CMBO - Save my map!

[m410]

I recently started using CMBO as a map modeling tool for work. I'm putting together a couple maps to function as a demo of the technology so I can present it to the bosses. I spent most of a day designing a 2km x 2.5km game map from a 1:50000 map of a training area. Once complete I decided to throw some units into it and see how it played out. I played through it once and was about to set upon tweaking it when I noticed I could no longer load the map!

If I try to 'load' it from the 'create scenario' screen I get an audible chime and no map is loaded. If I try to play it, it starts me off at the end-game summary from my run-through.

Obviously 5 square kilometers of lovingly transcribed terrain is a lot of work and I would be very much interested in saving it. The units and other parameters I can live without... the map is everything.

I notice (after the fact) that my created scenarios are placed in "saved games" and not "scenarios".

The map still exists... I can cruise around in it by loading the completed game, clicking "map" from the summary screen, and looking at the finished battle. But I can't edit it further and the burning vehicles and dead soldiers are clutter I can do without for a presentation.

Is there anything I can do to recover this map? And is there anything I can do in the future to prevent this from happening?

[Sergei]

Let me guess... this is what happened: because in CMBO the default folder for saving your scenarios is the save folder, you had it placed there. Then you had made some save files.

Now, these don't overwrite the scenario because they have different file extentions, BUT. Sometimes you want to delete old save files from cluttering the scenario list. The problem is, you can delete anything in the save folder, including scenarios. So I'd assume that you did exactly that, leaving only a AAR save file to hang around - and mistakenly deleted the actual scenario. It has happened to me with CMBO, so I know how annoying it is. In CMBB and CMAK this was corrected.

I don't think anything can be done without expert help. All you have is a save file, which you can't open in editor. The deleted scenario probably didn't go to recycle bin.

[m410]

The extension for scenarios and saved games is the same: .cmb

It appears the lesson here is that you need to override the default and save your maps in the "scenario" folder, not the "saved games" folder.

Is there any "expert help" out there that could extract a map from a saved game file?

[Sergei]

None that I know of - however, with a bit of work you might be able to rebuild the map.

You should know that there is this utility, Mapping Mission, which you can use to make maps and then export them to CMBO or CMBB. You can also use underlays in it - like a scanned map or satellite photo.

Using a screen capture from CMBO 3D display would help with copying terrain features like roads, buildings and forests. Telling the elevations is harder though. But if you know how to edit pictures, you could find out which .bmp's are the grass tiles, and then either give them distinct colours or write the number of the level on them (make backups first).

It's the only solution I can think of, and yes, it's difficult.

But of course, if you were trying to copy a map, you could just scan that map and use it in Mapping Mission. Much more accurate results, much easier - plus, if you screw up again, you've got a backup in Mapping Mission!