Gordon

The batch files support the "standard" set of texture swappings for the summer textures (FF and US, u-shoe and rubber bloc shoe tracks). The "extras" are all alternate BMPs (and there a whole passel of 'em) that must be selected manually. The documentation outlines what each and every one is, however. These mods are definitely "hall of fame" candidates. Gordon

I like the idea of the different types of lines for different functions. For instance, possibly dashed lines for targeting, narrow lines for movement, etc. I'd volunteer to try to set it up, but I'm up to my ears with whitewashed mods and US camouflaged mods. Gordon

Tiger, Nice unit markings. However, according to "The British Soldier Volume 2", and other sources I've seen, Comets only served with 11th Armoured Division. Gordon

There are "Shermans" (i.e. Commonwealth) and "M4s" (i.e. US and Free French). These are the US/Free French M4s. Gordon

That's how I do EVERYTHING. Glad to hear your hand's feeling better, can't wait for those to be released. Give me any Axis vehicle in a plain Dunkel Gelb/Dunkel Grau or any Allied vehicle in plain Olive Drab/Khaki Drab and I can give you a camouflaged version, but I'll be damned if I can draw a hatch hinge to save my soul. Gordon "The Maaco of CM Mod'dom" Molek [This message has been edited by Gordon (edited 02-24-2001).]

Well, I started on several different hi-res mods (hopefully Marco will find some small head-start/useful bits in the Cromwell/Challenger/Comet files I sent him), but the small, intricate, extremely repetitive motions required to create all the fine grain details horrendously aggravated my carpal tunnel syndrome (even though I use a stylus and tablet rather than a mouse). That's when I consigned myself to helping out Marco by filling in on a lot of the features that (I hope) people want but that would distract him from creating his hi-res mods (e.g. camouflaged versions, winter versions, etc.). The main tools I use to achieve my effects are layers and masks (I use Paint Shop Pro 5). Pretty much each "feature" is a separate layer. For instance, look at my (lo res) King Tiger camo mod. There are separate layers for each camo color (green, yellow and brown) a layer for the zimmerit, a layer for the tools, cables and accessories and a layer for all the pink transparent portions. Masks applied to each layer expose or hide portions to create the overall scheme. Hopefully that makes sense. Gordon

What about a translation to Canadian? What a hoser, eh? Gordon

Well, One problem with this is that I doubt that any two mod developers work similarly. As an example, Marco and I have completely different approaches to working on mods even though we use slightly different versions of the same program. The main thing is that there is no *right* way to develop a mod. It varies tremendously based on the author, the program being used and even the particular mod being developed. Of course, the bigger problem is: which is more important, working on mods, or working on a mod developer's FAQ? I can't speak for the other mod authors, but I could certainly spend a little time putting together some helpful hints and tips (based solely on my own personal style, again, not claiming that it's the right way) if somebody volunteers to do all the grunt work of compiling and editing such a document. Gordon

Having been involved in testing this MEGA mod, I have to say that the HVSS suspension Marco did for this is an absolute work of art. Download it, use it, love it. Gordon btw, stay tuned for winter whitewashed and snow-covered winter whitewashed versions of all these vehicles to complement Marco's snow covered versions.

What Big DD said. I'd think it would be very hard to make something convincing out of the boxy model the game uses. Particularly in light of the fact that the actual BMP is pretty small and concatenated repeatedly to form a section of hedge/bocage. Gordon

Well, part of the problem I have with hedgerows in CM (and it's not a big deal anyway), is that a real hedgerow doesn't look anything at all like an overgrown (American) suburban hedge as in the game depiction. Hedgerows are actually mounds of earth and rock coverd in a thick tangle of all manner of vegetation, including shrubs, trees, vines, etc. It's the earthen mound and density of the "wild" vegetation that makes it such great terrain on the defense. Especially when you've got to approach it across the relative open area of the enclosed or bordering fields. Gordon

So, ever wonder who thought up the idea for monster trucks? Take a gander: Actually, that's the "Mine Exploder T10" which was tested at Aberdeen Proving Ground in 1944. Wouldn't that be a blast to go toolin' around in. And no, I'm not advocating that this should have been added to CMBO. It never got past the prototype phase. Gordon Photo and information from: "British and American Tanks of World War Two" Chamberlain and Ellis [This message has been edited by Gordon (edited 02-12-2001).]

LG MB (and jasoncrawley): Are you referring to my prototype whitewashed Shermans or to existing winter Sherman mods. If mine, you'll see that across the various makes of Shermans you'll see 3 separate and distinct whitewash styles. Also, the level and type of lighting dramatically effects the perceived brightness of an object (remember the various debates over the "light side"/"Dark side" terrain mods? Under stark, harsh winter sunlight a whitewashed tank in the sun would probably blind you, whereas under a diffuse overcast glow of light it would tend to wash out and lose all sense of depth. Unfortunately there is no one answer to this problem until the game engine has advanced to the point of providing dynamic lighting. Regarding preparedness, there are levels of preparedness. The Germans went through an entire Russian winter without being able to re-equip their forces for the conditions. I've read accounts from soldiers who were re-equiped with winter shoe packs (felt boot liners) in the middle of the battle of the bulge. There was also significant use of winter camo smocks by allied infantry during the same period as well. It's doubtful that these guys carried this equipment all the way from the D-Day beaches. You only supply your guys with equipment as its needed. It was just this level of logistics support that won the allies the war (at least on the western front). Also, please bear in mind that these are not necessarily bulge-specific mods, but meant to cover the entire winter of '44-'45, and as such represent a significantly longer period than the battle of the bulge itself. But, regardless, I think we can agree to disagree. And I've never taken any comments regarding any of my mods personally. I just like to express my point of view as well. Gordon

Magua, Interesting, according to Wise ("D-Day to Berlin"), "1942 (U.S. Army) regulations stipulated camouflage painting for snow areas as precise patterns of white and black, or white and olive drab, and when the first snows came in the winter of 1944-45 some U.S. Army vehicles were camouflaged accordingly. However, the snows coincided with the last great German offensive of the war, in the Ardennes, and in the front line particularly a variety of hurried and improvised methods were used." Now, according to the same book, the British regulations specifically forbade application of white paint or whitewash from being applied directly on vehicles and weapons due to the variability of snow conditions in NWE. However, the British units largely ignored these orders. So I'm not sure where your expectation that the Allied armies where unprepared for winter fighting comes from. Unprepared for the German offensive? Yes. Unprepared for winter? I'm not so sure. Gordon

Lord General MB, Unfortunately it's not simple. I have absolutely no problem with anyone (or everyone for that matter) disliking a particular mod of mine. I do them first and foremost for myself, for the satisfaction of doing them, and then if they pass my own internal muster, I share them with others in the hopes that they will also find enjoyment in them. However, I will take exception, and defend, my mods when their authenticity is questioned. I can provide photographic and/or research evidence supporting each and every mod I've created. You seem to be arguing both sides of the realism debate, first that you don't care about realistic treatments and then that the treatments you've seen aren't realistic. Gordon

Lord General MB, Contrary to popular belief, the Allies did apply winter camouflage beyond just the application of whitewash wholesale to the vehicle. It was certainly not as common as Axis practice, but then again, the Allies were more often on the attack, when any kind of camouflage is less effective. It doesn't matter how much your tank looks like a bush or a pile of snow, bushes and piles of snow don't move. Actually I don't consider any of the Stuarts to be "camouflaged" (in that a camouflage pattern wasn't applied with the whitewash). The Stuart Mk V and M8 HMC are supposed to represent whitewashed vehicles that have the whitewash flaking/wearing off (now it's possible that I didn't do a very good job in conveying that in the artwork). The Stuart Roo in particular has a nice, uneven coat of whitewash that is definitely not an intentional camouflage pattern of any kind. Also, if you look closely you will see residual snow and ice scattered about the vehicles. I just didn't apply it as heavily as Magua did to his halftracks. In my opinion Magua overdid the snow a little (not to denigrate Magua's original effort, they're the halftracks I use). He's also the inspiration that got me started trying to do winter mods. I think that you'll see when I release a sneak peek at the winter Sherman's that I'm currently working on that they (except for the Sherman III/V which are similar to the Stuarts) are also very much in the "worn whitewash" model. Now, if I hear that people overwhelmingly love the snow treatment that Magua applied to his halftracks, I can certainly pile on the snow for these mods (possibly as an option), I just didn't want to hide all the wonderful details that Marco put into the originals under piles of snow (or draped sheets, for that matter). Gordon [This message has been edited by Gordon (edited 02-03-2001).]

Well, "British and American Tanks of World War Two" by Chamberlain and Ellis, under the British Sherman Variants section lists the following: Sherman IIC, Sherman IVC and Sherman VC They have pictures of a IC, IVC and VC. So, they don't list the IC, but provide a photograph of one, and list the IIC, but don't provide a photograph. Not sure if this helps or not. Gordon

I and many of the mod makers do provide credits/attribution within the documentation provided with our mods. Gordon

Geez, You're flat on your back with a cold for one day and all hell breaks loose. That's what I get for having a 3 year old in day care. It's basically the "germ of the week club". Anyway, I will definitely explore creation of a camo Sherman plainpack. However, I know that given all the texture sharing between the various Shermans that there will be problems with "seams". e.g., where the camo pattern transitions from the hull side to the hull top will be a match on some tanks, but there will be a mismatch on others (and there's nothing that we mod makers can do about it, because different models of Shermans with different hulls use the same textures). It may make more sense for Mac users to just use Marco's plainpak Shermans when they come out. I will definitely look into it. though. Part of the reason the various mods depend on each other was to reduce the sizes of the downloads. That may have been a mistake. Regarding the Winter Sherman preview. Bad Maximus, Bad! (sound of Maximus being hit with a rolled up newspaper). Unfortunately, don't get your hearts set on any one of those textures as some have already changed and others are subject to being changed. The Winter Shermans WILL be a plainpak covering all the Shermans in the game, so there will be no mismatches or confusion. Gordon

Actually, I've read that it was the British railway loading guage that restricted the width of British tanks, and therefore the diameter of their turret rings. The Churchill with side air intakes removed was the maximum width. They eventually realized that most transport of tanks was being done by road transporter and not rail, so they relaxed the width restrictions and developed the Centurion. Gordon

You're all very welcome. It's the feedback (both positive and negative) that keeps us mod makers going and improving our work. Glad you enjoy them. Gordon

Re: Pvt. Ryan - Yes, that's a "bug" in the documentation. Now that I've managed to get out of the dungeon that Marco put me in for that infraction I'll get that fixed. The Churchill mod is separate from the other Brit camo mods (it was created before "Molek's Mod Manufacturing, Inc" was acquired by "Marco Bergman Productions, Ltd"). It hadn't occurred to me, but the docs should also suggest renaming the old Churchill camo shortcut (I did that a long time ago on my system so it never came up). There will eventually be a new high res set of Churchill textures (and a more ETO style Churchill camo mod). Re: Madmatt's question - What will be posted soon will be what Marco and I call the "Powerbatch" system. Basically this deals with all the variations of the batch file system created by the release of the various packs. It will always be the latest and greatest version of the batch file system, encompassing all the various mod packs. As a bonus, it also adds additional shortcuts allowing you to dynamically swap between rubber bloc and u-shoe track styles just as you can swap between Canadian, Camo, etc. texture sets. I apologize for these "gotchas". Marco, Bob and I work very hard trying to ensure that we publish only the highest quality mods, but sometimes these things slip through the cracks. Gordon

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by 109 Gustav: I think the treads might look a little better with some snow on them. They contrast with the white a little too much, IMHO. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Do you mean "treads" or "running gear" or "lower hull" could use some snow on them? The winter treads do have snow on them (by default), I've got a little snow on the running gear and lower hull (not too much because I figured a lot of it would get knocked off, but maybe not). Or did you just want whitewash all over the place. Gordon

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Rommel22: Looks good, but what about the side under carriege??? It's just Brown, dark green, shouldn't that be muddy or have the same camo too. Other than that, it's kick ass, I'll get the mod anyway. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Well, I'm not sure I want to daub mud all over Marco's nice textures. And I haven't tried to learn how to paint mud yet. It actually appears to be a toss up on whether or not a particular crew bothered to paint the suspension of their vehicle. On the one hand it might further aid camouflage somewhat, but on the other hand within about ten minutes of movement it would probably all be covered with mud and muck and be dark colored anyway. So my solution, at least for now, is to leave the suspension un-whitewashed and "clean". Gordon

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Oddball_E8: Beautiful... but i dont like the patches of green <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Oddball_E8, So what would you prefer, solid white? That tends to start looking like the "haunted tank" to me. But that's just IMO. Gordon