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Oudy

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Posts posted by Oudy

    Editing Vehicle files

    in Theatre of War

    Posted

    Thanks for the info Wokelly

    I'll redo it with the M4A2. US and British tanks aren't my main interest. I've done more research into the eastern front (thanks to Il2). I always appreciate feedback and take criticism well. (though my wife might disagree.) ;)

    Oudy

    0

    Editing Vehicle files

    in Theatre of War

    Posted

    Wokelly

    I know it doesn't look like it should. I didn't change any graphics files. I chose the closest sherman body and added the correct gun. The stats are correct, but the graphics aren't. I'll take a look at the M4A2 chassie. If it is closer to the Firefly, I'll use it.

    Nev

    Thanks for the data. I appreciate the help.

    Oudy

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    Editing Vehicle files

    in Theatre of War

    Posted

    Jeff

    It has to do with the actual skin graphic. The original barrel was located in one location on the skin and the new barrel is somewhere else. To get it to skin correctly without the invisible parts, you would have to remake the skin file which is way beyond my limited graphic capabilities.

    Oudy

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    Editing Vehicle files

    in Theatre of War

    Posted

    ColonelBlimp

    The armor mask had 89mm armor but the turret itself even on the M4A3s is 63mm. The big difference that I found was on the hull armor. The M4A3 has the front hull armor listed as 102mm but on the Firefly it only said 51mm. I'm not sure why and if an expert on the Firefly tells me differently I'd be happy to change it.

    Oudy

    0

    Requesting data on the German 50mm Kw.K.38 L/42

    in Theatre of War

    Posted

    Jeff

    Thank you very much for your hard work. I really appreciate it. Hopefully, I'll be able to create an accurate version of the short 50mm thanks to you.

    The game had the reload rate for the L/60 at 3.28 seconds. I lowered it to 3.00 seconds for the L/42. That gives the gun 20 shots per minute, which is about 2 shots per minute more than the L/60.

    Oudy

    0

    Editing Vehicle files

    in Theatre of War

    Posted

    Thanks for the comments.

    Slaphappy, I'm using the SFS reader by Dr.Jones. You can read the files since most are text. I'm figuring out how they fit together largely by trial and error. I'm working on a faq to explain what I've learned.

    At this stage I'm not trying to make the units look like they should because I don't know anything about 3d modeling. I have no skill in that direction. I'm just trying to get the right gun on the closest body and then make the stats as correct as I can.

    Jeff, I used the gun data for the Challenger I tank. I chose it because in the encyclopedia it said that the Firefly had the same gun. It carried a 77mm. 17pdr. Mk. V. The Archer has a 76.2mm 17pdr. Mk.2 gun. Should I have used the other gun? It can always be changed if I put the wrong one in the tank. The interesting thing about the Firefly is that it apparently had less frontal hull armor than the M4A3 76mm. Sherman tanks did.

    So far I'm just playing around to see what types of changes I can make. But it has distracted me from mission making.

    Oudy

    0

    Editing Vehicle files

    in Theatre of War

    Posted

    Here is one for Firefly fans.

    I changed the gun, armor values, and country (to UK). File is based on the US A4M3 76mm Sherman with the gun from the UK Challenger. As you can see there is a little clipping in the barrel, but overall not too bad. I haven't gotten the UK markings yet, but it's only a matter of adjusting the locations to fit the tank.

    ShermanFirefly.jpg

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    Editing Vehicle files

    in Theatre of War

    Posted

    Thanks for the comments Madmatt

    Let me be perfectly clear...there has been absolutely no hacking of TOW. Someone has figured out how to read the SFS files (but not write them), most of which are simple text files. The only thing I have done is modified a couple of the files and put them into my TOW directory. Nothing in the original program has been altered. If you recreate the directory structure in your main TOW directory such as "Tow\data\...\pz_ivf1" the modded files will overwrite the original files, but not change them. This allows you to add different units to the game.

    None of the original files are changed, nor are the executables. The only thing you can do is overwrite data files. I think that the ability to mod the game is a good thing. In general games that have active modding communities seem to be more successful and greater longevity. But until I hear something on the issue from the devs, I am unwilling to upload missions with modded files. I have great respect for the people at Battlefront and 1C and wish the game great success.

    All the best

    Oudy

    0

    Editing Vehicle files

    in Theatre of War

    Posted

    I am currently working on a modding faq to explain how I added the Pz.IVF1 and Pz.IIIG and came to a realization that once someone comes up with a export/plugin for 3d mesh files, every aspect of TOW is moddable, and I do mean every aspect, down to being able to rewrite AI routines if you want. It is all quite complicated and will take a lot of work to identify all of the files needed change, but you will be able to whole new units to the game. I imagine that someone will even figure out how to create new maps. Looks like the sky is the limit.

    Oudy

    [ June 07, 2007, 05:23 PM: Message edited by: Oudy ]

    0

    Requesting data on the German 50mm Kw.K.38 L/42

    in Theatre of War

    Posted

    Thanks for your insights and data Jeff. The slope effect I came up with by analyzing the data from the long 50mm gun was:

    50mm. Kw.K.39 L/60 (APC Pzgr39 ammunition)

    (first penetration number is in-game figure)

    100m 80/69 1.159

    500m 68/59 1.152

    1000m 54/47 1.149

    1500m 42/37 1.135

    2000m 30/?

    2500m 23/?

    3000m 17/?

    I just wasn't sure if the slope effect varied from different caliber guns or not. Should this number be the same throughout the ranges, or should it vary like it does? As you can tell, I haven't the slightest idea of what I'm talking about. I was just trying to make the figures for the short 50mm gun roughly match the in-game figures.

    Do you think the rate of fire would be the same for both the short and long 50mm gun?

    Only slightly confused,

    Oudy

    0

    Editing Vehicle files

    in Theatre of War

    Posted

    FinnN

    I get the impression by looking at the mesh files and the skin files that the models are fairly simple. There are 68 little .msh files for the Pz. IVF. The mesh files are linked together in the hier.him file, which is just a text file. theoretically if you could look at the 3d .msh files, which I can't, you could modify them for different variant tanks. The problem would be you would have to generate a new skin1.tga. The 3d stuff is way beyond my capability. Hopefully, someone will develop an export/plugin for them.

    All the best

    Oudy

    0

    Editing Vehicle files

    in Theatre of War

    Posted

    Markus

    Eventually there would have to be some way of keeping track of all of the mods because you have to make a unique identifier to any new units you create for the game in the filesid.ini file. the line would look like this:

    2166 data/units/tanks/ger/pz_ivf1

    the number 2166 has to be unique so it couldn't be used by any other modder. Right now, I think people are just trying to figure out what can be done.

    Oudy

    0

    Editing Vehicle files

    in Theatre of War

    Posted

    Slaphappy

    Some of the guns are named gun and others are named Stvol.msh. I think it has something to do with what type of gun it is. I had to move the Stvol and Mask meshes to move the gun. I'll try to write up instructions when I get the chance.

    I don't believe barrels have their own texture files. They are included on the large tank skin, skin1.tga. Now where they are located I have now clue. Someone else will have to figure that one out.

    I'm still waiting for the patch before spending too much time modding. We really need to get some people who can do 3d modeling to look at the mesh files and see what can be done.

    Oudy

    [ June 06, 2007, 09:06 PM: Message edited by: Oudy ]

    0

    Editing Vehicle files

    in Theatre of War

    Posted

    Ok, for my Pz.IVF1 I just replaced the gun graphic from the 75mm Kw.K.40 L/43 to the 75mm Kw.K.37 L/24. I used the Pz.IVF2 as my base tank and took the gun from the Pz.IVC. There are a few slight skin issues, but it looks pretty good. Can't change the mesh files, but that's mainly because I haven't the slightest idea how to do it, but is increasingly clear that the game is extremely moddable.

    It would be nice to hear from battlefront about modding. I really don't want to upload any modded missions until we know what the dev's attitude will be.

    I don't have anything to do with the SFS reader, so I wouldn't feel right passing it on without permission.

    Here is a screen shot of the Pz.IVF1 with the short 75mm gun. I changed the gun stats, gun graphic, and armor stats. You can see the slight issues with the skin of the gun.

    <a href="http://www.divshare.com/download/860750-d86">Pz.IVF1.jpg

    All the best

    Oudy

    0

    Requesting data on the German 50mm Kw.K.38 L/42

    in Theatre of War

    Posted

    I need a little assistance from ballistics experts.

    I'm trying to add a Pz.IIIG with a 50mm Kw.K.38 L/42 (short 50mm gun) to the game. The Pz. III with the short 50mm gun is not in the game, but it was a major player in Barbarossa. It is simple to switch guns and alter armor values, but the data for the this gun isn't in the game data files.

    I have the penetration data from Jentz, but I need some additional information.

    Info needed:

    Reload time or Rounds per minute

    Maximum firing distance

    Muzzle velocity for the 50mm SPgGr 38 (HE) shell

    It would also be nice to have additional penetration data (other than Jentz)

    Finally, does anyone have the mathematical formula for converting armor penetration values from 30 degrees to 0 degrees?

    Thanks in advance for any assistance.

    Oudy

    0

    Editing Vehicle files

    in Theatre of War

    Posted

    Dr. Jones and FinnN are correct. You can alter the data of the vehicles themselves. Just as a test I set up the following engagement. I pitted a Pz. IIc with a 20mm Kw.K.30 L/55 against a Kv-1. The tanks were set just under 500 meters apart. At this range the Pz. IIc has no chance of penetrating the 75mm Kv-1 frontal armor. Penetration rates at that range for the Kw.K.30 are about 16mm with AP shell and 23mm with APCR shell. Needless to say, all of the shots bounced off with no damage.

    Next I altered the armor values of the Kv-1, reducing all of its armor to 5mm. Reran the test and after moving forward to about 300 meters the Pz. IIc penetrated and destroyed the Kv-1. Again the penetration rates are just over 16mm and 23mm respectively.

    Finally, just for fun I restored the normal Kv-1 armor and gave the Pz. IIc a 88mm Kw.K.43 L/71. This is the same gun from the Tiger II. This time from 500 meters my uber Pz. IIc blew the turret off the Kv-1.

    My conclusions are that you can mod changes in the actual vehicle data and have those changes reflected not only in the encyclopedia but in the game as well.

    All the best.

    Oudy

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