Ssnake

Yes. I suppose, what happens is if you select "save as existing" is that Windows attempts to write everything into a temporary file and only then then deletes the original and renames the temporary file and changes its file entry to belong to the original folder. If there isn't enough disk space the "Save as existing" fails (not sure though why/how an unpublished map package with HNT file in it can still be saved as a new delta).

We provided the Map Package Installer with conversions of all the maps that were shipped with previous Steel Beasts installations. All scenarios that are based on these standard maps will work out of the box. Where scenarios use custom maps, well, there isn't really anything that eSim Games can do. Either you convert them yourself, or you wait until the original authors themselves provide an update. The vast majority of scenarios - especially those that you find in "Scenarios" (not "My Scenarios") will work without any conversion activity on your end, provided that the map packages are installed in the same location as shown in the Steel Beasts Main Menu ... Options ... File Paths

Yeah, as soon as you perform a single operation that involves terrain profile modification - flattening under buildings, leveling roads, you name it - the high resolution mesh needs to be created (for the whole map). That consumes a lot of memory. When publishing such a map the high-res data will get compressed, and the map size will shrink again. but for every map that you keep unpublished and which you edit with high-res operations you'll have to reserve about 50...80 GByte additional disk space. There's no way around that. As long as you perform more high-res operation on the same map, no additional disk space is needed (that would be crazy). No. What takes the space is the one-time conversion of the height map into a high-res object, all further editing of the map is "free" (except that the more high-res elevation changes you have in it, the less well it compresses afterwards (but that's a rather theoretical and very fine point)) Not sure if I understand your question. A map that has been "published" can no longer be edited/overwritten. You have to save it as a new map (but if can be a disk space-saving "Delta map"). But you can save your map work as multiple Delta variants (e.g. ..._1a, _1b, _1c, ... until you're satisfied). Then you delete all previous versions but the latest. If a scenario complains that its map is missing (it will tell you the name and map UID), you then pick the "replace" function and pick the latest variant, save the mission again, done. Yes. Copy the whole folder to the new drive. Then, in Steel Beasts, go to the Options menu / File Patch and there pick the new location. Then, you delete the old Map Packages directory. The point is, you can't pick the new folder as long as certain key maps aren't there, so the "Copy first, then delete" method is reliable and easy to understand, I hope

...which is kinda the point of it.

It's beginning to look a bit silly. Not that I doubt that it's an improvement, but further elongation doesn't appear feasible.

Grüezi, we can certainly use more Eidgenossen in this forum! (I suppose you're from the Italian-speaking part?)

Are the buildings' foundations still unflattened after exiting Steel Beasts, then opening it again?

No friends, no relatives with a credit card that could make the purchase for you in our shop? Well. I'm going to look into options to replace the web shop software, and with it, to expand our payment options. But it'll take a while.

There's a (=one) generic damage for "ammo storage" which then applies to all ammo, whether it's stowed in separate compartments or not. Maybe one day we'll go into more detail, but the decision for this approach was made with the transition to the polygon based 3D engine some 15 years ago. I don't remember anyone bringing up this topic (without doubt others noticed it), so I guess it was the right decision for the time. The more we're going into detail with our simulation, the more obvious are the results of certain abstractions. Also, I suppose that the longer you play Steel Beasts and the more you learn about it, and tanks in general, the easier it is for you to spot simplifications and abstractions. From that perspective, it's a win for us.

If your understanding of morality effectively supports a dispossession of eSim Games' intellectual property for no other reason than to satisfy your curiosity then, yes, "productive" discussion can't be had. I'm willing to compromise in many areas. This is not one of them. On the point of releasing the source code we will not yield. Frankly, the mere suggestion that we're "morally obliged" to hand over our creation is quite the hot button. I can't even fathom what kind of logic would come to such a conclusion; it's not as if we're trying to balance conflicting rights where the release of the source code could heal a terminally ill child or eliminate world hunger. Yes. Maybe it's best to end it right hare.

The whole word "abandonware" is a creation of people with no respect for the law. I'm sorry to say it, there is no such thing as "abandonware". Just because a company no longer exists or because a title is no longer being sold doesn't make it okay to copy the software. It's still illegal software piracy. Your chances of being persecuted for it may be lower but that doesn't mean that the software is somehow turning into public domain, that the End-user license agreement is suddenly becoming obsolete. The EULA has no clause to become invalid after X years and be substituted by something else. "Abandonware" doesn't exist. It's a myth created by people with an active interest that there were such a thing. Like books that are out of print, if the author is still alive you can't just print new runs of a book (even if you were to hand it out for free). You can't use the story without major alterations, you can use character names, locations (unless they are real places). Why are we seeing a Sherlock Holmes revival since about 10 years? Because Mr Conan Doyle died in 1930, so "Sherlock Holmes" as a character, "Baker Street 221B", and his original stories fell into the public domain no earlier than 2001. There's now multiple TV series and movies, all of which had to wait until then, or pay license fees to Conan Doyle's children and grandkids. There is no legal or moral basis for a release of original source code. Copyright is not a duty to provide the public with copies. eSim Games has freely made the decision to stop producing more copies of the original Steel Beasts for reasons that we aren't obliged to explain. eSim Games as the copyright owner of the original Steel Beasts is the sole source to decide what happens with it. If we were to by a landfill in the desert and dump a million unsold copies there, we could. MAYBE it would then be legal for others to dig through the landfill until they find the Steel Beasts layer (a few meters above the legendary Atari "E.T." layer), but that would be an entirely different legal matter.

You may still want to consider saving them in the new format. That way the map UID reference is explicitly in place, and the scenario file size will shrink as redundant map data are removed. Maybe save it under a different name.

I didn't want to make it too fine a point.

Not as a general design change. But we have it in the overhead view, it wouldn't break existing conventions to make in a per-scenario option.

Because it's mine and I can keep it.