Modding Help

Posted: Fri Oct 02, 2009 10:56 am

Hey, I'm new to this forum and to modding, so I thought I'd ask for some tips and ideas. I'm currently working on re-balancing, or rather unbalancing, A&A. I'm trying to make the game more realistic. For example, the flamethrower now has a slightly increased range, can target more than one person per attack, and has a damage bonus vs. infantry making it much easier to kill infantry with it, as it should be. Also, German tanks have more armor, and are more powerful.

But anyways, I thought I'd ask here if anyone has any modding tips or ideas for what I should do. I'm going to need all the help I can get, so please feel free to speak up. Very Happy

I posted on triplethreatclan to see if there were any finished parts of the Art of War mod that I could use, but haven't gotten a response yet and I got a tip that I should post here. Any help is appreciated.

BTW does anyone know where to find and mod the technologies? I intend to do some adjusting there but haven't found the file yet.

Posted: Fri Oct 02, 2009 1:24 pm

German supply give 1 ammo and 1 oil more than other nation's supply. USA supply gives 1 less.

SAS cost $125.

Upgrade for flame inf of the US, so they can kill more morale.

Posted: Fri Oct 02, 2009 2:04 pm

ya, and make a lot of things differnt. b/c its the same thing every time. recons to take citys, then commados or havys if u have jap, sas if u have brit, or mech if u have anyone else. then artys. all the time. I HATE IT!!! make a lot of things differnt!

Sergeant (SGT) Joined: Apr 29, 2009 Posts: 99

hehe tazmani8a ur funny saying that it dont happen everytime but there are many ways to bypass this when i was doing my mod i used tech levels and 3 basic tech, medium tech, Advanced tech. also you can set unit limits so like 5 recons allowed at once 10 infantry reges and so on i had htis on my mod also and made the game chnage more to a tatical stragy then rushes

Posted: Fri Oct 02, 2009 7:44 pm

Ya well what i mean is that the allmost the same thing happends all the time. anything to change that would be nice. like makeing artys bad and medium tanks good. u know so ppl will buy other stuff.

Posted: Sat Oct 03, 2009 12:04 am

thanks for all the replies, i'll take them into consideration. but this is mainly a realism mod, so i will draw a line somewhere, although i don't know where yet. Very Happy

updates: just today i figured out how to get corpses to stick around for longer periods of time. this will very likely slow down the game, i don't know how much. first i have to make sure everything else i changed works though. also, currently in progress is the addition of damage bonuses to AT inf and tank destroyers.

about the recon inf: i might lower health and armor ratings, and i think i'll up the cost and recruitment time. about artillery: mostly i've made that MORE effective so far, more or less dependent on the nation. so i'll see what i can do about that, but not sure as of yet.

as to the supply: good idea, i might even do +2 for germany because they had the time to prepare for war. however, they quickly started running out of fuel, which is a main reason why they invaded the caucasus in ukraine. so that may be changed to a negative. as for america, they had oil, just not ammo at first, because of lack of preparation for the most part, although FDR did step it up a bit as he started the Lend-Lease program.

wow long post! thanks again, ill keep you updated, keep posting ideas and tips please!

Posted: Sat Oct 03, 2009 12:06 am

just thought of something for mobile artillery, i might be able to reduce the area of effect, and maybe even accuracy. their damage was good, but they weren't always on target.

Specialist (SPC) Joined: Sep 28, 2009 Posts: 52

King,
Unbalancing occurs with a drop/crash. In order to market this game and send it to the popularity of a BF2, I would do a few things.
1)Map size 720
2)5v5 capability(might make game even laggier but comps keep getting better processors/ram)
3)Drop factor in a 5v5. An increase of units/tents from 20 to 25 in a 5v5. This is so we could keep 120 units/tents per side in case of a drop in a 4v5.
I beleive mods addressing details would better the game but not increase the overall popularity.

Posted: Sat Oct 03, 2009 11:41 am

witchking223 wrote:

BTW does anyone know where to find and mod the technologies? I intend to do some adjusting there but haven't found the file yet.

Properties\properties_technologies.tgi
look forward to checking out the mod when the time comes Smile

Posted: Sat Oct 03, 2009 1:26 pm

Ya 5v5 would be sweet!

Posted: Sat Oct 03, 2009 10:06 pm

this is all way to complicated for my pea brain. it hurts just thinking about it owww.

Bry Embarassed

Sergeant (SGT) Joined: Apr 29, 2009 Posts: 99

a random maps eize can go any size with just 1 little number and also change the spec ops stuff like remove the atomic bomb and repalce with off map arty strike. Also add tiger to 1 unit instead of i think 4 units per regiment and spastic i like ur picture thingy

Posted: Mon Oct 05, 2009 11:50 am

NO dont take the nim away he is fun. but ya make rommel have 4 kings to drop not 4 light tanks

Posted: Mon Oct 05, 2009 12:42 pm

spastic: thanks for the location of properties, i found it and have started to mod that.

ummm, not quite sure how to mod stuff for MP, i'm learning as I go along. but i'll see what i can do.

about the panzer hohle: i think i'll make it 4 tigers, not 4 kings, but i might reconsider that. BTW i'll let you know when i need some playtesters.

another update: i greatly increased how long it takes for corpses to sink away. it seriously took 5 seconds. now most of them take 500 or so. will it make it laggy? at least a little, yes. more realistic? definitely. in other news, i almost doubled the damage from a plane crash, and am currently adding a damage bonus to tank destroyers. also, i'm going to be making SPA slower and cost more, as well as having a longer build time. i haven't figured out yet how to make a limit for units or adjust the pop cap. recon inf will soon be slower (hopefully) and cost more + have longer build time. SAS and marines are now much more effective, and I'm seeing if I can make new units. Yeah, you read that right. NEW UNITS! hopefully I'll have marines recruitable from inf hq and have flamethrower/assault marines, and SAS recruitable from inf hq as well. (obviously for different nations.)

Posted: Mon Oct 05, 2009 12:46 pm

about the a-bomb: i might replace it, i might not. if i don't, ill up the cost and reload time. cuz seriously, the usa only had 2. i tried contacting valdarez on triplethreatclan to see if i could use some of the techs/special ops from art of war if they were finished, but he hasn't gotten back to me yet.

also, i'm thinking about giving every general 5 special ops. well, 4 not including corps reorganization. tell me what you think.

Posted: Mon Oct 05, 2009 4:28 pm

Ya but nim is fun keep him the way he is.

Posted: Mon Oct 05, 2009 5:17 pm

ok, ran into some trouble.

1. created a marine flamethrower regiment, and made it available to inf hq. problems: the name is "[missing string]" (minus quotes) and i cant find the place to rename it. problem 2: it says it requires the tech "marine deployment." where the heck is THAT?! couldn't find it anywhere. so i can't recruit them unless, i beleive, i have a marine battleship. haven't tested that theory yet though.

2. tried to alter panzer hohle. problem: looked in template\ability_special_ops but could only alter the price; looked in Special Ops folder and it said that there was a file in regiments, something like regiments\ger_tank_hohle where i could alter it. only problem: that file doesn't exist. WTH?!?!

3. i'm trying to find a way to make sea transports targetable, but haven't figured out how yet. (yes, i will up the health and/or armor when that happens.)

PLEASE HELP if you have answers to any one of these problems.

those are the problems. good news: just tested flamethrowers, with increased morale depletion, and they are friggin' awesome. each time they kill at least 2 people. plus they devastate morale. the number was 1 before, now it's 2. bodies stick around for a while as well. that didn't slow it down too much, which is good, but the game takes a while to start up and load.

i might get around to putting what i changed into a .rar file next weekend so that i can get some playtesters. so if you want to be a playtester, let me know, but keep in mind i WILL be expecting feedback. NOTE: it won't be this weekend because i'll be out of town, and i'm expecting to work around those problems and update some other crap before i release a beta version to you guys.

anyways, speak up if you can help me out, PLEASE. or if you have suggestions, or if you would like to be a playtester.

Sergeant (SGT) Joined: Apr 29, 2009 Posts: 99

1. to fix mission string there is a file in localization foldr called string_aa

2. its refering to the spec ops folder and then there a regiemts folder and then there is a folder called regiment_ger_tank_hohle.tgi

3. really the people that mad AA were to lazy to add this os transports can only be attacked by the mine thingys unless you add new unit type

Posted: Tue Oct 06, 2009 2:00 am

dude.... you are awesome. thanks a ton. i'll try to fix that stuff and get back to you.

Posted: Tue Oct 06, 2009 1:19 pm

okay, interesting problem just came up when i tested the mod.

using the editor, i set up a scenario where i could potentially recruit the new unit, marine flamethrower regiment. i went to the inf hq at the beginning, and the button was there, but not selectable. (BTW this is after fixing the string.) it says the techs needed are "flamethrower (tech), marine deployment (tech)". so i go to the motor pool and purchase the flamethrower tech, and go back to the inf hq, and the option is GONE. any ideas why?

on the bright side, however, i tested Rommel's Panzer Hohle with tiger tanks instead of the crappy 100 hp medium tanks, and they work fine.