The following instructions are for owners of Close Combat who would like

to experiment with new scenario possibilities.  I have a warning below

that should be heeded.  The instructions here are not from Atomic, so

they aren't at fault if things start crashing...  Please let me know of

any corrections...

 

If something isn't clear, drop me a note and I'll try to help you out

(and then update these instructions to make them more clear)

 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

First, you will need to copy the data files from the CD onto your hard disk.

This allows you to play the game without the CD, and to make changes to the

files.  (you will need to play with the CD ejected if you want your modified

files to be used)

 

******************************************************************************

*                                                                            *

* CAUTION:  modifying data files will foul up net play -- the                *

*           game will either crash or end abruptly...                        *

*           (you can play by net if your opponent has the *identical*        *

*           data files)                                                      *

*                                                                            *

******************************************************************************          

 

>>>  Start up Close Combat and turn off videos (make sure that the

     "Videos" item under the "Options" menu is not checked)

 

>>>  Copy all of files from the CD onto your hard disk, except for the videos 

     (they take up too much disk space)...

 

>>>  For videos, copy only those associated with the intros...  (you may be

     able to get away with fewer...)

     

>>>  The Close Combat directory hierarchy on my hard disk is shown below:

 

                Type            Name

                -----------------------------------------------

                app             Close Combat

                text            Close Combat Read Me

                dir             Data

                                >       Base

                                >       Battles

                                >       Maps

                dir             Games

                                >       Campaign

                                >       MYOB

                                >       Replays

                dir             Graphics

                                        ... (all) ...

                text            Network Read Me txt

                dir             Sounds

                                >       CC Sounds

                dir             Videos

                                >       Atomlogo

                                >       Mslogo

                                >       Intro

                                >       Music

                        

>>>  When editing scenarios, you will primarily be concerned with the Base and

     Battles folders within the "Data" folder.

     

     Base:  this directory contains the data files for the system...

            (information such as, data on weapons, the composition of a squad,

             etc...)

     Battles:  this folder contains the data for each of the scenarios...

               (such as what troops are in each scenario, deployments, etc.)

 

 

>>>  Simple Editing

        If you just want to hack together a scenario with nothing but Assault

        teams (or some-such), then you can start off by doing the following:

        

           -  print out the Squads and Teams data files (in Data/Base/...)

           

             or

             

              use one of the guides to Close Combat (most of them seem to

              include these data tables in the appendices)

              

           -  edit the OOB and Deploy files in a scenario that uses the

              map that you want.

              

              

>>>  Here is the structure for the Base Folder:

        Base

        >       BatNames        - list of scenarios (relates names to numbers) 

        >       Elements        - ignore (for now)

        >       GENames         - names of German soldiers

        >       SolAction       - ignore (for now)

        >       Soldiers        - soldier type stats

        >       Squads          - squad stats (which teams compose a squad)

        >       StLo            - campaign info

        >       Teams           - team stats (soldiers/vehicles in a team)

        >       Tiles           - ignore (for now)

        >       USNames         - names of US soldiers

        >       Vehicles        - stats on vehicles in games

        >       Weapons         - stats on weapons

        

>>>  You can open these files up in Excel (drag the file on top of the Excel

     icon) and you can nose through them.

     

>>>  I've found it helpful to print out the Squads and Teams files (I print

     rotate the page in "Page Setup..." to fit more fields on the page, and

     I resize the text and fields to try to fit everything)

 

     At the bottom of many of these files, they have information on what 

     some of the fields mean...  For example, in the Squads file, there are a

      number of fields:

            Name

            Class

            Side

            Very Weak Variant   1  

                                2

                                3

                                4

            Weak Variant        1

                                2

                                3

                                4

               ... (etc) ...

               

      The Name is pretty straightforward, and the Class just indexes them...

      (0,1,2...).  Side is either "US" or "GE."

      

      The "Very Weak Variant," "Weak Variant," ... "Very Strong Variant"

      correspond to five strength levels that a squad can be implemented

      at.  The teams that compose a squad will depend on which strength

      variant of the squad is used.

      

      Each squad consists of up to four teams that are specified in the

      1,2,3,4 subfields for each strength variant.  Each team is specified

      by a number.  You can look up this number in the class field of the

      Teams data file, or you can look at the bottom of the Squads file,

      where the team names are listed with their corresponding numbers.

 

      A similar structure is used within the Teams file to specify the

      soldiers and vehicles that comprise each team.

 

>>>  Here is the structure for the Battles Folder:

 

        Battles

        >       203

                >       AlOOB

                >       AxOOB

                >       Deploy

                >       Scenario

        >       300

                >       AlOOB

                >       AxOOB

                >       Deploy

                >       Scenario

        > ... etc ...

        

        

        Each of the folders (203, 300, etc.) correspond to separate scenarios.

        

 

>>>  The AlOOB and AxOOB files contain the "Order of Battles" for the Allies

     and Axis sides, respectively.  Each file has 21 lines that correspond 

     to the 21 squad slots available for each side.  Some examples of these

     entries:

                13      1       0       0       1

                14      0       0       0       1

                -1      -1      0

                ... (etc) ...

 

     The first column specifies the Squad.  The second column specifies the

   strength variant.  The third column is used to denote the deployment

   zone (this parameter is not supported, and should be left as "0").

     The fourth column is optional -- if set to "1" it specifies that the

     squad does not get carried over to the next scenario in a campaign.

     The fifth column is also optional.  A "1" here specifies that the

     unit is always present.

     

     In the example above, a Misc_Medium and a Misc_Heavy squad with

     "Very Weak" and "Weak" strength Variants are always supposed to be

     included in the battle.

     

     The "-1" fields indicate that the field is not used (ie--no unit)

 

 

>>>  The Deploy file provides information for the computer to place the units.

     The deployments for the default scenarios are a bit complicated.  I 

     prefer a deployment file along the following lines:

     

                BEGIN-DEPLOY US

                RECON             4  8   2  9    6   8

                RECON             4  8   2  9    6   8

                RIFLE             4  9   2  9    6   8

                RIFLE             4  9   4 10    6   8

                SNIPER            4  8   4 10    4   9

                Tank              1  8   1  8    1   8

                Vehicle           3 10   3 11    5  11

                Vehicle           3  8   5  8    6   8

                END-DEPLOY

                

                BEGIN-DEPLOY GERMAN

                RIFLE             1  2   2  2    3  2

                RIFLE             1  3   2  3    3  3

                RIFLE             1  2   3  2    1  2

                TANK             16 10  15 10    3  3

                VEHICLE           9  3  10  3   15 10

                MACHINEGUN        9  3   8  3   16 10

                MACHINEGUN        2  2   1  2    3  2

                RECON            16  9   3  2   15 10

                RECON             3  3   9  3   15 10

                ANTITANK          3  2   8  3    7  3

                VEHICLE          16  9   3  2   15 10

                RECON             8  3   9  3   15 10

                VEHICLE          15  9   9  3   15 10

                END-DEPLOY

 

     The example above specifies deployment options for both the US and

     the Germans.  Each row represents a deployment for a team.  The first

     column specifies which type of team.  The subsequent columns are x,y

     pairs that specify a potential deployment site on the map for that

     unit type.

     

     It appears that Close Combat will select the forces for each side and

     then for each unit, it will look for a deployment for the unit type

     and place it at random in one of the 3 specified sites (I have seen

     fewer than 3 coordinates specified... I haven't tried more).  Note that

     once a deployment row is used, it won't be used for later units.

     (ie--the first US recon unit is placed according to one of the 3 sites

     in the first line; the second US recon unit is placed according to one

     of the 3 sites in the second line, etc...)

     

     I have found deployment to be the trickiest part of editing, and the

     most prone to errors.  (Close Combat will quit after notifying you that

     there was an error in deployment)

 

   John Anderson has recently posted to the newsgroup how to use

   multiple deployments.  The basic format is to begin the deploy block

   with something like:  "BEGIN-DEPLOY GERMAN 50."  This specifies that

   there is a 50% chance that this deployment will be used.

   

   "BEGIN-DEPLOY [side] HYPOTHETICAL" should just list every likely setup

   location.  It is used by the AI to determine where the enemy may be

   hiding.

 

>>>  The Scenario file has several components.  The first is the header

     information, followed by the setup areas, followed by the objectives,

     and ended by the tailer information.

     

     An example of a modified setup file is given below:

 

        29      Across the Aure 1

        203                   // Current scenario number

        Map2                 // Map name

        0   7   6  14  0     // Allied setup (top/left x,y - bottom/right x,y)

        7  11  13  11  0

        -1

        -1

        0   0  17   3   1    // Axis setup (top/left x,y - bottom/right x,y)

        13  4  17  10   1

        -1

        -1

        Church       4  11  20   // Name, Location (X, Y), Value of Objective

        Bell Tower   4   8  20   // Name, Location (X, Y), Value of Objective

        Bridge      11  11  10   // Name, Location (X, Y), Value of Objective

        Barracks    10  12  10   // Name, Location (X, Y), Value of Objective

        Gracery      9   5  10   // Name, Location (X, Y), Value of Objective

        None         0   0   0   // Name, Location (X, Y), Value of Objective

        None         0   0   0   // Name, Location (X, Y), Value of Objective

        None         0   0   0   // Name, Location (X, Y), Value of Objective

        None         0   0   0   // Name, Location (X, Y), Value of Objective

        None         0   0   0   // Name, Location (X, Y), Value of Objective

        None         0   0   0   // Name, Location (X, Y), Value of Objective

        None         0   0   0   // Name, Location (X, Y), Value of Objective

        None         0   0   0   // Name, Location (X, Y), Value of Objective

        None         0   0   0   // Name, Location (X, Y), Value of Objective

        None         0   0   0   // Name, Location (X, Y), Value of Objective

        10      // Allied Inflicted Casualty Value (Base 10)

        10      // Axis Inflicted Casualty Value (Base 10)

        1000    // Time Limit

 

     

     Header Information:

       The first line begins with "29" (maybe a version number?), followed

         by the scenario name and 'something'.  (latter scenarios might

         have bits like "1e h2" -- and it isn't clear to me what this

         signifies)

       The second line specifies the scenario number

       The third line is the map name.

       

     Setup Areas:

       Each side can have up to 4 rectangles that define the setup areas

       that units can start the game in.  Areas that are not in either one

       are neutral...  Following the two x,y pairs, there is a field

       that defines whether the area is "open."  This seems to affect

       whether or not units may be moved into our out of that area at

       startup.  (I'm not sure about this)

       

       -1 entries denote an unused specifier.

       

     Objectives:

       Each row specifies a victory location.  Each entry has the name, the

       x and y coordinates, and the point value.

       

     Trailer:

       As commented in the example above, this weights the points given to 

       each side for casualties, and also specifies a time limit.  (I believe

       that the time limit is in 1/60ths of a second)

 

>>>  A note on coordinates:

 

     It usually takes me some trial and error to get everything placed

     properly.  There are two sets of coordinates that I have seen used.

     At the map level, there are terrain coordinates...  You will see

     the map dimensions if you open up the Map files.

     

     For example, in Map17:

        29

        72              // x map coordinate max

        30              // y map coordinate max

        ...

 

     However, for the purposes of scenario specification, you work with

     3x3 blocks of these (ie--the map is 24x10 for the purposes of

     deployment and specifying victory point locations)

     

     When I edit a scenario, I usually start by knowing where the objectives

     are placed and trying to guess at the desired startup and deployment

     coordinates from this.

 

>>>  At this point, you can probably just edit an existing scenario and play 

     it as is...  Instructions for creating new scenarios will follow.  (note 

     that we are still dependent on the existing maps)

     

>>>  To create entirely new scenarios, I would recommend copying an existing

     scenario folder and using that as a framework.  Rename the folder with

     the new scenario number that you want.

     

>>>  Edit "BatNames" so that Close Combat is aware of your new scenario.  This

     file has the following format:

     

         [# of tutorial scenarios]

         [name of tutorial scenario #1]

           ...

         [name of last tutorial scenario]

         [# of regular scenarios]

         [Battle number for 1st battle]

         [Battle name for 1st battle]

         [place in sequence for 1st battle]

         [Battle number for 2nd battle]

          (etc...)

     

     The "place in sequence" indicates things like "Across the Aure 1"

     vs. "Across the Aure 4."  (I'm not sure if there is significance

     associated with this beyond denoting a distinct scenario (?))

         

     In the following example, I have removed all tutorial scenarios:

     

                0

                4

                203

                Across the Aure

                1

                300

                Out On a Limb

                1

                301

                Dire Straits

                1

                302

                Time to Crush

                1

      

>>>  You can have your scenario as part of a campaign by adding it to "StLo"

     (If there is much interest, I'll complete this section... for now, it

      doesn't seem terribly worthwhile to create a new campaign to fight

      over the same old turf (maps)...)

Matthew Hills (hills@sensors.stanford.edu)

(re-edited for publication on CCS)

Copyright © by Close Combat Series All Right Reserved.

Published on: 2005-02-23 (3681 reads)