Arith Posted June 19, 2001 Share Posted June 19, 2001 Im new to this stuff and havent even recieved the d*mn game yet but i have a few questions. #1, are the 3d models fully animated? moving tracks, wheels, turrets ect? Also, i see tons of MODS all over. How do you use them, do you just copy files back and forth or is there an easier way to do it? I see MODS with "options", how do you choose which options you use and which ones you dont? Im sure these questions will be answered when i recieve the game but i am trying to get a headstart in figuring all this stuff out, thanks guys!! [ 06-18-2001: Message edited by: Arith ] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pzman Posted June 19, 2001 Share Posted June 19, 2001 Conrole your self and don't demand answers that turns people off :mad: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arith Posted June 19, 2001 Author Share Posted June 19, 2001 Um...I was kidding. No offense meant. I changed the message in order not to offend any of my new Combat Mission Friends who's tanks i hope to destroy and whos infantry i intend to make cry..... [ 06-18-2001: Message edited by: Arith ] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pvt. Ryan Posted June 19, 2001 Share Posted June 19, 2001 The models are animated. The tracks move, turrets turn, guns elevate, soldiers move pretty realistically, etc. Although wheels do not turn, tracked vehicles move their tracks independently while turning. The graphics files are just bitmaps, so the mods are just altered versions of the bmp files. You download, unzip and paste the files into the game's BMP folder. That's all there is to it. Since you can only have one version of a mod at any one time, some of the mod authors created batch file systems to easily switch among different versions of a particular vehicle or group of vehicles, such as US, British, Free French, Canadian or Polish versions of the Sherman tank. Some mods have options, such as vehicles with or without stars, with or without aerial recognition panels, or different unit symbols. Which ones you use are totally up to you. Usually you will be given a default option such as "4034" and an option such as "4034 with star." If you wanted to used the optional file you would delete 4034 and rename the other file so it is called 4034. CM only recognizes the number of the file, not any of the descriptions afterwards. The mods in no way affect gameplay, they just affect the appearance of the game. And you can say "damn." WOOT! [ 06-18-2001: Message edited by: Pvt. Ryan ] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schrullenhaft Posted June 19, 2001 Share Posted June 19, 2001 Took too long to reply as usual... The 3D models aren't fully animated. The tracks & turrets move, the main guns elevate, etc. The main thing that isn't animated are the wheels of AFVs/vehicles. The "mods" that you see are texture bitmaps and sound files. You can't "mod" the wireframe objects themselves since they are built into the game's code. All of the bitmaps (and sounds) in the game are uniquely identified. Several modders make optional sets of markings on some of their textures. You can either swap these out manually by copying over the previous files, use a batch file (on the PC) or use a Mod Manager (which performs some of these tasks automatically). [ 06-18-2001: Message edited by: Schrullenhaft ] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pvt. Ryan Posted June 19, 2001 Share Posted June 19, 2001 Late again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arith Posted June 19, 2001 Author Share Posted June 19, 2001 Thanks guys! A few more questions. Whats a batch files and how easy is the mod manager to use? Sometimes these programs that come out to make modifying games actually make the process harder. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gunnergoz Posted June 19, 2001 Share Posted June 19, 2001 A small suggestion... If you have a drawing/painting program like "paint", look at the demo files in the "bmp" folder. After a while you'll figure out how they go together to "skin" the 3-D model beneath. Mods are just customized skins. Each 3-D model has certain bitmap files associated with it and it is the swapping and altering of these files that is the basis of modding. Once you are comfortable with this, download a small mod for one vehicle say, and compare it using your paint program, with the equivalent original file. This should give you a good idea of what modders are doing. BTW, an image managment program like compupic is ideal to look at entire directories of .bmp and .jpg images. That's how I manage my mods and decide how to switch and swap. Just an idea... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arith Posted June 19, 2001 Author Share Posted June 19, 2001 Where would i find compupic? Thanks guys! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pvt. Ryan Posted June 19, 2001 Share Posted June 19, 2001 I can't really explain how a batch file works, but it is basically a DOS program that loads certain files into CM. Some people find them a bit daunting to set up, but they are very easy to use once you get them set up. The mod makers include very detailed instructions. You don't have to use the batch files though. You can just choose one version of a vehicle and install just those files in the BMP folder. I have never used the mod manager, so I can't comment on it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gunnergoz Posted June 19, 2001 Share Posted June 19, 2001 <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Arith: Where would i find compupic? Thanks guys!<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Try http://www.photodex.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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