Graviteam

Probably since the days of ‘Popular Mechanics’ magazine in the 1950s, Do-It-Yourself publishing has encouraged people to have a go at what otherwise seems a daunting task.

Looking through the various forums covering Steel Fury: Kharkov 1942 (SFK42), you can see the gnarled veterans with years of experience, producing new vehicles and missions that keep expanding and renewing this gem of a WWII tank simulation. You also see users of the game like me, grateful for their products and waiting with anticipation at the next release.

Somewhere in between are the creative souls, who stick their head above the trench and try to move forward, making their own missions. Some barely make it out of the trench, shot down in a hail of withering ‘contour’ fire.

(https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-ZW3JhHhwPLo/TzXtDihkfDI/AAAAAAAABgs/OfS3WfPfuWM/s640/DiaryCampaignMaker01a.JPG)

Some others make it to the next foxhole, and the next after that, only to tread on a mine that is the strange behaviour of the AI. Others make it all the way to the end, receiving hearty pats on the back from the helping hands of the veterans. Like green combat troops, the newbies look at this on the forums and see it as overwhelming.

Well, I am going to stick my head above the trench and try to cross the Campaign Making minefield. I’ll post what I do for all newbies to see, and ask the questions that need to be asked, so it might encourage more mission making.

Please feel free to contribute advice and sggestions – especially you gnarly veterans!
How hard can it be?

=====================
22.07.2013

(http://s5.postimg.org/poon5bk0j/016.jpg) (http://postimg.org/image/poon5bk0j/)

Scenario: Estnische
Producer: Kyth
Director: lockie

There are two variants of installation:
1. Re-download Mission Pack 3.0
OR
2. Install mission Otto Carius: Siivertsi as a separate one. It will be added automatically to the Mission pack 3.0.

1. Unofficial patch_SF_v0.1_(ENG) link #1 (http://tanksim.org.ru/modules/wfdownloads/viewcat.php?cid=17), link #2 (http://www.4shared.com/rar/ZtNqWFVp/Unofficial_patch_SF_v01_eng.html)
2. Steel sound mod v1.1
3. SPM 1.5 beta (http://www.4shared.com/file/mpfv8bAy/Steel_Panzer_Mod_v15_beta.html)
4. SPM1.5_ultimate_update (http://www.gamefront.com/files/21331726/SPM1.5_ultimate_update_v1.1(ENG).rar), link #2 (http://www.4shared.com/rar/oS-5PXyV/SPM15_ultimate_update_v11_ENG_.html)
5. Missions pack v2.1 (http://www.4shared.com/get/cI74Ih2l/Missions_pack_20.html)
6. Missions pack v1.0d (http://www.4shared.com/file/wpMpk9Ni/Missions_pack_10c.html?)
7. Upd_Nov_2012(NTA) (http://www.4shared.com/rar/ojjC66_c/Upd_Nov_2012_NTA_.html)
8. SPM (NTA) 1.6 (http://www.4shared.com/file/ZIVLOVKc/spm__nta__1.html)
9. Mission_Pack_3.0 (http://www.4shared.com/rar/mO8ySzFJ/Missions_pack_30.html)
10. Winter-mode 2.1 (http://www.4shared.com/file/QlHiLJtM/winter_mod_beta_2.html) for the mission "Otto Carius: Siivertsi".
D/l mission:
Carius_Siivertsi (http://www.4shared.com/rar/_grRd93y/Carius_Siivertsi.html)

NOTES:
Sometimes mission may CTD. This is because of the big number of the units.

Here is a video from the mission by fabianfred.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BVR9U4I9og0

Good, good,

I will be keeping a close watch on the proceedings,  :-X

Mission making can be as hard as you want it to be.If you follow Kyth and Rend's( not to mention the guys on the Russian-Ukrainian side of the equation) trail then it's going to be a steep-hill but once you've reach the top it becomes easier every time.You can make your teeth on simple missions and then take it from there.

Anyway it's great to have you on board!

OK, so where to begin? With a plan, of course!

Missions seem to fall into one of three categories:

1)   Historical – where the mission maker attempts to follow as closely as possible real events. It’s usually possible where a real soldier has diaries of their wartime actions. Of course there are limits on the accuracy, including availability of tank types, a game map (polygon) that matches the location, and the variations made by the player and the Artificial Intelligence (AI).

2)   Semi – Historical – where the maker uses real events to create a believable  
mission. This allows the maker to have the best of both worlds, working within the confines of the game, but being consistent with historical events. This way you don’t have Operation Barbarossa commencing with Tiger IIs!

3)   Fictional – where the maker is free to do what they please. The best use of this type of mission is to entertain the player, with history not a determining factor. Here is where imagination should run wild, encouraging the player to use their wits and problem solving to work outside the usual tank versus tank scenario. Lockie’s ‘Hurry Up Kubelwagen’ is an example of this.

In my case, I’ve decided on a semi-historical German campaign. Like many others, I’ve always like the Panzer VI (Mk I Tiger). One of the best Tiger commanders was Otto Carius, who wrote a book on his experiences called ‘Tigers In The Mud’.  In 1943, Carius joined a Tiger unit, the schwere Panzer-Abteilung 502.

(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-eqV2ldit3pI/TzbsQ9ih8hI/AAAAAAAABgw/piNAcUsfdFk/s400/CariusTiger.jpg)

This unit fought at the Leningrad front and then in the retreat to Narva, Estonia. But determined defence halted the Russian advance, leading to extensive battles at the Narva and Ivangorod bridgeheads. Researching these encounters is where the internet is your friend.

(https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-vknCdjTOx1M/TzcR-eUDGII/AAAAAAAABhY/fzahapqCR0c/s400/NarvaIvangorod2.jpg)

Unfortunately, city streets and buildings are not yet available in SFK42. However, at several points the Russians tried to by-pass Narva, including attempts to cross the Narva River at the villages of Siivertsi and Riigiküla, north of Narva. These attempts were beaten back by units of the 11th SS Volunteer Panzergrenadier Division Nordland, supported by Otto Carius’ Tiger platoon.

(https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-1cck6B1sFO0/TzcSJ-0pN-I/AAAAAAAABhc/6dy4EhMbDB0/s640/Narvamap4.jpg)

(HAPBA=Narva in Russian)

It should be possible for me to make a series of missions based on the actions at Siiversti, using the mod SPM 1.5 Beta, and the stock maps.

How hard can it be?

Good start, keep it coming!

BTW it's Soviets not Russians ;D.

I think the idea is great and as for the maps most of us have never been to Estonia so we couldn't tell whether the stock maps are authentic or not...

I have, in the middle of summer. Very green and lots of birch trees and lumbering elks! The stock maps shouldn't be a problem if I can find a river to suit Carius' descriptions.

You know what we need next? an urban map. That way Kyth can work his magic in the city slug-fest's that plagued much of the eastern front.

As my point, there's no problem to create a new polygon. The stock ones are completely washed out, imho.

I'd say, if you're just beginning, pick a suitable stock map and use it.

They're all quite useful and versatile and there are actually 10 more 'hidden' maps available as well.
Take a look:
http://graviteam.com/forum/index.php?topic=2919.0 (http://graviteam.com/forum/index.php?topic=2919.0)

OK, now I need to pick a map and some armoured units.

A description by Otto Carius doesn’t cover a lot, apart from:

“the front is only thinly held. I’ve attempted to help myself by constructing it as a series of strongpoints”

“the eastern bank of the Narva, climbed quite steeply, and the edge of a large forested area extended along the high ground. We thus stuck out like a sore thumb for their artillery, which gave us many problems. As soon as we left our little bit of woods, it didn’t take more than three minutes before we saw the first muzzle flashes on the far bank”

“the Russians had suffered terrific losses during their attacks as there was no cover at all while crossing over the ice of the Narva. But even if only a small group was successful in establishing itself on our side of the Narva, they stuck to our trench system like leeches”

The following description from an Estonian website says:

“Numerous wire obstacles and mine fields had been established to protect the bridgehead.”

“Russian elite units protected the bridgehead: the 378th Shooters' (Rifle?) Division units and the 340th Single Machine Gun Battalion. These units were supported by the cannon(artillery?) units over the river, who in case of an attack opened a fire towards the trenches, which made conquering the bridgehead directly impossible. There have also been talks and written texts about there being machine guns on the other bank of the river.”

So, I have some parameters I can interpret:

•   Russians have huge numerical superiority, but I don’t know what units or armour they had.
•   Carius only had a platoon of Tigers to work with the SS Panzer-Grenadiers. Tigers I can get using the SPM1.5 Beta mod.
•   Germans have trenches on the west side, which they lost. They were later occupied by the Russians. Defences included mines and wire and machine gun nests.
•   The map needs a river preferably running north-south, with banks rising to have the Russian artillery looking down on the German trenches.
•   I need to establish a village on the west side. If I use it as the base for the German company HQ, it could be the mission goal of the Russians. 
•   The crossing of a river covered in ice! Looking at the image of Carius’ Tiger, it has white camo and the actions took place in February 1944. So I will have to investigate winter mods. The stock version of SFK42 is very lush and leafy.

Like Kyth said, it will be easier to work with an existing map. So I need to find a suitable map first, and then check out mods for seasons. 

How hard can it be?

The Izum map would fit your needs as the river runs North to South and it's got steep hills  on one side with some forest cover.However if you need to have the Germans on the West bank of the river there are no trenches nor villages but only a dense forest and some hills in behind it.The only trenches and villages would be on the Soviet side(East bank).There are many maps with rivers running through the middle but the only other one that could fit your needs - the Peremoga one - does not entirely fit the setting you need.I am trying to think about the new maps( i.e user_made ones)and I can't think of one that would meet your requiremnts.I think Lockie is right you'll need to make an entirely new map. Also the 2 exisating winter maps; the old one and Lajcak's late autumn one do not have ice....

If the river is supposed to be iced over, it widens your available choices doesn't it?

You don't actually need a map with a river.

You can use Google Maps or Google Earth to find the spot relative to where Carius's unit was around Narva. Personally, I'm impartial, but it might help :)

Just to clarify, you won't actually need a river if it doesn't make a tactical difference (e.g. a barrier to crossing).

I would be more believable and more realistic to have a river in my opinion.Historical accuracy...BTW the exiasting maps can be edited/modified using the ME...

What we need in the game are more decent bridges, stone ones( were there any in the SU?) or steel ones .The crappy wooden oens we have frankly suck! ::)

I haven't read Tigers in the Mud. What are the key events you want to include in the mission? Do you have a series of missions in mind?

Kyth – you should get it. It covers three phases of his career in Panzer 38(t), Tiger I and finally Jagdtigers (highly recommended and quite cheap to buy online). After reading Tigers In The Mud, the river has to be a feature, as it really divides the forces. I have had a look at some of the stock maps and the seasonal mods too.

But to describe what I have done, I’ll need to start talking about the Mission Editor that comes with the game. I’ve built missions in IL2-Sturmovik before and that took some learning. It’s the same problem with SFK42. Thankfully, FabianFred has created a series of video tutorials on how to use the mission editor. I got them here:

http://www.4shared.com/dir/11609396/7b1d1709/Steel_Fury-Kharkov_1942.html


Sometimes it’s a bit difficult to take in the processes (a problem with the Editor, not FabianFred), so Friedrich Wilhelm has made a pdf version, and I used both as a reference.

http://www.4shared.com/document/9vKpkgWz/SF_Mission_Editor.html

Using these references, I followed the convoluted steps in firstly, opening up an existing map, and then, placing friendly and enemy units, and telling them what to do. Voila! I’d made a mission! Not a good one mind you, but I shot at the enemy and they fired back...

That first step was enough for me to explore the Izum map:

(https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-Icp3oyvDY4o/Tzj6G24cb5I/AAAAAAAABhs/IhtLDICjq4w/s640/DiaryCampaignMaker02a.JPG)

It has:
•   A north-south river with valley heights
•   Two crossing points (circled in black) with open ground to reach the northern crossing
•   The Soviets could advance up the river valley on the east side (red arrow)
•   The Germans could hold a strong point on the west bank with their company HQ (blue box) further up the hill.

But then, Frinik has also recommended to me the Peremoga map, which has two real advantages over Izum. Firstly the river runs from SE to NW, just like the real thing. Also, there are three crossing points close together, giving a broader crossing zone, more like crossing ice.

(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-FZFZFEkkCo0/Tzo8fIFYYoI/AAAAAAAABiA/Vt2V_NPm5W4/s640/DiaryCampaignMaker02d.JPG)

After that I checked out some seasonal mods. Here is what the stock crossing points look like:

(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-PU2lY_E06XY/Tzj6HISGskI/AAAAAAAABho/PAMbmKBeHYU/s640/DiaryCampaignMaker02c.JPG)

Not a very convincing imitation of Russians crossing over ice!

Here is the same crossing with Lajcak’s Winter (No Snow) mod:

(https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-zv4tpWZypVI/Tzj6FckQU5I/AAAAAAAABhg/1yh4RNqbPiA/s640/DiaryCampaignMaker02b.JPG)

Much better. I think I’ll be happy to use either of these maps, especially if I can add barricades and trenches.

A questions to the veterans, can I do that with the map editor? FabianFred showed how to add ‘dragons teeth’.

I’ll answer Kyth’s other question in the next instalment  - that is, applying the historical events to the shape of the map to outline some missions.

How hard can it be?

I really don't think so, because we don't have the source files for the stock maps.
If you look at the Fabianfred video closely, he isn't actually editing the B_Babka map, instead it's the generic map with the big lake.

However. If you don't mind turning the Peremoga map 180 degrees around, it would work quite well, with plenty of entrenchments facing the river.
The stock B_Babka map is also a good alternative, with entrenchments down both sides of the river,

I've a "winter mod" from comrade Maleshkin, but unfortunately I don't have a permission to release this mod. Perhaps, it'd be possible soon. Some pictures: http://graviteam.com/forum/index.php?topic=9737.0

It's impossible. That's why I suggested to create original polygon and apply to him any changes which u want.

I agree; Maleshkin's Winter mod looks really very good and nicely complements Lajcak's late autumn one.I hope he releases it because hisa work is goignt o change my mind about not being keen on winter mods....

Wow, that mod does look excellent indeed! Could permission perhaps be attained from Graviteam to use some inf. models from AP: Kharkov 43 if non-appropriate winter infantry models are the main issue?
Also, the fire effects in the 3rd screen look much improved as well - is that also a mod feature or?
Looking forward to an eventual release!

I hope that Aces will help us vs a soldier (winter camo) ;)

As I remember, Maleshkin did some tweaks to the fire.

I'm sure that Aces will do his best, but it's hard to make believable winter infantry, at least for the German side, if they're all wearing summer uniforms; you would need some parka or greatcoat models, I think. I guess reskinning the Soviets would be more feasible as you could have them all wearing telogreikas, which bore some resemblance to their summer uniforms. Porting the models from AP is a no-go then?

There isn't a perfect solution, even with the best seasonal mod, uniform mod and custom-built map. Because they won't turn running water to ice  :) and you're still restricted to a 2km x 2km area. 

On the positive side, none of this prevents you from creating a (semi) historical, and more importantly, enjoyable, mission.

Given that the historical events have the Russians establishing a bridgehead on the west bank and then losing it, with the limited details, semi-historical is the way to go.

Lockie is volunteering to make a map for me!  ;D

I’m thinking something along these lines:

Mission 1 - German forces are dug in on the low ground of far (west) bank, in the village cemetery, supported by the Mk I Tigers of Carius. Their HQ is in the
village of Siivertsi, on the high ground i.e. the Russian objective.
The Russian armoured forces advance from east of the river and attempt to cross the river. The German
success will be to prevent or beat back the crossing.

Mission 2 - Having been denied at the first crossing, the Russians dig
in and establish artillery positions at the heights of the east bank.
They attempt another crossing and with the support of the artillery,
cross the river in force and over-run the German trenches to establish
a bridgehead on the low ground, taking over the original German trenches. The German success will be to prevent them from taking the HQ position at the village higher up.

Mission 3 - The Germans counter-attack the bridgehead. German success
will be to eliminate the Russians on the west bank.

Mission 4 - Having regained the west bank, the Germans cross the river
to roll-up the Russian east bank forces.

How hard can it be?

It'd be cool if you had victory conditions for both sides so the player could choose which side to play for. :)

Whukid – you are right of course. I can get two to three missions happening for the Soviets.

Lockie is working on a map for ‘Siivertsi’, which should enhance the historical aspect. In the meantime, I’ll work on my mission building knowledge with the Peremoga map.

Now is the time would I needed some help with the Soviet armour, but I don’t have a lot of knowledge of their units. Here is where the SFK42 community shines. I asked Mistwalker in a PM and this was his response:

“46th (in 2nd Shock Army), 260th and 261st (in 42nd Army) Separate Guards Tank and 1902nd (in 42nd Army) Separate Self-propelled Artillery regiments and 3rd Guards Tank Corps (didn't participate in combat).

1902 regiment had SU-76.
46 regiment had KV. But I don't know about type. Definitely not ones we have in the game now (that's early model, they've all been lost by mid-43). Most likely KV-1S, but there's no KV-1S model in SF. You can try KV-85 from the latest update though (english version will be released today). Only 150 units were made and I know where half of those went, but no info about the other half, so... That's exactly the time for this tank.
260th regiment had some KV (probably KV-1S too) and some medium tanks.

Now about units, not mentioned in wikipedia. You probably need 2nd Shock Army.
In 2nd Shock Army: 30 Guards Tank Brigade, and 222 separate tank regiment. Here you need T-34-76 (late model) and T-70 in lesser numbers. Too early for T-34-85, too late for KV-1.

Also: 1439, 1495, 1811 self-propelled artillery regiments. 1439 - SU 122.
1495 and 1811 - most likely SU-76, less likely SU-85.

42nd Army had more tank units too if you need.

So to summarize you may use 5 types of vehicles - T-34-76, SU-122, T-70 in small numbers and maybe (if you consider it as possibility) KV-85 and SU-85. And the Winter mod of course. “

So, now I’m off to play with the Mission Editor. I’ll start with four Tigers on the west bank, and see if I can get the Soviet forces to attack them by using the river fords.

How hard can it be?

One piece of advice don't put too few Tigers against too many Soviet ones because the AI ain't too wise and the Tigers may be tempted to rush forward against overwhelming odds and get killed in a few minutes through side shots ect...Better put them in a cocnealed, static postion where thye cna take advantage of their more powerful Kwk36 and avoid serious damage. A ratio of 2 to 2.5 against one is the max you can expect your Tigers ot last long enough....

well.. unless you're the one playing the Tiger, of course :P

Then again, maybe Kyth can offer some insight; I believe one of his Panzer III missions involved waves upon waves of T-34's, T-60's, and KV-1's, of which drastically outnumbered the German armored force by atleast 3:1

It's all a matter of scripting; the 'Defend' command usually works quite well,

My own experience is that the "defence " mode works better than the " Ambush " one in protecting the AI against it's rash and reckless nature ;D.However if you are faithfully trying to recreate a historical mission with absolute accuracy  - for example pitting 4 tanks against 40( a 10 to 1 ratio) - as may have been the case in a real battle and the outrome was still favourable to the defending side despite the odds then in SF you won't able to pull it off because it wille exceed the AI 's ability.Thus you may have to modify the size of the forces in presences to a more reasonable ratio...

Absolutely agree vs u! Mod "Ambush" much better than ordinary "defense", which is completely unpredictable.

For me it sounds that you disagree!?

Yes, I agree that defense mod is more preferable at some cases, but much better to use "ambush". It's kind of universal defense.

I'd say that if you try to play without external view and without target indicator, as a real tanker should - you also may look not too wise from the side in some situations.  ;D

But seriously, 4 Tigers in defence positions and on the other side of the river - it's the shooting gallery even for AI. A good commander should not send his tanks in attack in the situation like that, at least not without calling for heavy artillery and air support.

True enough Mistwalker however in SF:

A) the artillery is not terribly effective against tanks at least not as much as it should be.Also artillery and infantry take a heavy toll on the fps.

Yes I do play without external view but I keep the target markers when I play on a small screen or night missions.

RE the shooting gallery it depedns how many tanks you pit against the 4 Tigers and what type.If you respect the odds whe recreating many battles that took place in 1944/45 when the Germans were hugely outnumbered by the Soviet in very category then you will find the AI is not up to the taks.

Let's face it SF is a very good game but the AI needs improvements.Even in games which have good AI or better the human player has a definite advantage.

Mistwalker makes a good point. But in February 1944 the Tigers were like the fire brigade, rushing to a point under attack by overwhelming forces. In this case the German Narva bridgehead was at risk of encirclement if the Soviets broke out at Siivertsi. There was no chance to back out of it and air support was unlikely without priority planning. As the American hot-rod saying goes, it was “run what ya brung”.

Lockie has been very patient with me, fixing my installation of SFK42 and educating me on generating polygons. He is also building a custom map so I can place objects where I need, to  make it close to the historical narratives. The SKF42 community comes to the rescue!

He also made some changes, so by the time we are finished, the weather will match this look:

(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-sDRN7djldak/T0BkJ92XaxI/AAAAAAAABi8/nckNZYK0iGI/s400/siivertsihistoric3.jpg)
(https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-kyc7Rjnjw2s/T0BkLf8sN5I/AAAAAAAABi8/BKgajy2R-hA/s400/siivertsihistoric4.jpg)

Maybe, something like this?  ;)

(https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-7UElnJ49ulw/T0BaeGOI4PI/AAAAAAAABiY/wcg6GbTAR4w/s800/maleshkincamo.JPG)

There are so many variables in map making, so Lockie has set me some homework to see how it is done on a completed map. When I have something constructive to add to the diary, I'll be pack

(Kyth - we need an Arnie smilie)

How hard can it be?

Estnische what could the Germans field against the Soviets in terms of armour?Mistwalker do you know how many SUs and tanks the Soviet side had available for their offensive?

Well, here is where I put the 'semi', in semi-historic. My four missions are based on the Soviets establishing a bridgehead and then losing it. Carius does not mention tank-on-tank encounters in his actions at Siivertsi. Mostly he talks about supporting the Nordland infantry in eliminating Soviets in the trenches on the west side of the river AFTER they were established as bridgeheads. Mostly these were infantry actions supported by tanks and artillery. If you don't have the book, you can read more of the infantry side at the following links, where the focus is on the actions of Harald Nugiseks in winning a Ritterkreuz. Keep in mind that the German high command found it difficult to hand out the RK to foreigners:

Pt 1: http://www.eestileegion.com/?home/estonian-legion/estonian-legions-leaders/harald-nugiseks---the-silent-hero/the-bridgehead-of-vaasa---vepskuela---siiverts.html

Pt 2: http://www.eestileegion.com/?home/estonian-legion/estonian-legions-leaders/harald-nugiseks---the-silent-hero/forest-guards-house-on-fire.html

Pt 3: http://www.eestileegion.com/?home/estonian-legion/estonian-legions-leaders/harald-nugiseks---the-silent-hero/the-attack.html

So, the answer to your question is that a company of the 11th SS Volunteer Panzergrenadier Division Nordland fought the action supported by a platoon of Carius' Tigers.

How many Soviets were they facing?I assume the Soviets had control of the air and an absolute numerical advantage across the board?

In reality artillery barrages were not very effective against armored vehcles too. Artillery support is good if you want to destroy supporting troops like infantry an AT guns. And air support a little more effective against tanks - in the game too.

Well, for example for Tigers the ratio of 1 to 2-3 is good enough, because that's what actually happened in most cases.

True, still a few basic rules from my personal experience need to be mentioned.

1. You have to remember to reset "by road" parameter when you start writing your script.
2. When on defence, AI-controlled vehicles behave better in trenches.
3. AT guns are very effective against tanks if placed at correct positions (good view+hard to notice).
4. Infantry is effective against AT guns.
5. In the attacking script tanks with weaker guns and armor should move faster, to be able to use their advantage in speed and to close on the enemy positions and outflank the enemy as soon as possible. On the contrary tanks with powerful guns and SPGs should move slower, to be able to use their advantage in armor and firepower at long distances.

Some of my personal issues:
I don't like the missions when there are too much tanks of a very different types and almost no infantry and AT-guns. It reminds me of some kind of zoo or World of Tanks more than of actual combat. :)

AT guns are very effective against tanks if placed at correct positions (good view+hard to notice).
  I agree! I love the AT guns in SF.I always out some in the things I do for myself just to look at them operating against armour.The are very effective when concealed and well placed as Mistwalker pointe dout.What we miss in SF are real gun emplacements though with sandbags,timber enclosures better protected than the little, shallow pits available.Likewise for MG nests we don't any real ones.

Re the artillery 105 and 122mm shells should do more damage than they do.The aircrafts are effective but indestructible in the air which is unrealistic.


I think the missions Estnische has in mind call for infantry and AT/Artillery which should be nice.As for the armour what did the Soviets field there?T34/43s?The 34/85 model started being produced in December 1943 I think and the JS-2 around the same time so there should not have been too many around  considering how long the front was.Su-152s?Su-85?Su-122s?There were still KV1s and KV-85s available in limited number.

OK, so while Lockie is working on my custom map, I have been experimenting with the Mission Editor in the Peremoga map. Call it an alpha rather than a beta...

Following Fabianfred’s video tutorials, I have created a mission on the map. Rather than go over the ground of his tutorials, it is sufficient to know that first I must create a box or location or ‘contour’ where the various units will go, then allocate a unit to that contour.

So, in the picture below you can see I marked German forces on the west bank to defend a likely crossing position:
•   Three Tigers and one Tiger (player’s tank) in the black circles. The blue arcs are contours.
•   Two of single German MGs in the black box.

On the eastern side starting from the high ground are the Soviet forces:
•   Two of mixed units of three T34s with infantry in the red circles. Again the red arcs are contours.

(https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-bUNxU3tS9AU/T0IqLM2JEOI/AAAAAAAABjM/oqtpVl8JpV0/s800/cariusbetamis103.JPG)

So without any other additions such as scripting, to keep it simple at first, I pressed ‘play’ in the Mission Editor. From Fabianfred’s tutorial, you might imagine that everybody might have been ‘shooting the breeze’, waiting for someone to start something. Here is what happened. Two of the four Tigers started blasting away and advanced to the river bank.

(https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-6aZZVQMwbYo/T0Iq9t9LSJI/AAAAAAAABjo/IjBgBuxSFMU/s800/cariusbetamis102.JPG)

One T34 got hammered and the other five ‘advanced to the rear’ from their original contour positions.

(https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-3esIAH9drxg/T0Iq8-2K2EI/AAAAAAAABjg/IwNsosqafGQ/s800/cariusbetamis101.JPG)

I suspect this is about game settings? What difficulty level and morale, or any other factors, should I set at this basic level - are there ‘standard’ game settings that should be used to begin mission building?

How hard can it be?

The opposing units start the mission within sight of each other, so the tactical AI kicks in.
The Tigers start blazing away at long range and the T34's wisely pull back behind the hill.

It might be better to move the starting locations, to keep them out of sight. Or you might want to play with the weather settings to lower the visibility,

Yep put the russians further away. If it´s not the player platoon you can move them out of the playable area where you want.
Do you want the tigers to move? If not set the script to "dummy" then they will stay in position.

In the ME I always set the experience and morale factor to the highest because I wnat the AI to be as aggressive as possible.Not sure if it plays that much of a role though...

Put more T34s in the field; say 12 and set a movement script with fairly high speed - 25 kmph - and then add a mode of movement script with attack set as parameter and your T34s will act much more aggressively.Set morale and experience at the max as well.

Well if it´s set to 10 you don´t make them aggressive by default. Sometimes they do the different thing fire a shell and move backwards just to stay save :D

Now mission has a status "alpha".
(http://xmages.net/storage/10/1/0/e/c/thumb/thumb_85694841.jpg) (http://xmages.net/view.php/94582)

For mission building, I'd suggest setting the game at difficulty level '5' and morale/expertise at '2'. i.e. "How the mission is meant to be played".

Everything needs to work fine at that level first,

Thanks Kyth, I'll work from that.

OK, so now Lockie has made a terrain map for my wishes, I need to create the village of Siivertsi and the other features using the Map Editor. Slowly it begins.

(https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-1PE6Q-ak9IQ/T0dtJ_1BDyI/AAAAAAAABkU/ntCtyXM5yGc/s640/Cariusalphamis101.JPG)

Just need to add trees, and buildings and fences and trenches, something to simulate a cemetery...

How hard can it be?

I think it's possible if some1 will create a model of the cross/grave, then put it in the game as object, i.e. bench.

OK so now I am assembling the village of ‘Siivertsi’.

Lockie was thoughtful enough to place some sample objects on the map to help me learn. Using the editor has demonstrated that SFK42 is nowhere near as friendly as IL2 Sturmovik in this regard. In SFK42 it seems that to place an object, you have to:

1.   Create a contour, as demonstrated by FabienFred
2.   Select the type of object
3.   Assign it characteristics, all of which seem to vary from object to object

This last part does not seem to be documented in any manuals for the game, which make the learning curve steep.
Here is a map I recently found of the battle site, prior to the war. It is certainly more helpful than the Google satellite image. Of course the map has been rotated 45deg or so to enable the tiling of the map.

(https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-cN9PCwX8ySE/T0s3K7fZ_wI/AAAAAAAABkg/ArdiX-G8E1I/s800/siivertsimap3.jpg)

From the plan view you can see I have made three dirt roads and placed three houses in Siivertsi. Perhaps you can see that after doing that, the grass remains high, similar to the general countryside. It looks too overgrown. How do I flatten the vegetation in the allotments and the centre of the road?

(https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-eGaqCWo4DvE/T0s3KppAcoI/AAAAAAAABkk/t7-bvKeSoF0/s640/cariusalphamis103.JPG)

I attempted to add fences to separate the allotments. I created a fence contour running east to west from point ‘A’ to point ‘B’ and added the Landscape property of Fence4. Here is what happened – the panels are north to south!

(https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-ktDLtQhW4jk/T0s3Ke-HhnI/AAAAAAAABkc/of-p048fGNY/s640/cariusalphamis102.JPG)

Am I correct in assuming that I have to align each fence panel?

How hard can it be?

I think you'll need to set the compass headings of the points in the countour. Probably to face east / west.

By the way, I think you'll find that making a map from scratch, for IL2, is a lot tougher  :)

About your fence problem it's very easy to fix this.

I don´t have the editor open yet so i don´t know the exact descriptions of each settings but anyway:

Object: Fence4

2.9 or 2.2 (depending on the fence you use)

0.00

Approximate outline

0

90 (yours is set to 0 that´s why the fence point north in the screenshot) and it´s always 90 regardless of the direction of your path if i´m right

fence

Okay, I stand corrected (about the fence, not about mapmaking for IL2  :))

Thanks Rends, the lesson seems to be that the fence has to be set at '90' deg to the line of the contour no matter which direction the countour runs, which seems counter-intuitive. 

And so the village of Siivertsi takes shape, mostly how I would like it.

But there has been a lot of trial and error in alignments. Buildings and roads are fairly straightforward as you can adjust them if you see they are not in the right location. Fences too, thanks to all of you for the advice.

(https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-gJQo7QtyzrE/T1CnOOgXS9I/AAAAAAAABk4/imP2ZncFcpg/s640/cariusalphamis106.JPG)

However trees and plantings seem a little hit and miss. Here are two examples in the cemetery.

The first is meant to sparsely scattered trees in the cemetery. Here though, I only get trees along one edge of the contour. Is it something about my settings?

(https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-rxfo8xwe8gQ/T1CnQq7qjVI/AAAAAAAABlA/AevNT_OqjKM/s800/cariusalphamis104.JPG)

This next one, I want a line of trees beside the road, but no trees appear after I regenerate and reload.

(https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-2N8RR8hyMuc/T1CnRdy7j8I/AAAAAAAABlI/0PvQlzGeMQo/s800/cariusalphamis105.JPG)

Any suggestions?

How hard can it be?

Check out the road parameters: distance of the trees placing from the road.

That was it!

Changing the 'Flora disappearance distance' now makes it look like a - well, a female that doesn't shave or wax!  :-*

Sounds like you're building up a grim scenario indeed.  :P

Suggestion maybe to replace the stock houses with the new ones? The stock ones look completely out of place in the northern regions.

Also a good news - you'll be able to use KV-1S for your mission: http://www.sukhoi.ru/forum/showthread.php?t=53676&p=1802884&viewfull=1#post1802884 (http://www.sukhoi.ru/forum/showthread.php?t=53676&p=1802884&viewfull=1#post1802884)
Will be released with updated patch for UU in just 2-3 days.

Anothe rpiec eof good news is this taken from the Sukhoi/Avia forum:http://www.sukhoi.ru/forum/showthread.php?t=49196&page=31

Quote " Re: Funny screenshots :)

Message from the deviator

The bridge is excellent! Ice miracle! Apparently planned new winter fashion?
 Planned. Unquote"

Apparently, Stone 2009 is making a new winter mod complete with ice and steel bridges.You may wnat to wait until he releases it before you make your mission.

Ah yes, I would like to do this, but I do not have graphics software that would enable me to do this. For now I will make do with the extras from Rends and Donken.

My trees are now more to my liking, so I attempted to put a trench in front of them. When I saw the result, I had to laugh. I was half expecting to see some monkeys smacking the ground with an old bone (cue: kettle drums and the 2001 Space Odessey theme).  :D

(https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-CV249hIfn9k/T1IMG_Irz8I/AAAAAAAABlU/ZOLhctogzHs/s800/cariusalphamis107.JPG)

Any suggestions on my settings?

The wooden houses are good. I'm talking about white ones.

COOL! I like the new mountains!

Trenches are made by the Infantry you garrison there :)

Wow! Devil's Tower! Now all that we need are the aliens from "Close Encounters"... ;)

But seriously, please keep trying. I think you're onto something there.

Cheers,

FW

You might want to experiment, does it happen all over the map, or only in that spot? There might be some other terrain modifier at work,

Or then again it could be a really bad termite problem, it looks more appropriate for "SABOW".  ;D

The mystical Kyth was right it seems. I placed a trench on the other side of the river and it worked. I couldn’t fix the monolith, so I dragged it out of the way, keeping it as a reference. I don’t know exactly what I changed to prevent it happening again, as I fiddled with lots of settings, including margins. But I successfully made a trench on this side of the river and dragged it into the right position.

I’ve added more details and so I think I have Siivertsi ready for mission making.

The village seems peaceful enough, but for centuries it has been a battleground.

(https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-R_Bah5RDnh0/T1SO583BsyI/AAAAAAAABl4/ZVYpPVQv0L4/s800/cariusalphamis108.JPG)

Further up the road is the wooded cemetery. Here the river is narrowest, and even the average soldier can see it is the easiest spot to cross. The Panzergrenadiers have prepared their positions between the cemetery and the river.

(https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-yTstnbl0r_4/T1SOtxzk3vI/AAAAAAAABlg/Z_UcKTTTWS4/s800/cariusalphamis109.JPG)

The caretaker of the cemetery has left his peaceful spot to the soldiers. At least they can take shelter for a short while.

(https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-am7EWItqTnA/T1SOvU4DOGI/AAAAAAAABls/0CcMa9LJzm0/s800/cariusalphamis110.JPG)

Across the river lies Russia. It cannot be long until they come. How many of these soldiers will find their own graves here?

(https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-wZYxaaKK3jM/T1SOwNKz9KI/AAAAAAAABlo/WK3UDCMOvCc/s800/cariusalphamis111.JPG)

Now how do I save this so I don’t mess it up when mission making?
How hard can it be?

Nice map! Remember to back up your file, it's the one with the '.polypack' extension.

This landscape looks like european style ;)  All houses has a straight sequence, all roads are placed precisely and smoothly. And I'm not sure that ppl in the village prefer to cultivate a fir-trees and birches to fruit gardens :)
Anyway, environment looks good and I think with a new up-coming "winter-mod" it'll become much better.
(http://xmages.net/storage/10/1/0/5/5/thumb/thumb_ae4ea055.jpg) (http://xmages.net/view.php/94967)

So just to clarify, is that the user settings Allied and Enemy at 2 and Force Balance at 5,

or Mission Building settings Morals and Experience, or Chance of Occurrence and Balance of Occurrence?

It's interesting question, coz I'm still hesitating how these settings does.
For example, we've a tank with: morale - 40%, experience - 50%.
Then, we play the game with such settings:
- balance "5"(balance doesn't make any difference)
- Allies experience "4"(maximum)
Does it mean that now we've a tank with: morale - 100%, experience - 100%?
And if we set it up to Allies experience "3", what the percentage of morale/experience we'll get?

OK now I am having some fun!

With the Siivertsi map 95% complete, I started constructing mission 1 of the planned set of four.

Thanks to Lockie’s map the main road creates a road embankment which might be a logical place for a tank platoon to hold station as marked by the blue circles. So four Tiger sit and wait.

On the east side of the river, two sets of three T34s wait with mixed infantry, as marked by the red circles. I assigned them an advance script as marked by the red boxes. The intention is that they cross the river at this narrow point and use the cover of the cemetery as they advance towards the village.

(https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-xeI_Oze4Dd8/T1dBFkTvsbI/AAAAAAAABmI/1w21SeCx8hI/s800/cariusbetamis105.JPG)

Playing this scenario worked very well. The Soviets got up some speed before being spotted by the Tigers. The rising river bank sheltered them and the two forces didn’t fully engage until they met at the cemetery.

(https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-f-ezPIopjYw/T1dBFaWdKqI/AAAAAAAABmE/m0iMOOXHtKA/s800/cariusbetamis104.JPG)

To complete the building of the mission, I need to add Panzergrenadiers in the trench, a couple of AT guns in the pits and a mortar platoon hidden in the cemetery. Hopefully, this will balance out by doubling the Soviet forces.

When I say the map is 95% complete, I mean that by driving tanks for both sides, I can see that I need to add mines and tank traps to prevent the Soviet player crossing the river near the town. That would seem a logical move in real life too.

How hard can it be?

It's the user settings for Allied and Enemy experience and Force Balance.

Take note of the 'Balance of Occurrence' setting, this controls whether the unit makes its appearance, based on the Force Balance selected. (1 - easiest, 10 - hardest / impossible)

It's not a god idea, imho. I'd prefer to force AI to find a way by himself.
Like this:
(http://xmages.net/storage/10/1/0/c/3/thumb/thumb_37f8e45a.jpg) (http://xmages.net/view.php/95014)

Another way is to set up 2 or more pathways for the Soviets to move.
These could be randomly chosen by the movement script. Things will play out slightly differently each time!

Lockie and Kyth - I understand what you mean, however, historically the battle took place in the cemetery. I merely made the village as a Russian objective should the Germans be defeated at the cemetery. I'll change it for mission 2 to have both paths, so that the Russians achieve a bridgehead on the western bank.

Okay, I appreciate the fidelity to historical events as they happened.  :)  But at the time, there was always the possibility of things turning out differently, due to random differences in snap decisions, different timing of events and so on.

---

By the way, I took another look at the proposed force balance, and 4 Tigers vs 6 T-34's sounds a little too easy  :)

A detachment of 2 Tigers vs 6 T-34's should be a little more challenging, (just a little more)

That was just a starting point. I think at least 12 T34s, as the Germans will have a pair of ATs, couple of MGs and a mortar squad.  ;D

Add a couple of SU-85 they are effective against German armour.

SU-152 will be much better! Place it at the balance 10 :D

The Su-152 can only be efefctive if well concealed otherwise they'll be a snack for the Tigers.I am sure the gunners of these things must fall asleep between reloads..ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Come on :)
Good 152mm shell will be a VERY appreciated by any Tigers ;)

hehe. Just 12 T-34's?! Double it and we'll call it a fair fight.  ;D German Armor <3

And now we've a bit of environment :) Thanks Donken for the new models!
But the question is - how to put these crosses in the game?
I don't want to put them as a tanks :D
(http://xmages.net/storage/10/1/0/b/e/thumb/thumb_adb55c58.jpg) (http://xmages.net/view.php/95206)

Have you tried to follow Kyths tutorial when he put in the new buildings?

http://graviteam.com/forum/index.php?topic=9671.0 (http://graviteam.com/forum/index.php?topic=9671.0)

No, coz it's not a building neither tank :)
I followed by this instruction:
http://graviteam.com/forum/index.php?topic=60.0
Short manual, Objects in Steel Fury:
I'll make cross as a fence type, i.e. as a bench.

PS
Finally, Winter_Mod_beta_III released!
Authors: Stone2009, Maleshkin
http://narod.ru/disk/43262098001.fb8794ac676be626312a10fc768d028b/Winter_Mod_beta_III.rar.html
(http://xmages.net/storage/10/1/0/8/4/thumb/thumb_8add83be.jpg) (http://xmages.net/view.php/95207)

In Ultimate Update there's a mission, called "West of Kharkov", where 3 Tigers and 6 PaK 40 (with infantry support) hold the line against less than 10 T-34-76/T-70 and about 4 SU-152. But Soviet forces are advancing on a wide front so you may not be able to hold them alone in your tank. And if they break through German defences and advance further - it's game over.  :P As it was in reality, it's a matter of  evading Tiger's fire and pushing forward rather than trying to fight it head to head.  ;D

I tried this one! I managed to beat it by occupying an ambush position on the hill behind the German village that marks the last stand for the mission. :D

Finally, I've managed to put in the game a new objects :)
(http://xmages.net/storage/10/1/0/b/6/thumb/thumb_233c3bf3.jpg) (http://xmages.net/view.php/95208)

As it appeared - it's easy money to compare vs buildings and tanks putting in ;)

Wow, so much new stuff for SFK42 lately!

SPM1.6 anybody?  :D

Thanks Lockie! Now I have to place 120 new objects, unless they can be made in random rows...

Yes, lately some kind folks have been thrashing around in a (helpful) frenzy,  :)

Here's a simple mod with a new objects(cross/stone), just for testing purposes only:
http://www.4shared.com/rar/zGkUwgut/Cros_stone.html

OK, so I have played around with trying out my mission with four Tigers, two 5cm Paks and a small number of infantry against nine T34s, three SU122s and a horde of infantry. As most of you predicted, when I control one Tiger, the Germans prevent the Soviet armour from reaching the west bank of the river. However, dealing with the Soviet armour allows the Soviet infantry to reach the cemetery largely unscathed. From there they race on foot for the village, and I can only just find enough bullets to stop them before they reach it.

Now I think I understand the Chance of Occurrence, I edited the four Tigers from one Tiger (player) + three Tigers, into four single Tigers each with their own contour. So if I change their chance of occurrence, sometimes there will just be me, sometimes there will be two, three or four Tigers, yes?

Now to scripting. I saw in one of Lockie’s missions a condition of a ‘German failure’, is that it plays battle music. I had a moment of inspiration. Remember ‘Saving Private Ryan’ where they play Edith Piaf while waiting for the action?

(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-9i1w7qNB1KQ/T1yCH2Cr0pI/AAAAAAAABms/U3bAKrHBoFk/s800/cariusbetamis106.JPG)

Wouldn’t it be great if while the Tigers wait in hull defilade at the start of the mission, they are listening to ‘Lili Marlene’, until one soldier yells out ‘Achtung Panzer!’ and the music stops?  I found an MP3 of a scratchy recording on the internet, but when I found the game folder of music files, I was disappointed that they are in .ogg format. BUT! One of the ogg files is called Marlene Dietrich. Is it possible its Lili Marlene? Can I script it this way?

How hard can it be?

No, it's not,

By the way, you can play them with Windows Media Player.

Why not get an audio converter program to change your mp3 to ogg format?

It's possible, if u gimme a sample and I'll convert it into *.ogg format.
Though, music interesting at first time, then it become annoying, imho.

Lockie, 60 seconds of 'Marlene' has been sent  8)

So - I set the three single Tigers with a 50% chance of appearing, and it worked. Twice I have played the mission, once I was by myself, the other time I had two for company.

Next, I had a look at some missions by Lockie and figured out some scripting. For this first mission of the four, it will be a Soviet victory if any units make it to the village. So, I created a contour in the village, and gave it Triggers of ‘country in the contour’ and ‘unsuccessful termination’, the country being selected as the Soviets.

(https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-_K2l8j-RcMI/T12bhjoQNwI/AAAAAAAABm4/IHdZ5kR-XoE/s800/cariusbetamis107.JPG)

That part of it worked. I sat back at a safe distance and watched the Soviets advance to the village and I got a mission 'Failed' message.

Now, what do I have to do to set up the German victory?  I want to set it so that the Soviets have abandoned their crossing of the river. It is not necessary that at the Soviets are dead. Should I make a huge contour of the German side of the river and say, ‘no Soviets inside the contour’ and ‘after 15 min’? Or is that too clumsy?  Any suggestions?

You could set up a bunch of 'Efficiency (effectiveness, actually) of Division has Decreased' triggers and combine them together in a Logic Trigger.

For added realism, you could script the Soviet units to high-tail it out of there when the trigger goes off; the AI isn't very smart about that,

Have you considered musical accompaniment while the battle is raging?
It's seldom (never) been discussed in the threads. But it's a great way to set the mood for the action - nail-biting suspense, the thrill of impending victory, the agony of defeat.  ;D

Oh, like Ride of the Valkyrie?  :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yxiv3CBMS4M

I thing lockie will kill ME, if I have more than one soundtrack!

You could make do with the existing music files. Some of them can serve as a 'looping' soundtrack. If you can get a media player that handles ogg files, you could preview these musical fragments and see what works. Or take a look at some of my scripts.

Ah yes I did play some of them.

Have you seen the opening of a movie 'Play Dirty' (my favourite war movie)? Its starts with a British commando driving a jeep in North Africa, with the radio playing 'Lili Marlene'. That's my contribution.

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=869zQR88Ris

Oh, I'm not so "bloody-kill-the-rabbit" :) I'm just only like shoot the bricks :)

Things are now getting to the stage where I am close to being finished. I have had a frustrating week, getting lost in the SFK42 files system, or more accurately where Win7 has put them.

I think I have nutted that out, and can shortly share it with a few people to try. Before I do that, I needed to find the files that match other people’s  folders to go in the MOD folder. If I have worked it out properly for a mission, the key file is the MissionName.level .

It then refers to the following files:
MissionName_loc_data.text
MissionName_scripts.engscr
MissionName_zones.engcfg
Weather_user.engcfg

I also need:
MissionName.text
Mapname.poly
Mapname.polypack

And in the MapName folder:
Spec.engcfg
Zones.engcfg

Have I missed anything?

Meanwhile, we've a winter camo of the bike ;) Thanks to Maleshkin!
(http://xmages.net/storage/10/1/0/0/c/thumb/thumb_40ed8ccb.jpg) (http://xmages.net/view.php/95500)

I'd recommend u to rename mission weather on smth. like this: weather_siivertsy.engcfg.

If it helps, a long time back I did a little 'tree' to show the files for an example mission:

<Steel Fury main folder>\data\k42\loc_rus\
 |
 |
 |
 |------------------------------------------------------------------------
 |                       |                          |                    |
 |                       |                          |                    |
 levels\                 envs\                      images\              text\
 |                       |                          |                    Mynewmissions.text
 |                       |                          |
 LEVELS\                 M04_Bereka\                backs\
 |                       New_KY_01_lightmap.raw     Back_KY_01.tga
 |
 |
 |--------------------------------------------------
 |                       |                          |
 |                       |                          |
 cm_users\               scripts\                   weather\
 New_KY_01.level         |                          Weather_Kyth.engcfg
                         |
                         cm_users\
                         New_KY_01_script.engscr
                         New_KY_01_zones.engcfg
                         New_KY_01_loc_data.text

That reminds me of a story:

"Men, this is our destination."

"Yeah we know that, Lieutenant, but which country are we dropping on?"

OK it's time to 'fess up.

I think I made a boo-boo of hair-tearing proportions. I seem to have saved the map of my mission back as the original version, before I added plants, buildings, trenches, roads...

I can no longer edit those items I changed. As you can see any contours I added to it are not editable. those contours on the map belong to lockie's original:

(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-UehdCBfe8Xo/T2bmMXnXXOI/AAAAAAAABnc/lGfJDR_Moo4/s800/cariusbetamis108.JPG)

I am in a state of procrastination at the moment. I am scared to change anything in case all the work that I did is somehow salvagable, but I'm starting to think I should just bite the bullet and start again. I'd really like to know what it was I did wrong before I do that.

I can still play the mission I created on this map, in fact, I can make new missions on this map. The work I did must be saved somewhere for it to do that, but I can't figure out where. The main point of doing this is so I can send the mission and map to the community.

If there are highs and lows in this process, this is the lowest.

How hard can it be? - Damned hard.

Hi,

Please check my PM.

Regarding all the trees, trenches an other contours, have you checked around your other folders for the 'spec.engcfg' and 'zones.engcfg' files? They could be squirrelled away somewhere by Windows 7. Might be found under the user's application setting folders.

Don't install your game under 'Program Files',  ;D

hehe. You're lucky, believe me. When you're done here, try modding Steel Armor. ;)

Okay, time to stop moping and get back to work.  ;D
As I said, send me the Polypack file and I'll check if your trees and trenches are still there. Then we can work out the next step.

OK I'm back on the horse!  ;D

Is it necessary to do a lightmap draw/calculate illumination? Are they the same thing? And what exactly does it do?

Optional. It draws shadows on the landscape, nice 'eye candy' for morning and evening scenarios.

OK, so all is not lost.  ;D

Lockie has made me a great map and Kyth has organised my data so its sendable and playable. It needs to be made more difficult, and to add some immersion. But, here is some proof that Siivertsi lives:

(https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-expfRrWSx6k/T4q0s9VONZI/AAAAAAAABoE/e4BpEmUiHic/s800/shot_2012_04_15_21_03_35_0000.jpg)

Tiger! Tiger! Burning bright
In the Forests of the night
What immortal hand or eye
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?*

(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-FOpzMgkmf10/T4q0tUMLywI/AAAAAAAABoI/4ErcxK-U_EY/s800/shot_2012_04_15_21_09_52_0001.jpg)

(*William Blake 1794)

I hope you continue to keep a running update on the mission-building and mapping process.
That'll be a source of information and inspiration!
The worst thing to do would be clamming up and keeping secretive.

OK, so I have made the easy-kill part of the mission more difficult. Before there was a wide open kill zone.

(https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-SZOqHOE8rzQ/T46t0igAZ5I/AAAAAAAABo0/ERihnh4VMTU/s800/cariusbetamis114.JPG)

Now by changing the weather to provide misty conditions more like winter, the lines of sight are shorter

(https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-w7VXbtBx7jg/T46tyzyP80I/AAAAAAAABos/cSPfP2h-8oo/s800/cariusbetamis113.JPG)

Are those dark blobs trees or tanks?!?

(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-ZduZxGUaLI0/T46p6ZBnUjI/AAAAAAAABoY/4ERy0kdofZ0/s800/cariusbetamis111.jpg)

How hard can it be?

Looks better now,  :)

Earlier in the thread Lockie gave some advice to rename the weather file, so that it is different to the standard 'weather_user.engcfg'. That makes sense so that it cannot be confused later.

This file is referenced in the missionname.level folder, so I changed it too.

(https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-Sv8GgU-ney4/T5Ifhv8NbBI/AAAAAAAABpA/02lT5pjonCI/s800/cariusbetamis115.JPG)

How hard can it be?

Also, I did manage to create a trigger for the German defeat, that is when the Soviets reach the village. I was struggling to make a German victory condition that I thought would work. Kyth fixed it up for me to be:

Germans have more units: Germans win and victory music plays

Soviets reach the village contour: Germans lose and loser music plays

It works better than I suspected it would. The triggers look like this:

(https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-9QVWqfaXuLY/T5JM2n1BizI/AAAAAAAABpM/w9U9svKbaV4/s800/cariusbetamis116.JPG)


Now I need some help. For immersion, at the start I would like to have the player waiting for some action and one of the crew members plays an old gramophone record. The music plays for say 30 seconds, and then the tranquility is rudely interrupted by a Soviet artillery barage. You can see above I made a music fragment called 'intro_music' and I would assume the trigger would be a timer. But it doesn't work.

Any suggestions?

There's a few things you need to do with the 'Timer' trigger.

- Use the flag icon (activate once and remember the status)
- The editor allows a minimum period of 1 minute for the timer trigger. You will need to make the waiting period a lot shorter - a few seconds duration only. Do a bit of editing of the script file. It should look like this originally:

To change the trigger period to 5 seconds:

About the 'Musical Fragment' trigger. Use a sound clip of say, 30 seconds duration.
Settings: Set to activate once and remember the status. Make sure the 'repeat' option is off. The time setting is a little misleading for this trigger. It is actually the 'fade-in' time. You want this to be minimized, so set it to the lowest possible value (1 second).

In the script, it should look like this:

Thanks once more.  8) It works!

However, the clip is 60 sec long and as you point out, that's too long. I need to find a free ogg file clipper.

Also, I need to delay the barrage to be at or near the end of the music. Even though I thought I had done this, the barrage starts immediately (give or take a few seconds for trajectory time?). Here is what I did:

(https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-3v2wucgkhgU/T5KG4eCcWsI/AAAAAAAABpY/KUarkN-dLBQ/s800/cariusbetamis117.JPG)

and in the script file:

cs_artfire01()
{
   ext, art_fire, F22USV, F350, 8, 20, true, artbarrage, rusart;
   wait_time, 24;
}

What am I missing?

The lines are executed in sequence; you'll have to use the arrow buttons to move them up or down,

Gee that's frustrating...

It seems with everything else, if they are linked as these appear to be, then the purpose of a 'waiting' time would be only logical before the event.

Anyway, its close to playing nice now.

Now it would be good if one of the crew told you, 'hey we found an old record player', over your headset, like the  messages I have seen come up at the beginning of a mission.

How do I do that? Is it a script?

 ???
How so?
Like any other script, the editor allows you to play around with the timing and sequence of events. Those blue arrows shift the lines up and down, to change their order of execution. 


It might be easier to have that as part of the musical recording,

Kyth, I thought about doing that, but it would have to be in German of course. I am concerned for the English-speaking community who might not get it. Yes they get used to the recorded commands after a while, like “Panzergranate neun und dreizig” means Armour-Piercing 39. But I think this one-off message comes across better by a message window.

Having seen that Rends uses these messages quite a lot, I decided to do some detective work. Here is a picture from a mission in the Barbarossa campaign:

(https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-GWW1rRE6fTk/T5Po5pYAzmI/AAAAAAAABp0/oc0DE7XQGtw/s800/cariusbetamis120.jpg)

In Rends file Rds2_loc_data.text, I found the same text:

txt_ldm_Rds2_text_01 () { \n It's 3.15 clock \n Artillyobserver: Artilleryfire opens now! \n Commander. Stay in position and wait for order!; }

So in the Rds2_scripts.engscr file I found the reference:

cs_radio1()
{
   nop;
   wait_time, 5;
   ext, add_text, txt_ldm_Rds2_text_01, 0xffffffff, 8, 0;
}

For the life of me, in the mission builder I cannot find the tab to add radio messages to a script. Being a true male, I never read the instructions. I have looked through the mission-building manual several times but never found it particularly useful. But I was really motivated, and looked up scripting in section 9.

(https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-RDKUXWR1Bg0/T5Po2A0-gKI/AAAAAAAABpk/SerqISxmOec/s400/cariusbetamis118.JPG)

And there it is, a command that matches Rends add_text line:

(https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-cCK3JFjsvSw/T5Po23iZYkI/AAAAAAAABps/-p78tUYISFE/s400/cariusbetamis119.JPG)

So, are these radio scripts a ‘hidden’ feature? Is there a way to add them in the mission builder, or must I add them to the script files using notepad? Is the first radio message cs_radio1() or cs_radio()?

How hard can it be?

The 'radio' feature somehow didn't make it into that manual  :)

But, Graviteam did make specific mention of it in the FAQ:

http://graviteam.com/forum/index.php?topic=2.0 (http://graviteam.com/forum/index.php?topic=2.0)


I also wrote a little more about it in another thread:


By the way, those radio thingies are a standard feature of my missions also.

And it works!

(https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-W3nThSeLUT8/T5en-JfVWNI/AAAAAAAABqI/yIV6q8tmC4Q/s800/cariusbetamis122.jpg)

I took a lot of trial and error to get the timings right, but now I have a radio message followed by a music fragment followed by shelling. Probably not very elegant, but I made changes outside the editor, using notepad. For me, tat is an achievement.

Now to provide a mission briefing.

How hard can it be?

Okay, so far so good,

The briefing and map have been covered in detail in the other thread, so they should be smooth sailing,

Maybe, maybe not...  :P

So, to placing the mission name.

In the Text folder, there should be a file called something.text

Am I right that you can call it what you will, as long as it is in that folder, it will work? I cannot see any other reference to this name.

So mine now looks like this:

(https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-dfh_Xg1tHlU/T5ki_W3mmOI/AAAAAAAABqw/cE5gMOQDxxQ/s800/cariusbetamis126.JPG)

and it gives this result:

(https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-dTpWtscnb34/T5kjCE5Xf4I/AAAAAAAABrA/rtEGzXcY3xQ/s800/cariusbetamis123.jpg)

So far so good...

I think the mission name "Defending cemetery" is not quite suitable somehow :)
i.e.
- siivertsy: under the pressure
- defending siivertsy
- no any steps backs
etc.
Of course, it's only my point.

'Defending the Cemetery' sounds a little wimpy.

How about 'A Grave Situation'
or 'Try not to get Buried here' ;D

Some good suggestions. You are right.I'll have to do some thinking...

How about: "The Graveyard Shift"

I think 'A Grave Situation' works nicely.

And so to the mission briefing.

Firstly, the actual text in the _loc_data.text file:

(https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-znTZClCiRUY/T5kjBnTh8cI/AAAAAAAABq8/wIRFxup6jRc/s800/cariusbetamis127.JPG)

And then calling it up in the cs_main block of the script file:

(https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-obFvCSBjQOA/T5ki-0bHQsI/AAAAAAAABqs/xNO97_EV4HA/s800/cariusbetamis125.JPG)

So, it produces this:

(https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-VGWB9vdFmhY/T5fmJXrs8ZI/AAAAAAAABqc/CRz_8Lj5VI0/s800/cariusbetamis124.jpg)

It works for me. Should it be more formal? It's really a case of waiting in defence and see what happens.

That's pretty good.

Good call about the title!  ;D

Will you be putting some markings on the map to go with the briefing?

Hello,

How's the going in there,   ???

Not slacking off, I hope?

Not exactly  :P

I managed to add one map item, a lone arrow with text.

So then, I thought, this can't be too 'ard. I added nine more map features, following the thread by Hemisent.

Now the mission crashes.

I've been over the code line by line and it all seems to match. I think I need to methodically go through and add them one by one, but I've been putting it off.

Or I could be lazy and paste it up here...

Okay, that would be good,

It could be as small as an extra space or ';'

Estnische
 What you're experiencing happened to me time after time. By following Kyth's and others' advice you'll get through it. What I found out also was to pick a very simple mission (I used YL"s "Ambush" as an example) and copied a single component to a test mission and kept at it until I got that to work properly. Only then did I enter that component to my real mission.

 Good luck, this mission editor is the most frustrating and unintuitive piece of gobbledegook I've ever run across but it can be made to work as evidenced by so many great missions out there.

Cheers
H

That's why I asked Big Duke to consider re-doing the Mission Editing manual. Not a peep since then,  ::)

So here goes.

Firstly, using the mission editor I have ten map contours in my zones.engcfg file:

(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-VmblgQEtrpY/T6unxzD8HoI/AAAAAAAABvM/Ycwd2gAuDl8/s800/cariusbetamis132.JPG)

Then, I have used the format in Hemisent’s thread to create ten corresponding lines in the cs_map block of the scripts.engscr file:

(https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-YEWLeP6kWpw/T6unx10fXoI/AAAAAAAABvQ/1YEKUQ3bA7s/s800/cariusbetamis131.JPG)

As four of those are only symbols (the at_mines and forest_mix), I have six lines needing text, in the cariusmissions.text file:

(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-uEmRWhZS8oc/T6unwy-wpEI/AAAAAAAABvE/aSxM3148vBQ/s800/cariusbetamis133.JPG)

How hard can it be?

No problems with the zones and cs_map lines.

For the text lines, try placing the '()' immediately after the text label, for example:

txt_md_carius1_commandger() { Platoon HQ; }

instead of:

txt_md_carius1_commandger () { Platoon HQ; }

On second glance, there is something strange about the 'map_road_narva' contour; there aren't any coordinates points!

Even the single-point contours should have a sizeable string of information.

Well, we seem to have discovered the likely cause of your problem.
We hope you aren't goofing off again,

Dodging that whip of Kyth's required some fairly rapid reflexes :D

Weeeeeeeeeell.

I now can't get the mission to load in the mission editor. I've swapped some files it would seem, and I need to trawl through what has changed and sort it. No energy at the moment.

But it will happen!

At what percentage loading do you get the '001' error?

From memory, 6%

Might be something wrong with the map, or it might be the units.
Could you try deleting the problem contour (map_road_narva) manually from the zones.engcfg file?

Hello Esthnische! Have you officiallly given up on Silvertskyii????? ???

Haven't heard from you in 2 months?Could you make your map available for download???

Not officially!

I promise I will get back to it shortly...

What happened to the gravestone pics? They fit the situation,  :D

I decided to upload alpha version, which I sent to Estnische from the very beginning.
There're:
1. Mission
http://www.4shared.com/zip/AIhFzRfx/CariusFilesVolK.html?
2. Polygon + source files
http://www.4shared.com/rar/3oCvdaJH/siiver.html?
Feel free to adjust mission/polygon at er any convenience :)

 How Hard Can it Be?Too Hard Apparently????? ???

Thanks Lockie at least the map is available!

No.. it's not too hard... I wonder why anyone would think that??

I could think of a few reasons :P

Well, as a sort of 'post-mortem', I can see that things were going swimmingly until Windows 7 started acting up.
Also, and this goes for everyone else as well, make it a habit to backup any files that you're editing. Not everyone is good at editing text or even basic typing,

Which is why I preach the Gospel of multiple installations....One for tinkering and the others for trying the experiments and playing... ;D

Lockie, do you still have the 'Lilli Marlene' musical clip?
I might try to patch up the mission if I have the time. As I recall, the musical intro was one of his last wishes.  :D

Yes, I've. I always try to make a copy ;)
http://www.4shared.com/rar/dOXMNK7P/Lili_Marlene.html?
ps
a polygon needs adjustment badly, coz I just placed a primitive objects.

Thanks,

I'll also try to reconstruct the mission from the screenshots we have here. And since this is intended to be educational, I'll also update whenever time permits (that is, irregularly),

Sounds good. Are u going to include polygon with grave crosses and railroad?

Yes to the grave crosses, since that was one of his last wishes.  :D

No to the railroad, because he wasn't particularly obsessed with those,

OK)
Mind u if I play with railroad? I think it's a main part of the polygon. Well, it's a main object according to the Carius remembrances. And thanks to Donken efforts, we can implement this object to the game. Of course, er decision will be a final cut, coz u took responsibility for the mission creation.

If you can make this work i will be very happy as ive just read tigers in the mud again as my modding is on hold while i rebuild my main pc (thank god for backups !).Im afraid the tiger skin and multi skin mod will be a bit delayed  :-\

I'll focus on re-creating the mission. Thanks.

Suppose, it's time to re-create the mission :)

I have to admit, I haven't done a thing with this mission   :-[

The (lame) reasons are two-fold:
- Psychologically unable to make the effort and finish up someone else's mission
- The scenario just isn't that interesting to me, 

There must be something about the grim winter setting that saps the creativity.

You are most welcome to re-create the mission, if you wish.  ;)

I also admit that playing SF with the Winter mod on does not attract me. Probably because the maps are too small and it's easy to spot targets and the possibilities of making good ambushes are very much reduced.

Actually, mission is ready. There should be added some buildings and railroad.

So far, a polygon getting a life. All german positions and village recreated except railroad. I had to edit polygon in the summer weather-mod, coz white winter caused my eyes almost blinding after 10-15 min. I don't know how Estnische managed to edit in the winter-mod  ???
(http://s5.postimg.org/ihcc8b30z/sv_001.jpg) (http://postimg.org/image/ihcc8b30z/)   (http://s5.postimg.org/e9hjzk1lf/sv_002.jpg) (http://postimg.org/image/e9hjzk1lf/)

And now we've come to the winter!

(http://s5.postimg.org/uwqoj32tv/011.jpg) (http://postimg.org/image/uwqoj32tv/)
This is a small village Siivertsy.

(http://s5.postimg.org/j8wmojdoz/012.jpg) (http://postimg.org/image/j8wmojdoz/)
A brave german soldiers doesn't scare abt hard frost. D`u know why? Because they have a helmets painted in white!

(http://s5.postimg.org/6isebg5qr/013.jpg) (http://postimg.org/image/6isebg5qr/)
The most famous place of the map :) Thanks to this mission scenario - a many small objects were created, including crosses. (Credits to Donken).

(http://s5.postimg.org/cxrf84cgj/014.jpg) (http://postimg.org/image/cxrf84cgj/)
In spite of the winter, the football pitch is always at er service :D

(http://s5.postimg.org/c9ikp6dqr/015.jpg) (http://postimg.org/image/c9ikp6dqr/)
A beautiful sunflowers under snow (Credits to Maleshkin and for the whole winter-mod!)

(http://s5.postimg.org/gwomqy13n/016.jpg) (http://postimg.org/image/gwomqy13n/)
And finally - a railroad!

Great work Lockie and Maleskin's Winter mod is really stunning!

THANKS!

And here is a first alpha-test. Balance 5, ally 3/enemy 2.
I wasn't lucky :) But some tanks I've managed to hit.
May be I should replace on the higher level SU-122 on SU-85?
I used weather-mod "scorching-summer" to see how it looks.

(http://s5.postimg.org/hmqrck5jn/0001.jpg) (http://postimg.org/image/hmqrck5jn/)
Too close to the soviet tanks, a distance was ~500m and my tank came apart in a hurry :)

(http://s5.postimg.org/j329up8gj/0003.jpg) (http://postimg.org/image/j329up8gj/)
Almost all members of crew died except one, he still shoot from MG.

(http://s5.postimg.org/kjdscubdf/0004.jpg) (http://postimg.org/image/kjdscubdf/)
There are some trophies.

PS
I modified a first post of this topic to see the link on the "Winter-mod".

Why are the Soviets using 1941 tanks in a 1944 February battle?According to reports from Carius the Soviets used SU-85s. I would recommend using T34-1943 or the 85mm models to make it a bit more accurate....

Of course, u're right...
But, there is always "but". OK, I may put in the mission T-34/43 and SU-85, BUT all these models HAS ONLY ONE LOD   >:( >:( >:(
There should be some kind of compromise, i.e.
- 30% models with ONE LOD
- 70% with 3 LOD`s
Or we will get a terrible slow-mo.
I may say that: 10 tanks T-34 for the Tiger - it's a normal at the game core.

(http://s5.postimg.org/yyw5v45cj/0014.jpg) (http://postimg.org/image/yyw5v45cj/)
German tankmen are not surrender, we're still fighting and keep going :)

(http://s5.postimg.org/7pksgm49f/015.jpg) (http://postimg.org/image/7pksgm49f/)
That's why Otto Carius was more scared abt 76 mm anti-gun then ordinary T-34.

Great mission! I promise that on the balance "5" u'll feel what does the soviet assault attack!
I highly recommend to install "Winter mod" by Maleshkin before this mission playing!
Now mission is ready and has a beta status. I need some citations and text corrections.
Also I'd be pleased to all ppl who has german as a native. There are two phrases, which I want to hear in the real air.
= Radiomessage =
The enemy is approaching to Siivertsi from the river near village. Engage the defensive positions and wipe out all his attacking forces.
= Radiomessage =
The enemy is approaching to Siivertsi from the cemetery. Engage the defensive positions and smash the enemy troops out!.
PM me who can help.

Which vehicles in the game have only one LOD? It would be good to know so that i do not have my missions slowing up.

All new models, except ones which were made by Donken: JT, JPanzer, JPanther, Panther "G"(2 LOD's), bike BWM R12+MG34, SU-76.
Also M4A3-76 and M36 has 3 LODs.
U can easy check all models out in the `object editor`.

Mission is ready. Welcome to test ;) See first page for the link d/l.
There are two variants of installation:
1. Re-download Mission Pack 3.0
2. Install mission as a separate one. It will be added automatically to the Mission pack 3.0.

- SPM 2.0
- SPM (NTA) 1.6
- Mission pack 3.0
- winter mod
- Carius_Siivertsi

(http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c188/fabianfred537/shot_2013_07_24_18_47_04_0001.jpg)   (http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c188/fabianfred537/shot_2013_07_24_18_45_11_0000.jpg)

it was CTD first go but OK the second....bit slo-mo though except through the sights..

Not bad :)
If u play from the external camera then of course, there will be slow-mo.
What balance did u finish mission successfully?
Ally/enemy experience?

PS
I see u've a good videocard, if u can enable a shadow. Did u enable AA? What the ~fps du u've?
BTW
Polygon doesn't has a light calculation. I'll do that and re-upload mission.

my settings are maxed out
Intel Core duo E6850 @ 3.00 GHZ
Nvidia 8800 GTS
very old now ...got it for il2 sturmovik flight sim several years ago now.
I failed the mission... so couldn't continue but the other two Tigers killed all the Russian tanks afte I couldn't play anymore....
Its annoying...you can continue after mission success but not after failure..
That was my first and only time to play the mission...now I know to keep them out of the village.... and the tanks further away can be taken-out later.

I see, have almost the same except gtx 460 (768Mb).

It's my version. Do with triggers whatever u want & with polygon also (source files included).

Let's see ;)

2nd time...better but failed again... not enough time to take-out the tanks.....no time to change to HE for the infantry....!!
(http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c188/fabianfred537/shot_2013_07_25_07_58_46_0000.jpg)

It's impossible!  ;D  :o ::)

Balance 5... Allies 3

I found a way how to finish mission successfully at he balance 5. U've to leave alone 2 tigers and let them go to the point `defence`. Meanwhile, u've to go to the village at the same time shoot evrth. what moves. Then take a highest point and shoot them all again :)
Trigger `fail` works, if soviet force will be more then twice and occupy a village during 2.5 minutes.

PS
It's theoretically, in fact I still have a fails  :D

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BVR9U4I9og0

Thanks! It is a very interesting! Finally, I hope to see a video with a victory achievement! ;)

That video shows me in the seat of a T34 ...I changed sides....

I see. Did u pay attention that u played on T-34-57? ;)

I hadn't noticed...