Its a long time ago, but I cannot recall any members of the CodeGroup being able to reproduce any of the problems you raised, and nobody else reported the same problems in this forum.
This may have been operating system and video card related, but some of us were using fairly old PCs.

To be honest I am not interested in OAW, and I do not use it. That is because since 1.28c we have used the "Dir.set" system that made OAW redundant.
As you know I did apply it to the FXExe folder, but simply as a means of making it tidier.
However, in order to besure I just ran OAWUnified after copying a "Default05.msn" file which was in the "savedata" folder and naming the copy "Copy.msn", so there were two files in the folder
Clicking "Del MSN" deleted the "Default05.msn" file but not the copy. That confirmed that it was working properly, and that it would not delete any files that were not "DefaultXY.msn"
"Savedata" is a major limitation in EAW1.2, and your FXExe has inherited it. In the 1.28 development Ralf was able to make the exe create individual "savedata" folders in theatre folders, with slot folders in them.
The exe would use them instead of the default "savedata".This made life a lot easier.
In addition we developed the multiplayer code so that the host was picking the target and bases, and not the exe.This meant that some of the problems you mention are eliminated.

Keep battling

I can't see users making a sensible selection from a list which I assume contains all 300+ targets for both sides, unless you don't mind taking off from enemy bases and/or attack friendly targets. But then again I don't know what you or Ralph have done. If players can work with it then i can't see any problem with it, on the other hand I can see it may need some knowledge as to where the frontline is and that ULM is on the right side of it when selected.

Inspite of this the .MSN files are still vital to the game and it's more about these files not having been present or even created for specific addons. The use of OAW was also abandoned by the Launchpad shortly after August 2005 in favor of fully automated selections as in 1.2 because it was quick and easy for the players and full of fun surprises. It doesn't take away the fact that when theatres change, the savedata folder also needs to change, if only for offline games. Ofcourse the chances of failure increase exponentially with the number of players, as each one could have a corrupt .MSN file in their game, which would usually be the guy hundreds of miles from the target.

You can not test this stuff by flying a single plane in just one mission, the test lies in swapping theatres constantly and test all 29 missions to see if it survives the test. Your online workaround may work well for online selections and bypass the problems experienced with OAW back in 2005 but your recent posts suggests that the files are still in use, either online, offline or both. And when you say "This meant that some of the problems you mention are eliminated." actually means "This meant that some of the problems you mention remain."

For EAWPRO all Savedata problems were solved by having specific files for each addon seperately, as I think was intended for OAW too but never was realised other then allowing the deletion of so called ''rogue'' .MSN files, but it's never been about the deletion of these files, it's been about these files not being present for addons which required their own set. It's still not any different today to my knowledge, no matter how the target selection is done. EAW is incapable of creating default*****.MSN files for addons which have altered frontlines and moved targets. When old files are still there or none are present there is a chance of working fine but there's at least a 50% chance it won't.

This problem is not hardware related, it's been tested with computers from Win98 up to Win10 which all had various hardware onboard, and I'm certain even the 3D Windower will behave the same. I know it's a timeconsuming test to do all 29 planes in various theatres, both online and offline but it did give results which could be verified in the code. Once again it's no longer my problem and i've told you what I can to help. I don't know if it still applies to your version but it did apply to all versions of OAW in 2005 and later, and it still applies to v1.2 and EAWPRO.

Mod on!

VonBeerhofen

Thats why we use a map with a frontline, bases in red and targets in blue

The DAW theatre


Right clicking and dragging from top left to bottom right selects a smaller area. I just did that with the ETO map
When the mouse is close to a target or base the name shows

The selection is automatically pasted into the eaw.ini

============================
[NETOPTION]
Year=2
SkillLevel=2
MissionType=3
BattleSize=0
TimeOfDay=3
Weather=1
NoAI=0
StartOnGround=1
AllowRespawn=1
AI_PlaneUpdateRate=350
PlayerPlaneUpdateRate=35
ClockSyncRate=140
Sleep=400
Target=210
FriendlyPrimaryHB=137
FriendlySecondaryHB=137
EnemyPrimaryHB=49
EnemySecondaryHB=49
FriendlySecondaryPL=10
EnemyPrimaryPL=24
EnemySecondaryPL=22
============================

That's the weirdest frontline I've seen besides my own but I can't make out which side is Allied and which is Axis or which place corresponds with your targetlist, forgive my history ignorance. I wouldn't really know that from the 2nd drawing either but my history on that part of the world is a lot better and tells me that the Axis forces are probably in the South. As I said, if it works for you,

VBH

That is the standard frontline in the Desert Air War release years ago- it is not mine.It was also Used for "Malta" and several other North African/Mediterranean theatres
The other is the 1940 ETO frontline from 1.2, but using a selected area of the ETO theatre

Well I found that DAW frontline so intriguing that I tried it in EAWPRO with the .MSN files I had in the folder (no changed targetset) and ofcourse a few hangars CTD'ed. I quickly fixed one of them with the LOAD option and flew the mission. It was good fun. Not historically accurate in my theatre but it worked. It'll probably screw up the online area selections but they can be fixed easily too. Not that it is in my interest though but an interesting testcase. I just feel that historical accuracy should remain part of my game, as in the sets I created sofar. I've always liked DAW once I got it working.

VBH

Here is a possibility

I had an old adaptation of Malta with a different frontline running with OAW and 1.26e
It had bases close enough for groundstarts, so it was a non historical version for a bit of online fun
As it was a single folder I decided to get it working with the FXExe
All I needed to do was to write a tile converter to produce a set of DAW tiles with FXExe names so that we see desert tiles and not the default FXExe ones.
Here are the before and after shots



It worked

This is a screenie:



If you want any of this stuff I am happy to make it available

This is what I had loaded:




.. and this is my tidy folder with nothing loaded

A tile conversion batch file was included in the folder Mr. Jelly. EAWPRO handles complete targetsets and .DAT files just fine and there's no real obstacle to import any previously made addon. However all 3DZ's use rewritten routines which may cause planes and groundobjects to display different. These models, usually coming from another Microprose game, need to be properly adapted to EAW standards and the new capabillities EAWPRO has to offer. Although perhaps not immediately visible I also changed the way the hitbubble table functions, in that it made the people sprites work independent from the table so more objects could be used. A more recent change changes the function of how TMOD**_L is used, it's become a 2ndary destroyed model which will show at the same time as TMOD**_D, which means that in the Malta addon all TMOD**_L have to be erased or replaced if you want to see the full destroyed object. I probably forgot a thing or two but all in all there's still a lot of work to do for a good conversion but when done properly new possibillities can be added to the addon, like glass groundobjects, animated ground objects, 4 or 5 extra ground models, the full use uf palettes on wire objects with or without luminescence, plus a full set of 2ndary destruction models.
I probably forgot a thing or two here as well but there's plenty of playground created within every converted addon to keep many a modder busy for weeks. I should know because I also converted Pacific Tide III and it's not even finished yet.

I hope you caught your fish, Mr. Jelly, You can release your conversion tool for anyone who thinks it's usefull, I'm not interested much in converting addons from someone else's making, I'd rather create something entirely new with what I have lying around already, like Italy, Japan and Suez and perhaps even use Col. G's groundmodels, since it seems a shame to not give them a proper place in EAW.

VonBeerhofen

There are over 400 different ground models available in the 1.6 download. Look in the expanded European target set which include just about all of Col. Gibbon's various TMOD's.

The FXExe is good piece of work, within some constraints of the original 1.2
With a hard coded TMod table with just over 70 TMods and no chance to use TMod.dat files one has to be choosy.
Jel

You nailed it Mr.Jelly, that's what it's been all about, to create a good piece of work and learn new ways of doing things in the game. I think that with it's standard user interface and the fact it's AI are murderous are a guarantee for success.

I don't think you understand me very well Rotton, I want the stuff that isn't in 1.60 and the stuff that isn't working. I think Mark has most of it already and the Col. was kind enough to hand me the Dreadnaught for fixing.

[img]http://www.zeus-software.com/forum/download/file.php?id=600[/img]
[img]http://www.zeus-software.com/forum/download/file.php?id=599[/img]

If you also have something you can't fix, send it to me and perhaps it'll find it's way in there too,
It's going to be a superblast, I promise.


VonBeerhofen

Of course I understand you.

You said - "perhaps even use Col. G's groundmodels, since it seems a shame to not give them a proper place in EAW."

And I said that there are hundreds of TMOD's, including many of Col. Gibbon's creations in the expanded European package available in 1.6.

What I didn't say, because it seems self-evident, is that you could download the 1.6 package, extract the TMOD's and then delete what you don't need.

It would be a pretty simple way to get exactly what you want.

Are you implying that from the 400 objects in the download app. half isn't working? Now that is interesting news to me, not sure if I have the time to fix that many but I'll see what I can do,

VonBeerhofen

Where did you dredge up the idea that half of the TMOD's aren't working?

I never said anything even remotely like that.

What I said is that there are hundreds of TMOD models in the 1.6 package. If you don't want the 1.6 series clogging up your hard drive that's fine but you could download the package, extract the TMOD's and then delete the rest of the package.

Pretty simple concept.

Is what I wrote, to which you replied you can get exactly that from 1.60

Sorry if you misunderstood what I wrote,

VonBeerhofen

You also said that you were thinking of including Col. Gibbon's ground models.

I replied that they are in the 1.6 package. Don't forget. most of his models had defects of one type of another. R/S issues, wrong sizing, missing damage models and such. All of the defects were taken care of before they were included in the 1.6 package.

Thus, if you want the best of Col. Gibbon's TMOD's they are in the 1.6 package not on his web page.

Or you could start from scratch with his originals and replicate the work already done.

In addition, there are also a lot of TMOD's from other contributors that are just as important. Dams, trains, vehicles, water towers, ships, barges, docks, bridges, rail lines and well, just ton's and tons of excellent models in the package. In fact, your stone bridge and a railroad crossing are in the mix.

You would have to pick carefully because of the 72 TMOD limit inherent in your exec's but I dare say you would be pleasantly surprised with the quality of the models and should be able to put together a decent package.

Is there a SimHQ Moderator that knows what EAW actualy is that can divide up this thread and moved the OT posts to there own thread?
EDIT: A Forum Moderator chimed in to help, but I think I'll leave the thread alone, thank you moderator for your assistants.

Now that OT topics branched out and left me on page 6, could you guys check my draft of my Work in Progress Help Document for MISSIONS:

https://eaw.neocities.org/eaw-missions.html


If you see any mistakes or something that should be expanded, that be neat if you could fill me in. Thanks.

Mission Help Document has been filled in, but its lacking of course, and needs some rewrites. The Code Group version of the help doc (as I do write some topics on the CCVersionsof EAW) is very much WIP.

Any suggestions and info/details would be help full, please.

The new MSN file system we use in 160 special is based on the 1.2 version with changes.
The bytes relating to mission data are exactly in the same places as they were in the 1.2 version.
The file has been extended, so the short description which was early in the old file is no longer used.
The version and CRC check is disabled in the exes that use these files.




The extended part has:
The theatre at byte 401 (counting from 1 and not zero)
The planeset at bye 465
A description starting at byte 529 including the year, mission type, target, base and aircraft involved.
Multiplayer friendly secondary, enemy primary and enemy secondary bases at bytes 721 to 726
The whole file is 800 bytes as opposed to the 1.2 version which is 400 bytes.

Several data items which were there, but unused in the 1.2 version, have been made use of in the 160Special exes.
These exes read the loaded MSN file and start a single mission almost instantly. The only screens used are the pilot map screen and the debriefing screen at the end of the mission.