ME question

[Rends]

But is it worth to pack if you still need to add the dozen others?

[Kyth]

It's a quick way to share missions for further testing / discussion, assuming it uses all the standard maps etc.
Not much required for beginners,

[hemisent]

  Upon cleaning up a mission to send to Kyth for his comments, I noticed something odd. In my loc_data.text file I was changing a few things in the mission brief(spacing, indents etc), the mission brief has been showing up properly up to now and just needed some minor touchups. I made my changes and saved them. I ran the game and the changes were not there-it stayed the same. I checked my work and all appeared to be ok but after running the game again the changes remained. ok, a good question for the forum. I moved on.

  I then went and made a few changes to the cs_radio file for in game messages, a couple weren't activating when I wanted--again minor touchups. Made my changes, played the game and no difference.
It was as if the game was reading some other file from somewhere.

 I then made backups of everything, I deleted the entire mission brief to what you see below in the loc_data.text file.
loc_rus()
{

{

and ran the game.

 The complete mission brief with the full text still showed up. I then put all my backups into a JSGME format and deleted the entire mission from both the ME and the game itself. Ran the game and the mission was gone. I re installed the mission and enabled it.

  The mission runs properly as before but the mission brief is STILL SHOWING even tho there is nothing but the empty space as in the example above. I even went and made obvious changes in the cs_radio log as a test just to see and they never activated.

I'm completely baffled by this one.

Kyth, I'm sending you the mission to see what your views are on this.

 

[frinik]

Hemi did you remove your mission from the user_camp folder( I assume it's a user made mission?)?Even if you delete it from your ME it still remains in that folder until you manually erase it.Also check your SCRIPTS folder to see whether it's still not there along with the loc_data, and zones engscr.

[hemisent]

Hemi did you remove your mission from the user_camp folder( I assume it's a user made mission?)?Even if you delete it from your ME it still remains in that folder until you manually erase it.Also check your SCRIPTS folder to see whether it's still not there along with the loc_data, and zones engscr.

Hi Frinik
 Yes, I deleted the actual mission line from the user_camp.engcfg also I deleted the zones, scripts.engcfg and loc_data.engcfg files. Also the text file. I deleted all traces that I know of pertaining to that one particular mission. That's what has me stumped. I know in Silent Hunter there where separate files in My Documents that the game also read from but I can't find any elsewhere.

Somehow the game isn't picking up the changes(or deletions) in the scripts and loc_data files I think. I can e mail it to you also if you're interested? I welcome any thoughts on this as I've not read of this happening before. If I'm screwing up I sure want to know about it and correct it if I can.

But, and this is a huge but, this would explain why some changes I've made previously in the ME don't seem to have any effect after I run the mission.

Thanks
H

[frinik]

Suire Hemi email me the file I'll see what I can do or find out.But you don't mention the SCRIPT file did you look into it?

[Kyth]

 
 I then made backups of everything, I deleted the entire mission brief to what you see below in the loc_data.text file.
loc_rus()
{

{

and ran the game.

 The complete mission brief with the full text still showed up. I then put all my backups into a JSGME format and deleted the entire mission from both the ME and the game itself. Ran the game and the mission was gone. I re installed the mission and enabled it.

  The mission runs properly as before but the mission brief is STILL SHOWING even tho there is nothing but the empty space as in the example above. I even went and made obvious changes in the cs_radio log as a test just to see and they never activated.

I'm completely baffled by this one.

Kyth, I'm sending you the mission to see what your views are on this.

 

I gather that you're trying to get rid of your old briefing text? It's possible that it resides somewhere else, other than the loc_data.text file. For instance, there are plenty of other files in the text folder.

I've taken a look at your mission, and you may be glad, there's no briefing text:



Some time ago, in this very thread, there was some discussion about the 'cs_main' entry, regarding the string name for the briefing:

ext, add_misobj, brief, start, 4, txt_brief_shamonin, txt_mis_order;

   
You might want to try renaming it and create a new briefing text with that name.

Good luck,

[Kyth]

By the way, I hope you haven't installed the game in the Program Files folder?

A lot of odd things can happen with that, like what you've been describing, with the system playing 'bait and switch' on you. 

[Kyth]

Hemisent,

As promised, I've played through your mission a couple of times to check out the scripting. Some observations:

- The zig-zag movement script at the beginning could do with some simplifying, since it appears to be going through open country. Although the scenic route reminds me that the Taranovka map is lovely and highly replayable 

- The 'total defeat' condition requires your tank to reach the village and the enemy to achieve superiority there? Is that correct? Seems to me you could avoid defeat by skulking around outside the village to take pot-shots 

- Some helpful waypoint objectives could be useful, if the player would like to issue his own movement orders.

- The 2nd platoon's delay could be simplified to use a Timer trigger.

[hemisent]

First off, Thanks Kyth for checking it out. I welcome the comments.

By the way, I hope you haven't installed the game in the Program Files folder?

A lot of odd things can happen with that, like what you've been describing, with the system playing 'bait and switch' on you. 

Actually, yes I have it in the Program files. This also was discussed here earlier but I just am unsure of how exactly to install it elsewhere. I really don't want to uninstall/reinstall the entire game as it was a huge pain initially. Can you advise me if I can simply cut/paste the game from Program files to a different location?

You might want to try renaming it and create a new briefing text with that name.

Eureka! That did it! Thank you. I wonder if that's the problem I'm having with the cs_radio messages too? It's reading from somewhere other than the files I deleted and reinstalled.

- The zig-zag movement script at the beginning could do with some simplifying, since it appears to be going through open country. Although the scenic route reminds me that the Taranovka map is lovely and highly replayable  Grin

- Some helpful waypoint objectives could be useful, if the player would like to issue his own movement orders.

The scenery in this map is so cool that I wanted the tank units to go on a road march following unfamiliar maps to get there but I will add waypoint markers, great idea. If you had the "correct" mission briefing it may have made more sense to you.

- The 'total defeat' condition requires your tank to reach the village and the enemy to achieve superiority there? Is that correct? Seems to me you could avoid defeat by skulking around outside the
village to take pot-shots  Smiley

That's one of the problems I get with the defeat/victory conditions. No matter what I do or change I cannot be defeated unless my tank is destroyed. But, now that I know the game may be reading files other than the ones I'm working with that may be the reason for all this confusion.

- The 2nd platoon's delay could be simplified to use a Timer trigger.

There actually is a random delay set for the second unit. It apparently didn't trigger for you.

Also check your SCRIPTS folder to see whether it's still not there along with the loc_data, and zones engscr.

Yes Frinik, that was the first thing I thought of---wish it was that simple. BTW, I think I still have your address and will e mail it shortly.

[Kyth]

You might want to try renaming it and create a new briefing text with that name.

Eureka! That did it! Thank you. I wonder if that's the problem I'm having with the cs_radio messages too? It's reading from somewhere other than the files I deleted and reinstalled.

Hi,

I forgot to mention, I got all the messages fixed,

You'll need to be careful about the loc_data.text file, each message string array needs to have a set of curly brackets. '{' to begin, and '}' to end each string array.

[hemisent]

I forgot to mention, I got all the messages fixed,

You'll need to be careful about the loc_data.text file, each message string array needs to have a set of curly brackets. '{' to begin, and '}' to end each string array.

Hi Kyth
Thanks.
You mean like this?

loc_eng()
{
 txt_shamonin_message1(){ \n White One to all units....follow me!;   
 =RADIO MESSAGE=:White One this is Four...be advised that White Six has stalled and is trying to restart. The maintenance trolls are on the way....will contact you as  soon as we can get him up and running.;
 Driver! Turn left, the main road is off to the left!;   
}
{
 txt_shamonin_message2(){ \n =RADIO MESSAGE=:White One...this is Four, we are on the move and will try to catch up.; 
 Driver: Luetnant! Can we get through that! What about the road to the North?;
}

Could I ask you to post or e mail me the corrected messages to see what I have wrong?

[Kyth]

Hi Kyth
Thanks.
You mean like this?

loc_eng()
{
 txt_shamonin_message1(){ \n White One to all units....follow me!;   
 =RADIO MESSAGE=:White One this is Four...be advised that White Six has stalled and is trying to restart. The maintenance trolls are on the way....will contact you as  soon as we can get him up and running.;
 Driver! Turn left, the main road is off to the left!;   
}
{
 txt_shamonin_message2(){ \n =RADIO MESSAGE=:White One...this is Four, we are on the move and will try to catch up.; 
 Driver: Luetnant! Can we get through that! What about the road to the North?;
}

Could I ask you to post or e mail me the corrected messages to see what I have wrong?

No, like this:

loc_eng()
{

 txt_shamonin_message1(){ \n White One to all units....follow me!;   
 =RADIO MESSAGE=:White One this is Four...be advised that White Six has stalled and is trying to restart. The maintenance trolls are on the way....will contact you as  soon as we can get him up and running.;
 Driver! Turn left, the main road is off to the left!;   
}

 txt_shamonin_message2(){ \n =RADIO MESSAGE=:White One...this is Four, we are on the move and will try to catch up.; 
 Driver: Luetnant! Can we get through that! What about the road to the North?;
}

}

Those open and close curly brackets are very important from a programming point of view, so you need to make it a 'second nature' 

[frinik]

Hemi you didn't send me your mission?

Anyway yes you can copy entire your entire  game folder into a different drive.Just copy the folder it will take up to 45 minutes depending on how big the folder is qnd how fqst your processor is.Then go to the original game in the program Files and uninstall it.This way you 'll avoid tehcnical issues.Don't cut it qnd paste it.Just copy the original instead and then uninstall after you have pasted and tested your new copied install.

[Kyth]

Anyway yes you can copy entire your entire  game folder into a different drive.Just copy the folder it will take up to 45 minutes depending on how big the folder is qnd how fqst your processor is.Then go to the original game in the program Files and uninstall it.This way you 'll avoid tehcnical issues.Don't cut it qnd paste it.Just copy the original instead and then uninstall after you have pasted and tested your new copied install.

Well, that's good news. And re-create any desktop shortcuts too,

[frinik]

It works Kyth believe me.I have done more than 50 times and never had any problems.I have SF installed on 1 desktop and 2 laptops and all are copies.What I do is keep all the installs on an external hard drive so I can easily copy new installs on any laptop or pc should one install become corrupt.The external hard drive acts as back-up copy for all.A new installation is fine as long as you don't lose and full installs with mods and missions installed and you simply need a separate installation for testing.

[hemisent]

Hemi you didn't send me your mission?

Anyway yes you can copy entire your entire  game folder into a different drive.Just copy the folder it will take up to 45 minutes depending on how big the folder is qnd how fqst your processor is.Then go to the original game in the program Files and uninstall it.This way you 'll avoid tehcnical issues.Don't cut it qnd paste it.Just copy the original instead and then uninstall after you have pasted and tested your new copied install.

Frinik
 Great news-thank you. What location other than Program Files would be best. I have XP.
Mission on the way now.

Cheers!
H

[frinik]

Hemi is your hard disk partitioned?If not then just create a new folder which you can call SF Beta or something in your C: drive main folder.It's always a good idea to partition a hard drive so you can create a special partition to host your games.Or even 2 depending on the size of your HD.

[hemisent]

Hi Frinik
 I'm pretty sure it's not partitioned and I have no clue how to do that. I think for now I'd like the simplest way to do this. So I just create a folder in C:drive, name it and copy the game to that new one? Do I need to do anything with the mod installer like disable or remove mods & mission ?

[frinik]

No you copy the game folder entirely.Don't open it to individually copy every single file.What I do is simply copy the folder9 right click and just copy.Once you have made the new copy uninstall the other one completely otherwise having 2 copies of the same game in the C;drive mean the original game install would override the copy.Your copy of the game will contain verything the original one had mods enabler, missions, mods etc.It's just a clone basically.

As to partition even a noob like me can do it.It's very easy.Open your control panel.Then click on the System and Security folder which is the first one on top.Then you'll see at the bottom the Administrative Tools subfodler containing seevral files including; free up disk space, defragment your hard drive and create and format hard disk partition.This is the one you click.You open it and will see on the upper ledt side of your screen a small wiondow callwed disk management opening up.It shows a graph of your hard disk including the total size of it.It says primary partition( healthy, boot etc).Right click on it qnd you'll hqve q vqriety of options including shrink.Click on it qnd decide by how much you want to shrink your primary partition to creaate a new one.Once you enter your value says 100 gigabytes then click Ok.It will create a new partition which you will have to confirm and name.Call it what you want B or D or E.It will appear on your Duisk management screen as a retcangle with green borders and the size of it.Close and save if asked to and it's ready to be used.