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Hybrid Counters Ver 2.0 (Ready for Download) - 1/10/2017 12:59:29 AM

HimAgain

Posts: 92
Joined: 9/28/2016
From: Toronto, ON
Status: offline

See Download link in Post 3 below

Hybrid Counters Ver 2.0 (Ready for download)

Hi All,

I�ve finished what should the final version of my Mod. It includes the following features:

Hybrid Counters is a �Vanilla Graphics Mod� with no other changes to maximize compatibility.
All infantry will have NATO icons with some exceptions.
Progressive silhouettes for other units change with Tech upgrades.
HQs will have a general�s portrait (but with limited control over their display using the AA Defense Value)
It only works in Max Zoom View. Any higher level views retain the original unit icons.
New! Optional 3D View replacement with Hybrid counters which allows for transport animations.
New! Optional 3D Units will reverse facing based on map location (Naval Ensign matches sailing direction)
New! Higher Contrast Unit Strength Values for improved visibility.
New! Introduced Brigade (X) and Divisional (XX) designations. Corps units remain blank.

Installation:
It�s recommended that you do not overwrite the original game files.
If you already have your own custom mod saved that uses the standard game icons or a previous version of the Hybrid Counters then you just download the zip file and extract the Bitmaps folder. Then copy the extracted Bitmaps folder and overwrite the existing Bitmaps folder in your saved campaign. That�s it. Start the game, select 3D or NATO icons and you should be set to go.

If you have not already created your own custom campaign or need more detailed instructions please follow sPzAbt653�s excellent How to use Mod Files illustrated instructions posted here:
http://www.matrixgames.com/forums/tm.asp?m=4300169

Note PBEM gamers must both be playing the same custom campaign and both have the Hybrid mod installed or they will only see the icons installed in their own campaign folder.

Recommended Mod:
SIPRES has designed a 1939 Campaign using Hybrid Counters Mod which gives greater control over which HQ Generals portraits are displayed. See Link http://www.matrixgames.com/forums/tm.asp?m=4342847

Hope you like them.

Cheers,

Angus

------------------------------------------------------------------
Original Post: 1/10/2017

Hi All,

This Mod that I�ve been working on is a little mash-up of different icon styles from games I�ve played in the past, Panzerblitz, Clash of Steel, Third Reich etc. But first thanks goes to Agent S, sPzAbt653, Bill Runacre and Sipres for pointing me in the right direction with regards to the tools I would need. Last of course, thanks to Hubert and his team for such a fine game.

My goal is to make it easier to spot high value units and enemy build ups while balancing this with aesthetics. I�ve decided to make Tank Corp and other special units a darker shade of their national colours with two exceptions. German and Russian Tank Corps and Special unit backgrounds will be Black and Red respectively.

Normal infantry will have the standard NATO icons while mechanized and air units will have progressive silhouettes as the upgrades take place. You will have to forgive me for exceeding the counter limits in some cases. This was purely to maintain detail and a sense of scale. In most cases bigger will mean better.

Finally, I�ve accelerated the airplane upgrades curve. In the area of aeronautics most will agree that the Germans were ahead of most. If they were already using the Me-262 operationally and with the Ho-229 and Ta-183 in the testing stages, Level 5 aircraft will be represented by Korean War type aircraft for the Russians and the Allies. Sort of a 1946 scenario. I would like to make it clear that the actual in game unit attributes or performance is not modded, just the icons representing units will change.

I hope you like what I�ve done so far:

Cheers,

Angus

Attachment (1)

< Message edited by HimAgain -- 10/26/2017 12:05:02 AM >

Post #: 1

RE: Hybrid Counters - 1/10/2017 1:05:01 AM

cdcool

Posts: 660
Joined: 1/25/2005
From: United States
Status: offline

Nice!
ETA?

(in reply to HimAgain)

Post #: 2

RE: Hybrid Counters - 1/10/2017 1:08:58 AM

HimAgain

Posts: 92
Joined: 9/28/2016
From: Toronto, ON
Status: offline

Download Latest Ver 2.0 Hybrid Mod attachment below

Ver 2.0 released Oct 24, 2017

-Introduced Optional 3D View replacement* with the same Hybrid counters which allows for transport animations.
-Optional 3D replacement units will reverse facing based on their map location (Naval Ensign matches sailing direction)
-Higher Contrast Unit Strength Values for improved visibility.
-Introduced minor unit variations e.g. German Tech 0 Panzer II when facing East switches to Panzer 38(t) when facing West
-Fixed incorrect German CV and CVL icons.
-Adjusted Transport icons to start at level 1 rather than the unused level 0
-Cleaned up some unit icons and fleshed out some missing progressive Tech trees.
-Re-aligned Italian HQ Generals with Messe in the fifth slot to accommodate the optional scripted DE701 Italian Army ARMIR deployment to Russia. The scripted (BEF, DAK and ARMIR) deployments only display the correct corresponding HQs when using SIPRES�s 1939 Campaign using Hybrid Counters Mod
-Several other minor graphic changes

*Note when using the 3D replacement option the minor Allied/Axis flags no longer display properly and must be manually changed using units AA Defense value. This problem does not affect the NATO counters. This is a compromise because of current limitations in the game interface.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ver 1.02 Update Notes Sep 11, 2017

Updated to synch up with changes to SIPRES 1939 Campaign using Hybrid Counters Mod Ver 1.02
Re-organized Minor Axis and Allied HQ General Portraits
Re-organized British and German HQs to facilitate the scripted BEF and DAK deployments.
Several minor bitmap improvements.

Allied Minor HQ Roster
0 Default/Generic General - Guy Simonds (Canadian)
1 Greek - Papagos
2 Dutch/Belgium General - Winkelman
3 Turkey - Toydemir
4 Spain - Franco
5 Canada - Crerar

Axis Minor HQ Roster
0 Default/Generic General - Petre Dumitrescu (Romania)
1 Hungary - Heszlenyi
2 Finland - Mannerheim
3 Bulgaria - Marinov
4 Sweden - Thornell
5 Spain - Franco

Please note that SIPRES� Campaign Mod already includes these changes and this update is not required to update his latest Mod.
If you are updating a previous Hybrid Counters installation, select replace the existing folders and files when prompted.

Attachment (1)

< Message edited by HimAgain -- 10/24/2017 4:27:09 AM >

(in reply to cdcool)

Post #: 3

RE: Hybrid Counters - 1/10/2017 1:17:24 AM

cdcool

Posts: 660
Joined: 1/25/2005
From: United States
Status: offline

well, please don't stop!

(in reply to HimAgain)

Post #: 4

RE: Hybrid Counters - 1/10/2017 5:20:58 AM

sPzAbt653

Posts: 9511
Joined: 5/3/2007
From: east coast, usa
Status: offline

Awesome work ! You've picked up on how to do graphics mods nicely.

(in reply to HimAgain)

Post #: 5

RE: Hybrid Counters - 1/10/2017 6:30:05 AM

n0kn0k

Posts: 564
Joined: 6/23/2007
Status: offline

Nice one. Saves me the trouble of making them!

(in reply to sPzAbt653)

Post #: 6

RE: Hybrid Counters - 1/10/2017 7:48:16 AM

Haplo_Patryn

Posts: 203
Joined: 7/2/2005
Status: offline

Great work!!!

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Post #: 7

RE: Hybrid Counters - 1/10/2017 5:38:12 PM

SIPRES

Posts: 398
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Status: offline

Good Job Angus

Continue this way

Rgds

Christophe

(in reply to Haplo_Patryn)

Post #: 8

RE: Hybrid Counters - 1/11/2017 9:13:15 PM

rjh1971

Posts: 4919
Joined: 12/13/2005
From: Madrid, Spain
Status: offline

So far this counter mod is the one who is looking best to me.
Great Job!!!

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(in reply to SIPRES)

Post #: 9

RE: Hybrid Counters - 1/12/2017 5:02:35 PM

HimAgain

Posts: 92
Joined: 9/28/2016
From: Toronto, ON
Status: offline

Thanks for the support guys.

I need to clean up the silhouette creation process. Still not happy with the lack of clarity in some cases.
I'm starting the Brits and will revisit the German counters later.

I'll post updates as soon as I can.

Cheers,

(in reply to rjh1971)

Post #: 10

RE: Hybrid Counters - 1/12/2017 5:05:38 PM

Christolos

Posts: 953
Joined: 4/24/2014
From: Montreal, Canada
Status: offline

These look really really cool!

Keep up the great work!

Cheers,

C

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-Aristotle-

(in reply to HimAgain)

Post #: 11

RE: Hybrid Counters - 1/12/2017 5:13:39 PM

OxfordGuy3

Posts: 1041
Joined: 7/1/2012
From: Oxford, United Kingdom
Status: offline

Looks great, especially the air and naval counters

(in reply to Christolos)

Post #: 12

RE: Hybrid Counters - 1/21/2017 12:30:07 AM

HimAgain

Posts: 92
Joined: 9/28/2016
From: Toronto, ON
Status: offline

Hi all,

I�ve been busy preparing the British counters and hope to post an update soon.

In the meantime I have a question for Bill, Hubert and the Team.

I�m just creating updated counters for the British HQ units. Ideally I would like to create one for each of the Generals but as you know the current limitations don�t allow us to specify which of the counters will be displayed. Will you consider patching or modifying the game to allow a specific counter to represent each General?

Currently there are twelve such counters reserved for each major nation in the counter mix which means ten of them are going to waste. You must agree that adding an actual face to an HQ unit would add so much more atmosphere and immersion to the game.

Attached are some of the old HQ icons I was using when playing SC2. I�ll update the contrast of some of the paler ones to give a more consistent look before importing them and hopefully others.

It would be so cool to be able to get the actual General�s face to appear in the game. Otherwise I�ll be stuck with a half dozen or so Guderians staring me back in the face.

Please say yes�

(in reply to OxfordGuy3)

Post #: 13

RE: Hybrid Counters - 1/21/2017 12:32:17 AM

HimAgain

Posts: 92
Joined: 9/28/2016
From: Toronto, ON
Status: offline

sorry, interface messes me up.

Attachment (1)

(in reply to HimAgain)

Post #: 14

RE: Hybrid Counters - 1/21/2017 10:32:09 AM

OxfordGuy3

Posts: 1041
Joined: 7/1/2012
From: Oxford, United Kingdom
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quote:

ORIGINAL: HimAgain

sorry, interface messes me up.

This would be fantastic and add a lot of "flavour" to the game!

That reminds me - General Richard O'Connor (is that him top row, third from left?) is seriously under rated in SC3 - he has just a rating of 5 - I think he should be at least a 6 or even a 7. if you compare with the values assigned to some other (pretty mediocre) British commanders.

O'Connor routed the entire Italian army in North Africa (150,000 troops) with just two divisions (36,000 men) and could perhaps have kicked the Italians out of Libya entirely, if he hadn't been stripped of troops for the ill-fated Allied expedition to Greece. He was captured in April 1941, if he hadn't been the Allies fortunes in North Africa in '41 and '42 may have turned out differently and he would be better known.

See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Compass and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_O%27Connor

Correli Barnet makes this point well (that O'Connor was an under-rated general) in his excellent "Desert Generals" book - a must read, if you're interested in the Desert War.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/d/Books/Desert-Generals-Cassell-Military-Paperbacks-Correlli-Barnett/0304352802

< Message edited by oxford_guy -- 1/21/2017 10:35:00 AM >

(in reply to HimAgain)

Post #: 15

RE: Hybrid Counters - 1/21/2017 10:39:58 AM

OxfordGuy3

Posts: 1041
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From: Oxford, United Kingdom
Status: offline

Also the Italian General Messe arguably merits better than a 5, he was probably Italy's best combat general of WWII (not hard, though, as most were pretty bad), he mostly fought in Russia, but also played a very good defensive delaying game in Tunisia.

See:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giovanni_Messe

(in reply to OxfordGuy3)

Post #: 16

RE: Hybrid Counters - 1/21/2017 4:27:16 PM

James Taylor

Posts: 638
Joined: 2/8/2002
From: Corpus Christi, Texas
Status: offline

Superbly done HimAgain, the HQ counters are excellent.

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SeaMonkey

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Post #: 17

RE: Hybrid Counters - 1/21/2017 4:43:58 PM

OxfordGuy3

Posts: 1041
Joined: 7/1/2012
From: Oxford, United Kingdom
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: James Taylor

Superbly done HimAgain, the HQ counters are excellent.

Agreed!

(in reply to James Taylor)

Post #: 18

RE: Hybrid Counters - 1/21/2017 5:26:58 PM

HimAgain

Posts: 92
Joined: 9/28/2016
From: Toronto, ON
Status: offline

Thanks SeaMonkey and Oxford Guy, but these are from my old SC2WaW Mod.
I'm hoping to port them over but it would be a waste unless they change the current limitations on HQ unit counters as described above. I can only handle so many Kesselrings smiling back at me. :)

With regards to General O'Connor, I would have to agree with you Oxford Guy. From what I've read he was probably the best suited commander in the desert. He was able to change and adapt his tactics and objectives on the fly as demonstrated during his charge through North Africa. Much more flexible than most.

This is very much in contrast to the style of Montgomery for example.
In my opinion the latter was more a WWI General fighting set piece battles of attrition with WWII weapons, costs be damned.

If you were able to look at a comparison of gains vs costs ratio, O'Connor would shine.
Then again, he was mostly fighting the Italians. You would be challenged to find a more disinterested, disillusioned and poorly lead army at the time. Not to disrespect the individual Italian fighting man for which there were many examples of courage, overall they were no comparison to the Germans. Their hearts were simply not in it.

Having said that, I would not want to be the Italian gunner facing down a rampaging Matilda tank with the 2nd rate antitank guns they had. Until the 88 showed up, they were unstoppable.

(in reply to OxfordGuy3)

Post #: 19

RE: Hybrid Counters - 1/21/2017 5:30:23 PM

HimAgain

Posts: 92
Joined: 9/28/2016
From: Toronto, ON
Status: offline

Perhaps "rampaging" Matilda is not the best description.
Lumbering might be a better word.
:)

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Post #: 20

RE: Hybrid Counters - 1/22/2017 12:14:10 PM

OxfordGuy3

Posts: 1041
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From: Oxford, United Kingdom
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: HimAgain

Perhaps "rampaging" Matilda is not the best description.
Lumbering might be a better word.
:)

Indeed! Pity they couldn't carry a larger gun, even a 6 pounder would have made it more viable as the war dragged on

I've always liked the look of that tank, though, for some reason

Certainly better than the Italian armour present at that time:

< Message edited by oxford_guy -- 1/22/2017 12:17:52 PM >

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Post #: 21

RE: Hybrid Counters - 1/22/2017 2:03:55 PM

OxfordGuy3

Posts: 1041
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From: Oxford, United Kingdom
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The later Italian tanks with the gun in main turret weren't far off the British "Cruiser" tanks, though, and could fire HE as well as AT, unlike the British tanks

In the game I tend not to purchase Advanced Tanks research as the Italians, though do invest in Armoured Warfare (though invest in Infantry research first), as this also benefits Mechanised Infantry

< Message edited by oxford_guy -- 1/22/2017 2:07:05 PM >

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Post #: 22

RE: Hybrid Counters - 1/24/2017 5:25:59 PM

HimAgain

Posts: 92
Joined: 9/28/2016
From: Toronto, ON
Status: offline

Hi Oxford Guy,

PS. Yes, you are correct sir. That is supposed to be O'Connor, though he is a little pale for someone having spent so much time in the sun. :)
Rommel definitely needs to be touched up too as do some of the other portraits. That is, if and when I port them over but I've not heard back from the Bill or Hubert with regards to giving some flexibility to the current HQ counter display restrictions.

The effort would be wasted otherwise.

Cheers,

Angus

< Message edited by HimAgain -- 2/24/2017 5:29:36 PM >

(in reply to OxfordGuy3)

Post #: 23

RE: Hybrid Counters - 1/31/2017 12:40:21 AM

HimAgain

Posts: 92
Joined: 9/28/2016
From: Toronto, ON
Status: offline

Hi All,

Below is an update of my progress with the British counters.

With regards to scale and unit choices there are some notes that I�d like to make.

I�m using armored cars to represent Recon units instead of cavalry. I think it�s more relevant.

I�ve tried to keep the Fighters and TAC a/c at the same scale while the larger Medium , Heavy/Strategic and Maritime aircraft have a separate but common scale. The Tanks have their own constant scale as do the ships with the exception of the Subs and MTBs. The size in most cases gives an indication of the relative strength of the unit within its class. In some cases this results in some tiny units for which I apologize, but that was my rational.

I noticed that the Production charts specify CVE while the original stock unit counters indicated CVL which is what I modeled. Not sure if I should switch back to smaller CVE silhouettes.

I had a rough time finding anything with regards to a British armoured train. There were some curious references to a successful attack by a miniature train, but the only full size train was a lash up of Bren guns and old 6pdr cannon. Nothing close to what the Russians and Germans were fielding, but then again, the Brits didn�t really need them.

For the Special Forces and Paratroop units I�m hoping that they are recognized as such by their insignia's and won�t require Para or SF text on the units. Most of us playing these games will recognize there significance and I think it adds a lot of flavour to include them. With regard to the LRDG, in the previous SC2 game I was able to limit its appearance exclusively to the desert, but I can�t control its appearance in Europe with the current counter set up options.

I�ve since learned the white-red-white recognition stripes on the armor were not as ubiquitous during the early years as I first thought. I may remove them as it turns out that they were supposed to be used only to help distinguish friendly armor from captured armor in use during the North African Crusader campaign. The practice may have continued unofficially after that. There was even some reverse R-W-R appearing on other armored vehicles. After that it was the White Star for all the Allies.

The Matilda tank presented a dilemma. I�m equating the British Infantry tanks as heavy tanks but the keen eye may have noticed that it appears in the medium tank mix as well. It was very dominate in the early stages of the war so I felt it should appear there too.

The medium tanks are a mix of early home grown and then American supplied units after 1942. I felt that the numbers involved made this the logical choice but they do culminate with the Firefly in the fifth rank.

I included the �String Bag� as the initial level TAC a/c. It had to be one of the most effective attack aircraft in the early stages for the Brits, if only for a lack of viable alternatives. Though not strictly a ground based a/c and with the relatively ineffective Fairy Battle, I thought it would be a crime not to include it. To be fair, the Battle operated in areas with fighter opposition were as the Swordfish�s most famous victories were accomplished when no enemy fighters were about. They faced mostly Ack-Ack.

I�ll try to work them both into the mix.

On another note, I was surprised not to find the German or Italian MTB equivalents in the stock production build menu. Why MTBs for the Brits and not the Germans or the Eyeties?

Some of the best examples of Italian courage were displayed by members of the MAS, both the small torpedo boats and the Decima Flottiglia MAS commando frogmen. Both managed to put Capital ships on the bottom, albeit the former in the previous war. None of the other nations could claim the same results. I�ll be including them in the counter mix but will need to Mod the production in order to actually get them. :(

Next is some testing to make sure things line up and work OK before I go any further.

Cheers,

Angus.

Attachment (1)

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RE: Hybrid Counters - 1/31/2017 1:35:49 PM

daon

Posts: 59
Joined: 12/19/2016
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- The submarines are in pack, maybe you should put several silhouettes like for DD
- The size of the counters is 57x57 but you can enlarge up to 69x69
I used 69x57 for some counters (planes, boats)maybe you can do it for Heavy bombers, heavy art, rail train ...

(in reply to HimAgain)

Post #: 25

RE: Hybrid Counters - 1/31/2017 4:22:50 PM

Cataphract88

Posts: 728
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This is looking fantastic!

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Post #: 26

RE: Hybrid Counters - 1/31/2017 11:50:40 PM

HimAgain

Posts: 92
Joined: 9/28/2016
From: Toronto, ON
Status: offline

Hi Daon,

Thanks for the feedback.

I was debating putting the U-boats and all the subs into a "wolf pack" like the DDs. It would probably be even more appropriate for the MTBs, but I reasoned that because the DDs images were so small in the ship scale, it would be a good idea for them. The subs and MTBs have their own scale and will get progressively larger as the Tech level increases. Not so for the destroyers. Then there's France's huge Surcouf to consider. I decided not to group the others, but you do make a good point.

With regards to the increased counter sizes, I've seen and like what the others have done. Again, I'm debating doing the same. Particularly in the case of the Naval units. I'm not happy with the over hanging appearance of some of the silhouettes but I wanted to maintain the relative scale of the units.

Seeing as larger background counters won't obscure too much on the water, it makes sense to me for the Naval units. But I'm hesitant to do the same with the land based units because I don't want to cover too much of the map details beneath the counter. We'll see how it develops.

Cheers and good luck with your Mod too.

Angus

(in reply to daon)

Post #: 27

RE: Hybrid Counters - 1/31/2017 11:53:16 PM

HimAgain

Posts: 92
Joined: 9/28/2016
From: Toronto, ON
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Thanks for the thumbs up Richard.

Cheers,

Angus

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Post #: 28

RE: Hybrid Counters - 1/31/2017 11:59:53 PM

cdcool

Posts: 660
Joined: 1/25/2005
From: United States
Status: offline

Nice work!

(in reply to HimAgain)

Post #: 29

RE: Hybrid Counters - 2/1/2017 1:11:56 PM

Hairog

Posts: 1645
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From: Cornucopia, WI
Status: offline

Very good looking and creative. I just might have to steal a few and mod your mod.

You know what they say about imitation being the sincerest form of flattery.

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All Forums >> [New Releases from Matrix Games] >> Strategic Command Series >> Strategic Command WWII War in Europe >> Scenario Design and Modding >> Hybrid Counters Ver 2.0 (Ready for Download)