ABattlemap P40 BETA module

[questioneer]

@Battlingmaxo:

@questioneer:

BOOOOO… -1 for you- blurry toolbar :-(

Can someone fix the blurry toolbar and pieces for us???

Great map but blurry pieces  :-(

Very weak, you should applaud stoney for all his work. The blurry pieces were not his creation but allow those who need big pieces to use the module. If you dont like them just change your defaults.

Can someone just give us some clear big piece toolbar???

[Stoney229]

@questioneer:

@Battlingmaxo:

@questioneer:

BOOOOO… -1 for you- blurry toolbar :-(

Can someone fix the blurry toolbar and pieces for us???

Great map but blurry pieces  :-(

Very weak, you should applaud stoney for all his work. The blurry pieces were not his creation but allow those who need big pieces to use the module. If you dont like them just change your defaults.

Can someone just give us some clear big piece toolbar???

You’re welcome to make a bigpieces file if you want want one so badly  :wink:
At the very least, make designs for all the new pieces that would be included in this module: use the A42.gin BigPieces.bmp as a model: they have to fit in a 20x15 piece (with a 1-pixel “relief” border).  New pieces would be ANZ control marker, hit BB, hit CV, Minor IC, IC, AB damage, NB damage, and Tac Bmr.  If you make those, it would be not be much more work for myself or someone else (if they are willing) to color them the right colors and put them in the right order.

[Stoney229]

@Battlingmaxo:

Very weak, you should applaud stoney for all his work. The blurry pieces were not his creation but allow those who need big pieces to use the module. If you dont like them just change your defaults.

haha thnx for the defense maxo.  I agree, I can’t do everything!

@P@nther:

Great job Stoney229, thank you.

I think your “beta” is by far superior to the “original”. So I would like to suggest to ignore the “original” and focus on the “beta”.

As neither the game is available in Germany (at least not for reasonable prices) nor the rules are online up to now I cannot comment on details - but it looks great!

Maybe you want to ask HolKann to integrate your P40 modules into his AModulePack?
All the communities efforts on the modules are bundled there.
See
http://www.axisandallies.org/forums/index.php?topic=12873.msg357193#msg357193
for details.

Would you share your “final” .pdn? That would be great.

Thank you again.
:-)

Thank you, P@nther.  My time is pretty limited now, so thankfully the original doesn’t need much more updating. Tho there are still some duplicate territory abbreviations in that one, I do not really want to put time into updating something I don’t think will be used much longer.

I know HolKann is aware of my module, but I’d like to give it a little more time in case minor errors or suggestions surface, so that what he includes is more of a final product.

the .PDN I have uploaded is my final, it is just uncropped.  crop it to 1356x949 and that’s the map I used.  The is my first time spending much time doing any image editing, so I don’t have all the layers (let alone the hardware for it) that I’ve seen in the A42 pdn, for example, so I just did what I could since nobody else was doing it.  Which leads me to say - I’m actually leaving for a new job tomorrow, and may not have much time for this anymore, so if anyone wants to take on the project - please be my guest!  Hopefully it is almost done and won’t take too much time anyway.  Also, I think I may almost certainly not have time to make a module for E40 when it comes out.

So you’re in Germany?  I’m guessing you speak German?  Maybe you can hekp me with something.  I was able to use my very limited understanding of German (with the help of a dictionary) to figure out from reading attila’s OWNMAP.txt file that a module’s map has to between 1000x500 and 2000x1000.  However, he also seems to say it is possible to make a bigger or smaller map, but I don’t really understand what “das muss man von Fall zu Fall entscheiden was
  am “gnstigsten” zu spielen ist” means, or if he says how to make a bigger map, or why it should be in that range of size.  Are you able to figure that out from what he says?:

• Map.bmp
    Das ist BMP der Karte. Die Aufl”sung und Farbtiefe ist egal. Ich bevorzuge
    allerdings eine schlichte taktische Karte - deswegen reicht 16 Farben oft
    aus. Man kann auch eingescannte Karten benutzen.
    eine gnstige Aufl”sung ist zwischen 1000x500 und 2000x1000 (das Verh„ltnis
    muss nicht 2:1 sein, sondern kann beliebig sein) - man kann auch kleinere
    oder gr”ssere MAP’s machen - das muss man von Fall zu Fall entscheiden was
    am “gnstigsten” zu spielen ist.

If it is possible to make a bigger map it will likely be necessary to know how if someone is going to make a module for E40 + P40 combined.  Thanks!

[questioneer]

@Stoney229:

@questioneer:

@Battlingmaxo:

@questioneer:

BOOOOO… -1 for you- blurry toolbar :-(

Can someone fix the blurry toolbar and pieces for us???

Great map but blurry pieces  :-(

Very weak, you should applaud stoney for all his work. The blurry pieces were not his creation but allow those who need big pieces to use the module. If you dont like them just change your defaults.

Can someone just give us some clear big piece toolbar???

You’re welcome to make a bigpieces file if you want want one so badly  :wink:
At the very least, make designs for all the new pieces that would be included in this module: use the A42.gin BigPieces.bmp as a model: they have to fit in a 20x15 piece (with a 1-pixel “relief” border).  New pieces would be ANZ control marker, hit BB, hit CV, Minor IC, IC, AB damage, NB damage, and Tac Bmr.  If you make those, it would be not be much more work for myself or someone else (if they are willing) to color them the right colors and put them in the right order.

don’t know how to do this that is why I am asking someone who can. :-(

[Llordbone]

i downloaded the file,but i’m having a hard time trying to figure out how to work it. i’ve never used a battlemap but would like to learn how. i can open the file of the map, or the peices, but not both of them at the same time. do i need a special program to use this? thank you in advance.

[Stoney229]

@Llordbone:

i downloaded the file,but i’m having a hard time trying to figure out how to work it. i’ve never used a battlemap but would like to learn how. i can open the file of the map, or the peices, but not both of them at the same time. do i need a special program to use this? thank you in advance.

Yes, ABattlemap is a software program that supports what are basically board game simulations (just the board and the pieces,  not the mechanics - that’s what this forum’s “Play by Forum” section is for).  You can read more about it, and download it and other AA game modules here.  When you place the P4B.gim folder in the ABattlemap program folder, you’ll be able to open the game from inside the program.  Post if you have any more questions, I’m sure someone here will be willing to help you out quickly.

@questioneer:

don’t know how to do this that is why I am asking someone who can. :-(

I know that when we claim ignorance we feel not responsible, so forgive me  :wink:, but if you do indeed want to make a new file yourself, all you have to do is open a BigPieces file in any one of the module folders that has one (A50 and A42 both do), right-click the file, and open it with an image editor like Microsoft Paint.  You can use the color picker tool and then the pencil to color over the unit designs on some of the pieces, and then switch back to black to draw your own designs for the new pieces!  Then when you are done you save the file as a .jpg.  Then you post on this thread and attach your .jpg file for anyone to view or download.  :-)

[questioneer]

thanks, I’ll try that. :-)

[Stoney229]

@questioneer:

thanks, I’ll try that. :-)

cool.  Post if you have any questions.

[Panther]

@Stoney229:

@P@nther:

…
Would you share your “final” .pdn? That would be great.
…

…
the .PDN I have uploaded is my final, it is just uncropped.  crop it to 1356x949 and that’s the map I used.
…

Ah, I see, thank you!

@Stoney229:

So you’re in Germany?  I’m guessing you speak German?  Maybe you can hekp me with something.  I was able to use my very limited understanding of German (with the help of a dictionary) to figure out from reading attila’s OWNMAP.txt file that a module’s map has to between 1000x500 and 2000x1000.  However, he also seems to say it is possible to make a bigger or smaller map, but I don’t really understand what “das muss man von Fall zu Fall entscheiden was
 am “g�nstigsten” zu spielen ist” means, or if he says how to make a bigger map, or why it should be in that range of size.  Are you able to figure that out from what he says?:

• Map.bmp
   Das ist BMP der Karte. Die Aufl”sung und Farbtiefe ist egal. Ich bevorzuge
   allerdings eine schlichte taktische Karte - deswegen reicht 16 Farben oft
   aus. Man kann auch eingescannte Karten benutzen.
   eine g�nstige Aufl”sung ist zwischen 1000x500 und 2000x1000 (das Verh„ltnis
   muss nicht 2:1 sein, sondern kann beliebig sein) - man kann auch kleinere
   oder gr”ssere MAP’s machen - das muss man von Fall zu Fall entscheiden was
   am “g�nstigsten” zu spielen ist.

Actually I am German so I will try my very best to translate Attila’s words.
What he says in the paragraph you quoted is as follows:
Map.bmp
This is the BMP of the map. Resolution and color depth do not matter. I prefer an artless tactical map - that is why 16 colors often are enough.
Scanned maps can be used, too.
A reasonable resolution is between 1000x500 and 2000x1000 (the aspect ratio does not need to be 2:1, but it can be any -
you can create smaller or larger maps as well - it depends on the individual preferences of the user concerning the considered map.
I did not translate the last part of the last sentence exactly because I want to be sure to meet the intention of the wording.

So Attila in fact does not describe how to create larger maps. He just says they are possible.

Please let me know if I can be of further assistance.

:-)

[questioneer]

@Stoney229:

@questioneer:

thanks, I’ll try that. :-)

cool.  Post if you have any questions.

this is fun doing this but it does take a long time… I’ll have to get to it later on- whenever. :|

[Stoney229]

@P@nther:

@Stoney229:

@P@nther:

…
Would you share your “final” .pdn? That would be great.
…

…
the .PDN I have uploaded is my final, it is just uncropped.  crop it to 1356x949 and that’s the map I used.
…

Ah, I see, thank you!

@Stoney229:

So you’re in Germany?  I’m guessing you speak German?  Maybe you can hekp me with something.  I was able to use my very limited understanding of German (with the help of a dictionary) to figure out from reading attila’s OWNMAP.txt file that a module’s map has to between 1000x500 and 2000x1000.  However, he also seems to say it is possible to make a bigger or smaller map, but I don’t really understand what “das muss man von Fall zu Fall entscheiden was
 am “g�nstigsten” zu spielen ist” means, or if he says how to make a bigger map, or why it should be in that range of size.  Are you able to figure that out from what he says?:

• Map.bmp
   Das ist BMP der Karte. Die Aufl”sung und Farbtiefe ist egal. Ich bevorzuge
   allerdings eine schlichte taktische Karte - deswegen reicht 16 Farben oft
   aus. Man kann auch eingescannte Karten benutzen.
   eine g�nstige Aufl”sung ist zwischen 1000x500 und 2000x1000 (das Verh„ltnis
   muss nicht 2:1 sein, sondern kann beliebig sein) - man kann auch kleinere
   oder gr”ssere MAP’s machen - das muss man von Fall zu Fall entscheiden was
   am “g�nstigsten” zu spielen ist.

Actually I am German so I will try my very best to translate Attila’s words.
What he says in the paragraph you quoted is as follows:
Map.bmp
This is the BMP of the map. Resolution and color depth do not matter. I prefer an artless tactical map - that is why 16 colors often are enough.
Scanned maps can be used, too.
A reasonable resolution is between 1000x500 and 2000x1000 (the aspect ratio does not need to be 2:1, but it can be any -
you can create smaller or larger maps as well - it depends on the individual preferences of the user concerning the considered map.
I did not translate the last part of the last sentence exactly because I want to be sure to meet the intention of the wording.

So Attila in fact does not describe how to create larger maps. He just says they are possible.

Please let me know if I can be of further assistance.

:-)

Ah, thanks!  That last sentence is what I couldn’t figure out when I was trying to translate it.  Interesting, tho, it does not say it MUST be between 1000x500 and 2000x1000, but that is the only way I could get the map to work.  I guess I’ll have to try to email attila.

[Stoney229]

@questioneer:

@Stoney229:

@questioneer:

thanks, I’ll try that. :-)

cool.  Post if you have any questions.

this is fun doing this but it does take a long time… I’ll have to get to it later on- whenever. :|

One new piece I forgot:  the Kamikaze!  That one took me forever and I had to hand-draw it,  which would be pretty difficul to do in MS Paint.  Perhaps you could just put a “K” on the piece, if you’re okay with that - or if you want to look for what Japanese character make up the symbol someone could use the text tool in Paint.NET to make the piece.

[Panther]

Stoney229, just one question:

I just realised that Atilla provides an update from ABattlemap 0.79f to ABattlemap 0.80 in order to make his P40-modules work.
I don’t know what was the problem with 079.f, though.

Are the modules you created compatible with Atilla’s?

[Battlingmaxo]

@P@nther:

Stoney229, just one question:

I just realised that Atilla provides an update from ABattlemap 0.79f to ABattlemap 0.80 in order to make his P40-modules work.
I don’t know what was the problem with 079.f, though.

Are the modules you created compatible with Atilla’s?

they are fully compatible with the .79f

[ksmckay]

Yeah, I am using both the beta and the other P40 modules with .79f and they both seem to work fine.

[Panther]

Thank you.

But I was thinking of the compatibility of Soney’s P40-modules with Atillas P40-modules.
Maybe in a forum game one player uses Stoney’s modules, the other uses Atillas’s modules - in this case there may be compatibility issues.

But what I found out up to now is that Stoney’s modules seem to be more elaborated then Atillas’s. On Atilla’s map for example there are some markers for NO missing.
And the “6” for Burma road are not removed from the Info view when the Chinese marker is removed.

All this works flawlessly in Stoney’s modules.
So thank you again, Stoney :-)

[Stoney229]

@P@nther:

Thank you.

But I was thinking of the compatibility of Soney’s P40-modules with Atillas P40-modules.
Maybe in a forum game one player uses Stoney’s modules, the other uses Atillas’s modules - in this case there may be compatibility issues.

But what I found out up to now is that Stoney’s modules seem to be more elaborated then Atillas’s. On Atilla’s map for example there are some markers for NO missing.
And the “6” for Burma road are not removed from the Info view when the Chinese marker is removed.

All this works flawlessly in Stoney’s modules.
So thank you again, Stoney :-)

My “original” module is just an updated version of Atilla’s module.  The intent was to fix problems and add whatever features I could without breaking compatibility.  That’s why when I added the toolbar, I labeled it BETA, since it breaks compatibility. with the original(s).  Idk why the Burma road income works different, I don’t remember ever noticing that problem, let alone fixing it  :wink:, except that I changed it to “oil”.

My best guess for what he updated is the convoy system to support the Pacific 1940 convoy system.  If I’m right, that will certainly be handy, but I need to check.  Thanks for the heads up!

[Stoney229]

@Stoney229:

@P@nther:

Thank you.

But I was thinking of the compatibility of Soney’s P40-modules with Atillas P40-modules.
Maybe in a forum game one player uses Stoney’s modules, the other uses Atillas’s modules - in this case there may be compatibility issues.

But what I found out up to now is that Stoney’s modules seem to be more elaborated then Atillas’s. On Atilla’s map for example there are some markers for NO missing.
And the “6” for Burma road are not removed from the Info view when the Chinese marker is removed.

All this works flawlessly in Stoney’s modules.
So thank you again, Stoney :-)

My “original” module is just an updated version of Atilla’s module.  The intent was to fix problems and add whatever features I could without breaking compatibility.  That’s why when I added the toolbar, I labeled it BETA, since it breaks compatibility. with the original(s).  Idk why the Burma road income works different, I don’t remember ever noticing that problem, let alone fixing it  :wink:, except that I changed it to “oil”.

My best guess for what he updated is the convoy system to support the Pacific 1940 convoy system.  If I’m right, that will certainly be handy, but I need to check.  Thanks for the heads up!

Ok, i haven’t installed it yet, but after taking a look at some of the text files in Atilla’s P40 module (which is actually brand new, even tho it doesn’t say so), this is what seems to me:
the only change he seems to have made in the new module, which required an updated program to support it, is a feature that automatically calculates NO’s when you’ve captured the right territories.  Not all NO’s can be represented this way - namely, the 1-time ANZAC one and the US at war one.  That is why the others are no longer found on the map, except Burma Rd.  Until looking into it further, my best guess is that the Burma road marker was left on the map on accident, and means nothing.  That is why when P@nther removed his chinese flag from the rectangle, it was not reflected in the infoview - because he still actually owned all of the Burma Rd.  Does that make sense?

I started a new job and won’t be able to work much on these modules, but I will do the best I can, and hopefully will have some time on my days off to figure some things out and make some updates, but i don’t know yet.

Question:  Do people want this new feature?  I’m not sure I don’t like it better the old way, because I can just hover over the marker to see what I need in order to obtain that objective.  Without those markers on the map, I have to already know what all the NOs are b/c the markers are no longer on the map.  Also, even if I do figure out how to make a module which utilizes the new feature, I would think it will be more difficult/complicated to make than one that just does NOs the old way, so not using the new feature also saves module-makers some time (I am thinking) and save users from having upgrade their program.

On the other hand, I may likely try to figure out how to utilize the new feature anyway, so let me know if it’s indeed something people want.  What do you think?

[pitheist314]

I am content with game the way it is.  I will do some looking at the new version, but barring a major advance in functionality I will stay with the current version.  Thanks for all the effort you put into this module Stoney.  Hope my contribution ended up being useful to you.

[BadSpeller]

@Stoney229:

Question:  Do people want this new feature?  I’m not sure I don’t like it better the old way, because I can just hover over the marker to see what I need in order to obtain that objective.

I very much prefer it the old way!

I like that I can hover over the National Objectives to see what to go for, OR what to do to prevent the other side from getting theirs.  Or a quick check–-delete some of the NO’s from the other side to see what their income would be if I took away a NO or two (or three  :-D).