Erwin

Thanks Aquila...   Keep up the amazing work you are doing!   

Deleting faces works like a charm I had a problem with deleting vertices, however I didn´t test if its still present in your new CM2T version as deleting faces is a pretty fine method for me.
 
Okay additionally to the written tutorial here is some footage of me working on stuff, everything is without commentary as usual. You see me struggle there with alot and some steps I wouldn´t do as I´ve learned more in the meantime. Alot goes now alot quicker and easier. Also the tools got updated and there are slightly differences now there. Most important the EXPORT METADATA option upon exporting (check written tutorial above): The videos are in chronology of how I found my way but you don´t obligatory have to watch them all or in order. The Blackhawk Video is the most vital one when it comes to designing new flavor objects and should work well alongside the written tutorial.
1) Design of a Makeshift VBIED (complete process, working with existing CM2 vehicles, NO CUSTOM models)
 
2) Design of the Humvee Wreck (working with EXISTING models, the model gave me alot of headache because i was moving the original CM primer flavor object around, which also results in the Humvee being abit afloat (use rubble or holes to mask it), today I would not touch the CM flavor primer object and simply turn it invisible with a blank texture (see written tutorial).
 
3) Making the Humvee Wreck look more destroyed (CUTTING FACES, working with EXISTING models)
 
4) Updating my Battle M2 Humvee V1 to V2 (involves CUTTING & SCULPTING Techniques, EXISTING models)
 
5) Complete Design of a DIY Syrian Makeshift APC (EXISTING MODELS, TEXTURE DESIGN TECHNIQUES in GIMP2) Shows the issues that arise when working with complex multi-part items like gun turret mounts. I tried to replace the track with wheels but as you can see in the end they look strange when driving thus I put  the track back.
 
6) Design of the downed Blackhawk Flavor Object, (WORKING WITH NEW FLAVOR MODELS, CUTTING) As texture I simply used existing CMSF2´s "concrete-black.bmp" as I had no clue what to do else. The video ends with the an export error. This was a day before sbobovyc updated his tools with the "EXPORT METADATA" option. By turning this off, the major breakthrough was achieved. Today I would use a SHELTER as original flavor "primer" object as I believe it has less FOV issues when being close to the new custom model. I also would move the helicopter parts into the primer and not vice versa and do not change the primer´s height. I would also keep everything at center (green red line intersection).
 

Yes the blank.bmp is an handy tool in many CM modding efforts. With Blender CM2 tools you can go a step farer and blank out specific model parts.

This is my "way and method" how I got to the finish. Perhaps there are steps that aren´t required or not best.
 
CUSTOM FLAVOR OBJECTS FOR WW2 AND MODERN AQUILA METHOD:
1) Install Anaconda Python 3.X (Google)
2) Install Blender Software (Google)
3) Install a Photoshop Software. Free good Tool: GIMP2 (Google)
3) Check CM2Tools Plugin Authors Github page https://github.com/sbobovyc/CM2Tools for info and plugin download. Also his BFForums thread (1st post) Watch Plugin Author´s Import/Export Tutorial (1st Post)
4) Install Plugin like shown in these Videos
5) Take the original .brz files in data of your WW2 or Modern CM2 game and put it into "Input" of Combat Mission X/ModTools/Rezexplode and unpack them
6) Go and find a custom 3D Model of your liking in one of the Blender formats (advanced users may convert them). You can check comptatible formats in Blender under File/Import. Free 3D Databases in 1st Post and recent big post of me. Check that it comes with textures. 
7) Start Blender, delete the placeholder cube you don´t need it, with add/lamp/hemisphere in the lower interface you can make everything brighter. It is sometimes very dark.
8 ) I start with importing an original "primer" Cm2 flavor object. Without this step no custom models show up in CM2 (there is likely some essential info stored into them). They are located in your unpacked CM2 game files. Often under terrain/flavor objects/models. Import for example "shelter1.mdr" into blender with file/import/mdr. Check "import metadata" and "transform", I have 4 checkmarks there. May not be required for flavors but for standarization I always do this. For smaller projects you can use smaller stuff like crate1.mdr.
9) You see a CM2 shelter, there is a small ball dropdown in the lower interface, you can change to "materials" or "textures" so see it with textures
10) Now again file/import/ choose the format of your custom model download and import it aswell. Check if textures are shown, I am no 3d artists some models are riddles and I dismiss them because I can´t handle them. Easy model to start training was the fire truck and ambulance https://www.turbosquid.com/FullPreview/Index.cfm/ID/432872
11) You see it, it may be extremely gigantic, extremly small, you need to resize it and move it with these three colored arrows, some objects have multiple entities, use usual windows shift commands for multi selection to move all at once to keep them in cohesion. The original CM2 shelter is your orientation. Where the CM2 shelter is, is the center, where its fundament is, is the ground. Delete stuff you don´t want with right  click "delete hierarchy" in the right interface (I call it Order of Battle, first time is like a battle but don´t give up 😂) . You can move stuff into the space of the original Shelter, no problem but AVOID moving,modifying the box, its your center of the world. Use undo/redo under lower interface/object if you mess up. You can perhaps modify it but I don´t know how and it often leads to problems when exporting with flying models in the sky etc.
12) When you are done, move every custom entitity into the shelter´s folder in the right interface (pros call it make it parent), you can do that by simple drag and drop the symbol of the entitiy. (Author´s Tutorial shows this).
13) Textures of custom models most time come with wrong format. Start GIMP2, load textures into it, go to export, choose file extension "BMP", check 24bit and "do not write info bla" and export it. This is the required format for CM2. 
14) Now difficult part you need to replace the texture connections in BLENDER with new BMP. Its in the Right Interface looks like a chessboard ball and square. There you need to remove (x symbol) and to add the bmp. This is somewhat complicated and I to this day don´t know what I am doing. With Trial and Error you get everything show up with your texture.BMPs
15) (optional) you can turn models or model parts invisible with a blank texture (post attachment) in CM2. Also your primer shelter if it is outside the custom model for example.
15a) IMPORTANT: There is something I forget, some models need to be "triangulated". Sounds super complicated but what you just need to do is select the custom model entity, press TAB, and then SHIFT+T, done. If you ever see a "perforated" custom model in your CM game its this step you´ve missed.
16) When everything is textured you are now ready to export. In the right interface select the root entry (your shelter.mdr entitiy with all bells and whistles in it), right click, select hierarchy, everything gets an yellow outline. Check that you are on OBJECT MODE (lower interface) Go to file/export/mdr and do it, make sure that "export metadata" is OFF and do it.
17) create a folder with your new .mdr file and put all textures in it you´ve used. For reverse engineering and helping others I suggest you save an additional blender file (file/save) and put it into it so others can learn from this.
18) rename the untitled.mdr to an flavor object of your liking. Draw Distance is dependant on what you replace. Do not make a cargo ship and call it crate1.mdr, very bad idea it will pop out after 100m distance. Better draw distance comes from big stuff like shelter1,2,3.mdr and best likely are street trafic light or Black Sea monument or big WW2 shelter.
19) throw your ready folder into the Z mod folder
20) go into editor, map, flavor objects place the flavor object you just´ve replaced and check, first time errors will happen you WILL see nothing, you WILL see black models, process of learning but you will prevail.
 
CUSTOM VEHICLES FOR WW2 AND MODERN AQUILA METHOD (just different step):
16) Turn "EXPORT METADATA ON", do not forget otherwise all tire and track wheels will look like you´re watching a Transformers movie. This on the other hand means there are difficulties replacing vehicles or vehicle parts with custom models as custom models require "EXPORT METADATA OFF" so if you want a custom ride with wheels or track wheels with current CM2 tools this seems not possible AFAIK but you can do surely do boats as these naturally don´t require wheels.
HOWEVER: You can mix/match several CM2 vehicles by importing them all and switching their parts. Its a bit like playing Car Mechanic simulator, no joke 😂. NEVER FORGET when importing set "IMPORT METADATA" and "TRANSFORM" and always "EXPORT METADATA" when working with vehicles, do alot of backups, if you once miss this and save info is lost, I lost an hour work because I forgot as you don´t notice that you forgot to import/export metadata. Since this I always stop breathing for a moment when I give my custom CM rides the first move command. 
You can also sculpt and cut parts by moving the vertices or selecting specific model parts in EDIT MODE (Tab) with Wireframe Model (Z) and deselecting (A) (pixels that connect everything) in edit mode. I always USE DELETE FACES not delete vertices as otherwise I got export errors afterwards. Check my Humvee V2 creation video, no commentary for doing this live. But sculpting completely new vehicles out of existing ones requires 3D Artist maestros and is alot of work. 
I had 5-10 lines of text in mind before writing this, very naive. Honestly now after writing this I see that a written tutorial wasn´t the best idea and I don´t know if this will make any sense but perhaps it helps one and somebody can come up with a decent video tutorial. Don´t get scared by Blender´s interface, for Combat Mission stuff you do not need 99,9% of it.
blank.bmp

double post

+100
 

 

1)  100 is the new 80 - my mother will be 100 in Feb and just had massive hospital check-up - nothing wrong with her(!)   My theory re longevity is that we need to psychologically prepare expectations of living to 150 (or forever).  And by then we may see early war CM2 (or CM3 even). 
2)  Am seeing more articles (in WSJ etc) about how many are trying to disconnect from social media as they realize what a time-waster it is. Apparently, re productivity growth what is starting to be recognized is that people are trying to catch up on work at night or weekends(!) cos they waste so much time at work socializing.  What that implies is that productivity could rapidly decline if people are basically addicted to social media and eventually can't keep up with their work even in their spare time.  I expect the new fashion will be people who dump their smart phones, value privacy and personal contact, don't text, and revert to actually talking to other folks.  And then I will be the epitome of fashion. 
 

Perhaps you could use this for one of the H&E scenarios.

Not a beauty but simple and resource friendly and thus more can be placed. For editor interaction the original flavor object is located on the see floor. I resized it to test if the fov issues go away but then the model got catapulted out of bounds. However for medium sized objects that are not always in point black front of the player its not that noticeable. 
File is too big, I moved it to my dropbox. 

Infantry models are stored in .mds as for now they can´t be accessed by the Blender CM2 plugin. Only the plugin author can tell if this may become possible.
What about replacing a Syrian conventional branch like the Reserve with them? Perhaps there is a way.

This is a question for @sbobovyc .
 
I´m not an author there, sent an email to become one but no answer. Either ways they´re currently renovating. I will share a new link tomorrow when the dp is unrestricted again. 

I took a look and its not that easy like I imagined due to the fact that the Muj are not like CMSF1 insurgents.

They likely could be brought into CMSF2 like I did with MikeyD African Mod Pack Uncon by using the original CMSF1/CMA .mds (Skeleton) files which then utilize the original textures layout again. However there is something strange about .bmp naming conventions.
MDR files are responsible for which .bmp files get accessed. For example if you model swap a Kamaz truck for an Ural Truck you need to rename the kamaztruck.mdr to uraltruck.mdr and place it in your z folder. The kamaz bmp textures you also place in your z folder but don´t need to be renamed as the new .mdr acesses them by their original name.
MDS files on the other hand don´t seem to use textures by the old name. Its complicate to describe if one didn´t try it for himself. Basically you need to rename the CMA .mds and the CMA bmp textures to the new CMSF2 naming standards and watch out for many things like additional files and they could somehow work. Better I suggest to check out the African Forces Mod and inspect the UNCON folder to get an idea of what I mean. The content of this folder should answer questions better.
But all of this aside don´t we already have a proper mod in place for this with Zveroboy´s Taliban mod? I know there is a significant difference between Muj and Taliban but didn´t pay attention if wether the differences between CMA and the mod are significant enough or not.
 
I didn´t know that this is a thing. If more than 20GB are downloaded in 24h Dropbox shuts the link down and hands out a 24h penalty. If it happens again the penalty will be prolonged next time. 😂
I will bring the link up again tomorrow however I want to ask everyone here to help with distributing the already downloaded mods and models to ease the load and to ensure that everyone can get their hands on. 

Something which should be useful in many WW2 and modern scenarios. Standard texture is a bit ugly but can be changed. Interaction box is right beneath in the center but this time invisible.
CM Train Box Car.zip

Thanks for all the kind words. Glad you enjoy it.
Basically a summary of what was already stated here. Place stuff like invisible wrecks and likely walls into flavor objects to make them protect from gunfire, LOS, and impede movement.

M1 Abrams vs Osa Naval Patrol Vessel:
That ship is rough work but it works. I will upload the complete blender project folder and mdr to the dropbox.
You can basically turn every texture in CM invisible by adding a blank texture. For example the jeeps were designed with 3 randomized spare wheels by using -optiona -optionb -optionc in the editor wich means only ONE will get be displayed. However the third spare got a blank texture so there is a chance that the jeep simply has no spare. As real objects and flavour objects do not collide its possible to combine them to get obstacle characteristics, there are alot of options which just require some creativity. 

In the course of dozen playthroughs and experiments with Blender/CM2 Tools (http://community.battlefront.com/topic/118928-combat-mission-modding-tools/) several assets were created which I want to share with the community:
Big Cargo Ship

 
BF109

 
Radar Station

 
Downed Blackhawk

 
Fire Truck

 
Ambulance

 
Barricade + optional Smoke/Burn Stash (Wreck, an invisible alternative is created by 37MM)

 
Barricade (three sizes)

 
Humvee V3 Woodland (Randomized Gear)

 
Humvee V3 Desert (Randomized Gear)

 
Humvee V2 Geardo Desert (Permanent Full Gear) 

 
AFRICAN UNCON (now also including conventional African Forces conversion by 37MM, original work by MikeyD) 

 
Falklands War Scorpion, Scimitar, and Argentinian LVTP-7 conversion

 
Makeshift VBIED

 
Humvee Wreck

 
Uncaged M2 Stryker

 
Marines to Army Special Forces or Navy SEALS conversion skins (including work of mjkerner, Combatinfman, Blimey)

 
BMP1/2 to BMD1/2 conversion (with corrected hatches)

 
Desert KAMAZ Skin

 
Marines frankensteined Armored MTVR Skin

 
New Syrian Special Forces and Woodland vehicles (based on the work of various modders)

 
Syrian Winter Mod (just terrain and partial "winterization" of vehicles, created for a Hasrabit Campaign playthrough)

 
PK Pickup to PK UAZ conversion

 
Russian Forces (original work Euroscape + various modders)

 
US Army & Marines Woodland Forces (original work Euroscape + various modders)

 
All these mods and many more can be found in this Dropbox:
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/1tviryry89g6py7/AAAJpSvGH6u1iEx4WzwVLSnJa?dl=0
Credits to modders, 3D-Artists, and Battlefront.
For better quality footage and more information about 3D custom models check out the recent videos & descpriptions here:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCeK7fSyoEE8aorVLlVfNcAQ
The custom flavor objects have a "crate1" box placed into their center. Click it to interact with its placing. Zoom into the model if difficult. There are some FOV issues with bigger flavor objects can perhaps fixed by making the original "crate1" box bigger in Blender/CM2tools. Combine flavor objects with "visible/invisible" wreck objects to give them obstacle characteristics.
Good free library of 3D models you could use for importing. .max does not work with Blender. There are others.
http://www.cadnav.com/
Tutorials on Blender and CM2Tools can be found here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lkbTOSIrNV0&feature=youtu.be
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MXVAMaELSao&feature=youtu.be
The main intent was to explore the possibilities of this method. As I see this as accomplished I´ll step back now and hope it will motivate others to get into it. Prior getting into custom CM models I had absolute zero experience in 3D modelling, Blender or whatever but found my way into it in a short period of time and once you figure out the specifics it is not that difficult. Give it a try.  Anyone interested in custom CM models can reach out on Discord.
Happy wargaming.

You can use these to basically replace any mdr object in the game including flavor objects or vehicles. This means you can "fire and drive" flavor objects basically like shown here with the cargo ship:
This was just a quick test done replacing the BMP2 amphibious APC with the Cargo Ship. It doesn´t make much sense realism wise with such huge ships but could open some options for combined arms including armed forces supported by naval boats (torpedo/gunboats, destroyers). By shore marsh tile placement you could "lock out" the amphibious vehicles from coming to land and other solution for full naval action would be of course to mirror the terrain tiles i.e. turning land into water and vice versa. I`ll upload the ship for bmp testfile to the dropbox.
When replacing flavor objects its important to keep the draw distance of the original in mind. Replacing the crate1.mdr with the blackhawk isn´t a good idea as it will go invisible to quick. The biggest draw distance is provided by flavor objects such as "street (traffic) lamp" and "shelter" etc. It can also be an alternative to better replace an unimportant vehicle (taxi) and give it a destroyed condition, as vehicles have excellent draw distances.
When replacing vehicles with custom flavor objects (or other mods/vehicles), the associated .lod files also have to be replaced too. A quick fix is simply getting this done by creating copies of the main .mdr file and then add -lod-1 to -lod-4 to them. Not all require 4 of them, I think infantry even can have 5 lod files but I always do 4.
Missing picture from the Syrian Winter Minimod:

Campaigns are the best way to enjoy the CM games imo.  However, once you've mastered the Training Missions and start thinking you know how to play the game well and are a great commander, here are a few of some of the best standalone CMSF (1 and 2) scenarios (that I recall playing (apologies to other good designers whose scenarios I may have forgotten) that should challenge you:
"Conventional" scenarios :
"A Helluva Road Opening" (ANA and USMC versions) and "Helluva Takeover" (UK as well as USMC-NATO versions available).
"Into the Green"
"The Passage At Wilcox"
"Royal Mud Marines"
Of course the most original and innovative scenarios are by MOS who has reimagined what the CM2 system can do esp re UNCON.  The brilliant scenario he developed for CMSF2 is "Coup d-Etat".

In CM1 the walking off of surrendered soldiers was cute for the first couple of times.  Occasionally one could get a friendly unit close by and rescue the POW's - they returned to active service but with no weapons and reduced morale or somesuch IIRC.
But, after that it became almost irritating - one more silly thing to worry about that had no bearing on the main game experience.  I suppose that rescued POW's could be used as medics and re-arm themselves, (or acquire support weapons from a vehicle or cache).  But, most of us would probably agree that there are other more pressing features that BF could/should be working on that would have a more dramatic effect on the gameplay experience.

Whoop!

That is the new name in the release version of CMSF2 and that is the scenario one should be playing.

+100   From your mouth to God's ears...  
(CM1 system lasted 8 years.  CM2 is now 12 years old.  It's definitely time for a major upgrade.)

yur welcome...  due to travel schedule and new responsibilities, have hardly any time to play - only have time for the very best entertaining scenarios - and yours are some of the most reliable.
hope you are still designing new stuff... 

Cheers Erwin - glad you enjoyed it. I did a bit of reworking this for CMSF2. So nice to hear the work has paid off. 

Thanks for the work you did.  But, you describe 11th armoured as the Desert Rats, when that was 7th armoured.  11th was "The Black Bull".