Cross Bridges Mod 2.0

[Rosollia]

DRG that is good information. I did understand this already but it is good to point this out to people here who might not be aware of it.

[DRG]

I used Unshp/Makshp/Hdshp early in game development but haven't found a need to run them in about 8 years

Don

[Rosollia]

Originally Posted by DRG

All that is well and good but the real showstopper is that base SP1 and SP2 Terrain SHP files....... old or newly created, are NOT COMPATIBLE with any windows version of our games.

The SSI terrain file like Ter00 ( basic grass ) contain 36 SHP's and 5 of those are flat base terrain.

The SPCamo terrain file for Ter00 contain 66 SHP's and 35 of those are flat base terrain.

You CAN get away with this with the road files ( Z5 level excepted ) but not regular terrain because I added all those extra flat tiles to go as far as possible to ensure there were no repetitious patterns appearing in maps


Don

Actualy my testing shows that it does not matter if the new TER file has more icons in it. Take TER29 as an example. It has 46 icons for single hex houses in SP1 & SP2 but in SPWW2 it has 100. I deleted TER29z0-z3 and they were recreated with 100 icons and correct header info using SP1 and SP2 games.

Also important to note that when you make the SHP files using SP1 or SP2 remove the CD from the drive or else the game will access the TER files from the CD and not create new ones. Only keep the CD in the drive to start the game but after that eject it. You should have the game installed using the maximum install option.

In the game go to the map editor and select the graphic that uses the TER file you need. For example TER29Z0-3 will be created when you place the single hex houses on map and then zoom out to all the zoom levels. You will see dots "..." appear in the message box to indicate that the game is generating new TER files. It is important that you zoom around all the levels.

[Rosollia]

Another thing to note is that SP1/SP2 TER files only go up to TER34. However WinSPWW2/SPMBT have more TER files. So how do you create zoom levels for TER70z4? Well You simply rename it to TER00Z4 and then use SP1 or SP2 to do the other zoom levels and finaly rename the TER00Z files back to TER70.

[Cross]

Originally Posted by Rosollia

Cross I took the bridge graphics you posted at SPWAW depot and put them into the TER24Z0-Z5 files.

With Fred´s programs and the automaticaly created zoom levels it took me just two hours. So this is really handy stuff.

I tried to send these to you in a private message but I could not make out how to attach files there. So I attached the files here. I hope this is ok???

Attached are your bridge graphics and all the zoom levels. I also removed the yellow center lines from the paved road graphics. I think this looks better with the new bridges and gives an older look more suitable for ww2?

The automaticaly created zoom levels Z0-Z3 still might need some manual adjustment with the header information, but from quick testing I dont see any major errors.

Those new bridges look beautiful by the way. Great job!

Tested…works great!
Brilliant work Rosollia.
It’s amazing what a bit of cooperation can accomplish.

The roads without yellow lines do look better in WW2.

In zoom <3 the diagonal multiple span bridges are slightly offset, but that’s exactly how it is with the originals. Perhaps I’ll fiddle with them some time.

I’ll edit my OP and attach the mod there later today.

Cross

[Cross]

Don,

When making this mod I noticed that if you destroy the wooden vertical bridge icons:

Icons 43 and 44

The game doesn’t show the KO’d bridge icons (51 and 52) but continues to show the bridges intact. When you mouse hover over the ‘KO’d’ bridges it does show the underlying terrain, so they are destroyed but don’t use the destroyed bridge icons.

This isn’t a case of corrupted files, I checked this on my vanilla version. The stone bridges are fine.

Cross

[DRG]

I'll put this on the list to investigate. First time the issue has been raised that I'm aware of

Don

[Warwick]

I seem to recall this on the Prokhorovka scenario released with the latest patch, unfortunately I do not have a saved game that could help.

[Rosollia]

Adding some water and then a vertical wooden bridge in the map editor. Applied damage to it and the bridge gets destroyed but a graphic of an intact bridge remains.

Just for fun tested SP2 and the same issue was there too so it is an ancient little "bug".

I have never noticed it in gameplay since vertical bridges are rare and it´s even rarer to see one get blown up.

[DRG]

There are no N-S (vertical )wooden bridges in that scenario.

There ARE however, stone bridges placed OVER wooden bridges which report as wooden bridges. When the bridge is destroyed the destroyed wooden bridge cannot be seen because the "stone" bridge image covers it.

This is a map making error. You CANNOT place one bridge type over another. If you wish to make a stone bridge connecting secondary roads if there is already a wooden bridge there it MUST BE deleted first then the stone bridge put in place. That should have been caught during developmental playtesting. I've noted this down to correct in that sceanrio and to check the Kursk Campaign

The problem in that scenario is not related to the N-S wooden bridge issue

Don