Step 2 - Adding the new Matilda II platoon to Dutch unit roster
And we're on. Next, I will add the Matilda II tanks to Dutch platoon roster.
To do that, I locate the unit in the British Platoon09.oob roster, and copy the relevant line fully, as-is, into my Dutch Platoon11.oob, in my mod folder:
P09030 3 3 10 35 0 0 24 13 27 3 3 1 10 0 1 6 26 P09030 5 33 16 1 0 15 43 10 53 12 10 8 7 Matilda II Infantry Tanks , Matilda II ,
Then, I need to tweak it to match the Dutch parameters. While the line may look a bit uninviting, here's the key locations you need to modify:
Field#1 Unit ID:
[font="Courier New"]PNNUUU[/font]
[font="Courier New"]P[/font] = Platoon
[font="Courier New"]NN[/font] = Nation Code
[font="Courier New"]UUU[/font] = The unique unit ID
Looking at the Dutch file, I locate the next vacant unit number after the tanks there. I find out P11031 is not used anywhere, so I choose that.
Fields #17 and #18: Unit 2D NATO symbol and 2D Graphics symbol:
NATO symbol IDs are the same for all units of all nations per game folder. As the Matilda II info was copied from British OOB under RS, I can leave field #18 pointing at NATO armor symbol ID "6".
However, IDs are nation specific for 2D Graphics part. After studying the other Dutch tanks available using Arkady's Unit Viewer, I choose the same symbol as the Marmon-Herringto CTLS has, "35". It is not perfect for Matilda II's, but hey ho, I use NATO symbols anyway when in 2D mode.
Field#19 Unit 3D Graphics File (the P09030 in the middle):
This points to graphics file the game loads in any of the 3D views to represent the unit in battle map. Several units can refer to same graphics file, and for a while I thought I'd just leave it to point to existing British Matilda II graphics. I decide to modify the file though, so I change it to point to a file named after the new Unit ID of 11031.
Fields #26,27 and #28,29: Unit available from / Unit available until:
I choose to have the Matilda IIs available only for the duration of my Java 1942 What-If scenario, from 12/1941 to 3/1942
NOTE: For a complete listing of Platoon[##].OOB fields, look
HERE.
This is the end result, in Platoon11.oob:
P11031 3 3 10 35 0 0 24 13 27 3 3 1 10 0 1 6 35 P11031 5 33 16 1 0 15 41 12 42 03 10 8 7 Matilda II Infantry Tanks , Matilda II ,
While at it, I tweak the existing Vickers-Carden 1931 unit parameters to allow for them to exist until March 1942. Their previous end date was December 1941, not enough to cover my mod:
P11025 3 3 3 50 0 0 37 19 4 1 1 1 3 0 0 68 41 P11025 2 161 0 1 88 8 36 11 42 03 3 1 1 Vickers-Carden Loyd M1931 Light Tank , VCL M1931 ,
As a summary, here's the first half a dozen lines of the new Dutch platoon file Platoon11.oob in my mod folder:
[font="Courier New"]P11001 4 3 3 50 0 0 42 15 4 1 1 1 3 0 0 6 34 P11001 2 33 0 1 8 15 40 5 42 12 3 2 1 Vickers-Carden Loyd Model 1936 Light Tanks , VCL M1936 ,
P11013 3 3 3 50 0 0 42 15 4 1 1 1 3 0 0 6 34 P11001 2 33 0 1 8 15 40 5 42 12 3 2 1 Vickers-Carden Loyd Model 1936 Light Tanks, VCL M1936 ,
P11002 4 3 3 40 0 0 37 15 7 1 3 1 3 0 1 6 35 P11002 3 33 0 1 4 15 40 5 42 12 4 2 1 Marmon-Herrington CTLS Light Tanks, M-H CTSL ,
P11015 3 3 3 40 0 0 37 15 7 1 3 1 3 0 1 6 35 P11002 3 33 0 1 4 15 40 5 42 12 4 2 1 Marmon-Herrington CTLS Light Tanks, M-H CTSL ,
P11025 3 3 3 50 0 0 37 19 4 1 1 1 3 0 0 68 41 P11025 2 161 0 1 88 8 36 11 42 03 3 1 1 Vickers-Carden Loyd M1931 Light Tank , VCL M1931 ,
P11031 3 3 10 35 0 0 24 13 27 3 3 1 10 0 1 6 35 P11031 5 33 16 1 0 15 41 12 42 03 10 8 7 Matilda II Infantry Tanks , Matilda II ,
P11003 3 3 2 40 0 0 73 37 6 3 3 3 3 0 0 53 0 P11003 2 48 0 1 88 8 40 5 42 12 2 1 1 Alvis Staussler Armored Cars, A-S Arm'd Cars ,[/font]
Next, time to tweak the unit graphics, since I chose not to point to British Matilda IIs.
As I have identified the British Matilda platoon and made note of its Platoon ID of P09030, I copy the related *09030.* graphics (*.BMP, *.BIT) to my mod folder as well:
[font="Courier New"]Up09030.bmp [/font]- Regular unit graphics for 3D view, from game folder (\Rising Sun)
[font="Courier New"]Op09030.bit ([/font]- outline file, used when unit is highlighted in 3D view, from same game folder)
[font="Courier New"]L-Up09030.bmp[/font] (late war graphics for 3D views) and [font="Courier New"]S-Up09030.bmp [/font](winter camo graphics for 3D views), from \Rising Sun\Special folder
[font="Courier New"]P09030.bmp[/font] - Unit picture, for use in F2 Info Box, from \Rising Sun\Pictures folder
Then, I rename the copied files to match the Field #19 value I chose: 09030 -> 11031.
Up11031.BMP is an
indexed bitmap having only one layer, I open it up on my favorite graphics editor (GIMP) and make a little modification so it stands out from the British ones.
I save it in RGB mode, as indexed bitmaps lose information. Many of the bitmaps within the game are in Indexed mode, while many are not. I don't know the story behind this though but full RGB mode is superior to Indexed mode as far as I know.
If you later don't see the unit showing properly within the game, it is likely the Bitmap properties were changed into something not supported, or the bitmap was saved in 32 bit mode instead of 24 bit mode. If having issues with a bitmap not showing at all, have a look at the file properties!
I chose to identify the tank as Dutch by adding an Orange banner to its turret, proudly flying in the morning air. (Are you watching Huib!)
I choose not to alter the Special graphics, and having renamed the files to match the Dutch Unit ID I move them to their proper subfolder.
Providing a unit with a unique new graphics file is not mandatory! If you like the original graphics, just continue to point to them instead. Then, you don't need to worry about copying the graphics file into your mod folder either.
As JSGME Mod Management tool mimics the installation structure it sees under the folder including all the modified files, I create two new subfolders for the unit graphics:
[font="Courier New"]C:\Matrix Games\John Tiller's Campaign Series\Mods\RS - Battle of Java 1942 BG Mod\Rising Sun\Pictures
C:\Matrix Games\John Tiller's Campaign Series\Mods\RS - Battle of Java 1942 BG Mod\Rising Sun\Special[/font]
A JSGME User Guide is available as of 2.00 in: [font="Courier New"]C:\Matrix Games\John Tiller's Campaign Series\Tools\JSGME\JSGMEUG.PDF[/font]
[/quote]