Broadsword

Yay! I've got the IMFViewer now, courtesy of Dr. Jones. But still no joy opening the maintex.tga or farmaintex.tga files in TOW2.

OK Knokke, but how can I change the color of, for example, "undergrass" to make it more green (like the 127,200,22 color I mentioned) before selecting it with the render type brush? How did the original map makers create those brighter green splotches (color, not texture) on the maps in the grassy areas?

Oudy wrote: >You need to get Dr. Jones IMFViewer. It can be found here: >http://www.allaircraftarcade.com/for...=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. I've been trying and looking all over for the IMF viewer, but none of the download links I've found work. It also used to be on CMMODS, but that site is now extinct. Does anyone have the viewer/converter program or know where one can now get it? My El Guettar map for TOW2 is coming along well, but I'm getting stuck without access to a way to open and edit the maintext.tga and fartext.tga files in my photo editing program.

I'm working on a custom map for TOW2, and I understand the only way to edit the maintex.tga file is with a utility called Dr. Jones IMF viewer. I tried various download links on these and other forums, but not one them exist anymore. The utility was once on the CMMODS site, but that site is extinct now. Any idea where one can get this very valuable tool?

How can I paint those little greenish patches on the map to represent short grass? And, how can I set the RGB color of those patches to 127, 200, 22 (the grass color I want)? I know I can place actual grass textures on the map with the grass types brush, but I want to have the green ground under the grass -- otherwise the grass always looks too brown or straw-like. Is there a tool that can act like a little spraypaint can, to apply color to the map ground this way?

Yes, you can pause all you want. And you can slow down the game speed, too. Don't let the RTS aspect of the game put you off, if you tend to prefer wargames and turn-based systems like CM. TOW2 uses the RTS aspect in a good way -- to let you get a first-person, grunt's eye view of the combat if you want. And while you can have soldiers pick up weapons, it's fairly realistic. There are no "gamey" role playing or puzzle solving aspects, no base-building, or anything like that. Also, while soldiers can be wounded in a number of ways, there are no magic medical kits or healing of soldiers during combat.

Thank you for those insights, Centauro and Tartari, and I look forward to learning more about this fascinating aspect of World War II. I'm really eager to have the Italian forces in the game, because of their different mix of units/equipment, and because of the wider range of historic battles that become possible. Certainly we can now look forward to eventual mods or expansions simulating campaigns in Sicily and mainland Italy, too. Also, I have never considered this issue of surrender to be about individual bravery or cowardice. I don't think the large numbers of Italians who surrendered were cowardly, any more than the British who surrendered at Dunkirk. It's just that sometimes the urge for self-preservation overcomes military discipline -- once soldiers realize they're on the losing side, or if they've been demoralized by poor leadership, or don't really know why they're fighting, then once they're cornered they're more likely to put their hands up than fight to the death. A lot of Italian soldiers probably had relatives in America, and they knew that Americans weren't the monsters that German propaganda made them out to be. I think they were tired of war and of Mussolini's posturing, and once they realized they would actually have better lives as POWs, they saw no reason to keep fighting for Hitler.

Yes, this is a gripe about the game: Either make the victory requirements much clearer, or allow those 1 or 2 beaten troops to surrender. Surrenders would be more realistic, especially in N. Africa (it was very common for Allied and Axis troops to surrender once they were clearly defeated, because being a POW meant that at least you would live to get food and water, and possibly escape or be liberated. Fighting to the end increased the likelihood not only of dying, but of a fate worse than death -- being left wounded, stranded, without food or water in the desert, being looted by local tribesmen, etc.)

That was in Egypt and Libya in the early days, but what about in Tunisia in 1943?

Yes, (and no offense to modern-day Italians, but) if we're going to have Italian troops and it's going to be a realistic game, they should be ready to surrender as soon as things start to go badly for them.

I suppose one could work around this small-arms range problem for now by setting all infantry to "ambush" at the start of the game. Then you could manually release units to fire when the enemy enters reasonable small-arms range. But that's a lot of micromanaging, and it won't stop the enemy from shooting at you at extreme range! I really hope the expansion will fix this -- it's really my only major gripe with TOW2 (well, other than the lack of small mortars) and it would make the expansion truly worth paying for.

Hmmm. Sounds like a massacre. Smoke was another good idea, but I'm out of suggestions on that one. Anybody else have something to suggest? In real life, your company would have tried its best to carry out the attacks, gotten clobbered, and eventually -- after several failed attempts and lots of casualties -- someone at higher headquarters might have realized this mission is futile and tried to find a different approach (a route to a different pass, more artillery support, etc). But in the game, you either have to win or keep playing it until you do. Here's a thought -- In the map editor, you can edit which zones of a map are accessible to infantry, vehicles, etc. If you feel like tinkering, try saving a copy of your map, open it in the editor, and see what happens if you make one of those bigger hills accessible to your infantry. Then maybe you could play a custom version of the scenario and have a chance of winning it.

I'm sure that was frustrating for you as a game experience, but actually, that sounds very realistic. In WWII, a single unsupressed MG42 with cover and a good field of fire could easily hold up the advance of 4-6 infantrymen, or even an entire platoon. Your GIs were actually being smart because they valued their lives, and weren't willing to follow your suicidal orders. Usually you can't suppress an MG42 with head-to-head rifle or Bren fire. Or, if you could, it would take a long time, you'd have to expose your own men to a lot of fire, and you'd probably lose a number of men in the attempt. Ideally, you would leave a few men in front of the MG to distract its attention, send some men around the MG under cover to flank it, then have the flanking men throw grenades to take it out. In a narrow area (like a mountain pass), flanking options might be limited. In that case, a mortar would be a great weapon to have handy (but TOW2, inexplicably, left mortars out of the game). So you'd need to call in artillery or an air strike, if available.

I haven't found this to be true. While TOW2 infantry certainly can do some stupid things at times, I've found they will use cover and shoot from behind it IF they have good morale and are not suppressed. Did you look at your troops' icons to see whether they might be panicked? Even before soldiers rout under fire, they will get shaky and cower and stop returning fire -- especially if they are green, no leader is near, etc. What side did you play? Americans? If so, remember too that US troops in Tunisia performed miserably in the Kasserine Pass battles. It was only later, after Patton took command and shook up, rested and refitted II Corps, that the Americans were ready to take the offensive and fight the Afrika Korps on more even terms (unfortunately, that part of the Tunisia campaign isn't represented yet in the game). One other thing: I have a hunch that infantry dies too quickly in TOW2 partly because of the way the terrain is done on the maps. Yes, there are stone walls and houses and even trenches, but the open areas of the maps seem to lack the subtle undulations and bits of dead ground that provide vital cover to infantry in real life. The flat areas are just too flat. Also, those movable "horseshoes" of dirt that represent foxholes really don't seem to offer much protection. I'm working on a custom map of El Guettar (March 23, 1943) that will have a lot more infantry cover, lots of little wadis and small hills, as well as some real dug-in foxholes and gun emplacements. Then it will be interesting to play on it and see if that makes any difference in the casualty rates.

Terrific news about the expansion pack soon to come. Two questions: 1. Will any of the new maps/battles be El Guettar (March 1943) ? If so, I'll stop working on my custom map of that battle and just wait for the official version. 2. Will the expansion pack incorporate any new patches/improvements to the engine for the overall game? (Example: tweaks in small-arms accuracy at long range, etc.)

Knokke -- In that case, what brush is used to add bump texture to the map? And, how does one find a bump texture and load it into that brush to apply the texture to a custom map? I have used the maintex brush to add color in TOW2 map editor, and it seems to work fine.

The wind blowing sand and dirt (plus the howling wind sound) are terrific effects, by the way. One of the many excellent little immersion factors in this game.

But what are maintex.tga and farmaintex.tga, and what is their function? Also, I notice there are commands to "clear main texture" and "blend texture layers." What do those do? The texture brush just seems like a vitrual spraypaint can, and the RGBA parameters seem to control only the color of the "paint," not any texture (like bumpy or sandy or crackled stone).

Working with th map editor has given me an even greater appreciation for what TOW2's artists accomplished to render the desert landscape -- How does one get that sandy, color on the terrain, the dusty texture, and that bumpy, cracked texture on rough areas of the hills? I've got to know!!

OK, I got the grass brush to work, but for some reason it paints grass only on the fairly flat portions of my custom map. How do I get it to paint some grass on my hills? Also: How do I paint a brighter sandy texture to show bare spots of ground or eroded areas around the peaks of hills? I notice there's a tool called Maintex Brush, but the map editor manual says nothing about it. Is it possible to create/save a texture from some other source and then use this brush to paint it onto terrain? Or is the Maintex Brush strictly a tool that determines the color (RGB model) of an area? If so, what is "Alpha" or "Color A" on the tool? CSpeed?

How do I get the grass brush to draw grass on my custom map? I followed the steps in the map editor manual, but after I set the tool parameters and start to drag the brush (holding LMB or RMB down), it doesn't draw anything. I have video setting enabled to show grass, so I don't know what the problem is.

This game has my vote as the best candidate for a realistic 3D WWII tactical wargame on the market. I say candidate because the game as released still has a little way to go. But with all the map and battle editors, etc., we should be able to create something truly amazing over time as long as the developers support TOW2.

Thanks for your help. Next question: I want to start my custom map by loading the "blank map" into the map editor, and first changing the heights so I can get the correct terrain for my battlefield. The most common height level of my custom map will be 266 meters. So, I'd like to raise the height of the entire map to 266 meters as a starting level, and then raise or lower specific areas as needed. How can I raise the entire map height to 266? It seems the horizontal areas terrain brush is the tool I need. But I can't seem to set it to any specific height -- and the sliders on the "Terrain Brush Options" box don't move when I try to change them -- the sliders are really small, and it seems as if the cursor isn't really located where I'm placing it.

OK, I'm ready to plunge in and try making my first scenario(s). I'm going to try and make a map for the El Guettar area (since I can envision several good March 1943 scenarios in that area: One where Patton advances and runs into the Italian Centauro Division, next when the 10th Panzer Division attacks Patton, and finally when Patton goes on the offensive and resumes his push eastward). Also, since we have Italian units now, these battles become possible. And there's a very thorough GHQ miniatures scenario for El Guettar posted at http://www.ghqmodels.com/newsletters/julaug2002.pdf that could serve as a basic guide for the map, OOB, etc. Question: What is the scale of the grid in the 2D view of the Map Editor? How many meters is the very smallest square, and what do the white lines every 10 squares marked with "1.00...2.00...3.000" signify? I found El Guettar on Google Earth, and I can use that satellite map to check elevations and be my guide for placing features. But I'm wondering what size "slice" of the terrain I should pick for my battlefield? Given the limitations on the number of units in TOW2, I need to keep the battlefield small enough for, say, a company-scale engagement. Suggestions?

I understand what you mean, Killroy, but that's unfortunate because TOW2 is actually the least childish or "gamey" of any of the RTS World War II shooters. There's no silly resource-building like Company of Heroes, and way better graphics and realistic looking combat than Men of War, and better battle AI than Close Combat. This game still has some evolving to do and needs some tweaks, but it seems to have great possibilities.