mjkerner
-
Posts
4,390 -
Joined
-
Last visited
-
Days Won
10
Posts posted by mjkerner
-
-
Clark, I flew on A/O two years ago, too, and it certainly was worth every penny. Especially the 10 minutes in the nose. Extreme enjoyment!
-
Che, although the blue line originates from the unit's location, it is calculated from the waypoint. I don't know why that is, but it is.
-
There is something. The TAB key toggles 'lock-to-unit'. Locked-to-unit, the +/- keys will jump behind each unit as you hit the keys. With 'lock-to-unit' TAB toggled off the camera will stay in position as you +/- through the units that are in front of you and will only shift camera view when the selected unit is offscreen.
Nice find, Mikey.
-
Thanks for the encouraging comments, guys. Myles, didn't you buy the farm at the LBH?
I will be finishing the OD Dark uniform mod for these divisions in a couple of days, and will include the 30th Div fix (a new 30th folder) in that. Or should I just combine this mod and the new one, and call it v 2.0, and be done with it? What y'all think?
-
This sounds (no pun intended) like a good mod, ruutana. Looking forward to it.
-
Patboy and Myles,
Yep, I went home for lunch and checked all the files...my bad. If you guys want, I can email you with the correct uniform. Just PM me with your e-address. I'll wait a few days before uploading v 1.2. I don't see any other goofs like that atm, but we'll see.
-
daft, Normakl Dude is working on a La Fiere scenario(s?) regarding the actions on June 11(I think that's what he said...it's in another thread). I'm slowly building my own La Fiere Causeway map for doing the actions June 6-9th. But it will be a while before mine's done, that's for sure!he said
-
Sorry folks, but there was a problem with this file at GreenasJade'sa CMMOD site. It may have been just me screwing up the upload, or it may have been a bad file, but when downloading, most of the files were AWOL! Unfortunately, I sent it to the Repository before I sent it to Jade's, and there is no way to edit/delete one of your own uploads at the BFC Repository. At Least I couldn't find any.
So, Mr. Administrator of the Repository, could you just delete this mod and in a few hours I will upload the version that was successful at GaJ's.
Thank you !
-
patboy, thanks for that catch. Did you download from the BFC Repositroy or GaJ? I'm afraid the one I uploaded at BFC was the same one that was screwed up and got all funky when the upload wouldn't take at first at GaJ's and resulting in some wierd corruption (not as bug or virus--obviously operator error) of the file. I'll check my copy and fix the 30th file if need be.
By the way, you could make that change yourself, if you don't want to wait. Open the 30th Div folder and simply delete it (but then you'd onky have 2 uniforms variants).
-
Okay, it's successfully uploaded at Gaj's CMMOD's site. I downloaded the zip from there and it has all the folders and subfolders. I didn't use a .brz file this time...there's no need to since you can't just plop it into the z file as is anyway--automatic internal conflicts would ensue. So I changed the Read Me accordingly, and the file is now called version 1.1 just to distinguish it from the first one. Of course, the zip downloaded slower.
-
Yup, it's fecked up the kazoo. I deleted it and will upload again...hopefully before my Granddaughter's ball ghame.
Sorry everyone, Murphy's Law always gets me!
:mad:Delete it from your files.
-
Bloody bucket, no, that's not right. There should be two folders when you explode it, one armor & one infantry. Inside should be all the respective divisions. I had trouble uploading, though...it never completed (I think the picture was too big.) I closed up and started over and everything was fine.
Dang, it must be screwed up. When I unzip and explode the .brz file from my own comp files, it works fine. I'll go and download it from GaJ's site and see what happens.
-
It's now uploaded at Greenas Jade's website: http://cmmods.greenasjade.net/mods
Sent to the Repository, but not up yet.
Here's the Read Me:
June 12, 2011
The Mod Pack
This mod pack provides divisional shoulder patches for all US infantry divisions, armored divisions, and two glider infantry regiments that participated in the Normandy campaign June - August ‘44, and the US infantry divisions (plus the 509th Parachute Infantry Battalion--a personal favorite) and the 2nd Free French Armored Division from Italy that participated in Operation Dragoon (Southern France) in August ’44. I also threw in the 1st Armored Division from the MTO—in case I ever do an Italian textures/building mod. Also, there is a separate helmet mod and a US infantry uniform mod for adding variety to uniforms when you don’t use one of my divisional patches mods.
Once you unpack the mod using the RezExplode program from the Mod Tools that came with the game see the How To section below), you’ll find a Read Me, an Armor folder and an Infantry folder. Inside these you’ll find the various divisions and other units in separate folders. CMBN has uses three types of US Army uniform: tank crews, infantry, and airborne infantry. Each type of uniform has two or three uniforms of different color shades. I’ve messed with the coloration of the infantry and airborne infantry uniforms a bit, and added the shoulder patches for each unit in the mod, and where I had evidence (usually a contemporary picture—hey, one is good enough proof for me, because I like the way they look!) I added helmet patches. I didn’t make any changes to the armor uniform colors, I only added the patches.
In the words of that modder extraordinaire, Vein, I used a lot of “jiggary-pokery” to get the patches to look right. The 3D models in CMBN seem to do weird things to the size of patches placed on a rounded part of the model—certain areas near the shoulder and on the arm in particular, and around the curvature of the helmet. In many cases, although the shoulder patch and helmet patch appear to be the same size, one is more than twice as large as the other. I mention this only because you may think they don’t look right or don’t look to be the right size. They look good to me, but YMMV. However, I welcome constructive criticism—as long as it is done in a friendly way. ;-)
The Mod Structure
Okay, now the somewhat confusing part. Each mod is in a separate folder—1st Div, 2nd Armored, 327/101 Airborne, etc. Inside each folder are several color variations of uniforms and several varieties of helmets—different colors and some with netting and some without it. PLEASE NOTE THAT EACH UNIT FOLDER IS A SELF-CONTAINED MOD. This means that all you have to do after you RezExplode the downloaded mod pack is pick which unit you want to show up in your game and drop it into your “z” folder. If you don’t already have one, add a new subfolder in the Battlefront\Combat Mission Battle for Normandy\Data folder, name it “z” (without the quotes), and there you have it. That is where the unit mod (and all other mods you use) goes.
This is important, due to the nature of the CMBN file naming convention: You can have one division/unit mod of each type—one infantry, one armor, and one airborne infantry unit mod in the z folder at the same time. But you can’t have two or more…say the 1st Infantry and the 45th Infantry…only one will show up…the highest numbered one. So try to remember that when you want to use a different unit, take the old one out of the z folder first.
The 509th PIB uses the airborne infantry type uniform, so it will conflict with Vein’s 82nd/101st AB mods, so you’ll have to take his out if you want to use the 509th.
Also, in case you are wondering, the 325th/82nd and 327th/101st regiments were glider infantry, and they use the infantry uniform simply because that is what they wore in RL.
If you don’t want to use a shoulder patch mod, but want to use either my OD Dark uniform mod and/or my helmet variety mod, you can put either or both in the z folder---they will not conflict with each other. They will conflict with the patched unit mods, though.
The Uniforms
Each infantry and airborne infantry unit has at least 3 uniforms of different shades, and the glider infantry units have 8 different ones each. All patched units mods except the armor units use at least 2 different helmets—one netted and one not. Some have more. I even changed the legging colors on some. The armored divisions and the independent armored battalion unit mods only have patches added to the two stock uniforms that shipped with the game…I didn’t make any other uniforms for these.
The “OD Dark Uniform” mod has 8 different uniform shades based on the brownish-drab OD rather than the greenish-drab OD uniform that shipped with the game. I have always preferred that look—my late father was a dogface Pacific combat veteran, and always called it “OD Baby**** Brown,” at which as kids, my brothers I laughed every time. Rest in Peace, Dad. I only used these uniforms in the glider infantry mods, simply because I made the uniforms after I had completed all the infantry divisions, but before I decided to add the 325th and the 327th. I will be making another mod using OD Dark on the infantry divisions soon.
The Units
Here are the modded units in this mod pack:
US Infantry Divisions
1st; 2nd; 3rd; 4th; 5th; 8th; 9th; 28th; 29th; 30th; 34th, 35th; 36th; 45th; 79th; 80th; 83rd; and 90th.
The 3rd, 36th, and 45th were veterans from the MTO that invaded Southern France in Operation Dragoon. The 34th Infantry Division I included mainly just because I like the patch, and have an avid interest in the Italian Campaign, so what the hell. Besides, I intend trying to make an Italian Campaign Mod—I hopefully can steal a lot of textures and stuff from CMSF!
Other Infantry
I included the 325/82nd and 327/101st regiments because I wanted to fill out Veins modded airborne divisions. I will be adding the other regimental helmet markings for the 101st, and maybe those for the 505th and 504th/82nd, in the next mod pack. A big shout out to Vein for letting me use his shoulder flag. Works great, Vein!
The 509th Parachute Infantry Battalion was part of Operation Dragoon, and was attached to the 101st in December ’44. Please note I put the “Gingerbread Man” patch on the left breast pocket—a lot of jiggary-pokery went on there, I can tell you—even though it appears to have been worn on their Ike jackets. They sport the 5th Army patch on the left shoulder of their jumpsuits, which they used in Italy…because it looks neat to me. I’ll be adding the 550th and 551st PIB, the 17th AB Division and all the other US divisions that went into action September-December ’44 in a later mod pack.
US Armor Divisions
These only have patches added to the two stock uniforms. I added the 743rd Independent Tank Battalion to represent all the independent tank units. There were just too many of them to bother with, but the patch is small enough that the number is hard to read anyway, so it works as a stand-in for any of the others (for me at least).
Historical Accuracy
Hmmmm. Well, not everyone in every unit wore their patches, I’m sure, especially with so many replacements from the Repple Depple rotating through the units in Normandy. There’s plenty of discussion on the Net as to if certain units painted their emblems on their helmets, or where on their helmets, and when they started to do so or, for that matter, if they even wore the shoulder patch. For example, I have the 504th and 505th PIR helmet markings made up, but it appears they were worn later in ’44 or early ‘45. Same holds true for others, but again, what the heck. It’s only a game and they are fun to use, so these will be in the next pack as well. If you disagree, you don’t have to use them, of course.
How To Unpack The Mod And Load It Into Your Game
Step 1: Download the mod to your desktop or wherever you keep your other mods when they are not being used in the game.
Step 2: Unzip the file.
Step 3: Take the .brz file and put it in the “input” folder found in the RezExplode folder in the Mod Tools Folder, and double-click “RezExplode.exe”. This will take a few minutes.
Step 4: When the “exploded” folder appears, open it and you’ll find the Read Me and two folders marked “Armor” and “Infantry. Inside each you’ll find the unit folders, and in the Infantry folder, you’ll also find the “Helmet Variety” and the “OD DarkUniform” folders. Did I mention that EACH UNIT FOLDER IS A SELF-CONTAINED MOD?
Step 5: Put all the unit and other folders in that place where you put all the mods that aren’t being used in the game.
Step 6: Choose only one unit file each type--armor, infantry and/or airborne infantry unit mods (remember, Glider Infantry is “Infantry”, not “Airborne Infantry”), and place it/them in the z folder inside the game’s Data folder. Did I mention that EACH UNIT FOLDER IS A SELF-CONTAINED MOD?
Step 7: Fire up the game—if you try to load any mods while the game is running, they won’t appear until you close out and fire the game up again.
Step 8: Be overcome with the delirious joy of CMBN, with added wonderment through mods!
Step 9: Please credit me if you use these mods as bases for other mods.
Thanks to Vein for his great mods, for allowing me to use his shoulder flag, and for the term “jiggery-pokery”, and Mord for being one of the most enthusiastic commentators on the forum, for his superb mods in CMSF, and especially his new voice mod for CMBN.
mjk
-
Mord, I just got done with the read me for my mod, and I have been working on it in my free time for a week straight, so I have only played one small scenario since I downloaded your mod. But man-o-man, does this mod ever make a difference! It is really a great piece of work. You ever think of an acting career?
Cheers, my friend.
-
Coming tonight or tomorrow...I need to write the read me, which might be awhile, since there are a lot of files to pack and explain for those not familiar with handling mods.
All US Infantry and Armor Divisions in Normandy June-August 1944, plus Glider Infantry, MTO Divisions in Operation Dragoon, uniform variety, helmet variety, and a surprise unit or two.
[They show up better in-game than in the pics.]
-
Ryujin, that's basically how I do it. I learned PSP by trial and error on IL2 and this game...and quite a lot just in the last two weeks working on a US divisional patches mod (coming very soon), so it's probably not the most efficient or elegant way, but it works.
-
I play mostly RT and just go into the editor and give myself an extra half hour or so. I realize that in RL, sometimes you need to take that objective NOW! But then there are those times when it's "1400 hours and we need to secure the ville by nightfall, so move slow and deliberate and keep those casualties down..I don't wan't to have to write any letters tonight!"
-
There's almost always a reason the game does something like this. The BFC guys haven't missed much. I shoulda been charged $100 + for this game, no kidding.
I'm not kidding, I would have gladly paid $500 for this game, probably more. (I've spent thousands over the years on boardgames and miniatures, and I never got the stisfaction out of them that I was hoping for.) CMBN and it's modules/new games will fill up my freetime for the rest of my life, no joke.
Now, back to your scheduled progamming.
-
Since seeing how good arty was against me I have been playing with more of it than I did in the CM1x games. From my experience here is what I think I have seen and thus learned:
They need to have and maintain LOS to the target and ideally some more so they can see errant spotting rounds. They need to be happy and calm (by that I mean *not* taking fire on their position) during the receiving and spotting phase. Once they call for the FFE it does not matter any more.
In one game against the AI I had a FO call for a barrage from a nice safe place to try to stop an armoured assault. They were safe during the receiving and spotting. They called for FFE just a few moments before the protecting screen of infantry collapsed and they had to run, took fire and lost the FO officer. The barrage seemed to go fine but was to late to save the position. The shells kept falling for several minutes even after what was left of the FO team and his infantry screen were pushed back into the woods.
In a different game I was calling some fire on a possible enemy approach from the opposite side of a town. My Company CO (who was making the call) had key hole LOS between buildings to the woods where I wanted the fire to land. Trouble was he could see just bits and pieces of the area not the whole target area and certainly he did not have good visibility around the target area. The spotting rounds were long and to the left. I watched them land way off. I guess I could have checked with the targeting tool to see if he could see where they landed. I believe that he did not see them land because after several spotting rounds - which were all off target the FFE was called and the full barrage came down on the long and to the left location near where the spotting rounds landed. I could have called it off but since my fire was speculative anyway I let it go.
At the same time one of the platoon HQs called in fire from a different battery on another suspected enemy approach location. This time the HQ had much better LOS and after the spotting rounds came in the barrage started and was right on target. These two calls were simultaneous and the barrages started at about the same time. It was interesting to see the rounds for one inside the green circle and the rounds for the other a ways long and left from the circle. Ian
God, I love this game!
-
Broadsword, I eventually got to where working the road tiles are almost second nature...try, rinse, repeat ad nauseum. If I can get it, I know you can.
-
God, I love this game!
-
You can't jump out of a tank and stick your finger in the ground...but what you can do is study the terrain you are in (because it is what it is), check the weather in game, check the conditions in your menu tab and use a common sense decision as to whether or not moving your tank through that area is a good idea.
C'mon man...be a little more positive!
Mord.
Absolutely, Bro!
-
SOW Gettysburg also has very bad AI pathing (and AI in general, IMHO). It is an improvement over their first release, but I was still quite dissappointed with it. That's what killed it for me. But I occasionally crank it up, 'cause it looks so nice.
-
In one turn just now I had these:
- I asked a tank to area fire on dudes in foxholes at the other end of a street.
The street has a slight rise, ever so slight, between tank and foxholes. I think
that the tank commander can see the foxholes, but the gunner can't. As
a result the tank opens fire and each shot hits the ground halfway to the
target. No real gunner would have done that. -GaJ
Green,
Just about a week ago the Great Tank Battles series, on the Military Channel, was about Arracourt. One US tank commander told how his tank had taken a hull down position right behind a high RR embankment. He was unbuttoned, sticking out of the turret and so of course his head was several feet higher than the gunner's and he could see panzers heaqding for their position. As the German tanks closed range, he ordered the gunner to fire...and the first shell hit the RR track rail closest to the tank. He screamed to the gunner to elevate a bit and fire again...2nd shot hit the second rail. It wasn't until the third shot that the gunner cleared the RR tracks and hit the panzer.
Consider your experince based on real life events!
:mad:
CMBN Screenshot Thread
in Combat Mission Battle for Normandy
Posted
BloodyBucket...cool idea! And salute for your late father. I can't do that with my father...he was in the Pacific. Maybe someday 3rd party programmers will take us there.