The first out out of four enemy phrases about counter attack may play

[SurDno]

No description provided.

[SurDno]

I do not know if it's really related to the fact if any counter-attack is planned. I did not get an according quest, though an enemy squad headed to the newly captured point.
I've encountered this several times through my playthrough.

[SurDno]

Okay, it’s two out of four. Happened at least a few more times. It’s just like the game plans a counter attack and then decides to actually start none. Are there different requirements for every phrase in the set or are they just playing one after another?

[Decane]

The audio for counter-attacks is initiated in function CCaptureSmartTask:check_task(tm) in task_objects.script.

Let 'S' denote the smart terrain to capture; let 'D' denote the defending faction; let 'A' denote the attacking faction, i.e. the faction that gave the 'capture' task. Then the logic is roughly:

• If/once S is owned by A:
  • If use of the counter-attack feature is permitted for D:
    • Start playing pre-counter-attack sounds (e.g. 'Anyone there?', 'Come in!', etc.)
    • If/once the pre-counter-attack sounds have finished or 15 real seconds have elapsed since they started playing:
      • If a squad of D is stationed at a neighboring smart to S and it's 'safe' to send them to S:
        • Play 'counter-attack launched' sound
        • Send the squad (only one if there are several) at the neighboring smart to S
      • Otherwise, finish the task

The 15-second timeout is a work-around added by the SRP to prevent the 'capture' task from never finishing. For some reason, the pre-counter-attack sounds sometimes never register as finished in vanilla.

I haven't looked into what determines how many pre-counter-attack sounds are played before the game registers them as finished or the 15-second timeout is reached.

[Decane]

@SurDno What do you think is the problem here? The fact that a counter-attack isn't always executed even if you hear pre-counter-attack sounds? As explained above, a counter-attack is only launched if a suitable enemy squad is found at a neighboring smart terrain.

[SurDno]

According to logic you provided, everything is working as intended. Just the scenario of pre-counter-attack sounds happening but the faction not sending any squads to actually counter attack was rare enough it seemed to be a bug to me.

If the only requirement for pre-counter-attack sound is being owned by enemy faction and being suitable for counter-attack, why does it sometimes play no sounds at all and other times it’s playing the first two without initiating the counter-attack, even on the same point? For example, I’ve seen both described behaviors at Pump Station.

[Decane]

why does it sometimes play no sounds at all [...] without initiating the counter-attack, even on the same point?

That sounds like a bug; pre-counter-attack sounds should always play, as long as the previous smart terrain owner uses the counter-attack feature (mutants, mercs, and monolith don't).

[SurDno]

It should always play “Anyone there?” on any point getting captured, or do I not get something?

[Decane]

It should always play “Anyone there?” on any point getting captured [...]?

For any point that is the target of a 'capture' task and whose previous owner uses the counter-attack feature, yes.

[SurDno]

@Decane I know it's late, but what do you mean by 'safe' in following quote?

it's 'safe' to send them to S

[Decane]

@SurDno 'Safe' was a poor choice of wording. I meant by it: 'the squad of D stationed at the neighboring smart to S either doesn't have a scripted target or has S as its scripted target'.

So basically, any squad of the defending faction that is stationed at a neighboring smart is available for sending to the capture target except one that has a scripted target that is not also the capture target.

[SurDno]

Got it, thanks!