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I have learned something about
Spawning Monsters (in relation to Security Computer Consoles
& Security Cameras) and thought I would share it with you. Hope
it helps...
After playing around with the Spawn "Supply" figure in DirectMonsterGen>Spawn
(at the bottom), I found out that this figure must relate to
the strength of an encounter. (NOT THE DIRECT NUMBER OF CREATURES.)
This may sound obvious, but I will explain further. I noticed
that if I put in a figure of a multiple of four (or part of),
I would spawn one OG-Pipe per four points per Spawn Marker that
the DirectMonsterGen was linked to.
I only used the OG-Pipe monster in my "experiments", but guess
that other monsters may have a higher figure (than 4) to equate
to less encounters of that type (when randomly determined with
more than one creature) for the same "Supply" figure. But, I
have also noticed (with help from G'len's info), that "Alert
Min" and "Alert Max" within Ecology>Ecology may take priority
over the maximum supply figure calculated in the spawn "Supply"
figure above. (DOWNWARDS ONLY! You could not get more monsters
than that calculated from the "Supply" figure in DirectMonsterGen
- unless the "Supply" figure is 0 (zero), which I think means
unlimited.)
Because, when these figures are lower than the highest numbers
of OG-Pipe that are potentially available (remember it may be
different for different creatures and may alter this example
altogether!), then these lower figures take priority. An example
may clarify this: I have worked out that OG-Pipe monster equates
to 4 points. Therefore, if I put a figure of 16 in the "Supply"
figure in DirectMonsterGen>Spawn, I will get (potentially) 16/4=
4 OG-Pipes PER MARKER that the DirectMonsterGen is linked to.
So, if I had this linked to two SpawnMarkers, then a potential
4x2 = 8 OG-Pipes could be spawned. (Four from each Marker.)
(NB: It may be that tougher monsters - with higher "points"
would spawn less??? - If someone does experiment with this and
works out the figures for other creatures, then please let us
all know. 8>) ) However, continuing with the above example,
if I had the "Alert Min" as 1 and the "Alert Max" as 2 (within
Ecology>Ecology), then I would get a random figure of 2 - 4
monsters ... 1 or 2 monsters from each Marker. (NB: I tried
making the Min & Max numbers the same to force a certain number,
but it did not seem to work ... but then again, I may have forgotten
to Portalise between each change ... which does appear to make
a difference ... so do not foget to Portalise between each change!)
So there you have it. Hours of fiddling around to hopefully
give us some sort of clue to help with the type of Monster Spawning
available. I have just a couple of questions of my own, related
to the same thing...
1) The flags in Spawn (just above the "Supply" figure) - Any
ideas? (When I removed the PopLimit tick - I think it was that
one - all the monsters appeared to Generate in one go at one
Marker!!!! In other words, when I had the test supply figure
at 20, I got 5 OG-Pipe monsters appear at the Marker instantly
the alarm went off. I have not experimented further with this
yet. Let me know if any of you do...
2) "Period" in Ecology>Ecology - Any ideas? In my example above,
I kept this to 1.00. I have yet to test it any other way.
3)Does anyone really know if EcoType or EcoState relate to anything
in particular? I have stuck an EcoType:1 in Ecology>Script,
but I reckon it would probably not change much if I took it
out ... something to try later perhaps.
One last thing, which may help to work out what is going on
with all these variables (and work out what is going on) and
that is to hit Alt-E and return to the editor after playing
your level a bit and then examine the objects properties before
reloading the level to work on again! I found out quite a few
interesting things by doing this.
One thing, which may need looking into by someone who has better
knowledge, is EcoState added itself to either DirectMonsterGen
or Ecology (I cannot remember which) as Ecostate:2. It may be
related to the alarm going off, as I hit Alt-E and returned
to the editor when the alarm was still sounding. As you can
see there is plenty of areas to look into if anyone has got
more time.
I have made a start and now offer this onformation for what
its worth, to those who may wish to add to what I have just
gone through.
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