Units Modding Questions

[VR_Nocturne]

Okay, I copied the squads.csv file over to my campaign folder.

I tried to start the editor and it gave me a duplicate unit ID error.

So to fix it, I changed the IDs. Editor loads and will accept my changes to units. However, some questions:

1) I notice that there are now two instances of every unit in the editor, one that's stock and one that's mine. Will this cause a problem for the scenario or is it just going to give me a headache in the editor since the entries are literally identical? I mean I guess I could go add 1 to all the costs then I can tell that way, but that would be annoying, especially if I wanted to tweak some stats/ratings on the stock units.

2) I notice I can add members to vehicle squads. If I set, say Panthers, to 2 "man" squads, on a penetrating hit, would ONE Panther be lost or would the whole squad die? If you could use "men" like on an infantry-type squad, that would be too awesome.

3) Is there a way to change the grid size (for example, if each square is 40x40, can I make it 80x80 and it would just make the map look bigger and I'd need to make the buildings/objects bigger)? Just wondering because when I tried to put in 8 Panthers, they all got smushed together hilariously to fit in the grid square It was like a "FrankenPanther"

4) Where is the displayed name of the unit stored? Let's say I wanted to change "German Infantry" to "Grenadiers" - where would I change that?

[pipfromslitherine]

1 - if you want to replace the units, you need to build your own squads file, otherwise (as you have seen) it just adds yours to the end of the main game one. To replace the squads file set the first cell in the sheet to #REPLACE.
2 - you can indeed make squads as many men as you like, but as in 3 you need to ensure that the models are correctly sized to fit in the tiles.
3 - no, you can't change the tile size.
4 - all text for your local campaign needs to go in a text1.txt file (unicode format) and will over-ride any core strings.

Cheers

Pip

[makigono1]

1 - if you want to replace the units, you need to build your own squads file, otherwise (as you have seen) it just adds yours to the end of the main game one. To replace the squads file set the first cell in the sheet to #REPLACE.
2 - you can indeed make squads as many men as you like, but as in 3 you need to ensure that the models are correctly sized to fit in the tiles.
3 - no, you can't change the tile size.
4 - all text for your local campaign needs to go in a text1.txt file (unicode format) and will over-ride any core strings.

Cheers

Pip

Hi, I have a silly question: does this mean that if I placed an edited SQUADS.CSV file inside the campaign, with the first cell edited as you describe, then the campaign will use that cvs file's data instead of the main one? So, that I could muck about with the units in a custom campaign without disturbing the standard ones?

Thanks.

[pipfromslitherine]

Exactly correct. Your squads file would completely replace the default one.

Cheers

Pip

[Stechkin]

Hi, Pip
sorry for being a nitpicker, but I need some more specific instructions. I am not quite happy with armor units not being able to be used for transport. That was in fact an essential part of tactics for both German and Soviet units. There's also the question of indirect fire. These and other mods can be made by changing the unit properties in the squads.csv-file.

Should I copy the squads.csv to my special CAMPAIGNS or for example CAMPAIGNS/SLITH_CASTELLOCASTLE or DATA-folder? BA2 has the file in BA2/DATA. Should Master_squads.xls be copied too and what is its significance? Lastly I'd like you to consider the possibility of automatically copying the file when a campaign is copied so that the unit properties could be edited with the campaign editor.

Cheers
Stechkin

[pipfromslitherine]

You need to create your own local campaign (e.g. My Documents/My Games/BA2/CAMPAIGNS/mycampaign) and then copy in the squads.csv file to the root. The xls file is not needed.

Cheers

Pip