Re: Blitzkrieg Banzai? (SP1 Conversion)
 

So I'm inspecting this old SP2 scenario:

And a lot of the tanks in the OOB dump are "Leopard 1A6s".

Going into google reveals it was a one shot prototype with a bit of extra armor and the 120mm shoved into a Leopard 1.

I guess a "remaster" might reduce that down to a single unit example, with the remainder being replaced with some Leopard 2A1s.

Re: Blitzkrieg Banzai? (SP1 Conversion)
 

Writing the guide now; and I have gotten side tracked detailing the East German NVA. :eek:

Re: Blitzkrieg Banzai? (SP1 Conversion)
 

Here's version 2.0 of the conversion tools.

http://www.alternatewars.com/Scratch...Tools_v2-0.zip

94~ MB Download; unzips to 117~ MB, of which 73 MB are scenario ZIP files.

I've included:

Fred Chlanda's:
WW2Ed (edits SPWW2 v3 Scenarios)
FSP_Ed (edits SP2 and early SPWW2 scenarios)

as bonuses, along with the full source for Fred's:

WW2Map
SP1toWW2

programs.

##################################

SP1 Scenarios are contained in SP1_SCEN

If you wish to load your own custom scenarios for dumping, place them into the zipfile SP1_USER_SCENARIOS.zip.

#####################################

SP2 Scenarios are contained in SP2_SCEN

If you wish to load your own custom stuff for dumping, place them into the zipfiles:

SP2_USER_CAMPAIGN.zip
SP2_USER_SCENARIOS.zip

######################################

Dumping/Prepping a SP2 scenario

Let's dump a SP2 scenario from the original stock SSI list.

Run SP_Unified_Dumper_v2.exe

You'll see

Select #2.

Hit #0.

You'll get a long list of scenarios:

Let's choose Good Day, My Brother : (SCEN064.DAT)

It outputs:

You'll now see in the main directory a bunch of new files:

These are the original SP2 files extracted from the ZIP file.

These contain the dumped SP2 information.

##########################################

Step 1: Convert the Map.

Since this is a SP2 v1.0 scenario, we first have to resave it in a working SP2 v1.1 installation to convert it into a format that Fred's WW2Map.exe can use.

Copy

Into a working DOSBOX installation of SP2 v1.1.

Start SP2, load the scenario in the editor and:

1.) jiggle the visibility up or down one or two.
2.) save the file in one of the save slots.

In our DOSBOX STEEL2\SCEN folder, we find:

SCEN138.DAT which is the resaved copy.

Renaming it to SCEN064_Compressed.DAT we copy it back to our SP Conversion folder.

We now load WW2Map.exe

FILES-->LOAD MAP

and select CLRWW2v3.DAT -- this is a premade blank SPWW2 v3 map.

CONVERT--> WW2 2.x MAP

and select SCEN064_Compressed.DAT

FILES-->SAVE MAP

I prefer saving it as spmap999.dat to simplify tasks, but you can name it whatever you like as long as it's descriptive of what it is.

###############################################

Step 2: Create a Skeleton SPCAMO MBT Scenario

1.) Copy your spmap999.dat into your SPCAMO MBT \Maps folder and load up MBT.

Hit EDITOR.

Hit the CUSTOM map button and load map 999. If you you then hit the EDIT map button, you'll see the map in MBT. Nice, no?

2.) Start sketching out the basics of the scenario.

Because of the dumping of all revelant scenario information, our job is now much easier than a "by hand" conversion.

Opening SP2_Stock_SSI_064.DAT_Scenario_Data.csv we see:

Hint: to add the Map Location String, hit the NAME button in the scenario editor main screen and type in Near Fulda, W.G. when prompted.

We now open:

SP2_Stock_SSI_064.DAT_Formations.csv
and
SP2_Stock_SSI_064.DAT_Units.csv

The Formations is the most useful as it contains the following list in CSV format; which we can open in excel and sort in the first column to get this nice list:

Likewise, opening SP2_Stock_SSI_064.DAT_Units.csv and sorting by SIDE and UNITNUM in Excel gets us a nice list:

You might wonder what S0 (Blank) through X1 (F-104G) are.

The full unit CSV dump shows that they're OFF MAP.

Basically, they're "ghosts" from the scenario creation.

The original designer added them, and later subtracted them from the scenario, but their digital afterimages remain; revealed by scenario dump programs such as this.

There are also other issues.

We try to buy a Panzer Company for the West German player and we get:

M48A2GA2
Leopard 1A1A1
Leopard 1A1A2
Leopard 1A2
Leopard 1A3
Leopard 1A4
Leopard 1A5
Leopard 2
Leopard 2A1
Leopard 2A4

but no Leopard 1A6

Inspecting the original SP2 encyclopedia reveals no Leopard 1A6 either there.

Checking online through Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leopard_1) reveals:

Leopard 1A5 had an all new turret, which had the option to mount the 120mm gun; and that there was a single prototype Leopard 1A6 which was a Leopard 1A1A1 modified to mount the 120mm as a testbed.

I think the original SP2 scenario author tried to make "Leopard 1A6" by using Modify Unit Data and changing Weapon 1 on Leopard 1A5s to be the 120mm gun of the Leopard 2.

He later found that it broke the scenario, making it too easy for the W. German player, so changed it back; but it was too hard to change all the unit names, so they remained, like ghosts in the machine.

So after some deliberation , the new West German OOB will be:

Panzer Kompanie of Leopard 1A4
1 x FO (VB) Vehicle (KanJagPz VB) -- because M113 are boring.
2 x Jpz ATGM Sec (Jaguar 2)
2 x SPAA Sec (Gepard A1)
2 x PzGren Platoons (Marder 1A2)
1 x Armored Engineer Platoon (TchPz Fuchs with Milan)
1 x Attack Helo Section (PAH-I BO-105)
1 x Strike Element (MBB F-4F with CBU and Maverick)

NEW:
I've decided to add some "General Support" Artillery to support the German Commander as part of the "Gold" enhancements; because in a true "Cold War Gone Hot" environment, you'd have some access to artillery; though limited and heavily rationed. The "General Support" fits this; its available, but slow responding (because everyone else wants fire support as well).

2 x Medium Batteries (155mm FH155)
1 x MARS Minelet (Rocket Mine Battery)

Moving over to the East German OOB, looking at the units in the original OOB, there's issues:

T-72M (yes, but did East Germany have enough?)
T-10M (never exported outside of USSR)
JSU-152 (never gotten by NVA)
PT-76 (reconnaissance battalions got this starting in December 1956)

Analyzing the AFV park of the NVA in 1986 (LINK to DDR AFV 1950-1990) the following numbers shake out:

Tanks
T-34/85: 60 in reserve
T-54: 208
T-54A: 278
T-54AM: 278
T-55: 376
T-55A: 1,357
T-55A(P): 330~ (P for Polen - Poland)
T-72: 133 (1984) to 549 (1989)
PT-76: 101
PT-76B: 54

APC/IFV
BMP-1SP2: 878 (1984) to 926 (1988)
BMP-1P: 187 (1988)
BMP-2: 24 (1985)
SPW-152W1 - 750~
SPW-40P: about 300~
SPW-40P2: 1,468~
SPW-60PA: 259
SPW-60PB: 1,633
SPW-70: 319 to 400?

Artillery
2S1 Gvozdika (122mm): 266~
2S3 Akatsiya (152mm): 78~
ZSU-23/4: 123 to 132
ZSU-57/2: about 30

So it appears from sheer numbers that a 1986 East German Force would be:

T-55A
BMP-1SP2
SPW-40P2
SPW-60PB

With a few "elite" units of:
T-72
SPW-70

Thus, my redesigned DDR force would be:

18 x T-55A variants
8 x T-72

So we have:

2 x Tank Companies of T-55AM
2 x Tank Platoons of T-72M
1 x Recon Detachment Group
1 x Amphibious Tank Platoon (to attach to Recon Detachment Group)
2 x SpZ Platoons (BMPs)
2 x Eng Platoon
1 x Motor Inf Plt (SPW-60)
1 x FAGOT ATGM Platoon
1 x MiG-23BM Striek Element

And for Direct Support:
1 x 122mm Battalion
1 x RM-70 Rocket unit

I buy everything and save. Normally, placing everything (from units to VLOCs) would be an atrocious experience in hunt and pecking.... but now that we have the utility, it's much easier.

###############################################

Step 3: Dump your Skeletal/SPCAMO scenario

Copy over your SPCAMO scenario and place it in \SPCAMO_SCEN

NOTE: Your SPCAMO scenario is going to have to be named either:

SpWW2Scn0999.dat
or
spMBTscn0999.dat

I've hard coded it for now; because this is meant to help design scenarios, not convert them to Steel Panthers 5 -- now in 3D -- in the year 2040.

Don't Forget to Save Backups to Backups of your scenario!

Load up SP_Unified_Dumper_v2.exe again and select:

Then select the game type, WW2 or MBT.

It will then unpack/dump everything.

In your /DUMP directory, you'll see a bunch of files with names like:

These are the scratch files used to edit/view the compressed sections in the SP v1.1 format.

In your main directory, you'll see the following files:

These are the files that you'll edit in order to edit the SPCAMO game.

Load up SPCAMO_VLOCs.csv and SP2_Stock_SSI_064.DAT_VLOCs.csv in excel.

Copy 'n paste the values from the SP2 csv over to the SPCAMO csv and save.

Open up the SP2_Stock_SSI_064.DAT_Briefing.txt and save it as spMBTscn0999.txt with changes to reflect the converted scenario.

We're not going to change Leaders, because we'll go with the stock SPCAMO values/distribution for leaders, as opposed to the older SP2 values/distribution.

Bombard doesn't need to be changed, as this isn't a heavy bombardment scenario. In fact there's no pre-mission bombardment of any kind.

Scenario_Data -- loading of this data isn't currently implemented. . We've already entered all the data we need to in the SPCAMO Scenario editor anyway, except for Scenario Length, we have to remember to change that to 9.

Now we come to the hard part.

Open up SPCAMO_Units.csv and SP2_Stock_SSI_064.DAT_Units.csv

We're going to have to transfer the following values over from SP2 to SPCAMO CSV files:

XLOC
YLOC
Facing1
Facing2

These control the location on the map and the facing of the units. The other stuff we don't care about. We'll just go with SPCAMO values for unit experience, etc.

Don't forget to copy the XLOC/YLOC of transport units over to the units that they carry!

A suggestion -- in the SPCAMO CSV file, highlight the fields you're gonna edit with something bright, like yellow cell backgrounds, so that when you copy the values from the SP2 CSV, they'll overwrite the formatting and make it easy to remember "I changed that."

https://i.imgur.com/QCSH8ul.png

Some of the stuff, we'll have to do by hand, such as:

Loading Units onto Transports as the transport code is a bit complicated -- best not to muck that up.

Placing 'extra' units -- I ended up with about 6 extra T-55AM over the ones in the SP2 scenario, so I'll have to place them by hand.

So we close our CSV files after saving.

###############################################

Step 4: Load your CSV edits into your SPCAMO scenario

This is where it gets tricky.

Start up SP_Unified_Dumper_v2-2.exe again.

Select

And the type -- MBT or WW2. Hit enter.

Wait.

It will take a while as the form of CSV loading I chose is easy to implement in python but very slow. Likewise, editing 1,000s of individual bits is slow. I can implement a faster, less computationally intensive solution, but it's good for now.

You'll see a line go:

Leader Section Done and Waiting for you to load and resave in SPCAMO (Scenario 998)

Go into SPCAMO_SCEN and you'll see a new file.

spMBTscn0998.dat It's bigger than 999, because it has an uncompressed section in it.

Copy that file to your MBT Scenario directory.

Load it in SPCAMO, move a unit around or wriggle and resave in the same scenario slot (998).

Copy that resaved file from MBT Scenario directory to SPCAMO_SCEN and overwrite your old 998.

Hit enter in the python console window.

VLOCs Done and Waiting for you to load and resave in SPCAMO (Scenario 997)

You now have a new file -- spMBTscn0997.dat Do the same (Copy to SP MBT directory, load in WinMBT, move around, resave, copy back.)

Units/Bombardment Done and Waiting for you to load and resave in SPCAMO (Scenario 996)

Repeat with spMBTscn0996.dat

Unit X/Y Locations Done and Waiting for you to load and resave in SPCAMO (Scenario 995)

Repeat with spMBTscn0995.dat

DONE WITH EVERYTHING! WAITING FOR YOUR INPUT

Ok, and that's it. It's all now loaded into your game.

We now change the game length to 9 turns; as well as do final chrome (placing "extra" units), loading troops onto transports, etc saving in a final scenario slot, etc.

-------------------BIG NOTE:---------------
If you buy a new unit -- if you forgot to buy a transport APC for a HQ, and you buy one -- it makes all the unit facings zero out. :-(

So carefully plan your purchases and OOBs before you do the whole "uploading" to the SPCAMO dat.

Re: Blitzkrieg Banzai? (SP1 Conversion)
 

https://i.imgur.com/MkHg30G.png

1995 vs 2020...

Re: Blitzkrieg Banzai? (SP1 Conversion)
 

Another slight modification of the SP2 Good Day My Brother scenario.

Changes: A few more units to each side, for balance reasons.

Re: Blitzkrieg Banzai? (SP1 Conversion)
 

looking into implementing SPWW2 version 2 to 2.2 dumping, since while all the official stuff was ported forward, some user created stuff got "lost", like cyberboard scenarios (I hand converted one scenario years ago).

Re: Blitzkrieg Banzai? (SP1 Conversion)
 

SP2WW2 works fine, since it's basically SP2 with EXE hacks to display icons.

Running into some weird issues with some SPWW2 early stuff meriting investigation further.

Re: Blitzkrieg Banzai? (SP1 Conversion)
 

I redownloaded all the Cyberstratege CDROMs and pulled stuff from them, Some nice gems like a SP2 Campaign with the French in Bosnia!

Re: Blitzkrieg Banzai? (SP1 Conversion)
 

I can easily dump SP2WW2 and SPWW2 v2.2 stuff, but there is a proviso.

(once again), you will need a a copy of SP2WW2 / SPWW2 v2.2 because some files I've found are in corrupt/nonstandard formats.

Basically, trying to dump them direct from the cyberstratege CD images throws all sorts of errors...BUT if you load them and then resave them in SP2WW2/SPWW2v2.2; they dump correctly.

:confused:

version 2.2 -- 109~ MB

The SP2WW2 and SPWW2 v2.2x stuff is under SP2 for now.

Also added some more stuff to the scenario collections.

EDIT: Just did a small update to v2.3 now.

What I did in this was I started to clean up the user input; to add more error trapping in the program to make it more user friendly and not error out if you push "a" instead of "1" in a menu screen...

4.6 MB ZIP

Re: Blitzkrieg Banzai? (SP1 Conversion)
 

So here are the basic OB11 changes from SP2 and SPMBT for conversions:

SP2 --- --- --- SPMBT
Mi-24 Hind-A --- Mi-24A
Mi-24 Hind-D --- Mi-24D
Mi-24 Hind-D --- Mi-24D
Mi-24 Hind-E --- Mi-24V

FO Vehicles
SP2 --- --- --- SPMBT
ACRV-2 --- --- MT-LBu 1V12

Self Propelled Guns
SP2 --- --- --- SPMBT
SO-120 Anona --- --2S9 Nona-S
SO-122 Gvozdika --- 2S1 Gvozdika
SO-152 Akatsiya --- 2S3 Akatsiya / 2S3M Akatsiya / 2S3M1 Akatsiya

Fixed/Mounted SAM
SA-2 Guideline --- S-75 Dvina
SA-3 Goa --- --- S-125 Neva / S-125 Neva M
SA-4 Ganef --- --- Krug A / Krug M
SA-6 Gainful --- Kub / Kub M1
SA-8 Gecko --- Osa / Osa AK / Osa AKM
SA-9 Gaskin --- Strela-1 / Strela-1M
SA-13 Gopher --- Strela-10SV / Strela-10M/ Strela-10M3 / Strela-10Gyurza
2S6 Tunguska --- 2S6 Tunguska

Manportable ATGMs
Sagger Team --- Malutka Team / Malutka-P Team
Saxhorn Team (AT-7 Saxhorn) --- Metis Team
Metis Team (AT-13 Metis-M) --- Metis-M Team
Spigot Team (AT-4A) --

Su-7B Fitter-A --- Su-7B / Su-7BM
Su-7B Fitter-A --- Su-7B / Su-7BM
Su-7B Fitter-A --- Su-7B / Su-7BM
Su-17 Fitter-C --- Su-17M
Su-17 Fitter-C --- Su-17M
Su-17 Fitter-D --- Su-17M2
Su-20 Fitter-C --- Export version of Su-17M