F14 - O.O.B. editing/unit colours

[Hadge]

Hi all.

I suppose this question should be predominantly aimed at Ed, however others may have some insight or opinion.

There is no OOB editor within the F14 game, but in other HPS/JTS games the OOB edit feature is quite useful for editing unit names in order to alter the colour of the unit as shown on the game map. (The combination of letters and numbers in the unit title within the OOB apparantly drives the units "divisional" colour as shown on the map)

In other high unit density games, particulary those with many divisions and short command ranges (I am thinking Minsk 44 here in particular) altering the unit name to change the colour makes it easier to keep your units in order as the game progresses.

In the F14 game I have found that due the fact that many of the German and French divisions have similar names the colour pallette derived for the units from the OOB is limited.

In certain situations (.....as an example I am looking at the French 9e & 10e DI in the "Home before the leaves fall" scenario as I write) adjacent divisions are identical in colour, making it a bit of a pain to have to keep using the org highlight function to determine the parent organisation easily, and thus keep within command range which is crucial in this game (especially if you are a French/Allied Player - Sacre Bleu !)

In other areas its not so bad, but there are many areas where it is problematic and hinders game play.

Now its not a game buster by any means, but I think it would help if either an OOB editor was added, or "someone" went back and had a look at the naming conventions used, and slightly altered the OOB so that a bit more of a varied colour pallette was evident within the units.

Any thoughts or insight on the above?

Cheers

Chris

[Philippe]

Hi all.

I suppose this question should be predominantly aimed at Ed, however others may have some insight or opinion.

There is no OOB editor within the F14 game, but in other HPS/JTS games the OOB edit feature is quite useful for editing unit names in order to alter the colour of the unit as shown on the game map. (The combination of letters and numbers in the unit title within the OOB apparantly drives the units "divisional" colour as shown on the map)

In other high unit density games, particulary those with many divisions and short command ranges (I am thinking Minsk 44 here in particular) altering the unit name to change the colour makes it easier to keep your units in order as the game progresses.

In the F14 game I have found that due the fact that many of the German and French divisions have similar names the colour pallette derived for the units from the OOB is limited.

In certain situations (.....as an example I am looking at the French 9e & 10e DI in the "Home before the leaves fall" scenario as I write) adjacent divisions are identical in colour, making it a bit of a pain to have to keep using the org highlight function to determine the parent organisation easily, and thus keep within command range which is crucial in this game (especially if you are a French/Allied Player - Sacre Bleu !)

In other areas its not so bad, but there are many areas where it is problematic and hinders game play.

Now its not a game buster by any means, but I think it would help if either an OOB editor was added, or "someone" went back and had a look at the naming conventions used, and slightly altered the OOB so that a bit more of a varied colour pallette was evident within the units.

Any thoughts or insight on the above?

Cheers

Chris

I have a strong suspicion that this is an area that Ed doesn't have much if any control over. Making any changes for this kind of thing would require an expenditure of programer's time, and that's what seems to be in shortest supply in the series.

Having said that, the concept of being able to change the organizational colors of units at will is a fascinating one. I suspect the two units from adjacent divisions with the same colors in them may not have identical colors, just very similar ones (though there are so many divisions in that scenario it doesn't seem impossible for two colors to show up adjacent to each other). But distinguishing between the colors would probably require a really expensive and sensitive monitor/video cart setup, and would also produce a lot of uncomfortable eyestrain. So we're probably stuck with having to use the highlight organization button.

I already use that button a lot to keep the units in my brigades together and in command range. Ok, I'll admit to it -- I'm so obsessive about role playing these things that I use that button to keep my regiments together even though there's no in-game benefit from doing so (wish there were!). In some games I find that using a white rather than a red outline makes it easier to see what you're doing. If you're already using that button a lot to keep your brigades in order, it's not that big a deal to set view to command range, click on the division hq, and highlight org to make sure your division hq is close enough to the right brigade hq's.

[Mr Grumpy]

I have a strong suspicion that this is an area that Ed doesn't have much if any control over.

I also have no idea who has the final say on this.

[Hadge]

Hi again,

As I said in my opening post, the issue is not really a big deal other than making it easier to distinguish between units of very, very similar (if not identical) colours.

To change the (Divisional) colour of a unit is very simple if you have an editor - basically you change the Division name from say "10e DI" to "Dix'e Div Inf" and the colour will change (please excuse my French, I'm from Yorkshire) .... even just putting a full stop or a dash somewhere in the existing name often alters the colour. There is an element of trial and error involved to determine the end colour, but it can be done.

There is no programming change required - just an editer or for someone to rewrite the existing Division names so they are a bit longer and therfore more varied in their coding composition.

As there is no editor supplied with the game then the original OOB would have to have the renaming done centrally and then issued as an updated OOB via a patch.

This renaming process in no way alters the values assigned to the units or any other aspect of the game - just the unit colour.

Give me an OOB editor for the game and I will do the job !!

.... as I said, definately not a game buster in any way - just be nice to do.

Cheers

Chris

[Philippe]

If the change you mentioned is all that is required, I would suggest sticking to idiomatic French and changing "10e DI" to "10eme DI". Or maybe just adding a space between the "D" and the "I".

The problem, of course, is going to be that that may make the name of a sub-unit too long to fit in the space -- if there are too many characters in a name things fall off at least one side of the title bar (if not both).

So maybe this is Ed's call after all -- what you're asking him to do is to change the name of one of the units so that its organizational color looks different from its neighbor. I wonder what the chances are that it would end up with the same organization colors as the division on its other flank?

[Volcano Man]

Well, actually it seems like Hadge is not asking for a color change per se (I made sure that at start none of the divisions neighboring each other are the same color), but rather as the game progresses and different units come together from different area, he would like to change the colors then.

If so, have you tried opening the OOB in a text editor and adding a "." on the end of a formation name that you want to change the color to? It might be that a small change like that isn't significant enough for the program to notice that the OOB has be changed to the degree that it is considered the wrong file. Try it out and see if it works.

Other than that, no, unfortunately I don't see this happening until the day (whenever that is) that 1914-1918 is covered in France and then the OOB will get "unlocked". Until then, the highlight organization feature will have to do.

[burroughs]

I already use that button a lot to keep the units in my brigades together and in command range. Ok, I'll admit to it -- I'm so obsessive about role playing these things that I use that button to keep my regiments together even though there's no in-game benefit from doing so (wish there were!). In some games I find that using a white rather than a red outline makes it easier to see what you're doing. If you're already using that button a lot to keep your brigades in order, it's not that big a deal to set view to command range, click on the division hq, and highlight org to make sure your division hq is close enough to the right brigade hq's.

Well, You're not the only one, buddy, I am also quite preoccupied with the idea of having my units aacting coherently with all their organic subunits in their supporting role and many a a time I have deemed myself nuts because of it since there was no direct benefit in terms of the way the game engine works , but I have caome to the conclusion that thus I have the things done my way and since my way is the best way ... Yeah, something like that.