Mod Packs?

[Bruce70]

I only recently reinstalled CMBO and although I'm not what you guys would call a "mod slut" I do like to apply some basic mods. Well I hadn't checked out the list at CM HQ for a while and was astounded to see the number of mods and mod managers now available, I just didn't know where to start.

So, which is the best mod manager?

Is Madmatts mod pack still the best place to start?

And what other mods (particularly terrain, grass and sound) are really worth getting?

You probably get this question a thousand times a month so I could just read the forum but I feel lazy today.

[Philippe]

If you're going to start from scratch, I think the MDMP's are a very good place to start. I would also suggest reading the very good but now very outmoded essay that Madmatt wrote as a means of orientation. If you want to get yourself heavily modded you should do the following:

1) Get somekind of broadband, cable or DSL

2) Get a freeware download manager with a leach program. A while back the Bald One turned me on to DAP. I'm not in love with it, but it does what it is supposed to.

Now go to CMHQ and the CMMOS page. Downloading the operating section of CMMOS won't take very long. The files are self-installing, and you'll end up with a control screen on your desktop that makes switching in and out of the various textures very easy.

Download all of the CMMOS mods. Really. If you have broadband and can turn on the leach feature, it won't take all that long. What will take up more time is that you will have to manually unzip each mod and copy it to the CMBO/BMP folder. The good part about doing this manually is that it will keep things that you don't want in your BMP folder from getting in there in the first place.

The whole point of the exercise is that it's very hard to tell which mods you like (or which work best in a given situation) without installing and uninstalling them a few times. CMMOS lets you do all that instantly. For example, it has close to a score of different grass types, some of which look better in certain seasons and weather conditions than others. So use one for a damp day in June, another for a dry day in August, and another for a soggy day in November with a bit of chill in the air...and so on. And when you discover how many different uniforms there are to switch in and out of, you'll start to go crazy.

What's the point of all this ? Well, if you read a scenario description about a certain kind of unit operating in a particular type of terrain, the chances are that you will be able to set up your choices so that the terrain appearance matches history, the vehicles have the right markings on them, the uniforms are correct, the shoulder patches match (that's coming in the next CMMOS release, by the way), and the unachieved objective markers have the appropriate unit emblem on them (also coming in the next CMMOS release). In short, you can tailor the appearance of the game to the scenario that you're about to play. A lot of choices, true, but it's a bit like the obsession of table-top miniatures come to the computer screen.

[Bruce70]

Does Madmatt's pack work with CMMOS?

[Philippe]

The MDMP's predate CMMOS. The textures in it are necessary improvements on what came with the original CD, and the sound mods are particularly good.

While most (but certainly not all) of the MDMP textures have been improved on over time (and these improvements are what you find in CMMOS) it is not a waste of time to install it. The discussion in Matt's guide is very good as it relates to them, and the CMMOS sound library hasn't been built up yet. In other words you'll lose out on some great sounds if you don't have it, and as far textures go CMMOS generally assumes that you are using it as part of your base textures (base = CD + MDMP).

And on top of all that, the Great Bald One will probably smile if you download it and say you like it.

[Bruce70]

I have used it before and do like it (although I'm not that fond of the grass texture) so I guess I'll install that first, should still have it on disk somewhere, thanks.