Juju

Here comes another one. This time it's one of the oak leaf variants.

Yeah, sorry about that. Just FYI, the mod isn't yet finished and is also going to need some thorough testing first. With so many files there's a lot that can go wrong and I hate releasing buggy and unfinished mods. Stay tuned for more cosmetic updates I haven't even mentioned yet!

It is... Pea dot time! Featuring optional 'square' command buttons and and FJ HQ icon.

And here it is. This shot also features the optional 'circle' command buttons and US army star HQ icon.

Frog skin? That's in, actually. It was even -sparingly- used in Normandy. Here's a pic. I'll post a Frog skin teaser later tonight. But the guys wearing it tended to get shot at by their own troops (mistaking them for SS) and its use was discontinued. Can't seem to find where I got that bit of info, though. Don't feel bad. I haven't played the demo yet, either.

Time for a daily camo teaser. Plenty of Axis camouflage patterns, but there's not a lot of variety in WW2 Allied camo so I've only managed to include two. And although this one's actually British, which aren't in the game to begin with, it's one of my favorite camouflage patterns: Denison. This shot also features the optional 'strip' command buttons, one of the optional Allied HQ icons and also the text-based C&C icons. Sorry these pics are all so blurry. This down-scaling seems to have happened since my last provider got swallowed up by an even larger provider. Haven't figured out what's up with that.

What, you mean floating icons? If you really meant to say BS, then no. But if you actually meant to say FB, then simply use the BN version of the mod, which at first glance seems to work just fine in the demo.

Combo tags! I was wondering about that. Could you elaborate further on how that works? At the moment I have some duplicate files, tagged as [cold] and [snow]. Can I actually tag them as [cold snow] and have them show up in both conditions with a single file?

Indeedy. Here's one of two variants:

Yay, teasers! With the new camouflage backgrounds you essentially get ten UI's in one. Here's the first in a series of previews in action. First up: splinter (a):

Thanks guys! And you know what, I genuinely enjoy doing this. And the extra month of waiting was definitely beneficial. I got a lot of stuff done I otherwise wouldn't have. Ooh, a little behind-the-scenes mod talk? What goes on in a crazed modder's mind? Sounds like fun, I'm in! Okay, so, do I make the portraits. Well, yes and no. Meaning I don't actually draw them, obviously. They are based on photos or -infinitely better- painted models, because these have nice sharp exaggerated lines that are nicely preserved when you have to work on them in these tiny sizes. Most of the 'work' is actually finding suitable material, which is a total b#tch. After finding what I think is usable I do the following: resize the picture and judge if it's even worth working on. If no, dump it and try a new one. If yes, very precisely -and manually- cut out the background. Resize it again, de-saturate it, and then do a manual colorization to match it to the UI. Next, cut out the face, colorize that into skin tone. Add shading, trim edges, adjust sharpness, contrast, lightness and saturation. Then I go on a pixel-hunt to squeeze out as much detail as possible. After that there's the in-game test run (which, luckily, means simply sticking it onto a picture of the UI. Yay for 2D modding). Then finally there are often some final pixel-hunting tweaks. Maybe repeat that last step. And for every portrait that ends up in a mod I might have made two or three that just didn't cut it in the end. I must have made close to a hundred of these things in total since I introduced them. What's more, in this mod each portrait even has unique matching backgrounds for every single camouflage option. What with the season tags I've introduced and the camouflage backgrounds there are slightly over 400 portrait files in the mod! For comparison, there are really only 14 in the stock game (or so I'm really, really hoping!). What can I say, modding is an addiction.

Wouldn't want to keep you waiting, now would I... Busy bee, am I. Here are a few previews of my upcoming Final Blitzkrieg UI (Blitz UI for short). Most of it is done, though obviously I need the final game to finish it all up. What's new (in my series of UI's, that is): - Lots of new portraits with winter variants that only show up in scenarios that have snow/cold/winter conditions. - Many new weapon slot and special equipment icons. - Some design changes. - I've reintroduced nine optional camouflage backgrounds. Mind you, these are still work in progress. Enjoy! Edit: I have a bit of an issue with my provider and the pictures, for some reason. Right click/view image should show the full sized picture (if your browser supports it).

Gimme a minute...

Hot dang! Demo time! Stay tuned for juicy UI preview goodness! But gimme a few days, okay?

Thanks Fizou, but I have I already have four, which is enough for now.

Well, finally! Being rather too hopeful about the release date I started working on my first mod exactly two months ago, and I'm practically aching to take it for a test drive!

Thanks, Philip! Glad you're in. Not much to show just yet, just a bunch of loose files, but I'll let you know as soon as it starts taking shape.

...Or in case of my SSD dying, like it did a couple of weeks ago. Anyway, I feel we're getting close to the release of FB. Finally. But the good thing about the delay is that I've been able to do a lot of prep work on the new UI, along with a bunch of cool new and optional features. Which, had the game been released when we hoped/expected, probably wouldn't exist! I have Kohlenklau and Ithikial_AU on board as testers, but I'd like to add one or two more. Any takers for when the time comes? Forumites who have previously tested my UI's get picked first, yeah. E-mail, PM or post here!

I believe going to the toilet in any restaurant is a guarantee your food is going to be served (and cold) by the time you get back. Could we, perhaps, translate this phenomenon into CM terms? Nothing ventured, nothing gained. ;-)

Laugh all you want, but that's actually quite a good idea. Not in this case, but still...

Thanks, Sunray32 and Combatintman, but photos of uniforms are pretty much unusable. Unless it's a large piece of cloth without a lot of folds, creases or buttons. Thanks! It's a bit small, but a step in the right direction.

Hi there! Could one of you fine gentleman help me to a decent texture of the British Denison smock camouflage scheme? 1st or 2nd pattern, either is fine. Both would be even better. I've been trying to find some for, literally, years, but no joy. Thanks in advance, I hope! Hint: 'Blitz UI' is going to reintroduce optional camo schemes! :-)

Oh, yes. Unique copies for every single day I'm working on it. I like (read: need) to be able to go back several versions if (read: when) I mess things up. ;-)

Yeah, who was I really kidding (rethorical question). As a matter of fact I'm already working on the new UI. The happy thing about modding a 2D game element is that a screenshot is really all I need to get most of the basic design work done. That, and having five years worth of UI files to work with makes it all the easier. Thanks! You're in.

Ah! here we go again! Nagging for UI mods. ;-) First of all, thanks all, glad you all enjoy using my UI mods. Secondly, yes, I will be getting the game. And knowing myself I probably will do a FB UI mod at some point. I'm not promising a specific time frame, though. I might start right away, I might put it off for a few months. It all depends on the mod bug -if and when it bites- and how much/fast the new UI bothers me, which, I'm guessing myself, is probably sooner than later. It's the reason this whole UI modding thing started to begin with. For now, patience. You'll all be the first to know when it's 'on.!' Well, not the first, but you know what I mean.