way the game handles stealth and Intel, it couldn't be helped. Only other option would be to make the mines non-detectable by all units, even Omni. What are your thoughts on this?

@indexlibrorum In its current form, fourteen custom UEF units. With three of them being experimentals.

Check out the following videos from 15 years ago. (Yeah its been a long time) And check out some of the snippet videos in my signature, these are also from 4th-D / 4DC.

https://youtu.be/qGJLD2CByvI?si=xHJ2THKmU4j6FJMU

https://youtu.be/4XA7mBDGvnI?si=6LBuSGTGNanRdunf

Great. Thank you.

@blackrobe corrected the issue with the Naval mine and re-confirmed that they do have stealth for all but Omni.

Edit: Will release an update in a few days. Want to sort out the trash bags for the units using attached emitter effects. Got most of this done, but experimentals can take a while due to testing being pretty lengthy for them.

@foxy_pj Me confused... Edit NM, just saw the PM.

Your welcome.

@resin_smoker No worries Resin. I was gunna say that stealth and cloak for all but omni is good. If you have a look at the BrewLAN Mod, he has T1/T2/T3 mines that can go on land and submerse in water; and they are cloaked and stealthed to all but omni as well. If you see what he's done, It should help so you can adapt your mines the same so you see them as cloaked in FAF.

@blackrobe I just used the standard in game cloak / stealth, as It's simple and works. Though I'll give the Mod you've suggested a deep look.

One thing to consider... The way that intel is setup "Structures" once seen, can not be un-seen, even after Intel is removed. Thus, I've setup the mines as either Land or Naval units, which allows them to once again be un-seen once the Omni source has been removed. (They just can't move) This should make them a bit more viable / functional in longer games as a result.

Side note: I really hate that Intel perma-detects structures in this way, and would advise the FAF Dev's to address this issue. Far as I'm concerned, Intel is too powerful, too cheap, and has too great of an area of effect (especially on smaller maps).

-Resin

Just took a look at the BrewLan mines, specifically unit SEB2220. Looks like he's also using the standard intel system for stealth, along with the "Suicide" weapon trigger event.

--Snippet from the units blueprint
Intel = {
        Cloak = true,
        RadarStealth = true,
        SonarStealth = true,
        VisionRadius = 0,
        OmniRadius = 1,
    },
SEB2220 = Class(MineStructureUnit) {
    Weapons = {
        Suicide = Class(MineStructureUnit.Weapons.Suicide) {
   			FxDeathLand = EffectTemplate.TSmallYieldNuclearBombHit01,
        },
    },
}
TypeClass = SEB2220

Only significant change here is that the mines are using there own Omni Intel rather than other types. Thus the mines can see thru stealthed units. But notice that the mines are all labeled as Structures. This means once they've been discovered via Omni that they will always remain so, even after Omni has been removed.

In comparison from 4DFAF unit UEB2102 (yes the identifier shows it as a structure but its not. This is deliberate)

--Snippet from the unit blueprint
	Intel = {
		Cloak = true,
		RadarStealth = true,
		VisionRadius = 2,
	},
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
--	File	 : /units/ueb2102/ueb2102_script.lua
--
--	Author(s): EbolaSoup, Resin Smoker, Optimus Prime, Vissroid, Domino
--
--	Summary  : UEF Basic Land Mine Script
--
--	Copyright © 2024 4DFAF, All rights reserved.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

local bombWeap = import('/lua/sim/DefaultWeapons.lua').KamikazeWeapon
local emtBpPath = ('/effects/emitters/')
local TLandUnit = import('/lua/terranunits.lua').TLandUnit
local util = import('/lua/utilities.lua')

--Mine custom FX Tables
local mineFX = {
	emtBpPath .. 'destruction_explosion_concussion_ring_01_emit.bp',
	emtBpPath .. 'tti_dirt02_large01_01_emit.bp',
	emtBpPath .. 'tti_dirt02_large01_02_emit.bp',
}

ueb2102 = Class(TLandUnit) {

	Weapons = {

		Suicide = Class(bombWeap) {
			OnFire = function(self)
				--Check to see if mine has already fired once
				if not self.unit.Detonated then

					--Set flag true
					self.unit.Detonated = true

					--Trigger FX
					self.unit:DetonateFX()

					--Callback to KamikazeWeapon to perform damage
					bombWeap.OnFire(self)
				end
			end,
		},
	},

	OnCreate = function(self,builder,layer)
		TLandUnit.OnCreate(self)
		 --Set hitbox
		self:SetCollisionShape('Sphere', 0, 0, 0, 0.5)

		--Make the mine uncapturable
		self:SetCapturable(false)

		--Enable stealth
		self:EnableIntel('Cloak')
		self:EnableIntel('RadarStealth')

		--Set flag to prevent multiple firings
		self.Detonated = false
	end,

	OnDamage = function(self, instigator, amount, vector, damagetype)
		--Trigger mine detonation if the mine is damaged
		if self and not self:IsDead() and not self.Detonated then
			self:GetWeaponByLabel('Suicide'):FireWeapon()
		end

		--Null the damage amount so the unit attacking the mine doesnt earn a kill counter, as it just triggered the detonation instead
		amount = 0
		TLandUnit.OnDamage(self, instigator, amount, vector, damagetype)
	end,

	DetonateFX = function(self)
		--Sound FX
		self:PlayUnitSound('Detonate')

		--Do local calls
		local army = self:GetArmy()
		local pos = self:GetPosition()
		local bp = self:GetBlueprint()
		local ran = util.GetRandomFloat(0.75, 1.0)
		local myWeapon = self:GetWeaponByLabel('Suicide')

		--Disable the weapon to prevent them triggering more than once
		self:SetWeaponEnabledByLabel('Suicide', false)

		--Make FX and decals
		for k, v in mineFX do
			local mineEmitter01 = CreateEmitterAtBone(self,-2,army,v):ScaleEmitter(0.5)
			self.Trash:Add(mineEmitter01)
		end
		CreateDecal( pos, util.GetRandomFloat(0,2*math.pi), 'nuke_scorch_001_normals', '', 'Alpha Normals', 1 + ran, 1 + ran, 150, 60, army )
		CreateDecal( pos, util.GetRandomFloat(0,2*math.pi), 'nuke_scorch_002_albedo', '', 'Albedo', 2 + ran, 2 + ran, 150, 60, army )

		--Shake camera
		self:ShakeCamera(myWeapon:GetBlueprint().DamageRadius, 0.5, 0.25, 1)
	end,

}
TypeClass = ueb2102

Biggest difference here is that the 4DC mines have more destruction effects, impact shake and leave craters.

Very cool that you are bringing the 4th dimension to FAF!
I knew the mod existed, had seen some cool videos in the past, but it didn't work with the current versions of FAF.

As FAF has so many improvements over the original, I haven't used the mod before.
Looking forward to change that soon, many thanks for the past and present effort!

Great! Will probably have some time later this week to try it!

@Resin_Smoker

Some minor bugs:

Seraphim:

  • T2 Shield Drone no longer works.

Aeon:

  • T2 Abolisher Beam Cannon Gunship seems to not have defensive teleportation option or ability (?)
  • Predator Sniper Bot doesn't display any information in T2 Land Factory when hovering arrow over it.

Cybran:

  • T2 Termite Stealth Insectoid doesn't move legs when walking.
  • T4 Vulcanizer doesn't leave track marks. Also, if your order unit to move a second time, it takes about 15+ seconds for it to move. Also, what is the purpose of the "change rate of fire" toggle, other than to change the rate of fire?

UEF:

  • T3 Harkon Assault Walker doesn't leave any footprints/track marks.
  • Why does the T3 Little John Ultra Heavy Assault Tank and the T3 Harkon have more health/hit points than the T4 Exp Fatboy? Aren't T4 Experimentals always have to have the highest hit points/health?

@blackrobe Will give it a look, but I also need to know if your using any other mods.

No mods mate. Sorry, I meant to mention that.

@blackrobe

Just tested the shield drone and its fine.... maybe your running into one of the unit restrictions is has?

	Verification = function(self)

		--Check to see if a shield is already active.
		if self.GUnit and not self.GUnit.MyShield then
			local gUnitBP = self.GUnit:GetBlueprint()
			local gUnitCats = gUnitBP.Categories

			--Check to see if the gUnit has a Cloak, BuildRate or Economy, if so return false
			if gUnitBP.Intel.Cloak then
				if myDebug then WARN('Shield Drone Verification, reason: Cloak', gUnitBP.Intel.Cloak) end
				self.FailReason = 'UNIT CAN CLOAK'
				return false
			elseif gUnitBP.Defense.Shield.ShieldMaxHealth > 0 then
				if myDebug then WARN('Shield Drone Verification, reason: Shield in already in blue print', gUnitBP.Defense.Shield) end
				self.FailReason = 'UNIT CAN SHIELD FROM BLUEPRINT'
				return false
			elseif gUnitBP.Enhancements.Shield then
				if myDebug then WARN('Shield Drone Verification, reason: Shield Enhancement', gUnitBP.Enhancements.Shield) end
				self.FailReason = 'UNIT CAN SHIELD FROM ENHANCEMENT'
				return false
			elseif gUnitBP.Economy.MaintenanceConsumptionPerSecondEnergy then
				if myDebug then WARN('Shield Drone Verification, reason: MaintenanceConsumptionPerSecondEnergy', gUnitBP.Economy.MaintenanceConsumptionPerSecondEnergy) end
				self.FailReason = 'UNIT CAN HAS ENERGY MAINTENANCE CONSUPTION'
				return false				
			end

			--Unit Categories the shield drone is not allowed to enhance
			local excludedCats = {
				--Primary unit retrictions, basicly anything that build, upgrades or makes ammo
				'COMMAND','SUBCOMMANDER','ENGINEER','OMNI','FACTORY','ECONOMIC','SILO',
				--Custom unit restrictions
				'DRONE','MINE','PHASING','TRANSFORMABLE',
				--Misc unit restrictions
				'POD','SATELLITE','UNTARGETABLE','SHIELD','WALL','PROJECTILE','OPERATION','CIVILIAN','INSIGNIFICANTUNIT','UNSELECTABLE','BENIGN','PROP',
			}
			--Compare the gUnit BlueWARN with the excludedCats
			--Should no matches be found return false
			for k, v in excludedCats do
				if table.find(gUnitCats, v) then
					if myDebug then
						WARN('*** This Unit Type Not allowed due to exclusions: ', gUnitBP.General.UnitName)
						WARN('*** Reason: ', excludedCats[k] )
					end
					self.FailReason = excludedCats[k]
					return false
				end
			end
			--Return true if no matches are found
			if myDebug then WARN('Verification passed!') end
			return true
		else
			--Error Sound Effect
			self.FailReason = 'UNIT IS SHIELDED'
			if myDebug then WARN('Verification failed REASON: ', self.FailReason) end
			return false
		end
	end,

Keep in mind that these restrictions are in place to keep the drop from enhancing units that shouldn't be enhanced for one reason or another.

Continued...

Seraphim:

T2 Abolisher Beam Cannon Gunship seems to not have defensive teleportation option or ability (?)
Works on my end

Predator Sniper Bot doesn't display any information in T2 Land Factory when hovering arrow over it.
Added this just recently so it will be in the next update

Cybran:

T2 Termite Stealth Insectoid doesn't move legs when walking.
Works on my end

T4 Vulcanizer doesn't leave track marks. Also, if your order unit to move a second time, it takes about 15+ seconds for it to move. Also, what is the purpose of the "change rate of fire" toggle, other than to change the rate of fire?
Works on my end, and changing the rate of fire also changes the accuracy. Fire slower for better accuracy. Maybe I should add details for this?

UEF:

T3 Harkon Assault Walker doesn't leave any footprints/track marks.
It never had any

Why does the T3 Little John Ultra Heavy Assault Tank and the T3 Harkon have more health/hit points than the T4 Exp Fatboy? Aren't T4 Experimentals always have to have the highest hit points/health?
**Can adjust the hitpoints once I've received feedback from more people. Though also consider that the Fatboy is pretty weak if not supported.

Anyways, all that being said, most of the problems your encountering are likely the results from other mods. Either they're breaking FAF completely on their own, or they're attempting to overright something within 4DFAF. I wont know unless I've looked at some of these mods, thus having a mod list from you is critical to be able to advice you, or for me to add mod restricitions within 4DFAF's mod_info.lua. (Which would prohibit them from running with 4DFAF)

-Resin

@Resin_Smoker

To reiterate, no mods in use with yours. I only test a mod on its own.

  • Regarding Sera T2 shield Drone: it does work on some units, when you first released it, it shielded every unit and building, including ACU; I see the logic in later versions only shields some; thus my confusion. Might be good to add shield health amount, as you can't tell how strong shield is.
  • Regarding Aoen T2 Abolisher Beam Cannon Gunship: I assumed it was a manual toggle teleport. I see it does automatically mini teleport when attacked. Very nice I might add.
  • Regarding Cybran T2 Termite Stealth Insectoid: Still moves motionless (I even deleted any old 4dc versions then installed v7) Very odd that it works for you. Are you using FAF default as I am? Just in case you are using FAF Beta, or FAF Dev as testing. Maybe someone else will have the same issue. Can't work out why it animates walking for you and not for me, despite the only mod being used for testing.
  • Regarding Cybran vulcanizer: Yep, def add some detail for that.

Yep, that's why people like yourself created T4 Assault units to compensate for Fatboy weak health.

Overall, nice release. A few tweaks here and there. Love to see more "transformer" units. Fantastic idea mate.