Sir Lancelot Posted February 25, 2019 Share Posted February 25, 2019 Content: This mod is intended to create an accurate representation of the Syrian Arab Army around the timeframe of this game. Download link below: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/bwgu0k7bdjpblkr/AADo5tmmL0RTWPz8omGaS6twa?dl=0 v. 1.0 List of changes: 1. Replaced the fictional Syrian flag with the real flag of the Syrian Arab Republic 2. Replaced the Ssh-40 steel helmet with the Ssh-68. 3. Replaced the fictional all-black outfit of the Syrian special forces with the standard Syrian woodland camouflage (w/ late Soviet-style armor vest) and the black helmets with olive or camouflage-covered Kevlar helmets (to represent the Chinese QGF-02). Acknowledgments: A big thanks to @||CptMiller|| and @SaintFuller for making their armor vest and Ssh-68 helmet mods available for our community! Not long ago, @||CptMiller|| released a mod for the fictional Sahrani Liberation Army, which made the Syrians into a generic Soviet-style OPFOR with armor vests and Ssh-68 helmets (helmets made by @SaintFuller). This ingenious mod is what gave me the tools to make this realism mod for the Syrian Arab Army. Research notes: (1) The stock Syrian helmet in the game is the Ssh-40, which is a WW2-era Soviet helmet. The Syrians began equipping their troops with the Ssh-68 by 1982 and were still widely using it in 2005 when Syria pulled out of Lebanon. Based on my research, the Syrian army would not begin widespread equipment of Kevlar helmets until shortly before the Arab Spring. (2) The stock all-black outfit worn by the Syrian special forces is in fact worn by the Iraqi special forces, but I haven’t seen any reference pointing to its use by the Syrians. Based on news photos from when the Arab Spring protests began, we know that the SAA had body armor and Kevlar helmets by Spring 2011. I think it’s reasonable to assume that the Syrian special forces had this type of modernized equipment a few years earlier. The photos below are comparisons of the modded SAA soldiers with photos of the real SAA. 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_MonkeyKing Posted February 26, 2019 Share Posted February 26, 2019 I thought the black-uniformed Syrians were intended to persistent JIhadists, not spec-ops. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erwin Posted February 26, 2019 Share Posted February 26, 2019 Nice work. Thanks... 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sir Lancelot Posted February 26, 2019 Author Share Posted February 26, 2019 3 hours ago, The_MonkeyKing said: I thought the black-uniformed Syrians were intended to persistent JIhadists, not spec-ops. You might be thinking of the uncons with the green headband. In the Syrian roster, if you look under infantry - special forces company, you'll find the all-black special forces I'm talking about. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_MonkeyKing Posted February 26, 2019 Share Posted February 26, 2019 5 hours ago, pquumm said: You might be thinking of the uncons with the green headband. In the Syrian roster, if you look under infantry - special forces company, you'll find the all-black special forces I'm talking about. You are right. Downloaded and installedd 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xorg_Xalargsky Posted February 26, 2019 Share Posted February 26, 2019 Amazing mod! The Syrian factions need love too, they're having a hard enough time as it is getting blasted by artillery and tanks they can't see. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sir Lancelot Posted February 26, 2019 Author Share Posted February 26, 2019 3 hours ago, The_MonkeyKing said: You are right. Downloaded and installedd Thanks for trying it out! Eventually, I'll get around to modding those uncons as well. BTW, I messed around with the download files yesterday, and you may have downloaded a version that IMO gives the Syrian helmets too much of a bluish tint. I switched it back to the old ones you see above, you can download it again and see for yourself which is better. Also, in the mod folder are some camouflaged and netted variants of the Syrian steel helmets. By default, the Syrian airbornes have helmets with camo cover, the regulars and RGs have netted ones, and the reserves have bare helmets. Too bad the game file doesn't let you mix and match steel helmets like some other items. Feel free to switch out anything that's just too ugly Here's a shot of all three helmets side-by-side. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sir Lancelot Posted February 26, 2019 Author Share Posted February 26, 2019 (edited) BTW guys, I'm very much a newbie modder, so please feel free to critique the mod. For example, I know that the Syrians don't use the Soviet-style armor vest, let me know where I can find some modding tutorials or the right resources. Thanks a lot! Edited February 26, 2019 by pquumm 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Steppenwulf Posted February 26, 2019 Share Posted February 26, 2019 Check out the helmet netting:- 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sequoia Posted February 26, 2019 Share Posted February 26, 2019 They look really good to me. Is the red stripe on the epaulette unique to Special Forces? Also do you or any one have a bigger picture of the badge on the shoulder? Finally what is the big circle on some of the helmets about? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sir Lancelot Posted February 26, 2019 Author Share Posted February 26, 2019 1 hour ago, Sequoia said: They look really good to me. Is the red stripe on the epaulette unique to Special Forces? Also do you or any one have a bigger picture of the badge on the shoulder? Finally what is the big circle on some of the helmets about? Red bar on the epaulette signifies Republican Guard, the same as a red beret or red triangle on the centre of the helmet (like the guy in the truck). As for that big circle, I haven't seen any close-ups of it, but my guess is a paratrooper badge of some sort. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sequoia Posted February 26, 2019 Share Posted February 26, 2019 Does that mean the Syrian Special Forces are considered part of the Republican guard then? IIRC there was an entire Republican Guard division plus separate Special Forces units. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sir Lancelot Posted February 26, 2019 Author Share Posted February 26, 2019 1 hour ago, The Steppenwulf said: Check out the helmet netting:- Nice pic of the netting, I've tried to replicate that netting for this mod, but I'm just not that skilled. Maybe one of the better modders can teach me a few things? Also, notice how this helmet is more dark green compared to the 2005 picture of the troops in a truck. I'm not sure whether that's due to lighting or a different colour paint. If anyone has info on what the right colour should be, I'll change it in the mod. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sir Lancelot Posted February 26, 2019 Author Share Posted February 26, 2019 19 minutes ago, Sequoia said: Does that mean the Syrian Special Forces are considered part of the Republican guard then? IIRC there was an entire Republican Guard division plus separate Special Forces units. I see what what you mean. You're right, the special forces are separate from RG. I should explain that picture a little better. Those are just RG soldiers, the idea there is to show what modernized equipment in the Syrian army looks like. By my research, the spec ops don't dress any differently from the regulars, except that they are better equipped. The modernized equipment used by the RG at the beginning of the civil war is likely what the special forces already had a few years earlier, which is around the timeframe of this game. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Steppenwulf Posted February 26, 2019 Share Posted February 26, 2019 (edited) 31 minutes ago, pquumm said: Nice pic of the netting, I've tried to replicate that netting for this mod, but I'm just not that skilled. Maybe one of the better modders can teach me a few things? Also, notice how this helmet is more dark green compared to the 2005 picture of the troops in a truck. I'm not sure whether that's due to lighting or a different colour paint. If anyone has info on what the right colour should be, I'll change it in the mod. You can have multiple files of helmet textures, so the strong white netting intermixed with others, I think would look fantastic. Need to get the colour of the netting right first, then you can create a fresh bump map with settings for a strong bump effect. Similar netting with a good bump effect will exist on some modded CMBN US helmets so it might be worth checking out what they look like as textures for comparison. You might have to do some digging to find these textures, they were done as far back as 2012, and in some cases probably don't work in CM anymore because models were renamed or even reskinned. Free normal map (bump) software:http://www.crazybump.com/ The apparent lighter green colour helm in the pics above I think is partly explained by the effect of higher contrast pics. Unfortunately there are no specular or diffuse maps in CM that would ordinarily give metal that natural shininess in the game environment - this is why most metal objects look dull in CM. Not pretty!! If you have a good image editor and try experimenting with higher contrast settings, you could something much better though. Again go look at some modded photo-realistic German and American helms textures for BN. Can't speak for the other CM families because I don't have them unfortunately... Edited February 26, 2019 by The Steppenwulf 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjkerner Posted February 27, 2019 Share Posted February 27, 2019 They look really good to me, too, Pquum. I am getting netting for the British helmets by just googling "Netting" or "Helmet Netting". Lots of real life textures out there! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sir Lancelot Posted February 27, 2019 Author Share Posted February 27, 2019 10 hours ago, The Steppenwulf said: You can have multiple files of helmet textures, so the strong white netting intermixed with others, I think would look fantastic. Need to get the colour of the netting right first, then you can create a fresh bump map with settings for a strong bump effect. Similar netting with a good bump effect will exist on some modded CMBN US helmets so it might be worth checking out what they look like as textures for comparison. You might have to do some digging to find these textures, they were done as far back as 2012, and in some cases probably don't work in CM anymore because models were renamed or even reskinned. Free normal map (bump) software:http://www.crazybump.com/ The apparent lighter green colour helm in the pics above I think is partly explained by the effect of higher contrast pics. Unfortunately there are no specular or diffuse maps in CM that would ordinarily give metal that natural shininess in the game environment - this is why most metal objects look dull in CM. Not pretty!! If you have a good image editor and try experimenting with higher contrast settings, you could something much better though. Again go look at some modded photo-realistic German and American helms textures for BN. Can't speak for the other CM families because I don't have them unfortunately... Thanks, Steppenwulf! Those are some very helpful advice! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sir Lancelot Posted February 28, 2019 Author Share Posted February 28, 2019 On 2/26/2019 at 2:23 PM, The Steppenwulf said: You can have multiple files of helmet textures, so the strong white netting intermixed with others, I think would look fantastic. Need to get the colour of the netting right first, then you can create a fresh bump map with settings for a strong bump effect. Similar netting with a good bump effect will exist on some modded CMBN US helmets so it might be worth checking out what they look like as textures for comparison. You might have to do some digging to find these textures, they were done as far back as 2012, and in some cases probably don't work in CM anymore because models were renamed or even reskinned. Free normal map (bump) software:http://www.crazybump.com/ The apparent lighter green colour helm in the pics above I think is partly explained by the effect of higher contrast pics. Unfortunately there are no specular or diffuse maps in CM that would ordinarily give metal that natural shininess in the game environment - this is why most metal objects look dull in CM. Not pretty!! If you have a good image editor and try experimenting with higher contrast settings, you could something much better though. Again go look at some modded photo-realistic German and American helms textures for BN. Can't speak for the other CM families because I don't have them unfortunately... So, I took your advice and remade the netting, and it does look a lot better! One problem is that I can't get the normal map to work. Does mdr create a conflict with the normal map file? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sir Lancelot Posted February 28, 2019 Author Share Posted February 28, 2019 (edited) Version 1.1 just uploaded. Download link: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/bwgu0k7bdjpblkr/AADo5tmmL0RTWPz8omGaS6twa?dl=0 Version 1.1 change log: Edited Syrian Ssh-68 helmets. Now Syrian soldiers wear a mixture of camouflage-covered, netted, or bare Ssh-68 helmets. Edited February 28, 2019 by Sir Lancelot 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frenchy56 Posted February 28, 2019 Share Posted February 28, 2019 (edited) I think you can't see the normalmaps because you have shaders off in-game. Toggle them on with Alt+R. I don't know why, but when you load into certain scenarios, shaders are off by default, even if you saved mid-game with shaders on. Edited February 28, 2019 by Frenchy56 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
verulam Posted February 28, 2019 Share Posted February 28, 2019 Thanks very much for this. Super 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erwin Posted February 28, 2019 Share Posted February 28, 2019 You may want to start a new thread: "Syrian Army Realism v1.1". Unless people read to the end of this thread they wouldn't know there is a new version. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sir Lancelot Posted February 28, 2019 Author Share Posted February 28, 2019 46 minutes ago, Erwin said: You may want to start a new thread: "Syrian Army Realism v1.1". Unless people read to the end of this thread they wouldn't know there is a new version. Good point! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A Canadian Cat Posted February 28, 2019 Share Posted February 28, 2019 That is terrible advice. Don't do that. So, people don't read they also don't notice new threads and it divides up the conversation. Keep working on your mod. Keep the discussion in one place and as you release new versions delete the old ones so worst case scenario you can point them right when they ask what happened to the link. Once you are done your work upload the mod to CMMods (http://www.thefewgoodmen.com/cm-mod-warehouse/) and announce that here. Don't for get to delete the drop box files so people don't get old versions. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MOS:96B2P Posted February 28, 2019 Share Posted February 28, 2019 (edited) 4 hours ago, Sir Lancelot said: Good point! Never mind. Computer technical thing on my end. Sorry for the bad information. Edited February 28, 2019 by MOS:96B2P 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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