[Warhammer Dark Omen Forum]

Warhammer Dark Omen Forum

However, I have Discovered even more ->

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This is the earliest stage of the Dark Omen engine, whilst it has an early Dark Omen GUI it appears to still be using the Shadow of the Horned Rat Engine for the PlayStation, that interestingly enough was 3D but only used 90 colours, so it was hard to tell 3D Terrain, although 2D Game mechanics.

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Dark Omen Battle Editor ->

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My own Personal opinion is to keep 3 and 5k

Battles small and with only 1 mage on the battlefield.


I feel that, since we designed 3 and 5k Rules,to allow new fans

to control fewer units and not to feel overwhelmed by a large Battle.


Keeping the Large Battles for 9k, I would like to see 3 and 5k kept different

and think facing 2 mages, means that potentially i should spend more on anti magic.


Eventually, if we lower Mages 2nd and 3rd points, it will encourage their use, something that I don't want.


However, Great Debate and we i think 5k is pretty much finalised now.

Good Work!

This is taken from SOTHR not Dark Omen but ...


ROUNDS

Once your regiment clashes with the enemy, the resulting combat is resolved by the computer

calculating a series of combat rounds. Each round lasts thirty seconds and during this period of

time, the computer makes certain combat calculations to see who is winning


HAND-TO-HAND COMBAT

In each combat round, the front rank of each regiment in the battle attacks. The regiment with the

highest initiative attacks first. The Attack characteristic shows how many times each mercenary

warrior can attack in each round. When an individual attacks another, the Weapon Skill of the

combatants is compared to determine whether the attacker landed a blow. If so, the attackers

Strength is compared to the victims Toughness to determine whether the blow caused a Wound.

If so, there is a chance his armour may save him. If this armour save fails, the blow hits home and

the wound is caused. NOTE: Some weapons give the attacker a Strength bonus during combat.

For details of these see Weapons on page 86.


If the troop has more than one attack, the above process is repeated until his attacks have been

exhausted. Note that each attack may target a different enemy troop if sufficient enemy troops are

close by; this is particularly relevant for monsters, some of whom can have as many as 7 attacks

per round.


After a round has been completed, the total number of wounds caused by each side in the melee

is calculated. If applicable, bonus points are added for any regiments which charged the enemy in

the flank or the rear. Once it is determined which side scored less, all regiments belonging to that

side in the melee must take a Leadership test***. Any regiments which fail the test will rout from

the combat.


***Leadership tests are subject to psychology rules, for example Dwarf Slayers will never rout

from combat. See the PSYCHOLOGY section above for full details of the psychology rules.






So....

1) The regiment with the highest initiative attacks first

2) The Weapon Skill of the combatants is compared to determine whether the attacker landed a blow

3) If so, the attacker's Strength is compared to the victims Toughness to determine whether the blow caused a Wound.

4) If so, there is a chance his armour may save him. If this armour save fails, the blow hits home and the wound is caused

5) If the troop has more than one attack, the above process is repeated until his attacks have been exhausted.

6) After a round has been completed, the total number of wounds caused by each side in the melee is calculated.

7) If applicable, bonus points are added for any regiments which charged the enemy in the flank or the rear.

Once it is determined which side scored less, all regiments belonging to that side in the melee must take a Leadership

test***. Any regiments which fail the test will rout from the combat.



In the tabletop WARHAMMER BATTLE game tests are rolled by the players on two six sided dice. For example, a leadership

test is often performed to see if a regiment will rout (run away) from combat. If the result is higher that the

regiments Leadership value then the test has failed and the regiment will rout. In Shadow of the

Horned Rat the computer simulates these dice rolls.






Therefore always Hero Boost every troop in melee', as if Your Life Depends on it!

ABOUT TROOP CHARACTERISTICS in SOTHR Manual

Which may help us Understand/comprehend how Dark Omen works but there will be differences.



Each type of person or creature in the Warhammer world is described by means of a set of

characteristics. These characteristics are measured on a scale of 1 to 10 - the higher the number, the

better. A table giving the characteristics of all regiments in the game can be found on page 110.


The characteristics are:

Movement Allowance (M)

This represents the speed at which a regiment can manoeuvre, and is also used as a basis for

calculating their charge distance.


Weapon Skill (WS)

This defines how skilled a warrior is with his weapons, or how vicious a monster is. The higher

the value the more likely the fighter is to hit a hand-to-hand combat opponent.


Ballistic Skill (BS)

This defines how skilled a warrior is with ranged weapons such as bows or crossbows, or how

accurate a ranged war machine such as a cannon is.


Strength (S)

This shows how strong a creature is, and therefore how hard it can hit. Strength is used to

determine how easily a creature can hurt an opponent it has struck. The strength of the weapon is

also taken into account.


Toughness (T)

This is a measure of a creatures or a machines ability to

resist damage when hit. The higher the value, the lower the

chance of landed blows actually inflicting wounds.


Wounds (W)

This shows how much damage a creature or machine can

take before it dies or falls unconscious (or in the case of

machines, before it is ruined).


Initiative (I)

This indicates how fast a creature can react. In close combat this is used to determine the order in

which creatures strike.


Attacks (A)

This defines how often a creature attacks during close combat. A creature with more than one

attack can potentially strike more than one enemy creature in the same round (see COMBAT

MECHANICS on page 89 for more details on rounds).


Leadership (Ld)

This shows how brave and solid a creature is. A creature with a high leadership is less likely to

flee from close combat (rout), and is more likely to rally if they do rout. Also, all regiments with

a leader use his Leadership in any tests (explained below).


ARMOUR
Any regiment equipped with armour will be less likely to sustain wounds from hand to hand

attack, missile weapons and some spells.

You will notice that all regiments have an Armour Rating which is shown on screens such as the

Troop Roster and the Troop Selection Screen. These Armour Ratings range from 0 (no armour) to

5 (full armour). In the tabletop WARHAMMER BATTLE game each armour type has a name

such as shield, chain plus shield etc. The reason we have Armour Ratings as opposed to written

descriptions is simply for ease of comparison. After all, there are many different combinations of

armour which would produce the same result. For example, a mounted regiment with a shield

would have approximately the same protection as a foot regiment with heavy armour, making an

Armour Rating of 2. In WARHAMMER BATTLE, any wounds on such an individual would be

ignored on a roll of five or more on a six sided die (known as an armour save of 5+).

The Armour Ratings are as follows:

Armour Rating Tabletop W arhammer Equivalent

Armour Rating 0 (Armour Save: None)

Armour Rating 1 (Armour Save: 6+)

Armour Rating 2 (Armour Save: 5+)

Armour Rating 3 (Armour Save: 4+)

Armour Rating 4 (Armour Save: 3+)

Note that if a troop is mounted, his Armour Rating is increased by 1. Therefore the Armour

Ratings for mounted troops are:

Armour Rating Tabletop W arhammer Equivalent

Armour Rating 1 (Armour Save: 6+)

Armour Rating 2 (Armour Save: 5+)

Armour Rating 3 (Armour Save: 4+)

Armour Rating 4 (Armour Save: 3+)

Armour Rating 5 (Armour Save: 2+)



WEAPONS

Some weapons are exceptionally powerful and they give their wielder a Strength bonus in hand to

hand combat. This means that the wielderÕs Strength is increased by the value indicated below:

Weapon Strength bonus

Greatsword (two handed sword)+2

Two -handed Hammer +2

Mounted Lance +2 (on charging only)

Halberd +1

Projectile weapons inflict damage relative to their strength, as below:

Weapon Strength

Short Bow 3

Long Bow 3

Wood Elf Bow 3

Crossbow 4

Gyrocopter Bomb 4 (2 for indirect hits*)

Volley Gun 5

Mortar 7 (3 for indirect hits*)

Rock Lobber 10 (5 for indirect hits*)

Cannon 10 (5 for indirect hits*

Imperial Cannon 10 (5 for indirect hits*)

Doom Diver Catapult 10 (5 for indirect hits*)

Doomwheel 2, 4, 6, 8 or 10 (For Lightning attacks)

* An Indirect hit refers to the blast area of the weapon, i.e. the shell has not hit the target but the

blast from the explosion has.

For an explanation of how Strength influences damage see COMBAT MECHANICS

on page 89.


EXPERIENCE POINTS
Experience points are the means by which a regiments characteristics can be increased. You will

notice in the Troop Roster that each regiment has its own number of experience points. These are

gained by killing enemy troops and they represent the troopsÕ level of field experience or how

battle hardened they are.

Experience points are awarded after each battle to the participating regiments who actually scored

kills. The amount of points awarded per kill is dependant on how powerful the enemy was.

For example, 4 points are awarded for each Goblin Sticker killed, while 28 points are given for

defeating a Giant.

As a regiments experience points increase their characteristics will increase as follows:

2000 Points - Regiment receives +1 Weapon Skill

(missile firing regiments receive +1 Ballistic Skill)*

4000 Points - Regiment receives +1 Strength*

6000 Points - Regiment receives +1 Wound*

* These awards are only given once, i.e. a regiment will not have received three +1 Weapon Skill

awards by the time they exceed 6000 experience points!

NOTE: Wizards do not receive the above awards. Instead, they advance through Wizard Levels.

See WIZARD LEVELS on page 95 for details.



PSYCHOLOGY

In addition to the characteristics described above, many types of creature either cause, or are

subject to, psychology rules.

The following descriptions mention various tests. These are not physical tests that you (the

player) have to witness or participate in. These are tests performed by the game, based on the

various TROOP CHARACTERISTICS. In the tabletop WARHAMMER BATTLE game

tests are rolled by the players on two six sided dice. For example, a leadership test is often

performed to see if a regiment will rout (run away) from combat. If the result is higher that the

regiments Leadership value then the test has failed and the regiment will rout. In Shadow of the

Horned Rat the computer simulates these dice rolls.


FEAR

Fear is a reaction to huge monsters or unnerving situations. If a regiment wishes to engage an

enemy that it fears, it must first take a Leadership test to overcome its fear. If a regiment is

charged by an enemy that it fears it must take a Leadership test - if the regiment fails the test the

regiment will flee.

For a list of regiments which cause or are subject to fear see SPECIAL RULES on page 114.


HATRED

Hatred is a powerful emotion borne of rivalry, grudges and irreconcilable feuds. Troops which

hate their hand-to-hand adversaries take any rout tests with a Leadership value of 10, making them

unlikely to rout from the combat. In the first ÔroundÕ they will also re-attempt any blows which

fail to hit the enemy.

For a list of regiments which are subject to hatred see SPECIAL RULES on page 114.


FRENZY

Certain warriors can go into a fighting frenzy, a whirlwind of destruction in which all concern for

their personal safety is ignored in favour of blood-letting. Frenzied troops fight in hand-to-hand

combat with double their normal attacks, and will always pursue a routing enemy.



COMBAT MECHANICS

The characteristics described above are used most often during combat. Note that the

descriptions which follow are summarised - the actual computations dont exactly make

interesting reading! You dont need to know the information that follows, but it will help you to

understand how the results of combat are decided.


CHARGING

When a regiment engages an enemy regiment, calculations are made to determine which regiment

is to gain the charge and which is to receive the charge. These calculations are based on the

regimentÕs Movement and Initiative characteristics, with an element of chance included too.

The regiment with the highest Movement and Initiative is most likely to gain the charge and will

get to strike their foe first as well as be awarded a Strength bonus for the duration of the initial

combat round.


ROUNDS

Once your regiment clashes with the enemy, the resulting combat is resolved by the computer

calculating a series of combat rounds. Each round lasts thirty seconds and during this period of

time, the computer makes certain combat calculations to see who is winning.


HAND-TO-HAND COMBAT

In each combat round, the front rank of each regiment in the battle attacks. The regiment with the

highest initiative attacks first. The ÔAttackÕ characteristic shows how many times each mercenary

warrior can attack in each round. When an individual attacks another, the Weapon Skill of the

combatants is compared to determine whether the attacker landed a blow. If so, the attackers

Strength is compared to the victims Toughness to determine whether the blow caused a Wound.

If so, there is a chance his armour may save him. If this armour save fails, the blow hits home and

the wound is caused. NOTE: Some weapons give the attacker a Strength bonus during combat.

For details of these see Weapons on page 86.


If the troop has more than one attack, the above process is repeated until his attacks have been

exhausted. Note that each attack may target a different enemy troop if sufficient enemy troops are

close by; this is particularly relevant for monsters, some of whom can have as many as 7 attacks

per round.


After a round has been completed, the total number of wounds caused by each side in the melee

is calculated. If applicable, bonus points are added for any regiments which charged the enemy in

the flank or the rear. Once it is determined which side scored less, all regiments belonging to that

side in the melee must take a Leadership test***. Any regiments which fail the test will rout from

the combat.


***Leadership tests are subject to psychology rules, for example Dwarf Slayers will never rout

from combat. See the PSYCHOLOGY section above for full details of the psychology rules.


MISSILE REGIMENTS

When a missile regiment attempts to fire, the range of its weapon is first considered to determine

whether or not it will fire. If the target is out of range, you will be told in the Text Window and

no firing will take place. Providing the target is in range and can be seen, a calculation is made

using the regimentÕs Ballistic Skill characteristic (with an element of chance), to determine

whether the projectile hit the target. If so, the projectileÕs Strength is compared to the victims

Toughness to determine whether the projectile caused any Wounds. The Strength of the projectile

is taken from the Strength of the weapon which fired it. For details of weapon Strengths, see

Weapons on page 86. If the victim is wounded he attempts to make an armour save, based on his

Armour Rating, to deflect the blow. If the armour save fails, the projectile hits home and the

wounds are caused.

Apart from the range of the strike and the fact that damage is taken from the weapons Strength

(as opposed to the attackers Strength), missile attacks are resolved the same as hand to hand

attacks.


Some missile weapons such as cannon also have a blast area, which can cause damage to a large

number of enemy troops in one strike.


WAR MACHINES

War machines can be prone to fail or misfire in one of the following ways:

· May not shoot - a minor fault prevents the machine shooting in this round.

· Disabled - a more serious fault prevents the machine shooting for the next 2 rounds.

· Destroyed! - the machine breaks up under the strain placed upon it and is permanently

destroyed.

I completely agree with Flak, concerning Orc Biguns and Banner of Defiance,

with out it, they all simply Flee too easily, especially from Undead,

who naturally cause Fear.


I can't wait until there are new units available that are imune to fear and

save us from using the Banner of Defiance on them.


Such as Dwarf Slayers (unbreakable) or some crazy Orc/Goblin unit (Giant etc)

"To encourage a regiment to even greater effort during a battle,

repeatedly press the Hero button to boost their strength. This only

applies when a regiment is in hand-to-hand combat. This boost only affects

your current regiment and is only temporary. The Hero gauge shows the build-up

of strength boost. Only when the gauge is in the red zone will the boost have an effect.

Note that it will become harder to reach the red zone as your regiment suffers more casualties."





Every 30 Secs, a round of Stats calculations, occur

which determine the progress of the Battle etc..


Therefore, as the Hero Button is Pumped to it's max,

it increases the Unit's Strength Stats and effects the Result.


When a Unit cries out for Help, "Help us or we Fear the enemy"

that is an ideal time to Max their Boost, so I am constantly flicking to

each unit in Melee` and Boosting them up!


I personally find pumping the Hero Button, a large part of the game

and it certainly is another level of interactivity, that actually sways the Battle!





(I will collect all the Data I have on which Stats and Post them soon,

as the Shadow of the Horned Rat and Dark Omen Manuals have great

descriptions of the Processes, including things like Armour Save etc

and of course how it relates to actual Table Top Rules!)


http://forum.dark-omen.org/singleplayer/sothr-game-mechanics-stats-t273.0.html

When playing as the Empire, I like to use Orgres,

especially combined with the Banner Of Defiance!

This makes them a very Powerful Hand to Hand unit,

that will not Flee-Route as easily/if ever and stay and fight,





Until the Last one Stands Alone!

Yeah XP/Vista have no known problems with Hamachi,


so I agree, as since we have seen Firewalls Slowing

down Dark Omen Multiplayer.

Great Idea!

At present we could add new units to the EngRel.exe, since the original developers

left 12 spaces/slots free, for potential Addon/UpGrades to Dark Omen.

For Example my repainted Dwarves, could be added into some of the

12 Slots but then there isn't enough room to add Whole new Races.



Therefore I would advise overwriting exisiting Files (after Backing Up), for Testing.

So my Dwarf Crossbows have been made as Originals but have

also been used to OverWrite the Original Empire Crossbowmen,

including their Banners and Portraits (Pasted over with the Dwarf's)

now I can add Audio from SOTHR using Rob's Excellent Audio Convertor!



As Ghabry states, Rob's future Mod installer redirects the game to look in

a Mod folder instead of the original Dark Omen folders, keeping the

Originals safe. Simply start up the Mod Installer and click on the  different

Pictures to play the various Mods (Original, Flak's Goblin, Dwarf Campaigins etc).

I agree, especially since Alavet had to use the UK Version,

to play us, (His Mortor/ Artiallry would crash game)

that means he can no longer play his fellow

Country men.



(Also worth testing on an original map, to test Map Pack Installation)

Huks,

we never like to see a problem go unsolved

and since u managed to play 1 game, then there's

Real Hope!


Now that the Tournament has completed, I'm sure that

we can fix Dark Omen, for such an enthusiastic Member as yourself.

Congratulations to Grand Master Alavet!




Thanks to all 12 players, the Battles made Great Live TV!

Thanks to all members who assisted in Organising and helped enhance Rules.

Having recently got Full 3d Mode Dark Omen, to work on XP (On CRT monitors)

http://forum.dark-omen.org/help-section/dark-omen-in-full-3d-mode-high-res-xp-and-no-flicker-t248.0.html


I have now been able to use a Webcam to Stream my Online Tournament Battles,

for Fans to watch, in between games and Enjoy the Live Carnage!





http://www.ustream.tv/channel/darkomen-map-1