653H Mod

[sPzAbt653]

Thanks Hubert. I didn't think too good about that, so I just added some clarification to the Install Procedure in Post #2.

[Hartmann]

ORIGINAL: Hubert Cater

ORIGINAL: Hartmann

Ah, I see ... your sprites are actually there in the folder on my system too - still for some reason they don't show in my game (regardless of zoom level).

Just in case the installation understanding here is incorrect as I've just tested this mod on my end, all you need to do is simply paste the mod into the users documents folder for the game as shown by sPzAbt653 in post #2 of this thread.

After that there is really nothing else to do as it is a self contained mod that has its own set of bitmaps and other changes that don't interfere with the base game as is, i.e. no need to backup the old bitmaps folders or graphics files and overwrite them anywhere else as the mod understands to only load its own files.

If it still doesn't work after this, please let me know as I just wanted to make sure we are all on the same page first before investigating any further.

Thanks,
Hubert

I didn't know that and replaced the original bitmaps with the ones from the bitmap folder of the mod. But shouldn't this work too? (For it mostly did, just not for the sprites in Major_4.)

If I just want to use the bitmaps (for now) what do I have to do when using the documents folder? Do I just put the bitmap folder of the mod there? Or do I have to retain the folder-subfolder-structure of the mod?

[sPzAbt653]

I'm not sure what you mean, but maybe you want to use the icons from 653H with the stock campaign ? If so, things won't match up as there are others besides the air units, and there are new categories for 653H, so the icons don't match with the stock campaign. If this isn't what you mean, please explain a little more [8D]

[Hartmann]

ORIGINAL: sPzAbt653

I'm not sure what you mean, but maybe you want to use the icons from 653H with the stock campaign ? If so, things won't match up as there are others besides the air units, and there are new categories for 653H, so the icons don't match with the stock campaign. If this isn't what you mean, please explain a little more [8D]

Yup, that's exactly what I want to do right now - use your icons with the default "Storm over Europe" campaign. Actually, I am already doing that and (apart from it not working with the Soviets) the only "odd" thing I noticed so far is that all Axis medium panzers on the map became SS units. It's a bit strange, but the visual improvement of the airplane counters outweighs that so much! What else should I look out for?

If someone would *just* make a graphics mod, how would that be implemented? Also by using the documents folder?

[Hartmann]

And NOW I actually found out why the Soviet sprites aren't working! What I did was I replaced everything in the bitmaps folder of the game. But it seems that the game uses those folder only when there are no overriding bitmap subfolders in the campaign folder! Now there is exactly one such bitmap subfolder in the "Storm over Europe" campaign folder - and it's ... tadaaa ... for Major_4!!!

So what I have to do is to reinstate the original bitmapfolder and then place YOUR bitmap folder in the "Storm over Europe" campaign bitmap folder.

I didn't do it yet, but I'll eat Stalin's beard if that's not the solution.

[sPzAbt653]

If someone would *just* make a graphics mod, how would that be implemented?

Do you have any experience with Paint.Net ? You can easily cut and paste whatever you want wherever you want, it only takes a couple minutes. It literally takes me less than ten minutes to make an icon, and that is much more complicated than what you want to do.

[sPzAbt653]

And I think that they way they have it set up, if you want to make any mod, you should open the campaign in the Editor, Rename it and save it, then you will have your own mod in that My Documents folder. That keeps it separate from the stock campaign folders.

[Hartmann]

Thanks for the tips, I maybe will have a try at some modding too in the future.

Btw the Soviet sprites are correctly showing now. I wonder what the difference are between the Soviet sprites in the Major_4 folder of the game and the Major_4 folder of the "Storm over Europe" campaign.

[sPzAbt653]

Btw the Soviet sprites are correctly showing now.

Yippee !
Hopefully the bit I added to Post #2 will prevent this happening in the future.

[Hartmann]

Btw with all the work you've already done on counters, would you be interested to release your own "counter mod" to the public? I'm having great fun using your counters in the vanilla campaign and it seems that (except the German medium tanks which all show as SS units) everything else is already compatible.

[sPzAbt653]

except the German medium tanks

I think it is more than that, but I will look into it when I get time. Thanks !

[Christolos]

Hi sPzAbt653,

The stock Nato counters are great but I don't like the fact that certain unit types like the tanks and mechanized units don't have any xxx designations for corps and/or xx designations for division sized units.

I see that you have remedied this in the 653H Mod, but my understanding is that the altered bitmaps for the 653H mod are not compatible with the stock campaigns as there are different unit types and perhaps not enough if overbuilds are allowed. Is this correct?

I also like the fact that you have added an SS unit type build.

I will try the 653H Mod shortly but I was wondering how easy would it be to only implement the xxx designation for stock units that currently don't show it, and the addition of SS unit builds?

Any tips or comments would be much appreciated as I would like to try my hand at trying to create this as a more simple mod focused only on the counters for now.

Thanks,

C

[sPzAbt653]

Hi C,
Graphics Mods are really fun and easy to do once you get a few of the basics. Professionals can do a better job, but in most cases an amateur hack job [like mine] is certainly good enough.

To answer your first question, I use Paint.Net [a free program] to make simple cut and pastes. We can take any unit size symbol and copy and paste it. In the example below, in the yellow circle you can see that we can hit 'S' on the keyboard and with the mouse draw a rectangle around the corps symbol, then copy it, them paste it to any other unit.

You can open the 653H 'unit_sprites_nato' in Paint.Net and copy entire sections and paste them into the stock graphics. Pick and choose what you want. One thing to beware of, all countries units are named the same 'unit_sprites_nato', they are located in different folders to keep them separate. So it is easy to make a mistake and overwrite them with the wrong ones. Always keep an original backed up!

[sPzAbt653]

how easy would it be ... the addition of SS unit builds?

This is more complex as to do it properly you need to make adjustments in the editor. For the SS units I used the 'Medium Tank' category, which is not used in 653H, and changed it to 'SS Panzer Korp'. Changes then need to be made to most of this category's statistics in order to be balanced with the rest of the game. There is a 'localization' file that needs to be edited. Then you can add in the icons.

[Christolos]

Many thanks! [:)]

C

[sPzAbt653]

A look at the Research screen for 653H.

Categories have been reorganized, with the main four at top left, strategic categories middle left, and general categories lower right. Resource AAA is by itself at lower left.

Some categories have been combined with others for simplicity. Mousing over a category will provide details at the bottom left. In this shot we are mousing over the Infantry category and can see the details at bottom left.

Expenditures have been lowered from 2 to 1 for all categories. The four at the upper right that show red numbers and N/A's are performance categories that are tailored for each major country and cannot be changed by the player.

Build Limits will increase with advances in some categories, details can be seen in the mouse overs.

[sPzAbt653]

The German Purchase screen for 653H.

Some categories have been modified, as seen in the center column, to provide a wider variety of historical units. For example, currently highlighted is the 'SS Panzer Corps' category. As you can see at upper right, these are unavailable for build until October 1941.

The Armor category just below the SS Panzer category is used for the regular army Motorized/Panzer corps, and on the Allied side for Soviet Tank Army's.

As stated in the previous post, the Build Limits for some of these units increase with Advances in certain Research categories.

[ScottGridley]

Thanks for sharing this, sPzAbt653. Downloading now and hoping to have a go this afternoon!

[Hartmann]

ORIGINAL: sPzAbt653

except the German medium tanks

I think it is more than that, but I will look into it when I get time. Thanks !

Yeah, there is a bit more, but not much: In the meantime I found that medium bomber counters have no modded plane sprite (probably because you don't use them in your mod).

[Iñaki Harrizabalagatar]

<hi
<i have just started to play your mod, and I have taken a look into the Italian production queue, and I have seen there are 3 Italian battleships, all of them named Taranto, to show up in 1940, is that WAD?