Graphics question

[Okimaw]

I know that if you put mods in the alt folder the enigine will read them first. I was wondering if all the interface, buttons etc from the COW green will work properly on this? BTW Okimaw is now TOAW 3 compliant!!!

[nemo69]

I somehow doubt it. There'll probably be features like the Planned Combats report on the frontend interface that wil be broken or at least made very ugly, as it relies on a new graphic arrangement.

At any rate, be sure to backup your Graphics folder before any attempt [8D]

[ralphtricky]

That should work.

Of course, you could also use the 'Install classic TOAW Graphics option off the start menu, under The operational art of war/Extras <g>

[ralphtricky]

I think that the only graphics file that we changed in a breaking way were the extra flags that were added to flags.bmp. They would be missing from the TOAW COW graphics.

[nemo69]

ORIGINAL: ralphtrick

Of course, you could also use the 'Install classic TOAW Graphics option off the start menu, under The operational art of war/Extras <g>

Yeah - I even recommend it [:D] - but it'll change the terrain tiles, not the UI (buttons, blue metal background and the like).

[JAMiAM]

David had a nasty run-in with a rabid leprechaun back in '76, and has had this terrible aversion to green, ever since. Hence, our changeover to the grey tones in the GUI. However, give it some time, and I'm sure that the modding community will resurrect our beloved marbled green, and all the world will be right, once more...[:D]

[ralphtricky]

Anyway, to answer the original question, then. You should be fine with replacing the graphics. I'd reccomend putting them in AltGraphics first, since that way it's easy to back out the change.

Ralph

[Okimaw]

ORIGINAL: JAMiAM
give it some time, and I'm sure that the modding community will resurrect our beloved marbled green, and all the world will be right, once more...[:D]

Actually I don't mind the new terrain mods, it was the beloved marbled green of my youth that I was seeking. Made the switch before I read the last few posts and was dissapointed to not see it there. I shall wait for our mod geniuses to get to work

[Sertorius1]

ORIGINAL: ralphtrick

I think that the only graphics file that we changed in a breaking way were the extra flags that were added to flags.bmp. They would be missing from the TOAW COW graphics.

I have a graphics question that is related to the above. These shots are from TOAW III.

This first one is from the St. Lo scenario from the "Classic TOAW" folder:

Note the flag of Republican Spain.

And two from a "new scenario";

http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/kk27 ... hot034.jpg

You can't see the cursor, but it is being pointed at the WWII German flag. Zooming in shows it as the Italian WWII flag in the information bar.

Another one.

http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/kk27 ... hot033.jpg

The cursor is being pointed at the US flag. Zooming in shows it as the Hungarian flag in the information bar.

Looking in the graphics folder shows this file for the flags.

http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/kk27 ... hot035.jpg

It appears that I have all of the flags. This problem shows up in some of the other scenarios as well that I have checked. Is there a way to correct this, perhaps by substituting another flag file for this one?

Thanks.

[Telumar]

ORIGINAL: Sertorius1

ORIGINAL: ralphtrick

I think that the only graphics file that we changed in a breaking way were the extra flags that were added to flags.bmp. They would be missing from the TOAW COW graphics.

I have a graphics question that is related to the above. These shots are from TOAW III.

This first one is from the St. Lo scenario from the "Classic TOAW" folder:

Note the flag of Republican Spain.

And two from a "new scenario";

http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/kk27 ... hot034.jpg

You can't see the cursor, but it is being pointed at the WWII German flag. Zooming in shows it as the Italian WWII flag in the information bar.

Another one.

http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/kk27 ... hot033.jpg

The cursor is being pointed at the US flag. Zooming in shows it as the Hungarian flag in the information bar.

Looking in the graphics folder shows this file for the flags.

http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/kk27 ... hot035.jpg

It appears that I have all of the flags. This problem shows up in some of the other scenarios as well that I have checked. Is there a way to correct this, perhaps by substituting another flag file for this one?

Thanks.

[Edit:] Funny, It now looks like all the flags in the scenarios I've looked at have disappeared! [X(]

It's not as it seems. The graphic file shown by the last screenshot from M$ Paint is named s_flags.bmp. This is the small flag graphic that is displayed at the zoomed out view. The flags in the normal view as well as those in the editor are displayed from the file flags.bmp. I attached my flags.bmp file, just rename the extension txt to bmp.

[Sertorius1]

Telumar,

I didn't notice the s_flags that you did. Upon another check I found the flags file you referred to.

Many thanks for the file you attached, because I went a head and used it, thinking the one I had might be corrupted. The new file showed the proper flags in the games I looked at like St. Lo, but in others they are still mismatched. Ditto that for the ones shown in the editor. Where I have encountered this problem previously I have had to find the flag itself and not go by the name shown in the information bar.

I can add this as well. One scenario I was playing showed the wrong flags. After using your file the problem ceased. I wonder if there is something in the editor that might be messing things up here? When I checked the flags a second time in the editor the way I did shown above it messed up the previous scenario again. I downloaded your file once again and overwrote to correct the problem a second time.

The game I am using was downloaded from Matrix. I recently got my CD and I could use it. If I do, will it overwrite the download or should I remove the download first if you know?

[larryfulkerson]

ORIGINAL: Sertorius1
The game I am using was downloaded from Matrix. I recently got my CD and I could use it. If I do, will it overwrite the download or should I remove the download first if you know?

I personally would use the highest version which is probably the download. Once the program is burned onto a CD it's permanent but the download can be replaced as many times as necessary as the latest version. Is there any documentation with the CD to show what version it is?

[Sertorius1]

Larry,

Thank you for the reply. The CD itself doesn't provide any information on the version, only the year of manufacture, 2007.&nbsp; Whether it has version 3.2.29.27, the downloaded version I'm using, I don't know.

What I was thinking is that if worse came to worse, I could load the CD version and then apply the patch from 9/24/2007 and that would bring it up to date.

[larryfulkerson]

ORIGINAL: Sertorius1
Larry,
Thank you for the reply. The CD itself doesn't provide any information on the version, only the year of manufacture, 2007.  Whether it has version 3.2.29.27, the downloaded version I'm using, I don't know.

What I was thinking is that if worse came to worse, I could load the CD version and then apply the patch from 9/24/2007 and that would bring it up to date.

As far as I know 3.2.29.27 IS the latest version so if you're already running that then there's nothing to change. I'm just guessing however.

[Telumar]

There is something odd anyways..

Referring to your screenshot from the editor - below is your screenshot:



How did you get to the deployment mode with the order of battle not fully defined? I can see it is the deployment mode (edit->deployment in the editor) by the missing graphic tiles and the place unit option on the right panel. I see the force 1 unit is not assigned to a formation. With units not assigned to a formation one gets the error message "The order of battle is not fully defined" when he tries to go to the deployment mode and must stay in the map draw mode.

Did you load another scenario to the editor before you opened an new, empty scenario and did your screenshot? The german WW1 flag with the cross (left from the svastika flag) is definitely not toaw-standard, it could belong to an other scenario's specific graphic files - maybe one you opened before?

Do you have anything within your AltGraphics folder?

ORIGINAL: Sertorius1
Larry,
Thank you for the reply. The CD itself doesn't provide any information on the version, only the year of manufacture, 2007. Whether it has version 3.2.29.27, the downloaded version I'm using, I don't know.

What I was thinking is that if worse came to worse, I could load the CD version and then apply the patch from 9/24/2007 and that would bring it up to date.

To check your version go to help -> About The Operational Art of War (menu available from anywhere in the game)


Btw, here's a screenie how it should look like:

[Sertorius1]

Telumar,

First off, let me express my appreciation for you taking the time to work on this problem. Thank you.

How did you get to the deployment mode with the order of battle not fully defined? I can see it is the deployment mode (edit->deployment in the editor) by the missing graphic tiles and the place unit option on the right panel.

In order to create that screen shot I went to "new game" ---> "edit" ---> "forces" and created that unit with one squad. I then went to the flag button. I just repeated the above and the screen shot looks like your's above. I have no idea how that other one came about, as I never went to deployment mode, knowing from the past I had to do what you said.

Did you load another scenario to the editor before you opened an new, empty scenario and did your screenshot?

I have opened the editor for an existing scenario prior to going to "new game". When I saw the flags error I closed that scenario and opened "new scenario".

Do you have anything within your AltGraphics folder?

Just the Patch 4 graphics file. I'd give you a screen shot, but Photobucket is inoperative right now.

For the record, I previously encountered another problem involving what appeared to be missing Tutorial files. This one I was able to correct. Whether this has anything to do with the present problem I haven't a clue.

I have a theory of what might be causing this. I downloaded some old TOW I scenarios that had been converted to play on TOAW III. I saw from looking at the graphics files that in addition to the small flags you pointed out that there are two flag files, one old and one new. What I probably should have done with these converted files is to have placed them in their own separate folder. The two flag files may be in conflict with one another.

This is what I am going to do. I'm going to make a copy of the scenario folder and delete the game. I still have access to the download, so I'll reinstall. I'll not only to be able to see if this problem persists, but I can also see if the Tutorial files show up where they are supposed to. Upon accomplishing this and assuming success, I'll then take the TOAW I files and place them in their own folder and see if the problem comes back. From what I've read here no one has encountered this before with the old games.

I'll get back to you shortly. Thanks again.

[Sertorius1]

Telemar,

I copied the scenario folder and placed it on the desktop. The game was removed using the game uninstall feature. This time I had to use the CD instead due to a problem trying to access the download site after removal (head space and timing problem). Upon accomplishing this, I proceeded to spot check various scenarios. The flags were correct. I then checked the editor doing as I did above. This time my window in the forces editor appeared as your's does above. This check was made several times with the same results.

In addition, I looked at the Tutorial folder. This time they were all there unlike the first time the game was downloaded.

The only thing I had to do extra was to grab the latest patch posted here to upgrade it to the latest version, 3.2.29.27.

It works the way it is supposed to now.

Now, let me tell you this for your enlightenment and this is weird. All those TOAW I scenario files that I removed to the desk top reappeared in the scenario folder with this download from the CD somehow. I looked at the ones that were messed up before with the flags and they were correct. I also made the discovery that the "save games" I had previously dumped had reappeared as well. I started up one where the flags were incorrect and sure enough the flags were wrong. The scenario along with everything else that was saved in that folder was unceremoniously dumped and another check made to insure there was no problem. One thing for certain, the TOAW I files not being in their own separate folder weren't the problem.

Maybe you can figure this out, but I sure as hell don't understand what happen here. Either I got a bad download or my computer corrupted a file. This is something for more knowledgeable people to understand.

In any case, I am a firm believer in one of Murphy's laws that state the more you keep fooling with something, the more likely you are to break it, so I am going to leave it alone.

Thank you for the assist.

[Telumar]

ORIGINAL: Sertorius1

Telemar,

I copied the scenario folder and placed it on the desktop.

Now, let me tell you this for your enlightenment and this is weird. All those TOAW I scenario files that I removed to the desk top reappeared in the scenario folder with this download from the CD somehow. I looked at the ones that were messed up before with the flags and they were correct. I also made the discovery that the "save games" I had previously dumped had reappeared as well. I started up one where the flags were incorrect and sure enough the flags were wrong. The scenario along with everything else that was saved in that folder was unceremoniously dumped and another check made to insure there was no problem. One thing for certain, the TOAW I files not being in their own separate folder weren't the problem.

Maybe you can figure this out, but I sure as hell don't understand what happen here. Either I got a bad download or my computer corrupted a file. This is something for more knowledgeable people to understand.

In any case, I am a firm believer in one of Murphy's laws that state the more you keep fooling with something, the more likely you are to break it, so I am going to leave it alone.

Thank you for the assist.

1) When you uninstall a programm the uninstaller usually deletes only the files the installer has installed. Everything added later remains. As you wrote you copied the files to the desk top i suppose they still were in the game folder when you uninstalled. To completely remove the game you should have deleted the folder with the remaining files (presumably the scenarios you downloaded) after running the uninstaller.

I have a theory of what might be causing this. I downloaded some old TOW I scenarios that had been converted to play on TOAW III. I saw from looking at the graphics files that in addition to the small flags you pointed out that there are two flag files, one old and one new. What I probably should have done with these converted files is to have placed them in their own separate folder. The two flag files may be in conflict with one another.

They don't conflict with each other.

Where did you put the graphic files to? Maybe you messed sth. up

This is how it looks like in my TOAW installation - usually scenario specific graphic are within an appropriate named folder in the graphics folder while files within scenario folders in the AltGraphics folder overwrie the files within the Graphics folder (see also the what's new word or pdf file):

[Sertorius1]

Telemar,

1) When you uninstall a programm the uninstaller usually deletes only the files the installer has installed. Everything added later remains. As you wrote you copied the files to the desk top i suppose they still were in the game folder when you uninstalled. To completely remove the game you should have deleted the folder with the remaining files (presumably the scenarios you downloaded) after running the uninstaller.

Okay, I see.

Where did you put the graphic files to? Maybe you messed sth. up

When I ran the CD, it was done for me by the application and they were placed in the same order it shows from your screen shot.

As for messing up, you're correct in what you wrote above. That was a mistake. In any event, what was causing the problem with the flags has disappeared. Everything works the way it is supposed to, now.

Thanks again.