MindControl

Flag:	MindControl
File(s):	rules(md).ini
Values:	Boolean values: yes or no, true or false, 1 or 0
Default:	no
Applicable to:	Warheads

If set, this warhead will mind-control the target instead of inflicting damage. The effect is instant, and ignores whether the weapon actually hit the target or not. Objects that have ImmuneToPsionics=yes are completely immune, and cannot be targeted.

Normally, the owner can only target and control one object at a time, and will lose control over the first target if it fires on a second one. In YR this logic was extended to allow multiple units to be mind-controlled at once for the Mastermind, see below.

In Red Alert 2

Infantry under mind-control cannot garrison buildings, the Occupier=yes tag is rendered inert. This behaviour does not affect Spy or Engineer units, as those units are destroyed upon entry into their target buildings.

In Yuri's Revenge

The Damage value of the Primary weapon determines how many objects total can be controlled by the firer, the Damage value of ElitePrimary is ignored even when promoted to Elite.

Values greater than 1 prevent previously established mind-control links from being lost. After reaching the control limit, no new object can be mind-controlled until at least one of the old ones is destroyed, except in the case that InfiniteMindControl=yes is also set on the warhead.

Notes

If a mind-controlled unit is released from control while its original owning house has been defeated, the unit will be transferred to the neutral side. If the unit is an MCV, it will often proceed to EIP#00505E41.

Since buildings have ImmuneToPsionics=yes by default, they require manual setting of ImmuneToPsionics=no to be mind-controllable.

• In Yuri's Revenge, the mechanism allowing Yuri Prime to mind-control buildings is achieved not only by setting Verses to non-zero but also by extensively adding ImmuneToPsionics=no to buildings.
  • These elements are absent in Red Alert 2, thus requiring modders to implement them manually.

A new check was added in Yuri's Revenge: the Insignificant=yes attribute on the target unit only influences the shooter's target selection when the unit is not under mind control.

Bugs/Side-Effects/Unexpected Limitations

Since the Mind Control Warhead operates in a one-to-one manner, it does not support the use of CellSpread and Sub-weapon

Whether a weapon can possess mind control capability and the quantity it can control entirely depends on whether the Primary weapon's warhead of the firing entity has MindControl=yes and the Damage value of the Primary weapon.

• For example, if the Secondary warhead has MindControl=yes while the Primary warhead does not, or if the occupied unit's OccupyWeapon weapon's warhead has MindControl=yes while the occupying structure's Primary weapon's warhead does not, this will trigger EIP#00471CA4.

In Yuri's Revenge, MindControl-parasites would draw a mind-control link between the mind-controlled unit and the point on the map where the parasite entered the unit.

• This bug has been fixed in Ares 0.1.

MindControl and DeploysInto/UndeploysInto interact poorly; the latter's type conversion severs the mind control link, causing TechnoType to permanently change owners. This is particularly evident in Yuri's Revenge 1.000 with MCV and Construction Yard. When they are mind-controlled by Yuri Prime and perform deploy/undeploy, then Yuri Prime's owner will obtain an object for free that does not count towards the mind control limit.

• To address this issue, Westwood added a check in Yuri's Revenge 1.001 for ConstructionYard=yes on BuildingType that is the target of convert, in order to prevent mind-controlled VehicleType (MCVs) from deploying into such buildings, and vice versa.
• Starting from Phobos Build#1, the mind control link is properly transferred during such type conversions instead of being severed.

Footnotes

See Also

• PipScale
• MindControl.Permanent (Ares Only)