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CM Maps Universal Translator Tool


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Hey Steve,

 

I would like to ask if this is something we can get eventually. A utility like RezExplode and RezPack that is created to help the customers make maps.

 

It loads certain files and strips away the family specific issues that jam up the process. Deletes the buildings and flavor objects.

But retains the elevations and basic common terrain and farts out something that can be then edited into a scenario.

Maybe it could retain the AI? A radio button? Maybe it could not...

 

Well "Don Steve-o", can we come to an agreement to help cooperation among the 5 families?

 

godfather_zps84bfedc2.jpg

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Yes, I did know about Scipio. I think this is my 2nd thread about this....

In CMBS I asked Mark Ezra about this and specifically acknowledged that Scipio had made some breakthroughs in taking a CMSF scenario "Ambush" and doing the hex editing to get it into the other families. Scipio figured it out. A big salute to Scipio!

 

I got the hex editor and tried to duplicate something following Scipio's general guidance but had no luck.

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I just tried it out and was able to open the CMRT scenario Gog and Magog in CMBS' editor without problems, I did only delete the OOBs beforehand.

It wasn't the 10th byte I had to change, though, but the 34th (or 32nd if you are counting from zero).

It is the first pair of numbers in the 2nd row, it was 08 and I changed it to 0A.

 

So it's:

00 CMSF

02 CMA

04 CMBN

06 CMFI

08 CMRT

0A CMBS

 

Correction:

Its probably not the 32nd byte either but rather the 31st and 32nd byte together, unless BF wants to stop making CM games in the near future. Together they form the 16th hex value, or the 0x10 adress, which is where the number 10 comes from ;)

Edited by Rokko
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Hi Oliver, I do appreciate your efforts and thanks, I think I saw to use 10 in scipio's post so maybe I fudged it up and so I will give it another try later...:D

Please PM me or maybe better to post your latest findings in Scipio's thread? :D

 

But this thread is about me asking them if they can/will make a simple utility that we as customers can get to use when we pay for a game. I also am not saying it is simple to make, that is for them to figure out but I am saying I want it simple to use like RezExplode.

 

So, OK, RezPack and RezExplode are maybe just a different type of unzip.unRar type utilities and maybe "bttTool" or whatever is more complicated?

Much more complicated? Much, much more? 

 

Just an attempt to use this forum to present the request in a thoughtful, respectful manner.

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But this thread is about me asking them if they can/will make a simple utility that we as customers can get to use when we pay for a game. I also am not saying it is simple to make, that is for them to figure out but I am saying I want it simple to use like RezExplode.

 

 

Just an attempt to use this forum to present the request in a thoughtful, respectful manner.

At this point it appears more like you gentlemen are hacking into BFC's game files in a manner that is not approved so I'm not sure making demands is the smartest way to go about getting what you want.  There is an obvious reason why BFC might want to convert maps from one game to another because hundreds of QB maps are needed for each release and converting maps is a massive time saver.  There is no obvious reason why allowing customers to convert maps between is beneficial to BFC in any way.

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Agreed. The last CM titles have not exactly seen a flood of user-made scenarios. Anything that makes things easier for scenario designers should be appreciated by everyone involved.

 

I still doubt there will be an official tool for converting scenarios. You could easily write such a tool yourself that does the byte change, but considering how easy it is to do this in a hexeditor, it would hardly be worth the effort. Also, since the map information is encoded in some way, it is not possible for the community to access information on houses and flavor objects and such in an automated manner. But that is not even required I think, the two scenarios I've tried both loaded just fine in the editor, although I didn't try 3D loading them. I even managed to get a CMBN scenario featuring high bocage into CMBS and it showed up just fine, even though there is no high bocage in CMBS by default.

 

You don't even need to download and install a hex editor, there are online variants of such editors:

http://hexed.it/

 

I attached an image showing the byte you want to change, just remember to delete all OOB beforehand.

 

post-68960-0-04219700-1423150657_thumb.j

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Great. That's the spirit!

 

I will give it a look over tonight after work. I have the hex editor already and went in on a random map after removing the units. I saw that spot but messed up somewhere....

 

I am interested in taking CMSF maps and making some CMFI maps to support a Tunisia Campaign that I am helping someone with as part of the "campaign factory".

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Hacking? Hilarious!  Thanks for the support! I think you are off-base with your post and your opinion is noted so please stand clear of this thread if you are not with us. 

Maybe, maybe not.  If it was intended for players to switch maps between games then the tools would be provided in the manner that you are requesting.  The tools are not being provided and there are currently no plans to provide them so ......

 

I would also appreciate it if you guys didn't take a map from a scenario that I made and convert it to something else, or if you do please don't post it on a site somewhere for general distribution.

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There is no obvious reason why allowing customers to convert maps between is beneficial to BFC in any way.

 

Yeah, of course, best to  not allow players to touch or modify games in any way, why give them what they want?  Personally, variety of maps is of critical importance to me, and the inability to use maps from the various games together is very frustrating.
 
OK, your turn--why is it harmful for BFC to allow players to increase the number of maps usable with each title?
 

I would also appreciate it if you guys didn't take a map from a scenario that I made and convert it to something else, or if you do please don't post it on a site somewhere for general distribution.

 

Huh?  So I shouldn't take one of your maps and make a new scenario with it?  Or I shouldn't change any units on it, or what?  Or would you prefer if I just 't use any of  your scenarios?  I can appreciate pride of authorship, but don't understand what you're getting at?

Edited by 76mm
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Huh?  So I shouldn't take one of your maps and make a new scenario with it?  Or I shouldn't change any units on it, or what?  Or would you prefer if I just 't use any of  your scenarios?  I can appreciate pride of authorship, but don't understand what you're getting at?

 

Yeah, I don't want you modifying my work in any way and putting it up to a website for others to use.  My reasons are my own. 

 

It also makes no difference what BFC's reasons are for not providing you the tools to swap maps between titles.  It only matters that the tool isn't provided and that the lack of such a tool implies that it isn't an action that is endorsed.

 

I can certainly appreciate the enthusiasm with which Kohlenklau and others play and modify the game, but please try to show a little respect towards those of us who spend hundreds of hours creating the content that players enjoy (or complain about).  You may completely ignore everything I create because you want to turn it into something it wasn't intended to be, but that doesn't mean I am under any obligation to say 'Yeah, I love it when other people take my hundreds of hours of hard work and turn it into something it was never intended to be.  Please continue to alter what I do so I can appreciate how much you have modified what I have done.'

 

Maybe you should spend a little time creating stuff from scratch rather than spending time porting other people's work between games.  Perhaps that would give you a little more perspective on my view on the matter being discussed. 

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Come on! I just want this thread to be my fun and respectful request to the publisher. I was awaiting their response if it ever came. No big crisis if it never does.

 

I have written plenty of my own stuff. If someone wants to take it and use it, what can I do? It really wouldn't bother me. Let them have fun and maybe learn something, maybe make something cool to enjoy. I think it is a self-correcting system. If they take your 200 hour scenario and change it and it flops and nobody likes it, will anybody blame you? Will anybody even notice? No! It flops and is left in the dustbin.

 

Your logic is flawed. You imply if BFC does not have "X" as a feature or does not provide "X" then we assume that is the way it is supposed to be? With that way of thinking we might not have a scenario editor at all or be able to so freely mod the bmp files. Oh. By the way I routinely "hack" and edit the mdr files so I can have more signs and stumps and fun.

l]ODDBALL_SAYS_zps14b200d2.jpg

Edited by kohlenklau
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At this point it appears more like you gentlemen are hacking into BFC's game files in a manner that is not approved so I'm not sure making demands is the smartest way to go about getting what you want. There is an obvious reason why BFC might want to convert maps from one game to another because hundreds of QB maps are needed for each release and converting maps is a massive time saver. There is no obvious reason why allowing customers to convert maps between is beneficial to BFC in any way.

But there also is no obvious reason why not allowing to convert maps is beneficial to BFC. There is still some work to do on a converted map, for example are some houses not converted correct. Beside that you can still only use a converted map with a game title that you have paid for. So you don't take something away from BFC. Edited by Scipio
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