Editor

[Ason]

I just had a quick look at the editor and it seems to be pretty much the same as for global conflict/AoD.


I'm not sure how much you will change on it and I guess it's too late now, but If I could just make one wish it would be that you add the ability to draw rivers and roads directly onto the map. It's really a pain in the ass to place the pieces onto each hex separately..

[Hubert Cater]

Left click to draw, hold down the left mouse button and drag across the hexes you would like to draw the rivers and roads and it will draw them for you with the appropriate connections automatically. You can then replicate the road layer to the rail layer using that option in the Editor, or vice versa which is also helpful.

Some manual adjustments will be needed but this new functionality helps out quite a bit

[Ason]

Oh that's great!:D

[BillRunacre]

I remember someone asking which Major's 3D unit sprites related to which country.

Apologies for not replying before, and now I can't find where that question was asked, so I thought I'd answer it here.

My understanding is the following:

1 UK
2 France
3 USA
4 USSR
5 Poland
6 ???
7 Germany
8 Italy

Fortunately it is easy in the Editor to change which set of Bitmaps apply to which Major, so if the final sets aren't exactly how I've listed them (and you'll see that I'm not sure about number 6) then it won't take long to change a campaign.

Campaign -> Edit Major Country IDs Data
There can be a maximum of 8 Majors in your campaign, and you can select these from any of the countries in the Country List on the left hand side.

To make a country a Major, providing the limit of 8 hasn't already been reached, select it on the left hand side and click on the >> button.

Click on Set Display Source on the right to select which set of Bitmaps it will use in the campaign. This may save any Bitmaps having to be amended if they can use those belonging to a pre-existing default set. For instance if you want both France and Vichy France to be Majors, both can be, and by assigning the same Bitmap source they will both use the same unit sprites in game.

Each Major is given an Index number, starting at 1. Use the Up and Down buttons to put the Majors in order, with all Allied Majors followed by all the Axis ones.

Index 1 is automatically the first Allied Major in the First Allied Major ID Index. Set the First Axis Major ID Index button to the first Axis Major.

You can remove any countries from being Majors by selecting them in the Major Country IDs list and clicking on the << button to remove them.

Click on the OK button when done.

Tip: Newly drawn hexes will automatically be aligned to Major Country ID number 1, so changing the country that has this number while drawing hexes will save you having to change the ownership of many hexes later. Just be sure to change the Major ID settings back to how they should be when you've finished!

[Ason]

Would it be much work for you to increase numbers of possible majors? It would be nice to have a couple of extra slots incase someone wants to add extra majors to a custom campaign.

[sPzAbt653]

1 UK
2 France
3 USA
4 USSR
5 Poland
6 ???
7 Germany
8 Italy

It was me that asked earlier, thanks very much for the info and further explanations. [&o]

[sPzAbt653]

you'll see that I'm not sure about number 6

#6 is very similar to #1 [UK], so maybe it is Canada [or South Africa].

[BillRunacre]

ORIGINAL: Mrslobodan

Would it be much work for you to increase numbers of possible majors? It would be nice to have a couple of extra slots incase someone wants to add extra majors to a custom campaign.

That was the intention, but unfortunately we currently have some technical issues with having more so it's had to be stepped back to 8.

I'm not sure of the details exactly, but we can only hope that these are resolved at some point so the number can go up. [:)]

[Ason]

Is there any chance you could give minor nations different colors on the counters? Or adding the possiblity of doing that? I was hoping to solve the "no-SS-units-problem" by adding it as a minor country, but it seems all minors share the same counters/colors..

Or is it perhaps already possible?

[sPzAbt653]

the "no-SS-units-problem"

I'm just getting into this myself, and I don't know if it a proper thing to do or not, but I'm tinkering with using the Medium Tank category for German SS units. The values can be changed for the Germans to that of a regular tank unit, and it seems that the title 'Medium Tank' can be changed [although I haven't tried it yet]. In my first game I just changed the name of those units in-game to '1st SS PzK Medium Tank'.

There is one SS unit in this shot, can you spot it ?

[BillRunacre]

I can see it, and to change the unit name suffix your campaign will need to include a line in its own localization.txt file which will be something like this:

#UNIT_ID_26= Waffen SS

[BillRunacre]

ORIGINAL: Mrslobodan

Is there any chance you could give minor nations different colors on the counters? Or adding the possiblity of doing that? I was hoping to solve the "no-SS-units-problem" by adding it as a minor country, but it seems all minors share the same counters/colors..

Or is it perhaps already possible?

I'm not aware of a way in which they could be made to have different colors on the counters.

However, they could have their own unique Activation sprites in the bottom left.

If you were to make this unit slot be uniquely used for the SS, then you could always use a lighter shade of grey for the main colour, or any other particular colour you fancy, just to make them stand out a bit more.

[sPzAbt653]

ORIGINAL: Bill Runacre

I can see it, and to change the unit name suffix your campaign will need to include a line in its own localization.txt file which will be something like this:

#UNIT_ID_26= Waffen SS

Yes, I noticed this in the '2. Customize your Campaign' section of the manual. Thanks for confirming.

[TheBattlefield]

After an almost played through campaign I can ascertain pleased: many of the improvements suggested in the forums and ideas from the relevant mods have found a way into the new game. Fantastically! [:)] (I remember particularly my long discussion with Mike about the pros and cons of a "Travel Speed" or an "Advance Loop System" for ship units...) Nevertheless, I have another two (editor relevant) questions/suggestions:

1.

The mountain infantry represents a not to be underestimated and, besides, also rather big weapon type during the Second World War. Up to now I could simulate the behaviour of this unit (beside an adjustment of the combat values and the delivery time) exclusively with a basic rise of the movement points under concurrent blockage of the "motorization". For the play balance this solution is improvised a little bit too much. A direct exemption of single units for certain terrains was not possible up to now.

The new editor provides a sub menu "Edit Penalties/Bonuses Data". Under the headline "Set Combat/Movement Penalties/Bonuses" there obviously is a way to customize units with respect to different types of terrain. Unfortunately I can’t find the "movement" files. [&:] Will the final version of the editor contain such a choice? Or am I missing something?


2.

Occasionally, the absence of more efficient elite units is stated in the forum. The relevant units of the Waffen-SS and the Russian Guards could be a significant asset to the game feeling. Also the representation of the Italian Bersaglieri or the different US Marines overwhelmed the existing "Special Forces" something. So far, there were two possibilities for presentation of such units. On the one hand you could use the slots of existing units. Simply rename the unit in the “localization” file and customize the associated unit sprite. Unfortunately the range of available units is further limited and the results usually looks unprofessional. A second possibility arises from the "reservation" of individual units from the slots of the minor countries. By assigning an individual "activation sprite" this looks much better, but the units in question are now missing for the minors and the provision becomes quite complicated.

The older strategy game "Commander - Europe at War" (Matrix Games) still points to a further possibility. There has been incorporated (obviously with help of the developers) a "one-step" dummy research for the "Grand Strategy" mod, which produces the elite units in form of an simple "upgrade". This "Elite Upgrade" includes improved combat values (like a normal research level) and assigns also an individual "activation sprite" to the selected unit. The upgrade must be paid each with MPP and is limited in number, depending on the year of the war. This implementation of elite units leaves a very professional impression and preserves the total number of provided units. I guess that these changes need to be coded into the game engine, right?

[crispy131313]

I am very pleased the editor was included in the beta. I'm glad to hear there is already others tinkering. I myself have not done much with the units yet, other then testing how to add 2 new majors (swapping out Poland). I have over 100 decision events and the countless events which are triggered that I've been rewriting for the new engine (from previous SC mod) and I'm really enjoying the note section which was added! It is a great touch. Maybe in the future we should add a subsection to share scripts. Perhaps after the beta.

[BillRunacre]

ORIGINAL: TheBattlefield

The new editor provides a sub menu "Edit Penalties/Bonuses Data". Under the headline "Set Combat/Movement Penalties/Bonuses" there obviously is a way to customize units with respect to different types of terrain.

Unfortunately I can’t find the "movement" files. Will the final version of the editor contain such a choice? Or am I missing something?

Hi

It's all in that place. If you go to it and select a unit type on the left, e.g. HQ

Select a relevant Terrain/Resource type, e.g. Mountain

You can increase or decrease its Action Points (i.e. movement) in the General Penalty/Bonus section on the right.

This AP Bonus or Penalty will only apply when it is in a Mountain hex.

I hope that makes sense?

Bill

[TheBattlefield]

ORIGINAL: Bill Runacre

ORIGINAL: TheBattlefield

The new editor provides a sub menu "Edit Penalties/Bonuses Data". Under the headline "Set Combat/Movement Penalties/Bonuses" there obviously is a way to customize units with respect to different types of terrain.

Unfortunately I can’t find the "movement" files. Will the final version of the editor contain such a choice? Or am I missing something?

Hi

It's all in that place. If you go to it and select a unit type on the left, e.g. HQ

Select a relevant Terrain/Resource type, e.g. Mountain

You can increase or decrease its Action Points (i.e. movement) in the General Penalty/Bonus section on the right.

This AP Bonus or Penalty will only apply when it is in a Mountain hex.

I hope that makes sense?

Bill

Ah. Only a blind spot on my part. Fantastic. Thanks, Bill! [8D]

[sPzAbt653]

I've been doing some rookie tinkering with the OOB's to get some stuff more in line with historical OOB's. I'm OOB OCD so I have to try. I'm trying to be careful not to upset things. I am using the stock campaign to make changes because I don't want to create an entire new scenario [too much for a rookie]. I've used the Import/Export feature to move things around safely, I think.

The thing that I am confused over right now are the scripts. I've had to make some minor changes to some of them, and when a new build comes out I would like to keep those changes, yet would also need to include any script changes that had been made. So my question to the experts is how can this be done ?

[sPzAbt653]

I've come up with a sort of operation to do this. I can export my changes to a Data Folder, then import them from there into the base game. I can save script changes that I make, and put them into the base game. While doing this I must pay careful and thoughtful attention to what I am doing. Once changes are done, I must go back and fix anything that I messed up [like the Carrier values]. That's what I've got so far.

I am playing with these changes so I've got to do my best not to post about something that only concerns foul ups due to my changes, because thatwould be a waste of others valuable time [like my Carrier screw up].

Thanks very much for posting change lists with the versions and hotfixes.

[crispy131313]

I have been doing the same, and by that I mean saving all the scripts externally so that they are able to plug in. So much can change in the actual game itself before launch that I have not tried tinkering with anything else. I'm interested in knowing what you have been scripting?