Well! That was much easier than expected. Once I update the game again, you'll be able to customize the game's AOE reticle patterns and add your own by editing the new
AOEPatterns.xml file. Each pattern looks kinda like this:
<Pattern name="single">
<Reticles>0,0,0,0,0,0,0</Reticles>
<Reticles>0,0,0,0,0,0,0</Reticles>
<Reticles>0,0,0,0,0,0,0</Reticles>
<Reticles>0,0,0,1,0,0,0</Reticles>
<Reticles>0,0,0,0,0,0,0</Reticles>
<Reticles>0,0,0,0,0,0,0</Reticles>
<Reticles>0,0,0,0,0,0,0</Reticles>
</Pattern>This is basically meant to represent a top-down view of the spaces surrounding a red attack tile. (The center of the array is the spot where the attack tile is.) The 0s denote spaces where no reticle is placed; the 1s denote spaces where reticles are placed. As you can see, the "single" AOE pattern simply places a single reticle atop the attack tile.
Here's another one:
<Pattern name="row_split">
<Reticles>0,0,0,0,0,0,0</Reticles>
<Reticles>0,0,0,0,0,0,0</Reticles>
<Reticles>0,0,0,0,0,0,0</Reticles>
<Reticles>0,0,1,0,1,0,0</Reticles>
<Reticles>0,0,0,0,0,0,0</Reticles>
<Reticles>0,0,0,0,0,0,0</Reticles>
<Reticles>0,0,0,0,0,0,0</Reticles>
</Pattern>The "row_split" pattern is used by Split Shot; it places two reticles, one on either side of the red attack tile.
Get the idea? Go through
AOEPatterns.xml and experiment!
A COUPLE OF BIG, IMPORTANT CAVEATS:
(1) you should
never edit or delete the "single" pattern. The game is hard-coded to use that pattern for things like giving items, opening doors and activating switches. Screw with that, and you risk making the game unplayable!
(2) if you're making your own campaign, make sure you copy-paste
AOEPatterns.xml into your campaign folder, or your campaign's scenes won't load anymore!
In fact, I'm going to delay updating the installers with this feature so I can make sure to get the word out to everyone about that second caveat--I don't want a ton of people updating and having no idea why their custom campaigns suddenly don't work.
