I want to share my way for map exchange

This is the list of all Comanchew Gold missions



Let place the map of the mission 55 Home Free on the mission 03 Air Combat

You will need the program FwO Raven's PFF Utility
http://www.dfreload.com/forum/files.php?action=file&id=135

Open with FwO Raven's PFF Utility the file Resource.pff which is in installed Comanche Gold folder


Each single mission consists of 5 files
For 03 Air Combat C1M3 mission they are:
C1M3.JIM, C1M3.MIS, C1M3.ORD ,C1M3.POS, C1M3.INF
For 55 Home Free C8M1 mission they are:
C8M1.JIM, C8M1.MIS, C8M1.ORD ,C8M1.POS, C8M1.INF

Extract them in 2 folders


The result is



Open C1M3.MIS and C8M1.MIS files with notepad and copy and replace this part of the text from C8M1.MIS wit the similar text in C1M3.MIS


rename all files in C1M3 folder to USER name
USER.JIM, USER.MIS, USER.ORD ,USER.POS, USER.INF


just to be perfect open USER.MIS and USER.ORD

Copy and replace c8m1_c.pcx from USER.MIS over c1m3_c.pcx in USER.ORD


with FwO Raven's PFF Utility create a new pff file with name exchage



with FwO Raven's PFF Utility add to echange.pff file all new USER files



moderate echange.pff to echange.mrf and put it in Comanche Gold directory and


Now you can open it like an user created mission
and the map is changed


you can download and play the above created file
https://www.box.com/s/b1aaa21b1c2e7e4efe9e

video presentation


ufo:-)

Hey i don't know if you've discovered this yet but it's also possible to reverse you method
and rename a .mrf file into .pff and extract the content, edit them and joint them back as a mrf
that way you can make a custom mission that is just as complex, with trigger and sounds like the campaign missions.

Yes it is a true - there is a DavidC99's explanation here

http://simhq.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/3161595/all/Comanche_Gold_Modding_Breakthr.html

and interesting question is whether we can use the above map swapping way to import the maps from armored fist and delta force in comanche ?


ufo

DF1 maps - TEST THEM ALL :-)

These are the new terrains imported from Delta force1 in Comanche Gold

Get the comressed files from the links below , decompress the files , put them in comanche install directory and start with .mrf file like user created mission

01 DFB1
https://www.box.com/s/7819c21131e14df52a37
DFB1


short video presentation



02 DFB2
https://www.box.com/s/113d41fba2140234ec82
DFB2


short video presentation



03 DFB3
https://www.box.com/s/3bbad94ec1f30ff76fc7
DFB3


short video presentation



04 DFB4
https://www.box.com/s/fa060145d4cc74cecbf5
DFB4


short video presentation




05 DFD1
https://www.box.com/s/d8e9587f04ae4250c6d9
DFD1


short video presentation



06 DFD2
https://www.box.com/s/d8294e7cf22569e4129f
DFD2


short video presentation



ufo :-)

Now we have the freedom to use 142 maps for custom mission creation.
Comanche gold - 93 maps,
Armored Fist 2 - 14 maps,
Delta Force 1 - 35 maps.

But in the beginning we had only 10 mission loaded in CG mission editor at all

The first step was DavidC99 idea to exchange the maps in the mission file subsequently,

then flogger83 shared his great idea to insert maps directly in the mission editor

and the last challenge was how to put objects in map which can not
be inserted in the mission editor for example maps from Delta Force 1


There is an indirect way which is suitable for every map.
You will need Gimp - a freeware image viewer/editor.
http://www.gimp.org/downloads/
Why Gimp ? - because Gimp also like CG mission editor
gives the coordinates of every one pixel from the map.



1. get the desired color map and open it with Gimp 1024x1024 pixels





2. create with Gimp a new big white map 8192x8192 pixels and put a
grid over it from 64 squares - 1024x1024 pixels each





3. full all 64 squares with the first color map



now when you move the mouse pointer over the big grid - Gimp shows
the coordinates of the pointer in the lower left corner.



4. open a new mission in CG mission editor and now
when you move the mouse pointer over the map - the editor shows
the coordinates of the pointer in the lower side in the middle.



notice that when you open a new map in CG mission editor
the initial sguare is always 4rth square by X and 4th square by Y in the big grid.



so find the same square in the big grid of the Gimp map and then
both maps will use the same coordinates.



5. choose the place of the object in the first map in Gimp grid and get it's coordinates,
then place the same object with the same coordinates in the second map in the mission editor.


object coordinates in Gimp opened desired map are : 3316 X ; 3423 Y


object coordinates in mission editor are the same : 3317 X ; 3423 Y



After you place all objects and waypoints you have to save the user mission file
and then you have to open it and replace the mission editor map with the desired map.

with few words you choose objects positions in project map then transfer them in mission editor map then create a mission file and at last
you replace the mission editor map in the mission file with the project map .


ufo :-)

These maps will move to a less complicated Editor
for some time to write a program which you will move the map to the editor.

Hello moderasura

It will be very good if you can write some Comanche Gold Mission Editor for easy map exchange

the map moderators and custom mission creators are very few and one of them - DavidC99 wrote

and gave me a TOOL for more complex mission creation.This Tool is a simple program for object edition

With this Tool you can create and change a team of objects and you can command these teams in IF/THEN situations

I have already checked the Tool in my Comanche Gold custom missioms :

N13 "VIOLATOR"
N14 "SAR"
N15 "MEDEVAC"
N16 "PEACEMAKER"

and the Tool works perfect for me.

I know that David will be happy if I share it with everyone who can create new missions for Comanche Gold



Next is a Davids info about his tool:



Download link
https://app.box.com/shared/5sg6kvxxmh

UFO :-)

I am in the process of writing a program where you can edit the map of Delta Force 1 and armored fist 2 + all maps of Comanche gold in the editor

I have no words !

Map Exporter Comanche Gold Editor

will open the door for more custom mission creation :-)

ufo

The whole design of the program is limited to loading maps to the editor of all the missions in Comanche Gold it is so far the only solution ...
The Comanche Gold PCX files are compressed header (LZP1) and there is no mozliowsci load them to the Editor
What is needed is Compresor decompressor PCX file

Map exchange method from flogger83 - allows to overcome the "10 maps" limitation of the Mission Editor

He replaces the maps in Comanche Gold Mission Editor with Hexeditor




look here too

Wow. People are still doing stuff with this!

A simple editor for changing maps in the Comanche 3 Gold Editor ...
Program Copy to the main game directory ...
I do not know if everything works well

EXE
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1gUD7Wbsu6TZ702F5NKHhgEwYoetoMv3V/view?usp=sharing

MisFiles
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1KecAEETRX53vW2S0Wf5KfQsXdqQqz4ss/view?usp=sharing

hello moderasura

thank you for your work

in my test your mission editor starts but it does not saves the results of the map exchange or it is not connected with comanche gold mission editor, please check these things

[img]https://app.box.com/s/7xlvmed2knc310i0k439u0flloooa80a[/img]

ufo

It is important that the program is in the main folder with the game.

The name of the map can be any, just enter your name of the map and select the map type in the combobox and it should work

Do not tweak the main editor before making changes to my program

You start my editor, make the appropriate changes and save

Then you run the editor and it should work

Remember that the comanche gold editor may not be running, my program modifies the exe file, and if Editor.exe is running, my program will not have rights to modify it.

hi moderasura
i put your unrared editor and the folder with the missions in comanche gold folder, then I start your editor and I modify the name in the left box and the mission in the right box and press the button save on the bottom , then I open comanche gold editor and there in the options for missions there is no new option with modified value as you can see on the picture on the my previous post
where I make a mistake?

ufo

What is your win7 system? try with admin rights to run the program

everything works for me

Do not run the editor before making changes in my editor

hello moderasura

I use Windows 10 64bits

You were right.It works well with admin rights Thank you very much!!!

Please, is it possible to include and the other options like a sky , sun, clouds and terrain pcx in your editor?

ufo

I think I can, from what I remember, do it in other c ++ projections..
I have not buried it for a long time but there was something connected with the clouds

Hi there !
I know I won't move for a while, but it's been a year since and I still plan on finding a way to accurately overcome the basic editor's limitations.
The idea is to be able to change the units behavior, to extend the IA capability (the range of units available), and especially, to be able to keep that in the editor or at least to save changes to be able to still work on the mission with the editor before this filter. This would require to recognize patterns even if some units get removed from the editor to apply the same changes.

If someone also work on this, maybe we should make a git or something with all our sources ?
Additionally, do we have a full documentation about CGold Modding somewhere, like wiki-style, in which we could trackback the "reverse enginering" some already did here ?

Hello FatCatProject

All about Comanche Gold user Mission and Map creating is said in the above topic and in other 4 topics

Comanche Gold Modding Breakthrough -- Triggers
http://SimHQ.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/3161595/all/comanche-gold-modding-breakthrough-triggers

Comanche Gold - TODAY - Possibilities
http://SimHQ.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/3165416/all/comanche-gold-today-possibilities

Comanche Gold - Custom Missions - Checkpoint
http://SimHQ.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/3161632/all/comanche-gold-custom-missions-checkpoint

Comanche Gold - A (kind of late) Christmas present to all CG fans
http://SimHQ.com/forum/ubbthreads.p...stmas-present-to-all-cg-fans#Post3481430


The leaders in maps innovation are DavidC99, Flogger83, TriMetall and now Moderasura

The first main defect of the Comanche Gold mission editor was "10 map limitation". It is already overcome outside with text editing and now inside the mission editor,
The second disadvantage of the Comanche Gold mission editor was " absence of the area or event triggers" also overcome but by indirect way outside the mission editor. The important part of the triggers is DavidC99 Tool . With it you can create groups of objects which can be manipulated with triggers.
And The third is that only limited part of the military objects are included in the mission editor partly overcome outside the editor.

By The Way - I am sill waiting for another great custom mission from you!!!


Ufo :-)

Hello! I know this is a *very* old thread, I am hoping there are still some people available here who could help me with this. I have been able to follow much of this thread, but I am trying to open and modify vanilla maps. I have gotten as far as extracting the relevant _c color and _d height map .PCX files from the resource.pff but am unable to use them as they seem compressed. I have also tried to decompress them with Charles Bloom's LZP1 algorithm but to no success.

Has anyone found a way to restore the vanilla campaign maps to a readable format? Thanks!

Hello Hoizen,
Welcome here in the Comanche Gold mission creators zone
Terrain building is different than mission creation in which we use only
these 93 terrains from Comanche Gold, 14 terrains from Armored fist2
and 35 terrains from Delta force. We can split the terrain to its parts:
landscape, colour of it, sky colour, clods, sun, or stars in day or night mode,
landscape shape light modding
We can rejoin these parts in new unic combination and mak new unic mission scenario.
I have no info wih which program the terrains are built.

all best
ufo ;-}

Thank you for the response!

When you describe splitting the terrain and landscape shape modding, does this mean we can make modifications to the terrain features of the 93 existing terrains from GC? If I am understanding correctly. How is that done?

Combining these parts for a mission makes sense, as we can change which files each part points to like using the clouds from one mission but the terrain from a different one. But I wonder if we can make changes within these individual files (i.e. modify the terrain to add a new mountain or recolor only some of the map to be grass or dirt etc)

The terrain textures (_d.pcx height maps and _c.pcx color bitmaps) are most likely generated by a node graph program like World Machine. I'm not sure what program would have been available prior to 1998, but I can't imagine they did them by hand in an image editor.

Thanks for the help

Hi Hoizen,

This is an example of the mission file from the mission Blackout
You can exchange the parts of the first 9 lines / from c5m2_c.pcx to SUN.3DO/
and alter the values of the next 7 lines / from Star Field Data to RGB/

the existing terrain moderation could be done from the line Terrain Scale bits
there is a choice between 3 variables which can change the terrain from more flat to more steep or deep

as you can see this mission is generated with a program RMC v.9C



;vC3
;Mission: C5M2
;Owner : Keith Butler
;File generated by RMC v.9C
;File format: Comanche III
;
desert ;Terrain cammo type (snow, desert, green)
c5m2_c.pcx ;1024x1024 color map
c5m2_d.pcx ;1024x1024 elevation map
c5m2_m.pcx ;1024x1024 character map
clifmapd.pcx ;16x16x256 character displacement (128 nominal)
clifmaps.pcx ;16x16x256 character shader (128 nominal)
clifmapc.pcx ;16x16x256 character color (0 transparent)
clouds01.pcx ;Cloud Layer ('-' is no clouds)
skygrad1.pcx ;Sky Palette
SUN.3DO ;Moon-Sun Object ('-' is no sun/moon)
- ;Star Field Data ('-' is no stars)
80 ;Sun Slope
800 ;Lowest Elevation (in feet, zero is sea level)
1600 ;Cloud Layer (in feet)
20 ;Terrain Scale bits (19=192ft, 20=384ft, 21=768ft)
128,126 ;Gamma, Saturation
128,126,128 ;RGB
500 ;Cannon Rounds
0 ;Rockets
2 ;Stingers(255 max)
5 ;Hellfire(255 max)
2 ;Artillery(255 max)
1 ;Wingmen(255 max)
0 ;SideWinders(255 max)
1 ;Line Of Sight (0=FALSE 1=TRUE)
0 ;Show EFAMS (0=FALSE 1=TRUE)
A ;Music
0 ;Mission Type (0=COop 1=Melee)
0 ;COPILOT (0=YES 1=NO)
20 ;Ideal Altitude
425 ;Magic Pal Number
19 ;Obj Weight
0 ;Future Use
0 ;Future Use
<
;
;<<----------------Data Begins---------------->>
;.AI Files to Load
player
stinger
dustboom
wetboom
smoke
rocket
hellfire
tracer
dirthit
nukeboom
startpos
airboom
chunk
fire
deadcopt
trail
deadcoma
APACHE
ARROW
DEADARTI
BMP-2
DEADBMP2
HANGAR2D
DEADBLDG
HANGAR_D
DEADBLDG
HIND
M1A2
DEADTANK
USFLAG
RDRTWR
DEADRTWR
SA9
DEADSA9
SOCK
T80
DEADT80
WEREWOLF
COMTWR
DEADCTWR
OILTANK
DEADOIL
WTWR
DEADWTWR
M3
DEADM3
CACTUS
DISH2
DEADDSH2
WINGMAN
HAVOC
GASTANKS
DEADGTNK
PAD
DEADBLDG
HANGAR_V
DEADBLDG
BLDG1
DEADBLDG
BLDG2
DEADBLDG
BLDG4
DEADBLD5
C5M2-2
DEADBLDG
C5M2-3
DEADBLDG
C5M2-4
DEADBLDG
SATBASE
DEADSAT1
SATDISH
DEADSAT2
2S6M
DEAD2S6M
JOSH
<
;---------> Wind Data BEGINS <----------
W,0,36000,0,5 ;wind:headwind (start,stop,heading,speed)
;---------> Wind Data ENDS <----------
;
;---------> Waypoint Data BEGINS <----------
<
1-START POINT, 3779, 3974 ;Player waypoint (0-15 chars), (0-8191), (0-8191)
2-CP ALPHA, 3549, 3350 ;Player waypoint (0-15 chars), (0-8191), (0-8191)
3-CP BRAVO, 3757, 2934 ;Player waypoint (0-15 chars), (0-8191), (0-8191)
4-CP CHARLIE, 3427, 2869 ;Player waypoint (0-15 chars), (0-8191), (0-8191)
5-CP DELTA, 3586, 2533 ;Player waypoint (0-15 chars), (0-8191), (0-8191)
6-CP ECHO, 3443, 2296 ;Player waypoint (0-15 chars), (0-8191), (0-8191)
7-OBJ MARSHALL, 3981, 2157 ;Player waypoint (0-15 chars), (0-8191), (0-8191)
8-CP FOXTROT, 4436, 2409 ;Player waypoint (0-15 chars), (0-8191), (0-8191)
9-RELEASE POINT, 4376, 4191 ;Player waypoint (0-15 chars), (0-8191), (0-8191)
<
;NPC Waypoint List: B
4082, 3571 ;B1
3604, 4084 ;B2
4084, 4626 ;B3
4618, 4105 ;B4
<
;NPC Waypoint List: C
<
;NPC Waypoint List: D
<
;NPC Waypoint List: E
3954, 2453 ;E1
4344, 2063 ;E2
4028, 1747 ;E3
3699, 2077 ;E4
<
;NPC Waypoint List: F
<
;NPC Waypoint List: G
4010, 3111 ;G1
3519, 3602 ;G2
3988, 4072 ;G3
4432, 3628 ;G4
<
;NPC Waypoint List: H
3566, 2121 ;H1
3111, 2578 ;H2
3559, 3050 ;H3
3988, 2622 ;H4
<
;NPC Waypoint List: I
3185, 3443 ;I1
3183, 4030 ;I2
2716, 4032 ;I3
2714, 3421 ;I4
<
;NPC Waypoint List: J
3959, 2122 ;J1
4533, 1548 ;J2
4072, 1089 ;J3
3571, 1590 ;J4
<
;NPC Waypoint List: K
3058, 2270 ;K1
3044, 2680 ;K2
2988, 2924 ;K3
2958, 3165 ;K4
2916, 3338 ;K5
3018, 3473 ;K6
3018, 3610 ;K7
3026, 3835 ;K8
3002, 3986 ;K9
3165, 4193 ;K10
<
;NPC Waypoint List: L
4006, 2910 ;L1
4031, 3055 ;L2
4022, 3174 ;L3
4044, 3310 ;L4
4044, 3465 ;L5
4048, 3615 ;L6
4044, 3795 ;L7
4034, 3942 ;L8
4022, 4058 ;L9
3970, 4201 ;L10
<
;NPC Waypoint List: M
2982, 4241 ;M1
3064, 4125 ;M2
3018, 4056 ;M3
3052, 3875 ;M4
3048, 3672 ;M5
3044, 3517 ;M6
2962, 3358 ;M7
2932, 3217 ;M8
2992, 3032 ;M9
3034, 2841 ;M10
<
;NPC Waypoint List: N
4076, 3893 ;N1
4077, 3808 ;N2
4074, 3708 ;N3
4076, 3590 ;N4
4074, 3475 ;N5
4074, 3351 ;N6
4071, 3221 ;N7
4067, 3120 ;N8
4058, 2982 ;N9
4056, 2781 ;N10
<
;NPC Waypoint List: O
<
;NPC Waypoint List: P
<<
;
;---------> Waypoint Data ENDS <----------
;---------> Trigger Data BEGINS <----------
if
destroyed, X
and
destroyed, D
then
win

if
destroyed, W
then
route, B, A6

if
destroyed, X
and
destroyed, D
and
destroyed, F
then
text, 3

if
encounter, H, P
then
text, 2

if
destroyed, X
then
setai, H, 163

if
destroyed, X
then
setai, J, 163

if
attacked, Y
then
route, J, A6

if
time, 3
then
text, 1

if
encounter, J, P
then
text, 2

if
encounter, G, P
then
text, 2

if
destroyed, W
then
text, 4

if
waypoint, P, A2
then
text, 5

if
encounter, P, X
or
encounter, P, D
then
text, 6

if
encounter, Y, P
then
text, 8

if
encounter, S, P
then
text, 7

if
encounter, T, P
then
text, 7

if
waypoint, S, L:
then
route, S, A0

if
waypoint, T, K:
then
route, T, A0

if
encounter, E, P
then
text, 2

if
attacked, X
then
setai, E, 163

if
attacked, X
then
setai, H, 163

if
waypoint, P, A2
then
route, I, I1

if
destroyed, D
then
vaporize, F

if
waypoint, N, N:
then
route, N, A0

if
waypoint, S, L:
then
route, S, A0

if
waypoint, M, M:
then
route, M, A0

if
waypoint, T, M:
then
route, T, A0

if
waypoint, T, K:
then
route, T, A0

if
time, 2
and
intact, P
then
play, 2BAS001.wav

if
time, 2
and
intact, P
then
clearcounter

if
time, 2
and
intact, P
and
counter, 4
then
play, CPLT020.wav

if
encounter, T, P
and
intact, P
and
intact, W
then
play, WING014.wav

if
encounter, T, P
and
intact, P
and
intact, W
then
clearcounter

if
encounter, T, P
and
intact, P
and
intact, W
and
counter, 4
then
play, CPLT070.wav

if
waypoint, P, A3
and
intact, P
and
intact, W
then
play, CPLT127.wav

if
waypoint, P, A3
and
intact, P
and
intact, W
then
clearcounter

if
waypoint, P, A3
and
intact, P
and
intact, W
and
counter, 4
then
play, WING029.wav

if
encounter, P, X
and
intact, P
then
play, CPLT226.wav

if
encounter, P, X
and
intact, P
then
clearcounter

if
encounter, P, X
and
intact, P
and
counter, 4
then
play, 2BAS025.wav

if
encounter, E, P
or
encounter, H, P
and
intact, P
then
play, CPLT225.wav

if
killed, X, 1
and
intact, P
then
play, CPLT050.wav

if
destroyed, X
and
intact, P
and
destroyed, D
and
destroyed, F
then
play, CPLT037.wav

if
destroyed, X
and
intact, P
and
destroyed, D
and
destroyed, F
then
clearcounter

if
destroyed, X
and
intact, P
and
counter, 4
and
destroyed, D
and
destroyed, F
then
play, 2BAS034.wav

if
destroyed, W
and
intact, P
then
play, WING018.wav

if
destroyed, W
and
intact, P
then
clearcounter

if
destroyed, W
and
intact, P
and
counter, 4
then
play, CPLT026.wav

if
destroyed, W
and
intact, P
and
counter, 7
then
play, CPLT045.wav

if
destroyed, W
and
intact, P
and
counter, 12
then
play, CPLT028.wav

if
destroyed, W
and
intact, P
and
counter, 16
then
play, 2BAS017.wav

if
destroyed, W
and
intact, P
and
counter, 20
then
play, 2BAS022.wav

if
destroyed, W
and
intact, P
and
counter, 24
then
play, APCH009.wav

if
stinger, 1
and
intact, P
then
play, CPLT061.wav

if
hellfire, 1
and
intact, P
then
play, CPLT052.wav

if
hellfire, 0
and
intact, P
then
play, CPLT053.wav

if
hellfire, 0
and
stinger, 0
and
intact, P
then
play, CPLT057.wav

if
encounter, U, P
or
encounter, Y, P
and
intact, P
and
intact, W
then
play, CPLT074.wav

if
encounter, U, P
or
encounter, Y, P
and
intact, P
and
intact, W
then
clearcounter

if
encounter, U, P
or
encounter, Y, P
and
intact, P
and
intact, W
and
counter, 4
then
play, WING003.wav

if
waypoint, P, A6
and
intact, P
and
intact, W
then
play, CPLT072.wav

if
destroyed, F
then
vaporize, D

if
destroyed, B
and
alive, P
then
text, 9

<
;---------> Trigger Data ENDS <----------

Hello Ufolev,

Thank you this makes a lot of sense now. I have some things to investigate further. thanks to you and Flyboy I have a lot more info on what's going on under the hood with CG.

Best!
-Hoizen

Hi ! FatCat's back !

Yes, this is a very old thread, and we are not that numerous to play. I've created a mission, and I feel it's been very... challenging. Because, you have to do many manual switches to the units *after* you have completed the mission on the editor (the .ORD or something used by the editor is not modifiable). If you want to use the editor with the ability to see builtin maps inside, you have to mod the editor code and add the maps names, but for now that's all we have (it means, we need many editors since an editor only have room for 8 or 9 hardcoded maps in the comboBox).

Another limitation of the editor is that all the units are not available. All IA status are not available. Conditions/triggers and such must be written after the export in the pff. I'm not satisfied with it.

What I'd like to do is to create my own custom mission editor. I've split this mentally the task, and it will be very long. I don't know if I will ever succeed, but this year I have slightly little more time, so I'm trying to build a reliable project.

One of the task is to be able to read the maps in order to display it on the editor. The logical consequence is that to do so, I need to retroengineer the maps content. If I do so, I'll be able to propose a map editor aswell, and it may be one of the first steps.

The first step will be to recode the pff extractor to understand better the data and be more flexible with edition tools. Maybe even to be able to use it as an interactive way to retroengineer.
I'm not that far from having the pff extractor.



Maybe, If you're interested, I can start my thread and keep you updated of my discoveries ? That could help me to keep track of what I'm doing, maybe also to get feedback of what's possible or needed or set kind of a wishlist or ... anything.

Hello FatCatProject ,

Ii is very good to see you here again.

Now I am working on the other project -ShipSimulator Extremes which is more related with my job
https://www.youtube.com/user/ufolev/videos
but sometimes I look here for the news

Best regards

ufo :-)

This has not happened yet :))


https://youtu.be/0nYN54AtDDQ