Modding Questions - Flags etc.

[OneRing]

So, after my Breakthrough Ostaufmarsch solo campaign is really going well (actually I have already decided to have another go and maybe I can get around to write an AAR) I discovered the editor and fiddled with it around.

Thanks to Bill101's great guide to map creation I have come up with a basic map. Actually it was quite easy. But I think I will tweak it a little bit further. I have also worked out some other parts (like the localisation.txt).

Now I have two more or less unrelated questions:

1. Is there any tutorial how to create a flag similar or identical to the ones used by the HQ's in the original ww1 campaigns?

2. What reason lies underneath the order if countries in the localisation.txt? For example why is in the Russian Civil War campaign Italy another state, but Denmark is Italy. Has this something to do with the unit sprites?

3. And related to that: How does the engine know how to use which of the unit sprites?

Thank your for any advice!

[Bill101]

Hi

1. I'm afraid not, but within the SC series, including the WWII games, there are quite a range of flags so you may find some that you want have already been created and can just be copied and pasted into the relevant segment of the flag files.

2. & 3.

The country numbers denote where their unit sprites will appear in the unit sprites files, and also in the editor when selecting terrain and determining who it belongs to.

The top 8 countries in SC WWI are Major powers, which is why Italy has been replaced by another one in the Russian Civil War campaign, as there was no need to have it as a Major in that.

Country 9 is reserved in SC WWI for neutral tiles that belong to no one, and then all subsequent country slots are for the minors.

In older iterations of the Strategic Command series, prior to SC WWI and Global Conflict Gold, there were only six Majors so you would need to adjust these numbers downwards if modding in those engines (I see that you're probably not using those versions, but mention this more for those who might be).

[OneRing]

Thank you again for the quick reply.

I will then just make my own flags and use only them. I need flags for a Spanish Civil War Scenario, which will be confined to Spain.

Thanks for clearing up the country list.

[Bill101]

There was a Spanish Civil War scenario included in the SC2 Weapons and Warfare expansion, so the flags included in that might save you the work:

http://www.battlefront.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogcategory&id=149&Itemid=206

You would need to get the SC2 Blitzkrieg base game too to get the campaign to work.

[OneRing]

Thank you for the hint, I look into it, but I am not such a huge fan of ww2.

But I have another question: Can it be that the engine is limited to 128 tiles on the y row?

[Bill101]

I've just tried making a new map in the WWI Breakthrough editor, and the maximum size in that is 512 on x axis and 256 on the y axis.

[OneRing]

Ok, then it is the MapGen.exe which can only produce a maximum tile of 128 on the y axis. Is there a way around that?

[Bill101]

I'm not sure that there is. How big a map are you thinking of making?

[OneRing]

I'm not sure that there is. How big a map are you thinking of making?

I trimmed it down in height to what is absolutely necessary (strangely enough the much larger x-axis was never a problem though) and the ideal source image size would have been 6400 x 4737 pixels.

But I am now using a smaller version of 5421 x 4000 pixels which seems more or less to translate to the 128 tiles on y - axis. It is not that bad. I will work with that and see how it all works out. If I want to do it on an even larger scale, I can always try it by hand.

But I have a couple of other questions (I hope I do not annoy you with them):

- I have seen that Metz seems to be a fortified town. How can -i make something similar? Just superimpose a fortress over a town-ressource, or the other way around, or have I to do someting entirely else? The former does not seem to work.

- Can I somehow modify individual ressources, that is their supply and MPP value, or is that a fixed value for all the ressources? I know I can modify the value for all ressources of a certain type, but it would have been nice, if for ex more important ports would have a higher value than less important ports.

- Is it possible to have minors have and build units wothout them owing territory?

Thanks again for all your help!

[Bill101]

For a Fortified Town, it is a fortress that uses a different resource image.

In the Bitmaps files for 1914 Call to Arms, there are a number of files relating to resources, and if you would like the same effect then you can copy these over and paste them into your own new campaign.

Resources' supply and MPP values are a fixed value. However, the true value can be changed for a Major country by amending its Industrial Modifier.

This Industrial Modifier multiplies the MPP value of each resource within the Major's country (conquered or friendly Minors are not affected by this) to give the true MPP income.

Thus if the Industrial Modifier is set to 50%, each resource within the Major country would be in reality providing only half the MPPs that you would expect.

The only other approach would be to not have the resources connected by rail to an Industrial Center or Primary Supply Center, as then their maximum strength will only be 5.

On the last question about Minors, I'm afraid not. To be represented they will need to have a capital on the map. But it can be tucked away in a corner if you would prefer, and you can have their units arrive by script in the battle area. Rebuilding destroyed units would be a problem though.

[OneRing]

OK, thanks. That clears up a lot!

Thank you again for all the indepth advice!