Disguise Logic: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 01:43, 5 April 2025

Flag:	Disguise Logic
File(s):	Rules(md).ini
Values:	Strings (names of InfantryTypes)
Default:	none
Applicable to:	General

The Disguise mechanic has been around since Red Alert for the Allied spy, and persists right through to Yuri's Revenge.

The summary below will focus on YR functionality as it is more extensive.

Infantry Disguises (RA2 & YR)

By default, InfantryType with PermaDisguise=yes and CanDisguise=yes can automatically disguise as enemy basic infantries if its MakeUpKit weapon is not used, which is the case when there is no enemy InfantryTypes on the map. In game this is applied to vanilla Allied Spy.

To periodically remind the player of a unit's disguised status, the unit's original image will briefly appear to its owner before reverting to its disguise.

The automatic disguise of said Infantry is automatically assigned to Owner unit, and utilized when a faction outside of Allied side captured their Barrack whilst having their Battle Lab in the vanilla game. The disguises are as follow:

AlliedDisguise= will show enemies the specified unit as an Allied player
SovietDisguise= will show enemies the specified unit as a Soviet player
ThirdDisguise= (YR only) will show enemies the specified unit as a Yuri Country player

If a disguise is acquired on enemy unit, enemy combat units and structures will not target them until manually ordered so by player.

Alternatively, TechnoTypes with DetectDisguise=yes can auto acquire and damage them. In vanilla they are applied to Attack Dogs and Yuri's Clone. This tag is not functional in Tiberian Sun.

Vehicle Disguises (RA2 & YR)

The only disguising vehicle added in RA2/YR is the Mirage Tank, and it operates entirely differently to the infantry described above. This kind of disguise requires CanDisguise=yes, but not PermaDisguise=yes, since it cycles through a list of DefaultMirageDisguises values. This means on any given map, the same trees by default are chosen for the effect. A map author will wisely consider what trees are used on their map, and set the available disguise trees manually to match, inside the map code, thereby giving Mirage Tanks the best chance of concealment.

If you want to let vehicles pick their own disguises, you once again need a warhead with MakesDisguise=yes, but since the Mirage Tank uses terrain objects instead of infantry as disguise, you will also want to add TerrainFire=yes to the weapon, which makes the vehicle able to target trees and other terrain objects without having to use force-fire.

Modders can make Mirage Tanks able to pick their tree disguise by making trees targetable using TreeTargeting=yes. Keep in mind the effect of this tag works differently in YR compared to base RA2.

Bugs/Side-Effects/Unexpected Limitations Disguising units cannot disguise as other voxel units ie. VehicleTypes.

Giving a vehicle PermaDisguise=yes, it will use the Allied/Soviet/ThirdDisguise instead of DefaultMirageDisguises, and end up looking like infantry with nasty side-effects!

Disguising units like the Mirage Tank can't have a turret and/or barrel by default, graphical glitches will result. Each individual voxel that's part of the unit will be disguised separately, and appear as multiple trees drawn over top of each other.

Fixed in Ares: https://ares-developers.github.io/Ares-docs/bugfixes/type2/miragelogicwithturretsbarrels.html

@@ Line 33: / Line 33: @@
 == Vehicle Disguises (RA2 & YR) ==
-The only disguising vehicle in the unmodded game is the Mirage Tank. This kind of disguise requires {{f|CanDisguise|yes|link}}, but not {{f|PermaDisguise|yes|link}}. Also, the vehicle that uses it should not have a [[turret]] or a [[Voxel| barrel]] as the disguising logic can't turn several [[voxel]]s into a single [[shp]], so it'll end up with multiple trees - one for vehicle body, drawn at ground level, one for [[turret]], drawn on top of the first one, and optionally one for [[Voxel| barrel]].
+The only disguising vehicle added in RA2/YR is the Mirage Tank, and it operates entirely differently to the infantry described above. This kind of disguise requires {{f|CanDisguise|yes|link}}, but not {{f|PermaDisguise|yes|link}}, since it cycles through a list of {{f|DefaultMirageDisguises|link}} values. This means on any given map, the same trees by default are chosen for the effect. A map author will wisely consider what trees are used on their map, and set the available disguise trees manually to match, inside the map code, thereby giving Mirage Tanks the best chance of concealment.
-* Note: Mirage Tank can now retain their core functionality whilst having Turret and Barrel with Ares. For more information, see: [https://ares-developers.github.io/Ares-docs/bugfixes/type2/miragelogicwithturretsbarrels.html Mirage Logic with Turret and Barrel]
 If you want to let vehicles pick their own disguises, you once again need a [[warhead]] with {{f|MakesDisguise|yes|link}}, but since the Mirage Tank uses [[TerrainTypes|terrain objects]] instead of infantry as disguise, you will also want to add {{f|TerrainFire|yes|link}} to the weapon, which makes the vehicle able to target trees and other terrain objects without having to use force-fire.
-*{{f|AlliedDisguise|link}}, {{f|SovietDisguise|link}}, and {{f|ThirdDisguise|link}} (YR only) tags define which infantry the units with {{f|PermaDisguise|yes|link}} look as when the owner hasn't disguised them yet, for each side respectively.
+Modders can make Mirage Tanks able to pick their tree disguise by making trees targetable using {{f|TreeTargeting|yes|link}}. Keep in mind the effect of this tag works differently in YR compared to base RA2.
-*{{f|DefaultMirageDisguises|link}} defines a list of terrain objects that a {{f|CanDisguise|yes|link}} unit ''without'' {{f|PermaDisguise|yes|link}} will try to look like when it doesn't have a custom disguise.
-So if you give a vehicle {{f|PermaDisguise|yes|link}}, it will look stupid - it will use the <tt>Allied/Soviet/ThirdDisguise</tt> instead of {{f|DefaultMirageDisguises|link}}, end up looking like an infantry, and because SHP vehicles (SHP is the only way infantry can look like) use a different method to reference proper art frames, you'll see a GI with his gun spinning around as the tank moves (the game then sets {{f|WalkFrames|1|link}} and uses the first frames of the infantry SHP as it's walking animation).
+{{Bugs}}
+Disguising units cannot disguise as other voxel units ie. [[VehicleTypes]].
-In base RA2 Mirage Tank disguising as tree can't be targetable until revealed, whilst Yuri's Revenge disabled that. Modders can decide whenever to make Mirage tank disguising as tree is targetable or not by setting [[TreeTargeting| TreeTargeting=]]. Keep in mind the effect of this tag works differently in YR comparing to base RA2.
+Giving a vehicle {{f|PermaDisguise|yes|link}}, it will use the <tt>Allied/Soviet/ThirdDisguise</tt> instead of {{f|DefaultMirageDisguises|link}}, and end up looking like infantry with nasty side-effects!
-* Note: It remains unknown if vehicles can take an image of another VehicleType as disguise. Proceed carefully as it may cause unforseen behaviors and other issues.
+Disguising units like the Mirage Tank can't have a turret and/or barrel by default, graphical glitches will result. Each individual voxel that's part of the unit will be disguised separately, and appear as multiple trees drawn over top of each other.
+* Fixed in Ares: https://ares-developers.github.io/Ares-docs/bugfixes/type2/miragelogicwithturretsbarrels.html
 [[Category:RA2/YR Tutorials]]