Aquila-SmartWargames

Wintermod Collection V3 - reorganized folder structure so people can easier pick/delete parts they want to keep/remove - added further winter skins for BRDM, BMD-1, BMD-2, and BMP-1D (the BMP-1D is a CMA Vehicle) - you need to install these vehicle mods seperately, they will then use the skins, make sure the winter mod comes after the vehicles in z folder hierarchy - all vehicle winter skins could also be used for the origin vehicle in CMBS or CMA without renaming i.e. if you throw the collection´s BMD skin files into your CMA z folder, it will give the vehicles there also snow camo. - I want to mention that the Snow Ninjas of the Syrian Infantry Winter Skins Mod are based on the creation of Sir Lancelot, the original mod can be found here: In action alongside Syrian Infantry Winter Skins Mod: What happens when You put the Wintermod Collection without change into the Combat Mission Afghanistan z Folder CMA comes with winter tiles and snow weather on its own but some changes happen if you put the mod in: standard (+ Kieme Mods) wintermod: Not much change but what you don´t see is that there is a snow covered peak just some height above on the left. So its more natural when there are at least some snow patches beneath it. standard (+ Kieme Mods) wintermod: -Again not so much, different snow, streets, and bushes covered in snow but not more realistic than standard. Its a matter of taste. - Subtle changes on most maps but if you look for a fresh look of the CMA visuals its worth a try. - Downside: Some elements will stay snowy or winter-like even on non-snow CMA maps until you remove the mod. - The new folder structure allows for quick pick & removal. If you just want the CMA terrain modification obviously remove the vehicles part from the mod folder. https://www.dropbox.com/sh/1tviryry89g6py7/AAAJpSvGH6u1iEx4WzwVLSnJa?dl=0 You need winter camo for your vehicle but have neither paint nor cover then why not use your old newspapers

Haha thanks for the kind words but I already have a very fullfilling profession I would´t give away for something else. I use "V2, V3 etc" version numbers on file names in order to visualize updated versions and almost always only keep the most recent version as my Dropbox is completely full and denying me the usage of more space. I started to remove some mods already to make room for new ones. By the way @sbobovyc is it somehow possible to circumvent the "texture missing" error upon exporting, i. e. sometimes you work on models and textures are already assigned but they are not present in the original location or not present in the project folder thus Blender can´t find them and would not allow exporting. Combat Mission however finds textures by names looking in the original game data or the z folder without the need for exact file locations. It can be sometimes a time consuming effort to collect all assigned textures just in order to export. I´ve uploaded the Syrian Infantry Winter Skins Alpha Mod to the box. Black BDU Special Forces full winter outfit, Fighter Ninjas full winter outfit (some UNCON combatants could be affected), Regulars partially, most will appear in standard woodland but all should have winter helmets, rest (tankers, reserve, airborne, civies) should remain mostly untouched.

Winter Camo Special Forces, Winter Regulars & Winter Ninjas While I never saw winter camo among Syrian Loyalist/FSA soldiers I still wanted to create some for my winter campaign. Its not unthinkable that at least some Special Forces units would have access to winter coats, and fighters operating in areas such as the Anti-Lebanon mountains could utilize them too. The SOF AK74 got winter camo aswell. Also may come in handy for non-Syrian scenarios. I won´t add them to the Winter mod collection yet as for me some winter camo & snowy vehicles together with regular Syrian uniforms is more authentic overall. I will soon upload a video to my channel with raw uncommented footage of the creation. It took about an hour, it would have taken half the time but some of the Syrian uniform files are confusing. I will showcase some of them in the next Special Forces Loyalist campaign playthroughs in a rag tag fashion i. e. few soldiers will come with winter camo, most won´t. https://www.dropbox.com/sh/1tviryry89g6py7/AAAJpSvGH6u1iEx4WzwVLSnJa?dl=0

Syria Wintermod Collection V2 - Collection of various terrain & vehicle winter mods most come from CMBS, credit goes to the original authors. Renamed and substituted missing textures. Added some foliage skins. Syrian or Russian Forces vehicles are converted. When in your z folder any campaign/scenario you boot up will get the winter visuals. When using the Russian Forces mod alongside it the winter mod needs to load last (add zzzz to the wintermod folder for example). - Some of the vehicles shown are optional (Tigr, BTR-80). However I should´ve included winter skins for the vanilla UAZ and BTR-60 aswell. - The vehicles have different winter camo, some are just partially covered by winter camo. I did this on purpose as I enjoy this non-uniform look. - I designed this specifically for a Syria Civil War Hasrabit campaign playthrough. So all vehicles appearing in this campaign on both sides should get a winter paintjob. No infantry changes. But with below method you can complete any vehicle/uniform you wish for. - Some of the vehicles were reskinned by using this quick method shown here. Obviously its not there to compete with hard work skins but I think this still produces great results, especially when using "enhance shadows", desaturate to grey for winter skins, to sepia for desert skins (see post on this here). If there are headlights etc. you don´t want to modify cut these texture parts out before desaturizing and afterwards "paste in place". In action: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/1tviryry89g6py7/AAAJpSvGH6u1iEx4WzwVLSnJa?dl=0

How to quickly add Custom Models to Scenarios Without Getting Spoilered Adding custom models to scenarios without getting spoilered about friendly and enemy forces composition:- You can add your own custom models to scenarios by opening them in the CM editor. You can navigate and modify map objects without getting spoilered about friendly or enemy forces composition and with some practice it doesn´t take long. Usually I find it rather annoying that you have to access 3 different screens in order to check & modify map and unit placement but for doing on the fly eye candy map edits prior playing it has a plus. I replaced trafficlight1.mdr to trafficlight5.mdr as there are not much traffic lights in the jungle and as tall and slim objects are the best for custom models because of draw distance and them being placeable in close porximity (see post here covering this). In the picture you see the Hesco medium, cargo container which eventually were combined with LOS/LOF/Movement blocking walls. - Last time I checked the West Side Boys didn´t had a big personal cargo ship parked right in front of their door. But to test and showcase this on the fly method. its fine. Around 5 Minutes and zero thought were invested into placement. Imagine what it could look like with some proper consideration and care. - Big objects like the cargo ship are best placed in the background scenery however even the draw distance of stuff like traffic lights will be not enough on huge distances. For this perhaps replacing an unimportant vehicle and turn it into immobilized or wreck could give extra draw distance AFAIK. - I´ve noticed that 37mm`s PBR and the M48 may have better FOV behavior, if so this has likely to do with the BRDM-2 and T-55 hulls they use as a primer, if true, using big vehicle primer hulls would be generally better for all custom models. - I´ve experimented with putting buildings into my Aircraft Carrier and made a "mutiny battle aboard the aircraft carrier" experiment scenario. However when moving/zooming into the model the carrier fades out. Also the FOV issue is made worse when being so close to these Giants with the camera. It still was an unique way of enjoying CM and I had much fun with the test as I am not troubled by this downsides. Custom Models beyond the Map Edge: As you can see in the first video the cargo ship goes out of bounds aslong the primer object stays on the map. So if you increase the distance between primer object and custom model one could place stuff into the void as visualized in this professional drawing: From the first thoughts there is not much practical use for this other than some exotic ideas. One could place barrage balloons or ships into the empy void. One could create a big billboard with player information/rules floating in the air which is attached to a small primer flavor object with low draw distance, so that it fades out when the player is not looking at it. One could attach ships or balloons to invisible vehicles which drive around the map edge so you would have moving objects in the void. One could spawn a terrifying void god which rains down artillery via reinforcements you name it. Time will tell if this possibility will become handy. Destructible Custom Models: - When custom models are used as flavor objects they can be cleared/destroyed either by artillery (confirmed) or by vehilce fire AFAIK. Same of course goes for the invisible LOS/LOF/Movement blocking walls inside them. From what I saw there it requires close and/or multiple hits and higher calibre ordnance to clear flavor objects as you can see that there is a chance that they will remain for quiet some time even under heavy artillery fire. However the invisble inside walls are all quick goners for sure in this test. - I pretty exciting when your base or whatever is getting hammered badly. - However if you want indestructible custom models its best to use wrecks or bunkers then for them. Nothing can remove them. In order to remain indestructible LOS/LOF/Movement blocking no matter what one also should use big modtagged wreck replacements. For indestructible movement blocking of infantry however a wreck is not enough, here you need to go somewhat creative and either work with impassable terrain tiles beneath or something similar. - Like already shown custom objects replacing (immobilized) vehicles can be used as reinforcements and victory condition goals. OP Barras Playthrough with H&E terrain & assets, custom map objects, and CMSF2 African Forces Mod https://www.dropbox.com/sh/1tviryry89g6py7/AAAJpSvGH6u1iEx4WzwVLSnJa?dl=0

Is the part of wire which needs to be destroyed in sight/engagement range of player´s forces?

Well then there should be the possibility for me to use modified hedges/bocage/tall bocage as vehicle camo. M48 Patton with Seatchligh V4 Camo + M60 V4 Camo (previous post) - Added woodland camo to the M48. Again nothing professional just a placeholder until one comes up with better skins. I suspect a simple olive paint job with lots of vanilla vehicle gear would look pretty good. By default the M48 replaces the T55MV - Refined the desert camo on the M60 which by default replaces the T62M https://www.dropbox.com/sh/1tviryry89g6py7/AAAJpSvGH6u1iEx4WzwVLSnJa?dl=0

To clear up the rather confusing previous answer: 1) I play on Elite difficulty and not in test mode. In test mode there are no different transparency-level icons but all icons are always opaque i. e. have the same color intensity. Furthermore all enemy 3D-models are visible even if nobody has spotted them yet. 2) I use LT. Smash´s CMSF2 floating icons.

Can you make the imrpoved placeholder uniform available for download?

Where can I find the British woodland skin?

Thats then likely the issue. I converted the texture of the bush but the bush then becomes ugly/blocky and not suitable as vehicle camo. I really would like to use something bush-like as vehicle camo for my playthroughs but despite the CMSF2 British camo nets shown here on the lead vehicle: there is no model in any Combat Mission release I can think of where I could borrow a bush-like model part.

I´ve just discovered this, looks really good. For Hescos its mandatory to replace tall/narrow objects like streetlamps or telephone poles in order to allow the Hescos to be stacked closely together. Replacing bigger objects like shelters or crates with the Hescos will lead to "collision" and cause the hescos to get displaced. This Combined with a concrete wall with (modtagged) invisible concrete wall textures would provide the scenario maker with a decent and functional fortification. It is not "fool/cheat proof" however. A player could decide to destroy the invisible concrete wall and walk/drive/shoot trough the Hesco model. However I personally believe this limitation and asking the player from refraining to exploit it can be noted in the briefing and most mature players would show little interest in going for this exploit as in the end they would harm their very own experience the most. Its more likely to happen by accident. For this reason artillery missions that may be used against this fort by AI or player should be considered when going for this as they have a chance to blow the invisible walls up. Same applies to some extend to vehicles with bigger calibre weapons if they engage enemies near the hescos or the entrance. I don´t know much about terrain tiles and wether placing an impassable terrain tile beneath the hesco is possible but if so this could be an option too if one wants to absolutely take all measures to prevent players from exploiting. However LOS could be still established by destroying the wall and would require to explore more (overly) complex techniques like applying invisible trees, bushes or other less/indestructible LOS blocking objects. But again I think all of this tinkering is not required as mature players if instructed should show less interest in a "haha look I exploited your little custom fortification here!". Combining Hescos with indestructible wrecks of tall/broad vehicles (f.ex. Marines AAV7) with modtagged invisible textures in combination with impassable terrain (beneath/in front, if possible) could perhaps provide an even more ultimate and fool-proof solution but I never tested this. There are alot of possible solutions for this, However from what we currently know it requires some combination effort, out-of-the-box thinking, and was not tested alot before either, so it is quiet understandable that all of this is not for everyone.

From a technical standpoint it would indeed make more sense when nothing happens by removing the addon armor and it would be likely also better for all of us.

Insurgents from my ongoing Syrian vs NATO campaign raided a Lebanese vehicle depot near the border and eventually gained control over operational M60 tanks which received new paint jobs: In action: However some of them are still left in pretty bad shape: These two variants were created in under 5 minutes and are examples of that even without UV/material/mapping skills one can create decent looking paint jobs. By simply googling terms such as "camo texture" "rusty metal texture" "olive metal texture" qickly texture patterns can be found that can be converted to bmp (shown in previous post) and then assigned as new textures in blender (also shown in previous post). Next step could be then to invest some further minutes into refining the camo texture.bmp in GIMP2/Photoshop etc. in order to make it look less clean/more natural which I did not yet. Nevertheless for best quality and detail, UV maps/texture/material editing is the golden standard. I have good hope that skilled individuals like @Geezer will manage to dig into all of this in order to provide quality texture work.

Include this beautiful trailer as optional intro.wmv goodie into the modpack. I want to watch this whenever I go on an H&E playthrough.

What definitely will be a first is that this Riverine element and the many other unique aspects shown of this mod will bring a complete new way of experiencing CM.

Glider WIP With @Geezer´s help I was able to get the .max Glider model into Blender. I resized it according to historical photos, attached it to a CM2 primer object shelter, and assigned simple placeholder textures. When trying exporting it to .mdr it throws the shown error which states that the model parts miss texture maps. I´ve uploaded the Blender project as it is to my Dropbox. If one has texture/mapping/uv skills feel free to take over, modify, finish, and release it. Same applies for the rest of my models. https://www.dropbox.com/sh/1tviryry89g6py7/AAAJpSvGH6u1iEx4WzwVLSnJa?dl=0

Anaconda3 Python 2019.03 (Python 3.7.3 64-bit), Blender 2.79b + CM2Tools Plugin here

M60 Tank V3 https://www.dropbox.com/sh/1tviryry89g6py7/AAAJpSvGH6u1iEx4WzwVLSnJa?dl=0

M48 Patton V3 (With Searchlight + wo Seachlight version) Wreck Version - replaces the t-55mv by default but can be used for any vehicle, flavor object etc. - now uses its own dedicated textures to prevent interferences with other vehicles - added a plate beneath the turret to prevent visible holes when the turret rotates into extreme angles - track, gun, mg and other parts´ position refined - wreck version added https://www.dropbox.com/sh/1tviryry89g6py7/AAAJpSvGH6u1iEx4WzwVLSnJa?dl=0 I am done with the M48 and leave it now to you guys. Decorate, modify, and paint it according to your likings.

From my experiments vehicles replacements lose their slat/era armor protection if the era model parts and/or correct names are not present (era, era1,era2 etc.) on the model. I´d say place the M48 in the T-55MV slot and give it a try.

Why not? With modtagging you can place the T-54 vanilla model in the T-55 1972 slot so it becomes mobile and the M-48 Patton in the T-62 slot for these scenarios. Furthermore there are also the M/V models and like explained I believe ERA defence does not work if no ERA 3D model is present. However the M/V models fire ATGMs which is a downside of course (but I suspect they´re rarely/never been used when fighting other T55/T62). The better optics could be compensated by unit quality settings.

@37mm Great work on that river Patrol Boat. You´re probably already aware of that but I´m writing it down for general information: Visible Crew Members on Custom Models - As already explained the crew/soldier positions are defined by these arrows parts when in blender, while muzzle flash arrows have a small yellow line which tells the direction of the muzzle flash I don´t know how to tell in which direction crew members look when in blender, I simply don´t touch them when moving them from vanilla vehicles. - AFAIK what stance a crew member has or if he even is visible is defined by the internal CM engine. There are vehicles with full visible crew (jeeps, trucks etc.) and there are vehicle with invisible crew (most apcs/tanks) except when you press [open up] which "spawns" a visible tank commander, and there are vehicles with partially visible crew where you for example can see the driver but not the gunner or vice versa. - for amphibious vehicles if one want to go for some visible crew members on a custom model, the Syrian BRDM-2 and the German FUCHS has 1/2 visible crew members which for example could then placed on a patrol boat. The Fuchs has definitely 2 visible of which one controls the roof MG and raises from sitting into a standing stance when [open up] is pressed. - having an amphibious vehicle with full visible crew/passengers would require a vanilla vehicle with the same trait. Unfortunately I don´t know any as Jeeps, Trucks, etc. can´t swim. So having 2 visible crew guys on a patrol boat is the best atm when I am right about all of this. Too bad we don´t have the Tank Rider feature in CMSF2, this would enable alot of oppurtunities with custom models and visible crews.

Yes the sound and effects are outstanding. I noticed that some wheeled vehicles seem to be very silent which can be observed in the Bong-Hai Air Cav Video. Its the Marines truck there. Would be handy because alot of good models are only in max format. About Textures in Blender - You can assign textures to every model part in Blender. - bmp files for Combat Mission need to be lower case - save them in 24bit. I use GIMP2 and my export settings are shown below. - even without UV map editing skills everyone with little time effort can assign (simple) textures to model parts. With UV maps and detailed textures the result looks of course way better. Blender Navigation for assigning textures to model parts: GIMP2 BMP Export Settings:

If you load the blender project files directly into blender which are included in the m48 & m60 download releases on my dropbox you will get seperate objects which can be assigned seperate textures. There is also an UV editor in blender but like I said I am not into uv editing and can´t provide feedback about differences or compatibiliy between max and blender. Making Of videos of M48 Part 1: Part 2: Note to Part2: press F6 to open the menu which lets you decide which side should be cut away. You can copy/paste model parts between blender windows with usual CTRL+C or V commands. I used the finished M60 for visual comparison and because it was easier for me to move all the relevant stuff (crew, muzzle positions etc.) to the M48. You can also see me assigning quickly vanilla textures from the t55mgun.bmp. The workflow is a bit rough as I run into issues because the turret,hull, and searchlight was one object which needed to be cut in order to create separate objects. What is not shown: ALL my custom models have a vanilla model base, in this case I used a T-55 hull object made invisible with blank.bmp. Without this my models wouldn´t display ingame.