Wax Savage

Currently, to extend the variety of structures we must assemble multiple units to make one larger one. How about the ability to permanently glue these creations together and add them to the available inventory of structures? Cut and paste capability in maps would also be helpful.

Used 7-zip as you suggested. Opened the zip file no problem. Thanks!

Just checked in and saw your post. Thanks for putting the M60A3 template up on the forum! BTW, I did download it. There is a Password and Keyfile (?) required to extract the template from the *.rar file. Do you have the password and keyfile?

Hi Dejawolf, Sent you a post for a template on Dec 15th. January 1st was my 70th B-day. Was hoping you would send me my template as a present! I need an m60a3 template to make a skin for. Well beyond my current abilities. Can you please help the project by supplying a template? Thanks and have a good 2020, Wax Savage

Hi Dejawolf, working on fictional Egyptian / Libyan conflict scenario. Noted that there was no M60a3 in Egyptian markings. One of the forum members agreed to come up with a desert tan skin with markings for Egypt. It was then discovered that all the M60 a3 are pre-painted with patterns on them. To get a proper meeting of Egyptian / Libyan armor, I need an m60a3 template to make a skin for. Well beyond my current abilities. Can you please help the project by supplying a template? Thanks and have a Merry Christmas, Wax Savage

Hi Splash, if you read FALLI's install instructions he included in the "German Buildings Woodland/Autumn (3.002)" download, he instructs us to replace the existing Normals and Speculars folders with his modified Normals and Speculars. This will enhance the display of his texture files at the expense of ALL the other SB graphic texture files that rely on the original Normals and Speculars folders. I would guess that SB has not been 'enhanced' to recognize user-modified Normals and Speculars folders.

Hi guys, thanks for the insights into NORMALS and SPECULARS. You perked my interest and I will look into it further. Oh, yeah by the way... EUREKA !!!! I figured out how to use modifies texture files w/o having any 'global effect' as a downside. All one needs to do is to re-save the map with the modified files in it as a new base map. Use the mission editor to attach the new base map to the scenario. Now you have a scenario with a dedicated map that displays your modified texture files. The modified files will only display for this one scenario. Should work for network games, too.

Hello Splash, To further clarify my experiment, I noticed no discernible difference using FALLI's modified 'NORMALS' and 'SPECULARS' files (included the SB forum "German Buildings Woodland/Autumn (3.002)" structure skins download) vs.. the original SB program files. Truthfully, I have no idea what the 'NORMALS' and 'SPECULARS' files accomplish in the SB program. If someone could tell me why the 'NORMALS' and 'SPECULARS' files are important, I might show them more respect.

Hi DarkAngel, thanks for the spelling correction. I retested using the correct path as follows... C:\ProgramData\eSim Games\Steel Beasts\maps\packages\Wolf [autocreated base]\actors\textures\woodland The modified texture files residing in the newly created 'woodland' folder were read by SB and the modified textures DID display, ..Yeah!! PROGRESS!! So,.. as of tonight I can attest that we can use structure skin mods from the SB Forum's mods downloads section. The modified texture files when placed in a given map’s BASE folder will affect all map variants (including any delta maps in the maps master base folder). This placement proceedure will not cause a global change in SB but, will cause a mini-global change at least within all maps held in a map’s master base file.

Hello All, good to see there is some interest in this topic. If we can get a clear solution maybe we should make this a forum ‘sticky’. I tried to get the structure textures to display by creating the extra nested files as was suggested. I placed them sequentially deeper and deeper into the C: ProgramData/esim Games directory. Here are the three tests I performed: test 1 firstly, the file path "\actors\texture\woodland " was added inside the base map files directory modified texture files were placed into the newly created 'woodland' folder... C:\ProgramData\eSim Games\Steel Beasts\maps\packages\Wolf [autocreated base]\actors\texture\woodland test 2 moved into the deltas map folder... C:\ProgramData\eSim Games\Steel Beasts\maps\packages\Wolf [autocreated base]\deltas\actors\texture\woodland test3 moved into the specific map folder (that is nested inside the deltas folder) C:\ProgramData\eSim Games\Steel Beasts\maps\packages\Wolf [autocreated base]\deltas\Forest 3\actors\texture\woodland At no time were the modified structure textures displayed by SB. The files will be read and will display in SB if they are placed as follows: C:\Users\Administrator\Documents\eSim Games\Steel Beasts\mods\textures\woodland Of course this is not a solution as it will cause the modded files to be displayed globally in a maps using a woodland theme.

Hi Gibsonm, yes, you are correct. I have the identical file structure as you. (See my prior post).

Hello Ssnake and Gibsonm, Just for clarification, all the file work (mods) I am performing is within SB 4.161. Following Ssnakes recent email I erased the modified structure texture files from the original program folder and renamed the original program texture files to their original names. Ssnake.., the original program folder is now as originally installed by the SB installer. I then placed the modified structure texture files in the following location… C:\Users\Administrator\Documents\eSim Games\Steel Beasts\mods\textures\woodland The modified building colors display in the MISSION EDITOR so… yes, SB 4.1 will read and use the modified texture files rather than the stock files in the original program folder. The above file location still presents a global change to all maps using a woodland theme. Grrrr! So.., I erased the modified texture files from the C:\Users\Administrator\Documents\eSim Games\Steel Beasts\mods\textures\woodland. To test if I could get the modified files to show up only in a specific map (i.e., NOT global), I placed the files in the following location… C:\ProgramData\eSim Games\Steel Beasts\maps\packages\Wolf [autocreated base]\deltas\Forest The modified building colors did not show up in the MISSION EDITOR. SB is not reading the files when placed into the map-specific folder. Grrrr! So for now, incorporating the building textures "German Buildings Woodland/Autumn (3.002)" by Falli, will cause SB to use these modified files to make global changes to all woodland themed scenarios not just the map specific scenario I was hoping for. What am I missing?

Hi guys, Well, after chewing on Ssnake’s generous assistance and posts I was able to decipher where the SB structure files reside in my computer… C:\Program Files\eSim Games\SB Pro PE\textures\woodland. I followed the instructions included in the download, "German Buildings Woodland/Autumn (3.002)" by Falli (available off the SB Forum) . I renamed the extensions of the existing SB texture files as follows… Example: Original texture file name = bldg_5.dds Renamed original texture file = bldg_5.OEM Original texture file folders example: “Normals” file folder renamed to “Normals_OEM” I renamed 13 texture files in total plus the “Normals and Speculars” folder. Once the original files were renamed it was safe for me to drop Falli’s modified files, "German Buildings Woodland/Autumn (3.002)" into C:\Program Files\eSim Games\SB Pro PE\textures\woodland location. The new buildings showed up perfectly. REALLY looks authentic. Cool!

Hi Ssnake, Just got back into town. I attempted to locate the path you listed, haven't located it. I looked in Program Files, ProgramData and Administrator. Can you explain the path better?