A few quick module questions

Module Design
1

Great community- appreciate all the rapid responses!

A few more quick questions:

  1. I have a ‘Layer’ Proto, and now a few dozen at-start map pieces using that Proto. I don’t seem to be able to identify the ‘default’ layer that is placed (It is always layer #1). Is there a setting where the ‘default’ layer # is set?

  2. If there is a way to define a default layer #, can it be defined at the Proto level? and can it also be defined/overridden on the at-start piece level?

  3. if not- then is it correct to generate a ‘starting’ state I should be manually modifying all the pieces to the various layers I want, and then saving the game state as a vsave- and then using that as a ‘scenario load’ command?

Thanks!

2

I can think of 2 ways to change the default level:

  1. Set the Level to follow an expression; make the expression a Dynamic Property, and set the default value of the Dynamic Property to the level you want. This requires you to change the commands that change the level to instead change the value of the Dynamic Property.
  2. Add a Startup GKC to the map which calls a Trigger Action on each piece that needs a different default level. Those Trigger Actions would then send the necessary commands to change the level from 1 to the wanted default.

Your option 3 will also work, but will be (IMHO) harder to maintain, as you will need to resynchronize the save game every time you modify those pieces again in the editor (VASSAL does provide a tool to make this easier).

3

Thanks for the response!

I’m still learning so I have a few small follow up questions to decide which path makes the most sense for me.

In options #1:
How easy is it to craft the command so that it follows the ‘non-looped’ option of multi-layer pieces?

In option #2:
I am unfamiliar with ‘trigger actions’. Are those placed under the GKC item on the main map tree or are trigger actions defined and stored somewhere else? And on standard layered piece, what command would you use to set it to another layer when I get to that point.

Sorry for all the basic questions- just very new to this.

4

Triggers are piece traits. Although there’s a lot of it, spending some time reviewing the documentation will breed familiarity with what features belong to what components of a module (maps, pieces, etc). Although dated, the Module Designer’s Guide still is pretty fundamentally sound and I would also recommend spending some time with it.

5

I’m not going to pretend this post is best-of-breed for explaining how to get a Layer to follow a property and use a Dynamic Property to control what components of the Layer get displayed, but try here and see if it helps.

6

Thanks so much! I’ll dig in and see how far I get. Much appreciated.