[Seafox]

Okay, does this tag do anything at all? Because of the different radar types, I've got the Secret Lab giving out 4 different Parabomb upgrades, one for each radar: American, Allied, Yuri, and Soviet. But I can't seem to make the lab give out the right upgrades to the right side/country. Sometimes it won't give out any at all. I've tried putting the countries I don't want to get a certain upgrade under the SecretHouses and that didn't work. Neither did putting the houses I did want to recieve it under the tag. Does anyone have more info on this?

[Kravvitz]

try looking in Deezire's Encyclopedia thing

I'm pretty sure that you are using the tag incorectly, but I forget how that tag works.

[Seafox]

Well...it's not in the online encyclopedia.

In Deezire's Tutorial is this entry...

"SecretHouses=
Specifies the sides which can own this object when a structure with SecretLab=yes set is captured. This can be used to restrict who gets what, so for example if you gave the Sniper SecretHouses=Americans then only the Americans would be able to get him as a 'secret' unit when they captured a Secret Lab."

And yet, in the Yuri's RulesMD is this...

";Yuri, bender of spoons!
[YURI]
UIName=Name:YuriClone
Name=Yuri Clone
Prerequisite=YABRCK,RADAR
PrerequisiteOverride=YACOMD
Pip=red
Category=Soldier
Strength=100
LeadershipRating=8
Primary=MindControl
Secondary=PsiWave
TypeImmune=yes
Armor=none
TechLevel=4
CrushSound=InfantrySquish
Insignificant=no
Sight=12
Speed=4
Owner=Russians,Confederation,Africans,Arabs,YuriCo untry,British,French,Germans,Americans,Alliance
SecretHouses=YuriCountry
AllowedToStartInMultiplayer=no
Cost=800
Soylent=400
Points=5
IsSelectableCombatant=yes
VoiceSelect=YuriCloneSelect
VoiceMove=YuriCloneMove
VoiceAttack=YuriCloneAttackCommand
VoiceFeedback=YuriCloneFear
VoiceSpecialAttack=YuriCloneMove
DieSound=YuriCloneDie
Locomotor={4A582744-9839-11d1-B709-00A024DDAFD1}
PhysicalSize=1
MovementZone=Infantry
ThreatPosed=15 ; This value MUST be 0 for all building addons
ImmuneToVeins=yes
ImmuneToPsionics=yes
VeteranAbilities=STRONGER,FIREPOWER,ROF,SIGHT,FAST ER
EliteAbilities=SELF_HEAL,STRONGER,FIREPOWER,ROF
Deployer=yes
DeployFire=yes
UndeployDelay=150
Size=1
DetectDisguise=yes
IFVMode=8"

Now, why would the Yuri Army need to get the Yuri Clone from the Secret Lab? So, from this context, it seems like the tag is supposed to limit the houses that can get it as Secret Tech...but wait, there's more! :lol:

I may have my own hypothesis on the way the tag works (from some experiments), but also, unfortunately, this makes it of limited use. I think the tag doesn't restrict who can get the tech from the Lab, but who can actually use it. Here's an example of my theory.

The only two things the Lab can give out right now are a Parabomb Upgrade and Desolators. The Player is Britain and the DESO has SecretHouses=Britain set for the purposes of the example.

Now, the player has a 50/50 chance of getting either Tech. If he gets the Parabomb tech, he can build the upgrade. But if he gets the DESO tech, he can't build it becuase of the SecretHouses= tag, no icon, no nothing. Or least, that's my twisted theory.

Thoughts, comments? I really hope someone has an opposing view. :lol: The tag is rather unhelpful, I don't want Tech that can't be built to be awarded at all.

EDIT: I have conducted some experiments, trying to use the tag in context from the rules and DeeZire's way as well. It seems even that theory is off. My personal thoughts are that even though the tag seems valid, I can't get it to do anything one way or another.

[Tratos]

Originally Posted by Seafox

Now, the player has a 50/50 chance of getting either Tech. If he gets the Parabomb tech, he can build the upgrade. But if he gets the DESO tech, he can't build it becuase of the SecretHouses= tag, no icon, no nothing. Or least, that's my twisted theory.

No, because the player cant access the deso, he stands a 100% chance of getting the parabomb upgrade, whilst the british player stands a 50% chance of getting one or the other because he has access to both.

If you had 10 different secret tech units and 9 had a different secrethouse and the tenth had no secret house then each side would have a 50% chance of getting their unique secret lab unit or the general unit. If none of them had any secrethouses then each side would stand a 10% chance of geting one particular unit.

[CannisRabidus]

"SecretHouses=
Specifies the sides which can own this object when a structure with SecretLab=yes set is captured. This can be used to restrict who gets what, so for example if you gave the Sniper SecretHouses=Americans then only the Americans would be able to get him as a 'secret' unit when they captured a Secret Lab."

Actually SecretHouses= AFAIK does nothing at all. From the fact that this tag is given to YURI, it should probably be assumed that SecretHouses= was intended to work in a way opposite to what DZ describes. But it is a moot point since the tag simply doesn't work.

The way Scret Labs work is, when a map loads, each Secret Lab is assigned its boon according to the General or building-specific boon list, whichever applies. From that point on in the game, the SL will continue to offer that boon no matter how many times the building changes ownership.

Since the boon offered by a SL is therefore fixed in any particular game, limiting who gets what boon (if it were possible) would only result in potentially making a particular SL uselss to certain players, depending on what the assigned boon is.

I have to conclude that Westwood originally intended to have SL award boons randomly each time they were captured, but as usual, they slacked off towards the end of the game's development, and they took the quick hack way out so they could ship the game faster.

[Kravvitz]

Cannis, what do you mean by "boon"?

So you can clone the Secret Lab and make them award different things?

[Renegade]

Originally Posted by Webster's Dictionary

Main Entry: boon
Pronunciation: 'bün
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English, from Old Norse bOn petition; akin to Old English bEn prayer, bannan to summon -- more at BAN
Date: 12th century
1 : BENEFIT, FAVOR; especially : one that is given in answer to a request
2 : a timely benefit : BLESSING

[CannisRabidus]

Originally Posted by Kravvitz

Cannis, what do you mean by "boon"?

So you can clone the Secret Lab and make them award different things?

Renegade has kindly provided the definition

You can make as many secret labs as you want, no need for cloning either. Just add SecretLab=yes to any building, and when captured, garrisoned, built, or whatever, the game will pick from the secret lab lists in the [General] section to decide what it will offer. Or, each building could use its own unique lists(s) (look at the commented lines in the [CASLAB] code).