DDR cf_preparesbattle

[FrozenEmpire]

Hi Chris,

I'm trying to understand the purpose behind cf_preparesbattle.

My understanding is that it gets set upon entering battle, and gets reset once no foes are left in the location at the end of the nights battles. Then it is only used by the frontend to give battle related text.

One potential anomaly I've come across is that cf_preparesbattle gets reset unconditionally as part of StartDawn, but then also conditionally at the end of the Night processing as well; this makes me think that it perhaps shouldn't get reset as part of StartDawn ?

The-Lords-Of-Midnight/main/midnight/src/tme/scenarios/ddr/ddr_character.cpp

Lines 1360 to 1370 in f0242bb

	IncreaseEnergy( DAWN_ENERGY_BOOST );
	time = sv_time_dawn;
	flags.Reset ( cf_resting|cf_inbattle|cf_wonbattle|cf_killed_foe|cf_preparesbattle|cf_battleover );
	battleloc= mxgridref(-1,-1);
	battleslew = 0;
	battlelost = 0;
	riders.Lost(0);
	riders.Killed(0);
	warriors.Lost(0);

The-Lords-Of-Midnight/main/midnight/src/tme/scenarios/ddr/ddr_processor_night.cpp

Lines 100 to 110 in f0242bb

	}
	auto scenario = static_cast<ddr_x*>(mx->scenario);
	auto stronghold = dynamic_cast<ddr_stronghold*>(scenario->StrongholdFromLocation(character->Location()));
	if ( stronghold && !stronghold->IsFriend(character))
	enemies++;
	if ( enemies == 0 )
	character->Flags().Reset(cf_preparesbattle/*|cf_inbattle*/);
	}
	// strongholds

[IcemarkUK]

The character has two battles flags that cover being in battle - cf_preparesbattle and cf_inbattle

cf_preparesbattle is set when the player moves a character in to battle with CMD_Attack or on a failed CMD_Approach. It is purely there for the UI to show "Prepares to do battle on the UI screen, and this is a one off deal. Essentially as soon as night processing starts the flag is reset ( ie: StartDawn - ( think StartNightProcessing to be more accurate ) from that point on the lord will likely move to cf_inbattle. Resetting cf_preparesbattle anywhere else other than StartDawn is probably superfluous because it can't get set again. I suspect that I reset it as belt and braces at some point. As you can see line 107 used to reset cf_inbattle so I probably reset both, but sometime later I removed the cf_inbattle for some reason. I should have likely just deleted the lines.

cf_inbattle is used to check if certain things can happen during night processing etc, and will be reset at the start of every night processing cycle or when a character leaves a location.

[FrozenEmpire]

Resetting cf_preparesbattle anywhere else other than StartDawn is probably superfluous because it can't get set again

Just want to be sure about this, as the code goes to some length to recheck whether any foes remain in the location at the end of the night, before resetting cf_preparesbattle.

It's almost as if it is trying to leave cf_preparesbattle on at the end of the Night processing, so that if the character is still with foes, then perhaps the UI continues to show "Prepares to do battle..." the next morning ?

In which case perhaps cf_preparesbattle should not be getting reset unconditionally on StartDawn ?

[IcemarkUK]

Ok, checked this over in the original code and you are correct but it's much more straightforward than this. The code that prints the "prepares to do battle" text used in CheckPlace - checks the number of enemies at the location. So from the moment a lord moves in to battle via Attack or Approach, they will see this message. And they will see it for as long as the lord is in a location with an enemy.

I've obviously tried to simplify it to a flag so the GetInfo didn't need to be called, probably when merging LoM and DDR. I will alter this flag for mine. It affects this call from the UI.

It needs to be set as part of CMD_Attack / _Approach, and be set/reset at the end of the characters battle turn if enemies still in location. Also reset after a standard move.

inline bool Character_IsPreparingForBattle(const character& c)        
   { return c.flags.Is(cf_preparesbattle); }

SayCharIsAboutToFight:                                                ;L787E
       MOV    AL,BYTE PTR NoOfEnemysHere
       CMP    AL,000h
       JNZ    @F
       RET
@@:
       CALL   FullCharTitle
       CALL   Bytes_Print_Buffer
       DB     00A3h,002Ch,0A4h,099h,0FEh,02Eh,0FFh             ; 'Prepares To Do Battle.'
       RET

[FrozenEmpire]

Great. All clear now. Appreciate the help to get these things ironed out.

[IcemarkUK]

No problem. I appreciate the questions. This was all written pretty quickly 10 years ago, so going over bits of it gives me the double check I didn't have before.