Unit Setup zones for own scenarios

[RommelJugend]

Hi. As a new CMBO player I have gone through the manual in the above regard, but am obviously missing something. How do I allocate a unit's base colour (and thereby specify its initial setup placement zone) when creating my own scenarios? And more specifically, how do I alter these in an existing scenario if I am tweaking it to my own individual taste? The manual talks about units with orange bases as having been "padlocked" by the scenario designer to be unmoveable, but never explains how to do (or undo) this yourself. Can someone help please? Thanks!

[Philippe]

I've never actually designed a scenario so I probably don't know what I'm talking about.

That said, I believe you allocate base colors from the Map section of the Editor. Keep clicking on the different tabs at the top of the Map editor -- you'll be surprised by what eventually turns up.

To alter a scenario, go into the scenarios folder, find your intended victim, make a copy of it, and give it an incriminating name. Then open it up in the editor and alter away.

There's a persistant bug in some of the editors in that they default to certain unit types every time you close without saving. So be careful or you may find organic artillery spotters and machine gun teams of Luftwaffe and SS units mysteriously morphing into Wehrmacht Heer whenever your back is turned. It's surprising how often this slips by experienced designers -- and people who are really careful about what gets placed where are more likely to fall prey to it. Just make sure you go back into the unit editor after you set everything up to make sure your units didn't change their stripes when you weren't looking.

[ October 04, 2007, 01:50 PM: Message edited by: Philippe ]

[jBrereton]

Ok, when in the editor, right-click on a unit. There will be a "padlock" command. If it's already padlocked, then clicking on the command again frees the unit to deploy.

Note that padlocking keeps a unit from being deployed anywhere else - for example if you want a bunker or sniper in a certain place (which can be outside of the normal deployment zone).

[RommelJugend]

Hi Philippe - dashing to my rescue once again! The tabs on the map editor are, as far as I can see, to switch between terrain type, elevation levels and setting setup zone areas - i.e. all to do with how the map itself looks. I've never found them (in my limited experience) to do anything else. Somehow I can't seem to find the connection with how units fit into the picture. Besides allocating base colours (which I assume are automatically assigned according to which zone you place the unit in initially?), how does one place a unit on the map at all in the first place?

[jBrereton]

You buy them in the "unit editor" section in the map editor, and then you click on 'Preview', at which point you can move units around to wherever you choose.

Hope that helps.

[stoat]

When you purchase units in the unit editor, those in the "on map" slot will automatically appear on the map editor, while troops in any of the reinforcement slots will be represented by a marker, also visible on map.

Setup zones are created much like different terrain types (like woods or fields). To "assign" a unit to a particular setup zone, all you have to do is move the unit within that setup zone via the map editor. The units will not have the appropriately colored bases in the map editor, but will during the setup phase of the scenario when it is openned through the scenarios menu. As has been mentioned, units are padlocked through the spacebar/right click menu in the map editor.

[RommelJugend]

Hi everyone. I've been off-line for the last while, but coming back now it's really heart-warming to see so many people willing to help another out! I must admit that I was a bit confused initially by the mention of a unit editor in the map editor, as the map editor on my copy of CMBO had no tabs or buttons at all that directly referred to units. For a while there I even considered that I may have some cut-down version of the game! However, I get it now. One purchases the units in the Unit section, then goes across to the Map section and clicks the Preview button. I was originally under the impression that the Preview button only served to show you the 3D final product of the map you're creating, but now I see that it contains the units as well (which the 2D map creator does not). From the 3D view one can then place the units wherever you want them, padlock them, etc. Once again, thanks for all the help.