User talk:AVS/Secondary skill format

Questions

• How skill disabling ("skillName": null) should be handled, especially in case of starting hero skill?

No need to handle it. "null" completely removes object from game so this can be considered as missing ID. Some option to disable skill (by setting level-up chances to 0) is completely independent option.

• Should default values (with no skill level) be configured too?

I don't think so. Lack of skill should have no effect on heroes.

Ivan (talk) 18:02, 7 January 2014 (CET)

I should explain what "default value" means in this case. F/e with no Ballistics catapult has 10% miss chance and 30% double damage chance, I think this is a part of Ballistics skill and should be configured in the same place in the form of Bonus autogranted to any hero. --AVS (talk) 20:04, 7 January 2014 (CET)

There is also wisdom and maybe some other skills. Haven't thought about that. Not sure if "0 level skill" is a good idea or not. Maybe bonuses like this should be part of hero/hero class or even global to whole game? Not sure about this... Better ask Tow or Warmonger about where such bonuses should go Ivan (talk) 20:32, 7 January 2014 (CET)

Extra fields for skills

Some extra fields that are missing at the moment:

• id - for H3 skills only, needed at least to match possibly localized H3 texts with skills (and for some hardcoded skill functions)

we already have this mapping in StringConstants, remove from there and put to config?--AVS (talk) 19:53, 7 January 2014 (CET)

Yes. Hardcoded constants are there only because skills are not (yet) moddable. Ivan (talk) 20:09, 7 January 2014 (CET)

• name - translatable skill name
• default chance to get skill (similar to defaultTavern fields in hero class/faction)
• hero class-specific chances to get skill, reversed version of hero class field
• special - needed? Possibility to define that skill should never be available to hero unless received by special means (starting skill, events, etc). To some points duplicates set to zero default chance.

Ivan (talk) 18:02, 7 January 2014 (CET)

name, default chance, class-specific chances: ok let`s try to make it fully modable from the very outset.--AVS (talk) 19:53, 7 January 2014 (CET)

I'm writing this mostly because I'd like to have full config first. To which point we should push actual implementation is up to you. At first even moddable bonuses alone would be an improvement. Ivan (talk) 20:09, 7 January 2014 (CET)

Extra fields for skill levels

Extra possible fields for skill levels:

• name - needed? At least for Russian grammar this is needed - name of skill level is not always "level name" + "skill name". For H3 skills VCMI should generate this name and so it can be replaced with correct one via future localization system or just via mod system overrides.
• requires - very long-term idea. Possibility to define requirements which must be fulfilled before hero can learn skill level. Can be a basis of class skills or H5-style perks.
• icons - H3 offers several icons of different sizes. For H3 skills this field is not necessary - vcmi will find required icons automatically based on ID. For skills from mods (or for replaced icons) this field must specify paths to images of various sizes for this skill level.

Ivan (talk) 18:27, 7 January 2014 (CET)