Streety

I'll start a new thread for it. Cheers, Streety

Thanks. I'll look into them. So far File-Dropper and Crocko looked ok (and Send-Space too, but it has a smaller, 300MB-limit, for free & unregistered use). I'll upload my beta as such a temporary download in a week and report here and in a new thread, unless in the meantime I hear back from one of the permanent hosts I've approached.

Thanks. Their site's not working properly at the moment and I'm not too keen on anything that requires a program to be installed on my machine, but I will look into it if I need a plan-B. Cheers.

Thanks for the interest. Oh, it wouldn't be in one zip file, but more like spread across 10 or more. I don't want to get into CD burning, but I'm still hoping to find a free host for at least a stripped-down version of the early war (300MB). I'll keep people posted here.

Thanks for the comment. Oh, I'll let others post it (or link to it from) elsewhere. But I forgot to say in my rule-set that the 4 battles per week was really only meant for CMBO. If you are doing the whole war from 1940 (CMAK) or '41 (CMBB) to 1945, then one battle per month is less daunting. Oh, and at the end of a battle, surrenders can happen despite the points-result occasionally going the other way, so for my simple rules they have no impact on campaign or HQ survival. The campaign-ending-capture mentioned above counts only if your individual HQ was captured during a battle (not at the end) and wherein your side goes on to lose by a major or total defeat (if he was captured but you only lose a minor or tactical defeat I have him rescued/exchanged but demoted a notch). If your side wins but surrenders at the end of the battle, treat it as a draw and stay in the same sector but as defender in the next battle. One key impact of the campaign is that you can get stuck when up against attacking over an open, featureless battlefield. Tough. But at least with CMBB & CMAK, increasing the damage level each time the battlefield starts giving more and more craters for cover, and with promotions you might be able to use a night attack or use more armour. But after 5 attempts (damage reaching "massive"), I call that an impasse, suffer a demotion and take a different route with a brand new map. I think that's "everything", but of course its all only an offered suggestion as an open-framework for other solo-gamers, if they're pondering their own rule-set, to possibly consider and further refine as they see fit. It's kept my interest in the game going. Cheers guys.

I've completed a beta version, but its a huge 700MB (9,100 files), and the final version could end up at 800MB. This is because despite being in mainly 8-bit colour there 5 different terrain sets for converting the all-combined region for the early (Sealion) game, and it currently includes the even larger late (ETO) game too (with new winter terrain, snow models for ALL armour and uniforms). And because of desaturation tweaks almost every bitmap is affected. I currently don't have a host for it, though am in discussions. I may end up not releasing the late stuff (because its only a little different from existing ETO) but even just releasing the early game will amount to nearly 300MB. I also hope to refine the new Sealion grau set for use in CMBB, and have a couple of other small mods in-hand, before finally retiring from modding.

There's also some CMAK scenarios at the CMMODS site: http://cmmods.greenasjade.net/mods You have to register, then search the mods for "scenario". There's also plenty of other maps and thousands of mods too.

One way to get around the enemy late-rushes (which sadly the enemy AI does even when he's defending a great position) would be to only fight meetings-engagements. However, I give the enemy a +50% to +100% handicap and +2 or +3 experience handicap. This also overcomes all my hard-learned gamey (but unrealistic) tactics. I also play with medium quality troops, automatically selected, but make the enemy of random quality and of unrestricted type, and set fog of war to full, so I never know what I'm up against until a little ways into contact. But you get more options when playing using CMBB and CMAK. I've decided to put my campaign rule-set "Easy Company" under the CMC section, if you want to read it and see what I mean about the extra options....

I've still not got CMBN but I'm told it has a good campaign mode, so hopefully a big improvement for the solo-gamer. But all is not lost for CM1 - there's the mainstay that is RoBo's excellent ROQC (found at the CMMODS website). But ROQC is fairly complex, so for those who want a very simple campaign life, I hope you all don't mind if I offer an outline of my own Quick-Battle campaign game rules, which I've called "Easy Company" (because its meant to be very easy to operate). Not exactly "CMC", but nonetheless a campaign of sorts using CM1. ----------Easy Company Rules---------- Initial consideration (all CM1 games, for both campaigns and one-off battles):- Play with automatically selected armies. Yours to be average-quality troops, but make the enemy of random quality and of unrestricted type, and set fog of war to full, so you never know what you're up against until a little ways into contact. But CMBO is quite limited for the solo-gamer, whereas CMBB & CMAK offer far more, such as: 1) Give both sides casualties to start the game with - I start with 10% or so for my guys but make the enemy random, and so with fog of war set to full you won't have a good idea until well into the fight just how many enemy units are likely to be left. 2) Always play with your troops weakened but the enemy set to random, again this makes judging the enemy strength, make-up and size impossible until well into the battle. 3) Set the game length to variable (so late rushes for the flag are risky). Game length is otherwise up to you, but I go with 50 (variable) rounds for a 900-point battle when attacking, increasing this by 5 rounds for assaults, and decreasing it by 5 rounds when defending. When attacking with larger points-sized battles I give myself even more rounds because of the headache of marshalling the extra troops. 4) Set the weather, time of day, and map features (town or rural, hills etc) all to random. 5) I give the enemy a healthy handicap of +50% to +100% to overcome weaknesses of the enemy AI (such as rushing out of well defended positions or tanks trapped behind woods) and overcome all my gamey tactics (such as flanking down the edge of the map). But this handicap could be altered (see "survival, more on promotion, and purpose" section below). Further Campaign rules: 1) Your first battle is random (or meeting in CMBO). Then advance a week each battle (a month every 4 battles). But even if you win a battle on points, you call it a draw if you don't have at least one victory flag. 2) Make a note of the map-type (size of hills, settlement, how wooded) and if win go onto a fresh map and attack, if lose retreat to the previous "sector" (i.e. input the same map-type features as noted - or just another a random map if you lost your very first battle) and defend. And if a draw play again in the same map-type. And for every battle in the same "sector" in CMBB and CMAK you should also increase the battlefield damage by one level (something you can't do in CMBO). To help you remember your past battle maps/results, save them after the battle by viewing the map again and save with a short-hand reminder (such as "4104w1 df sectorA thhht MV" meaning "April 41, week 1, defending, location, town, high-hills, heavy trees, Major Victory) and so on. Then you can just use your saved battles list to keep tally of your campaign. 3) The highest ranking infanty HQ unit on your side represents "you", so if he dies or is captured AND your side loses a Major or Total defeat it's Campaign Over (if your side wins/draws then he's recovered wounded/rescued). This makes him cautious except in do-or-die or finely balanced situations. Every time he does something brave (like destroy a tank or alone hold-off or kill two or more enemy infantry platoons) or you win a total victory, he gets a star/rank promotion. But if he routs off the field or leaves before the end to save his own skin he loses a rank/star. Demotion from Captain puts you in the last-chance position of a lieutenant as an Acting-Captain, and demotion from that ends your camapaign. Survival, More on Promotion, and Purpose: The idea is from the earliest week in the war try to survive as long as possible, advancing as many map/sectors as possible, and gain as much promotion as possible. Promotion is handled by stars and partly depending on points size of battles. I go with 800-1000 point battles, starting as acting-Captain, then captain, then awarding stars (though you could instead call yourself major, brigadier, general, field marshall, supreme leader of the universe....). Or you could start increasing the point-sizes of your battles (say 1500-2000 for a major). You must also increase the level of difficulty with each promotion, say start off with no force-size handicaps, no enemy experience bonus, and fog of war set to partial, then increase the difficulty of one of these by one notch each time you're promoted (and down a notch each time you're demoted). To reward your efforts, with every two promtions above Captain you get an additional selection options - choice of force-type, choice of force-mix, choosing time of day or night when attacking (night attacks still limited to one a month), etc, and above the initial general rank you can also choose to use other nations' troops. If you're an old hand, you could start off with increased difficulty settings and a higher starting rank accordingly (For example, I usually play as a "7-star" captain, i.e. 900-point force size, enemy handicap of +75%, full fog of war, and enemy experience bonus +3). Optional Campaign Rules (maps and selecting your own troops): You could also build your own campaign maps rather than the simple map system outlined above. And I've also played with selecting my own troops rather than on auto-select. If you select your own troops you must have at least one infantry company and note that your own initial casualty level (when playing CMBB or CMAK) - especially if you increase it beyond 10% as yet another level-of-difficulty notch related to promotion - means you won't get all of what you asked for anyway - which is another nice twist to challenge the solo-gamer. When selecting my own troops I stick to "combined forces". And if playing CMAK this way you should further limit your Matilda tanks to one per infantry company. Promotions affect your choices when selecting troops: As a captain you can only have one company (extra infantry have to be independent platoons), an acting-major can have two companies, a major can have a battalion (depending on your points-size of battles). A general can have one unit or platoon (of armour) or up to a company (of infantry) from another friendly nation, and a field marshall can have any friendly troops so long as you still have your core-company and the other friendly nations don't outnumber your nation. Well, that's how I compensate for no CMC in CM1. Thanks for reading and hope I haven't bored you, or put this in the wrong forum section, and that this gives a few tips to anyone looking for a simple campaign structure.

And just to prove CMBO ain't dead, I've just uploaded a brand new mod at CMMODS. It's the Dads Army theme tune. I must get around to updating my comedy icons mod too (the original mod had some icons that were too bright), but I'm heavily into modding CMAK at the mo...

In my experience, dead CM1 tanks (at least in CMAK, its been a while since I played CMBO) do seem to block LOS even when there's no apparent smoke, but the effect is tiny if it is there. Try changing your units' magnification size down to realistic and you'll see they are really all quite small - it could be that where you think the 2nd sherman is looking through the first it really isn't. And unit and buildings images (and trees) in the game are only "generally representative" - the actual shapes are all varied. So your dead tank might "really" be without a turret (or blown to pieces) and easily seen over even though the image in the game always just shows them in place with the turret and/or gun slightly askew.

I think Blazing 88s probably given you a sufficient reminder to someone like you who has played the game before, but seeing as you asked for a tutorial, I provided a Modding Guide for GaJ to put on his CMMODS (http://cmmods.greenasjade.net/) site's "FAQ" page 4 months ago but sadly he hasn't done it. However it is still in the CMMODS "Chat" section where I first posted it. I've pasted the main blurb below. Note that it also refers to a previous Battlefront thread on the same subject: ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- How to install mods - CMBO, CMBB & CMAK Modders often put a readme file in their mod (such as I do) giving (some) instructions, but assume the downloader has some knowledge. However, for a newbie it might seem daunting. This question was asked (by deanrees01) and answered (by mfred) on this [CMMODS] forum before (in 2009). The answer was that you'll find deeper discussion on other forums such as Battlefront here: http://www.battlefront.com/community/showthread.php?t=88554 But, seeing as it is relevant to this [CMMODS] forum, I'll also offer a simple answer below: Most mods here [at CMMODS] are bitmap files (numbered files ending in .bmp) and change the way things look in the game. For CMBO and CMBB (Combat Mission 2) the BMP folder usually sits in the game's main folder in your computer's C drive folder called "progam files" (note this is what windows XP calls it - windows vista and windows 7 might just call it "programs", or of course you might have installed the game on another drive etc). In the CMAK (Combat Mission 3 Afrika Korps) game's folder you have to look for the BMP folder inside another folder called RUN. In order to use a mod you can use one of two methods. The simple and most common way is to do it yourself manually by moving or copying the files in the mod's folder directly into the game's BMP folder, thereby replacing the specific .bmp files therein. Don't move the whole folder or zip file into the BMP folder, but just the numbered .bmp files that you find in the mod, or else the mod won't appear in the game. Always make a copy of your existing BMP folder (or just the file numbers concerned) first, in case you don't like the mod. Rather than do the above, some people instead use CMMOS (which can be found in the CMMODS mod database by the author name of "CMMOS"), which is a program for switching various mods in and out of your game. Mods used with CMMOS usually appear under the author name of CMMOS or have CMMOS in their title. Mod files used with CMMOS also look different in that usually they aren't a simple numbered file (like "12345.bmp") but often look something like "plaincamo-12345.bmp". My own mods are designed for manual modding rather than CMMOS, but mine also often have various options for a particular .bmp file that might look like "12345-withbottle.bmp" and "12345-plain.bmp" and where you see this you need to decide which one you prefer and then rename the file to remove the additional wording (so the above example would look like "12345.bmp") and then put that in the BMP folder. I name my options this way so that you could (if you wanted) simply install all the options into the BMP folder and leave them there. Note that by having the wording follow the number, such as "12345-plain.bmp" (rather than the more common way around of "plain-12345.bmp" used by many modders), they can be easily found next to the bitmap number they relate to when sorting your bitmap files in order, and they won't do any harm (even in the BMP folder) because only the option you rename to be without the added wording will be used in-game. Indeed, I often just keep the original bitmap in the same folder, renamed (such as "12345-original.bmp"). However, it may be better for when managing mods yourself if you create a separate folder called "mod options" and put copies of the mods there as well as back-up copies of your original and current BMP folders prior to adding the mod. Some mods are sound files (numbered files ending in .wav) and found in the game's WAV folder - which you'll find in the same parent folder where you found the BMP folder. And you can change these wav files in the same way as mentioned above for bmp files. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I thought that the CMMODS Mod Repository would be the best place for it and I also posted two related follow-up chat messages 4 months ago there with ideas about CMBN Modding and the Battlefront Forum for GaJ to consider for his FAQ page but maybe he hasn't had any time, or just isn't that bothered.... Anyway, hope that helps.

Engine ladder? But I didn't even realise that CM1 had any fire engines! Do you have any hoses too? I keep losing, with lots of my Sherman tanks just going straight up in flames merely at the mention of Germany, and a long, preferably camouflaged, engine hose would be a lot more useful than a ladder! Can anyone help? I need serious help here guys......

Yay! Glad you found it!

That is all very, very odd. Just a few ideas, in the order I'd suggest you try and then check whether the problem fixed before trying the next one. But I'd recommend you first always try anything that Battlefront tech-support say themselves before doing any of the following. And please note, I am not setting myself up here as an expert and the following is entirely at your own risk - I'm just saying what I'd do in your place, given that you still have a problem. And if you are under 18 or not computer-savvy I'd strongly recommend letting an adult who knows about these things do them for you:- 1) Check your disk for errors: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows7/Check-a-drive-for-errors 2) Run Windows update and any other update system that your computer manufacturer provides. 3) Look for and install a newer graphics driver or Directx update - this might auto-fix any glitches with your current versions. 4) Before re-installing CMBB, did you remove any new software that you've installed since you last played the game successfully, or undo any changes to your graphics settings that you (or another game you installed) altered since you last played CMBB successfully? 5) Did you thoroughly uninstall (restart computer afterwards, delete any remaining folders, and run a registry cleaner to remove any remaining hidden files) before installing CMBB again? 6) When you rolled-back your graphics driver, did you roll back to an old enough version? (you may have been unlucky if the last roll-back only took you to an update that just happened to occur after you last played the games ok). 7) Make sure you don't have two different antivirus or spyware programs running at the same time. You may have had a free-trial version of say McAfee or Norton that you let lapse in favour of a didfferent program but they didn't uninstall properly. Then update the program you have, and check to see if there is any advanced setting within the antivirus that now stops certain programs (i.e. CMBB or CMAK) from running. 8) (or possibly first if you already have one) - use a registry checker/cleaner. 9) If all else fails, I hate using System Restore but try using it to go back to the most recent point before the day you knew the games worked ok. If this works, then either your registry got corrupted or another new program or program update messed things up and you'll need to figure out by trial and error which one it was. ---------- Before attempting the next steps, just try leaving your computer be for a few weeks - it may be that an automatic update of some sort didn't install properly or had some glitch or oversight that the next update patch could fix it. This happened with my brother's Dell (running Vista) last year. ---------- 10) Consider re-installing your system (if you are competent enough and know how to do this yourself) from any back-up or original installation disk. 11) Consider that your graphics card or its cooling management (either software or hardware) may be developing a fault. Graphics cards in laptops can get too hot (I've lost one that way and they're hard or impossible to repair if they are integrated into the motherboard). Look for a BIOS update for your computer or other fixes from your computer manufacturer's website, especially if you think the graphics card is getting too hot because the BIOS usually controls cooling. BUT IF YOU HAVE NEVER FLASHED YOUR BIOS and your computer is still under warranty you should let the shop you got it from do it, because if you screw up your BIOS you can kill your computer. 12) Take it to an engineer.

Hi Itchy, Until/unless you get a more expert reply, it sounds like your computer is OK so I'd merely suggest you re-install CMAK or CMBB and see if that cures the problem. And/or try changing your desktop resolution. Have you installed any other games or programs since you last played CMAK or CMBB? This could have altered an obscure graphics setting somewhere that's hard to find, or changed your direct 3D version. Otherwise a .dll file or other file somewhere just got corrupted or lost (I lost my OpenPlay.dll file once, without which the games won't play at all) but an uninstall and fresh re-install of the games should fix that. Hope that helps but I'm not on Win7 so can't consider other specific technical aspects without having the same machine and going through every possibility etc. Good luck with things, Streety.

Ok so I'm useless at using forums - I'm attempting to upload a couple of screen-shots of the conversion in progress, just to show that I am actually doing something. These thumbnails seem too small to me, but you get the idea - these are of the converted "all combined" region for March43 (German Grau) and Jan43 (Brit-Com).

Thanks guys, your kind comments do keep me going. I just don't want to get people's hopes up too much - I guess you can look at my existing mods for a rough idea. But this is huge and bound not to be perfect. Anyway, my 3rd version of the grau is probably about half redone. It's slow and intensive work because I just use MSPaint and Irfanview, and I'm trying to make it mostly 8-bit and desaturated. But I am (amongst many other things) a published traditional (i.e. non-electronic) artist, and so have done a little freehand too. I'm hoping to upload a complete conversion "beta" in about 4 weeks for feedback.

Just a further update - been working away at this for 3+ hours every evening since my last post (and for 16 months in total). Getting a grau that looks ok at all times of day & night has been a sticking point. Good by day makes it far too blue in the morning, but cure that and it looks far too red or green in the evening, or too greeny-purple at night, but cure that... and on and on in some vicious circle. However, I found a cure (of sorts), by doing away with almost all existing German-grey stock and mods (be they CMBB or earlier CMAK Sealion) and working mainly with a freshly recoloured desert CMAK set. A LOT of extra work but these CMAKs are much nicer, more 3-D styled models than some of the CMBBs, so may even end up being preferred by CMBB users as well as for the new CMAK Conversion. Everything else (allies, terrain etc), is done bar packaging up into appropriate sized zips. I'll post in this thread once more to say when I'm done, and then start a new thread with the new conversion's name.

Hi Blazing 88's - Thanks but I guess people ought to wait until they see it all before they start thanking me.... But I will definitely post here when I'm done, yet at the same time guess I should also start a new thread with the new mod's name because it'll be a major mod (a total conversion of the early half of the game). And guess I'll probably just upload it to CMMODS where my other mods are. Cheers.

You're welcome Altipueri, Though I doubt the makers were being dictatorial, they either just didn't think of it or more likely it was too much hassle. But even as it stands, its not too much hassle for players to still do something similar themselves using the game editor. In addition to a better campaign mode (something I understand CMBN has addressed) I've always wished CMBO/BB/AK would allow any nation to fight any other axis or allied nation (or even itself) which would open up many modding possibilities and "what-if" scenarios. Shame about the lack of CMBN bases - I too really like them in the earlier CM games and hate those unit indicators floating in the sky on newer CM games. Adios amigo.

Seems like a reasonable thing to able to do, doesn't it? But I don't think you can in CMBO, CMBB or CMAK, because you have to select all the game parameters (including which side to play), before the QB is generated. Maybe if you know the code of the QB saved game file you could manipulate it.... An alternative way would be to use the Game Editor to create your own scenarios, which can then be played either side. Note that you can't simply load a QB saved game into the editor (I've tried) - you'd have to create a scenario from scratch. However, you can, in the editor, do things like generate a random map, like a QB would, so it's not too awkward....

Just a mini-update: So as I'm used to CMAK I never played an un-modded night CMBB game before (i.e. never played with grau tanks) and now have discovered that the original CMBB bitmaps, as well as many modders' CMBB works, appear greeny-purple at night!!! And regardless of whether thay are standard 24-bit or my desaturated 8-bit versions. At least, that's how they all look with my NVidia GeForce 8400GS graphics card. However, I've pushed on and found that things like some Molek and HeinzBaby mods suffer much less from this problem (or at least my desaturated 8-bit versions of their mods don't). And so I'm still tinkering.....

Thanks for the kind comment Fenris. Yeah, I'm going to try to tidy up the worst offenders as best I can, then package and upload it all "as is" when I get to the (fast approaching) point of being cheesed-off or worn out.

Argh! I was almost done with the german-grau set, but checking their appearance at night revealed many look all purpley-green splodges. The problem doesn't just affect my 8-bit desaturated modding but many others' standard 24-bit mods too. I can reduce the effect a little by totally desaturating the grey, but then reincorporating that back into all the bitmaps (874 grau) to still show tyres, mud and other colouration, will take ages. I did just rediscover some Molek stuff that look better at night and I could feed them in, but that too is going to take time and is only a partial cure. Part of the problem is I went for mainly clean models and yet it seems these are more affected than dirty ones (mud-splattered, dusty etc). So almost back to square one because I don't want to release a set that looks ok in the day and crappy at night! The terrain, buildings and allies don't look to bad, but I'd hate to put a set out that was incomplete. So a "full set" could be a little way off....