Badger73

From URL = http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continuous_track Many World War II German military vehicles, including all vehicles originally designed to be half-tracks and all later tank designs (after the Panzer IV), had slack-track systems, usually driven by a front-located drive sprocket, the track returning along the tops of overlapping and sometimes interleaved large diameter road wheels, as on the suspension systems of the Tiger I and Panther tanks. There were suspensions with one (sometimes double) wheel per axle, alternately supporting the inner and outer side of the track, and interleaved suspensions with two or three road wheels per axle, distributing the load over the track. The choice of overlapping/interleaved road wheels allowed the use of slightly more torsion bar suspension members, allowing any German tracked military vehicle with such a setup to have a noticeably smoother ride over challenging terrain, leading to reduced wear and more accurate fire. As a tracked vehicle moves, the load of each wheel moves over the track, pushing down and forward that part of the earth, snow, etc. under it, similarly to a wheeled vehicle but to a lesser extent because the tread helps distribute the load. Apparently, on some surfaces, this consumes enough energy to slow the vehicle down significantly, so overlapped and interleaved wheels improve performance (including fuel consumption) by loading the track more evenly. It also must have extended the life of the tracks and possibly of the wheels. The wheels also better protect the vehicle from enemy fire, and mobility when some wheels are missing is improved. But this complicated approach has not been used since that war ended. This may be related more to maintenance than to original cost. Mud and ice collect between the overlapping areas of the road wheels, freezing solid in cold weather conditions, often immobilizing so equipped vehicles. The torsion bars and bearings may stay dry and clean, but the wheels and tread work in mud, sand, rocks, snow and so on. In addition, the outer wheels (up to 9 of them, some double) need to be removed to access the inner ones. In WW II, vehicles typically had to be maintained a few months before being destroyed or captured, but in peace time vehicles must train several crews, over a period of decades. Bottom line is that more torsion bars improved suspension and vehicle mobility performance back then. Post WW2, advanced metals and better metallurgy improved the torsion bars themselves so that the same suspension benefits are now achieved with simpler designs which also allow for easier maintenance. Breaking track and replacing roadwheels is no small nor easy task.

The bard might be sad. The quote goes, "But screw your courage to the sticking-place and we'll not fail." Good post, though.

I don't mod but I can build and test use cases. That means I don't know how to draw stuff but I can usually figure out how to connect it. Seems to me, that with the Version 2.x upgrade, gone are the days when you can apply mods like the Star Trek uniform to CMBN . . . (see url = http://www.battlefront.com/community/showthread.php?t=108683&page=3) Version 1.x appears to have used a single graphical file for different uniforms, helmets, and gear. Version 2.x seems to use two (2) files instead. So, as you said, each uniform has a smod_xxx_uniform.bmp and a smod_xxx_uniform_normal map.bmp. It looks to me that the uniform.bmp you created has a new image (the ammo belts) which is not accounted for as an attribute in the uniform map.bmp. Like Steppenwulf wrote, I suspect the code ignores that graphical image because its not mapped to a graphical attribute. I don't know whether you can actually accomplish what you're trying to do. A real modder like @vein or @aris or @fuser could likely explain in more meaningful detail. I applaud your initiative and wish you good luck.

Thank you for posting this.

Regarding "Kerbal", what did you think / why did you like?

Please don't apologize, Baneman! This is excellent research. Kudos, thank you, and don't stop! Good luck and good gaming.

Some, it depends, which is a bit maddening. 1) CMBN (European Theater Operations - ETO) uniform mods are not compatible with CMFI (Mediterranean Theater Operations - MTO) uniforms. 2) Sound, Smoke, Explosion, and Tracer mods seem compatible as best as I can tell 3) It appears that some terrain mods work both ways but not theater unique terrain. 4) Vehicle mods work both ways if and when that specific vehicle appears in each theater. If there's something more specific you want to use, try it and see. You do no harm when an unnecessary/unused file is placed in the Data / Z directory although load times may take longer. The result in such cases is that the mod is ignored and does not take or appear in your game. Good luck and let us know what you discover.

@Vanir, Which mod is that again? Does it work for both CMBN and CMFI? Thank you.

I concur with Ian. BF game scenarios are playable out of the box. You can tweak them however you wish within setup zones as you learn more about the game and your own preferences over time. The Mod scenarios I've downloaded from the Repository are not as consistently developed with optimal deployments. However, that's what makes them fun as your own game skills develop. Good luck and good gaming!

You are welcome. I figured if someone had a problem, more would likely come as well. It was easier to fix it now while memories were fresh than to dust cobwebs off sodden brain cells later! Hopefully, no one else will bump into the issue now. Good luck and good gaming.

Phil, Do such soft factors include experience, training, fatigue, and morale? I think I hear you saying that the game allows Green troops to fire foolishly where Veterans would know better and hold their fire. It also sounds like nervous troops do in fact have itchy trigger fingers. If that's the case, even more kudos to you guys! Thank you.

Yes. Some people had problems extracting the compressed files due to a "filename is too long for the destination" error. I suspect that this happens because the destination folder for those folks is buried under several other layers of higher level folder/directory names so that the total dataset string name (for Operating System purposes) for these extracted files on a person's PC exceeds 258 characters. This newer "ez_us_infantry_division_uniform (CMBN v2).rar" files contain shorter folder and subfolder names in order to avoid the "filename too long" errors. My original intent was to help people easily distinguish between the Version_1 and Version_2 variants of these uniform files by using descriptive sub-folder names. As with all things Microsoft, no good deed goes unpunished. Sorry for the inconvenience. Enjoy these v1 original ez/mjk mods. Good luck and good gaming.

Dear Mr. Kettler, I have found that it is not always true that mortars get to conduct registration fires whenever they displace and set-up. The FDC certainly calculates firing solutions but actual registration rounds are only fired when there's an FO somewhere who could position themselves for a registration mission. Registration is always desired but often depends on how long the unit remains static and the supply of ammo available. I had suggested in my previous post and concur with you that in real life mortar TRP's are unique to the mortar unit and typically unknown to other support artillery. There are exceptions to that of course such as situations where the FO registering the mortars also happens to be the attached artillery FO or the mortar FO's are tightly integrated with the Arty FO for a specific mission or due to long periods of joint operations. The topic of mortar responsiveness and availability is its own paragraph in the formal Operations (Five Paragraph Op) Order. Company commanders may have priority of fires from the Bn 81's as well as priority of fires from Div Arty if so specified in their mission orders. Actual responsiveness depends on a myriad of factors like situation, training, supply levels, and such. I disagree that CMBN should have separate mortar, artillery, and air support TRP's. I thnk it's something more appropriate in a battle simulation like TacOps. Your own "Learning Curve" thread notes that CMx2 is a pretty sophisticated computer wargame. Managing TRPs down to such a low level of detail just adds more "design load" for players to attend. I worry that unit specific TRPs would turn CMBN into a hard-core simulation and likely alienate potential gamers for no tangible benefit. Your points are valid but the absence of unit-type specific TRP's in no way reduces my enjoyment of this game. I respectfully suggest that the efforts for adding artillery-type specific TRPs; the labor of coding, testing, and creating the additional GUI within the game are neither cost effective nor substantively justified. There's so much more I would prefer the design and development team to provide instead. Be that as it may, good luck and good gaming!

It is easy in this case because Newton's 3rd Law of Motion (For every action there is an equal and opposite re-action) has not been applied. In the case of a towed gun carriage, recoil from firing causes the trail spades to press into the ground somewhat. With your half ton trailer, imagine the difficulty you would have digging its tongue out of the ground before you could lift it to gain the correct balance for those playing children to move around. Doug notes things exactly right. Once a towed weapon fires, its stuck in for the nonce due to recoil (the force of which depends on amount of gun caliber propellent and the hardness of ground where sited). Usually, the carriage is hard to un-stick without the crew exposing themselves to enemy return fires. To the point of this thread, lack of ATG gun mobility is not a Battle Breaker Bug for me.

I uploaded a newer version of the .rar file to the repository today. BF should post it soon. Some people had problems extracting the compressed files due to a "filename is too long for the destination" error. I suspect that this happens because the destination folder is buried under several other layers of higher level folder/directory names so that the total dataset string name (for Operating System purposes) for these extracted files on a person's PC exceeds 258 characters. The newer "ez_us_infantry_division_uniform_OLIVE (CMBN v2).rar" file contains shorter folder and subfolder names in order to avoid the "filename too long" errors. My original intent was to help people easily distinguish between the Version_1 and Version_2 variants of these uniform files. As with all things Microsoft, no good deed goes unpunished. Sorry for the inconvenience. Enjoy these v1 original ez/mjk mods. Good luck and good gaming.

I uploaded a newer version of the .rar file to the repository today. BF should post it soon. Some people had problems extracting the compressed files due to a "filename is too long for the destination" error. I suspect that this happens because the destination folder is buried under several other layers of higher level folder/directory names so that the total dataset string name (for Operating System purposes) for these extracted files on a person's PC exceeds 258 characters. The newer "ez_us_infantry_division_uniform_KHAKI (CMBN v2).rar" file contains shorter folder and subfolder names in order to avoid the "filename too long" errors. My original intent was to help people easily distinguish between the Version_1 and Version_2 variants of these uniform files. As with all things Microsoft, no good deed goes unpunished. Sorry for the inconvenience. Enjoy these v1 original ez/mjk mods. Good luck and good gaming.

I just uploaded a newer version called "updated ez&vein_US_distinct_infantry_uniform (CMBN v2)" which shortens all the folder names. If you download again after BF publishes it to the Repository, please advise of results. Regret your inconvenience. Thanks for your interest and patience.

Repository now updated with screenshots. (This was my first mod here and I didn't see any option to upload screenshots with the file over the weekend. Once the file was posted today, the BF Repository subsequently provided me as its author the option to load thumbnails.) Thank you for your interest.

Yea, that happens. I'm willing to bet that your Data / Z folder is buried under several other layers of higher level folder/directory names so that the total dataset string name (for Operating System purposes) for these files on your rig exceeds 258 characters. Try copying those files to a "higher" level directory. Then just copy the "zzUnit" folder to Data/Z when playing. If that doesn't work, you might have to rename the "zzUnit" folders to a simpler/shorter folder name. Please let me know if that works successfully for you. My intent was to help people easily distinguish between the Version_1 and Version_2 variants of these uniform files. As with all things Microsoft, no good deed goes unpunished. Sorry for the inconvenience.

I'm not familiar with the "Fire On the Mountain" scenario you reference. If I understand you correctly, you suggest that defensive force mortar sections be allocated separate and distinct TRP's. Not so? If that is the case, I agree with you that the US army typically fails or forgets to integrate organic mortar fire plans into and with artillery support fire plans. (My experience has been that US forces more often than not curse bad guy mortars while cavalierly dismissing any suggestion that good guy mortars might be of any use. Go figure . . . . ) To represent this in the game, it seems to me that the Combat Unit RTO's / Weapons Section HQ's should be the only units to see and call for fires on mortar TRPs while artillery FO's would be the only units to see and call for fires on artillery/Air Support TRPs. In my mind the only effective offensive TRP's should belong to the artillery FOs given that Unit organic mortar sections/platoons would need to move forward and deploy in forward positions after a scenario begins. Typically those tubes wind up where they would not have pre-registered their fires. Are these the points you raise? I opine that effort for coding in the game engine would cost far more than the benefits to gaming outcomes. It might be cool to have but I don't mind its absence for purposes of gratifying game play.

I know for a fact mjkerner is a real Wisconsin Cheesehead because I met him on the internet!

This easiest way to think of this is to disregard the "us-helmet-m1" file numbers. It is better to to think of the Version_1 files as A, B, C, D, and E. What really matters is the version_2 file names; "smod_american_helmet-soldier" and "smod_american_helmet-soldier 2". In the end you will have only two (2) output / renamed files; the first without netting, the second with netting. Now look at A, B, C, D, and E. Decide which you want to rename "smod_american_helmet-soldier" then decide which of the remaining you want to rename "smod_american_helmet-soldier 2". You have five (5) choices but will only use two (2). After renaming the two (2) you want, disregard those remaining three (3) for your purposes. Again, welcome to the world of software enhancement / upgrading and why most of us leave it to the professionals! Good luck and good gaming!

@ez - Yes, please. Check your PM. Thank you.

I didn't want to tackle the Airborne units. Version_2 has separate file names for them and Airborne specific scenarios load ABN uniform files. To use airborne uniforms in general scenarios, you rename them to "smod_american_m41_uniform" files. Don't know whether you also need to rename "smod_american_m41_uniform map" files or not. I haven't researched using airborne specific gear. Sorry, I can't help you there. The correct helmet file name is "smod_american_helmet-soldier". Yes, spelling must be correct for renamed file to load and work. That's what makes bleary eyed de-bugging so onerous. Good luck!

The Repository has two (2) 2nd Rangers mods for CMBN; vein's uniforms & Robert Heard's helmets. For some reason I thought there was a mod for the 5th Rangers helmet; black numeral "5" within Orange Diamond facing backwards. But I can't find it; either at BF or GAJ. Was I imagining things (again)? Please advise URL / link to 5th Rangers uniform/helmet mods if such exist. Thanks!