Getting BK running using other versions of the Enigma Engine

[Quintaxel]

Purpose of this thread is to discuss the possibilities of running BK using another version of the game engine. We know that the BK game engine has it's limitations and improvements would require massive changes in the code of the engine. 
But what if we tried another approach, what if we could run BK using a more recent version of the game engine like the 'Carribean Crisis' ?

This CC engine includes functions and features that are not available in standard BK engine.  Some of these functions and features could be used useful in BK and give the game a second breath. Maybe this is a dead end but 'nothing ventured, nothing gained'. 
  
Now the game "Carribean Crisis" or (Cuban Missile Crisis) combines a turn based strategy (TBS) game with the RTS game. The TBS part is very different from the way campaigns are set up in BK. The RTS part of the game is similar to BK but has extras that could be used in BK.

For now I'm not interested in the TBS part of the game so I would like to keep the original Campaign > Chapter > mission setup as we now from BK.

PS: I define "the engine" as all files that can be found in the run directory of the game.   

[Quintaxel]

One of the features I miss in BK is the fuel consumption of vehicles. In CC the units need fuel for movement so this adds an extra component to the game play. Units have there typical action radius so they need refueling. Refueling is done by fuel trucks that get the fuel from warehouses. Max fuel and fuel consumption are variables of the 1.xml file of units.

This not only adds to the realism of the game but also makes the logistics part more interesting. IMO of course.

[Quintaxel]

Nephilim , I value your opinion on this. You are right about the fact that injecting the dll's is not going to work.

The initial idea was to use the engine of Ice Crusade and change the campaign to the WWII theatre, so the mod the content of the data folder. This should be possible I guess on the condition that the campaign structure of Ice Crusade is left unchanged.

The Ice Crusade game has extra game features like radio active contamination of the soil but these values could be set to zero. Anyway, I did some tryouts and found that the Ailogic.dll of Ice Crusade has the BK flaw, you can shoot straight through buildings.

If I understand it correctly then the Enigma Engine is written in C++ so without the source code there is little hope that someone will be able to make changes. hat

An interesting thing about Ice Crusade version is that it seems to be able to handle Lua Math functions. This can make map scripts more powerful, even without the extra function of the BK game engine. The Lua we can access in BK is very limited, too limited to boost the AI.
 
MP told me onces that he knew of a Russian version of BK that uses Lua 5.1. Would you know something about this ?

[Quintaxel]

If I'm not mistaking then I read somewhere on this forum that some senior members were in contact with Nival and close to getting the BK source code? Does anyone know anything more about this or have I been dreaming ?

[Grot]

And I've read somewhere the code  been sold ( dont know to whom or even if its true )

[Quintaxel]

I'll search the forum and see if I can find something.

'G5 Software' the company that developed 'Cuban Missile Crisis' and 'Ice Crusade' could have pimped up the BK gameplay with a relative small effort by;

a) adding the code for having warehouses with different kind resources. (fuel, spare parts, ammo, squads)
b) adding fuel consumption to vehicles.
c) upgrading the Lua version

Did anyone ever contact G5 ?

[vonosten]

Nov 27, 2017 21:10:43 GMT 1 Quintaxel said:

If I'm not mistaking then I read somewhere on this forum that some senior members were in contact with Nival and close to getting the BK source code? Does anyone know anything more about this or have I been dreaming ?

Yes, Some years ago I was in contact with the director of the Nival company. We discussed the fact of getting the source code.
He wasn't against it, but then BK III came in the picture and they got too occupied with it and lost interest. 
I guess, now after some years have passed, maybe they are again willing to give a helping hand or release the code. It's about antique right now...
It has to be another person who will take up this task. For personal reasons, I don't want to get involved too much in this again.

[Quintaxel]

Would you still have any contacts at Nival ?

[vonosten]

Nope. I can find some address if you have a little time.

[Quintaxel]

I have time in the sense......I can wait

This project  looks interesting, unfortunately for me the thread is in Russian.

Grot  already posted a link to this thread when this project was in a very early stage. It's now at revision 5. 

I would need to have better understand the gameplay of Cuban Missile Crisis, especially on how campaigns work. 

[Quintaxel]

Does anyone knows if there have ever been plans within to migrate BK to the 'Cuban Missile Crisis' gameplay and engine?
What would be the problems, pro's or con's to do so ?

[vonosten]

Major Pain once tried, or so he said. There were some difficulties. Maybe we must re-invent the wheel and see where it leads us?

[Quintaxel]

I think it's important to get a good understanding the tactical map (turn based) part and how this links to the actual maps. Technically it's possible to modify 'Cuban Missile Crisis' or 'Ice Crusade' so it runs a custom WWII campaign. but it would require quite some effort. 
What is missing is the possibility to run single maps. Custom maps run from the map editor but the main menu does not have the option to run single maps. This should be made possible.

A major drawback I see now is the AILogic.dll. It's still possible to shoot through buildings.

Migrating BK to Ice Crusade would have it's benefits as Resources management (fuel, spare parts,...) and a more powerful Lua. This would mean that scripters would also have to upgrade their skills.

For those interested the game manual for Cuban Missile Crisis can be found here. 

[Quintaxel]

Does anyone know what the differences are between the game.exe of Talvisota and the standard BK game.exe besides the bitmap and icons?

Talvisota.exe = 3.438 KB (date = 25-04-2003)
Game.exe = 2.168 KB (date = 08-08-2008)

The Talvisota game manual refers to the the instruction below.



What is this instruction used for ?

[Quintaxel]

A call to the players Talvisota players. Could someone please explain if there is something different about the way supplies are managed?
The manual refers to the instruction below.



What is it used for ?