What decides a scene's graphics override directory? (Full Version)

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Shadrach -> What decides a scene's graphics override directory? (2/22/2020 11:17:49 AM)

I was digging into this a bit a while back while investigating stuff related to "Campaign for South Vietnam 1965-75", and how the Graphics Override files worked.

I updated to the latest CSV from here:
https://www.matrixgames.com/forums/tm.asp?m=4390629

The SCE file is named "Campaign for South Vietnam 1965-75.sce"

After the update I noticed the override graphics in "The Operational Art of War IV\Graphics Override\Campaign for South Vietnam 1965-75" were no longer being loaded. Looking at the TOAW log I notice that the game instead looks for a folder named just "Campaign for South Vietnam".

I've always thought the name of the SCE file decided what folder the game would try to find the override files, but apparently not?
Is the "name" of the scenario as set in the editor used instead?

Why would the old version of the scenario use the "Campaign for South Vietnam 1965-75" override but the new version use only "Campaign for South Vietnam"?



cathar1244 -> RE: What decides a scene's graphics override directory? (2/22/2020 11:49:46 AM)

That is weird. I wonder what is causing it to only take part of the filename string.

Cheers



Lobster -> RE: What decides a scene's graphics override directory? (2/22/2020 12:21:40 PM)

I see the distribution package has two of the same scenario in Graphics Override. One is 1965 - 1975 which is correct. The other is 1965-75 which is incorrect. One is updated and one isn't? Also the files in the Override folder are all bmp and no longer used anyway. The only one that could possibly be used is the eqp file which is stored in the scenario file. More useless garbage in the game files.

Why it would look only for Campaign for South Vietnam is a mystery. Does the scenario even show the modified terrain when you run it?



Shadrach -> RE: What decides a scene's graphics override directory? (2/22/2020 12:26:55 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: Lobster
I see the distribution package has two of the same scenario in Graphics Override. One is 1965 - 1975 which is correct. The other is 1965-75 which is incorrect. One is updated and one isn't? Also the files in the Override folder are all bmp and no longer used anyway. The only one that could possibly be used is the eqp file which is stored in the scenario file. More useless garbage in the game files.

Why it would look only for Campaign for South Vietnam is a mystery. Does the scenario even show the modified terrain when you run it?


The scenario file is named "Campaign for South Vietnam 1965-75.sce" so I assumed "1965-75" would be the place it would look.

It shows the modified tiles if I name the override folder "Campaign for South Vietnam" instead of "Campaign for South Vietnam 1965-75".
I only use the "l_cultivated" tiles for better looking rice-paddies.

I tried looking in the editor but I have no idea where the "internal name" of the scenario is set, apart from the scene description which is only a text file.



Raindem -> RE: What decides a scene's graphics override directory? (2/22/2020 12:35:34 PM)

When I submitted the scenario to Matrix for inclusion on the distribution disk, it was named "Campaign for South Vietnam" (which was the original name under CoW). Matrix initially just added the start year, "1965", so it would conform to their naming convention. Somewhere along the way someone added "-75". It wasn't me.

Why that still works, I couldn't tell you. I have noticed a little wierdness with scenario names. Simply renaming the filename does not always work. You have to open the scenario in the editor and Save As to the new filename. So there may be a hidden link embedded in the scenario data that the program looks to, separate (or in addition) to the filename.



Shadrach -> RE: What decides a scene's graphics override directory? (2/22/2020 12:43:43 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: Raindem
When I submitted the scenario to Matrix for inclusion on the distribution disk, it was named "Campaign for South Vietnam" (which was the original name under CoW). Matrix initially just added the start year, "1965", so it would conform to their naming convention. Somewhere along the way someone added "-75". It wasn't me.

Why that still works, I couldn't tell you. I have noticed a little wierdness with scenario names. Simply renaming the filename does not always work. You have to open the scenario in the editor and Save As to the new filename. So there may be a hidden link embedded in the scenario data that the program looks to, separate (or in addition) to the filename.


Thanks for the information! Yeah, I suspect there might be some hidden data containing the scenario name.
Or this might be a quirk from how the game handles scenario versions, maybe it thinks the "1965..." part is a version number. But then that would apply to a lot of other scenarios as well.

By the way does anyone have the old default scene that ships with TOAW4 in the latest patch? I think this is not the same as the 5.1 version and I'd like to compare them. And can't be bothered to do a full reinstall just to dig out the one scenario [8D]
EDIT: Never mind, I'm able to just install the Steam version and dig the old version from there.



Curtis Lemay -> RE: What decides a scene's graphics override directory? (2/22/2020 2:05:26 PM)

The game uses the name the scenario has in the Editor. Load it in the Editor and see what its name is there (at the top).

You can change the file name outside the editor, but that doesn't change the scenario name. The scenario name can only be changed by saving the file via the Editor.



Shadrach -> RE: What decides a scene's graphics override directory? (2/22/2020 4:00:47 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: Curtis Lemay
The game uses the name the scenario has in the Editor. Load it in the Editor and see what its name is there (at the top).

You can change the file name outside the editor, but that doesn't change the scenario name. The scenario name can only be changed by saving the file via the Editor.


Thanks - that makes sense. I had a look at the 5.1 version of in the editor, and the name is just "Campaign for South Vietnam" so the override folder needs to be named the same. The old version shipped with TOAW4 is named "Campaign for South Vietnam 1965-75".

So that explains why the game couldn't find the override files for the new version.
It seems the editor saves the name into the SCE file using the same name you save the file as. So renaming a scenario file after it's been saved might not work as expected, at least for custom graphics.

While we're on a similar issue, how does the game handle scenario "versioning"? For instance the two files in the WWII - Mediterranean folder:
Crete - Operation Merkur 1941.sce
Crete - Operation Merkur 1941 v.4.0.sce
These are both displayed as just "Crete - Operation Merkur 1941" in the New Game menu, so I assume the game looks at anything after a "v." as a version number and ignores it for display of the scenario name? And it would still display the DOC named "Crete - Operation Merkur 1941.DOC"?





Curtis Lemay -> RE: What decides a scene's graphics override directory? (2/22/2020 8:56:12 PM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: Shadrach

While we're on a similar issue, how does the game handle scenario "versioning"? For instance the two files in the WWII - Mediterranean folder:
Crete - Operation Merkur 1941.sce
Crete - Operation Merkur 1941 v.4.0.sce
These are both displayed as just "Crete - Operation Merkur 1941" in the New Game menu, so I assume the game looks at anything after a "v." as a version number and ignores it for display of the scenario name? And it would still display the DOC named "Crete - Operation Merkur 1941.DOC"?


You have it right. But, forget the "." after the "v" and it will display, etc. Common mistake.



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