UnitsDB Question

[Adraius]

Firstly, NOT an "OMG the units database page is broken" post.

I make frequent use of the UnitsDB page, and direct friends learning the game to it as they get advanced enough to be interested in sussing out racial differences between units. I was also very happy to see the incorrectly adjusted Broadsword DPS re-tweaked to the intended number in the latest patch - but when I checked the database, it is still showing the incorrect value.

This reminded me of a question I've been curious about for awhile: how is the UnitsDB linked to the actual values in-game, and how is it maintained? It's a great resource, especially for someone who remembers the old days of looking up (often outdated) data from a wiki.

[errorblankfield]

^This.

And what's the best way to look at other mechcanics of this game? Cause I feel like the data base is mostly good on general questions, but if I want to see something like adjacency currently works, I'm SOL.

Sure I can check the wiki, but that wiki just feels outdated (as many pages are). Big things like stealth are largely right, but still...

[nine2]

You could always find more info by trawling the LUA files, not sure about adjacency

I exported all of the ranges like radar etc and dumped them to a pdf in this thread, but its pretty crap:
viewtopic.php?f=2&t=6699

[E8400-CV]

Not 100% related, but it would also be nice to show buildtime for things like nukes. The current unit DB gives no way of telling how long an anti nuke or nuke will take to build. I just go by the old wiki's values of 4 minutes for anti, 5 for nuke.

[nine2]

Splash damage would be nice too

[Adraius]

Splash damage is already listed for all units as 'area damage radius', and as 'inner/outer ring radius' for nukes. I'd also like to see build time and cost for manual launch weapons (conventional nukes, T3 sub/Sera battleship nukes, stationary tac missiles, commander-backpack missiles) added to the database, and maybe even UEF engi drones, but DB improvements are a big topic and should have their own thread.

[Ze_PilOt]

This reminded me of a question I've been curious about for awhile: how is the UnitsDB linked to the actual values in-game, and how is it maintained?

It's a database, feed by reading blueprints.

[Ze_PilOt]

DB improvements are a big topic and should have their own thread.

It's useless unless a PHP programmer is willing to make it better. Sadly, people are more inclined to make a entirely new system, something I don't agree on (I think it's a waste of time to reinvent the wheel, especially when the older wheel is working rather well and can be enhanced "easily").

[Adraius]

This reminded me of a question I've been curious about for awhile: how is the UnitsDB linked to the actual values in-game, and how is it maintained?

It's a database, feed by reading blueprints.

This is self-evident.

How are the blueprints generated? I doubt they're manually assembled. I assume they parse LUA files, and that you feed them updated files after patching. (forgive my terminology, I am not a programmer) Or perhaps it can fetch the patch updates themselves from wherever the patched files are hosted to be distributed to FAF clients.

However, if either of those suppositions was correct, the Broadsword DPS would have updated by now. Thus my question, a little clarified: how to patched values actually enter the database?

[E8400-CV]

Seems clear to me: when the database is updated. Does it really matter to us whether that update is ordered manually or not? I don't think so.