I’m kind of circling around an idea for a module I’m working on that will involve General Properties and triggers, and before I get hip deep in it, I have a few questions I’d like answered.
The idea, as I’m seeing it, is to mark about 125 hexes (not always contiguous, but in clusters as well as onesies and twosies) as objective hexes. These hexes need to be kept track of each turn to determine, among other things, the length of the game.
I’m thinking the best thing to do is to create a Marker called “Objective Hex” and to imbue it with a series of properties on “layers” of the markers: showing possession for one side or the other, and 3 - 5 values that will figure in the General Property calculation. This means that there would be positive and negative values, a 0 value for hexes controlled by neither player) and values for a small number of different hex types. One additional rules wrinkle is that, late in the game, the values would double, so I want to allow for that, either with additional value layers, or with some device that keeps track of the game turn and does the doubling on its own.
So… my first question is, can a marker with multiple layers on it, have a value or a trigger tied to the Level it’s currently “displaying”? Or, must I go about that function some other way? If the latter, what would be a better way to achieve this?
Where do I write the overall calculation for the Morale Value this large collection of hexes will generate? Basically, the Morale Value is (sum total of the values of hexes one side controls) + (negative sum total of hexes the other side controls) -1 [for each turn that’s elapsed]. During a turn, the players may capture any of the objective hexes which would turn them from a 0 (uncontrolled value) to a +/-1 or a +/-2, and this would be recalculated at the very end of each turn. Would this “formula” in the General Property I would call Morale?
How do “triggers” figure into this? Is the capture of any one of the hexes a “trigger”? Is the player command to total up this Morale Value a “trigger”? Can I assign this Morale Calculation into an interface button?
Second question: if I want to automate the calculation of this Global Property, if the values on the markers would double after a certain game turn, I suppose I would need to make use of Vassal’s Game Turn counter. Could a trigger be inserted into that Game Turn feature/button to double the value of the markers in the calculation after a specified game turn? Or, would the players have to locate all the captured hexes on the first game turn that the values were doubled and manually change the levels on the markers to a different point value? Obviously, it’d be better if this could be automated.
Third question: Will I be able to set up a button to Show/Hide all Morale Markers (I plan to make the Markers be non-stackable, non-moveable, the exact size of a map hex, and to show a light 20% color tint for all three levels (red, blue and “haze” white), so that they don’t “dominate” the map, but can be seen at a glance. So, it’d be nice to have one button where I could toggle on all markers to show the players the tactical situation at any time.
Any thoughts on any of this? Thanks in advance, because I’m not afraid to say I’m a little intimidated moving forward with this.