Scenario Generator for Waterloo Testing

I cretaed the scenario with the SG in excel, went to the game switched SG mod "on", left the game and came back to test the scenario in SP and MP, once with each side.

Kept it simple stock map and OOB.

When the SG mod is "on" overrites commanders' names for non-SG scenarios. As I see it, that is not a mayor problem, the SG mod works as a switcher ON/OFF depending on which type of game will be played.

But maybe there can be another issues ussing the SG scenarios in our multiplayer games, Kevin will have to enlighten us.

I guess just the host will have to put the SG mod ON.

Are there any tweaks in the files that are needed?

I would like to start doing scenarios, and I don't want to get the hated "bad frame in package" or any other avoidable bug.

Hi pepe, thanks for the feedback.

Please test if it works in MP when the clients dont have the mod.
There should not be any relation to the bad framing issue.
You can always let the mod be switched on. There shouldnt be any problems with other scenarios or stock battles.
What do you mean with "overwrites non-SG commanders names"?

Stefan

What do you mean with "overwrites non-SG commanders names"?

That happens with all non SG scenarios.

It seems that with the SG mod, all the names of units and commanders are taken from the last save of the SG.

Yesterday I made a scenario British vs French, and today I made one with the only Prussian OOB, launched yesterday's scenario and I had british sprites with prussians names and I was Wellington sprite but my name was Thielmann.

The French commanders changed their names also.

I have the same experience as Pepe and have drawn the same conclusions. The SG mod must be active when playing one of my own SG creations but turned off when playing stand-alone either one of Kevin's SG-generated battles or an SoW MP stock game. It's not a huge problem since the work-around isn't too oppressive, but is an extra step to get proper commander's names.

Stefan wrote:Please test if it works in MP when the clients dont have the mod.

I haven't been able to test with another player and, at first, had the same concern -- but since have reasoned that having or not having SG on other players' computers shouldn't be a problem. After all, when Kevin fires up one of his SG weekend scenarios, it is only necessary that the host has the scenario file. So (my thinking goes), it will only be necessary that the SG and settings be installed and set correctly on the host's machine. (At least I hope so, as this is how my Sunday scheduled battle will be played).  

As I said earlier, trying to adapt the SG to MyGui is a mistake. It will do nothing but cause problems. If NSD ever wants to see mods from anyone except the most dedicated, they need to dump that turkey and replace it with something more usable. In the meantime, Stefan, I recommend you implement the changes I suggested in a previous post. That will create scenarios with the least amount of extra work and frustration for the author.

If the MP test fails, then I will do as Kevin suggested. If it works in MP, then I will opt for keeping all features of the Scenario Generator, but you would have to turn the SG Mod off if you play any other scenarios.

Pepe and I just attempted a test of an SG-generated scenario from the SoWWL Mods folder. Pepe hosted (with his SG Mod active) and I joined with an inactive SG mod. Unfortunately, it didn't work (my commanders were reduced to "#0-1" and the like). We then retested with my own SG mod also active. This time I had commander names -- but Pepe's commanders were overwritten by those from my own latest saved SG file. Later today/evening we will try again, this time with Pepe sending me his saved SG files used to create his scenario. These will be loaded into my SG folder and my mod activated. I expect this will work, but would be a quite cumbersome work-around in real life MP gaming. We'll see, and report back. ;-)

Update: Our latest experiment worked after I loaded the SG folder saved by Pepe when he created the battle.

This means, under the current configuration, the host in a conventionally built SG battle will need to zip up his SG folder (after saving the latest iteration of the scenario), stash it in Dropbox or the like, and share the link with all players that day. Players will, in turn, download & unzip it to their SoWWL mods folder, activate the SG mod, and restart the game.

When I hit the >> Create OOB Info including numbers << button, for the tab OOB_Info_2 I don't get the number of guns, the batteries are there but no guns added.

Ok thanks for testing MP. Current work-around is way too cumbersome. I will therefor change to what Kevin suggested earlier.

Updated Build. See 1st post for Download link.

- Installation is now the same as in GB. Just in the Scenarios folder. No need to activate a Mod anymore. In MP, only the hosts needs to have the scenario files!
- Note that duplicate units are labelled exactly the same now. You cannot see a difference in the name anymore
- Supply wagons names are still in brackets {}, but readable.

I would be glad if some of you can give me feedback on these things:
1) Importing Custom OOBs does still work?
2) Adding more custom maps including minimap picture does work?
3) Carry-over does still work?
4) Any other thing that doesn't work

I can add some of the most popular KS Mod OOBs (like 3 or 4) to be directly included in the Generator - Any suggestions?

Thanks
Stefan

Many thanks for posting, Stefan. Will give it a try.

Martin (J)

I've been planning to adapt my Plancenoit scenario to this version of SG (from our battle a few weeks ago), so now I can push ahead. This time around the KS Custom OOBs will be used (stock OOBs were used the first time). I'll turn the AI loose on itself and let you know how it plays.

Thanks again for all your work on this extraordinary tool. Hope you'll be able to join us soon to fully enjoy the fruits of your labors. The battles Kevin, Pepe and others have created using the SG are truly a blast.  

I created a scenario without problems which we used today. Custom OOBs and added maps work fine. The couriers are now numbered correctly. Custom unit selection works. We do not use ammo wagons in the KS battles so I did not test that. All in all, very good.

There are still a couple of issues.
The corps and division commanders should use the default formations they have listed in the OOB and not from the stock OOB. This has to be changed for each scenario.
The division commander should use the Class listed in the custom OOB and not the stock OOB. This too must always be changed.

I find this tool better than the NSD scenario editor for the kind of battles we fight. Being able to set the composition of the divisions and have the program randomly select the units is an extremely useful feature. Even better, if I don't like the armies the program chooses, I can just keep pressing the Create Scenario button until I get what I want.

I've run the revitalized Plancenoit scenario twice through (AI v AI) using the new SG. All seemed to go well except that the replay file crashes Kevin's Replay Viewer v1.10 at File Open. The replay does run OK using SoWWL's in-game viewer.

The crash is due to the courier IDs. When I create a scenario, I replace the courier ID, name and class with the appropriate one from the OOB. There are several created by the SG, but they can all have the same ID.

Yep, that works. Thanks, Kevin.

Thanks guys for the quick feedback!

WJPalmer wrote:Thanks again for all your work on this extraordinary tool. Hope you'll be able to join us soon to fully enjoy the fruits of your labors. The battles Kevin, Pepe and others have created using the SG are truly a blast.  

Thanks Ron! Believe me, I also miss it, and I will join you as soon as domestic policies allow for it again  

Kevin wrote:here are still a couple of issues.
The corps and division commanders should use the default formations they have listed in the OOB and not from the stock OOB. This has to be changed for each scenario.

What I could do, is to add a field where you can set the Corps and inf/cav/art Div formations for your CUSTOM OOBs. It will not recognize those automatically.

Kevin wrote:The division commander should use the Class listed in the custom OOB and not the stock OOB. This too must always be changed.

This I don't understand. You can set the Div classes for your CUSTOM OOB already. Doesn't it work?

Kevin wrote:
The crash is due to the courier IDs. When I create a scenario, I replace the courier ID, name and class with the appropriate one from the OOB. There are several created by the SG, but they can all have the same ID.

Is it only the ID? What value should it be then?

@Mike: I didn't change the regiments setup order yet.

KR
Stefan

What I could do, is to add a field where you can set the Corps and inf/cav/art Div formations for your CUSTOM OOBs. It will not recognize those automatically.

I don't understand why these are not read from the OOB.  The formations for brigades and battalions are read from there.

This I don't understand. You can set the Div classes for your CUSTOM OOB already. Doesn't it work?

The custom OOB appendix page is password protected.  Again why not just read this from the OOB as all the other classes.

Is it only the ID? What value should it be then?

Welcome to the wonderful world of MyGui, compliments of NSD.  Since the ID, "O-1_courier" is not in the OOB xml file, it does not recognize this and substitutes "##{O1courier}" for the name of the unit.  This is read as an error by my csv parser.

Stefan, I apologise in advance for hijacking this thread. Your SG is excellent and has given us many hours of great games and great scenarios.

However...

Have you any influence with Norb? Please try to make the time to join us for a HITS and couriers WL game. The sheer levels of frustration MyGUI has given this game is driving us all mad. Really, its that bad. MyGUI was easily the worst decision of Norb's game development career. Someone in the team needs to make Norb aware of this.

I personally am on the point of going back to the KS Nap Mod for Gettysburg because its simply a joy to play vs the anger-management test that accompanies every MP HITS game of WL.

Please trust me. I'm not exaggerating. There is no way the team tested this in MP with HITS and couriers. If they had, they would never have released it.