Basic guide to modding GS2.0

[Horseman]

Bah double post, sorry!

[rtamesis]

I've been testing Sealion scenarios on GS 2.0, and I don't find the continued resistance of British forces in the UK despite the fall of both London and Liverpool to the Germans to be realistic. I believe that Churchill and his Cabinet would have started to think about minimizing the damage to their country and suffering to their citizens if London fell by trying to negotiate a surrender while the government and the monarchy fled to Canada to continue the fight against the Axis. More to the point, I think that there should be an option (perhaps a random event) for surrender of all British forces in the UK once London is occupied by the Germans. How would I mod the game to reflect this?

[welk]

Working to learn this documentation (thanks for this great exploration work ), I see that there is a little difference between coordinates in game and in editor.

I know that editor is not compatible with GS 2.0 but I use editor coordinates because it is more easy in the editor to create new territories (like Cz. in central Europe : I am trying to create Cz. country with "Spare-country - code 36 in intention to do a little What if ? )

So, I noticed that when you see 87,27 in editor, it is 87,28 in the game (you have always to add +1 to the abscissa(row) of editor if you want have the exact hex in game)

I noticed that because I wanted to modify the 87,27 hex : I used the editor coordinate to calculate the number of the hex (27)+(87x72) = 6291 and to modify map and scen files. But in result, I noticed that the modified hex in the game was the 87,26 hex (Hex number 6290).

So, using coordinates seen in the editor (87,27), I should have added +1 to 27 for calculation of the hex number : (87)+ (72x (27+1)) = 6292



In conclusion : If you use editor coordinates to modify maps and scen, you have to add +1 to abscissa((row).
Why using editor coordinates ? It is more easy to see what you do (I work on a "work scenario" I do not use in fact with the game, it is just a graphic work tool

[welk]

In second time : I noticed that when you copy the content of Scen and map fils in Excell page, you have to remember that the Excelle page has no "line 0" : the first line is "Line 1". Then, in exceel page, you have to work on the "line +1"

i.e : if you want to modify the hex N° 7159, you must work on the line 7160 and not on the line 7159. If you work on the line N° 7159, you will not modify the hex N° 7159 but the hew N° 7158.

I think modding MH-CEAW is really hard work, all things are made to avoid this kind of work : want really Slitherine to see player do scenarios for the game ? That is the question... But the game is very great, and justify work...

[welk]

For my own modding work, and to learn more quicker, I created a little compilation of all modding documentation for MH-CEAW I founded

I upload it here :

http://dl.free.fr/uIWvKMr8D
(this link will be ok for 30 days after last download/ If no download during 30 daays, it will be suppressed by Free)

To download the rar.file on the Free site serveur, you have to click on the link named (in french) : "Télécharger ce fichier" (in little letters, at center-right of screen)

Documentation has been converted in word format

In addition, (included in the Rar.file), I created a Quick Card modding, based on the the documentation of CEAW Community I founded in Slitherine and Matrix Forums (PNG format and Adobe Pdf format)

Screen :
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/14 ... ckcard.png

[BuddyGrant]

Awesome - great job Welk!

[welk]

Thanks.

If somebody has modding documentation not listed/included in the pack I uploaded, or not posted on this forum, or posted on this forum but forgotten by me and not present in my pack, please : contact me to give links or doc, I will include it in the pack for community.

[rtamesis]

Thanks, Welk!

[alexis86]

Hi, i am playing as the allies and i want to add a few paratroopers to my side, what way do i do this?

[welk]

Don't know for paratroopers at this time, I would need to play the game during some time to answer (It's a good question but not sure that it would be possible, I did not see any "paratroop code" in scen, map and txt file).



I just wanted to do a precision and to rectify a little error in my basic modding card : To calculate coordinates of a hex with the number of the hex, you have to do this process (not follow the process given in the modding card : I had read that somewhere on the forum but it is an error)

Correct process is :
You know the number Hex and you search row and column

1°/ First stape: Calculate NUMBER HEX/72 = the result of division is the column (you have to ignore the rest = no importance)
2°/Second stape: Then, you know the number hex and the column opf hex. So, you may apply this formule :

Number hex - (Column x 72) = row

Sample : I search row and column for the 5434 hex

1°) 5434/72 = 75,47 75 is column and I ignore 0,47

2°/ 5434 - (75 x 72) = 5434 - 5400=34 34 is row

Precision is precision...

[Horseman]

Hi, i am playing as the allies and i want to add a few paratroopers to my side, what way do i do this?

If you mean add them as a unit to start in the scen file its quite strait forward.

They're just garrison units with the right name!

If you open up the 1944 campaign fikle you can find this

4199 4 1 101st_Airborne_Division

So using what we know the 4 is the country (USA) 1 is garrison unit. iths the name that makes it a para, so for americans you want "airbourne" in the name. All counties have thier own and if you have a look through tthe scenario files and crerate some in game you;ll get the idea!

In the same vein you can start with partisans (garrison unit with the name partisan) SS and Russian guards

[welk]

Very interessant informations for ceaw community, I will add this in the quick modding card with a complete list of needed unit's names for each side when I will have time to do that. Modding CEAW is like invade a Russia : large work...

[welk]

In addition : How to make Allied side the first player (tested in in 1939 scenario)

The way to change the first player in the game is to modify a special line in the scenario editor txt : 0= Axis is first player ; 1 = Allied side is the first player

Original line localization :
(...)
10799 -1 -1 -1
1939 8 1
0
0 20 875 150 0 1058 11 100 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 3 0 true false 100 true true 2090 11 30
(...)


Modified line :
(...)
10799 -1 -1 -1
1939 8 1
1
0 20 875 150 0 1058 11 100 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 3 0 true false 100 true true 2090 11 30
(...)

[Samhain]

These are the starting levels of each tech for the country in order they appear in the research screen in game so the 3 Infantry then the 3 tank, the 3 air, the 3 naval and then the 3 general. AFAIK these figures do nothing for the major countries as their starting techs are determined in another file but they do effect the minor countries.

They do affect the major powers as well. The major powers will have tech based on this file and not the other. I don't know why but I noticed this while modding.

[BuddyGrant]

These are the starting levels of each tech for the country in order they appear in the research screen in game so the 3 Infantry then the 3 tank, the 3 air, the 3 naval and then the 3 general. AFAIK these figures do nothing for the major countries as their starting techs are determined in another file but they do effect the minor countries.

They do affect the major powers as well. The major powers will have tech based on this file and not the other. I don't know why but I noticed this while modding.

FWIW I have not found that in my modded test games, except for new majors above country_id 5. In my tests I have found that...
- Countries 0-5 use the "research_progress.txt" file exclusively for the at start tech, and the game will ignore tech level changes in the *.scn file for these countries.
- If you create a new major country like Poland, Hungary, Finland (etc.), then their starting tech levels are read from the *.scn file just as they would be when they were minor countries. The game will not load if you attempt to add new major countries to the "research_progress.txt" file (or the "labs_bought.txt" file for that matter).

Other recent modding notes...
- I tried a test game with 20 leaders each for new 'major' countries Switzerland and Finland and it worked well, but IMO soon became a micromanagement PITA where the amount of busy work required was not greater than the benefits of separate purchasing, tech tracks, and leaders.
- I have had success starting the game about 8 turns before September 1939 with good results, except that a few early spawned units will spawn twice. One issue that only happened once was a graphic glitch where a spawned French AI unit became frozen in a hex. You could not enter or attack the hex the rest of the game, and the AI never used the frozen unit. I'm sure this was not a GS issue, but instead an issue with starting the game early, I believe it might happen when a second duplicate spawned unit is spawned directly on top of the previously spawned unit.
- Also was successful starting a game in 1936, but if you make a lot of mod changes (like adding new majors or changing the side of a current major) then there can be game hanging issues by 1939. I didn't see a lot of advantages of starting the game very early since all the GS related events will not occur before September 1939 anyway, but it's another modding option anyway.

And some observations of AI play related to GS 2.1...
- The AI (allied or axis) will not buy paratroopers or use existing ones as paratroops if they are added to the start of a scenario.
- The German AI will not convert units to SS either, but USSR AI units will get 'Guard' status through experience.
- The only limit to the amount of new leaders you add seems to be the number of available slots in the "message_eng.txt" file, but if you do add 100+ new leaders and buy a lot of them then expect the game to start crawling along by around 1942 to the point where it is nearly unplayable. I imagine that is due to the 'best leader' calculations added in a previous GS version, or the original CEAW leader calculations that did not work as advertised.
- The AI will not follow build limits, transport, and amphibious invasion limits at all, so to have a remotely fair game with the AI you need to reduce the number of units with build limits and and make the 'over use' cost of transports and amphib invasions '0' in the general.txt file. Otherwise the AI side will be spending 200+ PP's for a single amphib attack by 1942 and have no PP's left to replace units or buy anything else after the over use penalties get that high. It would probably be wise to follow some house rules to not take advantage of the lack of over use costs after making this change, especially for naval actions.
- You can cancel any AI amphibious invasion (attack on a beach hex by a transport) by hitting the 'X' option when the amphibious invasion count message pops up, so you probably want to have a house rule for never cancelling the AI's invasion attacks:).
- The AI never follows a amphibious invasion attack with a landing by the same unit, a serious disadvantage for the AI. My house rule to help reduce this impact is to not allow any of my units in beach hexes, except if they contain a city or fortress. If you don't do something like that it's far easier now than in past GS versions to keep the AI from making a naval landing.
- It looks like the lab purchase limits do impact the AI side (basing this on opening a saved game as the AI side to see what labs they had). I've fooled around with giving the AI side more labs to start with ("labs_bought.txt" file) than GS allows and it can make for a nice challenge.

[Samhain]

They do affect the major powers as well. The major powers will have tech based on this file and not the other. I don't know why but I noticed this while modding.

It was like this for the 1944 scenario but not for the 1939 one. Not sure why. When it comes to naval invasions I've banned the AI from doing them until 1944 as the Allies and have set a savage penalty of -9999 production for exceeding the limit.