Rambler

These look great, Fuser. Just the right amount of dirt to make it a little more grimy. If I may ask, what's your technique for applying the dirt and mud, especially the kind you did for the side skirts? I'm working on a skin and could use some tips on how to apply dirt and mud. My experiments so far haven't turned out very well. Thanks!

I'm currently using Vein's sound mod, but Oddball's sound mod, bodkin's sound mod, and CPT Mike's Vehicles of War mod have well done sounds as well. The only way you can really tell if one will overwrite the other is to look at the wav files for each mod. One of the other things you can do is download them all and then pick out the sounds you like the best from each one to create your own customized sound mod.

You're welcome De Savage. Started playing through the mission but haven't been able to finish it yet. I'll post some feedback when I do.

Here's a cleaned up briefing with some edits:

You're welcome guys! Enjoy it .

Thanks Juju. Haha yeah, I totally empathize with you. When I was reading your list of the issues you had to deal with I totally knew where you were coming from .

This is the fixed file so it's OK to download it from the repository now.

Yeah, if you read my edit in the post above yours you'll see why . It's back up now!

Thanks Earl! Thanks Stingray, and you're more than welcome Shorker! Glad to have helped y'all and found a workable solution. I just uploaded it to the repository, and it's available for immediate download at GaJ's CMMods site here: http://cmmods.greenasjade.net/mods/4476/details Enjoy! Edit: Well, right after I uploaded it I had the great idea of changing the US compass pouch to a darker tone so it will blend in better on the German soldiers when it slightly clips through as they run. Looks a lot better. I fixed the upload at CMMods with the correct version, so download from there until I can fix the upload on the repository. I apologize for any inconvenience.

Yeah, I'm about to throw my hands up in trying to make that zeltbahn totally transparent via alpha channel. Very frustrating having those extra bits hang around! Although, it works fine if you make the whole gear texture transparent . Thanks for explaining why it's so difficult to erase gear. Unfortunately, no. You'd have to create a new 3d model of that sign, texture it and then import it into the game. As Ryujin said, we don't have the tools to put new models into the game. Now for some good news. I found what might be an acceptable work around to the zeltbahn problem. I got the idea of swapping in some US gear for zeltbahn-1 to see what would happen and found that the us-compass-pouch.mdr works almost perfectly. The game places the model inside the soldier mesh so you don't see it from the outside. The only problem comes when the guys start running. The top edge of the pouch slightly clips through the soldier's back. Here are some pics to illustrate: These guys all had the zeltbahn 1 mdr attached to their shoulders. It is now gone with the us compass pouch substituted for it. This is what happens when they start to run. The edge of the pouch clips slightly. This is the only time it clips. When they are shooting, crouching, standing and walking you can't see it at all. Doesn't solve it all the way, but gets pretty dang close. Probably as close as we can get tbh.

These look really nice Juju. Excellent work! You have me kind of curious now, though. What were some of the issues you encountered?

Shorker, The problem is that we don't have access to the code that controls where the gear is placed on the model. I did a bunch of testing on this over the weekend and this is what I found out. The .mdr files that you find in the gear folders of the German and US are all model files containing the various bits and pieces of gear. The offending .mdr file is german-zeltbahn-1.mdr and it's following lod .mdrs. It's not really the model itself, but rather the bit of code that contains the coordinates to where the zeltbahn model is placed on the soldier model. We don't have access to the soldier .mdrs either, but I don't think it would really matter anyway. The system set up for handling the gear seems to be very similar to a texture decal system. I did a F-4D skin for a flight sim called Strike Fighters that uses a texture decal system to handle the aircraft markings. I had to create all the necessary art files for the markings and then create a .ini file that conained code for how the decal was placed on the model. Here's a sample piece of code from that ini: [Decal008] MeshName=wing_left_outer DecalLevel=0 DecalFacing=BOTTOM FilenameFormat=f-4d/119FIG/dec/usaf Position=-4.241,-0.94 Rotation=-40.0 Scale=3.0 DecalMaxLOD=4 That little bit told the game that Decal008 (an USAF insignia) was to be placed on the bottom left wing mesh at the indicated coordinates, rotation and scale. I strongly suspect there is something similar going on for the placement of gear on the soldier models. Without that bit of code, we can't do much of anything. However, what we can do is substitute one of the other gear .mdrs for german-zeltbahn-1.mdr. The best one to substitute it with is german-a-frame-cluster.mdr and it's accompanying lods. What you need to do is find the Normandy v100A.brz and Normandy v100B.brz in the Data folder. Copy and paste these into the input folder for RezExplode (you'll find this in the Mod Tools folder). Run the rezexplode executable and it will unpack the brzs in the exploded folder. You will then navigate to a>soldiers>german>gear. Copy and paste the three a-frame .mdrs into your Z folder (where all your mods are installed. If you don't have a Z folder, create it inside of the Data folder). Once the .mdrs are copied into the Z folder, rename them to match the names used for the three german-zeltbahn-1.mdrs. This will now display the A frame gear combo instead of the high position zeltbahn roll. Unfortunately, the A frame is placed higher up the back and the mess kit sticks up above the soldier's shoulders (beacuse we can't change the coordinates), but at least there isn't a lone zeltbahn up there anymore. I also created some dummy german-zeltbhan-1.mdr files to see if that would eliminate it, but it only caused the game to crash when it was loading the scenario. Our other option, and the best looking one, is to create an alpha channel in the german-gear.bmp that "erases" german-zeltbahn-1.mdr. I'm currently working on this option and have figured out which texture is called by that .mdr. It is highlighted below in red: I'm currently on a pixel hunt to totally get rid of the stray texture that is still on the model even after the area highlighted in red is alpha channelled out. (if you aren't familiar with alpha channels, they are a seperate texture channel utilizing only black and white to control transparency of the texture). I'll let you know when I finish it up.

Don't worry, school starts back up in 4-6 weeks.

I'm afraid I wasn't very clear with my screenshots as well. I didn't totally get rid of the zeltbahn from every soldier, rather just the high position zeltbahn. The gear combination that has the low position zeltbahn and what I believe is the mess kit(?) still appears. If you open up the german gear.bmp, you'll see there are two zeltbahn textures with the mess kit texture in between. The upper zeltbahn texture is the texture applied to the high position zeltbahn. The lower zeltbahn texture appears on the mess kit/low position zeltbahn gear combination. I created an alpha channel that deletes the high position zeltbahn, though there are some issues with it. I'll continue to play around with it, and I'll also post some screens to further clarify when I get home tonight. I also believe Vein is correct in that the gear isn't a part of the soldier model. It's similar to how the tank's bustle racks in CMSF appeared with different gear combos. Kinda like a decal system for 3D models.

Is this what you're looking for? Unfortunately, the red circles show where the 3D model leaves behind some traces since the alpha channel doesn't totally eliminate the model. Can't seem to get rid of them either. Anyone have any ideas on how to make the model totally transparent? Let me know if you want this even though it doesn't totally erase the zeltbahn roll. I'll warn you, it is pretty noticeable in-game.

I'll also add my thanks for the new patch. I'm one of those wandering back to the desert too. I pretty much spend half of my gaming time with CMSF and the other half with CMBN. Enjoy both immensely.

I know which mission you're playing. I just recently played it as well and got a total victory with very minimal casualties. Definitely use your first turn barrages and mortars. Hammer the house area and the defensive line with the wood pillboxes/trenches. You have a lot of open ground to cover, so imo it's better to use the shells to suppress and take out enemies than try to hoard them and in the end lose a bunch of your dudes. Start moving your troops while the shelling is taking place, and do what Michael said by bounding your troops. Personally, I just bounded whole squads instead of splitting them up. Also, one side of the map offers some good natural boudning points I used to my benefit while advancing. So yeah, be a little more aggressive with your ammo and bound your troops and you too can make it off the beach .

Very cool, thanks!

Nice work with these. I think my favorite part of the mod are the M1 helmets you did. They look outstanding!

Awesome guys, many thanks!

Thanks! hehe, it is a photoshopped CMBN screenshot . I was messing around with some screens I had taken, and turning them into black and white made them almost look like period photographs. I went the xtra mile and tried to make it look like an old photograph that was taken in a hurry. It's really a testament to the game's graphics that you can make them look like photos. The story and screen is what happened in the scenario I'm currently working through, Carbide Carbide.

Found this picture recently. The story behind it is that the photographer, T/5 Harding, was following the US advance toward Coutances. This column was crossing over a river into a village fortified by the Germans when the halftrack pictured below was struck by a Panzerschreck round. Unfortunately, no one in the halftrack survived. Harding later stated that it was by pure coincidence he was able to capture this hellish moment on film. What he thought would be just an intresting picture of units on the move turned out to be a shot that captured the last moments on earth for the GIs in the doomed halftrack.

Will the templates for the tanks be uploaded to the repository at some point in time? Just curious and thought I'd ask.

I guess I'm just ruthless. The only time buddy aid is administered while I'm playing is when it's done automatically by the AI. Other than that, I just leave them where they are and hardly ever go after anyone. IIRC it doesn't really matter score wise since kia and wia are counted together as casualties for the points you are awarded/not awarded.