Downloading Commonwealth Uniforms (mostly DC's)

[Holman]

I see at the Repository that Chris has created a *ton* of Commonwealth uniform packs, it looks like one for every division that participated in Normandy. A very impressive achievement!

I'm looking for an update to the default Commonwealth uniforms, but I'll probably go with just one rather than swapping them out on a scenario-specific basis. That being the case, which UK uniform(s) should I download? Which is probably the most representative division?

On a more technical note, which uniforms over-write each other? I assume that Airborne and Infantry are separate, but what about, say, Canadians and British?

In other words, if I want to download good-looking new uniforms covering all my Commonwealth forces, what should I choose?

Thanks!

[Darknight (DC)]

The easy answer is 'whichever one looks best to you'.

Next best might be something that covers a majority of the campaign.

Say, a unit of the 3rd Canadian Division for your Canucks (just pick one of the first 3 parts I uploaded, there's 3 battalions in each, so if you don't like one, just swap it for another).

For the Brits, a unit from the 3rd, 50th or 51st Divisions would have been longest in Normandy, so again, pick a favourite and go with it.

[Darknight (DC)]

Oh, and you'll have to explode the BRZ files to extract my uniform sets.

The whole pack will also modify other things (vehicles, ranks, etc).

The uniforms don't conflict between nationalities (unless you use the Commandos or Recce unit packs).

I plan on updating/finishing the mod when v2.0 comes out in the near future (besides, summer is break time ).

[Holman]

Thanks for the replies! I'm in the midst of exploding brz's and figuring out how things work.

Quick question:

I'm still amazed that CM knows how to use modded files (provided they are named correctly) without having them in any particular folder structure. I can just dump a whole bunch of different uniforms for different nationalities into a single folder in Data\Z, and the game still puts everything on the right soldier.

Is there any benefit to sorting out mod files into folders (say, by nationality)? And is there any benefit to re-packing them instead of just leaving the files lose? I'm chiefly wondering about anything that affects loading or performance.

[Darknight (DC)]

I don't think packing them has any other effect except to organize everything and keep it tidy.

Performance is affected by some mods but that is variable.

The reason the there's no need for any folder structure is that the game reads the Z folder last and in alphabetical order.

[Erwin]

An issue I noticed is that DC also has vehicle mod graphics in the packages, and these are not very compatible with Aris' amazing vehicular mods. (DC's are "cleaner".) So, AFAIK you have to take out those graphics, or not use Aris' mods.

[Darknight (DC)]

An issue I noticed is that DC also has vehicle mod graphics in the packages, and these are not very compatible with Aris' amazing vehicular mods. (DC's are "cleaner".) So, AFAIK you have to take out those graphics, or not use Aris' mods.

Not exactly. The vehicles included in the mod packages are Aris-modded vehicles (details are in the readme file)....the exact same vehicles that he released....mud, grime and all....EXCEPT for the decals.

The only difference is that I added the decals that correspond to the battalion/regiment that I'm representing with the package.

The 'compatibility' issue would be if you used Aris' original mods with variants. Otherwise, just make sure if you use one of my mod packages you should try to place it near the end of your load order (just prefix it with 'zzz' or something and the problem would disappear).

[Erwin]

That's interesting. I know when I started a scenario with both yours and Aris mods, (yours loaded last), I saw Bren/Universal Carriers that appeared partly dirtied up and partly clean (clean on the surfaces with your new unit-specific decals IIRC).

What is the difference between "Aris-modded vehicles" and "Aris' original mods with variants"? I thought they were all dirtied.

[Darknight (DC)]

What is the difference between "Aris-modded vehicles" and "Aris' original mods with variants"? I thought they were all dirtied.

They are all based upon the 'base' mod that Aris included in each of his vehicle releases.

When Aris released each vehicle, he usually produced several other 'decal' variants, which he included in a 'Decals' folder. There was some discussion from forum members at the time regarding having all the 'variants' included in the mod folder at once; this would lead to lots of variety among the vehicles in-game (though completely ahistorical).

It is possible that I may have accidentally/purposefully not 'activated' a dirt/grime layer from the original mod (maybe there was entirely too much mud in the spot where I needed to put the Division Formation Sign). This would not have happened often.

The only vehicle I used that was not modded by Aris was the Humber III, which I did myself but I never released it, as I will probably have to redo it when the v2.0 Upgrade is released in the near future.

[Erwin]

Ok thanks. I'll take another look at a scenario with your and Aris' mixed mods and see if it's a different issue.