Knokke

@ Tartari Feel free to include the Typhoon in your release. Tell me if you need an updated version of it for ToW3 ( I remember there was a lod problem at one time).

Hello Gnasher, Nice to see you're back! I sure would like to see your Bulldogs maps in ToW2 and ToW3 (I know.... I'm asking a lot). @Arzok: The Churchill AVRE and the Churchill V 94mm are nices additions to the game. Thanks for your work. It's always motivating to see new content in the game.

Also, the 37mm is not the best AA gun in the game (too low a rate of fire for my taste). I would prefer the 20mm on quadruple mount. A captured DShk on tripod would serve the purpose very well, if you've one available. You can also use the SdKfz-222 for anti-aircraft defence, but again, with a single 20mm tube, it is not the most effective unit. It has the advantage that it can be used in a multi purpose role, though. Try to have your anti-aircraft assets hidden behind building rather than under trees. Trees hamper their vision, and provide no cover, only concealment, while a building provide both cover and concealment, while allowing your units to have a good sector of fire behind the building (a nasty surprise for enemy aircraft)

Looks very nice! But really, no need to thank me, I've only extracted the rect file from the SFS. You did all the hard work

Updating the content of ToW1 to ToW3 would also be awesome

Some more info on the Massive Mod Pack: This is not a package that is supposed to work as it is. It is a collection of stuff that had been left over from the ToW1 game that was graciously released for the benefit of modders. To be able to use it, peoples have to get a little knowledge of how the game is working, because most of the stuff needs to be configured properly to be working in game. The massive mod pack has unfortunately not received the interest it deserves, and few (if any) of its content has been put to good use by the modders. This is very unfortunate, because the Massive Mod Pack contains everything needed to add new content to every version of ToW. It is fairly easy to add the vehicles and buildings of the Mod Pack to Theatre of War, but it requires a bit more efforts to create brand new content. Nevertheless, it is possible to add everything you can think of, with the exception of new soldiers models. The Mod Pack contains all the tools needed to add new vehicles, new aircraft, new guns, new weapons, new static objects and buildings. With utilities like Microdem or 3dem+L3DT, it is possible to import digital elevation models to create new maps and populate them with either the buildings of the Massive Mod Pack, or with your own buildings and static objects. It is also possible to use the empty maps in the mod pack (like the Arnhem map), and add buildings, roads, statics etc... with the Map Editor, if one doesn't want to go through the "pain" of importing digital elevation models to create brand new maps. This is very unfortunate that there are so few modders interested in ToW, because I believe that with more new content released by modders, the interest in the game would have been multiplied exponentially.

ToW3 is the best of the Theatre of War games, and in my opinion, by a great margin. As far as I can tell, all the issues which bothered some players in the previous titles have been addressed. The most common complaint was about the poor survival of the infantry. With the new fragmentation model and the new simulation of the landscape cover depending on the type of terrain, infantry survival has been considerably boosted. Now, a unit lying prone has a much better chance of escaping damage when a shell is exploding nearby, as well as being better protected against small arms fire. For me, it has been like playing a new game. Of course, one can argue that there are still a few things that could be improved. But for me, with ToW3, the series has reached its maturity and is without doubt one of the very best tactical game. It is more a simulator than a game though, and as such it might not appeal to everyone. I'm not a big fan of the game setting in Korea, I would have preferred a game set in WWII, and I wish that ToW2 Kursk and the Caen add-on could be ported to the new Theatre of War 3 engine.

@pcelt: If you want to modify a mission you've created in the simple editor, you definitely have to use the full editor if you don't want to start from scratch everytime. It is a bit more difficult to use, but much more powerful.

If you've one or two LeIG-18, you should be able to destroy most of the ennemy guns without losing anyone. In the first mission, your mortar teams will be greenhorns, so will require some luck to be succesfull, as their accuracy will be quite low. It's still usefull to have a mortar team or a SdKfz-151/2, they'll gain some experience and will be much more effective in the next battle.

@John Fisher Can you elaborate about the disappearence of static objects from the Kursk/Caen map? I have not seen anything like that. I suppose you mean the statics from Kursk/Caen will not appear on the map unless they've been added to the Korea 3doj folder?

My question would raher be: "who needs to run this game at 60 fps?", knowing that the human eye can make a difference only up to about 26 fps... But to answer your question, I have no lag so far, and I have quite an old rig. The framerate is quite low, between 8 to 12 fps, which is roughly the equivalent of the fluidity you'll get watching any animated cartoon, so it is quite ok with me. I've to admit that I didn't encounter any heavy artillery barrage yet, nor A-26 attack planes. These might have a big impact on framerates, though, but will lat only a few moments.

Have you tried editing the data/local/en/names.utf8 file?

Is there any chance that this limit would be increased in a new version or patch of the game, like it was done for the maximum number of collisions per bones (7 in ToW, 31 in ToW2)?

well, 4 editors actually 1. simple editor (quickly create a basic battle that you can improve upon in the normal mission editor) 2. Mission editor (full mission editor) 3. map editor (an editor to create brand new maps and/or modify existing maps). 4. campaign editor

Hi Sneaksie, I can't add more than 255 different static objects in a ToW map (I can't save the map in the map editor as soon as I add a 256th actor type). Could you confirm that ToW maps can have only 255 different statics objects in the actors.static file? I'm having this problem with ToW2_Kursk, but I think this is true with ToW3 too.

Then, that must be it. By default, the historical battlegroups option is not selected. I don't know why this has an influence though.

Indirect fire accuracy of mortars and Howitzer in TOW depends both on the gunners gunnery skills and range to the target. Even a green mortar crew can be devastating if they keep close from the squads they're supporting. The accuracy increases significantly if some allied unit has line of sight to the intended target. In effect, it means that even if there are no dedicated artillery spotters in the game, any allied unit having line of sight on an ennemy unit can act as a spotter and will increase the accuracy of indirect fire support weapons. Mortars and howitzer are still as efficient as they where in ToW2. With the new fragmentation model, it's the guns with shallow shell trajectories that are a bit less efficient than before.

Ok, I've found the reason, I believe. I had forgotten to modify the files related to my map in the Generator/ directory.

Could it be that the bug is related with the choice of the historical battlegroups option? That's what I selected.

If I understand well, it is possible to play the british only on Caen maps with the mission generator? This is a really annoying feature, as it is impossible to use all the maps available in the game. I suppose that to get rid of this restriction, one has to edit the local/en/maps.ini file and add all the maps to the list, but I could'nt extract this file from Caen and modify it. How is it possible to use user created maps in the game? If I use one of my user created maps in the mission generator, when I select the Germans, in the OOB screen I can select only british units and a few panzer III...

I'm pretty sure the AI is still aiming with the same accuracy as before. The increased survival rate of the infantry comes mostly from being better protected by the terrain when lying prone, and from the new fragmentation pattern of shells (most shrapnell falling perpendicular to the path of the shell rather than all around like previously). As to the protection afforded by trenches, I experienced a big difference in comparison to Kursk: To finish a mission, I needed to eliminate the last infantryman occupying a trench near the village I had to capture. The remaining ennemy was an officer (so, with a better scouting skill than the average trooper, and thus, better able to spot approching soldiers while remaining concealed). Not willing to take risks, I decided to try to shell him with guns and mortars while my guys will kept safely at bay. I used up all my remaining mortar ammunitions without hitting him, even if several shells fell really close (I would bet he would probably have died several time in Kursk). Even shells from infantry guns aimed at the parapet of the trench where he was hiding failed to kill him. So I decided to have my infantry finishing the job. I had a whole squad giving covering fire firing at him from about 100-150m each time he was popping his head out, while a second squad was crawling toward the trench. The remaining ennemy managed to kill several of the attacking infantry, and was finally killed only when my guys entered the trench and managed to throw a grenade at him that fell directly inside the trench. An other experience of surviving better while entrenched: In one of the missions, I had a squad deployed alone in a trench with two AT guns located almost directly on the path of the attacking ennemy (It was not possible to relocate theses guys during the deployment phase, as they where outside the deployments zones where I was allowed to relocate my troops). When the battle started, before I could relocate them, an ennemy armored car appeared from the side, approched to 50-100m of the trench and started to open fire. The AT guns I had where quickly put out of action, and I thought the squad was lost and none would survive. In previous versions of the game, it was my experience that entrenched troops targeted by an armored vehicle would die rather quickly, but here, it was the opposite. I had my guys firing at the tires of the armored car, hoping that they might destroy its mobility thus keeping it away from the trench. At the same time, I directed my mortars to fire at the vehicle, to try to damage its wheels . Only two soldiers of the squad in the trench where killed in the process (the vehicle was firing directly in the trench as it came from the side, and was able to hit soldiers before I could relocate them in a portion of the trench that would give them some cover). Finally, the crew of the armored car for a reason or an other, decided to bail out and run away, even though the vehicle had not been damaged, and my squad suffered much less than I expected (two guns put out of action before they could turn toward the threat to retaliate, and two soldiers killed). I had two gun crew wounded and one member of the infantry squad wounded too.

@Arzok Did you notice if the troops with increased experience where really the same that the ones who participated in previous battles or is it possible that they were better experienced reinforcements that were added to your force pool when you captured a specific map? And if they where really the same troops, did they manage to keep captured equipment? I usually change the names of the squads in the order of battle to keep better track of their progress, and I've not been able to find them again (only squads with generic names appears in my force pool).

The biggest change apart from the strategic campaign map is the infantry survival. Because of both the new fragmentation model and the use of a micro-detail terrain map, infantry is much less vulnerable to artillery shelling and is better protected from small arms fire. Infantry in trenches is also better protected than before. An other change to the infantry is that by default, when you select a member of a squad, the whole squad is selected and the orders will apply to the whole squad. You can still give orders like previously to individual soldiers by Alt-selecting one or several soldiers and giving them a different order.

Thanks for the tip, Sneaksie. An other bug that I found is much more annoying: Soldiers and vehicles that have already participated in a battle are disappearing from the force pool and are never to be seen again. After a campaign turn is completed, and I'm fighting a new battle with a battlegroup that had fought the previous turn, I'm expecting to see all trophies I captured listed in the force pool, and i'm expecting to be able to field the troops that had gained experience during the previous battle. But none of them are visible in the force pool. Even worse, vehicles who participated in the previous battle and survived unscathed simply disappear from the list. I had 8 T-34-85, I used 4 of them in a battle - all survived - but now I have only 4 T-34 left in the force pool. All vehicles, guns, squads...etc... who survived the first battle and gained experience as well as the trophies captured have simply vanished. I looks like the game is considering them to have died during the battle. In effect, it means that each new battle is fought with green troops, as the only available units are the one who never participated in a battle. Am I right to assume this is a bug, or will the troops who gained experience be available again in the force pool after they're coming back from rest & release?

Only the tripod mounted DShK are really AA capable in the game, if I'm not mistaken. The DShK mounted on a wheeled chariot doesn't have the capability to fire at a very high angle. Tank angle in relation to the gun firing at it is very important in the game. Obviously, if the thicker armored part of the tank are oriented toward the danger, the tank is more protected, but even more so if the angle is not perpendicular to the shot. Depending on the type of ammunition, there is a high probability that the shot will ricochet against the armored plate if the angle is very low.