Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[vonOben]

Hi

What are the steps when converting campaign from older mods to modded 4.12 as ModAct, BAT, VP Modpack?
I mean not only static campaigns, but also dynamic campaigns (DCG or DGen) and how do you go about it when you want to move a mission to a different map?

Thanks in advance.

Best regards

vonOben

[Vampire_pilot]

you need to fix:

map names
planes
loadout demoniation
vehicles
objects

You need:

A mass-search-and-replace-tool (get one free from the internet... like "MassSearchAndReplace", that's what I use)

Make a backup of the campaign

Double check map names

Find out what needs replacing (this is the tedious part)
 - for upgrade (like new planes)
 - incompatibility (loadouts)
 - Columns
 - any object, like static ships, vehicles....

Make lists of what expression in the .mis file to replace with what from the new modpack.

Run all of these through the mass search an replace (make sure you use fail-safe unique expression blocks to replace! Do not accidentally replace sections that you want to keep)

Test every mission in the FMB. Check the look of ground attack places. Static objects are just ignored and dropped without error if not present. So it can happen that you encounter missing ground targets.

Fine tune as you play-test the campaign

[vpmedia]

What he said. I load every mission in the FMB without saving them (FMB discards missing stuff when saving) and from the logfile I create a list of what to replace, then I use UltraEdit which can edit all files in a folder at once. I use the ini files (air, static, stationary) to find replacement strings. Once everything loads without error messages you have to adjust the weapons. Missing loadouts will show up as default in the FMB so you have to manually adjust all loadouts otherwise the will be a big boom at the mission start.

[Mission_bug]

Hello guys, I came across this thread yesterday because I was having trouble with this very issue, but lost it again.

I am trying to update my old Thai/Vichy campaigns by adding many of the new mod aircraft that were not available back then, however, I cannot even get each mission to load in the fmb, all I get is a Blue screen.





Normally even if some things are missing the mission will load at least so you can alter things, not for these though.

I have gone through the first mission file and replaced a few aircraft because I was getting Pink planes as I tried to run the mission and some aircraft doing the fall from height thing and that sort of silliness.

The first and second missions run now if loaded following a few aircraft and armament changes as normal for any campaign, as does the intro track, and on a separate note the Thailand map will load on its own in the fmb but still this Blue screen when I try to load the mission itself in the fmb, is this something you guys have noticed when trying to update your old campaigns?

Any help would be appreciated.

Take care and be safe.

Wishing you all the very best, Pete.

[vonOben]

Hi

Many thanks for the info SAS~vampire_pilot and vpmedia!   

Pete:
Are there any errors in the log file?


When converting campaigns this script by andqui is quite useful:

IL2 Campaign Validation Sript v0.2
https://www.sas1946.com/main/index.php/topic,45182.0.html

"The script will scan a campaign and your IL2 install and tell you what's missing in terms of aircraft, loadouts, skins, ships, tanks, stationaries, etc."

[Vampire_pilot]

oh wow, vonOben, that sounds useful as hell.
I never knew this existed, though.

Any help would be appreciated.

Well, the log should be full of hints but not even loading the map... that's where I would start checking - the map entry!

[vonofterdingen]

@Mission Bug, Check your map name. Sometimes the name that goes into the mission file (first entry) will change over time. If that is not it we could take a look if you post a mission file.

[vonofterdingen]

DCG file conversion requires editing a number of files: the campaign mission file, Class.dcg, Payloads.dcg, Allpayloads.dcg (optional but useful). To determine loadouts, this tool from Storebror is indispensable:

https://www.sas1946.com/main/index.php/topic,59468.0.html

[Mission_bug]

Hello guys, here is the baffling part, the mission will not open up in fmb but the mission does play and shows the map in the mission screen, so if it plays then the naming is correct surely, I know I have been out of this for a long time but something strange is afoot.

I will try the script from you r link VonOben.


Thank you very much guys, appreciated.


Take care and be safe.

Wishing you all the very best, Pete.

[Vampire_pilot]

Hint: check the upper/lower case in map entry. 

FMB is case sensitive, while mission briefing mode is not.

[Mission_bug]

Hint: check the upper/lower case in map entry. 

FMB is case sensitive, while mission briefing mode is not.

Okay Andy, I got there finally, thank you very much, really appreciated.

I looked and looked but just could not see it, converted all kinds of text in the mission to upper case, even the ffb of the map, all
to no avail, just was blind to what in the end was staring me in the face.

Finally in desperation I made a mission just to check all was okay with the map and its objects, no problem, added a aircraft, saved it and then tried it out, all good.

I took the map title from the new mission and added it to mission 1 of the old campaign, loaded it up and launched it in the F.M.B., it worked, WTF.




So, what could I not see, a simple letter that in the title needed to go from lower case to upper as Andy said.

Note the highlighted letter guys and save yourself my frustration, from this:

MAP ffb_Thailand/load.ini

To this:

MAP ffb_Thailand/Load.ini


Even after all these years and as much time as I have spent with all aspects of it this sim still messes with my head.


Thank you very much to all of you for the help, really appreciated. 


Take care and be safe.


Wishing you all the very best, Pete.

[Vampire_pilot]

Happy to see these two campaigns being updated, I will definitely play them again!

Sorry it took so long to figure out... I didn't mean to tease!
It would have been easy to just look up the all.ini and compare the entry to that in your .mis files.