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How to use Mod Tags


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Does anybody have an understanding of mod tags and how to use them?  I looked in the 4.0 Engine manual and found a section on mods but not how to use mod tags. Maybe I missed the section so if you know where in the manual and can give me the page number or something that would be great.

In one of the game manuals, I think CMBS, I found the following:  Mod Tags for most graphics. This allows for multiple mods for the same item without the need to move items in/out of the Mods folder. 

So does this mean that mod tags are built in and hard coded? I think you can change heavy rocks to building rubble with the use of a mod tag.  But it is limited to what BFC coded?  It can either be heavy rocks or building rubble?  It can’t be changed?

I also found a post that said to change the heavy rocks to rubble you had to create and import a txt file.  Are there instructions located somewhere on how to do this?

I also found in a game manual the following statement: There is the ability to specify mods be used for a specific scenario.

This may actually be what I’m looking for (the ability to specify mods be used for a specific scenario).  I just released a scenario for testing and before I send the finalized scenario to the Scenario Depot in a few weeks I might want to have the scenario grab and use a handful of specific mods.  This is different from the hard coded mode tag ability above I think?  How do you specify a certain mod to be used by a certain scenario??  Any guidance on all the above would be appreciated. Or just point me to the reference that explains it.  I don't mind reading up on it I just can't find much detail on it.  Just general information that mod tags exists.  

Edited by MOS:96B2P
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11 minutes ago, MOS:96B2P said:

Does anybody have an understanding of mod tags and how to use them?  I looked in the 4.0 Engine manual and found a section on mods but not how to use mod tags. Maybe I missed the section so if you know where in the manual and can give me the page number or something that would be great.

In one of the game manuals, I think CMBS, I found the following:  Mod Tags for most graphics. This allows for multiple mods for the same item without the need to move items in/out of the Mods folder. 

So does this mean that mod tags are built in and hard coded? I think you can change heavy rocks to building rubble with the use of a mod tag.  But it is limited to what BFC coded?  It can either be heavy rocks or building rubble?  It can’t be changed?

I also found a post that said to change the heavy rocks to rubble you had to create and import a txt file.  Are there instructions located somewhere on how to do this?

I also found in a game manual the following statement: There is the ability to specify mods be used for a specific scenario.

This may actually be what I’m looking for (the ability to specify mods be used for a specific scenario).  I just released a scenario for testing and before I send the finalized scenario to the Scenario Depot in a few weeks I might want to have the scenario grab and use a handful of specific mods.  This is different from the hard coded mode tag ability above I think?  How do you specify a certain mod to be used by a certain scenario??  Any guidance on all the above would be appreciated. Or just point me to the reference that explains it.  I don't mind reading up on it I just can't find much detail on it.  Just general information that mod tags exists.  

Sorry guy would like help you but never having a look of these section...could be interresting that i do one day !!

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I did some digging around reading forum posts, looking in the Editor and looking at mods at CMMODS III.  The below is what I have found so far.  I think the below is correct but i'm still trying to understand it.  So any correction / guidance would be useful and welcomed.  Also, I'm going to tag @umlauthere since my research indicates he may be able to shed light on the mod tag issue. :)

Mod tags first came out with Engine 3.0 in August 2014.  Since engine 3.0 all the games (except CMSF1 & CMA) have had the mod tag selection added in the editor under Mission.  CMBS and CMFB were released after mod tags were added and as a result make more use of them in scenarios than the earlier titles.   Information on stock mod tags are included in the game manuals for CMBS & CMFB, not the engine manual (as far as I can tell).  CMBS game manual page 143.  CMFB game manual page 125.       

The below in italics is from the CMFB game manual:  

Mod tags are used by scenario designers to force selection of textures tagged with the appropriate label. For example, a scenario that has the "[whitewash]" mod tag will always attempt to use any textures with a file name containing "[whitewash]" (without the quotes) when the scenario is loaded. Mod tags are also used automatically by the game when certain conditions are met; for example, if the Region of a scenario is set to Germany, the game will automatically load textures with the "[germany]" mod tag in the file name.

CMFB stock mod tags:

Note: Ardennes region art is used by default for environmental art, if no mod tags are selected.

[germany] - German environmental art.

[france] - French environmental art.

[holland] - Holland and northern Belgium environmental art.

[autumn] - Autumn environmental art.

[winter] - Winter environmental art.

[snow] - Snow unit and environmental art.

[cold] - Cold environmental art.

[muddy] - Muddy unit and environmental art.

[whitewash] - Adds whitewash camo to vehicles. Whitewash tagged art is used automatically by the game when the date is January or later, and there is Light Snow or heavier on the ground.  

[whitewash snow] - Combination of Whitewash and Snow mod tags.

[rubble] – Heavy Rocks terrain tiles will now resemble piles of urban brick rubble.

[rubble snow] – Same as the [rubble] tag above, but snow is mixed in with the rubble.

I think the mod in the mod folder gets the [tag] and the scenario gets the tag in the mods txt document eg: [snow] goes with the mod at the end of the mod’s file name.  In the scenario the word snow goes on the txt document under Mission – Mod Tags.  Or the mod might also be made to appear if the conditions of the scenario is set to light snow, heavy snow or blizzard. So maybe two different ways of making some mods appear? 

In addition terrain tiles can be used for a second purpose if the tag is placed in the txt file in the scenario Editor. 

Tile Tag                       Notes

lawn = Dirt red tile changed to lawn 

rubble = Heavy rocks changed to pile of bricks

rubble snow = Heavy rocks changed to pile of bricks with snow

trash = Hard changed to pile of trash

trashsoft = Sand changed to pile of trash   (trash & trashsoft look exactly the same to me) 

In addition the tag night on the txt file gives troops camouflage faces. 

I also found tags on txt documents that seem to be related to the scenario: meijel, stoumont, hatten, wingensurmoder, sessenheim, Bastogne, wiltz, herrlisheim, singling, stoumont.  Not sure what these do or how they do it yet..............

                                                                                                                                                

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On 3/20/2018 at 5:23 PM, MOS:96B2P said:

Does anybody have an understanding of mod tags and how to use them?

Yep, and it is easy

I've worked with terrain textures, but the concept is the same for any mod'able element.

Here is a simple example that turns the hit decal pink for easy spotting of hit locations

The .bmp file goes in the mod folder.

The text file is added to the scenario in the mission editor (bottom tab) in the same way that briefing texts are added.

Simple scenario attached for BS showing this in action.

Note the tag when added to the bmp file is [glow] but in the text file is only glow.

Shout if you have any problems

 

P

 

tagglow.btt

penetration decal [glow].bmp

glow tag.txt

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17 hours ago, MOS:96B2P said:

I also found tags on txt documents that seem to be related to the scenario: meijel, stoumont, hatten, wingensurmoder, sessenheim, Bastogne, wiltz, herrlisheim, singling, stoumont.  Not sure what these do or how they do it yet..............

These tags bring into play amended textures, for the most part as I recall being what names showed on the road signs for a particular tag. There might also be some building textures being amended.

Edit

Just to add these tags were included by BF and so have the tagged textures already included in the game brz files, and so the textures are not required in the mod folder. For any user tags however the tagged file either needs to be added to the mod folder or a replacement brz file provided. For BF provided tags to find what textures have what tags will need all of the brz files to be exploded and reviewed

P

Edited by Pete Wenman
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29 minutes ago, Pete Wenman said:

Shout if you have any problems.

THANK YOU Pete!!!  That was very nice of you to go through the trouble of including the attachments.  I will give the attachments a look at and see if I understand everything now.  +1, +1  Thanks again.  

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VICTORY!! I got the tag to work. 

I had to rename the .bmp file before it worked.  It originally had the file name of 5ab3e4b951487_penetrationdecalglow  I looked at another decal penetration mod I had and named the glow .bmp in a similar way: penetration decal [glow]. 

I think I'm starting to understand this.  This has some cool possibilities................. Thanks @Pete Wenman   

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Please note tags do not work with Quick Battles.
The game strips out any tags appended to QB maps and just gives you plain-Jane graphics (unless its a genuine game setting like snow or a region).
There's a request to get that changed so tags work in QB in time for the coming CMRT module. I don't know the status of that, or if Charles has given the idea thumbs up or thumbs down.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Below is another way of looking at how Mod Tags in the mod folder work.  One of the things I had trouble understanding was why you would put a Mod Tag on a mod that was in your mod folder.  Since a mod in the mod folder will show up anyways (unless another mod of the same thing loads after it (the whole Z thing)).  So what helped make the light bulb go off was in a conversation with @rocketman when he basically explained  a Mod Tag prevents a mod from showing until you want it to show.    

The mod folder gets the [tag] and the scenario gets the tag in the mods txt document.  Example: [bloody] goes with the mod at the end of the mod’s file name.  In the scenario the word bloody goes on the txt document under Mission – Mod Tags.  A mod tag keeps a mod from being used until it is requested by the txt document.  So a mod tag allows you to keep a mod in your mod folder all the time without it showing up until it is needed.  

Thought I would include this extra information to help players who are researching mods and come across this thread in the future.  :)

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1 hour ago, MOS:96B2P said:

So a mod tag allows you to keep a mod in your mod folder all the time without it showing up until it is needed.  

Thought I would include this extra information to help players who are researching mods and come across this thread in the future.  :)

Exactly! Things like re skinning a game to be set in a different location, doing uniforms for another force, or redoing flavour objects to represent other things are perfect uses for mod tags because it lets people keep the special mod in place and only see it in scenarios designed for the new force or location.

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Sorry late to the party.

Modtags affect every texture you see on screen so that includes the UI. It's something that was realised when testing JuJu's UI mod v5 after CMFB's release. As a result there are different unit portraits for when it's winter compared to autumn in that mod. :) There was some brief talk of going further and having an 'icy' UI for when the the modtag of snow was in use but the amount of work for poor JuJu would have been too much.

One thing to keep in mind with using modtags on uniforms is to keep in mind that some users have mutliple variants of the same uniforms to help make the pixeltruppen look unique in any given view. As soon as the number of mod tagged files in a series runs out, it will revert back to the un-modtagged default uniform file if it exists under the original file from Battlefront or if it exists in a mod folder. So for instance if you provide 3 uniform textures that are mod tagged to a scenario but the user has 4 modded uniforms, then the fourth pixeltruppen will still be displayed using relevant un-modtagged texture file. Even if the modtagged textures are duplicates, it's better to provide a few extra in sequence just in case.

Also I've yet to test it myself but modtags also work with sound files? I have a sneaky long term idea to finally get some Australians into a CM2 scenario. :P

Edited by Ithikial_AU
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  • 3 months later...
  • 6 months later...

Okay, I'm running into a problem I can't figure out so far.  I am attempting to Tag a few mods for the new scenario Coup d'etat.  Some are working as expected and others will not show up when tagged.  Below are three examples.  They are mods created by @LongLeftFlank for his Ramadi map. 

The first mod shopfronts works as intended.  The next two Shot Up Building and Mosque Collonade do not.  Below are examples of one tagged mod from each.

SHOPFRONT: facade8-exterior-bottom [ramadi]    This works,  no problem.

SHOT UP BUILDING: facade9-exterior-bottom [ramadi]  This will not show up in the scenario when tagged. 

MOSQUE COLLONADE: facade10-exterior-bottom [ramadi]  This will not show up in the scenario when tagged. 

The txt file imported in the editor shows: squalor, ramadi, coup 

Iv'e tried several things with no luck.  Any ideas, suggestions or adult supervision would be appreciated.

 

Edit: This mod was originally made for CMSF1.  The mods do work when put in the CMSF2 mods folder with no tag.  

Edited by MOS:96B2P
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50 minutes ago, MOS:96B2P said:

Okay, I'm running into a problem I can't figure out so far.  I am attempting to Tag a few mods for the new scenario Coup d'etat.  Some are working as expected and others will not show up when tagged.  Below are three examples.  They are mods created by @LongLeftFlank for his Ramadi map. 

The first mod shopfronts works as intended.  The next two Shot Up Building and Mosque Collonade do not.  Below are examples of one tagged mod from each.

SHOPFRONT: facade8-exterior-bottom [ramadi]    This works,  no problem.

SHOT UP BUILDING: facade9-exterior-bottom [ramadi]  This will not show up in the scenario when tagged. 

MOSQUE COLLONADE: facade10-exterior-bottom [ramadi]  This will not show up in the scenario when tagged. 

The txt file imported in the editor shows: squalor, ramadi, coup 

Iv'e tried several things with no luck.  Any ideas, suggestions or adult supervision would be appreciated.

 

Edit: This mod was originally made for CMSF1.  The mods do work when put in the CMSF2 mods folder with no tag.  

actually looks ok to me, but I just have CMSF1 and CMSF2 Demo to look at. Both go with stock game files up to number 8. CMSF2 Full might have more, but I don´t know. I´d have a look in associated MDR files and check texture file name references. If you say..."don´t show up when tagged", do you mean concerned building looks transparent or black, or defaults to the highest or lowest numbered file in the unmodded/tagged game? 

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2 minutes ago, RockinHarry said:

defaults to the highest or lowest numbered file in the unmodded/tagged game? 

The building skin will defaults to one of the stock skins.  But not always the same stock skin.  Or so I thought, see below.  

Well, I just double checked.  The building skin will sometimes show the tagged skin that does work.   From the SHOPFRONT folder: facade8-exterior-bottom [ramadi].  

So in summary: The building will not show the tagged skin it is intended to show but will instead show a random stock skin or different working tagged skin.     

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The storefront is number 8 and it works.  The shot up building is number 9 and the mosque collonade is 10.  After the shot up building and mosque collonade mods stop showing up (because they won't load when tagged) I can no longer get them to show up un-tagged.  The old fashion way of just dropping an un-tagged mod in the mod folder no longer will make them show.  Or even a Z folder within the mod folder.  I have to physically go into the editor and use the shift key to cycle through the building skins to make the mosque collonade and shot up skins appear again.   

Maybe the game just won't load anything automatically past number 8 no matter if it is tagged or not?  Skin number 9 and 10 must be manually selected in the editor???

Maybe if I made the mosque collonade number 7 and tagged it, it would then work?  

Edited by MOS:96B2P
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The fact it stops at the default "8" modular might point to a missing file. I have this happen from time to time if I forget one of them.

I'm sure you have already, but double check that ALL the modular files are in your new modular folder. The engine won't swap in something from building 8 to cover something missing in your new building 9, if I recall.

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