NEW - WWII Europa Scenario released!

[McMonkey]

Neutrals out?

The notion of changing the participating tribes has been mentioned before, I think by Eivind, and at the time I argued against it. I have been thinking about it and have come up with two ideas.

1. To free up unit space and avoid Allied vs Neutral war (the Portugese attacked my North Africa bount Torch invasion force! ) I could create a special neutral unit that would be invincible in defence and has a movement of 0! This would keep them totally neutral!

2. No neutral tribe. This would mean no Sweden, Switzerland or Portugal. Not a big loss if they cannot do anything anyway. I could create a unit called Neutral City that belongs to the 'Barbarians' and put it in their place. This would free up space for another nation. What I would like to find out is what nations people want. I suppose the main candidates would be Vichy France, Italy or Romania.

Personally I think idea 2 would end up making more problems than the nations inclusions are worth and idea 1 is the best way forward but if anyone disagrees then I am interested in discussing it.

[McMonkey]

I have just found out there is a third option, thanks to Patine's advice in the Nam thread.

3. Stop negotiations between the Neutrals and all other nations. This would mean they do not attack at all, and as they are safe their armed forces can be cut down to the minimum.

[AGRICOLA]

This repeats at the end of Turn 39. No way around it.

[AGRICOLA]

If it helps any with the problem of Neutrals attacking the Allies, it is possible to hexedit asymmetric diplomatic relations.

For example, the Neutrals can be made allied to the Allies while the Allies are merely at peace (or even war) with the Neutrals. This lets one give the boot to Neutral units wandering around in Allied territory.

Let me know if there is a need for this.

[McMonkey]

Agri
I do not quite get what you mean regarding turn 39. Is it just a problem with the Nazi-Soviet peace treaty or does the game crash? I did make it so the Nazis and Soviets could not talk, if this is the case I wonder how they made peace.

I like the idea of keeping the neutrals neutral. When you say hex edit do you mean set the treaties in the cheat menu and then create an event that forbids them speaking? If not then I need a bit of an explaination of hex editing. I have read about it before but have only a vague idea what it is about, I think!?!

[AGRICOLA]

I do not quite get what you mean regarding turn 39. Is it just a problem with the Nazi-Soviet peace treaty or does the game crash? I did make it so the Nazis and Soviets could not talk, if this is the case I wonder how they made peace.

The Soviets captured Dnepropetrovsk and then made peace with the Axis. That does screw up the game although it also makes Winnie's self-appointed task of keeping the reds out of Europe much easier . . . . . . . . at least until Stalin and Hitler decide to have another go at each other.

I am continuing play because I really want to see:
1. If the Allies can handle the hordes of Soviet bombers as easily as I think they can. Yes, Virginia, there will be an inevitable falling out between Winnie and Joe, the world's two greatest Imperialists.
2. The point at which Axis cities stop building Capitalization and city improvements and start to produce units.

When you say hex edit do you mean set the treaties in the cheat menu and then create an event that forbids them speaking? If not then I need a bit of an explaination of hex editing. I have read about it before but have only a vague idea what it is about, I think!?!

No, hexediting involves using a hexeditor [frhed, AXE, Hex Workshop, etc.] to alter a saved .scn or .sav file. One actually changes the contents of bytes. In this instance, one can change the diplomatic status between each of the 8 civs [barbs + 7] and the other 7.

The bible for hexediting MGE is the compendium started by Allard and added to and edited by Mercator.

http://www.apolyton.net/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=130670

Catfish's Cave has a similar compendium for TOT.


Please check your pm (Apolyton Personal Messaging).
Click on | control panel | at the top of the page and then on personal messaging.

[techumseh]

Here's a possible solution. When the Germans first attack the USSR, create an event to give a technology to the Soviets. Call it 'Patriotic War', or whatever. Then write an event that uses RECEIVETECHNOLOGY as a trigger, with MAKEAGGRESSION as the action. Make a separate event for each civ. It won't matter if the AI makes peace, the war will continue unabated, since it is a repeating trigger.

[AGRICOLA]

The peace between the two great dictators only lasted for the duration of the Axis turn immediately after the Soviet one. Intelligence reports showed that the Soviets and the Axis were at peace at that time.

When it got around to the Soviets next turn, they resumed their onslaught. There was no popup or any kind of announcement about the resumption of hostilities. Intelligence reports confirmed that they were indeed back to shooting at each other.

What next?

[McMonkey]

Agri
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I will take a look at the hex editing info. Will be good to add another weapon to my arsenal!

I am glad to hear that the Nazis and Soviets are back at war (that sounds wrong!) and the killing match continues!

Tech
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The repeating trigger idea would probably be worth putting in as a backup although it looks like the peace thing may have just been a nasty rumour!
I should have enough space to fit it into the ToT events file. Would it be fair to assume that the ToT conversion would behave in a similar way to the MGE version or do you think it will differ drastically?

[fairline]

I've gotta say that looks like a great map Werd. Did you draw it from scratch?

[McMonkey]

Thanks Gareth

Yes, the map is all handmade. I have a simple method. First I pick a map from a good atlas and photocopy it. Next I draw a grid on the map editor using the mountain terrain or a special coloured terrain that can be recycled later on. I then draw a corrosponding grid on the photocopy. I then copy across, square by square, the shoreline as accurately as is possible. I then fill in the land and add the large rivers (ocean squares) and normal rivers. Between the rivers I add highlands and mountains where appropriate.
At this point I usually add a special marker terrain for the cities which will be recycled during the editing part of the game. Forrests, marshes and the like go in next and then I colour the map, mixing the terrain up a bit to make it less bland and make for more interesting tactical play later on!

Thats about it really. I am quite proud of my creations and enjoy the whole process (mostly!). I find it imprints the geography into my mind and I get to the point where I could draw a fairly good map from memory. Must be the way my mind works I suppose as I would think this whole process would seem like torture top most people!

Oh and the Vietnam map has been built to the same scale with a similar method.

Ta

[AGRICOLA]

@Werd100
Thanks for the e-mail.

Despite some ups and downs with this scen, I really like it. For me, the mega map is super because, for just about the first time, I have a strong feeling of realism in the distances between cities. From Alexandria to Casablanca is 3600 km in real life but seems even farther in the scen. Also, it would take the Germans just as long to Blitzkrieg Poland in the scen as it actually took them in 1939.

IMHO, minor tweaking one or two units stats, giving the Allies a more modern form of government, lengthening the tech tree with filler techs, and closing off some of the worst abuses [mea culpa ] are all that it needs to make a challenging and interesting scen.

I'm sure that the projected TOT version will be better, but the present one is definitely no slouch.

[McMonkey]

Agri

Thanks buddy. When I made the game I was not even aware of the Apolyton community and was really making the game for myself and a few of my friends. I am thrilled that you enjoyed it and I will definately put the time and effort into making the ToT version and ironing out all the bumpy bits as well as adding a few new surprises!

[curtsibling]

@Werd100:
Impressive work, dude!
After your current project, you wouldn't be up for a commission on creating a new global map, would you?

I am currently tired of the standard map I am using, and need a new one...
I have a new Dictator scenario planned, and would love to try a totallu new map.

All I need is the shape, I can add the details...Unless you like doing details!

Interested?

[McMonkey]

Sounds interesting Curt. There is a bit of a problem though. As far as I am aware the map can be no larger than 32,000sq (aprox) and as far as I remember the world map used in scenarios like La Belle Epoque and Imperialism 1870 (?) fits into that.

As far as I remember, they were about as accurate as it is possible to get when it comes to shape and the fillings were pretty good too!

I am not sure that I could do anything to top them, other than a bit of fiddling about with the terrain! If there was a way of making a map bigger than 32,000sq then I would be up for it though!

One thing I don't like about global maps is the fact that Europe is always so cramped. For this reason I normally shy away from playing as a european nation, except perhaps Britain, and usually play as Japan! A HUGE world map may remedy this but I guess if it was possible it would have been done already!!!

If there are any requests for a specific region or country in close up I would be interested in doing that!

After I have finished my Vietnam scenario I will probably start work on a huge map of the Balkans for a couple of scenarios I have in mind but I like to have a few things on the go so I am up for commissions too!

Hope that makes sense