sounds like a swell idea.
I wanted to do this for a long time already, just been too busy with renegades. All free time i have is spent there. BUT: i did learn a LOT about AI coding this way, and i think i can be of invaluable assistance in developing the AI for such maps. Count me in!
That is a cool idea. I've been wondering a lot about that myself. I would love to do it, but unfortunatly I have neither the time nor the OP2 programming know-how at this point to create new maps. I'm very busy with a lot of things including OUTPOST: Missing In Action that I've finally, after several months of deadness in the water, am getting back to work on (geez.... it's not easy getting back into a project that I've not worked on for awhile, whatever the reason).
If someone else doesn't take on the task, once I finish up a bunch of things and tie some loose ends I will be happy to take on some of these ideas!
the idea is not new
I'd also like to play new single player missions.
As soon as I have the time, I'll work on some new maps. Don't expect them too soon.
as I see it the maps aren't the problem, but the AIs are.
The reason why nobody did this yet is that we have too few coders. I am not a coder (In the sense of that I'm not going to code op2 missions), I won't make the AI for my own map, someone else will have to.
'AI' as the one you find in the original colony games is just a bunch of tanks coming in every now and then. That won't take long to code..
A real AI would have a base of its own, protecting it, AND going for the same goal you are: get off this planet first! If the AI beats u to it, u lost..
But of course, you can think of any kind of victory condition.
I will make map(s) when needed. I could possibly learn AI coding, but I don't have the time for that.
And yes, an AI that just moves tanks in is quickly done, but who wants it? games in which the AI has a base on the map are by far more fun.
/* Yes, you would need the code for support structures like smelters, etc.. but that's not hard */
// Get the AI to produce tanks
Unit VF;
TethysGame::CreateUnit(VF, mapVehicleFactory, LOCATION(X,Y), 1, mapNone, 0); // set X,Y to location of VF
FightGroup fighters = CreateFightGroup(Player[1]);
BuildingGroup producer = CreateBuildingGroup(Player[1]);
producer.TakeUnit(VF); // adds VF to the 'production' group
producer.RecordVehReinforceGroup(fighters, 0); // this group is responsible to make the units for the fight group
// Now you can add units by doing this
fighters.SetTargCount(mapLynx, mapMicrowave, 2); // tells game to make 2 mic lynx
// Defend base
fighters.AddGuardedRect(MAP_RECT(X1,Y1,X2,Y2)) // set the X1--Y2 cords to the area of the base they want to defend
fighters.DoGuardRect(); // guard
hacker, you know that in a multiplayer match you won't survive long with this strategy don't you? And in general you shouldn't just let it create tanks and wait for them to get destroyed. Imagine the player attacks with Stickies and the AI doesn't prevent him from stickying its units.
How advanced do you really want the AI to be? Personally, I hate the damn vehicles that come and kick my ass in the colony games. By the time I have enough resources to have researched and built a single Laser Lynx, the AI is coming in with Tiger's and Sticky Foams. Not much of a match (although entirely predictable).
Of course, the fact that the AI needs to be programmed into the map (the fact that maps need DLL's to function in the FIRST place) turns off a LOT of users to the idea of creating maps.