Newbie Scenario Editor question

[FM WarB]

I am a Tiller game Scenario edtor veteran, so take pity on me! I cannot even figure out how to make changes to existing scenarios (after saving them with a different name, for safety's sake).
All I want to do is add two units, and change the names of a few.
Any help or suggested tutorials will be appreciated.

[RhinoBones]

I am a Tiller game Scenario edtor veteran, so take pity on me . . .

Start TOAW III and after it opens the screen will show five icons just below the TOAW III splash screen. The icon to the far right is a “Paint Brush”. Chick on the “Paint Brush” for it leads to the scenario editing menu.

Open a scenario, or start a new one, doesn’t matter . . . just play around with the editor and learn how it works. After that, write back for more help, there are plenty of people here who are more than happy to lend advice.

Regards, RhinoBones

[FM WarB]

I have gotten to scenario editor. I have changed unit names. I have removed units from the map, trying to make name change stick. I may not have figured out how to SAVE my changes, as each time I look at the game after my change attempts, there have been NO changes.
For all their faults, the Tiller scenario edotors are far more user friendly than this one.

[Veers]

I have gotten to scenario editor. I have changed unit names. I have removed units from the map, trying to make name change stick. I may not have figured out how to SAVE my changes, as each time I look at the game after my change attempts, there have been NO changes.
For all their faults, the Tiller scenario edotors are far more user friendly than this one.
After you've made your changes, go to file->save scenario as and save it as whatever you'd like. Then close down and open that scenario, should see your changes then.

[Telumar]

Why not to do the "Editor tutorial" from the manual? It's all under 17.0, especially 17.2.3 - how to edit a map and 17.3.3 - how to edit a force.
Or just do a small scenario for yourself, you will learn a lot and it can be fun.

Just try and post any questions here, even the silliest one will be answered.:smoke:

[Ben Turner]

Make sure you're saving in the right directory. This is a killer with TOAW III- everything sits in its own little directory.

[Tanker]

Can unit colors be changed the same way?

[Telumar]

Can unit colors be changed the same way?

Which same way do you mean exactly?

There are two ways to change unit colours:

On a per unit basis, select Edit -> Forces and then click on the small unit symbol next to the unit size symbol in the force editor. If you are starting a new OOB and this is your first and yet only unit all following units will have the same colour.

There is also a "global" colour exchange function on a per force or per formation basis if you open the force editor as described above and then select from the menue Edit -> Modify Current Force (or Formation) -> Unit Recolour 2D Icons

[Tanker]

I'm playing a scenario in which the 2 sides have very similar colors. It is difficult to tell them apart. It would be nice to alter the colors to make this easier. But I've been told that this may change the cooperation levels and unbalance things.

[Menschenfresser]

That is correct. If you alter the colors it can effect cooperation levels. However, if you chose a new color that has the same background color as the old one, you will 'probably' be fine as most scenarios do not use internal support. Cooperation levels first check background colors and then foreground colors.

In reading your last email it sounds like you are trying to change the colors to effect a game you already have underway. If so, that's not possible. When you start a game and make a save of the game, the entire scenario is a part of that save. The game does not need to reference the original scenario file at all, so if you make changes to the original file they will not appear in games underway.

The editor is a *****, but it can do a lot. It just isn't user friendly. It takes a lot of tinkering before you gain confidence you won't accidentally delete an entire formation you spent 15 minutes creating. But you are on the right track. I recommend you continue to tinker with scenarios and you'll suddenly find that the strange way in which the TOAW editor works will become second nature.

[Telumar]

I'm playing a scenario in which the 2 sides have very similar colors. It is difficult to tell them apart. It would be nice to alter the colors to make this easier. But I've been told that this may change the cooperation levels and unbalance things.

If you have your game underway, the only way to change it is with toaw3's scenario specific graphics system. You can create a folder named like the scenario you are playing and put it into the Alt Graphics directory and use an alternative set of unit colours. If you have specific questions about this procedure feel free to post here.

[Ben Turner]

EDIT: Failed to read Telumar's post. Well, there's some extra detail here so...

In reading your last email it sounds like you are trying to change the colors to effect a game you already have underway. If so, that's not possible.

Well, there is one thing he might try- provided the units are only similar colours and not the same colour. He could use alternative graphics in a folder with the same name as the scenario inside the graphics directory; just copy the desired new colour schemes to the folder and rename them with the name of the colour scheme to be replaced. This has the added bonus of having nil effect on co-operation levels; the game will still see them as the colours they were before.

Could I ask what scenario this is? Some have deliberately similar colour schemes for one reason or another. I know of several scenarios where special forces have been coloured the same as enemy units to make them less visible to the other side.

[Telumar]

Nevermind, Ben. More extra detail: numbers.bmp..

If you (Tanker) follow our (Ben and me) advice, don't forget to modify the numbers.bmp according to your new colour scheme, i.e. if you decide to use red icons instead of the original blue ones and put i.e. units_1_red_0.bmp into the scenario's graphic directory, renaming it to units_1_blue_0.bmp (let's say this is used originally in the scenario) and you dont change the colours in numbers.bmp you will have messy blue squares on your red unit icon. You must find out which row in numbers.bmp the original unit bitmap uses and replace it with the acording colour (best done with copy and paste). Then put this file also into the scenario's graphic folder.

Numbers.bmp is used to display unit strength, movement allowance, loss setting, deployment status and unit size on the unit icon.

As a note for the development team: Modding would be easier if numbers.bmp would use a transparent background.