Oudy

Bobomite You need to get Dr. Jones IMFViewer. It can be found here: http://www.allaircraftarcade.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=6819&highlight=imfviewer+exe For some reason it hasn't been uploaded to the repository. You may need to register to download it, I'm not sure. You can open the .tga file and resave it. Then you can open it up in Photoshop. Hope this helps Oudy

Sneaksie The article is a great example of how to fight a defensive battle. I would love to see the same author write an article demonstrating offensive tactics. It would be interesting to see how he would attack an enemy in a strong defensive position. Oudy

Hurray! Oudy

There is a great article on the use of real-life tactics in TOW2. The author plays the Germans in the Battle of Sbeitla. He demonstrates how the use of historical tactics is accurately represented in the game. Unfortunately the article is in Russian. I hope that Battlefront will translate it and post it on their site because I think the article is valuable to anyone wanting to understand how to improve their game play in TOW2. The original Russian article is at: http://artofwar.games.1c.ru/page.php?id=88. I had to use Google Translate to read it but it was worth it. Oudy

Very very nice Tche. I'm looking forward to their addition to the game. Thank you for all of the work you have done. Oudy

Thanks Amandus Just tried your battle and got killed, but it was great fun. However, I could learn to hate allied air power. It's fun to play the Italians. Thanks for your contribution. Oudy

Tartari I ran into that problem when I tried to bring a TOW1 static into TOW2. Did you add the new houses to the static.ini file? I was able to see the new static in the map builder but not in the game until I added it to this file. I apologize if I'm stating the obvious. Oudy

Moon Thanks for the reply but no luck. I had the file open for 30 mins and still no pics. I've never had a problem with large Word files or Word files with a lot of images. I'm curious if anyone else is having the problem or if it's just me. Oudy

After downloading the manual file and opening the ToW model converter.doc, I noticed that a number of the pictures don't seem to show up. Starting on page 12 with "A list of textures (regions) names is stored in" I seem to have a bunch of blank image frames. From pages 12-18 there is nothing but blank image frames. Could there be a problem with that file? Is anyone else having trouble with it or just me? Oudy

I would like to thank the developers at 1C and Battlefront for the release of the modpack for TOW1. The information contained in the files will help modders understand how to create new models and extend the longevity of the game. This modpack should also help people interested in modding for TOW2. Oudy

Zellek Work is being done on several user made maps as well as a tutorial for creating maps. The problem is that since the game is in 3d it is much more involved to create maps, but with free SRTM digital elevation data you can recreate any battlefield. I wish more 3d modelers would get interested in adding units to the game. It's a shame because TOW can be modded to an almost unlimited degree but it takes a lot of work and effort. I agree that the game is too good for the attention it receives. I've tried to figure out why but don't have any easy answers. TOW seems to have a larger following in Europe than in the US. But if you want the most realistic company level tactical simulation TOW is it. We need people who can create maps, people who can create 3d models and people who can create new battles, but the skill set for each of these is different. And currently there doesn't seem to be many people who are willing or able to add new content. Some people seem to be more interested in complaining about this or that little piece of minutia rather than add to the overall content and thus extending the life of the game. Anyway, I hope that some more battles and maps will be forthcoming in the near future. Oudy

Prattboy The SFSExtractor0.3 has been uploaded to the battlefront repository for TOW1. I wrote a modding guide a couple of years ago when we were first figuring out how to mod the game. Much has been discovered since then but it is still a good primer for learning how to mod. It was at CMods but I'll upload it to the TOW1 repository. If you have other questions please ask and I'm sure someone will be able to help you. Gordonvembu The SFSExtractor is really the only tool we have to decompress the SFS files. However you need the filelist.txt to tell it what files to look for. Once you open the Extractor tell it where the TOW mission editor location is and where the download location will be. Don't extract to your TOW game location. Once you extract the files you won't have to use the Extractor again. From that point you modify the extracted files and put them into the corresponding directory in your Game location. Normally the game uses the files from the SFS files but if you have a modified file in your game directory the program will use the modified one instead. Oudy

Glad to see there is another place to upload files. Oudy

While creating a new map and working with Tartari on a Map tutorial I tested importing road textures and statics from TOW1. And yes it can be done. However, I wouldn't recommend importing buildings or houses because infantry won't be able to enter them unless you completely update the 3d models. And I'll leave that for others to tackle. As a caveat, you need Dr. Jones's brilliant SFSExtractor and the filelist.txt before you can do any modding. And you will also need a copy of TOW1. To copy road textures: 1. Copy the texture and bump texture from TOW1 to Theatre of War 2\maps\_ROADS\africa\ directory. As an example I added the Country Stone Road from TOW1. Battlefront\Theatre of War 2\maps\_ROADS\africa\country_stone_road2.tga Battlefront\Theatre of War 2\maps\_ROADS\africa\bump\country_stone_road2.tga 2. Add the two files in filesid.ini 3993 maps/_roads/africa/country_stone_road2.tga 3994 maps/_roads/africa/bump/country_stone_road2.tga The new roads will appear in the map editor and you can use them as normal. To copy statics from TOW1 (I tested on the dog kennel) 1. Copy the kennel_001 directory from TOW1 to TOW2 Battlefront\Theatre of War 2\3dobj\environment\africa_evironment\things\kennel_001 2. Open static.ini in TOW1 and copy the section for that static and change the MeshLive and MeshDead directories to match TOW2 directory structure. I also renamed Kennel_001 to Africa_Kennel_001. [buildings.House$Africa_Kennel_001] Title Africa_Kennel_001 MeshLive 3dobj\environment\africa_evironment\things\kennel_001\mono.sim MeshDead 3dobj\environment\africa_evironment\things\kennel_001\mono_dead.sim Preset Thing_Wood_Frail Preset House_Wood_Frail 3. Copy this section into the TOW2 static.ini. You can create a new section or paste it into an existing one. Add the following lines if you want to add a new section; in this case Africa_Things [***] Title Africa_Things Both the filesid.ini and static.ini are located in the Battlefront\Theatre of War 2\data\settings\ directory. It is important to remember that if you make a non desert map (for example a map from Sicily, Italy or Russia) all of the dust effects will still be desert effects and will look a bit odd. You may be able to import the dirt effects from TOW1 but that is for a different topic. I have to admit that making the map was enjoyable but placing statics on the completed map is time consuming, tedious, difficult, frustrating and not much fun (in my humble opinion). Anyone who masters this art, or anyone who actually enjoys it is a much better person than myself. Oudy

Redwolf This topic was done to death two years ago. All of the penetration data is available in the data/guns/ger/ directories. If you have a problem with the penetration values then feel free to change them, but they seem fairly normalized to me. Sneaksie and others developers have said from the beginning that all the penetration data is from the same degree angle. You don't have to believe them but they have been consistent. [Ger\88mm_PzGr_39_APCBC] Ammo Ger\88mm_PzGr_39_APCBC Speed 733 aimMinDist 10 aimMaxDist 2000 HistMaxDist 14815 Dispersion 1000 0.30 LinesH 0 100 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 10000 Penetration 115 113 105 97 89 81 81 59 0 gordonvembu There is a great explanation of the new system of visibility for vehicles over at the 1C website (it's in Russian so you many need to use a translator on it.) http://artofwar.games.1c.ru/page.php?id=48 This is one of the reasons we can't import the old models from TOW1 because they added visibility boxes in the 3d models. It really is quite an ingenious way to handle visibility and provides an historically accurate depiction of who could see where. The crew sees two times worse than regular infantry. Open topped vehicles have better visibility range (as good as infantry). You can test visibility ranges by creating a battle with a single enemy tank and an infantry unit. Creep the infantry toward the tank until it begins to fire. You'll find that you can get pretty close. If tanks are firing at your infantry from long distances it's probably because they've been spotted by another unit, which began firing on them. It is very important to make a recon of the area you are about to attack because if your infantry is caught out in the open it will get ripped to shreds by machine gun fire. I'll admit the game still seems very lethal to infantry so you have to be very careful with them. Hope that helps Oudy