Summer Project

[techumseh]

No worries. Yes please. A couple of units could use updating. The Ki-51 would also be helpful. I was actually thinking of the Ki-30, which was flown by the Thai airforce. I think the two types are quite similar.

Progress on the scenario is good, as I had a good head start from earlier efforts. The map and cities are done, the units almost, and I'm working on the values in the Rules fields. I've made the Bat. file to change between dry and monsoon season files. The OOB is coming along, though more work is needed before unit placement and events reinforcements are done.

With the terrain and Tanelorn's and your units, I think it's looking quite pretty.

 

[Tanelorn]

I am actually looking forward to Gareth's Ki51. Not only it was the most prominent attack type in IJA service, outnumbering all the ki30 and ki32s together (700-800 each compared to 2400) it remained in frontline Japanese service till the end of the war, unlike the other two. I could redo the ki30 in Thai colours if you'd like though.

 

[techumseh]

That would be great. Thanks.

 

[techumseh]

Some screenies from Burma Campaign.

1. The Japanese prepare their great offensive at Imphal and Kohima.

2. Stilwell's command: Merril's Marauders and Chinese force X-ray.

3. The Chindits operate behind Japanese lines near the China front.

 

[McMonkey]

Looking really good. I'm really looking forward to playing this scenario!

 

[techumseh]

I've tweaked the colour scheme for Fairline's P-40 to represent the American Volunteer Group (Flying Tigers) which defended Rangoon against the Japanese alongside British pilots in Brewster Buffalos.

 

[Greizer85]

There will be two sets of Rules and Terrain files: dry season and monsoon.

Wait, how do you do this? I'm sure it's common knowledge for modders, but I wasn't aware of it. If I ever continue making my Finland mod, then separate winter terrains are a definite must! (Great, exactly what I need to get back to a gigantic, humongous work -- more of it! )

 

[techumseh]

Wait, how do you do this? I'm sure it's common knowledge for modders, but I wasn't aware of it. If I ever continue making my Finland mod, then separate winter terrains are a definite must! (Great, exactly what I need to get back to a gigantic, humongous work -- more of it! )

The system, developed by Allard Hoefelt, uses a .Bat file to swap files within the scenario folder. It's a small program that you can edit, which re-names specific files. Any file may be changed, but terrain and rules files are the most commonly used - often to reflect a change in seasons. It has sometimes also been used to add new events beyond the limited capacity in MGE scenarios.

It's been around for years:Berndt Brosing used it in "Cross and Crescent" and Captain Nemo in "Red Front". More recently McMonkey used it in "Fortress Europe", and tootall_2012 in "France 1944" and "A House Divided".

There is a good tip on the SL Wiki, here: http://sleague.civfanatics.com/index.php/Multiple_Events_Files

Here's a copy of the one I made for Burma Campaign, plus a copy of the Choice Com. file that you should include in your scenario folder so the Bat file (a DOS program) will work with Windows XP and other, more recent operating systems.

 

[Greizer85]

Now it could be because the file is not located in the actual scenario folder, but when I click on BurmaMalaya.bat, Windows immediately closes it while informing me that it's not a valid file for 64-bit operating systems (I'm using Windows 8.1. *shudders*). This is despite the presence of CHOICE.com in the same folder.

Anyway, to require players to exit the game and click on batch files to change terrains is a bit much if you have to do it every five turns or so. I'd either need to alter the premise for my scenario, making it about a much tighter period in time, or abandon the flavor altogether, which is a crying shame given the possibilities of this kind of trickery. Perhaps TheNamelessOne could take a look into this? If the switches could somehow be automated and be done without exiting the game, well, I don't think we'd need any new computer games, we could all just keep playing Civ II.

Anyway, thank you for the info. Even if I don't end up using it, it's nice to know.

 

[techumseh]

Now it could be because the file is not located in the actual scenario folder, but when I click on BurmaMalaya.bat, Windows immediately closes it while informing me that it's not a valid file for 64-bit operating systems (I'm using Windows 8.1. *shudders*). This is despite the presence of CHOICE.com in the same folder.

Anyway, to require players to exit the game and click on batch files to change terrains is a bit much if you have to do it every five turns or so. I'd either need to alter the premise for my scenario, making it about a much tighter period in time, or abandon the flavor altogether, which is a crying shame given the possibilities of this kind of trickery. Perhaps TheNamelessOne could take a look into this? If the switches could somehow be automated and be done without exiting the game, well, I don't think we'd need any new computer games, we could all just keep playing Civ II.

Anyway, thank you for the info. Even if I don't end up using it, it's nice to know.

You will have to ask someone more knowledgeable than me about compatibility of Bat. files with various operating systems. However, switching them is dead easy. Just save your game, minimize it, click on the Bat. file and select your option, then reload your saved game. It takes about 1 minute, tops.

 

[techumseh]

ToT Patch Project v.10.0 has now been released. It allows the movement of roads and rivers (and railways) to be set independently. This will solve a real design problem in Burma Campaign, specifically that rivers will no longer automatically be used to speed movement through very mountainous terrain.

 

[techumseh]

Any progress with those units, Gareth?

 

[techumseh]

I've got all the units I need, thanks to Fairline and Tanelorn. Thanks guys.

 

[techumseh]

I'm incorporating the excellent Test of Time Patch Project (TOTPP) in the scenario. It opens up possibilities our community has wished for for years. It's pretty easy to use, though you have to make several modifications to the Rules txt. to take advantage of all the new features. I'll include it in the final release, and hopefully people will be comfortable with it.

 

[techumseh]

Yesterday, I did some testing of ToTPP for changing how unit movement will work in the scenario. It allows you to set movement multipliers for road, river and rail independently, but with limitations. These were explained by The Nameless One (who made the patch) on his thread, but I never fully understood them.

I originally set river at X1, road as X2, and rail at X5. Then I set about determining the movement of the units in the dry season. The highest is the B-24 Liberator, which has a MF of 30.

When I opened the save file, I got a message that the B-24 had a MF of 300, which exceeded the max allowable, which is 255. But since it's only 30, it must be something else. My best guess is that the movement of the fastest unit times the movement advantage of each movement multiplier can't exceed 255. So, 1X2X5X30=300.

It was an easy fix. I changed the road multiplier to X1 and the rail to X3, and increased the movement costs for terrain as well as the movement allowance for ground units accordingly. The B-24 can still fly 30 squares to bomb the Japanese, and land units can travel approximately the same distance by rail.

 

[EZRhino]

I'm incorporating the excellent Test of Time Patch Project (TOTPP) in the scenario. It opens up possibilities our community has wished for for years. It's pretty easy to use, though you have to make several modifications to the Rules txt. to take advantage of all the new features. I'll include it in the final release, and hopefully people will be comfortable with it.

That's a great idea, I'm totally in love with the capabilities of TOTPP; in a single stroke it fixed one of the major problems I'd been beating my head against with the Sea Kings. If anything the biggest problem now is being creative in an environment without constraints.

I'm really looking forward to this scenario!

 

[techumseh]

That's a great idea, I'm totally in love with the capabilities of TOTPP; in a single stroke it fixed one of the major problems I'd been beating my head against with the Sea Kings. If anything the biggest problem now is being creative in an environment without constraints.

I'm really looking forward to this scenario!

Thanks! And I agree about ToTPP. I just wish it had been around a couple of years ago, when more scenarios were being made and played.

In hopes of stirring up a bit more life around here, I'm going to try to write a sort of journal about my progress on the Burma scenario. I hope it is of interest to those who still check in to SL now and then, and entices a few to return.

I'm also looking forward to the Sea Kings. Let us know your progress.

 

[Patine]

I'm pleased to see that I may see the Burma and Sea Kings scenarios, myself. I've recently also taken back up to finish my Korean War scenario, which is almost done (knock on wood). Then, I have an idea for a new scenario which I am quite sure is untouched country by Civ2.

 

[techumseh]

Today, I tried 3 experiments. 2 worked, and 1 didn't.

First, I tried an idea to represent the air landing forces used extensively in Burma. I used an idea used years ago by Eivind in his Norwegian Campaign, a transport ship with paratroop capabilities, representing a transport aircraft. I added the settler flag to see if it could be used to build an airfield, and thus be able to take off again from the middle of the jungle. It worked! So, you can have a paratrooping transport ship that has engineer abilities.

Second, I wanted to see if a bomber could attack city improvements instead of the units in the city. (strategic vs. tactical bombing) So I gave my B-24 bomber the diplomatic role, to see if it could use the "industrial sabotage" function on an enemy city. Nope, that one didn't work.

Third, I tried out the ToTPP function of ships moving along rivers. Using ocean terrain to represent rivers presents its own set of problems, as anyone who's played a WWII scenario where battleships come sailing up the Rhine will attest. It works as advertised, and transports can carry land units with them. This ability is set with a flag, so you can prevent ocean-going ships from moving up stream.

More to come....

 

[techumseh]

Today, I fiddled with the air units. I made new paint jobs for a couple of Fairline's units: the Ki-48 Lily got a standard green, and the Ki-51 Sonia got some green mottling over the existing light grey.

I tried to figure out the best function for the P-47 Thunderbolt in RAF service. It replaced the Hurricane II in 1944 as their main ground attack plane, but it was also a good fighter. But if I allow it to also attack other aircraft it's attack factor will be too high, so I'm only allowing it to be used as a bomber.

Air range is a tricky thing in scenarios. Listed maximum ranges are seldom achieved regularly in actual operations. Bomb loads, poor navigation, badly located bases, lack of maintenance and fuel, all reduce the effective range. In the end, I cut ranges at least in half and then make arbitrary decisions about what they should be in the scenario. In the Burma theatre, primitive conditions made effective ranges even less.

In Burma Campaign, each square is 20 miles across. A B-24 had a loaded range of 1700mi. That would give it a range of 85, which is too high. (The max is 40) I'm starting at 30, and I may go up to 40 depending on the "feel" in playtesting. Thirty gets a Liberator from Calcutta to Mandalay. Forty would get it almost to Rangoon, which should be plenty. By contrast, a Spitfire V has a total movement of only 14 (effective range of 7).

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