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Another niche: the Med
Posted: Wed Dec 01, 2004 6:20 pm
by MengCiao
If 2by3 is going to turn the code for WitP over to amateurs, why don't we amateurs try to build the WWII Med game? No use doing the whole war, but smaller scenarios running at about 1-4 months ought to work (eg, Torch, Pedestal...Taranto Raid, Crete, surrender of the Italian Fleet -- complete with TV-guided jerry smart bombs!!! etc.).
RE: Another niche: the Med
Posted: Thu Dec 02, 2004 12:28 am
by fbastos
If 2by3 is going to turn the code for WitP over to amateurs
That is a huge (and very unlikely) if...
Perhaps some programmer that worked before with 2by3 and has their confidence might do it, though... who knows?
F.
RE: Another niche: the Med
Posted: Thu Dec 02, 2004 2:00 am
by pasternakski
If someone is going to do WWII in the Mediterranean with emphasis on the naval and air aspects, treating it (as UV does) as a conflict over control of vital bases, I need the whole campaign from Taranto (or thereabouts) to Italy's surrender (or thereabouts).
I think that the main ground conflict up in Europe can be abstracted out of the design. I also think that the fluid war in the desert can be simulated within the terms of the basic UV engine. Ten or 15 mile hexes are an intriguing possibility that would do a lot to put you inside the texture of this theater of war while keeping you at objective enough distance to give you a feeling of strategic command. Your options would always be limited by events in other theaters (including the Pacific, which would be a constant drain on your force allotments), so that flexibility in planning and attention to accomplishing only that of which you are capable would be at a premium.
Man oh man, give me Cape Matapan ... I'm down on me luck, just give me Tobruk ... We will never falter as long as we hold Gibraltar ... I'm a-callin' a halta after we take-a Malta.
RE: Another niche: the Med
Posted: Thu Dec 02, 2004 2:38 am
by Tankerace
Well, if we (the community) can edit the map (as has been talked about) and decide to do a Mediterranian mod, I'll do the ship graphics for it.
Operation Herkules, that'd be a hoot.
RE: Another niche: the Med
Posted: Thu Dec 02, 2004 2:40 am
by 33Vyper
I could finally get my Bismarck?
RE: Another niche: the Med
Posted: Thu Dec 02, 2004 3:11 am
by pasternakski
ORIGINAL: Tankerace
Well, if we (the community) can edit the map (as has been talked about) and decide to do a Mediterranian mod, I'll do the ship graphics for it.
Operation Herkules, that'd be a hoot.
I'm up for the OOB and scenario work...
Give me your poor, your tired, your obsolete UV code, yearning to breathe free...
RE: Another niche: the Med
Posted: Thu Dec 02, 2004 3:16 am
by Tankerace
So, that's OOB, scenario, and graphics. We need a couple of guys to do some research, and I think we are half way there.
RE: Another niche: the Med
Posted: Thu Dec 02, 2004 4:33 am
by MadmanRick
ORIGINAL: Tankerace
Well, if we (the community) can edit the map (as has been talked about) and decide to do a Mediterranian mod, I'll do the ship graphics for it.
Operation Herkules, that'd be a hoot.
Having worked on an aborted Midway mod for UV, I can tell you the biggest obstacle will be the map and its programming. I mean since the map is simply a really big .gif or .jpg file (forget which offhand), it would be fairly easy to replace the existing map. However, I think (although I could be mistaken) that the bases are coded into the game, so that would be the real stumbling block.
Rick
RE: Another niche: the Med
Posted: Thu Dec 02, 2004 4:37 am
by pasternakski
ORIGINAL: Tankerace
I think we are half way there.
I'm sure there are a lot of people who think we're "halfway there," all right.
RE: Another niche: the Med
Posted: Thu Dec 02, 2004 4:41 am
by Tankerace
It is a cross section of several bmps. You can edit the bases, those are in the OOB. That is no problem. What IS coded into the game (I believe) is what is and is not a land or water hex. So, in game we think we are sailing to malta, and the game thinks we plowed into the tip of Australia.
RE: Another niche: the Med
Posted: Thu Dec 02, 2004 5:57 am
by Bodhi
No, the type of hex and hex edges aren't coded into the game. It's all in the Pwhex.dat file. Don't know if the progam would accept any different sized map though.
RE: Another niche: the Med
Posted: Thu Dec 02, 2004 2:32 pm
by m10bob
Tankerace........That avatar of Wild Bill Kelso is a HOOT!,(and so appropriate for WITP)..
RE: Another niche: the Med
Posted: Thu Dec 02, 2004 2:52 pm
by sprior
ORIGINAL: Tankerace
So, that's OOB, scenario, and graphics. We need a couple of guys to do some research, and I think we are half way there.
I'll do the RN and RM (Royal Navy and Regia Marina, which also means Royal Navy, but the Italian one) OOB research!
RE: Another niche: the Med
Posted: Thu Dec 02, 2004 7:51 pm
by BlackVoid
The map must be some kind of spreadsheet/database table that contains all the terrain. For the roads/rails is a different matter there are a dozen ways to implement them.
I do not think that the community would need the source code for this project, only the file formats are needed for the database files that cannot be edited with the editor.
RE: Another niche: the Med
Posted: Thu Dec 02, 2004 7:53 pm
by BlackVoid
If the file formats are released to the public, the MED can be done, UNLESS there is important data that is harcoded in the program itself.
RE: Another niche: the Med
Posted: Thu Dec 02, 2004 8:18 pm
by Tankerace
ORIGINAL: m10bob
Tankerace........That avatar of Wild Bill Kelso is a HOOT!,(and so appropriate for WITP)..
Thanks a lot bob. I found the poster at IMDB.com, and I said.... hmmmm. [:D]
RE: Another niche: the Med
Posted: Thu Dec 02, 2004 9:04 pm
by Bodhi
ORIGINAL: BlackVoid
The map must be some kind of spreadsheet/database table that contains all the terrain. For the roads/rails is a different matter there are a dozen ways to implement them.
As I said above, all this map info, including road/rail, is in the pwhex.dat file. It's not difficult to work out its structure.
RE: Another niche: the Med
Posted: Thu Dec 02, 2004 9:05 pm
by Cap Mandrake
You boys need to talk to Andrew Brown...he seems to have the map files figured out..fi he can move around Johnston Atoll, then he could put Malta where he wanted as well.
http://www.matrixgames.com/default.asp? ... efault.asp
RE: Another niche: the Med
Posted: Thu Dec 02, 2004 9:30 pm
by m10bob
"Mare Nostrum" has been much neglected in the CPU wargame industry.I sure hope this becomes a reality.
BTW,"Mare Nostrum" was a board game from the seventies depicting this theatre,I suspect some of our older players may remember it,possibly one of James Dunnigans' games??
RE: Another niche: the Med
Posted: Thu Dec 02, 2004 11:34 pm
by Skyros
ORIGINAL: m10bob
"Mare Nostrum" has been much neglected in the CPU wargame industry.I sure hope this becomes a reality.
BTW,"Mare Nostrum" was a board game from the seventies depicting this theatre,I suspect some of our older players may remember it,possibly one of James Dunnigans' games??
I want to say it was a Jack Greene design but I could be wrong, maybe Simulations Canada?
Us old guys memories are slipping.[:D]