Using models from other CM games in CMBS

[DreDay]

Hello friends. I would like to know if any of you have played around with moding existing vehicles in CMBS by replacing them with models from other CM 2/3 games.

I have recently experimented with replacing OOB Russian BTR-82 (which has never gone into service) with models and textures of BTR-80 from CMA (which are still extremely common in Russia and Ukraine). My results were quite pleasing.

There are still some issues (as expected) with hatches and exit doors; and of course all the parameters for the modded BTR-80 are exactly the same as BTR-82, but everything else seems to work great and definitely adds to the realism of the game.

Has anyone else played around with this? If so, do you have any tips or advise that you could offer?

PS: In the interest of full disclosure - I legally own both CMBS and CMA and have absolutely no intention of sharing my personal mods with anyone else, nor trying to monetize them.

[Thewood1]

I thought the 82 and 82A were in service in limited numbers.

[DreDay]

I thought the 82 and 82A were in service in limited numbers.

I might be mistaken, but I have seen zero evidence of BTR-82 being deployed. I believe that originally it was designed as a vehicle for Police and Interior Troops who would not be expected to face enemy AFVs... Still though, it does not appear to have gone into service so far.

In any case, the focus of this thread is to share experiences and tricks that will help with introducing CMSF/CMA models in CMBS..

[Kieme(ITA)]

I did some things like these to create a few new flavor objects, but other than that the swap of a unit usable in game is in my opinion useless. Fact is the unit will look like something else but behave like the original vehicle in game. Therefore this can only add confusion, there's no real game impact, with few exceptions such as a very similar vehicle with same armament/crew etc.

Besides, this practice leads to a lot of problems with shaders (some older CM games didn't have that), and the ported models often display glitches with animations and shadows.

Edited May 18, 2015 by Kieme(ITA)

[Thewood1]

Wiki states that 300 are in service.  Several of the articles around stated a production order was issues in 2010 for the Army and Naval Infantry.  The Ukraine BTR-70s have been upgraded to the point of being a good sub for BTR-80s.  Probably better than using just a veneer of that only changes the graphics anyway.

[L0ckAndL0ad]

Do not mistake 82 with 82A. 82 is a 12.7mm MG version, while 82A is a 30mm version. AFAIK Russian MoD never bought 82. They've got quite a few 82As already by now, and keep buying them. Existing 80 are to be upgraded to 82AM (equals freshly new factory made 82A, except for some small details), for example, for Marines.

[Thewood1]

82A is what I was referring to.

[DreDay]

I did some things like these to create a few new flavor objects, but other than that the swap of a unit usable in game is in my opinion useless. Fact is the unit will look like something else but behave like the original vehicle in game. Therefore this can only add confusion, there's no real game impact, with few exceptions such as a very similar vehicle with same armament/crew etc.

Besides, this practice leads to a lot of problems with shaders (some older CM games didn't have that), and the ported models often display glitches with animations and shadows.

 

Thank you for your input Kieme. I have followed your contributions for a while, and have a ton of respect for what you have accomplished so far. I completely agree with your points and that's why I had limited my experiments to the vehicles that have similar attributes (besides actual models), like BTR-80 and BTR-82... What I am curious about - is whether anyone has had any luck with fixing some oddities like wrong hatch and door openings in CMBS vs. CMA/CMSF...