Slitherine

I made a flag and marker mod for the Germans as Japan. Just to show how things can be done.

Screenshot here

http://www.matrixgames.com/forums/tm.as ... =&#2542565

After much trial and error and help from Pip, I finally got something into the game. I used Italian units for now, renamed to Japanese.

See the above link for a new picture.

I'll write up a doc so that someone can do the Soviets.

Very nice - i like your use of the palm trees for jungle. Some Island hopping scenarios or Burma would go down a treat.

Added Japanese Knee Mortar, Backdrop from wallpaper at US Army CMH, some battle screens.

I need caves and pillboxes.

Just been playing around with making a more 3 dimensional looking flag for the Japanese. Can anyone tell me what I need to do to get the transparency that the original glags have in game? I have created a .png file and converted it to .dds and I get the effect below.

IIRC png files generally get saved in a way which doesn't use their alpha channel for transparency information. I would suggest creating the texture, using a specific alpha channel for translucency, and then either saving direct to a DDS file (using DXT3) or using a 32bit TGA as the intermediate file format.

Cheers

Pip

IT IS!!!!!!!!!

I have created an alpha channel in Photoshop CS4, saved the image and then loaded in Gimp (I have 64 bit CS4 and the nVidia plugins don't work....) and saved as a DDS. Those are the error messages I get when trying to load a mission, but the graphic is 256x256. It is absolutely 100% definite that it is the same size as the one in game because I used that as a base!

Someone tell me what stupid thing I have done this time

junk - here's a pillbox for you - I made it for WW1 but can go anywhere. The download is the s3f and s4f and the dds file only - add the object however you want.

Pillbox.zip



When you say you need caves - what are you looking for? Any images or ideas of how to do them?

Ed - you need an alpha channel as mentioned by Pip - let me know if you need help.

I have an alpha channel. I'll send you the file if you don't mind.

I was talking to junk2drive earlier today about the caves. I was wondering how difficult it would be to make a modular cave system similar to your trenches. Would it be very difficult to block visibility completely so that units outside could not see those inside and vice versa?

I am imagining an area of impassable terrain with cave entrances and tunnels beaneath....

Amaz_Ed wrote:


IT IS!!!!!!!!!

I have created an alpha channel in Photoshop CS4, saved the image and then loaded in Gimp (I have 64 bit CS4 and the nVidia plugins don't work....) and saved as a DDS. Those are the error messages I get when trying to load a mission, but the graphic is 256x256. It is absolutely 100% definite that it is the same size as the one in game because I used that as a base!

Someone tell me what stupid thing I have done this time

There might be a bug in the DDS plugin? I've never seen the code trigger falsely.

Cheers

Pip

Thanks guys. I started a thread about Objects and Units and Pip answered.

I think caves will have to be Objects. IIRC objects don't show to the player until the area of terrain is uncovered. Then the player will see the cave but not know if it is occupied until someone fires. Also, IIRC, bunker occupants fire in all directions. I wouldn't want caves to do that.

If a cave was a tank, we could have it immobile, no turret, restrict firing to the front 90 degree arc, able to hide. But then you have occupants that cannot fire out. You would have to equip it with an MG or gun, no rifles. You could have occupants that would auto eject upon destruction.

Most of the caves in Pacific battles are slits in volcanic slopes. Then we have the problem of where and how to place the caves.

Thanks to Tim for helping me out, again....

Yippy, looks good. I use Paint.net to open the dds and it seems to save the alpha just fine after I tell it what I want. Output allows setting the DX number and doing the mipmaps too.

Here is the USMC flag

http://www.fotw.net/flags/us%5Emc.html

Cheers, I will probably get to that tomorrow. Got to get ready for going back to school tomorrow....

Received and returned. All square now hopefully - bit of a gremlin in there I think.

As for caves - not sure how possible that is or what it would look like. I think it maybe better with camo'd pillboxes and bunkers. I'll try to have a think about it.

I was thinking that a structure similar to one of the larger buildings, but looking like a hill of course, could surround the cave. The top of the cave itself would have to be impassable, until of course Slitherine give us the ability to fight on two levels , but if it were matched to the high level terrain we have in game already it would, hopefully, merge in quite well.

The tunnels would have to have movement blocked in two or three directions and line of sight to squares outside of the tunnel blocked. Both of these things can be done already (hedges?) and then the part I really don't know about would be making sure that troops in a tunnel could only be damaged by fire from within the tunnel or from the entrance.

Maybe I am hoping for too much......

Trying to post pics of caves.

Here are two shots on dropbox

http://www.dropbox.com/gallery/6754176/ ... s?h=f89310

The first is from SPWAW and shows three caves, red arrows. At the bottom is a twin 25mm AA gun.

The second is from the JTCS manual and shows a cave.

I just put up a third from BA desert. The arrows show how objects are hidden. There are sandbag emplacements there. The circles show where I would like to place caves on slopes. The top one is passable, the right side one is not. A flat ground one will have to do for most scenarios until we get more terrain height levels.

Gentlemen,

I have an off-the-wall idea on how to simulate tunnels, or cave complexes, but code has to be written ... Here's an outline ;

1. Tim makes a Cave Entrance Object.
2. The cave entrance is placed by the scenario designer and notes the X and Y coordinates.
3. When a Jap unit is on the cave entrance an Action Button can be selected, lets call it "Enter Cave".
4. He selects the enter cave and this will Redeploy the unit "offmap" (grey part) into a holding box or tunnel complex. This keeps him out of LOS and safe.
5. To go back to the cave entrance, player selects Jap unit (in the holding box), then selects "Exit Cave" button, then selects the cave entrance he wants to Redeploy to. Also, this will trigger reaction fire (if you want).

Now, seems simple on paper but keep reading ....

A US Engineer unit that is adjacent to a cave entrance can hit the "Demolition Button" and make the cave entrance an Invalid Tile, thus blocking the tile for redeployment. The Jap unit is trapped unless he has another entrance to exit.

The US Engineer could, instead, enter the cave in the same fashion the Jap did .... he will redeploy off map and next to the Jap Unit (in the holding box) and will be ripped to shreads by the Jap unit if the cave is "occupied".

Any thoughts?