Knokke

@Gnasher If I can manage to get this working, i'll make a version with bombs and a version with rockets. I still don't know if I'll succeed to have this typhoon working in game, but i'm trying hard. Well, there must be a few things I don't understand yet, because I still got the same problem, even after compiling the meshes again with the "Generate Space Frames" option set to on in MshConverter. I must have made a silly mistake somewhere, and it could be some time before I find it. I'm making some progress, but it's slower than i would like.

I'm aware of this option, and believe I had set it correctly. I'll try to export again to make sure I didn't forget it by mistake. regards, -Knokke

I modified the following files: theater of War\3dobj\cars\uk\typhoon_mkib\the same files as in the plane directory (with skins.ini modified to point to car directory) theater of War\data\local\en\encdescription_car.utf8 theater of War\data\local\en\units.utf8 theater of War\data\EncyclopaediaCont.xml theater of War\data\filesid.ini theater of War\data\cars\uk\typhoon_mkib (added correct hier.ini parts.ini and unit.ini modified with references to car type and the typhoon hier.ini) I think it is all the files I modified regards, -Knokke

No luck with the encyclopedia trick either... I now have a Typhoon entry under the tab "car" (I set the Typhoon as a car, as the airplanes are not displayed in the encyclopedia), with correct name and description, but nothing is appearing in the viewer window: it is empty. No error message indicating that the hier.him or mesh doesn't load.

I'm starting to understand better where the problem comes from, though i've not managed to make it work yet. I had a problem with collision object names in the hier.him file and part.ini file. The log files says that it's a problem with loading the hier.him file and/or the mesh file. I'm trying to have the plane load in the encyclopedia to see if it comes from the mesh -Knokke

The problem does not come from exceeding maximum number of faces allowed, I'm well under the maximum; but thanks for mentionning it. I'm still at a loss to know where the problem lies. I can see the Typhoon without problem under Supports in the ToW Battle generator. The test mission is launching, but the game crash when the mission is about 60/70% loaded.

@Dr. Jones I have tried it with version 1.14, but with no succes

I checked the hier.him file for the B1-bis, and I can't open it either. If you want to convert only the meshes, you can still do that in the converter and save them as *.obj files. regards, -Knokke

I could not find anything wrong in the ini files (as far as I can tell). Could it be possible that the game crash because there is some problems in the material names in the mesh and *.mat files? If this was the case, I would expect the test mission to launch, and the plane displaying incorrectly, but I might certainly be wrong. regards, -Knokke

Thanks a lot Sneaksie, I'll check that.

@Gnasher I've the Typhoon "almost" working in game. But I believe I've identified the problem: I have 1 text file missing and I can't figure out what should be inside: 3do/planes/uk/hurricane_mkiic/hurricane_mkiic_big.rect I think I may need this files for the Typhoon, but I can't extract it from the 3do.SFS correctly... the test mission is loading, but TOW close to the desktop as soon as the game starts. There is still the possibility that this file is needed only for positioning the pictures of vehicles at the bottom of the interface, and that I don't need it for a plane... in this case, the problem is probably with my meshes (although I'm pretty sure they're correct) @Sneaksie: Could you be of any help? regards, Knokke

whaow!!! This map is very impressive... It remembers me of the second episode of "Band of Brothers". Thanks a lot for your offer about the Oosterbeek map Gnasher. By the way, I've a little something for you too... I've been at work on this since I can't find a way yet to import my bridge and gliders. I once read that you'd like to have a Typhoon for your British Bulldogs campaign. I'm in the process of trying to add one to the game. For the moment, I'm still stuck with tinkering with the files to make it work. It seems that Vista is giving me some troubles (It seems that I can't see all the files I extracted from the SFS with SFSextractor, or else all the files I need won't extract correctly) Here's a picture: Note that the textures are still WIP; I need to add weathering, and make them more realist. I'll do two versions: a early typhoon with car doors, and a late one with bubble canopy. regards, -Knokke

Hi, Thanks a lot for your offer to provide me an exemple of a bridge Sneakie. I used the Dunk_bridge5 as reference for the 3D model of the bridge, but it is much more simple than my bridge, and for the moment, I've the collision made differently (7 collision objects instead of three). Also, if it's not asking to much, it would be nice if we could have a house exemple (I've to model the St-Elizabethkerks church, the Van Sasse pumping station and the Overasselt mill - as well as a few other typical buildings of the area). The only unsolvable problem i'm faced with is that the battle area is just a bit to small compared to the real one: if I use the whole 4kmx4km to have both the north LZ in Overasselt and south LZ near Keent included in the map, the game crashes. I've to reduce the playable area to about 3kmx3km, which means the deployment zone for the paratroops who landed south of the bridge is very small. @Gnasher: The model for the Horsa is just a test: I'm planning to do several versions of the glider in more or less damaged states, and some with the tail unit opened. I'll need also to do a CG-7A glider. Your Arhnem map looks very impressive. Too bad it's crashing ingame The area I've choosen is not densely wooded in 1944, nor densely populated - at least not as much as Oosterbeek or Nijmegen - so I hope I'll not hit the static limit. For the moment, i'm well under the maximum number of statics, and I'm prepared to sacrifice some details. I agree that it is an impressive project goal and a lot of work, but not an impossible task to achieve in my opinion (only if I can have more info to add statics objects in the game) _Knokke

I have already been able to silence an MG pillbox in the game, using a german AT-grenade. I was really surprised as I didn't really expect the grenade to be effective, seing the "armor" value of the bunker. I suppose the crew inside was killed, but the pillbox itself was unscathed.

Hi, I need help from knowledgeable peoples to create some new objects for TOW: I'm trying to import in the game some new objects for a map about the Operation Market garden capture of the bridge over the river Maas at Grave. It seems to me that there are some files I need to mod that I can't find with SFSextractor. We have access to all the files for the vehicles, but I can't find any files for the static objects except the files in the 3dobj directory. There must be some file somewhere, which stores the parameters for the static objects. In /data/unit we can find all the files to modify the vehicles, but there is nothing about static objects (not unit.ini and no part.ini). The unit modeling guide for TOW mention doesn't say anything about static objects in particular. There is also mention in it of *.MCN files, but I can't find any files with this extension. the TOW modding FAQ 1.02 by Oudy doesn't mention anything about that either. I'd be very glad if someone could provide me with some information about this, as i've several models waiting to be included in my map. For thoses who wish to see what i'm trying to achieve, here are links to some pictures: My map looks very empty without the bridge in the background http://pigeonh.free.fr/Grave-2.jpg The missing bridge...: http://pigeonh.free.fr/Grave_bridge.jpg the LZ is also missing some gliders: http://pigeonh.free.fr/horsa01.jpg Thanks for any help you could provide. -Knokke

"Add-ons for the original, like a mission generator and mod support, are now in from the start." what exactly is intended by thoses words? a map generator? plug-in to import new content from 3DSmax? I hope it is not just a mission and campaign generator, but the whole package to mod the game.

I can confirm that IMFviewer is working very well for me with the utility installed in MissionEditor folder. If you can't manage to make it work, let me know which texture you need converted.

the closest "mountains" from Sbeitla are at least 4 km away to the north. The landscape is very flat, the only level change really noticeable is around the river and smaller streams (the water having carved the landscape). I hope the fighting around Sbeitla in TOW2 will not damage the Roman ruins in the area.

I have to admit that i'm a bit disapointed... the Sbeitla map does'nt even look remotely like the real thing. the dry stream bed has become a river full of running water, and small hills have become mountains...

Ok, now I understand better. I though the landscape textures were DDS, as they have mipmaps. Is there a way to use a compressed texture with mipmap for the landscape, or is it 1C proprietary format?

I fully support what Gnasher is saying. This game has a lot of potential. It could become the successor of the Close Combat series. I hope two things would be taken into consideration: either release a converter "plug-in" so that the game can be modded by having 3rd party devellopers adding new units into the game, or consider making addons after the release of TOW 2 to give us more units/theaters/functionnalities to give the game the broader scope that it needs. Seeing the way things went for games like MS flight simulator and Operation Flashpoint who have a huge fan base thanks to 3rd party add-ons, I would say that is the way to go. Also, a sort of dynamic campaign would be a must to give the game a better replayability

the farmaintex is 1024x1024 and the maintex is 2048x2048, as I understand it should be. The only problem I have with keeping it as TGA is that the size of the map is very big, and not having mipmaps in the picture might give some performance issues.

I have a problem converting my Farmaintex.tga and Maintex.tga to DDS for my operation Market-Garden Grave map: I saved both textures as TGA 24 bits, and they worked in TOW as long as I keep them as TGA (but the size is very big). When I convert them as DDS, they don't display correctly in Map Editor: the colors are looking very strange. I save them as DXT3 ARGB (explicit Alpha), use the option generate mipmaps (All) and rename the extension *.dds to *.tga Any idea what i'm doing wrong?

I had the same problem as you OldnSlow, at the beginning. For the first mission of the Polish campaign, here are a few things that helped me to win the battle: _try to find a good position for your AT guns, so that they both have a clear line of fire, and be able to hide so that they can ambush the tanks. Hiding them in bushes on top of the hill, or behind clusters of tree will make them more difficult to spot for the ennemy. also have some reserve infantry hiding nearby to man the guns if the crew is killed. at the beginning of the battle, have the guns hold fire till the ennemy tanks are closer and you've a good line of fire. try to concentrate fire on one tank at a time. _have your infantry hiding in the trenches, holding fire and standing prone. use your anti-tank rifle soldiers only when the ennemy tanks are getting close enough to be vulnerable. try to hit the softest spot because de AT-rifle don't have a good penetration. Hopefully, you'll be able to damage the tracks or the gun of some tanks. have other soldiers nearby to replace de AT-rifle crew if they get killed. some peoples prefer to have their infantry hiding outside the trenches, because they get constantly shelled at the beginning. I succeeded in this mission with the infantry hiding in trenches though. Have your infantry hold their position, and hold fire till the ennemy infantry is close from your trenches. At long range, they're simply wasting ammo, and will be defenseless by the time the attackers get close to the trenches. If tanks are trying to overrun your infantry in the trenches, have your men use their AT-grenades. They're very useful against early war tanks. try to throw the grenades only at stationnary or slow moving tanks, as they're easily missed when moving too fast. The polish tankettes are almost useless, and are sure to be destroyed if they start to fight against the german tanks (they can't damage them, and are destroyed easily). Keep them in reserve behind a slope or a building, holding position, till the tanks are out of action, and use them against the infantry only. most of the time, I give the order to hold position to my vehicles, otherwise the crews will advance to engage the ennemy without orders, and sometimes, this is a recipe for disaster. Have them move only when you need them to. When you want your infantry to counterattack, use the assault order instead of the move order (with move only, it looks like the guys don't use cover much and try to close at the fastest speed without shooting much at the ennemy - they get killed easily this way). Always have them move in a prone position if they're in line of fire from the ennemy. They can duck and move faster (or even run) if ennemy is not in line of sight. I hope this help a little.

And hopefully, as well as a map editor, a converter so that we can create new objects and new units. Without this modding possibility, the scope of the game (as well as it's life expectancy, will be drastically reduced (so many units that we'll like to see are missing).