• Blitz Shadow Player
  • Caius
  • redboot
  • Rules
  • Chain of Command
  • Members
  • Supported Ladders & Games
  • Downloads


Question about Mod Options
11-23-2014, 11:11 AM,
#1
Question about Mod Options
I am just getting back into this series and have some question about the mods.

1) The Volcano Mods - saw that these create alt scenarios using a new database. Does this change the existing OOB for the scenarios or are new ones created for the alternative scenarios?

2) Why couldn't I just use the MapMods without Volcano Mods? Outside of the alternative scenarios what would I be missing?

3) And then there are the mods by Phillipe_at_bay - it looks like that lets you get a different look for the zoomed out map which looks good - is there anything else?

Thanks in advance!
Quote this message in a reply
11-23-2014, 02:34 PM,
#2
RE: Question about Mod Options
1. New OOB for the new scenarios - the existing OOB is not touched. At least that is the general rule for them, I am not aware of any exceptions.
2. You can use MapMods by itself.
3. No idea, sorry.

Welcome back to the games.
Rick
[Image: exercise.png]
Quote this message in a reply
11-24-2014, 04:06 AM,
#3
RE: Question about Mod Options
(11-23-2014, 11:11 AM)dwin Wrote: I am just getting back into this series and have some question about the mods.

1) The Volcano Mods - saw that these create alt scenarios using a new database. Does this change the existing OOB for the scenarios or are new ones created for the alternative scenarios?

2) Why couldn't I just use the MapMods without Volcano Mods? Outside of the alternative scenarios what would I be missing?

3) And then there are the mods by Phillipe_at_bay - it looks like that lets you get a different look for the zoomed out map which looks good - is there anything else?

Thanks in advance!

I'm not sure exactly which mods you're thinking of, but I think I have a sense of what is going on in Philippe's mods.

The mods for the Tiller games essentially fall into two categories: Napoleonic mods and Panzer Campaigns-related mods.

The Napoleonic series is a set of complete overhaul mods, changing the 2D graphics, 3D graphics, the presentation of the UI, the music, and many other features of the games to produce a consistent aesthetic product.

The Panzer Campaigns mods are less ambitious, but grew out of a preference for using wargame maps that give the illusion of being real maps, as well as a desire to get as many of the incidental details as historically authentic-looking as possible. I'm a big fan of Volcano Man's mods, but there are things that happen graphically in his mods that could be ironed out or simply done more to my taste. After much consultation we came up with a formula for presenting his material in my fashion (which essentially means that things like the little Nato symbols in the unit images always show up in exactly the same place in the image so you can tell at glance exactly what it is) -- material that is common to his mod and my mod only appears in his mod, which is why you always need to install his mod first.

My Panzer Campaigns-related mods are not total conversion mods like the Napoleonic mods. They make major changes to the 2D maps, and only minor changes to the 3D maps. If you want to stare at a 2D map that looks more like a real map and that allows you to turn the hex grid on and off when you need it, you should try one of my mods. If you always want to see the hexgrid and don't care if the map looks slightly antique or not, don't use my mod.

An additional note about my WW I campaigns mod(s). Apart from the map folder, the End of the Belle Epoque mod doesn't really work too well since the latest couple of patches, which is a shame since it's my favorite mod. I'm currently giving it an overhaul that should be done in the next few months (and when it's done there will be a companion mod for Prussia).

As to why you couldn't use Mapmods without installing Volcano man, you can, but you'd be stuck staring at out-of-the box Tiller artwork in the unit panels. If you don't care, fine (and if you don't care, that also means that you probably won't like my mods either, so save yourself the bother of downloading them).
Quote this message in a reply
11-24-2014, 04:40 AM,
#4
RE: Question about Mod Options
Thanks for the quick responses...

Philippe (and apologies for the prior misspelling) - this is for PZC related mods. The change in unit panels is a good update and makes the Volcano mods a must.

For your mods - I really like the changes in the zoomed out mode - what I was trying to also understand is did you make changes to the MapMods in the zoomed-in mode. The sequence you had was Volcano-MapMods and then yours - so I was making the assumption (maybe incorrectly) that you made modifications to both the Volcano and MapMods and curious as to what those were.

Thanks
Quote this message in a reply
11-24-2014, 05:06 AM,
#5
RE: Question about Mod Options
(11-24-2014, 04:40 AM)dwin Wrote: Thanks for the quick responses...

Philippe (and apologies for the prior misspelling) - this is for PZC related mods. The change in unit panels is a good update and makes the Volcano mods a must.

For your mods - I really like the changes in the zoomed out mode - what I was trying to also understand is did you make changes to the MapMods in the zoomed-in mode. The sequence you had was Volcano-MapMods and then yours - so I was making the assumption (maybe incorrectly) that you made modifications to both the Volcano and MapMods and curious as to what those were.

Thanks

The zoomed-out changes were an outgrowth of the zoomed-in changes. So yes, there are lots of changes to the zoomed in mode.

The mods try for a slightly antique look that allows you to turn the hexgrid on and off, and the color scheme is slightly different. They use Volcano Man figures for the unit boxes but the presentation of symbols is more consistent (and uses the familiar Nato-symbol for engineers). In some cases the HQ images are different because when I made the mods I sometimes had access to semiotic material that wasn't around when Ed made his original mods (carry-over from my Combat Mission modding days). For some of the mods (e.g. Normandy) I replaced some of the Volcano Man images, but only when I was sure that I had something better. The three most interesting WW II mods are Normandy and the Tobruk and Alamein mods. I don't own the Tiller North Africa game so I haven't gotten around to modding it, but I will someday (just not anytime soon -- too many things on the list ahead of it).

As an aside I have an almost completed Modern Campaigns mod for Middle East that I'll eventually release if I ever wrestle a couple of Um Kalthoum cd's away from my girlfriend (victory music).
History is a bad joke played by the living on the dead.
Quote this message in a reply


Forum Jump:


Users browsing this thread: 3 Guest(s)