SMAN's World at War: WW2 Scenario Civilizations Pack

[sman1975]

New version just posted. Change notes can be found here:

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/changelog/2243273955

Hopefully, this will take care of those CTD's some of you have been experiencing. Please let me know if you see anything else.

Thanks!

 

[sman1975]

@BTBNick, it's not just ModBuddy. These tools rely on .NET libraries that Microsoft haven't supported for years. Heck, they're even quite difficult to find to download, I suppose I should be grateful when anything comes close to working, operating on a 10 year old game and all...

The crashes were caused by corrupted graphics files for the new units in this mod. The models weren't functional, so the first time one of these corrupted units spawned anywhere on the map, the game would instantly CTD. Some crazy bug in the Z7 compression tool inside ModBuddy (which was a basket case even when it was new) corrupted those files when the archive uploaded to Steam. Have built mods thousands of times, and have never seen this error happen before. Just bizarre.

@Lt_plaa - is a user on Steam who diagnosed this cause of the CTD's. I was busy trying to nail down my update to my "After the Revolution" mod, so I didn't have time to dive too deeply into the CTD reports about this mod I was getting from several players. His diagnose probably saved me a few hours trying to nail down the problem, which is greatly appreciated!

https://steamcommunity.com/workshop...955/2841165820095186933/#c2967267880892959692

 

[BRBNick]

@S-Man Hmmm, I see.

 

[eurirusty]

Reserved

I wasn't quite sure how to contact you, but here goes. First off, I want to thank you for all the hard work you put into making your WW2 modifications. Everything you have done to create these MODS are great. but let me back track a bit. I'm just about 2 months shy of turning 70, so I grew up as a kid with all sorts of WW2 info, either on TV shows, books or comic books (i was a kid after all). This periods in time is one that I have studied extensively. When I bought Civ 5 in 2012, I came to use it to try an re-create WW2 battles. But I ran into all sorts of issues, being the armament used in the conflict, the leaders who initiated the conflict and the units that took place in the battles. I could never come up with modifying Civ codes (JFD to be precise) that worked with areas of conflict and hardware used by a specific country. Your MODs do all of that and correctly as well. I have a couple of issues though. I didn't want the Civ leaders to be the political heads of their respective countries, but I wanted them to be led by the generals, Field Marshalls and Admirals (Japan). I was able to do this to the JFD Civ mods, but I could never get them to use the correct military hardware. Your Modifications do. I have started to modify some of your code. I have changed the colors of severals civilizations, to reflect the uniforms worn by either the soldiers or Officers. Pinks and Greens for America is one. But I also wanted to change the national symbol of Germany, from the Swastika to the Iron Cross which adorned their aircraft. I would like to discuss this further. I do have a connection to one of the Generals (on the USA side) that my father worked with while ONB was writing this book about the WW2 conflict. I hope to talk with you further. Take care.

 

[sman1975]

@wildwest_2121 - Here is my first attempt at the German Marine unit, based on this picture:



Screenshot:


It's pretty close. Note: I spawned the unit while playing a test game as Turkey - so the flags will look different when Germany spawns the unit.

What do you think?

 

[sman1975]

@eurirusty - thanks, I'm glad you like the mod. It was a "bold experiment" in creating a reusable "scenario management engine" that could be quickly/easily changed to create new scenarios from scratch. Unfortunately, the original design pushed the antiquated Civ5 gaming engine well-past its abilities, resulting in a poorly-performing, unstable mod. Versions 2 and 3 were efforts in descaling the effort, removing complexity, and hopefully making the mod more stable, while still keeping enough of the "flavor" alive to give a fairly immersive, WW2 gaming experience, albeit inside the Civ5 framework.

TBH, there really aren't any good scenarios for WW2, other than the old RED version, which I believe is still viable. Noel's Earth 1939 looks interesting, but I've never played it, so I don't know how it behaves in-game. There are also dozens of maps that claim to be"WW2 Scenarios" but are merely maps where the civ go about there business with only the human player treating the game as an existential struggle.

However, I created my version to conform with my "World at War" family of mods, so that a player who was familiar with the Main WAW mod should be able to play the WW2 scenario with the minimal amount of study. It varied quite a bit from RED, but in ways I thought met my goals of making the mod easy to learn, fair to history, and at the same time fun to play.

The game engine Civ5 uses is designed to drive a civ from agriculture to the stars, and really not in a military fashion. Making a scenario that forces the game engine to abandon most of its internal logic, and the methods available in the API are most-often inadequate. Much of the time, you can only make "suggestions" to the AI on how to maneuver its units, but those are quickly overwritten by other internal aspects of the AI's logic. This mod put great effort in torturing the game engine to behave in a somewhat reasonable manner, and overall I think the AI "looks" like its fighting for its life, and that's about the best one can do. You can't make Civ5 a better "Hearts of Iron" than "Hearts of Iron..."

I briefly considered using generals as leaders in some civs, but one couldn't make an argument that De Gaul should be the leader of France in January 1939. In the USA, Marshall? Eisenhower? Even when we had a fairly active civilian Commander-in-Chief? There really wasn't a good general to use for Greece, and the examples for Hungary, Bulgaria, and Romania would be poor as well. Mussolini may have been a terrible Field Marshall, but one couldn't argue he was in charge of both the country and its military. Having the generals as civ leaders just didn't work consistently across the board, so I left it with the political leaders and called it a day.

In the earliest versions of the test mod, there were "Field Marshall" units, named after the military leaders of the day - they were not civilian units, but units stronger than their infantry unit, with a lot of promotions to make them very hard to kill. They tended to clutter up the map, causing all kinds of logjams at the front, and just didn't look like a Field Marshall would look. I may still add them back eventually, but TBH, working on this mod almost broke me of modding entirely. I took about 6 months off after it was published. So, I'm not in too much of a mood to rewrite it, even if it really needs it.

V4 adds quite a few changes, a perfect example of "feature creep" - I started with a small list of changes, that quickly expanded the hotfix to a major upgrade. All-in-all, the improvements are quite useful, both correcting things not working correctly, but also adding in more realism to the mod - for example, German fighters no long upgrade to the next higher unit (except the Stuka, which still upgrades to the FW-190). If Germany wants an ME-262, it has to build it (requiring a Fighter Factory). Lots of changes like that.

Changing the civ icon requires updating the files located in the "Civ Icons" folder of the WW2 scenario. But, I really can't see that the "Iron Cross" roundel would be more emblematic of Nazi Germany than the swastika, used on their national flag. Again, Germany is a civ, not only a military, and the civ icons should reflect that.

To get the mod you want, you'll most likely have to build it yourself, which of course I find quite enjoyable. But, if you're looking at examples, I'd recommend looking at the code in my "WW2 Scenario on Any Map" instead of the WW2 scenario. The driving LUA code is a completely re-written version of the WW2 scenario, stripped-down, simplified, and much more stable.

 

[eurirusty]

Thank you sman1975 or your response. I am a lousy gamer for Civ5, because I use it mainly for creating a WW2 feel (Civ name, units, etc). So, to that end, I mainly use Civilizations that were a part of WW2 (not WWI). With regards to the guts of the engine that drive Civ 5 being no up to par, I would have to say your MOD is making Civ5 play better. Your civs are more aggressive and do things that I have not seen in Civ5. The units, ships and airplanes represent, more realistically I think, their nationality. Yes, I wish that there was more to be done with the Civ5 engine. The animations could be better (more realistic). I'm one of those gamers that like the "slow" airplanes vs "quick". Your code really has made the game better. I used to code back in the 70's thru early 90's and I know how daunting a project, like this can be Thanks again for your response and your scenario.

 

[sman1975]

No worries. I've said it before, but it's hard to make Civ5 a better "Hearts of Iron" game than "Hearts of Iron..." The entire game engine is designed with a mostly-peaceful focus of development covering a 6,000 year time frame. It takes a great deal of redefining of the database entries that we can modify (there are a lot, but not exactly enough), and a lot of "freebees" for the AI to get it to even look like it's putting up a semi-coherent fight. Most of the methods available in the API are decent, but there are some glaring holes (most notably in the game's diplomacy and religion systems). The unit animations are provided via an ancient Granny2 animation engine, which wasn't exactly current when the game was new in 2010. I'd actually add we should be grateful it works as well as it does...

Again, Civ5 wasn't designed to be a war simulation. The easiest way I know this is there isn't a reliable command that I can issue through the API that says, "move unit Z to tile X/Y." There a couple of ways I can "order" such a thing to occur, but that order is almost always subsequently overwritten by some other internal piece of logic in the black box of the game engine, that I as a modder can't touch. So, the methods available to get unit Z somewhere near the tile you'd like are more "suggestions" than orders. Sometimes it works, almost looks like a human player guiding that civ. Much of the time it doesn't work at all (more often than not, actually). And, sometimes you're not really sure what the hell the AI is doing (look at how planes fly away from the front instead of attacking units that are sieging nearby cities. I as a player would never do this, but the AI does it all the time).

If you'd like to slow down the air animations, it's quite easy to do, if you can edit a text file in an app like Notepad. There's very little risk. If you somehow corrupt the file, simply delete the mod from the game's MODS folder, and re-enter the MODS area. This will force a fresh download of the mod, so no harm done.

You'll need to open a Windows Explorer (not Internet Explorer), and navigate to a specific folder for both of the 2 mods that involve WW2, usually located some place like this:

For the Main WAW mod (includes WW2 Scenario On Any Map): C:\Users\XXXX\Documents\My Games\Sid Meier's Civilization 5\MODS\SMAN's The World at War (v 5)\DATABASE\Units

For the WW2 Scenario mod: C:\Users\XXXX\Documents\My Games\Sid Meier's Civilization 5\MODS\SMAN's World at War Scenario - The War in Europe (WW2) (v 4)\DATABASE\Units - WAW Standard

Where "XXXX" is the name of the account you installed the game under.


Once inside the correct folder, you need to use Notepad (or the text editor of your choice), and open the file named MiscUnitChanges.SQL

Once the file is open for editing, look for this line:

UPDATE ArtDefine_UnitMemberCombats SET MoveRate = ROUND(1.5*MoveRate);

The value of 1.5 specifies that all air units will fly at 50% faster speeds than they normally do. Change this to 2.0 to make them move twice as fast as the original game. Change it to 0.50 to make them fly at half the normal speed. Only air units use MoveRate in the ArtDefine_UnitMemberCombats table. Please note, this command applies to all air units equally. To make a command that makes bombers move more slowly, but fighters at a different speed, it would take a more-specific SQL statement.

Once the change is made, simply save the file, exit Notepad, then go back to Civ5 and re-enter the MODS area. The next time the mod loads, it will use these edited values.

One additional note: every time a new version of the mod is released, you'd need to make the same edits, as the new version will overwrite anything changed in the older version.

Good luck!

 

[eurirusty]

No worries. I've said it before, but it's hard to make Civ5 a better "Hearts of Iron" game than "Hearts of Iron..." The entire game engine is designed with a mostly-peaceful focus of development covering a 6,000 year time frame. It takes a great deal of redefining of the database entries that we can modify (there are a lot, but not exactly enough), and a lot of "freebees" for the AI to get it to even look like it's putting up a semi-coherent fight. Most of the methods available in the API are decent, but there are some glaring holes (most notably in the game's diplomacy and religion systems). The unit animations are provided via an ancient Granny2 animation engine, which wasn't exactly current when the game was new in 2010. I'd actually add we should be grateful it works as well as it does...

Again, Civ5 wasn't designed to be a war simulation. The easiest way I know this is there isn't a reliable command that I can issue through the API that says, "move unit Z to tile X/Y." There a couple of ways I can "order" such a thing to occur, but that order is almost always subsequently overwritten by some other internal piece of logic in the black box of the game engine, that I as a modder can't touch. So, the methods available to get unit Z somewhere near the tile you'd like are more "suggestions" than orders. Sometimes it works, almost looks like a human player guiding that civ. Much of the time it doesn't work at all (more often than not, actually). And, sometimes you're not really sure what the hell the AI is doing (look at how planes fly away from the front instead of attacking units that are sieging nearby cities. I as a player would never do this, but the AI does it all the time).

If you'd like to slow down the air animations, it's quite easy to do, if you can edit a text file in an app like Notepad. There's very little risk. If you somehow corrupt the file, simply delete the mod from the game's MODS folder, and re-enter the MODS area. This will force a fresh download of the mod, so no harm done.

You'll need to open a Windows Explorer (not Internet Explorer), and navigate to a specific folder for both of the 2 mods that involve WW2, usually located some place like this:

For the Main WAW mod (includes WW2 Scenario On Any Map): C:\Users\XXXX\Documents\My Games\Sid Meier's Civilization 5\MODS\SMAN's The World at War (v 5)\DATABASE\Units

For the WW2 Scenario mod: C:\Users\XXXX\Documents\My Games\Sid Meier's Civilization 5\MODS\SMAN's World at War Scenario - The War in Europe (WW2) (v 4)\DATABASE\Units - WAW Standard

Where "XXXX" is the name of the account you installed the game under.


Once inside the correct folder, you need to use Notepad (or the text editor of your choice), and open the file named MiscUnitChanges.SQL

Once the file is open for editing, look for this line:

UPDATE ArtDefine_UnitMemberCombats SET MoveRate = ROUND(1.5*MoveRate);

The value of 1.5 specifies that all air units will fly at 50% faster speeds than they normally do. Change this to 2.0 to make them move twice as fast as the original game. Change it to 0.50 to make them fly at half the normal speed. Only air units use MoveRate in the ArtDefine_UnitMemberCombats table. Please note, this command applies to all air units equally. To make a command that makes bombers move more slowly, but fighters at a different speed, it would take a more-specific SQL statement.

Once the change is made, simply save the file, exit Notepad, then go back to Civ5 and re-enter the MODS area. The next time the mod loads, it will use these edited values.

One additional note: every time a new version of the mod is released, you'd need to make the same edits, as the new version will overwrite anything changed in the older version.

Good luck!

No worries. I've said it before, but it's hard to make Civ5 a better "Hearts of Iron" game than "Hearts of Iron..." The entire game engine is designed with a mostly-peaceful focus of development covering a 6,000 year time frame. It takes a great deal of redefining of the database entries that we can modify (there are a lot, but not exactly enough), and a lot of "freebees" for the AI to get it to even look like it's putting up a semi-coherent fight. Most of the methods available in the API are decent, but there are some glaring holes (most notably in the game's diplomacy and religion systems). The unit animations are provided via an ancient Granny2 animation engine, which wasn't exactly current when the game was new in 2010. I'd actually add we should be grateful it works as well as it does...

Again, Civ5 wasn't designed to be a war simulation. The easiest way I know this is there isn't a reliable command that I can issue through the API that says, "move unit Z to tile X/Y." There a couple of ways I can "order" such a thing to occur, but that order is almost always subsequently overwritten by some other internal piece of logic in the black box of the game engine, that I as a modder can't touch. So, the methods available to get unit Z somewhere near the tile you'd like are more "suggestions" than orders. Sometimes it works, almost looks like a human player guiding that civ. Much of the time it doesn't work at all (more often than not, actually). And, sometimes you're not really sure what the hell the AI is doing (look at how planes fly away from the front instead of attacking units that are sieging nearby cities. I as a player would never do this, but the AI does it all the time).

If you'd like to slow down the air animations, it's quite easy to do, if you can edit a text file in an app like Notepad. There's very little risk. If you somehow corrupt the file, simply delete the mod from the game's MODS folder, and re-enter the MODS area. This will force a fresh download of the mod, so no harm done.

You'll need to open a Windows Explorer (not Internet Explorer), and navigate to a specific folder for both of the 2 mods that involve WW2, usually located some place like this:

For the Main WAW mod (includes WW2 Scenario On Any Map): C:\Users\XXXX\Documents\My Games\Sid Meier's Civilization 5\MODS\SMAN's The World at War (v 5)\DATABASE\Units

For the WW2 Scenario mod: C:\Users\XXXX\Documents\My Games\Sid Meier's Civilization 5\MODS\SMAN's World at War Scenario - The War in Europe (WW2) (v 4)\DATABASE\Units - WAW Standard

Where "XXXX" is the name of the account you installed the game under.


Once inside the correct folder, you need to use Notepad (or the text editor of your choice), and open the file named MiscUnitChanges.SQL

Once the file is open for editing, look for this line:

UPDATE ArtDefine_UnitMemberCombats SET MoveRate = ROUND(1.5*MoveRate);

The value of 1.5 specifies that all air units will fly at 50% faster speeds than they normally do. Change this to 2.0 to make them move twice as fast as the original game. Change it to 0.50 to make them fly at half the normal speed. Only air units use MoveRate in the ArtDefine_UnitMemberCombats table. Please note, this command applies to all air units equally. To make a command that makes bombers move more slowly, but fighters at a different speed, it would take a more-specific SQL statement.

Once the change is made, simply save the file, exit Notepad, then go back to Civ5 and re-enter the MODS area. The next time the mod loads, it will use these edited values.

One additional note: every time a new version of the mod is released, you'd need to make the same edits, as the new version will overwrite anything changed in the older version.

Good luck!

As I was browsing the Technology tree, I happened to come across in the "Combined Arms" Tech...had to chuckle with the icon used for "Militia".

 

[sman1975]

Hello everyone! A new version (V1, Hotfix 2) has just been published!


Summary of Changes (V1, Hotfix 2): This hotfix was primarily a “harmonization” of various settings between this mod and the Main WAW, Unique Units, and WW2 Scenario On Any Map mods. Cleaning up unit definitions and other technical issues which sometimes caused odd behavior in various mod combinations (e.g. if Main WAW and the WW2 Civ Pack were enabled, aircraft units from the Civ Pack mod could not attack cities. Playing the Civ Pack alone, they could.).


Specific Changes:

- Added 7 new buildings, so that every custom civ in the mod now has 2 UBs.
• Czechoslovak : Pivovar (Market replacement), Skoda Works (Factory replacement)
• Finland: Sauna (Garden replacement), Work Cabin (Workshop replacement)
• Norway: Verft (Military Base replacement), Stadsretten (Constabulary replacement)
• Romania: Malaxa Factory (Factory replacement)

- Removed all the units from this mod to the “WAW Unique Units” component mod. This was the only way to resolve a “mod-load-order” problem which caused errors whether this mod or the Main WAW mod loaded first.

- Removed all the incorrect entries for all txt keys that had a “??” replacement for a non-Latin character. Fixed other text key typos as well (e.g. Voenna Akademiya Civilopedia for Bulgaria, etc.).

- Removed Main WAW as a reference, making the reference in this mod, so that Main WAW always loads first.

 

[Jukebox The Ghoul]

Heya this is amazing! I was fiddling around with a sub mod that you helped work on and trying to get it to play the civs generically. This seems to do that but it misses the ones from the smaller scenario of the Spanish Civil War, you have Franco but would you be able to share the other civilisations from that scenario for general use? I really want my next playthrough to be of those civs but I am having a lot of difficulty as a first time "modder"