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OpenTS Manual

Side

Changed in 0.2.0

The side a country or a music track belongs to, or the country last chosen for multiplayer games.

Country side

Specification — Country side
Applies to
HouseType
File
rules.ini
Section
[<ObjectType ID>]
Value
Side
When omitted
InheritedThe side whose [Sides] entry lists this country, or no side at all when none does.
rules.ini
[Nod]
Side=Nod

The value names a side declared in [Sides]. A side groups countries: several countries can share one, and a country with no side is valid.

[Sides] is read before this key and wins over it. A country that already has a side keeps it, and a Side= naming a different side is ignored. The key therefore only places a country that no [Sides] entry lists.

A value naming no side that [Sides] declares is ignored, and the country keeps the side it had.

What the player’s side decides

Section titled “What the player’s side decides”

The side of the country the local player plays decides:

  • which side archives the game mounts, as Theater, side and speech archives lists; a side without its own archives uses the first side’s;
  • which side’s voices play, unless a mission sets SpeechSide=;
  • which music tracks are offered, when a track is restricted with its own Side=;
  • in skirmish and multiplayer games, which pair of loading pictures appears: the second side’s for a country on the second side, the first side’s otherwise;
  • on the campaign score screen, which side’s casualty bars show the player’s losses: the first side’s bars when the player’s country is on the first side, the second side’s bars otherwise.

For the archives and voices, a player’s country with no side counts as the first side. Such a player is offered no side-restricted track and sees the second side’s casualty bars.

What a house’s side decides

Section titled “What a house’s side decides”

The side of the country a house acts as decides the computer’s base building, the house’s hunter-seeker, and whether an AI trigger restricted to a side is open to that house.

The side of the owner’s own country decides the survivors of a Crewed=yes object. A country with no side leaves a Technician. A country with a side leaves the Crew type, and an armed object has a 15% chance of leaving a technician instead. The Crew page gives the full order, including the engineer a structure can leave.

Preferred multiplayer side

Specification — Preferred multiplayer side
Applies to
multiplayer settings
File
SUN.INI
Section
[MultiPlayer]
Value
HouseType
When omitted
Context-dependentThe first house in the rules until a side has been chosen this run; the already-chosen side afterwards.

The value is the country the player last chose for LAN and skirmish games. The game reads it when the player enters the multiplayer menu, and writes the current choice back when the player joins or starts a LAN game or leaves the LAN or skirmish dialog.

The value names a country by its section name or its display name, in any letter case. A number is a name too: Side=2 looks for a country called 2, not for the second country. The names Spawn1 to Spawn8 and <Player @ A> to <Player @ H> are ignored, and the previous choice stays.

The LAN and skirmish dialogs preselect this country in their side box. The box lists only Multiplay=yes countries, by name, so the choice follows the country wherever it sits in the rules.

Track side restriction

Specification — Track side restriction
Applies to
Themes
File
THEME.INI + THEME01.INI
Section
[<Theme ID>]
Value
string
When omitted
<none>No restriction, which offers the track to every side.

Side= restricts the music track to players of the sides it lists, separated by commas. The track is allowed only while the local player’s country belongs to one of those sides, so every country on them gets it. A country’s side comes from [Sides] or its own Side=.

theme.ini
[DUSKHOUR]
Name=Dusk Hour
Length=4.11
Side=GDI

Side=GDI,Nod allows the track for both sides and keeps it from a third side a mod declares.

For a player of any other side, the track is missing from the automatic playlist and from the sound options track list, and the next track and previous track commands skip it. Other ways of starting the track, listed under Normal, still play it.

While no game is loaded there is no player’s country to compare, so the restriction is not applied.

A name that no [Sides] entry declares is skipped. When the list names no declared side at all, the key is ignored and the track stays unrestricted. Side=<none> also leaves the track unrestricted.

See also — Multiplay, Crew, Technician, ActsLike, Handle, Color, Normal, Scenario, RequiredAddon

History

  1. Changed0.2.0In development

    Carry the country behind each lobby side entry — multiplayer-settings

  2. Changed0.2.0In development

    Limit a music track to several sides or to an expansion — themes

  3. Changed0.2.0In development

    Declare sides in the side list alone — housetype

  4. Changed0.2.0In development

    Declare sides in the side list alone — themes