The Walhalla is not that unreachable (but might still require some work to do [;)])...
The screenshot below is taken from a beta version of Accolades, a data editor for the txt-based CC games.
It was done in Access 2000, but should work in other Access versions as well. The basic tool was done in about two weeks back in January, and I can assure you you don't need to have a Phd in rocket science; some common sense and an entrepreneurial spirit will do...
From the Readme:
'The aim of the Accolades tool is to facilitate as much as possible the process of modding the data layer of Close Combat Wacht am Rhein and all future versions that are based on .txt files.
The version v1.0 (demo) contains most of the functionalities that were present in the earlier BGEdit and Qclone tools, and adds a couple of additional features.
Accolades allows you to:
· Import the Fpools, Bgroups, Alsteams & Axsteams.txt files from the game by simple button-click
· Review and change the data in those files
· Export the data files back into .txt format and into your games folder
At the very least, the whole process of battle group & force pool editing should therefore already be considerably shortened.'
So, not too fancy or extravagant, but it should do the trick...[:)]
Planned additional features:
- including version/template management, ie to import/export FPs, BGs, teams etc from other game versions, or other external sources. This allows you to create reusable custom BGs, FPs, teams, etc... (in the data structure, this part is largely done; but I still need to create the interface)
- including all 'hard' (ie code/error related) data consistency checking, as well as 'soft' (ie game data consistency, fi HE value range) data set checking
- including additional views to compare game data head-to-head or per set
- including a campaign/save game tracker, if I'm able to pin down the absolute/relative references to the relevant data in the save game files (anybody who can help me with that?)
- ultimately providing a comprehensive design-your-own editor, where you can easily create & edit your scenarios from scratch or from existing data
Now the bad news: all this is still beta, and I didn't work on it since like two months now. (I guess I need that 'holy fire' to come back to me first)
Still, the current version should be largely error-free, it works on Andrew's (correct me if I'm wrong) and on my own system, and it already allows you to change FP, BG and, to a certain degree, Teams data.
Anybody willing to try it out is free to contact me; I'm not sure I'm able to provide you with on-call support, but I can at least point you in the right way (there is a Readme included BTW). If there's enough interest around, it might take it back up and continue its development...
Cheers,
Moss
