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I am attempting to edit my Global Conflict Gold game and create a game on the French Indochina War which took place after WWII and during the Korean War. Right now I am constructing the map. I got the terrain tiles all set and I understand how to add everything else. The thing that I can't seem to figure out is how to add borders to the map. I don't see them anywhere in the editor.

How can I add borders to the map?

Also other foreseeable issues may be:

The Viet Minh are a faction, not necessarily a country, though I could use them as one. They don't exist on the list though. Can I create a new faction or country?

Can I change the look of the forces with pics of my own? How?

Since the French ended up using primarily American equipment, can I use icon pics of American forces for the French forces? How?

Any help would be appreciated.

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Hi Gustophus

The first thing to do is to change all the settings in the campaign.ini file that is within your new campaign's folder to:

#CUSTOM_BITMAPS= 1

#CUSTOM_INTERFACE= 1

#CUSTOM_SOUND= 1

#CUSTOM_LOCALIZATION= 1

This will enable you to amend any of these things, in your campaign.

Now open up your campaign's localization.txt file, and also the main game's localization.txt file that is within the game's main folder.

Copy over the lines from the latter that you will need in the former.

For instance, if you want a new country, select a country name that you won't be using (e.g. Poland) and copy that line over to your campaign's localization.txt file. The change it to read:

#POLAND= Viet Minh

The next time you open up your campaign (you won't notice any changes you make to this while you're in the campaign) you'll see that Poland is now called Viet Minh!

The next stage will be to copy over all the relevant files from the game's Bitmaps folder into your campaign's Bitmaps folder (you'll probably need to create one if you haven't already).

You can then edit these in a painting program.

It might pay to look at the file structure of the campaigns that come with AoD before venturing too far, as putting files in the right place is crucial.

There is a Help function within the editor, and of course this forum for questions when you get stuck!

Good luck! :)

Bill

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I have found the campaignfile.ini file in the editor files but I do not seem to have one in my campaign folder. My campaign file has a padlock icon on it. Is this effecting that? Not sure how to get that off either. My cgn file also has a padlock on it. When I look at the other existing campaign folders in the editor they have subfolders but don't list the files.

I did manually type in campaignfile.ini and it came up, but it could not find it to open it. I also tried to paste a copy of it from another file but it said that file already existed.

How do I fix this?

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I don't know if i'm correct but most times when I find a padlock on folders I usually have to close the program and then when I open it again I right click and select "run as administrator" and then your computer will usually allow you to make changes to directories.

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I appreciate the feedback. After much agonizing I have finally gotten the proper permissions setup to run the editor properly. Thank for getting me this far. With this progress I have come across other bumps though:

1. I got the Axis label to show "Communist", but I am not able to make the Allies label read "French Union". I have typed in #PA_ALLIES= French Union mimicking the one for the Axis to Communist already available hoping that would work. What should I take to make Allies read "French Union"?

2. I copied the Bitmap folder from the 1948 scenario for my campaign folder. I see a lot of pics on spread sheets. Does their location on the spread sheet dictate which army they show up in? If not, how do I know which pics to alter for this scenario?

3. When I try to change Japan's alliance setting from Communist to Neutral I get a warning pop up page that I cannot exit out of unless I control alt delete the program. It warns that altering this status will cause issues with parent countries mobilizations and alliances. What is this and how do I get around it.

The map is finally coming together and I look forward to getting all of this put together.

Thanks

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Hi Gustophus,

1. If it is just the simple text in game then any instance in the localization.txt file that has 'Allies' should be changed to French Union and that should do the trick.

If it is the interface bitmaps then those will of course have to be manually edited in a graphics editing program.

2. I think you might be talking about the unit sprites BMP file? If so then these are the units that are used in game and each row, the first 8 rows of units, corresponds to the first 8 majors that are listed in your campaign in the 'Country Data' dialog.

The 9th and 10th rows represent the Allied minors and the Axis minors respectively.

Then after that the next 10 rows are duplicates of the first 10 rows but represent the winterized units, the 10 rows after that are the desert versions.

The columns of units follow the unit order found in the 'Unit Build' data dialog in the Editor. For some there are multiple sprites, i.e. tanks have 6 different versions depending upon what research level they are on and so on.

3. The warning pop up page simply tells you that Japan's current alliance setting affects several minor countries that are dependent on Japan's setting as Japan is their parent. So if you change Japan to neutral then those minor countries that are aligned with Japan will be reset as well.

There is no way around this and you'll have to reset those minors if applicable or you can simply leave them to be reset if they will no longer depend on Japan.

For example, in the 1939 World At War campaign, Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria are all set to have Germany as their Axis parent country. If you were to edit that campaign and set Germany to Neutral then Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria would be reset to Neutral as well as they no longer have a valid Axis parent.

Hope this helps,

Hubert

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I don't see an instant of any file listed as Allied to change to French Union in the files.

Also, having trouble trying to select a capital for a country. I selected the tiles for the country and assigned them to a country. It warned me to pick a capital before continuing on. I select the city coordinates and hit Add , but it tell s me to select a capital first...??? That is what I am trying to do. Is there a certain way to select the first capital that is different from subsequent capitals?

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Hi Gustophus,

In the localization.txt file, found in your installation folder, if you do a search for 'Allies' and 'Allied' simply changing these to French Union will change 'Allied' to 'French Union'.

However, I would make a copy of the localization.txt file and place it in your campaign subfolder and change the line in the campaign.ini file to #CUSTOM_LOCALIZATION= 1

For assigning tiles to a country, all you have to do is make sure that the country has a capital or it will not allow you to proceed.

To do this, simply select the RESOURCE layer when editing the main map and place a 'capital' resource on the map within the tiles that you want to assign to a particular country.

This should do the trick when you then select tiles to assign to a country.

I hope this helps,

Hubert

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I was able to find out how to install a capital right after asking here. Little embarrassing how easy it was, but still getting use to the interface.

I have been through EVERY localization file. The word Allied does not exist in any of them to change the allegiance title. It does shows this for Axis to Communist, but no pre-existing line has Allied in it. Stuck here.

The bitmaps and units are now entered and map is completer. I have begun the task of now creating event scripts. How do you script a nation dividing into a number of nations? More specifically how does the computer know by the script the borders and capitals of the new nations?

Thank you all for your help.

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Hi Gustophus

Every line in the localization file that relates to the Axis also has one nearby that relates to the Allies. So if you find the Axis ones, the relevant Allied one will generally be just underneath it.

The localization.txt file to use is the one that is installed into the main game's folder, and it contains lots and lots of rows of text. On my installation it is in the following location, but yours may be different:

C:\Program Files\Battlefront\Strategic Command WWII Global Conflict GOLD

Copy that and paste it into your new campaign's folder (this will overwrite the one you already have in there, so best make a copy of that elsewhere first if you want to use any of the data in it).

Then open it up and start changing Axis to Communist, Allies to French Union, etc.

As you do this, it is best to delete all the rows where you haven't had to change anything, as otherwise the game will take longer to load.

Hopefully this will work, and good luck with the campaign! :)

Bill

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Thanks Bill,

I finally found the big localization file, not just the campaign ones. I was able to get everything changed over.

Can anybody help me with my other question: How do you script a nation dividing into a number of nations? More specifically how does the computer know by the script the borders and capitals of the new nations?

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I'm glad you sorted out the localization.txt issue, and yes, sorry I forgot to answer your other question.

You will need to use TERRITORY scripts, with the capital of the new nation being the first map position in the list of tiles the script will require. Essentially, every tile listed will form part of the new country when the script fires.

It would be a good idea to look at some of the Territory scripts contained within the 1939 World at War campaign as a guide.

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Making great progress thus far. Thanks for everyone's input.

I do have some other questions I have come across:

In this scenario, Indochina (Owned by France) could be divided up into three possible nations. When this is done, will the Viet Minh tiles be swallowed up as well as the French ones since I list all possible tiles that are part of the country proper? Can I avoid this?

I want to be able to remove units that are in the game at various points along the game. I understand adding new units, but I don't see an example of removing (or disbanding) a unit. Is there a way in which I can remove units from play in the event scripts?

Thanks

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And one more...

In the case of victory, it provides for the options of having objectives met. These objectives seem to have to be physical locations on the map to posses. Is there a possible way of making a unit (its destruction) as one of the objectives to be met? I want to have a Ho Chi Minh HQ or unit that the French should try to "capture" (in the game destroy it) as one of their objectives. Is this doable?

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Making great progress thus far. Thanks for everyone's input.

I do have some other questions I have come across:

In this scenario, Indochina (Owned by France) could be divided up into three possible nations. When this is done, will the Viet Minh tiles be swallowed up as well as the French ones since I list all possible tiles that are part of the country proper? Can I avoid this?

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And one more...

In the case of victory, it provides for the options of having objectives met. These objectives seem to have to be physical locations on the map to posses. Is there a possible way of making a unit (its destruction) as one of the objectives to be met? I want to have a Ho Chi Minh HQ or unit that the French should try to "capture" (in the game destroy it) as one of their objectives. Is this doable?

That is a tricky one!

Victory Conditions are determined by holding locations or reducing your opponent's National Morale value to zero.

If the HQ cannot be rebuilt, then once destroyed the Viet Minh will struggle to fight well, so ultimately a French victory is probably guaranteed... but that is obviously an indirect solution to that goal.

An alternative approach is to give the HQ a very high MPP cost value, so that when it takes casualties, including being destroyed, the Viet Minh National Morale will fall considerably, bringing their defeat that much closer.

Though I've just thought of a totally different approach that should work! :)

It would require having two countries for the Viet Minh. One is a Major and can only field the HQ unit. The other is a Minor that fields all the combat units, and 99% of resources should belong to this Minor country.

They can both be called Viet Minh.

The Major's HQ can be set to command the Minor country's units, which ticks that box, plus you could have a Decision Event controlling a Victory script which fires based on a Condition Position of there being no units belonging to that Major power in the game. Thus if the HQ is destroyed, then the Viet Minh have lost the war.

By the end of this project you'll be an expert in the scripts too! :)

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I have a few snags and some other questions.

It seems that I can only emplace about 3 units per turn as reinforcements regardless of what is available on the production queue. I added more production centers and supply centers hoping it would change this, but it didn't. How can I be able to emplace all available units on the game map?

How can I add units starting on the map that already have research advancements emplaced, like motorization or infantry level 1? How about units with elite replacement steps?

Can I make other select units airborne? For example airborne artillery or airborne partisans that are inserted behind enemy lines.

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Hi Gustophus

I have a few snags and some other questions.

It seems that I can only emplace about 3 units per turn as reinforcements regardless of what is available on the production queue. I added more production centers and supply centers hoping it would change this, but it didn't. How can I be able to emplace all available units on the game map?

Adding more Industrial Centers will help expand the range of resources that units can be deployed at - provided they have friendly territory nearby.

Also, if you're using my idea about having two countries as Viet Minh, experiment with changing the Build Restrictions from Home Builds to be Home/Occupied.

Hopefully one or both of these will resolve it for you, but if not please let me know.

How can I add units starting on the map that already have research advancements emplaced, like motorization or infantry level 1? How about units with elite replacement steps?

You will need to give the relevant country the desired level in that research field.

Once done, select the units on the map, right click on them and bring up Properties. Here you'll be able to give them upgrades, as well as amending their starting strength and experience.

Can I make other select units airborne? For example airborne artillery or airborne partisans that are inserted behind enemy lines.

I'm afraid not, as we only have the one paratroop style slot.

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I created more Industrial sites which did open up a lot of placement options. However it limits me to emplacing three units and will not allow me to add any more. I double checked and all "nations" are NOT set to home build only. They are set to "none" for restrictions.

Also, removing Commanders is difficult. I have units that are removed set as withdrawal "nations", but I can't do this with commanders unless they are able to command other forces besides their category. They can command all as the parent nation, but I can't "surrender" the main nation to make the commanders disappear. Any other suggestions with this?

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I created more Industrial sites which did open up a lot of placement options. However it limits me to emplacing three units and will not allow me to add any more. I double checked and all "nations" are NOT set to home build only. They are set to "none" for restrictions.

That is odd. Can you send me the campaign please, zipped up, to bill.runacre@furysoftware.com and I'll take a look.

Also, removing Commanders is difficult. I have units that are removed set as withdrawal "nations", but I can't do this with commanders unless they are able to command other forces besides their category. They can command all as the parent nation, but I can't "surrender" the main nation to make the commanders disappear. Any other suggestions with this?

If the Commander unit is the only unit in existence from that nation, then you could use a Loop script to remove it from the map. The Loop script will have to cover all tiles on the map, with a trigger relevant to when you want it to fire.

Hopefully that helps?

Bill

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Hi

Thanks for the files, and that's a very nice looking map and campaign!! :)

I see what the problem is with the deployments, as the units that cannot be deployed belong to countries that, although they exist on the map, aren't connected by land to IndoChina proper, as there needs to be a land connection to either a Capital or Industrial Center of their own country to enable them to be deployed in IndoChina.

They can however be deployed on the eastern edge of the map where all the capitals are, so one solution would be to add some land and coastal tiles, with lots of ports so that they can be shipped to IndoChina.

An alternative, or possibly a solution to work in tandem, would be to have the first set of reinforcements arrive directly by script in IndoChina, so that they will be there right from the start, with later reinforcements deploying and being shipped over as per my suggestion above.

Hopefully one or other of these will work here?

Bill

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