HolzemFrumFloppen

Hehe.... I loved hearing about your Villa/Mannheim discovery in the "Finland" thread. Good work on opening up that story to those of us not-in-the-know. I hope Ambrose picks up on it.

Absolutely on the nose with this post. I just can't help feeling that the Portuguese Açores Islands should be included in the game. After all, they fielded a battalion of elite scuba troops ( 3rd Linguiça Divers Bn ) that might have tipped the tide of the war were they used effectively. Instead, the battalion was sent to Finland in order to open one of the first primitive -- albeit effective -- Starbucks-like franchises. It's been noted by more than one historian how most of the Finnish troops could often be found at one of those ubiquitous coffeeshops before going out on a ski run. God, I hope Hubert sees this.

Not to sound caustic, but... why is it that so many people want the game to play out in complete agreement with history? I, for one, am glad to have a game where the Italians can hold out for 4 (or more) years. Ummmm... the Murmansk Lifeline... yeah. But for every German soldier the U.S. killed, the USSR killed twenty. I think the game accurately reflects how the Soviets bear the brunt of Germany's power and shows how they clearly shouldered the most responsibility for defeating Nazi Germany. Now I know this doesn't set well with all the Ambrose-readers out there, but... well,... that's a whole other thread. Again, I like how Hubert has treated the major players historically without setting in stone the eventual outcome. The Axis can win the war and I think that's very important. If Hubert had created an omnipotent (and inaccurate) U.S. that can turn the tide of the war upon entry, well... what point would there be to even playing the game? Remember that it took three years for the allies to open up a real second front. Ummm... why not just watch a video documentary on the war; that way there are no surprises. Again, I, for one, am glad it doesn't all play out as it " should have been"; rather, it plays out well by accenting what "could have been". Just my two pfennig. - Holzem

The first post in this thread is perhaps the greatest argument for birth control I've ever seen. The above statement is not for the humor-challenged.

Kuniworth: Nope. Negative. Sorry. - Holzem

...yawn....

Kuniworth: Ahhh... that quasi-relief map looks great and I, too, would love to have it in SC. However, it would be completely impossible to do that way since the SC map is not a single graphics file that can be redrawn and edited at leisure. Rather, SC's maps utilize a graphics file that defines hex formations and their colors. There is no possibility of adding unique relief-map features since adding those features to a single hex's graphics would inevitably result in having those features repeated throughout the map in strange places. So.... while there are a few things that can be done to the map graphics (I'm working on some possbilities as a matter of fact), you're likely not going to see a perfectly rendered Rand-McNally-ish relief variant. Hope this helps. - Holzem

Arax: Real easy. Just unzip my entire mod into your Strategic Command "BITMAPS" subfolder. Then just unzip JMBunnelle's Icon mod into the same place. JM's will overwrite my own symbol icons and you're good to go. Hope this helps! - Holzem

JM: Hehe... thanks a lot. Glad you like it! - Holzem

RCMP: Here is a download link to my own mod (SC "Elite Edition"): SC "Elite Edition" (full download - 3.4megabytes) ... and here is the link to J.M.'s excellent icon set: JBunnelle's Force-Specific Icons My own mod comes with military symbol icons. If you don't like those, simply download JBunnelle's iconset and overwrite the one that comes with mine. Read the README file in the ZIP for more detailed instructions. Enjoy! - Holzem

That's the great thing about mods.... just mix and match to your hearts desire! I do the same thing all the time with other games, and also with StratComm.... lots of people (including me) don't always have the time or energy to create graphic mods. But in those cases, I think it's cool that any user can combine existing mods into his/her own personal act of creation. My own mod ("Elite Edition") is really just a combination of elements that I personally like: military maps, pseudo-military green colors, and operational symbolism. But if I hadn't created it, I would undoubtedly have been experimenting with other folks' mods to create something of my own. That's why I think it's fantastic that some software authors (Hubert!) use graphical elements that are infinitely moddable in their games. It allows users to add their own personal touch and will always add to the longevity of the game. I'm certain there are some game authors out there who consider a graphical mod as some sort of "slap in the face" to their own creations; in reality, however, I believe that's it's just the opposite -- any user who develops a mod is really just complimenting the author by spending his own time and energy on a testament to that earlier work. Sort of like saying: "I really love your stuff, <insert author/developer here>. Now let me give something back." Just some thoughts. - Holzem

Norse, et. al.: I updated the Unit Icons so that the minor allied (blue) countries have their strength test made more readable. I used a different shade of blue, but one that works well with the "strength" sprites palette. I also altered the "greenish" color of the U.S. icons... I think the color look a lot better. Download the updated symbol unit icons here: SC "Elite Edition" Unit Symbol Graphics (corrected - 20kb) Or... you can download the full mod (with updated icons) here: SC "Elite Edition" (full download - 3.4megabytes) In either case, unzip the contents of the above zipfiles into your Strategic Command "Bitmaps" folder. Enjoy! - Holzem

Whoa! Extremely nice work, J.! I, too, like the USSR units facing West... awesome touch! - Holzem

Cato: I totally understand now. In my own playing experience, I hadn't yet encountered a situation where the blue icons were "paired" up with the blue strength colors. Now I get it. Hubert posted some very helpful info in this thread as well as to how the icons are assigned to minor countries. I'll have a new units file lickety split. I wanted to enhance some of the other colors anyway.... White, eh? Hmmmm... I wonder. I'll check it out. - Holzem

Hubert: Okay... that makes complete sense. Now I can test some of the newer colors. Much obliged for the information! - Holzem

Hehe... yeah, I dig on them, too. As I stated in an alternate post/thread: It's not really 1990s Europe... it's a 1940 War Department strategist's projection of the European continent 50 years into the future! They would often discuss stuff like that back then. Thought you'd like that. And thanks for the comments!

Thanks a bunch, Hubert. And thanks again for a great game! - Holzem

Thanks very much for the comments, Archibald. Man, oh, man.... I so want to change the allied minor unit graphics, but I just can't see why they're not that readable. Are folks talkin' about the minor units (e.g., Hungary, Romania, Finland, etc.) or about what might be considered minor units (i.e., France and Italy). I, myself, think that the "air" units aren't perfectly readable for some of the minor units including France and Italy. Please let me know a bit more specifically which nationality(ies) are hard to read and I'll fire up the editor and look at the units. Hehe... can't believe I missed that. Chalk it up to bad battlefield intelligence reports if you're still playing with the original file. Ahhhhh.... but you are being tested, grasshopper. It's not really 1990s Europe... it's a 1940s War Department strategist's projection of the European continent 50 years into the future! They would often discuss stuff like that back then. Hmmmm.... now this one I'm not understanding. The SaveGame Dialog, in this particular case, has a background graphic located at the bottom that's a cutout of a map of Operation Barbarossa, 19 41 . Am I not seeing what you're seeing? Maybe it was another dialog that you were referring to. Lemme know! Again, thanks very much for the comments! I've already updated the Unit Symbol graphics to correct the Italian corps/army problem. The whole package has been updated and, again, can be downloaded at the following URL: SC "Elite Edition" (full download - 3.4megabytes) Additionally, I have made available a very small zipfile containing the corrected Unit Symbol graphics only . It can be downloaded here: SC "Elite Edition" Unit Symbol Graphics (corrected - 20kb) I'd love to get more feedback on the readability problems with the unit colors. Keep it coming and I'll find a good solution! - Holzem

Norse: I'm looking into this now. Looked fine to me, but I'll check into it for maximum readability. I'll post any changes I make. And thanks for the comments! - Holzem

Cool... glad you like it! - Holzem

This is a repeat of an earlier post on the forum. Download info is at the bottom of this message. <<snip>> It looks like I've got Strategic Command : Elite Edition , but I'm not hearing that anyone else received it. My game screens are quite a bit different than anyone else's. Take a look.... I get the feeling that Hubert favors me above all customers since I haven't left any "Give-me-paratroopers-or-give-me-death" messages on the SC forums. Take a look at some of these other screenies if you are so inclined(hi-bandwidth 200-400k .jpg files): SC Title Screen SC New Campaign Screen SC Load Savegame Screen SC Load PBEM Screen SC Options Screen SC Choose Side Dialog SC In-Game Screen SC Report Screen SC War Map Screen The more astute reader will note a slight variation in geographic textures on the Elite Edition's land masses. There are also some differences in the resource and city markers. A quick comparison: SC Standard Terrain/Hex Graphics SC "Elite Edition" Terrain/Hex Graphics Note the subtle variation in terrain texture, the ever-so-slight "3D" effect on the resource, mountain and forest primeval graphics. And give notice to the enhanced city/capital graphics that make identification quicker and easier for the SC neophyte as well as the hardened (and myopic) grognard. Compare a bit more.... SC Standard Terrain/Hex Graphics (#2) SC "Elite Edition" Terrain/Hex Graphics (#2) An awe-inspiring comparison for the SC nut. Compare those river graphics. You can almost feel the cold rush of the water in the Elite Edition's graphics. Well... for those of you who are humor-challenged out there, let it be known that there is actually NO "Elite Editon" of SC, so if you're just about to draft a message to Battlefront's Sales force about how you feel you were shorted, gypped, screwed, etc. on not getting the "Elite Edition", please refrain. All these graphic modifications will be made available to y'all shortly (as soon as I can get a hold of Otto and upload the package to this SCHQ site). I'll also make available my Unit Graphics which were based on Jorgen Cab's excellent Symbol Mod. I made a few color modifications to it to make for easy visuals in the game. I also added some unique (some might say "lame") headquarters/command unit graphics. Take a gander: Holzem's Unit Graphics It's all in a day's work (literally took me most of Saturday to do it all). Hope you can all enjoy Hubert's little gem as much as I am along with some modified graphics. Now I've gotta get back to the Eastern Front... the Huns are movin' fast and I've got Smolensk to defend! Anyway, you can get the full SC "Elite Edition" Mod by clicking below: Download Full SC GUI Mod There's a short README.TXT file in the zipfile; in a nutshell, it tells you dump the contents of the entire zip into your Strategic Command Bitmaps folder (e.g., C:\Program Files\Strategic Command\Bitmaps). If for some reason you think you might want to go back to the original graphics, then make sure you do a backup of the entire Bitmaps directory (or you could always re-install SC). Hope you enjoy it as much as I did making it. Nothing like a labor of love, I always say. -Holzem

Well... haven't heard from Otto's SCHQ site, so I'm hosting the file temporarily . It weighs in at a hefty 3.4meg... likely not a problem at all for any high-speed users. E-mail is probably out of the question for lots of folks since so many ISPs put a limit on the size of e-mail attachments. Anyway, you can get the full SC "Elite Edition" Mod by clicking below: Download Full SC GUI Mod There's a short README.TXT file in the zipfile; in a nutshell, it tells you dump the contents of the entire zip into your Strategic Command Bitmaps folder (e.g., C:\Program Files\Strategic Command\Bitmaps). If for some reason you think you might want to go back to the original graphics, then make sure you do a backup of the entire Bitmaps directory (or you could always re-install SC). Hope you enjoy it as much as I did making it. Nothing like a labor of love, I always say.

Thanks to everyone for all the nice comments! I'm puttin' the package together right now and will hopefully have it all posted online today. There is a slight (ever so slight ) chance that I might send it via e-mail if it's not posted. Thanks again. [ August 11, 2002, 02:18 PM: Message edited by: HolzemFrumFloppen ]

Dasreich: Undoubtedly. The graphics in the game are static and are not affected by any patches (as far as I can see).

Nahhh.... just really cool. :cool: