Tool: Message Reader

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Creeper
Posts: 177
Joined: Sat Nov 08, 2008 9:37 am
Location: Germany

Tool: Message Reader

Post by Creeper »

Here is a little tool that is able to load a savegame file,
collect the ingame messages of your gameturn and displays them
in a listview.


Installation:
Simply extract the content of the zipfile
in a folder of your choice.
(a good place is your \EDBTR install dir\DAT\SAVE folder)

Important:
This tool was written with Visual Basic, so you need to have
microsofts dotnet 3.5 installed on your computer.

Perhaps this little tool is somehow helpful for some of you.
Regards,
Creeper



Image
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MessReader.jpg
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Creeper
Posts: 177
Joined: Sat Nov 08, 2008 9:37 am
Location: Germany

RE: Tool: Message Reader

Post by Creeper »

here is the zipfile

Updated to V1.04

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mikkey
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Location: Slovakia

RE: Tool: Message Reader

Post by mikkey »

Creeper, your tool works very well with BOB save and also with BTR from Avalanche campaign. Thanks for you effort!
Is possible add action report of missions and campaign summary?
Thanks!!
Creeper
Posts: 177
Joined: Sat Nov 08, 2008 9:37 am
Location: Germany

RE: Tool: Message Reader

Post by Creeper »

ORIGINAL: mikkey

Is possible add action report of missions and campaign summary?
Thanks!!

Sure, that's possible. Good idea, mikkey.
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kaleun
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RE: Tool: Message Reader

Post by kaleun »

I have tried it and it works fantastic. There is no need to watch the replay anymore, unless you want to.
Would be great if mission reports and summary could be added.
Excellent if you write an AAR.
Appear at places to which he must hasten; move swiftly where he does not expect you.
Sun Tzu
Creeper
Posts: 177
Joined: Sat Nov 08, 2008 9:37 am
Location: Germany

RE: Tool: Message Reader

Post by Creeper »

I'm glad my tool is useful for you, kaleun.
Thank you for inspiring me to recode this old thing...
Also a big thank to you,mikkey, for your good ideas.
I really appreciate it.

Here a preview pic of the new "feature" I'm currently working on.

Too bad, some values are not stored directly in the savegame file (e.g. terror bombing points).
These values were calculated in the game engine. So I must do exact the same calculations
like the game engine do to display them correctly.
But this should be not a big deal.







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MessReader2.jpg
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mikkey
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RE: Tool: Message Reader

Post by mikkey »

Nice progress, as always, thanks.
Creeper
Posts: 177
Joined: Sat Nov 08, 2008 9:37 am
Location: Germany

RE: Tool: Message Reader

Post by Creeper »

Here is an updated version, now with the Campaign Summary Tab.

nb, currently you should only load "finished" savegame files (the gameturn, respectively
the day must be over / completed) to avoid some wrong displayed values.
I fix this issue in the next update.
Have fun,
Creeper
Attachments
EDBTR_Mess..er_v1.01.zip
(475.93 KiB) Downloaded 73 times
npsergio
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RE: Tool: Message Reader

Post by npsergio »

NICE WORK!!!
Thank you A LOT!
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mikkey
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RE: Tool: Message Reader

Post by mikkey »

nice, thanks Creeper
Creeper
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RE: Tool: Message Reader

Post by Creeper »

ORIGINAL: npsergio

NICE WORK!!!
Thank you A LOT!
ORIGINAL: mikkey

nice, thanks Creeper


You're welcome!

....

Before I post my updated version 1.02 with the Action Report Tab,
I like to know your opinion to the following problem...

The original EDBTR Action Report is (in my opinion) somehow unusable, because of the "fog of war".
The below Action Report shows 136 allied bomber losses in raid 5 (arrow)
But on the right Campaign Information screen the total allied aircraft losses are 24 !
There it is without fog of war !! Strange, isn't it?

So, what do you think? Should my Action Report shows the fake aircraft losses like the original,
or do you want that it shows the "real" losses? ( as you can see on the lower left pic).

Or, for PBEM games the fake losses and for single player the real losses?


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Losses.jpg
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npsergio
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RE: Tool: Message Reader

Post by npsergio »

IMO your report can show the real plane losses, because you can see the Campaign screen or the losses screen and you get the real info.
The problem, IMO, is in the bombing damage. I'm not sure, but I think that the defender and the attacker don't get the same info about bombing damage, so that the attacker have to send recons to know the real damage...
I think that, if it's possible, the report should show the bombing damage data from the Action Report.
Other idea, if it's feasible, is that your report don't show the defender's AF name. That could be great!
npsergio
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Joined: Sat Jan 23, 2010 9:17 am

RE: Tool: Message Reader

Post by npsergio »

I have understood now your question... LOL
I like to look at the action report just for fun! It have a lot of info. Even the "unreal" enemy losses give a lot of info IMO. I like to think that very high numbers shows long and fierce dogfights... And you can get the real numbers from other sources.

Great job anyway!
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mikkey
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RE: Tool: Message Reader

Post by mikkey »

This is a difficult question. Fog of war is great (especially with regard to the enemy losses). For me is better show results with FOW, but might be useful to add the option of showing results with FOW or without FOW, at least for single player.
Creeper
Posts: 177
Joined: Sat Nov 08, 2008 9:37 am
Location: Germany

RE: Tool: Message Reader

Post by Creeper »

Thanks for telling me your opinions.
I began to think that it is no good idea to "correct" the original
action report values. The fog of war is WAD and so there is no need to alter it.

btw, here is a screenshot that shows the next feature of my message reader.
A BIG thanks to Mikkey, who showed me how to realize this! [&o]



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MessageReaderV1.03.jpg
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npsergio
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RE: Tool: Message Reader

Post by npsergio »

It looks great!
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mikkey
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RE: Tool: Message Reader

Post by mikkey »

+1
Creeper
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RE: Tool: Message Reader

Post by Creeper »

Updated to V1.03
Now with Action Report, sortable messages and map view.
In a PBEM-game you could only view the Action Report after day is over to avoid cheating.

The file is too large for an attachment, so I uploaded it to rapidshare.
If somebody got problems with downloading, please send me an email.

Have fun with this tool!
Tested on Win7 x64

npsergio
Posts: 185
Joined: Sat Jan 23, 2010 9:17 am

RE: Tool: Message Reader

Post by npsergio »

I have tried it today and...
Wow!! A really nice work!!

Thanks for sharing it!
Creeper
Posts: 177
Joined: Sat Nov 08, 2008 9:37 am
Location: Germany

RE: Tool: Message Reader

Post by Creeper »

thanks, npsergio. I'm glad you like it.[:)]
An updated version (1.04) is ready. Now with air losses and air replacements info of the turn;
fully sortable of course. [;)]

Kind regards,
Creeper




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