Questions about the Universe Map in MHQ

[Faolind]

First off, Hi, my name's Faolind, and this is my first post. I discovered BT when I was very young, and saw a cool robot game that I wasn't allowed to play. I rediscovered it with MWO, and then got into Megamek and the RPGs and AUs and.... yeah.

Okay, question 1- Does the map change ownership based on canon history, or is the canon simply the start point, depending on your start date, of course, and the map can change dynamically afterwards?

Q2- If the answer to the above is that it is all based on canon-history, what happenes if I change the ownership manually, and historically, the ownership changes again to a third party? Does manual adjustment erase the event log, or is it just a temporary override (in which case I have to constantly watch my back for planets changing hands when they absolutely shouldn't be able to)

Q3- I read in the (somewhat sparse) documentation, that the Faction list records "likelyhood of conflict." Does this simply reference contract targets, or does it play a part in a dynamic interstellar war system? If I substitute a faction for one not listed (in the case of an AU, most likely), or edit the list to add one, what would happen to their territory? would it never be attacked, since they aren't around in the time period and thus the likelyhood of conflict is listed as zero?

Q4- If the system isn't dynamic, WHY????? Or rather, why not have an option to make it so. An impromptu, computer generated AU would be really really cool. Though, if it IS dynamic, why isn't there an option for canonized events?
If it is dynamic, do things liek the Clan invasion present coding difficulties? Is it really hard to make the game roll for planets changing hands on a low chance, based on conflict?

Q5- Why is this sort of thin not documented in an easy to find place? And if it is, please direct me there, that I may become learned in the arts of hex warfare.

Thanks so much for any help you can give me!!

-Faolind

[Jayof9s]

Q1: It changes based on canon. There's no 'simulation' running behind the scenes or anything, just a file with dates when planets changed hands.

Q2: I'm not actually sure as that was introduced more recently. My guess is it should still change at the next date. So if it was FWL and you changed it to a Merc faction in 3025 but there was a canon change in 3026 to the LC it should switch over. However, I could be wrong and when the feature was added it overwrites the info from the canon file.

Q3: I'm guessing this relates entirely to AtB? If so, that's just for the likelihood that one faction would be fighting another at a given time to determine who will hire you and who you'll be fighting in that contract. Not related to the map at all, other than that if you're hired by the CC against the FS, it should be along that border.

Q4: That's a lot of work. Also, we have canon information for planet ownership in the Inner Sphere so why would we make it dynamic and make things up? Someone could certainly code an option for it if they wanted to but I don't think that's an idea I've seen considered before.

Q5: People come and go and create documentation about the program. As a result of the 'going' the documentation rarely stays up to date. The map, however, is pretty simple and changes only based on canon information.

[pheonixstorm]

Okay, question 1- Does the map change ownership based on canon history, or is the canon simply the start point, depending on your start date, of course, and the map can change dynamically afterwards?

It changes based off canon history. The canon changes are dynamic but you can create your own history by editing individual planets and creating new planetname.xml files in the planets folder

Q2- If the answer to the above is that it is all based on canon-history, what happenes if I change the ownership manually, and historically, the ownership changes again to a third party? Does manual adjustment erase the event log, or is it just a temporary override (in which case I have to constantly watch my back for planets changing hands when they absolutely shouldn't be able to)

As far as I know it does not change any events that are in the news file, so that might need to be addressed since you can alter the planets for faction changes in your own universe. I am a bit fuzzy though on if the custom changes override the main planets.xml after your custom dates or not but I believe it does.

Q3- I read in the (somewhat sparse) documentation, that the Faction list records "likelyhood of conflict." Does this simply reference contract targets, or does it play a part in a dynamic interstellar war system? If I substitute a faction for one not listed (in the case of an AU, most likely), or edit the list to add one, what would happen to their territory? would it never be attacked, since they aren't around in the time period and thus the likelyhood of conflict is listed as zero?

This sounds like something in the AtB system and would not affect planet ownership.

Q4- If the system isn't dynamic, WHY????? Or rather, why not have an option to make it so. An impromptu, computer generated AU would be really really cool. Though, if it IS dynamic, why isn't there an option for canonized events?
If it is dynamic, do things liek the Clan invasion present coding difficulties? Is it really hard to make the game roll for planets changing hands on a low chance, based on conflict?

MegaMek and family is developed based on the free time of the devs and contributors. If this is a major feature you would like to see you might want to learn how to write java code and make a contribution to the cause. Not every neat feature has a chance of getting include unless someone has the time to do so. All the code I contribute are for features I want to see. The devs usually code in game rules first followed by features they want to play with. For now the system is about as dynamic as it will get w/o someone willing to spend the time to improve things for a custom AU. If you wanted you could change all the dates and histories from say 3025 onward but it would take awhile creating new planet files for each and every world in the BT universe. There are thousands to deal with after all :o

Q5- Why is this sort of thin not documented in an easy to find place? And if it is, please direct me there, that I may become learned in the arts of hex warfare.

youtube has several videos on how to use MegaMek and MekHQ. There are threads here on how to use HQ playing with AtB. But mostly the sparse documentation is mostly due to the most limiting factor of all. Free time.

One of the devs may be along in awhile to fill in anything I may have missed O0

[pheonixstorm]

aaaaand it would appear my typing was a bit slow this time around #P

[neoancient]

The AtB contract generator chooses the opponent based on the number of systems each its neighbors controls within a certain number of jumps of one of the employer's worlds: two jumps for IS, four for near periphery IIRC, and I think it's seven for deep periphery. I could look it up in the code, but the details aren't necessary for answering the question. The data is updated at the beginning of every month.

[Faolind]

"Start coding it, Faolind"

okay okay I'm onnnn it >.>

Initial Idea- have the file randomly generate (fill out) the XMLs if the option to do so is selected.

Advanced Features Required- I'll need to cluster the events based on that ATB conflict file, but I can have the time periods randomly shifted and/or modulate their durations, thus creating that AU "Uncanny Valley" feel. Additionally, I'll need to add a secondary option under it, to "create Player Nation at Start" whereupon a new XML with a player-chosen name is created and added to the faction conflict lists. Adding a dropdown to select the faction TYPE (Merc/Periph/Deep Periph/IS Minor/IS Major/Terra-Centric/Clan) would assist greatly in this. Since that adds a new need- ability to place faction, It may be wise to add up to 3 more dropdowns for "most common enemies" and another for "Number of Planets at Start." and have the game place the nation accordingly (near as possible to the listed factions, and of the size directed)

Given the sizeable list I just generated, I estimate I'll be done in 6 months. XD

LAUNCH OPERATION: YELLOWBRICK!!! (you're not in Kansas anymore)