Games Tips & Tricks/GAMESTIPSUNDTRICKS.mdf/utility/statname/statname.doc

Text File | 1995-11-21 | 8KB | 180 lines

STATNAME v. 2.0 - Rename and sort X-Com Soldiers based upon their statistics.

(c) 1994 Dwight Deur                                        Distribute Freely


Introduction
------------
     Though X-Com is an addictive strategy game, it seems a bit weak in a few
of its maintenance functions.  I've found it frustrating, for instance, that
one can't view a Soldier's statistics from the Equip Soldier screen, or assign
the seating in transport craft.  I'd heard that some players were renaming
the Soldiers in order to reflect their attributes; this seemed like a good
idea, but I soon found myself spending too much time renaming Soldiers and
not enough time playing the game.  STATNAME started as a tool which automates
this renaming process, and has grown (a bit) into a multi-purpose Soldier
management utility.

     In brief, STATNAME can:
          1)  Rename Soldiers with a series of alphanumeric codes which
              represent their statistics.
          2)  Sort the Soldiers based upon their statistics.
          3)  "Heal" wounded Soldiers.
          4)  Raise Soldiers' original statistic values to their current
              levels.
          5)  Remove the "dead" soldiers from the soldier data file.

     With the exception of item 5, each of these capabilities can be enabled
or disabled at the user's discretion.   Each of the functions is described in
more detail below.


Renaming Soldiers
-----------------
     Soldier names can be replaced with a series of codes representing the
values of up to five user-selected statistics.  Each statistic is displayed
as a character key followed by a two-digit numeric value.  A Stamina value of
71, for instance, is displayed as "S71".  If fewer than five statistics are
selected, the remainder of the Soldier's name is left blank.  (Sorry, there's
no option to append only one or two values to the existing name.  If you like
to think of your Soldiers as real people with human-sounding names, you'll
have to disable this function.)

          The statistics which can be displayed, and their associated
     abbreviations, are:
          Rank               Rky, Sqd, Sgt, Cpt, Col, Cmd
          Time Units         T
          Stamina            S
          Health             H
          Bravery            B
          Reactions          R
          Firing Accuracy    F
          Throwing Accuracy  W
          Strength           N
          Psionic Strength   P
          Psionic Skill      C


Sorting Soldiers
----------------
     Soldiers can also be sorted, in descending order, based upon the values
of the user-selected statistics.  The first statistic is the primary sort
order, followed by the second statistic, and so on.  For example, if you
choose Health, Time Units, and Stamina as the statistics of interest, Soldiers
will be sorted so that those with the highest Health values are at the top of
the list; for Soldiers whose Health are equal, Time Units will be used as a
tie breaker, and so on.

     Besides making it easier to select the fastest, healthiest, or strongest
Soldiers for a mission, the sort function can also be useful when disembarking
from the troop transport.  X-Com appears to place Soldiers in transports from
rear-to-front (with some modifications for larger craft), starting with the
Soldier topmost on the "duty roster".  By sorting Soldiers in Time Unit order,
the faster Soldiers (i.e., with higher Time Unit values) will be closer to the
rear of the transport, allowing them to get out into the action instead of
being stalled by their slower comrades.


"Healing" Soldiers
------------------
     STATNAME can also, at the user's choice, "heal" wounded Soldiers.
Note that each time a Soldier is wounded, X-Com removes his or her aircraft
assignment.  After healing the Soldier(s), you'll have to reassign them
manually.


Raising Original Statistics to their Current Levels
---------------------------------------------------
     I implemented this function when I was working on the "heal" option.  If
you've played the game for very long, you've noticed that the statistic bars
of veteran soldiers begin to show a two-tone shaded effect.  I originally
thought that this represented injuries, and that the shorter section of each
bar was the active value.  I've since realized that the higher value is the
active one (representing skills gained in combat), and the lower number seems
to be the original statistic value.  If that's true, there isn't much reason
to use this option other than for the esthetics of the bar charts, but there
may be other beneficial results that I'm not aware of (maybe skill levels can
only increase by a fixed amount, and resetting them to zero will allow then to
rise further...).


Removing "Dead" Soldiers
------------------------
     This is the only option that can't be disabled.  It's there because it
made it easier to implement the other features.  I've seen other utilities
that will resurrect dead soldiers; if you want to use one of those, do so
before running STATNAME.


Operation
---------
     STATNAME is hard-wired to run from your X-Com directory (the one
containing subdirectories GAME_1 .. GAME_10).  It creates the file
STATNAME.PRF, which it uses to save your preferences from one session
to the next.

     If you know the number of the game which you wish to edit, you can
include that number (1-10) as a parameter when starting the program.
Including "?" as a parameter displays a brief help screen, and refers you to
this file.  If STATNAME is started with no parameters, it displays a list of
the 10 save file names, and asks you to select one of them.  (To build this
menu, STATNAME looks for the file SAVEINFO.DAT in each of the GAME_nn
subdirectories.  If any of these files doesn't exist, it will abort.)

     After a game file is selected, STATNAME asks you to select and prioritize
the statistics you're interested in.  A list of available statistics is
shown; you may select or de-select a statistic by entering its number at the
prompt.  If you leave this menu without selecting at least one statistic,
STATNAME will not process the Soldier file.

     Next, you can enable and/or disable each of the functions described
above.  This menu repeats until you enter "0" to continue.


Notes and Known Limitations
---------------------------
     STATNAME was written for and tested with X-Com version 1.2.

     It appears that Soldier data (names, statistics, etc.) are tracked in
different file(s) during Battlescape (ground combat) sequences.  As a result,
running STATNAME on such a saved file is useless at best (and potentially
damaging at worst), because name changes and re-ordering won't show up in the
Battlescape-in-progress.  I discovered this by experimentation, but have done
no further testing with the scenario.

     A Soldier's Psionic Skill is zero until he or she has had at least one
month of Psionic training, but the Psionic Strength can be displayed prior
to training.


Disclaimer
----------
     This utility has worked fine on my PC and X-Com file(s).  I can't and
won't guarantee that it'll work everywhere, but neither can I think of any
reason why it shouldn't.


Distribution
------------
     This utility may be distributed freely, so long as no one tries to make
any money from it.  I'd also appreciate it if you'd keep the EXE and this
DOC file together.  Comments and bug reports can be sent to me via the RIME
Games Conference, or Microprose's BBS at [phone].


Version Notes
-------------
   2.0 - Added "heal" function.
         Corrected a misconception which displayed and sorted on original
            (rather than current) statistic values.

   1.2 - (No public release)
         Corrected errors in the handling of the Bravery statistic.

   1.1 - (No public release)
         Added capability to raise original stats to their current values,
            mistakenly thinking it was a "healing" function.
         Added user toggles for rename, sort, and raise stats functions.

   1.0 - Initial public release.