"HOW TO MOD" on a Mac . . .

[Gpig]

I've guess I've just about had it with my STOCK CM look. Time to finally get some mods. (I know, what took so long.)

Is there a helpful tutorial article written for modding on Macs?

I noted the one at COMBAT MISSIONS, but it seems to be for PC/WINDOWS users only.

Anyone?

Thanks,

Gpig

[Schrullenhaft]

There are Mac "mod manager" programs available at CMHQ. They will allow you to import BMPs into Mac resource files.

(hopefully Madmatt won't mind the direct link here):

http://www.combatmission.com/mods/macmodmanagers.asp

[jdmorse]

Welcome to the worlderful world of modsluts. Abandon all hope, it is a slippery slope!!

IIRC (it was so long ago) there is the MDMP 1 which has a Mac installer for those only, not MDMP2.MDMP 1 For any and all others though you use either of the (get both) Mac Mod installers available at Mac Mod Managers These are ESSENTIAL

One Caveat, there is an upper limit to the number of mods you can cram into the graphics (around 15.7 megs) so if you go total high res winter mods, for example (marco shermans, fernando's etc, it can cause some problems)

However, I am modslutted up the kazoo (iMac SE Dvd) there is NOTHING left of the stock textures, including interface, sounds etc)

CMHQ has a modding guide, although a bit dated at Mod Guide

Combat Missions is a must. See Deanco's interface site, ( Follow the CM Webring links) There's Desert Fox Desert Rats for a North African CM ) the world is your oyster,

*sniff* it reminds me of my youth, just starting out with mods..........Any questions or problems feel free to email me.

[ 07-31-2001: Message edited by: jdmorse ]

[Hoopenfaust2]

Mr. jdmorse.

How the hell did you get everything modded. My graphics 4 file is filled to the brim and I don't even have all the german half tracks at hi-res.

Tell me your secret.

[aikidorat]

I've included a very large readme file with MCM3, with plenty of pix, that shows how to use the mod manager to mod CM. It should help for your first mod or two; after that, MCM3 offers a lot of power to abuse CM with.

The other mod manager may be easier for some mods, so check it out as well.

A lot of use here use both... but remember to QUIT CM before you mod it, or the results may get ugly in a hurry.

Enjoy!

dave

[jdmorse]

Hoopenfaust 101:

jd please As noted below, I have maxxed out several graphics. No known cure. I have had to redo them to fit in the must haves.....as to winter, the Marco Shermans, Stuarts, half tracks, winter unif' incl the Heer white jump suit just about fill it up.

There is some lovely winter stuff I'd love to have, but cannot. Of course as long as you are not increasing the size, you should be able to change low res files okay, but I am a hi res mod slut. We do have our standards, ya know!

Dave

Don't make me hunt you down and box your ears! We're hurting here boy. My graphics 13 is maxxed, 4 is too, yet I have space in others .....all we need is that little patch to let us select where to store them.......my gad the humanity, have you no compassion, we may be forced to slut ourselves in back alley mod clinics.........

[ 07-31-2001: Message edited by: jdmorse ]

[Buckeye]

Hey JDMorse, Dave and I have experimented with using ResEdit to put bmps in other resource files. Sadly, it doesn't work. Unforunately, CM apparently looks for a specific resource file for certain picts, and not through all of them. Doesn't look like we can fix this for CMBO. Thank heavens there'll be no such problem for CMBB...just need to buy a new computer to handle all the high res!

[jdmorse]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Buckeye:

Hey JDMorse, Dave and I have experimented with using ResEdit to put bmps in other resource files. Sadly, it doesn't work. Unforunately, CM apparently looks for a specific resource file for certain picts, and not through all of them.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

But wouldn't it work for the winter files? I know that the orig MDMP files were stored in other than Graphics 13. That only became the standard location later on. As I recall, CM looks for the "1" prefix for snow scenarios. That would go a long way in easing the pain.

[Buckeye]

I tried that too, but it didn't seem to work. I know Dave said he was going to check with Charles about whether it might have been permissible as an exception, but from what I recall it wasn't. Dave?

I agree it's a bummer. I have at least 3 resource files filled to the brim, and the limitation on the winter graphics is especially frustrating. :mad:

[Pzman]

Its not just graphics 13 graphics 5 filles up fast, (its grass and tress). It must be all those high ress skys.

[MikeyD]

I've been modding on the mac since the beginning with no trouble I'm still partial to the original old MacMod 1.0(?), the one that just lets you 'drag & drop' replacement bmp files onto the icon. Couldn't be easier.

I've replaced everything with no trouble at all. Maybe I've been lucky because I've avoided unnecessarily HiRes graphics (aka; HiRes grass, Sherman variants, etc.). Check out my LoRes M10/M36TD and Jumbo at Tom's Combat Mission, and my LoRes Nashorn/Hummel at CMHQ. LoRes does not have to mean low quality.

[aikidorat]

hi everyone,

winter cammo was designated for G13 after MDMP-1. The original MDMP-1 patch did place winter into G4, so you may be able to place winter in other resource files.

It may look in other resource files first, but for some reason I remember trying this with Res Edit and it didnt work anymore. I could be mistaken, so if someone wants to test it again (though it sounds like it has been tested) try it with Res Edit and see if it works.

Additionally, I have tested to see if a G14 would work, but the hook is not in CM so it did not.

(unfortunately, BTS and I totally underestimated the sheer amount of mods, and Hi Res Mods, that would be produced, resulting in only one hook for winter graphics, g13. )

If so, let me know and I'll see if I can update MCM3 to allow the user to choose different G files for the winter textures, or to change the mapping to split the winter textures into a few other G files. No promises though, I have some other things i'm working on right now.

Now, I do believe that you can load non-winter textures in any of the res files, and CM will search for it, but I havent tested that in a long long time. The main issue with this approach is that you cannot use MCM3 or MacMod to mod your resource files once you move the textures. ResEdit is the only way to go.

(there was a well thought out decision process during programming of the mac mod managers to determine where each texture was located. We wanted them compatible with one another and came up with this mapping).

and yes, CMBB shouldnt have any issues, as BTS is moving away from the resource files and using bmps, as on the PC side.

finally, I'm checking the forum regularly again. We've had a very odd, rough year and finally have time to spare. So, I should be posting a bit more regularly.

best,

dave

[aikidorat]

arrrgh! memory is the..first or second thing to go, isnt it?

Buckeye did help test this (sorry bud! been one of those years!), and it didnt work, but I'd be interested to see if someone else can get it to work.

also, has someone tried using just MDMP-1 and see if the winter Hetzer shows up? If it does, it may indicate that you can place winter cammo in the same g file as the non-winter cammo version. That may allow some winter files to be placed in G5, etc, freeing up a wee bit of space in g13...

if someone can test that, let us know. I dont have the time right now to test it...

doh! cant believe I forgot that Buckeye helped test - when was that anyway? i honestly dont remember..

dave

[ 08-01-2001: Message edited by: aikidorat ]

[jd]

For what it is worth...I was able to insert the MDMP 1 Winter Hetzer into Graphic 1. I still retain the standard Hetzer for non - snow months and this shows up only in a snow situation.

so it would seem that bmp's saved as picts can be inserted into spare space of available resources (albeit one at a time) and subject to aikidorats (ya owe me a game Dave!) warning that once you put them in you cannot use MCM3 or MacMod to install new skins over them.

Thanks to Buckeye and Tom M. for the advice.......

[ 08-01-2001: Message edited by: jd ]

[aikidorat]

jd,

a game will have to wait a bit - got 2 going on and it's all I have time for at the moment. After I get my bum kicked around, I'll let you know.

as for the winter textures.. if we do a few more tests to make sure they work in other G files, I can change MCM3 to place winter textures in the lower G files.

I dont know if MacMod's author is still around/supporting his program, so not sure that would get updated, but MCM3 could be.

The longest part will be coding up a conversion app to fix the mapping (though one can use MCM3 to delete winter files manually). Let me think about this some.

Care to try a few other winter textures, in different G files (like, all the ones that arent that full?)? I'd like to hear that it works for other PICTs pasted into the G files before I spend the time updating MCM3.

Thanks!

dave

[SteveP]

Hi. I've been a lurker here for some time, but I decided to jump in to help you out on this issue -- it's one that keeps coming up on these Boards. I have had no problem with placing the resource IDs (the PICT files or BMPs as they are called on the PCs) in any graphic file that I choose. The game finds them anyway as long as they have the correct ID number. It's possible that it takes a little longer for a scenario to load, but not so I've noticed.

There are couple of things you need to know, however, in order to make this work if you download a lot of Hi-Rez mods (which is what I have done). There are some extra steps involved, and also some "paperwork."

First, moving resources (I will call them BMPs from now on) from one Graphic file to another: you do that using ResEdit. It's simply a cut-and-paste operation. You open the two graphic files in ResEdit, select the BMPs you want to move, cut and paste them in the other graphic file. There is no restriction on doing that as long as you don't exceed the 16M limit of one of the graphic files ( you want to avoid doing that -- strange things start to happen if you hit the limit)

I found, however, that once I started doing much of this, I lost track of where I had put certain BMPs. That is a problem if I wanted to update something that I had moved. So I created an Excel spreadsheet listing all of the BMPs in the game, where they were "supposed to be" and where they were after I moved them if I moved them. I also, by the way, use the spreadsheet to keep track of what mods I have installed (by author usually) which is kind of handy.

Now when I download a new mod, I check my spreadheets to see where those BMPs are located ( i.e., whether I've moved them somewhere and if so, where). If, for example, its a mod of an AFV that is originally in Graphic 5 and I've moved it to Graphic 2, I do the following: temporarily rename Graphic 5 to 5a, and rename Graphic 2 to Graphic 5. Then I use one of the Mod managers to install the new mod. Then I rename the Graphic files back to what they were before. It's a couple of extra steps, but it works just fine. Then I update the info in my spreadsheet.

Another key: Before I install some mods, particularly if they are Hi-Rez replacements for Low-Rez, or a winter vehicle that I didn't have before, I also check the file sizes of the Graphic files involved to make sure I have enough room -- again, because you don't want to exceed the Graphic file size limit while installing a mod. If I have any doubts, I simply move some BMPs from one Graphic file to another before installing the new mod.

Another point: I"ve found it simpler to move and organize the BMPs by number rather than by what the BMPs were displaying. For example, I don't do as others have done: that is, have Allied vehicles in one Graphic file and Axis in another. The game engine doesn't care. I simply try to keep the ID numbers in sequence as much as possible. It keeps the paperwork much simpler. However, it's important not to move half a vehicle from one Graphic file to another. That would make future modding of that vehicle very complicated.

I think I got my original BMP listing, that I used to create my spreadsheet, from the Combat MIssions website. I also keep track of the Sound resources (and the mods I used) in the same way, even though there isn't a file size problem with those.

I hope this is helpful to all you fellow Mac users.

In return, I wonder if any of you can explain a problem I've been having with mods. When I download a new mod and UnZip the file, I get a bunch of files that neither of the mod managers can recognize right away. Instead, I have to use Graphic Converter to "convert" to files to BMP files. The odd thing is that Graphic Converter recognizes the original files as BMP files to begin with. Is it possible that I should be doing something different when I UnZip the files to avoid this extra step? Is it something that causes my Mac to recognize them as BMP files?

[aikidorat]

not recognizing bmps for the two programs has occurred before, and had to do with some settings in regards to cross platform file recognition/helpers.

MacMod includes two helper apps that change the app code to something that MacMod and MCM3 will recognize.

As for mapping - thanks for the info! From what I can tell, and remember, this will work. A few of us are going to brainstorm a new mapping to allow more graphics to be used, then I will update MCM3 to support this, plus a small drag and drop app to convert existing g files to the correct mapping.

we're going to start with winter graphics first, then, time permitting, we'll do non-winter ones as well.

initially this wasnt included in MCM3 as BTS had discussed the possibilities of vehicle mod packs (not going to happen now), and I didnt want to be incompatible with any future patches they would release. It appears now that CMBO is complete, no future patches are in sight, so we can go and create havoc in the mod files.

thanks for the report, I appreciate it. Once we confirm that all will be ok, I'll inform everyone of the MCM3 update schedule.

best,

dave

[Buckeye]

Boy, this is one time I'll be glad to be proved wrong. I could have sworn that I pasted winter pict files into a resource other than 13, after removing them from 13, and the program didn't find them. Perhaps they have to be in the same resource as the non-winter version? I didn't check that. In any case, I'll be one happy camper if I can add more mods, especially the winter ones!!!!

Your memory lapse is forgiven, Dave...just keep sending those turns!

[Måkjager]

Buckeye....which side of Aikidorats bum are you kicking???

Just asking because im kicking the other half

...now now Dave...no need to be sore...thats what Nurse's are for...to help you get better

Regards

Måkjager

ps...Buckeye...How is his game play against you....he suffered extreme trauma in his first battle ...mb a bit shell shocked... ...good time to attack em

[Pzman]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by aikidorat:

not recognizing bmps for the two programs has occurred before, and had to do with some settings in regards to cross platform file recognition/helpers.

MacMod includes two helper apps that change the app code to something that MacMod and MCM3 will recognize.

As for mapping - thanks for the info! From what I can tell, and remember, this will work. A few of us are going to brainstorm a new mapping to allow more graphics to be used, then I will update MCM3 to support this, plus a small drag and drop app to convert existing g files to the correct mapping.

we're going to start with winter graphics first, then, time permitting, we'll do non-winter ones as well.

initially this wasnt included in MCM3 as BTS had discussed the possibilities of vehicle mod packs (not going to happen now), and I didnt want to be incompatible with any future patches they would release. It appears now that CMBO is complete, no future patches are in sight, so we can go and create havoc in the mod files.

thanks for the report, I appreciate it. Once we confirm that all will be ok, I'll inform everyone of the MCM3 update schedule.

best,

dave<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Good to hear.

[jdmorse]

Steve:

So there is no problem putting a hi-res panther in say Graphic 2? What happens if you do not delete the original set in 5? I am understanding you to say that both winter and reg skins can be placed anywhere (impliedly, since it frees up space under the "cap" we would delete the old if we moved it to another resource)

As to the other issue, I am assuming you are talking about the run of the mill 3rd party mods we all use. Also, is it one site or several?

I have not had that particular problem,but funny things used to happen as I was using zipit to unpack the bmp's. I started using Stuffit and have had good results. If you aren't using it you might give it a try. Other than that <shrug>

[Hoopenfaust2]

I like the sound of this. I'm so glad there are people like you guys who solve problems for us guys.

[Buckeye]

Hey, Mick Jagger, I mean Makjager , Dave has given me a good run for my money in the games we've played so far. But I spanked him badly in our last one, when we play tested a Wild Bill Wilder scenario. My jabos took out about 7 of his tanks (what skill, eh?), and my cheeky Brits did the rest.

Now we're play testing another WBW scenario for the WBW Rumblings of War Tournament. He's attacking with a big force of German paras against my tired Amis...in fog, at night. Oh, it's bloody, and we're only on turn 3! He's already got about an entire platoon dead or wounded...tough to penetrate bocage in those conditions.

[aikidorat]

hey guys!

go ahead, kick me around in the forum... I'll have the last laugh when I get blood all over your boots as you march over my dead troops.

back to the topic, appears that we may be able to drastically mod the locations of the textures. If this is true, it begs the question:

do I map textures to different G files and delete them from the normal locations?

perhaps provide alternate mapping to let the user select? I think I could add that rather easily, gotta think about it though.

or ????

looking for inputs, and also results from the testing.

JD, have you tried placing a texture from G4, say, into G2 or ??? and deleting the one in G4? If so, does it work?

also, for winter textures:

I have a feeling that CM searches for G13 first, then into G1...2...3 etc, meaning that if it doesnt find the winter texture in G13, it searches until it

a) finds a winter texture

or

finds a normal texture.

hence, if you have a winter texture in G5, but the normal cammo in G4, it will not load the winter texture as it loads the regular one first. This could be why Buckeye's test cases failed earlier.

An easy test, if someone here will accept it.

any takers?

thanks!

dave

[SteveP]

Hi again:

The key to making this system work is keeping track of the ID numbers (or the BMP numbers if you prefer). You may not have two resources (BMPs) with the same number in the thirteen Graphic files. Therefore, you may not have a Panther G in Graphic 2 and a Panther G in Graphic 5. (Actually you can, but the game will pick the first one it finds, which may not be want you want -- and besides it just uses up file space). You can, of course, have a summer Panther and a winter Panther because the ID numbers are different (the winter ones have the extra "1" in front). And, again, it doesn't matter in the least in what Graphic file you put any of the BMPs -- you could even have half of the Panther in one Graphic file and half in another if you wanted. However, as I pointed out before, that would make it much more complicated for you to keep track of.

It would be nice if the Mod Manager programs could keep track of this for you. However, the program would have to do several things: (1) be able to search through all of the Graphic files to find where the existing BMPs are, to be replaced by the new mod; (2) check to see if the mod installation would cause a file size to exceed 15.9Mb (which would be handy); (3) allow you to install the mod into a different Graphic file, while deleting the same old BMPs from whereever they are. Don't know if all that is possible.

In any event, you can assume that the 13 Graphic files collectively represent about 200Mb of space (just broken into 16Mb containers). It is more than enough space for all of the Hi-Rez and winter BMPs you want -- at least until the modders start producing more ultra Hi-Rez mods.

Hope all that is clear.

And, by the way, I do use Stuffit to UnZip the mods. Maybe there is a setting in Stuffit that I should be investigating. Anyone know?