WinSPWW2 v5.0 GUI mod

[Rosollia]

This mod contains highly altered or additional files that may or will cause interference with the master game files and it is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED that this mod be installed and played ONLY in a separate copy of the game and NOT run from the master game

This mod is meant to be used only with version 5.0 of WinSPWW2. It should not be used with any other versions of the game.

This mod changes the graphical user interface (GUI) to have a more Steel Panthers 1 style look.






Attached is the mod and a backup zip file to revert back to the original graphics.

It would appear that this mod causes a crash on the CD version of the game. The Free version seems to run fine with it. This has been tracked down to the file "MBTOPEN.SHP". The mod can still be used for the CD version if the original MBTOPEN file is used instead of the modded one.

So if you have the CD version and want to use this mod you need to also download and unzip the MBTOPEN-ORIGINAL.zip file to your games \Graphics -folder. Alternatively you can just delete the MBTOPEN.SHP file from the mod files before copying them to your game folder.

Thanks to Cross for pointing this issue out and helping to find the solution for it.

P.S. Without the modded MBTOPEN.shp file you will see the original button graphics for the main game screen. Other screens should still show the modded graphics.



Affected graphics files:
Background.shp
Battle.Shp
BIGLCD.shp
BIGLCD2.shp
BIGLCD3.shp
BIGLCD4.shp
MBTOPEN.shp
MenuBut1.shp
PREF.Shp

To install simply unzip the files to your main game directory.

[Rosollia]

I am interested in hearing from anyone who has tried this mod as to how it works for them? We have been troubleshooting this mod with Cross. On hes computer the game crashes when he uses this mod. We have reasoned that MBTOPEN.SHP might be the culprit hence the two corrected versions of the mod...

The mod runs fine on my tests. I have tested it with Windows XP 32bit and two machines running Windows 7 64bit. All tests were done with the Free version of the game.

So if you try this mod and it works or crashes please report here. Also please tell if you tested it with the Free or CD version of the game.

Thank you.

[Rosollia]

I have updated the first post. Important information in RED.

[mkr8683]

LOVE IT!! I was wishing for someone to do this. Will download it and get back with you soon. Awesome work! Laying on the nostalgia pretty thick with this mod!

Matt

[mkr8683]

Put it on a free copy, and it works beautifully. No problems at all. Thanks again!

Matt

[gila]

This looks very cool

I have a couple pbem games going atm,will consider giving it a try after they are done.

By that time there should be some feedback from any CD users.

[Cross]

The modded MBTOPEN file caused my CD versions to crash, but it's important to note that the crash happened every time as soon as the game attempted to open at the first menu. So it's not like it was causing a crash mid-game or anything.

As soon as I changed the MBTOPEN file to the vanilla MBTOPEN file, the rest of the mod worked with no crash. The MBTOPEN file just changes one button.

I tried the whole mod on a download version and it worked great with no problem.


Cross

[DRG]

We have been investigating the issue of the modified version of MBTOPEN.shp crashing the "CD" version of the game.

Testing is still ongoing but I have confirmed that a problem does indeed exist but it is only indirectly related to differences in the CD and DL version.

My new computer runs Win8 so all tests were done using that OS and what I discovered is the problem .......... very strange and elusive that it is............ is a "CD" issue ONLY if you use resolution greater than the DL version limit. On my machine that SHP file runs OK in both the CD or DL versions **IF** I stick to 640x480 and 800x600 screen resolutions. If I go beyond 800x600 the game craps out. We are still trying to determine why this is happening but they will run, in the CD version, in my machine as long as I stick to the two lowest screen resolutions.

I learned in 1998 that SHP files can sometimes be very bad voodoo but I have not had a file crash the game since the first year I started working with them so I am determined to find the reason this is happening but so far the answer remains elusive.


Also, unrelated to the SHP file issue but an ongoing issue for some players, when I first loaded the games into the win8 machine they would not run fullscreen at all. I have already stated on these forums how I feel about fullscreen mode but once I had settled in with the new machine I started poking around with compatibility settings and with my machines graphics card ( Intel HD graphics ) if I set either game to windows XP service pack 3 compatibilty on the desktop shortcut both games run fullscreen mode perfectly........... better than my old XP box ran them ( the colour is more true to windows mode than it was with the XP box )


Don

[DRG]

Attached is a corrected mbtopen.shp file required to complete this mode that will not crash any screen resolution above 800x600.

Please note this is not.....repeat not ......to be used with the original game only the mod featured in this thread.

Extract the attached zip to the Graphic folder of the game with the GUI mod ONLY


Don