This is the English Pikeman MD file (ENGPIK.MD) from American Conquest and
what each function & parameter means (thanks to Poppen & Bucaniere for confirming
some of the functions):
NAME EngPik |
Name
of the unit as it appears in the nations .nds file and also the nmlist.txt
file. |
MESSAGE Š®¯¥©é¨ª |
|
ICON U_EngPik |
Name
of the units icon file e.g "U_EngPik". This is the icon
that appears in the game. The units icons are found in the "ICONS.GP"
file. You also need to add the icons name (e.g. U_EngPik) to the
ICONSLIST.TXT file. |
USERLC 1 EngPikG SHADOW -62 -81 |
These
refer to each of the animations (.GP files) that the unit uses. The "USERLC"
has an "ID" (such as 0, 1, 2, 3 etc.) assigned to it for each
animation that the unit uses such as attack, walk death etc. This
"ID" corresponds to a specific GP file, e.g. "USERLC 0 EngPikG"
= ENGPIKG.GP. So basically each animation has it's own ID, for example:
"USERLC 4 EngPikH" refers to the ENGPIKH.GP file, which
is the death animation of the English Pikeman, so "4"
will always refer to the ENGPIKH.GP file/animation. The "ID" (e,g,
"4") is used with the different "@Motion" functions
below, which are the different animations that this unit uses such as
attack, walk, death etc
The "SHADOW -62 -81" functions refer to the position of the
unit, these are the "X" and "Y" coordinates you get
when you load the unit's GP in GP Viewer, you need to set you pointer in
GP Viewer to the middle of the unit at the feet, these coordinates make
sure the unit is displayed correctly at all angles. |
USERLC 2 EngPikB SHADOW -62 -81 |
USERLC 3 EngPikU SHADOW -62 -81 |
USERLC 4 EngPikH shadow -62 -81 |
USERLC 5 EngPikP SHADOW -62 -81 |
#STAND 9 1 5 0 |
The "#"
type animations are a list of frames. These
animations are used when you want to make an animation longer or include a
different order of numbered frames rather than having an animation
increment each frame by number position e.g. 1,2,3,4,5 etc. With the
"#" type animation you can have consecutive frames in any
number order you specify e.g. 1,3,4,7,6,8,8,9 etc. and also repeat frames.
These are an animation
function. This is the units standing/idling/rest position, that is to say
when the unit is just standing there stationary not firing or walking. - The
"9" stands for 9 directions/rotations (the 6 o'clock to 12 o clock
directions, 180 degrees of rotation).
- "1" refers to how many frames will be played for this
particular animation.
- "5" Refers to which USERLC to be used, in this case it is the
"USERLC 5.
- "0" states to use frame number 0 for this idle/rest animation,
this is the first frame of the pike lowering animation and is used as
rest/idling position. So what happens is in the game when the
English Pikeman is standing stationary the game plays the pike lowering animation
(ENGPIKP.GP),
but it only plays the 0 frame, which is the Pikeman standing with
his pike rested on his shoulder this has the appearance of the unit
standing stationary.
|
#PSTAND 9 1 5 35 |
Same as above. |
@MOTION_L 9 1 0 9 |
These
are also animation functions. This is the walking animation. The
"@MOTION" indicates that the animation is a consecutive sequence
of frames.
For example "@MOTION_L 9 1 0 9".
- The "_L" indicates this is a left direction/rotation animation
(6'oclock to 12 o'clock).
- The "9" stands for 9 directions/rotations (the 6 o'clock to 12
o clock directions, 180 degrees of rotation).
- The "1" refers to USERLC 1 which is the ENGPIKG.GP file, this
is the walking animation GP.
- The next "0" states that the animation will start at frame
number 0.
- The "9" states that the animation will end with frame number
9.
So what happens in the game when the English Pikeman is walking, the game
plays the walking animation (ENGPIKG.GP) it starts playing frame number 0
and plays all the frames up to frame number 9 and it repeats this process
to give the appearance of the unit walking.
The "@" animations are used when you want to use consecutive
frames in order, e.g. 1,2,3,4,5,6 etc. and are repeated .The other type of
animation is the "#" animation which is described above
& further down. The "#" animations are used when you
want to make an animation longer or include a different order of numbered
frames |
@MOTION_R 9 1 10 19 |
Same
as above except right direction/rotation walking animation (12 o'clock to
6 o'clock). |
@MOTION_LB 9 1 19 10 |
This
is also the same above except a couple of points.
The "_LB" states this is a left direction/rotation walking
animation, but the frames are played backwards (hence the "B"
for backwards) so this particular animation starts at 19 and plays all the
frames backwards from frame number 19 back to frame 10. |
@MOTION_RB 9 1 9 0 |
Same
as above except right direction/rotation walking animation (12 o'clock to
6 o'clock). |
@MOTION_L0 9 2 0 9 |
This
motion is the unit advancing/walking forward to attack animation (e.g Pike
lowered walking towards enemy).
For example: "@MOTION_L0 9 2 0 9".
- The "@MOTION" states that this animation is a consecutive
sequence of frames.
- The "_L0" indicates this is a left direction animation
(6'oclock to 12 o'clock).
- The "9" stands for 9 directions/rotations (the 6 o'clock to 12
o clock. directions, 180 degrees of rotation).
- The "2" refers to USERLC 2 which is the ENGPIKB.GP file, this
is the pike lowered walking animation GP.
- The next "0" states that the animation will start at frame
number 0.
- The "9" states that the animation will end with frame number
9.
Because this is the attacking advance/moving animation (pike lowered),
when you right click on an enemy to attack it the game plays the pike
lowered walking animation (ENGPIKB.GP) it starts playing frame number 0
and plays all the frames up to frame number 7 and it repeats this process
to give the appearance of the unit walking. When the English Pikeman walks
into range of the enemy unit the game plays the @ATTACK animation from
below to start attacking the enemy. |
@MOTION_R0 9 2 10 19 |
Same
as above except right direction attack advance walking animation (12
o'clock to 6 o'clock). |
@MOTION_LB0 9 2 19 10 |
Same
as above except left direction attack advance walking animation (6 o'clock
to 12 o'clock). Plays frames in backwards order. |
@MOTION_RB0 9 2 9 0 |
Same
as above except right direction attack advance walking animation (12
o'clock to 6 o'clock). Plays frames in backwards order. |
SOUND 1 #MOTION_L0 PUSTIHKA |
Refers
to a sound .wav which is listed in SOUNDLIST.TXT. This sound plays when
the "MOTION_L0" animation is played. "PUSTIHKA"
refers to the entry in the SOUNDLIST.TXT file. |
SOUND 1 #MOTION_R0 PUSTIHKA |
Same
as above except the sound is played with the "MOTION_R0". |
@ATTACK 9 3 0 20 |
Attack animation. |
@PATTACK 9 5 0 35 |
This is the Pikeman lowering
his pike to attack animation. |
@UATTACK 9 5 35 0 |
Same as above, but plays the
frames backwards. |
@DEATH 9 4 0 70 |
Death animation. |
#DEATHLIE1 9 1 4 70 |
Death
animation stages. This is when the unit lies dead, the body starts to decay.
- "9" refers to 9 directions.
- "1" refers to how many frames will be played for this particular
animation. - "4" Refers to which USERLC to be
used, in this case it is the "USERLC 4.
- "70" states to use frame number 70 for this decay animation,
this is the last frame of the death animation and is used as it is the
final position the unit is in when it lies dead.
|
GEOMETRY 1 10 40 |
40
refers to the speed of the unit when it moves. 40 is a medium paced
walking speed. |
DAMAGE 0 10 |
How
much damage for weapon 0 (pike attack) causes, which is 10. |
LIFE 95 |
How
much energy the unit has. |
RECTANGLE 0 2 32 40 |
This
is the yellow rectangle that surrounds the unit when clicked. 0 & 2
could possibly be the "X" & "Y" coordinates. 32
and 40 are the width and height of this rectangle. |
ATTACK_RADIUS 0 40 100 |
This
defines the range of weapon 0. |
ATTACK_PAUSE 0 1 |
This
is the rate of fire for the weapon "0" with a 1 value (1 is the
minimum). This means that the delay between each attack with this weapon
is going to be of 1 millisecond. |
SEARCH_ENEMY_RADIUS 700 |
How
far the units line of sight is, this is how far the units vision for enemy
units is. |
SEARCH_ENEMY_RADIUS_SHIFT 70 |
Unknown? |
DET_RADIUS 0 0 7000 |
Attack
radius 0. This defines the minimum range at which the unit will use to
switch/activate to melee attack. |
MATHERIAL 1 BODY |
This
stands for the unit type(s). The count parameter defines the number of
types the unit is going to be. For example, MATHERIAL 1 BODY means the
unit is only an infantry/cavalry unit type, whereas MATHERIAL 2 BUILDING
BODY means the unit is a building AND an infantry/cavalry. This type is
for the rules for being attacked or to attack. For example, if the
MATHERIAL is BUILDING, only ships, cannons, archers can attack it. |
CANKILL 1 BODY |
What
type of unit (the one assigned with MATHERIAL) this one is able to attack. |
PRICE 3 FOOD 95 GOLD 2 IRON 15 |
How
much the units costs to create in food, gold and iron. |
WEAPONKIND 0 PIKA |
Defines
which weapon the unit uses, which is Pike. |
PROTECTION 5 PIKA 3 VISTREL 70 MECH 3 KARTECH 150 STRELA 150 |
This
is the base armor/defense of the unit against different types of enemy
units. The "PROTECTION 5" sets the number of armor defenses the
unit is going to have (5). It is very important to set the correct number of
parameters or else an error is going to show. Weapon type can be MECH
(sword), PIKA (pike), STRELA (arrow), etc. and "3",
"70", "150" etc. is the
value. |
BUILDSTAGES 187 |
The
time in 10^-1 seconds the unit takes to create |
VISION 1 |
Refers
to the visibility range the unit has in the black fog of war. |
SOUND 3 #DEATH DEASE |
Plays
the death sound .wav when the unit dies. - "SOUND 3" is the sounds I.D.
Or this could possibly be the quantity of different sounds played, refer
to the SOUNDLIST.TXT file. - "#DEATH" refers to which animation
this sound is played for, in this case it's the death animation. - "DEASE: refers to the entry in the
SOUNDLIST.TXT file which lists the .wavs file for this particular sound.
|
USAGE LIGHTINFANTRY |
Unit
type. I think this refers to how the unit is used in formations. |
STANDGROUND |
This
unit can use the stand ground command. |
INFO 0 60 |
The
picture that is shown when pressing "U" to check the info of the
unit. This refers to UNITS.BMP file. 60 refers to which number graphic to
use. |
FORCE 10 |
Unknown? |
CANSTORM |
This
unit can enter/storm enemy buildings to capture them. |
STORMFORCE 20 |
How
much attack the unit has when entering/storming an enemy building. |
SKILLDAMAGEBONUS 10 |
Means
each kill gives +1 (works in 0.10 factor) to attack damage. |
SKILLDAMAGEMASK 1 |
Unknown? |
FEARFACTOR 0 3 |
This
is the fear factor that units have from being attacked. "0"
refers to the type of morale to be adjusted (0 = mob, 1 = combat, 2 =
fire, 3 = horses), the amount refers to how much susceptible the unit is
against the type. This amount is applied by a 0.01 factor. |
FEARRADIUS 0 255 |
This
refers to the distance and/or time the unit will be on panic which is
"255". The "0" refers to the type of morale (as
above). |
FEARFACTOR 1 16 |
Same
as above except fear type 1. |
FEARRADIUS 1 255 |
Same
as above except fear type 1. |
FEARFACTOR 2 1 |
Same
as above except fear type 2. |
FEARRADIUS 2 128 |
Same
as above except fear type 2. |
FEARFACTOR 3 555 |
Same
as above except fear type 3. |
FEARRADIUS 3 255 |
Same
as above except fear type 3. |
PSIXOZ 128 |
Unknown? |
FEARTYPE 0 2 |
Unknown,
something to do with morale. |
UNITRADIUS 8 |
Unknown? |
VES 20 |
The
amount of score this unit gives. Can't remember the factors, but I think 20
means it's 0.2 of score the unit gives when created and 0.2 when it is
destroyed. |
EVROUNIT |
Unknown? |
[END] |
This
defines that there are no more functions. |
Another type of MD file are the ones that contain unit & building descriptions
for the Unit Information window. These description MD files can be found in the
"DESCRIPTION" folder when you use the GSC File Utility to extract the
All.GSC file. This is how the information appears in the Unit Information window
in-game: