New Scenario Editor

Please post here for questions and discussion about scenario design, art and sound modding and the game editor for WITP Admiral's Edition.

Moderators: wdolson, MOD_War-in-the-Pacific-Admirals-Edition

InfiniteMonkey
Posts: 355
Joined: Fri Sep 16, 2016 12:40 am

RE: New Scenario Editor

Post by InfiniteMonkey »

ORIGINAL: John 3rd

Hey Sir.

Since I have been working on re-tooling BTSL and BTS I am concerned that in deleting a bunch of the extra ZERO variants that I've missed some of the reinforcements coming in and left them with the now non-existent aircraft. Is your tool able to cross check and find that? I am sure that I've missed some and am increasingly paranoid about that...
I did not notice anyone posted on the forums about the editor. If you let me know where I can get the files, I will write some stuff to detect the missing aircraft and generate a report for you. IM me if you have a specific request. The editor is progressing. I do not have it set up as an installable module I can distribute atm.

As I mentioned before, work has slowed on the editor because I am prototyping various aspects of my game. More recently, I've been busy working on the air model for my game as well as playing around with 3d modelling for prototyping combat replays. I haven't been paying as much attention to the forums during that time. My first attempt at modelling a plane for the replay functions is attached below. Note that I am not done. I colored it for fun - I have not textured it or done any of the other stuff (control surfaces, machine guns, pilots, rear guns/gunners, bombs, etc.). Just trying to learn/gauge effort level in adding 3d combat replay to game design.

Image
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3d_ki45.jpg
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el cid again
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Joined: Mon Oct 10, 2005 4:40 pm

RE: New Scenario Editor

Post by el cid again »

I did not notice anyone posted on the forums about the editor.

If this is a request for access to the new editors, I can send them to you.

If this is a comment about discussions, there used to be many more discussions.
These may be found in very old threads.

I am surprised by your effort, but think it is a worthy one. I would like to
easily access fields not available in the standard editors. In WITP days,
there was a non Matrix editor which permitted doing that, and I miss some of its
features. So Bravo!
el cid again
Posts: 16980
Joined: Mon Oct 10, 2005 4:40 pm

RE: New Scenario Editor

Post by el cid again »

ORIGINAL: Dili

I can confirm that the editor - scenario 4 buttons are visible in W7

I prefer working in Windows 7 and most of my many stations use it (or can use it -
some have alternative drives which boot to Windows 10). But I retain Vista and
XP stations for various legacy programs that refuse to work in 7. I cannot
get the Scenario Editor to work in the Scen section with respect to these buttons -
NONE of them function - only the top two appear at all. But it is true I am
working on very high resolution monitors so I can do art if needs be. I had not
considered lowering display resolution. Related issues with the other editors have
been fixed by new editors (pwhexe.dat, pwzone.dat, pwzlink.dat) - and so I believe
a secenario editor that does not have display issues is possible. It does not make
a lot of sense why all the other parts of the editor work except for those buttons
on 8 different Windows 7 machines of various types if it isn't an actual problem
in the program. It is, however, useful to know you have it working - which indeed
implies that some settings must be the issue. Obviously I use the settings I use
and if settings can mess up the function of the buttons, I am setting that to happen
in some way. Fortunately, it is rare to need those buttons.
InfiniteMonkey
Posts: 355
Joined: Fri Sep 16, 2016 12:40 am

RE: New Scenario Editor

Post by InfiniteMonkey »

ORIGINAL: el cid again
I did not notice anyone posted on the forums about the editor.

If this is a request for access to the new editors, I can send them to you.

If this is a comment about discussions, there used to be many more discussions.
These may be found in very old threads.

I am surprised by your effort, but think it is a worthy one. I would like to
easily access fields not available in the standard editors. In WITP days,
there was a non Matrix editor which permitted doing that, and I miss some of its
features. So Bravo!
I really just mean that I have not been paying as much attention to the forums so I did not notice that John had posed a question to me about the capabilities of the new editor. I'm suggesting that in this case where has something specific he'd like to check for in his scenario that he IM me. I may not see the post even once I check the forums, but I will see the IM/e-mail almost immediately. I tend to check the forums several times per day and note new threads and posts. More recently, I've been engrossed in design and development on both the editor and the new game.

On the editor,
- I've been testing alternatives to HSQLDB (the DB used by Tracker)
- Working in the new witploadae (my original version used the 1.7.1124 version instead of the beta 1126 version that exposes additional fields)
- Looking at how to incorporate witploadai which I did not know existed when I started this effort.
- Redesigning the drag and drop/bulk copy/replace logic
- Working on the creating new LCU AV, AAA, ASW, and Gun ratings

Working on the last part and stumbling across an ASW rant?/debate? sent me on a tangent of typing up and refining ASW concepts for the design on the new game. I needed a break from staring at code / design docs, so I engaged a different part of my brain to try out 3d modelling of aircraft.
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BillBrown
Posts: 2335
Joined: Sat Jun 15, 2002 3:55 am

RE: New Scenario Editor

Post by BillBrown »

ORIGINAL: el cid again

ORIGINAL: Dili

I can confirm that the editor - scenario 4 buttons are visible in W7

I prefer working in Windows 7 and most of my many stations use it (or can use it -
some have alternative drives which boot to Windows 10). But I retain Vista and
XP stations for various legacy programs that refuse to work in 7. I cannot
get the Scenario Editor to work in the Scen section with respect to these buttons -
NONE of them function - only the top two appear at all. But it is true I am
working on very high resolution monitors so I can do art if needs be. I had not
considered lowering display resolution. Related issues with the other editors have
been fixed by new editors (pwhexe.dat, pwzone.dat, pwzlink.dat) - and so I believe
a secenario editor that does not have display issues is possible. It does not make
a lot of sense why all the other parts of the editor work except for those buttons
on 8 different Windows 7 machines of various types if it isn't an actual problem
in the program. It is, however, useful to know you have it working - which indeed
implies that some settings must be the issue. Obviously I use the settings I use
and if settings can mess up the function of the buttons, I am setting that to happen
in some way. Fortunately, it is rare to need those buttons.

It is not the display resolution, it it the text size as shown below. I use a 30" monitor
at 2560 x 1600 resolution, Windows 7 and have no problem.

Image
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screen.jpg
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Dili
Posts: 4713
Joined: Fri Sep 10, 2004 4:33 pm

RE: New Scenario Editor

Post by Dili »

ORIGINAL: InfiniteMonkey

ORIGINAL: el cid again
I did not notice anyone posted on the forums about the editor.

If this is a request for access to the new editors, I can send them to you.

If this is a comment about discussions, there used to be many more discussions.
These may be found in very old threads.

I am surprised by your effort, but think it is a worthy one. I would like to
easily access fields not available in the standard editors. In WITP days,
there was a non Matrix editor which permitted doing that, and I miss some of its
features. So Bravo!
I really just mean that I have not been paying as much attention to the forums so I did not notice that John had posed a question to me about the capabilities of the new editor. I'm suggesting that in this case where has something specific he'd like to check for in his scenario that he IM me. I may not see the post even once I check the forums, but I will see the IM/e-mail almost immediately. I tend to check the forums several times per day and note new threads and posts. More recently, I've been engrossed in design and development on both the editor and the new game.

On the editor,
- I've been testing alternatives to HSQLDB (the DB used by Tracker)
- Working in the new witploadae (my original version used the 1.7.1124 version instead of the beta 1126 version that exposes additional fields)
- Looking at how to incorporate witploadai which I did not know existed when I started this effort.
- Redesigning the drag and drop/bulk copy/replace logic
- Working on the creating new LCU AV, AAA, ASW, and Gun ratings

Working on the last part and stumbling across an ASW rant?/debate? sent me on a tangent of typing up and refining ASW concepts for the design on the new game. I needed a break from staring at code / design docs, so I engaged a different part of my brain to try out 3d modelling of aircraft.


Did you used Blender to model it?
InfiniteMonkey
Posts: 355
Joined: Fri Sep 16, 2016 12:40 am

RE: New Scenario Editor

Post by InfiniteMonkey »

Yeah. It was free. :) I'm not sure yet if 3d replay is in the cards for the game or not. It seems both cool and fluff-y to me. All the 3d would be is visualizations of AAR's... Either way, it has been fun playing with Blender.
Dili
Posts: 4713
Joined: Fri Sep 10, 2004 4:33 pm

RE: New Scenario Editor

Post by Dili »

Yes, Blender is already a competent software, is at level commercial ones in some areas - check Eevee viewport render of v2.8 - currently in Alpha or Beta, but the interface is cumbersome. There is a fork called Blender for Artists which is more friendly but obviously lags the last official version.
Aawulf
Posts: 116
Joined: Thu Jul 14, 2005 1:22 am

RE: New Scenario Editor

Post by Aawulf »

Rich Dionne produced the first War In The Pacific Excel editor. With his permission, I took what he had done and expanded upon it for mass editing functionality, text changes and greater depth. It is still available on Spooky's site http://mathubert.free.fr/files_witp.htm "WitpExcel by Aawulf : a vey well done database Editor (Simple Instructions are on a worksheet in the workbook) - now in version 4.2".

Much of the data in the original game was hard coded and there were many limitations. In fact, there were frequent pockets of unrelated data mingled within. I'm thinking it has been well over a decade since, but the basic structure appears to the same. I havent done much with VBA since then, but I am guessing that it is archaic kids play with the younger fellas to read, edit and replace data fields. Most of the work was identifying what was what by examining the raw hex data for patterns and recognizable values. I likely have the spreadsheet editors stored if they would be helpful.
Never ever ever ever let a day pass without remembering that we are fighting a war for our survival. God bless our troops.
Simon40
Posts: 4
Joined: Tue May 08, 2018 12:20 pm

RE: New Scenario Editor

Post by Simon40 »

I'm glad to see this happening, and I hope it is still making progress. Being able to edit and therefore customise the game, even in a small way, is one of the most enjoyable aspects for me personally as a player. It's great to see people still working on improving something which in gaming terms has been around for a quite a while now.
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el lobo
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RE: New Scenario Editor

Post by el lobo »

ORIGINAL: ancient doctor

Could you please explain to the naive and stupid me - no joke here - how can i do what you mentioned WITPQS?cause its really very difficult to do the type of editing without it.Thanks
Did you ever get an answer to your question?

Are you still around and still want an answer?

I just went through the process of learning to extract the data files and can explain it to you in some detail if you want.
El Lobo (J) vs Rio Bravo (A)
Rio Bravo's AAR - "The War College"
tm.asp?m=3851786

Gamey is not a game style. It is someone's definition.
DFN
Posts: 15
Joined: Sun May 07, 2017 1:56 pm

RE: New Scenario Editor

Post by DFN »

ORIGINAL: InfiniteMonkey


Random, unbaked thoughts/possibilities:
- Extract from a pair of trackerdb's (Allied and Japanese) to a new scenario. Allows creation of a new scenario from a running game. Would also give limited ability to apply oob changes to existing games (some detail would be lost like pilot skills/kills/missions).



Is this possible w/o the loss of details that affect gameplay? Or w/o any loss of detail whatsoever?
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el lobo
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RE: New Scenario Editor

Post by el lobo »

ORIGINAL: witpqs

I've been having similar thoughts. I'm currently in the midst of re-writing Intel Monkey (also called IM!) and have been thinking I would take that up just after. I have no interest at all in designing scenarios. My motivation is to provide a good tool and the experience of making the tool. Even if you go ahead, I will likely also go ahead, even if nobody winds up using mine. In case any of this helps, some thoughts I've been having so far...
Hi witpqs,

Have you done anything with this? Perhaps a AE Editor Monkey Lite or a beta on which we can kick the tires?

I know that I am into this late, but since there is no product yet, I would like to add my two-cent request. I am not a serious modder but I have been trying witploadae and I am getting a little frustrated by it. First is the tediousness of it. Copy nine files, one at a time, to another folder, export, change, import, copy back, keep fingers crossed. This gets old, fast. (I have tried the “/i” switch but it seems to introduce errors.)

It is supposed to be good for making mass changes but I am finding that large changes often result in error messages and scenarios that fail to load. For example, if I change Classes on sixty ships in witploadae, I often get errors. If I do it twenty at a time, it more often goes well. I know that this is my fault, but, I have reached the point of diminishing returns trying to figure-out what I am doing wrong. It is faster changing sixty ships, one at a time, in the AE Editor than trying to keep learning witploadae.

That is why I would like an AEE Monkey Lite. Just something to do the tedious stuff, make some relative larger changes, and move-on.

Thanks for listening.
El Lobo (J) vs Rio Bravo (A)
Rio Bravo's AAR - "The War College"
tm.asp?m=3851786

Gamey is not a game style. It is someone's definition.
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witpqs
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Location: Argleton

RE: New Scenario Editor

Post by witpqs »

ORIGINAL: el lobo

ORIGINAL: witpqs

I've been having similar thoughts. I'm currently in the midst of re-writing Intel Monkey (also called IM!) and have been thinking I would take that up just after. I have no interest at all in designing scenarios. My motivation is to provide a good tool and the experience of making the tool. Even if you go ahead, I will likely also go ahead, even if nobody winds up using mine. In case any of this helps, some thoughts I've been having so far...
Hi witpqs,

Have you done anything with this? Perhaps a AE Editor Monkey Lite or a beta on which we can kick the tires?

I know that I am into this late, but since there is no product yet, I would like to add my two-cent request. I am not a serious modder but I have been trying witploadae and I am getting a little frustrated by it. First is the tediousness of it. Copy nine files, one at a time, to another folder, export, change, import, copy back, keep fingers crossed. This gets old, fast. (I have tried the “/i” switch but it seems to introduce errors.)

It is supposed to be good for making mass changes but I am finding that large changes often result in error messages and scenarios that fail to load. For example, if I change Classes on sixty ships in witploadae, I often get errors. If I do it twenty at a time, it more often goes well. I know that this is my fault, but, I have reached the point of diminishing returns trying to figure-out what I am doing wrong. It is faster changing sixty ships, one at a time, in the AE Editor than trying to keep learning witploadae.

That is why I would like an AEE Monkey Lite. Just something to do the tedious stuff, make some relative larger changes, and move-on.

Thanks for listening.
No, I'm getting back to Intel Monkey shortly and have a bunch of work to do on that first.

A couple of questions: Have you tried InfiniteMonkey's program? It might do the mass changes more reliably for you. Second, after you dump out the scenario files using witploadAE.exe what are you using to edit the data?
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el lobo
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RE: New Scenario Editor

Post by el lobo »

ORIGINAL: witpqs

No, I'm getting back to Intel Monkey shortly and have a bunch of work to do on that first.

A couple of questions: Have you tried InfiniteMonkey's program? It might do the mass changes more reliably for you. Second, after you dump out the scenario files using witploadAE.exe what are you using to edit the data?
Sorry, but I was not aware that he had finished a program. Can you point me to the link?

I use OpenOffice Calc (Win 8.1). I was wondering if that might be throwing a bug, but in theory it shouldn't.
El Lobo (J) vs Rio Bravo (A)
Rio Bravo's AAR - "The War College"
tm.asp?m=3851786

Gamey is not a game style. It is someone's definition.
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witpqs
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RE: New Scenario Editor

Post by witpqs »

ORIGINAL: el lobo

ORIGINAL: witpqs

No, I'm getting back to Intel Monkey shortly and have a bunch of work to do on that first.

A couple of questions: Have you tried InfiniteMonkey's program? It might do the mass changes more reliably for you. Second, after you dump out the scenario files using witploadAE.exe what are you using to edit the data?
Sorry, but I was not aware that he had finished a program. Can you point me to the link?
Ah, no - just this thread. I haven't tried but I thought from the give and take in prior posts that he had at least a partial working?

I use OpenOffice Calc (Win 8.1). I was wondering if that might be throwing a bug, but in theory it shouldn't.

Suggest you switch to Libre Office (libreoffice.org) which is a fork of Open Office. Basically Open Office is seen as winding down while Libre Office has taken off like a rocket.
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el lobo
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RE: New Scenario Editor

Post by el lobo »

ORIGINAL: witpqs

Suggest you switch to Libre Office (libreoffice.org) which is a fork of Open Office. Basically Open Office is seen as winding down while Libre Office has taken off like a rocket.
I didn't think that he had and he has disappeared from the forum as of late, hence my appeal to you.

I am a little familiar with Libre since it is on my Linux machine. (I am being generous calling my pi a machine, but hay, it's WAD. Just wish I could run the game on it.) OO Writer has issues with this computer. I am not sure if it is Win 8.1 and/or the sixty-four bit, so I will give Libre a try. Thanks for the recommendation.
El Lobo (J) vs Rio Bravo (A)
Rio Bravo's AAR - "The War College"
tm.asp?m=3851786

Gamey is not a game style. It is someone's definition.
Dili
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RE: New Scenario Editor

Post by Dili »

Libre is almost like Open.
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el lobo
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RE: New Scenario Editor

Post by el lobo »

ORIGINAL: Dili

Libre is almost like Open.
Yes it is. Hard to tell them apart. I wonder why one is getting all of the support and the other not.

This is probably not the thread for this but for lack of a better one, and not wanting to start a new one:

A few more tests.

One, I switched to Libre and got the same results.

Two, I opened the scenario in the game, no problem. I then moved the given files for the scenario over to my test folder, using witploadae, exported the files, made no changes, imported the files, and moved them back to the SCEN dir. Got the results below. Any suggestions.


Image
Attachments
errormess..gscreen.jpg
errormess..gscreen.jpg (186.67 KiB) Viewed 190 times
El Lobo (J) vs Rio Bravo (A)
Rio Bravo's AAR - "The War College"
tm.asp?m=3851786

Gamey is not a game style. It is someone's definition.
Dili
Posts: 4713
Joined: Fri Sep 10, 2004 4:33 pm

RE: New Scenario Editor

Post by Dili »

What you have in scenario data?

Did you tried to open it with official scenario editor?
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