Just when I think I've got this all figured out...

[fred8615]

...I can't get time triggers to work!

It refuses to do anything it's supposed to if a time trigger is involved. Every other type of trigger works fine.

I did do a search here and saw where it was reported that it doesn't work with multiplayer missions. I double checked my parameters and all that's checked is "Single Player" so it shouldn't be that.

I'm trying to update objectives and send a message on a specific date and time. Any ideas?

[peabody]

Originally Posted by fred8615

...I can't get time triggers to work!

It refuses to do anything it's supposed to if a time trigger is involved. Every other type of trigger works fine.

I did do a search here and saw where it was reported that it doesn't work with multiplayer missions. I double checked my parameters and all that's checked is "Single Player" so it shouldn't be that.

I'm trying to update objectives and send a message on a specific date and time. Any ideas?

It hard to say without seeing what you have done. Did you check all the start dates? Did you change the start date of the mission AFTER you set the time trigger? That will cause the time trigger to change.
Time trigger do work. But they don't happen at the EXACT minute of the time trigger. Usually within a few minutes, maybe as much as 5 minutes late.
If you have somewhere you could post it, I could take a look at it.

Peabody

[fred8615]

Originally Posted by peabody

It hard to say without seeing what you have done. Did you check all the start dates?

Checked, re-checked, double checked, triple checked. I'm using the default start of 1940-1-1 anyway.

Did you change the start date of the mission AFTER you set the time trigger? That will cause the time trigger to change.

Not in in the first half dozen times I tried them. I did try using a start date of 1941-2-1 to see if that would help, noted the changed date in the trigger, and fixed it back, but still nothing. I even tried starting all over again from scratch, and that didn't work.

Time trigger do work. But they don't happen at the EXACT minute of the time trigger. Usually within a few minutes, maybe as much as 5 minutes late.

I waited days (using time compression) and the message never showed.

If you have somewhere you could post it, I could take a look at it.

PM me your e-mail address and I can send it as an attachment. It's in a JSGME mod so it won't require messing up your install or anything.

[peabody]

Fred,

Got your mission, you can relax, your time trigger works fine. The problem is Time triggers, at least from what I know are hard to use in Campaigns. Simple reason, you don't know when they are going to send you on the mission.

Time trigger do not use the actual date you enter, they use the difference between the mission start date and the time trigger date. So when the mission start changes the times trigger "time" changes.

Here is the time trigger in your mission.

[Trigger 1]
TrigName=Find and Engage
Type=1
Time=1017210

Time= 1.9+ years !!

The mission was written with a start date of 1940-1-1 and the trigger is set for 1941-12-7. BUT when the mission starts Dec 1, 1941 or Dec 2 the time trigger moves ahead 1.9+ years.
I changed the mission start date but because of when they started me, the message did not arrive until Dec 8, by that time the Task Force is gone.



I just ran it again and it started me on Dec 2 at 1400 hrs. That makes the message 38 hours late.

The message.txt file did give a message in the "message box" stating that Pearl was attacked, unfortunately the message on the clipboard was "message content". So there must be a mistake in that file. It's the stock file.

A possible solution is to give a message when they arrive at their Patrol zone of opening sealed orders and intelligence suspects the Japanese may attack. Negotiations are not going well, partol the area blah.....blah....blah.... rather then try to get a time trigger to work. Unless someone else knows something I don't about them. Also suggest making the area bigger.

Anyway, it was not a mistake on your part, the message trigger works fine, you just had to wait 2 years to get it.

Peabody

[fred8615]

Well that blows!

The other two patrols I wanted to use a time trigger in I can get around not having it. But this one really needed it. Oh well, can't have everything I guess.

BTW, that empty PH attack message you got is a bug in the stock messages.txt. There's mods out there that fix it.

Thanks again for all your help.

[fred8615]

I got it!

I got it!

I got it!

It turns the start date for the mission in the PatrolObjectives.cfg has an influence. Also, the start dates in both it and the mission need to be when the patrol actually starts. In the case of what I'm doing, it's always Dec. 2nd. For some reason the message is 14 hours later than the time set, but that can be dealt with by subtracting those hours from the time you want it to display. Otherwise, it works perfectly!

[fred8615]

I figured out what the 14 hour offset deal is. Whether you start in base or at sea, the time the patrol starts is always 14:00 if you have the start time set to 00:00. I assume it adds the 14 hours regardless of what start time you set. The timer then starts counting from there.

EDIT: Which basically is what peabody told me, and I didn't notice.

I would call that a bug.

[peabody]

Originally Posted by fred8615

I figured out what the 14 hour offset deal is. Whether you start in base or at sea, the time the patrol starts is always 14:00 if you have the start time set to 00:00. I assume it adds the 14 hours regardless of what start time you set. The timer then starts counting from there.

EDIT: Which basically is what peabody told me, and I didn't notice.

I would call that a bug.

I don't want to burst your bubble, although I did start at 1400, twice I started on Dec 1 and twice I started Dec 2.

So yes it does not start at midnight, so you are correct there, but like I mentioned, when you had the mission written for 1940-1-1 it used the mission date, not the date in the PO.cfg and the message would have been 1.9 years late. So from the testing I have done, it seems to be the difference between the mission start date and the actual start date. Which would could be taken into account in a single mission (quick mission) but not in the Campaign, since they start you when they want to.

Peabody

[fred8615]

Originally Posted by peabody

I don't want to burst your bubble, although I did start at 1400, twice I started on Dec 1 and twice I started Dec 2.

So yes it does not start at midnight, so you are correct there, but like I mentioned, when you had the mission written for 1940-1-1 it used the mission date, not the date in the PO.cfg and the message would have been 1.9 years late. So from the testing I have done, it seems to be the difference between the mission start date and the actual start date. Which would could be taken into account in a single mission (quick mission) but not in the Campaign, since they start you when they want to.

I don't know it did that for you. Every test I've run the patrol always starts on the 2nd, at 14:00 hours. In fact, the previous version of my mod, even though it's using the regular war patrols, always started on the 2nd. In either version I'm always told to report to base on the 1st, so you're not supposed to be able to patrol until after that.

Whatever though, I seem to have found a fix that works, So I've remade the mission I sent you, and I'm using time triggers in a few Asiatic fleet missions too.

[peabody]

Originally Posted by fred8615

I don't know it did that for you. Every test I've run the patrol always starts on the 2nd, at 14:00 hours. In fact, the previous version of my mod, even though it's using the regular war patrols, always started on the 2nd. In either version I'm always told to report to base on the 1st, so you're not supposed to be able to patrol until after that.

Whatever though, I seem to have found a fix that works, So I've remade the mission I sent you, and I'm using time triggers in a few Asiatic fleet missions too.

It's possible that happened to me to, I was changing dates to find the problem. Maybe I did get assigned on the first and started on the second. Once I entered the mission, I was using TC to get to the location and see when the message appeared, so maybe I just forgot to look at the date on the clipboard. I don't remember for sure.

But I do consider the time triggers to be a bug. You put in a "specific" date and it does not use that date, it uses the difference betweent that and the mission start date to determine when the trigger goes off. So if it is not the first mission, like yours is, you won't have any idea when you are going to start the mission. The mission will be available for a certain period of time and you could start any time between the startdate and the enddate.

We will have to do a little testing and make sure if it uses the Startdate that is written in the mission or if it changes depending on the actual date you are assigned the mission and recalculates the trigger delay.

Peabody



Peabody