PKT stuff

[Bobingabout]

What I do not understand is why any of you really want to use loose YRO maps, when MAPs in a MIX work the same, and have the added advantage of being able to keep all the maps in a single file... which avoids annoying the user who typically hates mods which dump a lot of loose files in his game directory.

you can place ALL maps in a SINGLE YRO just like placing all in a single MIX. just take your MIX and PKT, then name your PKT the same as the MIX, then place the PKT inside the MIX and rename the extensoin to YRO.

worked for me, and it cuts the loose files down from 2 per map pack, to 1 PER MAP PACK.

this is what i did, and it works.

ecacherevolution80.mix + revolution80.pkt = rrotc.mix + rrotc.pkt.
rrotc.pkt -> rrotc.mix. (placed the PKT in the MIX.)
rrotc.mix = rrotc.yro.

works EXACTLY as it did before, except the PKT is now inside the MIX file.

[Marshall]

But that has nothing to do with the multiple PKT files problem...?

[Bobingabout]

it solves the multiple PKT problem because you only have the problem with multiple loose PKTs. since the PKT arn't loose anymore, you don't get the problem.

[DCoder]

Actually, PKTs inside YROs don't cause glitches, as demonstrated by PaD and bobing (and even the official mappacks).

Let's recap the topic:
1. Multiple loose PKTs cause bugs.
2. PKTs inside YROs don't cause bugs.
3. Stock maps can be successfully refiltered, provided the custom PKTs append the preset mapfilters rather than override em.
4. YROs that are not loose are not parsed.
5. YROs can contain multiple maps.

What logically follows (my understanding, might be incorrect):
1. Using assault01.yro and assault02.yro would fix the problem of "maps are in the list, but no preview and can't play them", aka undownloaded mappacks having entries in the maplist - entries would only appear once the user has the mappacks.
2. Using .yro, when assault03.yro is released, the user can just drop it in his directory and play. Using .mix, he would have to wait for the modder to update the PKT inside his mod, and redownload the entire mod.
3. Can YROs contain other files except map/pkt? (Assault Mappack #2 contains terrain fixes which enable tunnels.) This is an important point for non-TX users...
4. PaD does not need to waste his time on dehardcoding the missionsmd.pkt reference.

Edit: Hmm, bobing beat me to it.

[CannisRabidus]

5. YROs can contain multiple maps.

This I did not know.

What logically follows (my understanding, might be incorrect):
1. Using assault01.yro and assault02.yro would fix the problem of "maps are in the list, but no preview and can't play them", aka undownloaded mappacks having entries in the maplist - entries would only appear once the user has the mappacks.
2. Using .yro, when assault03.yro is released, the user can just drop it in his directory and play. Using .mix, he would have to wait for the modder to update the PKT inside his mod, and redownload the entire mod.

This is potentially very useful!

However assault03 is going to have some 2-flag maps, which might require mod updates to fully support. If such support is needed then this solution won't help here, because I'm complicating things for 03. I'll have to think about this.

Right off the top of my head though, this system would:
1) Remove the ability for the modder to construct his own mapfilters for assault maps. He'd be stuck with a one-size-fits-all set of gamemode defintions in the YRO.
2) Similarly, it makes it impossible for a modder to selectively disable assault maps should he wish to.

3. Can YROs contain other files except map/pkt? (Assault Mappack #2 contains terrain fixes which enable tunnels.) This is an important point for non-TX users...

Unless YR does things with the YRO format that RA2 could not do with the MMX format, then it seems the answer is most probably no. We wanted to do this several years ago to add new graphics with maps, but it didn't work, despite the fact that MMX is supposed to be a MIX. This was a long time ago and we were pretty unsophisticated then

Now I just tested an idea, which I should have tested long ago, but never thought of. Mea culpa...
I always tested a loose missionsdc.pkt with content like...

You're testing 2 different things. One test is an identical filename, and the other is including the gamemode definition that already existed. Which makes it work right? Or are both needed?

[DCoder]

Filename changing story: When I tested this problem a while ago (before pd v1.06), I wrote the pkt changes into a loose file called missionsdc.pkt and hexed the exe to look for that instead of missionsmd.pkt , as a workaround to duplicate listings. When pd v1.06 came out, I used it instead of my hexed one, so -dc became an additional pkt. I started coding the RAPD AI at approx that point, so the pkt business got CleanUp`ed into a subdirectory.
I dug it out yesterday, tried the -dc file and it caused an enter-skirmish-screen crash all the time. I renamed it to -md and voila, the crash went away. I only then tested the appending filter idea, and it worked. I later tried additional PKTs (curiosity, I had never experienced the multiple loose PKT problem before, only this duplication problem) and that worked as expected, but for some quaint reason renaming that -dc pkt to anything but missionsmd caused the same crash.
I will definitely investigate further, because I see absolutely no reason for that - I know I didn't hex this exe version, and I know the original pkt is still in the langmd.mix and is called by the game. :???:

Here are the mpmodesmd.ini + mpmode files + theatre'd missionsmd.pkt , should anyone be interested in testing that crash too. (The assault overrides are just dummies, haven't gotten round to coding 'em properly yet. :oops: ) (I can't attach here, some CHMOD error.)

[Bobingabout]

5. YROs can contain multiple maps.

This I did not know.
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this is what i was trying to tell you
read through my posts again, making sure to take note of words in capital letters, then you'll see

[Blade]

Its worth noting that mod would still have to update support for mappacks like the assault maps even with YRO's providing the pkt file info because the map name strings would not be in ra2md.csf. The WW map packs already had their names in the .csf when YR released (or at least when it got patched to 1.001) and the packs just got released later.

[CannisRabidus]

I found that the 'enter skirmish screen crash' is a result of the last selected game mode (as set by RA2MD.INI) using a mapfilter which is not satisfied by any maps. So it's possible the crash was related to the PKTs only in that there were no maps defined there to use that mapfilter. Not that there was some problem relating to a PKT named in one way or another.

Blade also makes a good point about the map name strings.

[Marshall]

It seems to me that the biggest problem with Assault mode is as follows:

Assault-mods make the user think they have the maps when they might not.

If a mod did not include any assault map refs in a PKT, and a YRO was used for the maps, then the maps would only appear if the user had the YRO AND AN ASSAULT-MOD (bcause the map filters are required to see the maps). So the CSF problem isn't a problem at all (a mod must be in use that supports the mode and so should have the strings - although they may not have them for all maps, but I think that's less of a problem than the "you have the maps but you don't" problem)

Admittedly, custom filters aren't going to work like that - but custom filters can be set up by using a PKT with the mod (although this does reintroduce the "you have the maps but you don't" problem. That said, not many mods use custom filters for Assault mode).



On the crash issue, perhaps the Clean Up program should be made to reset the map filter and game mode index (provided map filter is stored in ra2md.ini of course).
Mod installer programs should do this too.

[DCoder]

On the crash issue, perhaps the Clean Up program should be made to reset the map filter and game mode index (provided map filter is stored in ra2md.ini of course).
Mod installer programs should do this too.

No, it is not stored. It stores this mode related data:

Code:

[Skirmish]
GameMode=2; the modeID (1-based) of last played gamemode
ScenIndex=1; the index (0-based) of last played map in the global map list *

(* not in the list of maps that would match the mapfilter)
and derives the mapfilter to use from the modeID.

This reminds me, the code related to that derival is bugged/incomplete, and allows non-skirmish modes to appear in the map description.
Play a mod that adds a skirmishable mpmode with modeID 4. Play that mode.
Remove the mod.
Go to the Skirmish screen.
Wham, Unholy Alliance as the mode.
If you go into the map/mode selector, that gets fixed.
However, if you click "Start Game" straight away, you get to play Unholy Alliance. Oops...

[Bobingabout]

cool! an unholy alliance skirmish.

really pisses up the AI though.


i never actually said anything, but yes, you'd still get the missing: thing with YROs if you used them in a mod without the CSF strings...

i still think its preferable than having the possability of multiple loose PKTs.

[Marshall]

Whaddya say, Cannis? Move Assault maps to YRO with embedded PKT?

@DCoder,
So you're saying it's just the MP mode index and map index that are stored?
In which case, the Clean Up should just set mode to 1 (Battle) and map to 1 (Alamo?)

[Bobingabout]

Whaddya say, Cannis? Move Assault maps to YRO with embedded PKT?
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I'd agree, but its not upto me. i'm still not going to include the game mode in my mod, its just not for R:ROTC. maybe once R:ROTC is complete, and i start another mod, then i'll use it. *Dreams about when R:ROTC is complete* thats going to take years....

@DCoder,
So you're saying it's just the MP mode index and map index that are stored?
In which case, the Clean Up should just set mode to 1 (Battle) and map to 1 (Alamo?)
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i'd agree, that solution should work well enough.

[DCoder]

[snapback]1661[/snapback]@DCoder,
So you're saying it's just the MP mode index and map index that are stored?
In which case, the Clean Up should just set mode to 1 (Battle) and map to 1 (Alamo?)

GameMode=2; the modeID (1-based)
ScenIndex=1; the index (0-based)