John Tiller's 'Dien Bien Phu'

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Missouri_Rebel
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RE: John Tiller's 'Dien Bien Phu'

Post by Missouri_Rebel »

Korea is the only one I own, but I've never played it. Looks rather good though. I have more games than time. Not a bad thing really.

mo reb
**Those who rob Peter to pay Paul can always count on the support of Paul
**A government big enough to give you everything you want is a government big enough to take from you everything you have-Gerald Ford
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TheBigRedOne
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RE: John Tiller's 'Dien Bien Phu'

Post by TheBigRedOne »

ORIGINAL: E

ORIGINAL: Erik Rutins

Where is that avaiable, E?

Apparently it's not yet... I uploaded it to http://tfe4.wordpress.com/ (the new Task Force Echo site) about a month ago, but he was waiting for the ability to upload files to the site, as he had recently taken it over.

However, you can get the original (for Eagles Strike only) by "Franzi" (see example below) that mine is a variation of at his Battles Project site...

http://battlesproject.ifrance.com/battlesproject/ (under mod graphisme)

The biggest differences between the two are that his weapons are cooler (I didn't want to try and figure out who would _actually_ receive which graphic for four games), and his uses whatever graphic for whatever unit (he wanted more ASL counters on screen, whereas mine has two classes... squads and leaders). His is also for Eagles Strike only, but it does mod the game to add more nationalities (I did one each for Advance of the Reich, Eagles Strike, The Proud and the Few, and Pacific War).

The most important item to note is that 99% of the art & concept was done by Franzi. I just wanted what I perceived as more functionality (i.e. I wanted leaders to have leader graphics... see below versus above), so I did these up about 4 or 5 months ago and finally got around to asking Franzi's okay to share my version.

Actually, if you really want mine, I can get them to you in two 5mb emails (but ALWAYS backup your originals first).

No-one's more frustrated than I am right now in terms of the sluggishness of getting your ASL conversions uploaded, E!

I'm working on it!

Here's a DBP shot with some updated graphics, using some SB graphics files lifted from IronX's Red Star over Europe MOD.


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E
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RE: John Tiller's 'Dien Bien Phu'

Post by E »

.
"Lose" is the opposite of "win." "Loose" is the opposite of "tight."

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RE: John Tiller's 'Dien Bien Phu'

Post by TheBigRedOne »

ORIGINAL: E

ORIGINAL: TheBigRedOne

No-one's more frustrated than I am right now in terms of the sluggishness

I'm not frustrated, I was a little surprised, at time of the question put to me. As it turns out, there is still no hurry, if at all (there has only been one request for them, and it was fulfilled).

I fully expected to have the issue resolved in a matter of days, not weeks. I'm taking matters into my own hands at this point. I'll give you a heads up when they are uploaded, hopefully by next week sometime...
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eastwindrain
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RE: John Tiller's 'Dien Bien Phu'

Post by eastwindrain »

Well I did'nt like to ask " E " but could you send me a copy of your mod as well, had some SL games decades ago but the growing mass of rules stifled my enjoyment. Have the first 6 Squad Battles titles which as you say are great games but would prefer squad on map graphics instead of heads and shoulders.
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Missouri_Rebel
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RE: John Tiller's 'Dien Bien Phu'

Post by Missouri_Rebel »

ORIGINAL: Lowlander

... Have the first 6 Squad Battles titles which as you say are great games but would prefer squad on map graphics instead of heads and shoulders.


Would you be interested in selling any of them? I bought Korea on e-bay for 15 bucks but missed buying the ones I wanted.

Thanks,
mo reb
**Those who rob Peter to pay Paul can always count on the support of Paul
**A government big enough to give you everything you want is a government big enough to take from you everything you have-Gerald Ford
eastwindrain
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RE: John Tiller's 'Dien Bien Phu'

Post by eastwindrain »

Sorry not for sale especially with this game transforming mod by E lurking on the horizon.
Must admit I'm well into AE but these games are good for a change of pace.

Why don't you continue to watch e-bay as games keep popping up.
But you will have to compete with me for Winter War and The Spanish Civil War.

eastwindrain
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RE: John Tiller's 'Dien Bien Phu'

Post by eastwindrain »

This mod should be titled " Squad Battles meets the 21st Century " what a brilliant game transformation.
JRodda
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RE: John Tiller's 'Dien Bien Phu'

Post by JRodda »

I finally got to the first of the 'Battle of Dien Bien Phu' scenarios proper; the Viet Minh assault on the Beatrice fortifications. The scenario is entitled 'This is no time for a case of nerves!', and I must say that truer words were never spoken. A large force of Foreign Legionnaires must hold off an even larger force of Viet Minh for 15 turns, and I must say that the battle is not for the squeamish or faint of heart. I always said I wanted to play a game on this, one of my favorite battles, and on hindsight it may be a case of "be careful what you wish for, you might get it".

Anyway, I'm about half way through the Beatrice scenario and it has been quite an intense challenge. The Viet Minh breached my forward trench line around turn five and now are threatening my second line. That line needs to hold for 4-5 turns if I'm going to have any chance of victory. Gosh, not since some of the Starcraft battles have I been put through the ringer so much by a game. In fact, the Beatrice battle reminds me of the Terrans holding off waves of Zerg!!!! [;)]

Vive la France!!!



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wodin
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RE: John Tiller's 'Dien Bien Phu'

Post by wodin »

Great series.
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TheBigRedOne
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RE: John Tiller's 'Dien Bien Phu'

Post by TheBigRedOne »

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Mike Cox
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RE: John Tiller's 'Dien Bien Phu'

Post by Mike Cox »

Love the ASL graphics mod.  I might have to make a hybrid of the stock and the mod.  (I like the new Trench graphics introduced with DBP.)  The houses are fantastic though!

Thanks for the mod.

(BTW, if you have SB:Tour of Duty, I made a set of scenarios released on the HPS site as well as Task Force Echo 4)

Mike
eastwindrain
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RE: John Tiller's 'Dien Bien Phu'

Post by eastwindrain »

This is hopefully what these games need to spark an interest from other players, the game engine speeds smoothly thro the general game play, I cannot remember ever having a problem.
Must admit the new ASL graphic counter mod completely renews my interest and I've actually completed my first HUGE scenario.
Hope " E " continues to mod or should I say upgrade the remaining games to this new standard.

I've just downloaded TheBigRedOne graphics mod, we are spoilt for choice, I might try some " mix and match ".
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TheBigRedOne
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RE: John Tiller's 'Dien Bien Phu'

Post by TheBigRedOne »

What I'd like to find out is the limitations that are stated within the file folders, and how do they affect the game?  Not being an ASL guy, I prefer the normal graphics, or applying the graphic files from IronX's RSoE modification. 

Here is what the file claims.  To me #1 is the biggest one because most folks who have had the games for a long while have done some sort of additions to the game.  Very few people I know play the bare-bones stock versions.

1. This graphics mod is setup for the default installation of the game
with no prior user modifications and/or additions.


2. Tradeoffs had to be made due to the way the Squad Battles series of
games choose graphics. Pretty much anytime you see a white or grey
background for graphics, it is either due to the graphics being shared
or to lessen the impact of other shared graphics. If it’s a real problem,
you can always restore all of your original graphics.


3.  Several default scenarios in Pacific War have some real problems in
how less common forces’ unit foregrounds and backgrounds are chosen.
Some serious mixing and not matching going on (for an example see the
scenario Enemy of the People).  If this is a major problem for you,
either fix the scenarios using the editors or avoid those scenarios or
just restore everything in your INFO directory.
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RE: John Tiller's 'Dien Bien Phu'

Post by E »

.
"Lose" is the opposite of "win." "Loose" is the opposite of "tight."

Friends Don't Let Friends Facebook.

Twitter is for... (wait for it!) ...Twits!
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TheBigRedOne
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RE: John Tiller's 'Dien Bien Phu'

Post by TheBigRedOne »

E

The three examples I gave in italics are lifted directly from the zipped folder that you sent me, I did not write them. I did include them on the post as a way of giving folks a heads-up with regards to their being some limitations to the modification to be aware of, in case they opted not to read the text file included (which I've found to be true in many cases).

Limitations always exist with graphics mods, but this mod has a little more in the way of potential quirks, especially if you have other modifications in place, as the disclaimer states. If you take a look around TFE4, you'll find a host of graphics/sound mods for each of the games you sent the ASL modification for, thus the potential exists for incompatibility. I was merely making folks aware of this potential, and was not meant to be a condemnation as you seem to be taking it as. My apologies.

With all mods, people need to weigh the pros/cons and possible limitations. #3 on that list was the biggest, to be honest. When someone states at certain scenarios might need to be skipped due to quirkiness of the system, it needs to be mentioned as a possible issue, nothing more. Again, I didn't write that disclaimer, it came with the files.

There is a really nice post over on the Blitz that shows a mix and match screenshot using the ASL counters with other graphics modifications. It looks really nice.

http://www.theblitz.org/message_boards/ ... #pid302677
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eastwindrain
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RE: John Tiller's 'Dien Bien Phu'

Post by eastwindrain »

Works fine for me !!!

Have done some mix and match too suit my taste but only replaced 8 of the basic game files to give me this result.

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RE: John Tiller's 'Dien Bien Phu'

Post by E »

ORIGINAL: TheBigRedOne

Here is what the file claims. To me #1 is the biggest one...
ORIGINAL: TheBigRedOne

With all mods, people need to weigh the pros/cons and possible limitations. #3 on that list was the biggest, to be honest.

*sigh* I give. You're right. You win. No argument from me. I'm saying "uncle!" It's all me. All my fault. Apologies for worrying you. I'm sorry. Egg on my face. Tail between my legs. Apologies for taking offense at the original wording on your site. I was wrong...

PLEASE delete them.

My SINCERE apologies to the Original Poster for the thread hijack and to Matrix (even though you guys have always been cool about HPS talk around here).

And my apologies to anyone who didn't realize that "If it’s a real problem, you can always restore all of your original graphics." from #2 implied you should backup your directory before installing.

(However, I don't apologize to those who did backup their directory or just installed a clean copy of the game to a different directory to try this... you guys have obviously tried mods before! *grin*)
"Lose" is the opposite of "win." "Loose" is the opposite of "tight."

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Twitter is for... (wait for it!) ...Twits!
rickier65
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RE: John Tiller's 'Dien Bien Phu'

Post by rickier65 »

ORIGINAL: Lowlander

Sorry not for sale especially with this game transforming mod by E lurking on the horizon.
Must admit I'm well into AE but these games are good for a change of pace.

Why don't you continue to watch e-bay as games keep popping up.
But you will have to compete with me for Winter War and The Spanish Civil War.


Not sure if you have it but I've done two SB conversions using PanzerCommand Kharkov. One was Capture of Balta, the other was Hedgehog of Piepsk. Balta map was just an approximation. Piepsk map was a pretty close to a 3D rendering of the squad battle Board.

Working on Hill 621 conversion, which i will hold until after lastest patch is out.

(I also have both Eagle stirke and BTR) so i'm going to look at these mods. SB series was enjoyable.

Rick
Mike Cox
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RE: John Tiller's 'Dien Bien Phu'

Post by Mike Cox »

E -

I think you misunderstood Alan's point, I don't think he was meaning to be critical or harsh. 

In any case, the mod is good, graphics modders are good.  I like the look.  Thanks again for your work.
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