Modding Stock PITF - unable to change support teams
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Close Combat Series -> Modding Workshop
#1: Modding Stock PITF - unable to change support teams Author: WillKnott,  PostPosted: Fri Aug 09, 2019 9:23 am
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I have been tweaking the stock PITF install in small ways.

I successfully can switch around Force Pool Units, for example a platoon of MkIV tank platoon unit can be swapped with a Panther platoon.

I am unable to change some items in Unit Structure....see below.
-- if I change the 12's in row 12 Columns TM3,TM4,TM5...I should be able to see the 60mm mortars change to 80mm mortars in the support units.  However, it remains 60mm Mortars within the game...
-- as a test, I changed the main platoon units Rifle and BAR numbers 4 and 5 in TM1 and TM2 to 12 and 34 for 80mm Mortar and 80mm Mortar Halftrack, and here I get a bunch of 80mm Mortar Teams and Halftracks as my main platoon teams, so I know a simple change works.

--I suppose, since I am changing a support team there is another tweak I'm missing.

Unit - - - - - U1 U2 U3 U4 U5 U6 HQ TM1 TM2 TM3 TM4 TM5 TM6 TM7 TM8
9 0 0 3 0 1 10 11 11 11 12 - -
10 0 0 2 6 1 - - - - - - 0 7 7 7 7 7 2 2 2
11 0 0 2 0 1 13 13 13 - - - 1
12 0 0 2 6 1 - - - - - - - 14 14 12 12 12 17 35 35  <-- Changing the 12's to 13's do not give me support 80mm Morts
13 0 0 0 0 1 - - - - - - - 4 5   <-- changing the main platoon to 13's gives me a whole platoon of 80mm Morts

Thanks for assist in advance.



PS---
I reset all my files back to default, tweaked once more and I got support teams to work.   I had a working modified fpools file.   I had made a change to remove the medium and heavy tanks by swapping infantry/halftrack teams..  didn't touch team 9 though...something to work with I suppose.  any tips still appreciated.
#2: Re: Modding Stock PITF - unable to change support teams Author: Jatke,  PostPosted: Fri Aug 09, 2019 12:46 pm
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I added 81mms to Weapons Platoon, available only to the Support Plt, with no difficulty. My Unit Structure and FPools were already modded.

Edits will not be put in effect unless you restart the game. Edits will often not be seen when using previous saved game files as force structure/OOB can be 'baked into' the save. The modified FPools  would not have affected the unit structure edits. FPools mainly determines which teams are selected to fill the active roster. Always check unit structure edits at Recruit difficulty. The randomized reductions in force strength at higher difficulties can be misleading.

Finally, the 60mm and 81mm teams are reversed in terms of manpower. The 60mm should have a crew of 3 and the 81mm a crew of 5.

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#3: Re: Modding Stock PITF - unable to change support teams Author: WillKnott,  PostPosted: Fri Aug 09, 2019 6:15 pm
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Thanks for the reply, after resetting all my files to stock, I was able to change the support team.

I am finding that making lots of change at once is problematic...i tried mass changing, being careful, but stuff still wouldn't show up.

I ended up having to make small changes at a time with just notepad keeping backups handy of each change.

Its slow going but I'm now getting somewhere.

Editing force pools i could do with search replace well enough, but i have to go really slow on unit structure.

Still seems in many cases ill make one small tweak and it won't take, even being careful!
#4: Re: Modding Stock PITF - unable to change support teams Author: Jatke,  PostPosted: Fri Aug 09, 2019 9:04 pm
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A spreadsheet (Libre Office et al) makes editing the Data files much easier. That way the data files are in the same format as the workbook. Unit Structure is a bear to edit due to all the dependencies both within the file and with the ***Teams files. Test Often is rule number one. In 20+ years of modding CC, Ive found problems are always self-inflicted due to 'operator error'.
#5: Re: Modding Stock PITF - unable to change support teams Author: Pete, Location: Nijmegen, Netherlands PostPosted: Sun Aug 11, 2019 11:12 am
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I made a little tutorial on modding the GtC fpools for myself but it applies to PitF too. It's been a while and I don't remember much of it but you might find the info in the attached file useful.

How-to fpools GtC.zip
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Download
 Filename:  How-to fpools GtC.zip
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#6: Re: Modding Stock PITF - unable to change support teams Author: Jatke,  PostPosted: Sun Aug 11, 2019 5:00 pm
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Good info Pete. However, "Note that the interface screen does not accommodate for more than 7 teams in a platoon." isnt entirely true as more than 7 teams in a platoon will just overrun the allotted space on the GUI, a minor annoyance fixed by expanding the background screen in ScrnGdg. Adding a platoon with more than 7 teams to the active roster results in teams 8+ being relegated to an unseen 'shadow' inactive roster where they will automatically fill any vacancies due to losses in the active roster. I like to think Steve was looking out for modders with this bit of coding.

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#7: Re: Modding Stock PITF - unable to change support teams Author: WillKnott,  PostPosted: Wed Aug 14, 2019 12:40 am
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I managed to get my tweaks done.   Found a few spots i had been missing.  I was changing the wrong unit and thought i had them all.   I started over, and made small groups of changes and tested rather than one big walkthrough.

Originally I tweaked fpools early, but I ended up going into Unit Structure to allow more fine tuned tweaks.  In PITF, US troops didn't really use the 81mm Morts, they were all 60mm.  Also, when I got in there I found there were units they never used in the game.  US Mort halftracks and 105mm Howitzers were in teams, but not used anywhere.  In G2C I swapped out the piat n 2cm mort team for more rifle n bren etc.  

Originally, I got into this to pull out much of the light, medium, and heavy tanks to give me a more infantry focused game.   Using tanks is good fun, but now and then I feel Armor dampens the effect of a good infantry fight.

Thanks for the tips!
#8: Re: Modding Stock PITF - unable to change support teams Author: Jatke,  PostPosted: Wed Aug 14, 2019 1:48 pm
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In GtC I put the 2" mortars in Support and a Piat in the Plt team for another rifle and Bren team per Plt.

If you want to make all 21 slots available to BGs with fewer the 3 Btns try this -
In UnitStructure create a 'Dummy' Rgt that contains only a 'Dummy' Btn which itself contains only a 'Dummy' Coy. The 'Dummy' Coy has only a 'Dummy' Plt which has only a 'Dummy' Squads (containing only a sniper in my example below). Add as many of these 'Dummy' Rgts to FPools as needed until all 21 slots become available to an under-strength BG. These 'Dummy' Squads cant be added to the Active Roster. Only Platoons with a 2 value in column E can. Attempting to add Dummy Squads to the Active Roster actually empties out that Active Roster plt...the only way Ive found to field BGs with a sinlge soldier or team.

I use this technique to campaign with Coy and Btn sized BGs so that battle losses become vitally important.

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Creating 'Dummy' units
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Adding 'Dummy' units to FPools
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Close Combat Series -> Modding Workshop


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