What is the purpose of "Graphics override" and "scenarios" folder in game directory?

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Shadrach
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What is the purpose of "Graphics override" and "scenarios" folder in game directory?

Post by Shadrach »

Just noticed this, not sure if they were even there before the patch.

In the game directory, *not* the "Documents\My Games\The Operational Art of War IV\" directory, there are folders called "Graphics Override" and "scenarios". I thought all the scenarios would be placed in the Documents folder?

Looking at the files, they are mostly the same, but different sizes and the files in the game directory are all dated 1/10 while the ones in the Documents are older, some 10 years or more (2006).

Are both directories read, and which one will take precedence? If the one in the game directory is most important, then all standard scenarios and stuff could just as well be put there instead of the user directory right?

The Scenarios folder is mostly the same, but the Graphics Override in the game dir is "missing" a lot of scenarios. It just has the following:
Ardennes 1944\
Korea 2013\
Road to Moscow I Crossing the Border\
Road to Moscow II Smolensk\
Shiloh 1862 (Van Dorn Variant)\
Soviet Union 1941 v3.0\
Trotsky's War 1939\

Has something wrong happened during installation, or is the new normal, i.e. default files go in the game directory? If so it's strange the "sounds" directory is still in Documents...
EDIT: Just tried to remove the sounds folder, and move it into the game directory, caused the game to crash on startup. So it makes little sense to have 'default' folders for scenarios etc but not Sounds... might as well move that to the game dir as well?
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Meyer1
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RE: What is the purpose of "Graphics override" and "scenarios" folder in game directory?

Post by Meyer1 »

Yeah I'm the same as you... and this is after a clean install.
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RE: What is the purpose of "Graphics override" and "scenarios" folder in game directory?

Post by Meyer1 »

Just checked it, the sound folder was always in the documents folder... what is new is the graphics override and the scenario folders in the game directory. Could be related to the steam thingy?
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budd
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RE: What is the purpose of "Graphics override" and "scenarios" folder in game directory?

Post by budd »

It is a Steam thing having the folders in the game directory, i believe its related to using the workshop feature. My graphics override folder in my new steam install has a 147 scenario folders.

I currently have both versions installed, it does see into the scenario folder of the Matrix version in Documents folder because i have custom folders installed with some converted scenarios in them that i can access in game. Here's my question, I know some of the scenarios were updated in the update how do i know which scenario version i'm playing? How can i tell if the scenario is from the scenario folder in the steam directory or the scenario folder in the documents directory since i can access my custom folders. Will it be a problem having both installed?
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RE: What is the purpose of "Graphics override" and "scenarios" folder in game directory?

Post by ralphtricky »

Sorry for the confusion, totally my fault, but it should not hurt anything. I thought that had been fixed. It's complicated.

For scenarios, if it finds them in both places (Program Files and Documents), it goes by the LATEST date. That means that since the Steam update changed the file dates, it has priority for all scenarios that are duplicated.

For NEW scenarios you should put the custom graphics in the same folder as the scenario. That greatly simplifies deployment.

The search order for graphics is
Folder the Scenario is currently in/ (used for new scenarios)

Scenario folder/ The game saves the higher level folder (TUTORIALS, WWII East Front, etc.) in the save file. It then looks for a folder with the name of the scenario under that folder. That means if you install to WWII East Front and I install to the same place, we can play the game fine. It does away with the need for the graphics/graphics override folder.

Then it goes to the normal places.
Documents/Graphics Override/
Documents/Graphics/
Program Files/Graphics Override/
Program Files/Graphics/

Let me know if that isn't clear and I can provide examples.

Ralph
Ralph Trickey
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Blog: http://operationalwarfare.com
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budd
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RE: What is the purpose of "Graphics override" and "scenarios" folder in game directory?

Post by budd »

Thanks for the explanation.

When you download scenarios through steam workshop which folder are they placed in by default?
Enjoy when you can, and endure when you must. ~Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

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RE: What is the purpose of "Graphics override" and "scenarios" folder in game directory?

Post by Meyer1 »

So it is correct to assume that the scenarios located in the "Program files (x86)" folder are newer that the ones in the documents folder? Could one just delete the scenarios and other files in the "scenarios" documents folder and place the files that are in the program files scenarios folder?
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RE: What is the purpose of "Graphics override" and "scenarios" folder in game directory?

Post by ralphtricky »

ORIGINAL: budd

Thanks for the explanation.

When you download scenarios through steam workshop which folder are they placed in by default?
"None of the Above"
They are actually placed in a special folder under the folder created by steam called workshop in the program files folder.

I have to walk through them to make it look like they are in a named folder.
Ralph Trickey
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RE: What is the purpose of "Graphics override" and "scenarios" folder in game directory?

Post by ralphtricky »

ORIGINAL: Meyer1

So it is correct to assume that the scenarios located in the "Program files (x86)" folder are newer that the ones in the documents folder? Could one just delete the scenarios and other files in the "scenarios" documents folder and place the files that are in the program files scenarios folder?
Not for the Matrix version, but if you're talking about the steam installation, then, yes, there are lots of duplicates. We felt it wasn't safe to clean things up during the patch because it might delete some people's custom files.
If you're running the steam version, you can actually delete all the folders under the Documents/My Games/The Operational Art of War IV folder and it will recreate the ones it needs. You should leave the files in that directory though.

I want to write a utility to clean things up and put them in the correct places sometime.

Ralph Trickey
TOAW IV Programmer
Blog: http://operationalwarfare.com
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My comments are my own, and do not represent the views of any other person or entity. Nothing that I say should be construed in any way as a promise of anything.
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RE: What is the purpose of "Graphics override" and "scenarios" folder in game directory?

Post by Meyer1 »

Thanks Ralph, Matrix version here, I see differences between the folders, where are the newer files?

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Tamas
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RE: What is the purpose of "Graphics override" and "scenarios" folder in game directory?

Post by Tamas »

Hey guys,

We have decided to move to a system where the default/official scenarios are stored in Program Files. This makes it a clearer setup and also easier for Steam to handle things.

To avoid potentially destroying your custom work in My Games, this did mean creating de facto duplicates of some of the scenarios. However, you'll not notice this in the game - the game checks BOTH Program Files and My Games, and if finds two copies of the same scenario, it will display the most recent one. Which also means of course that you can delete the older copy if you wish, which currently will surely reside in My Games.

All the above, of course, does not affect Steam users - if you only have the Steam version installed on your system, it will have all default scenarios in your Steam installation directory, BUT will still look for custom ones in the My Games folder.
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RE: What is the purpose of "Graphics override" and "scenarios" folder in game directory?

Post by Tamas »

ORIGINAL: Meyer1

So it is correct to assume that the scenarios located in the "Program files (x86)" folder are newer that the ones in the documents folder? Could one just delete the scenarios and other files in the "scenarios" documents folder and place the files that are in the program files scenarios folder?

Ralph explained where Steam stores them, BUT they will display in-game where the scenario uploader intended it to be shown.
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RE: What is the purpose of "Graphics override" and "scenarios" folder in game directory?

Post by Shadrach »

Thank you Ralph, and Tamas, for the explanations [:)]
I think it's a much better way of doing things, as it will avoid using hundreds of MBs on the system (C) drive, which is what most people have issues with.

Just a couple of clarifications:
- Are we free to delete the rest of the *folders* in Graphics Override now? Apart from the ones packed and updated with the installer, mentioned above (Ardennes 44 etc)?

- What about graphics mods, they will still need to go in the Documents folder or can they also go in the game directory?

- The folder "Graphics Override" in Documents can also be named "Graphics" and have the same effect?

- What is the purpose of the EQP/NQP files in Graphics Override? Are they still used?

- Are you planning to do the same with the "sounds" folder? As there might be sound mods and they would need to be placed correctly from the workshop.

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RE: What is the purpose of "Graphics override" and "scenarios" folder in game directory?

Post by Cabido »

I have no experience with steam workshop. As far as I could understand from what I've read searching google, the way it installs mods is game dependent. If it is really so, is it already possible to place graphics/sounds mods for TOAW in the workshop? If so, how does steam deals with these files? Are they placed in "graphics override" folder (for graphics)? Is it possible to "mod" the Font initialization file? Will the original be overwritten, in this case?

EDIT: Ignore this. There is an answer to this in the steam forum.
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