Posts from Automatic ballista control.

vbn - how do I launch the program so that the battle is full screen?? Otherwise, the screenshot captures the launched program itself. So first you have to set the coordinates, then expand Heroes to full screen, get positioned in battle, minimize Heroes to the taskbar, click the Fight button in the program and quickly bring Heroes up from the taskbar? Is that correct? Is it possible to do this in time or will the mouse already be captured. Or should I press the F4 key on the keyboard after clicking the Fight button in the program?

actually, if you press Alt+PrtScr, only the active window will be copied to the clipboard; therefore: make the heroes window active and press Alt+PrtScr.. :)

P.S. to VDV_forever: since there was already off-topic here, it could have been moved to another thread instead of being deleted... :D

Respectfully.

actually, if you press Alt+PrtScr, only the active window will be copied to the clipboard, therefore: make the Heroes window active and press Alt+PrtScr.. :)

Kyle, you didn't quite understand my question. The vbn automation tool takes screenshots programmatically at set intervals. But I launch the program – it’s on the left side of the screen – and then launch Heroes in windowed mode. When I configure everything and start the program, it takes screenshots of the screen showing both my "desktop," the automation tool itself, and Heroes in windowed mode. But I need screenshots of Heroes not in windowed mode. How can I do that? How can I click the Fight button if I switch to fullscreen mode? And if I click the Fight button first, the mouse will be captured by the program, and according to the vbn instructions, you shouldn't move it. That leaves the F4 key. But when I press it and Heroes switches to fullscreen mode, the program stops working correctly. Maybe in this case, I should increase the delays even more. vbn! Please help me figure out this issue. I need screenshots where neither the desktop nor the automation tool is visible, but only the battle screen from Heroes.

P.S. to VDV_forever: since there was some off-topic discussion here, you could have moved it to another topic instead of deleting it... :D
Sincerely.

Apparently, something was fundamentally unacceptable to the administration :( But they probably consider posts like these to be more informative and useful for players and for the resource :) : /topic/2286/
(post #115)

Don't you think that the endless arrows of a ballista are a bug? Or is it only a problem when used with a cart? In my opinion, such nuances should be included in the rules for tournaments, otherwise it feels a bit unfair to have one Fairy facing hordes of slowly crawling creatures... and for the whole night ;)

Don't you think that the ballista's infinite arrows are a bug? Or is it okay if it's with a cart? In my opinion, such nuances should be included in the rules for tournaments, otherwise it's not very heroic to have 1 fairy against hordes of slowly crawling creatures... and for the whole night ;)

I highly recommend checking out this topic:

TOURNAMENT CONCERNS!

Best regards, VDV_forever

Don't you think that ballistae with infinite arrows is a bug? Or is it okay if they are used with a cart? In my opinion, such nuances should be included in the rules for Tournaments, otherwise it feels unfair when 1 fairy fights against hordes of slowly moving creatures… and all night long ;).

You need to read this thread: TOURNAMENTAL CONCERNS!

Sincerely.

You should read this thread: TOURNAMENTS!

Sincerely.

Thank you for the link. I spent a long time reading it to make sure that this might not be a BUG, but rather an intended feature. However, I am still against such "long" skill checks.

I think this feature is unnecessary; I could easily defeat 100, or even 200, zombies with just one fairy and a ballista.

I think this feature is unnecessary; I could defeat 100, or even 200, zombies with 1 fairy and a ballista anyway.

This program was created to speed up such battles, so you don't waste time.

damn, can you tell me more?

Frequently Asked Questions:

Q: Is this program used when a hero has the skill to control a ballista, but the player is too lazy to do it manually, and the program does it automatically?
A: Exactly, but the hero may not even have the skill to control a ballista. Depending on this, the program needs to be made to work differently.

Q: What language is the program written in?
A: Delphi 7.

Q: Does the morale of the hero's army affect how the program works?
A: The condition of having no morale is necessary for correct calculations because morale disrupts the order of unit movement, and the program may not work as intended (answer by Nightly Edelweiss). Therefore, this program will only work if the attacking and defending armies have neutral morale.

Q: How can I lower my own army's morale to neutral?
A: To lower morale to neutral, you can:
1) give the hero the "Spirit of Morale Suppression" artifact;
2) add a unit of another race to the hero's army;
3) fight on cursed land;
4) achieve neutral morale through any other known method.

For reference:
If the hero does not have Leadership skills or artifacts that increase morale:
1) one type of troop in the hero's army gives +1 morale;
2) two types of troops from different Castles give neutral morale.

Q: What guarantee is there that an enemy squad won't rush towards the additional unit or even attack the ballista itself?
A: There are no guarantees that an enemy squad won't rush towards the additional unit and then attack the ballista. Therefore, try to keep enemy squads as far away from the ballista and the decoy (non-attracting) unit as possible. For example, in the example below, the ballista and peasant are very far from the zombies, so the latter will only hunt for the fairy bait.

Q: What if the enemy monsters (as usually happens when the enemy has more units) split into 7 squads? Does it still make sense to use the program in this case?
A: A tactic is known for a very beautiful battle, which belongs to Fireball. Two flying snakes (speed 13) and a ballista can destroy any number of diamond golems (speed 5), located in 7 slots.

Q: How do you force units to skip their turns?
A: To force units to skip their turns, you need to move the cursor to the "Defend" button using code.

Q: When Heroes is running, I cannot see the coordinates of the cursor (except by remembering the position in the game, minimizing it, and looking at the coordinates in the program).
A: The battle should be conducted in windowed mode in Heroes (exit to windowed mode - F4 key). By default, the program is located on the left side of the screen. It is best to place the Heroes window slightly to the right of the program.

Let's consider the following situation. Suppose we want to destroy 100 zombies with 1 fairy. The zombies have neutral morale – everything is fine here. In the attacking hero's army, there is one fairy with +1 morale. A morale drop disrupts the turn order of the unit, which can lead to incorrect program operation. To lower the morale to neutral, you can add, for example, one peasant. After that, you can attack the zombies. Below is a possible arrangement of the armies, starting from which you can run the program (Screen00).

Now, let's develop the program's algorithm. 1) The Fairies should move 8 cells upwards. After that, the Zombies move, and the turn passes to the Peasant (Screen01). 2) Now, the program should click the button to skip the Peasant's turn, after which the Ballista will fire automatically, and the turn will pass to the Fairy (Screen02). 3) The Fairies should move 8 cells downwards. After that, the Zombies move again, and the turn passes to the Peasant (Screen03). 4) Now, the program should click the button to skip the Peasant's turn again, after which the Ballista will fire automatically again, and the turn will pass to the Fairy again (Screen04). After this, the battle proceeds cyclically: Fairies move up, Peasant's turn is skipped, the Ballista fires, and so on. Note: if the hero has the Artillery skill, it is best to check the "Ballista" option in the auto-battle settings and uncheck the "Warriors" option. After that, in the battle, you need to click the "Automatic Battle" button. As a result, the Ballista will fire automatically (as if the hero did not have the Artillery skill), and the player will control the armies (by IronAxe). The program's algorithm has been developed.

Now, let's try to implement this in reality. So, we launch the program, enter the battle, and achieve the army arrangement as shown above. 1.1) The Fairies should move 8 cells up. 1.2) Move the cursor to the cell where the Fairies should move. 1.3) Look at the cursor coordinates in the program (in our example, this is [1070, 475]; see Screen01). 1.4) Check the first box "MoveTo+Click" in the program and enter these coordinates. 1.5) Set the "Wait, ms" delay, say, 3000 (i.e., 3 seconds), so that during this time the Fairy has time to fly 8 cells up, and the Zombie - 4 cells up. 1.6) The first step is completed; now, manually move the Fairies 8 cells up, after which the Zombies move, and the turn passes to the Peasant.

2.1) Now, the program should click the button to skip the peasant's turn, after which the ballista will fire automatically. 2.2) We check the mouse coordinates when the cursor is hovering over the "defend" button (shield); in our example, these are [1120, 860] (see Screen02). 2.3) We set the second checkbox "MoveTo+Click" in the program and enter these coordinates. 2.4) We set the "Wait, ms" delay, say, 1500 (i.e., 1.5 seconds), so that during this time, the fairy can skip the peasant's turn and the ballista can fire. 2.5) The second step is complete; now, we manually skip the peasant's turn, after which the ballista will fire, and the turn will be passed to the fairy.

3.1) The fairies should move 8 cells down. 3.2) Move the cursor to the cell where the fairies should move. 3.3) Check the cursor coordinates in the program (in our example, this is [1069, 811]; see Screen03). 3.4) Check the third box "MoveTo+Click" in the program and enter these coordinates. 3.5) Set the "Wait, ms" delay, say, 3000 (i.e., 3 seconds), so that the fairy has time to fly 8 cells down, and the zombie – 4 cells down. 3.6) The third step is complete; now, manually move the fairies 8 cells down, after which the zombies move, and the turn passes to the peasant.