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Philippeatbay -> Historical Flags and Symbols mod (12/8/2014 7:02:29 PM)
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Historical Flags and Symbols version 1.7
This mod is a by-product of flag work that I've done on Battlefront and Fury Software's Strategic Command games and John Tiller's Panzer Campaigns series.
This mod makes a few changes to the graphic presentation, nothing more. It will have zero impact on any pbem games, and won't cause problems if one player uses it but another doesn't.
This mod is designed to be used with other graphics mods.
WHAT THE MOD CHANGES:
Germany:
The mod uses a German roundel derived from the roundel on the Parteiflag. If you substitute Kiddytoto's roundel for mine I won't be offended.
The large, medium, and small headquarters flags are the Reichskriegflag, the German warflag. This is the flag that would have flown in front of any army or navy headquarters, as well as in front of administrative offices in any occupied territory.
The crossed anchors icon for the Wehrmacht navy is the emblem that was worn on the shoulder boards of the Kriegsmarine.
The Luftwaffe eagle has been repainted.
I have replaced the roman alphabet SS icon with white SS runes on a black background.
Italy:
The large, medium, and small headquarters flags are the correct flags for the period (green-white-red tricolor with the coat of arms of Savoy in the white section).
The Italian flag during the first part of the 20th century was not the modern simple green-white-red tricolor. Italy was technically a monarchy, and the coat of arms of the ruling house of Savoy always appeared in the middle of the white stripe (the Italian navy -- aka Regia Marina -- used the arms of the house of Savoy topped with a crown in the middle of their ensigns). This coat of arms can still be seen on many Italian product labels, especially when the companies are headquartered in Northern Italy. The red shield with a white cross tends to show up on vermouth labels ( Italian vermouth is not as dry as french vermouth, or I'd look in my liquor cabinet and confirm that Cinzano still uses it) and I've seen that coat of arms on syrup bottles for Italian ices in Little Italy.
The national icon for Italy is now the coat of arms of the house of Savoy (white cross on a red shield with a blue border).
Hungary:
The large, medium, and small headquarters flags are the red-white-green horizontal tricolor with the coat of arms of Hungary (aka the crown of St. Stephen) in the center. Most people at the time thought that this was the Hungarian national flag, and it is generally accepted that it was the warflag. The out-of-the-box version of the game mistakenly used the modern Italian tricolor for the Hungarian flag at the most zoomed out level. That has been corrected in the mod.
The national icon for Hungary is now the crown of St. Stephen.
Romania:
After much soul-searching I've decided to leave the plain Romanian tricolor from the out-of-the box version as the Romanian headquarters flag. Although still technically a monarchy (a bit like Italy), Romania was under the Antonescu regime, and using military flags emblazoned with King Michael's monogram and coat of arms just didn't seem right.
The national icon for Romania is now the Romanian cross (allegedly modeled on the German balkenkreuz).
[The net effect of these national icon changes is that they are not only more historical this way, but much easier to tell apart].
Soviet Union:
The Soviet flag now has a star above the hammer and sickle.
The national icon for Soviet regulars is derived from the Red Army badges that were made out of enameled metal.
The national icon for Soviet Guards units is based on the Guards badge that they wore.
The national icon for Soviet Naval Infantry (the Black Death) is based on the fouled anchor that appears on Russian marine badges.
The Soviet Roundel now sports a hammer and sickle.
The red star that came with the game is very nice, but should only really designate the Red Army. So the hobgoblin of little minds and semiotics strikes again: both large roundels should have symbols for armies, or both roundels should have symbols for countries. I prefer national symbols, hence my mod.
The non-swastika version of the mod:
The german national roundel uses a roundel based on the Wehrmacht eagle.
Instead of a Reichskrieg flag, German headquarters will be designated by the Wehrmacht eagle on a darker feldgrau background. The folders also contain a lighter version with _alt suffixes.
(Note: The composite image at the bottom of this post uses a slightly older version of the non-swastika part of the mod. The current version uses a darker shade of feldgrau and flat flag symbols on the units).
HOW TO USE THIS MOD:
This mod should be compatible with most if not all other existing graphics mods. I've only modded some of the flags and symbols.
This mod is designed for MANUAL INSTALLATION. You don't have to download and learn how to use any other programs (not that there's anything wrong with that).
The mod comes in two parts. A complete version of the mod as it was intended to be used, and an extra set of files that remove the swastikas for those that are squeamish about that sort of thing.
The mod mimics the game's folder structure, so all you have to do to use it is to copy the folder named "Matrix Games" into the folder that you keep your Matrix Games folder in.
It might be a good idea to back up your originals first in case you hate my work, or use a mod installer.
The simplest way to back up the files that are going to be changed if you don't use a mod installer is to go into your regular installation of the Decisive Campaigns Case Blue folder in your Matrix Games folder and copy the graphics folder. You can leave the copy of the graphics folder sitting next to the original because the program will only look for the original, and will ignore something named "copy of graphics" or "graphics_unmodified". If you give the copy a name that is the same as the original but that only differs in its suffix (e.g. "graphics_org") the two folders will sit next to each other when the game folder is sorted in alphabetical order. You can then switch back by adding a suffix of some kind to the modded graphics folder and removing the suffix from the copy. Do it too many times though, and you may make mistakes, which is why some people prefer mod installers.
I have nothing against mod installers. I actually started modding by working as the terrain editor for Gordon Molek's Combat Mission mod installer. But I ended up getting sick and tired of spending much of my time explaining how to install and use it. Much simpler to do it manually, provided you know how to back up and switch back and forth at will (which you have to be able to do if you're planning on making a mod). The nice thing about doing things manually is that it forces you to examine what changes you're actually making to your computer before you make them. The two parts of my mod can probably be adapted easily enough to a mod installer, but time is short and I have other mods I need to make.
HOW TO GET RID OF THE SWASTIKAS:
Installing this mod will put a lot of swastikas on prominent but historically accurate display. If you don't want to have swastikas in your face on all of your German headquarters units, install the mod, and then go to the folder named "remove swastikas". Inside you'll find another (different and smaller) folder named Matrix Games. Copy and paste that to wherever you keep your regular Matrix games folder. The headquarters swastikas will be replaced by wehrmacht eagles with their wings outstretched ( I used to use this symbol in my Panzer Campaigns mods when I couldn't identify a unit-specific emblem for a particular headquarters). But I recommend that you try the mod with swastikas first, because they aren't as prominent when the Reichskrieg flag is the headquarters symbol (the Parteiflag used a larger roundel and swastika), and because it really is useful when playing the game to call attention to headquarters units with
all of those red flags.
WHERE TO GET THE MOD:
The regular version:
https://app.box.com/s/2isn42lltygazgvck0qr
or here:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/1xm811b7dtrhrgk/DCCB_Historical_Flags_and_Symbols_v.1.7.zip?dl=0
The Steam version:
https://app.box.com/s/fqnvbutepku9ihzb8gl3vo1h1u90s0cz
or here:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/l64vs5qsoijdaq5/DCCB%20-%20Historical%20Flags%20and%20Symbols%20%28Steam%20version%29%20v.%201.7.zip?dl=0
Caveat: This is a link to a free box account that I use for my John Tiller/HPS Napoleonic mods. Bandwidth is not unlimited, and tends to get used up around the end of the month. So if you ever try to download from this link and you can't, look at the calender and try again on the 2nd of the next month.
There is also a copy of the non-Steam version of the mod at Vic's website:
http://www.vrdesigns.net/scenario.php?nr=220
[image]local://upfiles/50578/2F020AC8C4594B698A6E238C738247B1.jpg[/image]
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