vehicle mdr swapping: apples, oranges and pears.

[kohlenklau]

I write this from the perspective of a WW2 CM game fan...

If I CANNOT get a new influx of game-coded vehicles for the early war periods, I have to look at swapping a vehicle in for a specific mod. I will refer to this as "mdr shenanigans".

We're all really just staring at a screen of spreadsheets fighting each other, right? Something like that? The armor ratings, the turret turn rate, rate of fire, etc.

I have taken the mdr file of one vehicle and renamed it to the mdr filename of another vehicle to get the on screen result I wanted. But the game engine knows what it really is and all the physics stays the same. The player is not happy to see a Romanian R-35 fire off a multi-round burst of main gun fire because underneath it is still a Lynx. So, sometimes these vehicle swaps are best limited to roles of battlefield debris, damaged tanks, etc. maybe set the ammo to severe, maybe use a conscript crew, send them down a mined road as part of an AI plan. If CMRT had an actual R-35 on the axis side, then no "mdr shenanigans" would be required. CMFI has one on the axis side. 

We have apples, oranges and pears. If we can get a fuji apple to take the place of a macintosh apple, then maybe the overall results are not so awful. The R-35 layed over the Lynx wasn't so bad, I thought. I also did a T-34 from CMRT layed over the Panzer IV to be captured T-34 training for the invasion of Malta. Also, I did the Australian R-35 in CMFI Afrika Mod layed over the Stuart. 

I have another "mdr shenanigan" I will be trying for the new Crete mini-mod...

 

 

 

 

[Erwin]

I wonder how the guys who have done CMCW got permission to do all that they have done.  It seems like you are trying something similar.

[kohlenklau]

The CMCW has its own forum and is fully blessed by the higher ups of BFC. 

[akd]

2 hours ago, Erwin said:

I wonder how the guys who have done CMCW got permission to do all that they have done.  It seems like you are trying something similar.

CMCW is not a mod.

[Erwin]

I had the impression that CMCW started as a mod and then snowballed into a new game.  That's what I meant.  My sense is that BF's plan to ignore early WW2, or North Africa will be a self-fulfilling prophecy.  Some of us have been hanging in and buying product to support BF in the hope that we would eventually get to early war.  There is clearly a fan base here for CW - perhaps due to their own experience in 80's armies.  I see CMCW as basically CM2 WW2 terrain with 80's equipment.  When one looks at what used to sell, Barbarossa and Afrika Korps were some of the most popular topics.  So, I hope the effort here by Koh and others will bear fruit.

[IICptMillerII]

24 minutes ago, Erwin said:

I had the impression that CMCW started as a mod and then snowballed into a new game. 

No

[kohlenklau]

I have no beef against Bil and CMCW. I wish them the very best. 

 

Getting back on topic...for the red headed stepkids of BFC, "the early war fans", "the early war orphans"(?), what we want can only be portrayed through modding and mdr shenanigans. 

I will be using this thread once in a while to try and see what apples with apples combos we can arrange for mdr shenanigans.

To document for my own notes, when and where I see an opportunity for single vehicle purchases in the editor to make a good scenario... 

[kohlenklau]

@Sgt.Squarehead

My terms are "shell" vehicle mdr, the one you want to see in the game. It is on the outside like the shell of an egg.

"host" vehicle mdr is on the inside, it is what the gamecode and associated physics see. 

I think you want the Italian partisans to have that old looking truck from CMRT?

Go to the CMRT files and get the folder for that truck (mdr files, bmp files, UI file)

bring it to CMFI Z folder in a subfolder.

then you must find the host mdr's folder and get the host mdr's mdr files, usually 3 or so? Bring them into that same subfolder with the shell's stuff.

select the first host mdr file, then I hit F2 for rename the control c to copy the filename to the clitboard.

THEN DELETE THAT FILE.

select the first file of the shell and hit F2 and hit ctrl v and also add in your [partizani] modtag at the end. hit enter

do the same for the other files until all the original host mdr files are deleted.

the gamecode sees the hosts name but displays the shell on the screen in modtagged scenarios.

the last bit is to modify the UI in game portrait or silhouette.

use Juju's nice UI image for the old Soviet truck but it has the filename for the opel blitz [partizani]

the bmps do not have to be renamed for vehicle mdr swaps

For uniform mds swapping, they do have to be renamed

[Sgt.Squarehead]

@kohlenklau  It's actually a conversion for CM:RT.....My Xmas scenario is set in December 1943 and represents a Partisan raid on a supply depot.  My usual format for this is to have a vehicle to spawn 'loaded with supplies' a certain length of time into the scenario start.  If the player has done his job and secured the Occupy Objective and cleared the route to the Exit Zone, he should be able to drive the supplies to safety and win the scenario.  If he hasn't, the truck will be destroyed and he will lose the scenario.

However it seems that CM:RT Partisans have no access to vehicles whatsoever and as we can't crew swap in these games there's no way to give them transport unless I attatch something from the Soviet or German lists, neither of which is entirely satisfactory as either the truck or driver is out of place.....I can live with a Soviet driver, I've already mixed a few Soviet troops into the Partisan force to give them a more rag-tag appearance, but I'd rather not use a Soviet (or lend-lease) truck.

What I'd like to do is to drop the German Opel Blitz model and all skins (including winter) into a [Partisan] tagged mod that would replace the Soviet Studebaker truck when the tag is used in a scenario.

 

Edited November 17, 2021 by Sgt.Squarehead

[kohlenklau]

5 minutes ago, Sgt.Squarehead said:

What I'd like to do

ok, now I see said the blind man.

I probably have something from the warsaw uprising mod to help you out with the appearance of the driver...

So, you want a stolen Opel Blitz, in normal German markings but with a Soviet partisan driver in civilian clothing...? 

[kohlenklau]

@Sgt.Squarehead

But I guess you HAVE driver like you want.

try this...

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/v8qos2ofg7fqado/AACDZ7DwEOjAJ9-yhU9yRFlsa?dl=0

Edited November 17, 2021 by kohlenklau

[Sgt.Squarehead]

6 minutes ago, kohlenklau said:

But I guess you HAVE driver like you want.

try this...

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/v8qos2ofg7fqado/AACDZ7DwEOjAJ9-yhU9yRFlsa?dl=0

 Perfect.....You are a star! 

Edited November 17, 2021 by Sgt.Squarehead