Splash

Unable to post an image here for some reason. (Error code: -200) 😕

Ah, OK. Makes sense, and I see now this is consistent with similar waypoint-based "if" scripting for Troop mounting and dismounting. Strangely, the unconditioned "Mount" command (no "if") on a no-tactics waypoint results in the vehicle departing its route to pick up nearby troops and then proceeding to the next waypoint. Hmmm. But I'm muddying the waters from my original post.

Thanks. As mentioned, also interested in why a "None" tactics waypoint's "Hitch if" order is ignored when it has an attached unconditioned route, but an "Unhitch if" order is not ignored when it has an attached unconditioned route.

After watching the recent eSim tutorial vid on the subject, I was experimenting with scripting ARV recovery actions and noticed the following: The ARV AI will recover and tow a disabled vehicle when the ARV-conditioned waypoint has HOLD, DEFEND, GUARD, SUPPRESS or NONE tactics ... but not if said waypoint has STAY tactics. That might be intended (Stay means stay?) but is contrary to instruction in the video at about the 5:00 mark where it says you need a "Stay" or "Hold" command on the hitch waypoint. If not a bug, maybe the vid is wrong or unclear. In my testing, as I said, the AI performs the recovery under all tactics except STAY, and you do not need to give, as the video seems to say, a manual "Proceed" command or put a delay condition on the route proceeding from the hitchpoint. You just need an "Embark if" condition on said route. The attached .sce example shows all this. On another related point, I noticed the AI ARV will blow past an ARV "Hitch if"-conditioned, no-tactics waypoint if there's a nonconditioned route leading from it ... but will stop and unhitch at an ARV "Unhitch if", no-tactics waypoint before proceeding on an unconditioned route. (This can be tested in the attached .sce by adding a nonconditioned route to WP21.) Hitching_test.sce

Aww. I missed it. What was No. 10,000?

The sim does come complete with 17 PLA vehicle skins, which covers a lot of possible proxies. But I'm guessing the point here was to ask for more to be included in the stock installation -- maybe for some of the newer vehicles? -- because apparently "nobody" can be bothered to download and install separate mods, like those offered by @cata. There's truth to this. Maybe not "nobody", but two or three dozen seems to be the typical download interest in vehicle and infantry skins. Present company excluded, I don't think 'most' players really care what skin or markings SB's troops and vehicles have. And I suppose with thermal optics and long engagement ranges it doesn't really matter anyway. So I'm not sure how it would be "weird" to not have a skin for some odd PLA variant. Skins are only seen on the user's frontend, and if that user is really bothered by an anachronistic skin, he/she will download a mod, if available. Enter cata.

Thanks for the explanation. I hope a better solution can be worked out. With more testing I have noticed a minor, but perceptible, difference between maximum and minimum tile dustiness in bone-dry conditions, and some very limited scalability using ground saturation values. But with the current setup, Theme dustiness settings below .25 appear to me to be pointless -- an automatic 0 on dust kicked up by vehicles. And .25 still yields quite a bit of dust, IMHO.

I've had difficulty achieving the effect I want because (traveling) dust levels seem to be either "on" or "off" rather than variable tied to a percentage. I see from Lumituisku's video at about the 1:10 mark that this (traveling) dustiness on/off switch seems also in effect with moisture levels. I haven't experimented extensively, and don't have the capacity (or time) to work up a vid, but I'll post screenies later if wanted. But my experience has been that (traveling) dust when applied by theme for a ground type seems to be full-on from 100 down to about 20 percent ... then completely gone below about 20 percent. This is with soil moisture level at 0 in the map settings. Is that correct or intended? Or am I missing something? What I've been trying unsuccessfully to achieve is less -- but still evident -- (traveling) dustiness for grassy areas than, say, gravel or a cultivated dry field.

Maybe these posts could be broken off into a separate thread in Scenario and Maps? I, too, have been struggling a bit with SB's dustiness settings and would like to ask a few questions .. but not derail the videos thread further.

OK. Scooped again. Just took a look at the available eSim skins for the IPM1, and it seems the easiest/quickest way to get an all-green one is simply to copy the existing IPM1 skin from the Program Files\eSim Games\SB Pro PE\textures\woodland\red folder into the mod folder of whatever nation you plan to use it for (I assume us1980). Pic below. Also, fun fact, all of the M1's except the A2Sep use the M1A1HA model for the roof and deck from the TC's position (F7 unbuttoned). So, unless you want a NATO camo gun barrel and engine deck, you'll also need to copy the M1A1.dds from the red folder. That, combined with the green M1A1roof.dds I've provided below, you should be able to get what you want. Enjoy. m1a1roof.7z

.... We don't need no steenking badges. What's up with these? Do they have a meaning? And why is everyone a "Newbie"? Woohoo. Seems like I earned 7 of them just for showing up. 🤣

Simple enough. But, obviously, someone has to make and upload the skin, first. 😉 If @dpabrams doesn't come out of hiding and scoop me on it, I'll be happy to put one together. I've been looking for a project ... but eSim and others keep beating me to the punch. 🥺

Interesting. I guess upon install it links to the default Program Data location. (My own "packages" folder is in the same place with "height" "terrain" and "themes" that you picture.) C:\ProgramData\eSim Games\Steel Beasts\maps But I believe you could change the target of the Start Menu link under its Windows properties to direct it to wherever you have placed your map packages. Of course, none of that makes it easier to explain to anyone who doesn't know where they put their map packages in the first place.

I have this link in my install. It takes me directly to the maps folder (default place on my install), of which the "packages" folder is a subfolder. Is this what you mean? It works even when the Program Data folder is hidden.

Re: Huge dandelions: Yes. What map was used for that .sce ("Road to Chateau Schlongberger")? From the vid it looks like an otherwise well-appointed map. Even the stock eSim themes beg for a tweak. The supplied Woodland_(Europe-spring) theme -- While not as monstrous as the referenced vid, the blooms are still pretty oversize to my eye:

Approaching a ridge crest northeast of OBJ KERMIT, found ourselves in a knife fight in a phone booth with three T-90s. Let's just say we were a NO GO at this station.

Single vehicle or platoon? If a vehicle in a platoon gets stuck or slowed (woods, water, other obstacle) the rest of the platoon will creep along their route until the stuck vehicle frees itself or is eventually left behind.

Gawd, those dandelions are freakin HUGE. Bigger than a man's head.

Understood. I guess a better question I could have asked was whether cata is publishing his deltas or allowing them to accumulate as unpublished deltas.

At the risk of, as Twain said, opening my mouth and removing all doubt ... Have you tried "save as existing" since freeing up disc space? Maybe I'm not understanding your method exactly, but it sounds like you're creating a new delta with each save? I can understand how that would let you return to a certain earlier "save point" if you're unhappy with a series of changes ... but wouldn't it also create a bunch of very, very large unpublished delta versions on your drive? I've been experimenting with modifying a map (leveling all the roads, changing bridges, flattening under structures, adding lots of roadsigns & infrastructure) and everything saves fine when I use "save as existing". I've only been working on that one map, but saved over it many, many, many times that way as the project progressed. I eventually got it to a state where I "published" it, which reduced the size, but I know I can still make changes by creating another delta from it and editing that one (again using "save as existing" to limit the project to just one humongous file at a time). Edit: Full disclosure, I do have over 300 GB of free space, although I didn't think that was a huge amount..

Wouldn't be the first time eSim introduced a bug with a new update. 🤣