Deputy leaders in multiplayer

[gorgolok]

What I've been thinking of is the option to play MP scenarios with a deputy leader. I think it would add interesting strategy options to make the first recruit a deputy leader (little silver crown, canrecruit=yes). A side would only be beaten when both leader and deputy are dead.

The reason for this proposal is twofold: 1) on larger maps with multiple keeps, being able to recruit from 2 different points on the map would add a lot to strategy. 2) Your leader can be put to use at the front, but that means you'll have a level 1 leader should they die. 3) Lucky leader kills (enemy manages to hack a hole in the defenses, and a quick/strong horseman gets through and gets 2 hits in even though your leader has 60% defense) don't necessarily end the game.

It would not be a default setting, but instead an option for MP maps. Strategic choices would be interesting - e.g. would you have a scout as deputy to grab a small nearby keep quickly and recruit from there, even if it might mean losing your deputy early on? Would you take your most durable unit as a deputy, and bring your leader to the front lines? I think it would make an interesting feature.

[Ken_Oh]

Cool idea, dude. I look forward to you making a scenario like this so we can all play it.

[Velensk]

I think you could do this with WML though it would be tricky because the game will have problems if you have more than one unit that has canrecruit=yes. You could probably create something to that effect by having a right click option that switches which unit is the leader at that moment.

[hiro hito]

Nice idea, this can alter the strategic side of the game in a positive way!

[solsword]

Simplest way that I can think of to do this in WML would be to create an era with an event in it (which should be applied in all scenarios in that era, right?). The event would be a moveto with first_time_only=no, and would check the terrain for being a keep and the unit for being either a leader or a lieutenant. If both conditions matched, it would then set can_recruit=no for all units on the triggering side, and then set can_recruit=yes for $unit. The downside is that you'd have to move your leader off of and back onto a keep in order to get it to switch again, so a right-click menu item is probably better, if a tad more complicated.

[Gambit]

Yeah. You can't have two simultaneous recruiters.
You can have two units that canrecruit=1 but for some reason only the most recent one will be able to recruit. It should be easy enough with solswords suggestion

[DEATH_is_undead]

Yeah. You can't have two simultaneous recruiters.
You can have two units that canrecruit=1 but for some reason only the most recent one will be able to recruit. It should be easy enough with solswords suggestion

This is a feature of Wesnoth, added for simplicity.

[Gambit]

I have to disagree with you Death. It's a limitation. Not a feature. Just because normal wesnoth doesn't have multiple leaders doesn't mean the engine shouldn't support it.

imho, wml's power should stop just short of global domination.

[DEATH_is_undead]

I have to disagree with you Death. It's a limitation. Not a feature.

AS much as I agree with you, I have to say that these are just opinions, not statements.

[Aethaeryn]

I have to disagree with you Death. It's a limitation. Not a feature. Just because normal wesnoth doesn't have multiple leaders doesn't mean the engine shouldn't support it.

imho, wml's power should stop just short of global domination.

I agree. Not every game is a normal Wesnoth multiplayer game. Even some default campaigns are quite different than the true norm. The more options, the more varied mainline can be. It's FPI but this is one of the areas I strongly disagree with the developer decision on.

[Zarel]

I have to disagree with you Death. It's a limitation. Not a feature.

AS much as I agree with you, I have to say that these are just opinions, not statements.

Technically, it's a statement of fact, not opinion (refer to the definitions of "limitation" and "feature"). Now, whether or not it's a good limitation is a matter of opinion, but it's really quite factual that it's a limitation, not a feature.

[LemonTea]

It's a limitation. Not a feature. Just because normal wesnoth doesn't have multiple leaders doesn't mean the engine shouldn't support it.

But what if you WANTED a scenario in which the 'canrecruit=1' unit changes?

Out of 'only most recent canrecruit=1 can actually recruit' and 'all units with canreuit=1 can be used to recruit,' at least one of the options would need (relatively) complex WML to distinguish it from whatever the default is.

[silene]

Just because normal wesnoth doesn't have multiple leaders doesn't mean the engine shouldn't support it.

As a matter of fact, the 1.7 engine supports it. The reason why "normal wesnoth" does not have it is because it would confuse the AI to no end. If you have bugs to report about the way multiple units with canrecruit=1 are handled, this is the place to go: https://gna.org/bugs/?group=wesnoth. Thanks.

[Gambit]

As a matter of fact, the 1.7 engine supports it. ... Thanks.

No. Thank you.