SeaMonkey

Hubert....damn it....hurry up. Shrapnel is coming out with "War Plan Pacific" tentatively for Nov. 20, preorders are $33.95.:confused: Now I know ....no way will KE be able to produce the appeal SC has, but it might dilute out some of "the take". So......don't mess with this suggestion...maybe in a patch, better to beat WPP with the release. Its about commerce....after all.

Been thinking that the ability of engineers to create infrastructure needs to be incorporated to a greater degree in PTO. So, the first house rule is that to simulate the building of an airfield, an engineer unit has to create a fortification for air unit basing. This means that, other than a tile/tiles directly adjacent to a city, only fortifications can base air units. Further, this would have to be coded..by you know who....that by increasing the number of sides created for the fortification, necessitating a longer build time, the engineer establishes a logistical supply base. For example, a one side fortification has an inherent 10% efficiency or 1 supply factor, two sides = 20%/2 supply, all around....40%/4 supply. So if you stick an HQ in the fortification you can provide for a limited supply network to the surrounding area. Of course this infrastructure will be subject to strategic attack. Actually if you really get into your imagination, you might think that for each fortification produced in a tile, it will negate the movement penalty of terrain and for supply tracing also......simulating what??? the building of road and rail networks!

Before......"The date which will live in infamy"?......adjusting the year of course.

GZ, take a page from the new SC PTO screenshots. Although I understand that you are considering relative scale, you'll have to enhance the islands to allow for gameplay. There will have to be room enough for landings and combat. I would suggest that an island group may need the imaginary connection (between islets) even though in reality it doesn't exist. My suggestion is the minimum number of maneuver tiles for an island group would be 4. Enough room for deployment of an infantry, artillery, anti-air, and airgroup units or some similar configuration, mutually supporting. You'll also need a port facility, perhaps a hamlet, for minimum supply and naval harboring. Don't forget engineer units for building fortifications, ie air strips, will need maneuver room also. I'm sure you'll figure out an acceptable conglomeration.

Wow! Awesome GZ... I knew you'd be good for this community. Let's see some of the Pacific.

Alright...great! Success...well the campaign needs polish, aesthetics are lacking, but I was concentrating on mechanics for my first venture into the modding scene since SC1. And like I said, this is a great deviation from the normal SC gameplay environment, its not for everyone, ..... Especially those that have closed minds to tiles!

C66, you should get, after extracting the PZAA folder, a cgn file and a folder that has Bitmaps, Scripts, Localization, and a Campaign config. file in it. I believe that is all that's needed to play the scenario.....right? Hubert? anyone?

OK, I thought that's what I did,:confused: but somehow I must have screwed it up. So I started all over and put the new file in as PZAA.zip, just as you directed, thanks Hubert. Let me know when someone gets a successful download. I'll get this right eventually, I won't give up.

Not sure Hubert, I haven't had time lately to address the situation. As I remember the upload to CMMODs it required a zip file. At first I zipped both(txt & cgn) and put them in a new folder, PZAA, and then zipped it and uploaded, thought it might make for a faster(smaller) file. After C66 reported his problem, I went back and put both txt. and cgn. files in one folder, zipped it and reloaded to CMMODs. Later, I intend on trying to DL it from CMMODs onto another machine I have WaW on, my dialup desktop at home, but been to busy. Perhaps you or someone else should try the DL from CMMODs and see if perhaps the problem doesn't exist with C66.

So Hubert if this was the Boston Marathon....are we past Heartbreak Hill?

Give it a little time Kuni...you know how these tech contraptions are, unreliable at best. I haven't felt a "ripple" in the Force.

What a tease!:cool: OK, then, that's it, I'm not going to ask again. Not risking abandoning my patience.

Sombra, you don't have to use the editor. Its in the campaign setup choices(player that goes first..Axis)...go advanced, look in the surrender scripts and activate the fall back capital as Ottawa, deactivate Egypt, I think it will automatically. Its easy, no editor, and its official.

Alright someone....I need a little help here. I've taken both text file and CGN file and put them in one folder, zip it up and DL it to CMMODs. What am I missing? Hey Cantona ...you want me to send it to your email address?

Hey Bill has "due course" been navigated yet? I have a compass if it will help.

Well I updated the campaign, hopefully I got it all in this time, file folder and CGN, but you never know, thought I'd done it right the first time. Give it try Cantona.....fingers crossed!

Excellent Colin, you are, without a doubt, in possession of wisdom.

Yeah I've been following it since its creation, what???? about 3 years ago. Watching its development, I'm of the opinion it'll be a monster to play. The same thing put me off of War in the Pacific by GG, glad I didn't buy it, I'd never get through a PBEM in my lifetime.

Sorry Cantona, for some reason I just got that one file zipped on this memory stick. I'll have to reload it from my Laptop at home later. I tried to upload it here at work on this T-1 line, its a lot faster than my dialup at home.

Sombra I have never played WaW with Egypt as the fallback condition of UK surrender, always Canada. It's a simple selection in the Scripts at the beginning of the game. The other suggestion is to always build the UK engineer unit first and start fortifications immediately around London landing areas. I think the one most important aspect for modification is to allow anti-air tech that is applied to cities and ports defend against all air units, paratroops also. Hubert will have to code this. Finally my last suggestion, which I've made before, that in the event that UK does fall and the Capital is moved to Canada, UK should still be allowed to receive USA lendlease in which case the Axis will see intervention early back into the Eastern Hemisphere.

Alright... I think ...I got it in CMMOD's download section although someone will have to confirm that I did it properly by actual gameplay. Remember this is a WaW 1.05 version for human vs human play only.

Ahhh ..the desert, a true sea of land. In PZAA you better watch your back and more than that your supply base for they are few and far between. Moreover they are quickly neutralized by strategic bombing, what is commonly referred to as interdiction. Because of this one attribute revolving around supply bases, the deployments of PZAA will be a collection of combat groups, or task forces if you'd like. Each Kampfgruppe will be in close proximity to an HQ connected to a supply source. I suggest you protect that source if you want to conduct offensive operations. Sounds familiar...right...something we're all comfortable with in playing SC, supply and HQ attachments. What's different is because of the liberal APs given to to all units in PZAA, those deployments won't be any where close to the front......if there is a front.....more like a potential place of combat. In PZAA I find myself allocating a group to combat, following with some support units for defense in the ensuing counterattack and then readying another group or groups, far removed from the action for the next wave of attack. And so it goes, TFs on attack, TFs for support, TFs getting ready for attack, TFs for security, all situated on their commanders and supply bases, 20 tiles or more away, completely unnoticed by the enemy.....or maybe not. Remember what I said about Recon?

Presently I have PZAA on a memory stick and as soon as I can figure out how to DL it to CMMODS I will, but I wanted to take this opportunity to make some comments about the ins and outs of PZAA. Usually I would think that the players can figure all the S & Ts of PZAA for themselves, but this variation is so different I feel compelled to make some comments. Where to start? I guess...what...the most important aspect of the campaign, logistics..... and that starts with Malta. Malta is a bastion in the Axis sea, a base for RN raiders and surface forces in conjunction with the Royal Airforce to impede Axis MPPs. Notice that I mentioned all three parameters, for without coordination of the three tiers of combat forces, the Axis will quickly stomp on any one facet of the tier without the support of the others. It is utterly useless for the UK and Commonwealth to try and apply singular force projection and raid the many Axis convoy routes without a combined arms approach, although there could be certain circumstances where it will work, temporarily. Now the Axis.....well...its kind of easy for them...prevent the above....easier said then done. The Italian fleet although formidable is no match for the RN....but...with the help of the Luftwaffe.....it is possible to secure the convoy routes, but there is a cost. And that cost is in the desert, for without the air superiority needed to advance the combined arms doctrine, Rommel will be hard pressed to continue his advance towards the Suez, the ultimate victory. So you decide, a little here, some more there......and your opponent....well let's see who guesses right most of the time. Oh...I might add, recon....its worth its weight in gold....no...more like platinum. next post!

Just going to stick my head in here for an instance. For those of you interested, I made the PZAA map from this website: http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/ams/north_africa/ Specifically the NH34 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8 series and NI34 14, 15, 16 along with NH35 1 thru 8 and finally NH36 1,2,3,5,6,7. Oh and almost forgot the most important Malta...NI33-2 Great place for getting good topographical maps.

Oh...I might add, forget everything you've been accustomed to when playing SC. This campaign is a unique experience in SC strategy and you will be quickly overwhelmed with the nature of movement and combat. A plethora of possibilities. Your command skills at a supreme test. For example, you'll be using the mini-map more than all the other scenarios you've played put together. You'll need it to jump around the map and examine the end of a unit's movement possibilities. Takes a bit of getting used to. Also the larger preview map(DoW) where you access convoy routes and blinking unmoved units is a particularly useful tool for orientation purposes, I suggest you use it liberally. It took me awhile to warm up to this playing style, Desert Dave had warned me about it not feeling quite right. It doesn't at first. I persisted and I adjusted and now I've decided it has truly captured the feel for that unique environment that existed in North Africa, as well as the logistics and surrounding eastern Mediterranean. If you ever played SPI's Panzer Armee Afrika, then you'll kind of know what I'm talking about. If not....well...this game isn't for everyone....its way different than most WW2 boardgames you ever played and frankly its port to SC was strange since you can't see the whole map at once. Scrolling is cumbersome, but manageable once you get the hang of it and later....its kind of an afterthought as you develop this uniquely new playing style. All I can say is thanks Hubert. You gave me the tools. Yes...I could use a whole map view with small icons, not detailed ones, just Xs and Os that I can examine the entire units' movement possibilities, but its not that big of a deal. This scenario absolutely showcases the flexibility of your design. Thanks, again.