Adding New Ground / Air Unit Question

[drdax]

Hi folks,

I just found, bought and download this game, WOW you folks are doing great things!

I need some guidance on what is possible or not. Apologies for the Newbie questions as I have read as much as I could and downloaded some fine mods to see what was involved.

Here is what I am attempting to do:
1. Add a US Ranger Div with the correct NATO symbol.. the "Speartips" at upper ends of both diagonal lines
2. Add a New marker or chit : non-combat / no cost marker that can be freely moved on the map
3. I see in the Player Manual Vol. 2 there are non-used Special Unit codes, can I use them or stay away as future updates will overwrite what I might do?

My understanding/questions for the steps for each above:
1a. Add Ranger Unit to STANDARD UNITS LND.csv
1b. How to add the Nato symbol? is that possible or am I restricted to use standard INF symbol?**
1c. If I wanted to add a Stripe or other symbol to this (or other Land Unit), can I create a new background in a bitmap file and point to it (like the NAV / AIR Units do?) Can someone explain this to me? How do SS units work?
1d. If I wanted to CHANGE only that unit's interior and fore colors NATO Symbol and or Factors / text, would I need to create a "Territory" or some other game mechanic >

2a. Would I need to use any Special Unit code?
2b. same as 1c above: can I create a new unit in a bitmap file and point to it (like the NAV / AIR Units do?)
2c. Would using the Special Unit Code allow this Chit to be available to all players and how do I not limit the # of these chits in their force pools?


** in the Manual 11.3 Bitmap files I can't find individual LAND files:
"this is also where the 22 packed pages of bitmaps
for individual units are located, with their
accompanying TXT files that provide the
unit number for bitmap image"
Question: What is the method that uses the STANDARD UNITS LND.csv and logic to tie to other internal coding

Thanks in advance!

Quick Into: New forum guy here.. old time caller.. er player... anyone remember the old SPI War in the East thru Europe games.. my first purchases back in the day...maps and charts filling the dining room and former Ranger, hence the bias in the questions

[AlbertN]

I was looking to try to add Air Units but I am unsure where the graphics would be fished from admittedly.

[tom730_slith]

Re the old SPI War in the East/War in Europe games, oh yeah! I actually still have those games and they are the coolest games I never played! I managed to set up WIE once with a couple friends and managed to get thru 2 turns I think, and mostly discovered how much I misunderstood about the rules, especially movement.
A couple years later I discovered the board game version of WIF, and for at least 2 years it stayed set up in my attic on a 4 x 8 sheet of plywood on top of an old table! The scale was a bit more manageable and the resources/production was a HUGE factor in the enjoyment for me. A big problem was the difference in scale of Europe and Asia and the fact that there were some geographical areas not represented. All this has changed with the computer version! I never had a live opponent for any of those mega games, so the fact that I still play solo is fine with me.
If we get AI some day that will be cool, but meanwhile I'm having a blast! [:)]

[paulderynck]

Drang Nach Osten!/Unentschieden put War in the East to shame. I played a total of 8 to 10 turns of that monster over two separate occasions.

...ah such unhappy memories... "let's see, I have one half armor effects against your one fifth ATEK"... "oops, knocked that stack over, where's the the long tweezers?"... "hey! where the heck did those Pe-2s come from? Oh! - way over there on the other side of the map, top left corner, I see now. I guess I miscounted the range as 71."

[Courtenay]

I never played DNO/U, but I've played Fire in the East and Scorched Earth several times. I even played one game (starting in 1944) of Scorched Earth and Second Front combined, plus three games of just Second Front, one of Wavell's War and three of War of Resistance. The Europa series of games was my all time favorite; I would go to Origins and play nothing else for four days. One could play a surprising number of turns in those four days, and still have enough time to wander around in the dealer room for a while.

[warspite1]

Got all the revised games as they came out. Never got the Eastern Front games - was waiting for the Collectors Edition, but sadly it looks like that is a forlorn hope. God knows what is going on over at HMS/GRD but the constant tale of woe (particularly around the printers situation) makes it sound like a con - either that or they are the unluckiest people ever.

Really sad, annoying and frustrating in equal measure.

[Shannon V. OKeets]

ORIGINAL: drdax

Hi folks,

I just found, bought and download this game, WOW you folks are doing great things!

I need some guidance on what is possible or not. Apologies for the Newbie questions as I have read as much as I could and downloaded some fine mods to see what was involved.

Here is what I am attempting to do:
1. Add a US Ranger Div with the correct NATO symbol.. the "Speartips" at upper ends of both diagonal lines
2. Add a New marker or chit : non-combat / no cost marker that can be freely moved on the map
3. I see in the Player Manual Vol. 2 there are non-used Special Unit codes, can I use them or stay away as future updates will overwrite what I might do?

My understanding/questions for the steps for each above:
1a. Add Ranger Unit to STANDARD UNITS LND.csv
1b. How to add the Nato symbol? is that possible or am I restricted to use standard INF symbol?**
1c. If I wanted to add a Stripe or other symbol to this (or other Land Unit), can I create a new background in a bitmap file and point to it (like the NAV / AIR Units do?) Can someone explain this to me? How do SS units work?
1d. If I wanted to CHANGE only that unit's interior and fore colors NATO Symbol and or Factors / text, would I need to create a "Territory" or some other game mechanic >

2a. Would I need to use any Special Unit code?
2b. same as 1c above: can I create a new unit in a bitmap file and point to it (like the NAV / AIR Units do?)
2c. Would using the Special Unit Code allow this Chit to be available to all players and how do I not limit the # of these chits in their force pools?


** in the Manual 11.3 Bitmap files I can't find individual LAND files:
"this is also where the 22 packed pages of bitmaps
for individual units are located, with their
accompanying TXT files that provide the
unit number for bitmap image"
Question: What is the method that uses the STANDARD UNITS LND.csv and logic to tie to other internal coding

Thanks in advance!

Quick Into: New forum guy here.. old time caller.. er player... anyone remember the old SPI War in the East thru Europe games.. my first purchases back in the day...maps and charts filling the dining room and former Ranger, hence the bias in the questions

To answer your original question, ...

Adding a new unit type isn't possible without a lot of code changes. Each unit type has an enormous amount of code associated with it. There are conditional statements based on optional rules, and then all the code related to moving, loading onto transports (air and naval), combat, cost & time to build, reorganization, etc. The graphics are the least of the issues vis-a-vis coding, but there are several data files that would need to be modified (some of which you noted).

Only after handling all that would you get into special features associated with the new unit type.

---

You can add units of an existing unit type without much (relative term) trouble. Each unit you add will have an associated country, from which all the colors and such are determined. Land units are drawn based on unit type, size, country, and other data. They use the symbols in the Bitmap folder associated with their unit type. Air and Naval units have unique bitmap images associated with each unit (except generic units like convoys and submarines).

The numbering of the units is important, with air units between 1 and 2000, land between 2001 and 4000, naval between 4001 and 6000, and special unit types 6001+. But that should be pretty obvious when you look are the CSV files for each combat arm.

Depending on how you 'see' the ranger unit performing, you might make it an infantry division, a paratroop, a marine, or a 'frogmen' unit.

[drdax]

Thank Steve

so my take-a-way from this: is use an existing unit class, add to existing bitmap file and .csv file after determining the numbering....

correct?

[Shannon V. OKeets]

ORIGINAL: drdax

Thank Steve

so my take-a-way from this: is use an existing unit class, add to existing bitmap file and .csv file after determining the numbering....

correct?

Yes.

Bitmaps are only needed for air and naval units. They require more work: you need to add to the TXT file that defines which bitmap is used for each new unit number (e.g., Page22.TXT for Page22.BMP).

[Aranthus]

[/quote]


Bitmaps are only needed for air and naval units. They require more work: you need to add to the TXT file that defines which bitmap is used for each new unit number (e.g., Page22.TXT for Page22.BMP).
[/quote]

Can you add additional bitmap pages, and if so, how?

[TrogusP96]

drdax or others who have added new units

Has anyone added units per Shannon's instructions? I was wondering what people have done and why and how its worked out.
how many?
what types?
Reasons?
what experience with them or any effects on games

TrogusP96