Yep big thanks for the work you have done!!

I also played Comanche 4, completed the campaign, and will probably replay it again and will try those custom missions. Never tried MP, but coop sounds fun.

I have taken a look at some files in Gold and DOS C3, The AI behaviour is definitely not controlled by the image files (PCX), or any of the dll files as per my current knowledge.
I also checked the other gold pff file: Cgold.pff, did not find anything related to the AI.

I guess the c3.sav is the save file and no idea what the nam file is. These get generated so they are out.

No idea what that template.smo file is, but looking at what the smo file extension is that is most likely not related to anything related to the AI.
wsetup.cfg is for Multiplayer.

WC3.MNU found this, these appear to be the orders, key commands I think the issue is going to be related to the newly introduced teammate order system.



And not finding any other files. My guess is going to be the exe here. Unless there is something else in the resources.pff file.
Reverse engineering exe files is almost impossible (Max hexedeting) and I am not sure if there is a debugger out there for this.

So far I've been avoiding commenting but my name has now been raised several times so feel now is the time to reply.

Simply put, I have no idea and no interest in modifying the wingman AI in Comanche Gold. Right now I don't play any sims and the wingman's behavior was never something that bothered me. This game is, after all, not a very realistic sim as far as anything but the Comanche itself goes. Everything about both friendly and enemy units is very basic and arcade-like. I feel that fixing the wingman AI would be like patching up one wall in a completely decayed house.

When I go back to CG from time to time I just play it and appreciate it for what it is... still the most realistic Comanche simulation to date but overall not a very good representation of military units or high-end warfare specifically.

@Flyboy, understood, I have tried it out of "Fun" and I actually learnt a couple of things I can use later on.

Hello, i don't know if this will help. But i think the new Wingman AI in Comanche Gold was a failed attempt to avoid friendly fire by Griffon 2-7, because Griffon 2-7 repeatedly turns away from his target, unlike in Comanche 3 where he just charges at the target.

After playing through the entire Gold campaign, Griffon 2.7 has missions where he is basically doing nothing (Due to the nature of the mission) unless you instruct him to.
If you give him a target, then generally he shoots at it with his main cannon and that is it. So directional behaviour is more or less fine, the standard AI behaviour is broken. And yes this is a failed attempt to make him useful.

It would have been better just to simply remove him from these missions and keep the standard AI behaviour there. I compared the wingman.ai files from RES (Visual studio opens it) and PFF, they have the same code.
I checked other files as well, the new behaviour / Team mate order system is highly likely coded in the exe itself, and is very very difficult to fix without reverse engineering aka hacking / decompiling / deassembling the exe, since I am not a hacker, I would give that up

When you order him to patrol, he is also drifing to the left side, so basically the fix would be is to completely remove this system (Impossible without deassembling), however you would also want to remove him from those missions. (With cheat you can kill him lol).

Hi Fearofthedarkhun,
the other option is to give the wingman an order to "patrol the base" at the start of the mission.

Ufo : -)

Which is kinda pretty sad considering that there are two missions that I did for C3 in DOS that actually shows off Griffon 2-7 being, surprise surprise, competent.

Start at 7:50 here:


Start at 9:37 here:

@Ufolev

Yes, however if you kill him you can actually some reinforcements.

@Andrew

You created these missions originally? In Nightwing, is there a frogfoot?
I saw a video where it was mentioned there would be a frogfoot showing up but rarely, wondering what triggers it. That is a great mission, liked it.

Sucker Punch is a weird mission though (It was really challenging when I was playing it as a kid lol), there are several allied armored columns fighting against enemy columns, felt them somewhat unnecessary, why those tanks were put? To create some atmosphere?

------

Yes, it is sad, and even if this new team order system can be removed, that does not guarantee that it wouldn't break the missions or the game itself.

I don't think I've wandered Nightwing enough to see a Frogfoot.

-

The biggest gripe about the order system for Griffon 2-7 in Gold is enemies that are not supposed to be targeted or to your benefit to avoid entirely. Some missions try to neutralize that with making certain structures non-targetable, but it's not guaranteed as fool-proof.

The missions in Gold I could think of are 6-2: Recon, 7-3: Sneak Peek, and a fair chunk of the Sakhalin Island missions (Lifeguard, Time Out, Flashpoint).

Recon and Sneak Peek, you're only supposed to destroy a handful of marked targets then get a target lock on targets of interest. Lifeguard and Flashpoint you have to cruise past entire corridors of Triple-A and Mobile SAMs. Time Out is the worst because you have to navigate a road that is otherwise littered with SAM sites and destroy only marked targets at the objective.

Double-Post time, because MIDI (I know some players do not care and leave the music off, but this caters to the ones that do):

We all know that the Microsoft GS Wavetable Synth is way too loud to use with Comanche Gold, setting the in-game Music Volume to 1 is not going to cut it, and I couldn't find any settings that would cut down the default MIDI output volume anywhere on the OS.

Turns out as the game runs on MIDI, why not use an external MIDI driver or tool?

For Comanche Gold:

1. Download and Install CoolSoft's VirtualMIDISynth.
2. Find some soundfonts on the Internet that you prefer or like (my preferred ones for this game tend to be the E-Mu/Creative 8MB BGM with SFX or the Gravis Ultrasound Classic Patch Set, you can find the former on some Soundblaster or Creative soundfont disc images).
3. Configure the soundfont in VirtualMIDISynth (I typically keep the MIDI volume around 25-40%, depending on the font.) Pick only one you want to use.
4. Set the Default MIDI Out Device to the VirtualMIDISynth device. Click "apply" when finished. Leave the process open (you can close the window at this time).
5. Start Comanche Gold. Set the Music Volume to at least 1. Start any mission or play the in-game credits to test if the music works under your selected MIDI soundfont. If you need to adjust the MIDI settings, close the game, change them, then start playing again.

For Comanche 3 (this also works for F-22 Lightning II and Armored Fist 2, I am assuming you are playing any of these games through DOSBox):

Follow Steps 1 through 4 above.

5. You will have to identify which MIDI device DOSBox has to use. Inside DOSBox, type "MIXER /LISTMIDI" and you should get a list of MIDI devices.
6. In your DOSBox Configuration file, go to the [midi] section. In the "midiconfig" line, type in the number corresponding to your MIDI device. Save the configuration file when done.
7. Launch "SETUP.EXE" in DOSBox.
8. Go to Audio Settings -> Music Device -> select "General MIDI." If you are asked to provide an I/O address, try 330h first.* If it works, then you should be able to play the music successfully.
9. Exit and Save Settings in Setup.
10. Launch the game, and play any mission to try it out. If you are switching Soundfonts in VirtualMIDISynth, you do not have to fidget any further in DOSBox.


*: If this address doesn't work and you don't want to blindly guess the number: if you have installed any DOS version of MechWarrior 2, go into "SETSOUND.BAT" and configure the music device to "General MIDI." Open up the file "MDI.INI" in that game's SND folder and look for the number next to the line that says "IO_ADDR". That will be the I/O address to use in C3's Setup Utility.

hello Andrew_Maltani,

until now I was not listening the "in game" music because it was so loud. VirtualMIDISynth. and CoolSoft MIDIMapper works well for me on windows10 and Comanche Gold
It was interesting to hear different sound modding of the main theme. Many thanks for the sharing!

by the way in his custom missions LoweringOdds and BunkerBashout for Comanche Gold DavidC99 changes the default "in game" music themes with

Songs used: In midi format:

- Streets of Rage 1; Stage 1
- Streets of Rage 1; Stage 4
- Streets of Rage 1; Stage 5
- Desert Strike
- Eye of the Tiger
- Danger Zone
- Hawaii 50 Theme
- Mike Tyson's Punchout; Lose

ufo :-)

Hello gents,

got it installed, all good. But reg. the Gold edition: Maybe it's been too long ago.... but I don't remember having dozens of missiles on the comanche. Looks like a crazy amount on that wing. Did this change in the Gold edition??

Btw, nice thread!

Greetings,
Cabal

Hi TheCabal ,

Welcome to Comanche Gold ! If you are looking for unlimited weapon load or for a "no damage" mode you can use
the Comanche Gold Universal Trainer - get it from here:
https://app.box.com/s/fr5v6h34tmgqgkiotwg9

enjoy!

ufo :-)

Hi TheCabal, I've not played regular Comanche 3 in years so can't comment if changes were made in Comanche Gold... however, I don't think it's any different regarding weapon loadout. I have most of my experience in the Gold edition so will answer for that. The Comanche can hold either 6 Hellfires or 24 rockets or 12 Stingers internally, with an additional 8 Hellfires or 32 rockets or 16 Stingers externally on its stub wings (EFAMS). This gives a total of either 14 Hellfires or 56 rockets or 28 Stingers altogether... or any combination. This is reflective of the real helicopter.

The weapon loadout in terms of hardpoints is roughly the same. You still have the 6 internal hardpoints (14 total if you have EFAMS installed on the craft).

One reason I can speculate you feel like you have more weapons in general is arguably due to the wider varieties of loadouts you get (you rarely got a Triple-8 loadout or a hodgepodge of weapons). Most of the missions in C3 gave you exclusively Stingers and Hellfires, and a handful of missions gave you Rocket-biased loads. In Gold, more of the preferred stealth loadouts gave you Rockets (only the Artillery Spotting mission gave you internal rockets, none of the C3/Silver ops gave you internal rockets).

Only two missions I could tell did not follow the loadout regulations: Bastion in the original C3 (that gave you a 20/6/8 loadout despite the fact that loadout is technically impossible, Gold toned it down to a 12/6/8) and Attack Airfield in Gold's Special Ops (that gave you 8 Hellfires despite the craft being able to fit only 6 in stealth configuration).