Updating your (V4.0 and older) SCENARIO to work with 4.1 (and later)

[Volcano]

No doubt this information is elsewhere, but just wanted to post it as summarized as possible, and to allow for the possibility that someone will not read something somewhere.

 

If you want to convert your map to a 4.1 map package then go here instead:

 

Also, this post is intended to be temporary, as a sort of FAQ, until everything is understood and up and running smoothly and there is a SBwiki page. It might seem like a lot of text, but I am trying to cover all the possible cases...

 

So you have a personal favorite scenario, or one of your own, and you want it to work with 4.1. What do you do?

 

1. Open the Mission Editor

2. Once the default (blank) map loads, go to File -> Open

3. Choose your pre-4.1 legacy scenario you want to open.

 

     CASE 1: In some cases the scenario will open automatically, if SB matches the "backing map" with map package of the same exact name on your hard drive (which is rare). In this case, the scenario opens and you just save it, and now it is updated to 4.1 and using a map package. Done!

 

     CASE 2: However, in most cases the scenario will not load, and a pop up dialog will say...

          "Could not find the map this (legacy) scenario is based on!"

          ...etc...

     In this case, you click "Replace map" button, and choose the closest map you have that matched the old map, using the name of the TER and HGT as reference. If you made the scenario then it should be relatively obvious what replacement map to use. If not, then you could ask around and someone might be able to identify it.

 

     CASE 3: If scenario uses a map that you know was heavily edited from some other map, because you customized it for the scenario, for example, then you should choose to cancel and create a delta map package of the updated map instead:

 

4a. Open the Map Editor, select "Open default map" button at the bottom.

4b. After the default (blank) map loads, go to File -> Map package from TER...

4c. Select your TER file of the edited map (if you don't have it in TER form, then shame - you need to open the scenario in 4.023 and extract the map as a TER first!!!).

4d. Once you select the TER file, most likely there will be a base map already in existence and it will ask you if you want to make a new base package, or a delta package ***you should almost always choose to make a DELTA package of an existing base package, because its the difference of hundreds of Mb or more in filesize!***. You would choose to make it a BASE package if you want your map to have unique textures (like for road and info signs, or buildings, etc), and so forth.

4e. After a minute or less, a new DELTA map package will be created of whatever you named it. Then go back to Step #1 above and go through the process, and in Step #3 you will select the delta map package you just created. Done.

 

     CASE 4: And in the case where you have installed all the map packages from the map package installer, and the map you want to convert isn't recognized as an existing base map package (so it doesn't ask you to create a delta), then you need to create a new BASE map package of your map, then go back to Step #1 above and go through the process, and in Step #3 you will select the delta map package you just created. Scenario is now updated to 4.1. Done.

 

---------------------

 

NOTES:

 

• Once you update your scenario to 4.1, you might want to save it as a new filename. It is certainly possible to keep 4.023 around to open old files and to extract TER files from them, and so forth. Once you save the scenario in 4.1, that is no longer possible. Also, once you update to 4.1, the scenario is now associated with a Map Package that has a unique ID (UID). If that map no longer exists on your hard drive, then you cannot load the scenario - but no problem - you just replace the map again to another Map Package (pretty much same process mentioned above).
• When converting delta maps from TER files that were extracted from a scenario (ie. the map is mostly empty except for the scenario's play area), then suggestion is that you prefix the delta map name with "sce_" to let everyone know that it is an incomplete map cut from a scenario. This is what we have tried to do in the standard install delta package names.
• You should always look for more information about this process in the release notes and the SB wiki. This post is intended only to provide more information.

 

Hopefully that helps. The good news is that a scenario only has to be updated to 4.1 once.

[Volcano]

Just some additional notes (regarding scenario/map theme bumpiness levels, which you will want to read if you feel that your converted scenario's map is too rough/bumpy)...

 

See also this post:

 

Which mentions bumpiness levels on the map theme.  In many cases you will find that the map theme embedded in a scenario might be too bumpy.  In this case you can export the theme as a temporary theme file, then go to the Map Editor and open any unpublished map, then load the theme.

 

From there you can edit it according to the that thread, reducing the bumpiness levels to more realistic levels.

 

Keep in mind these two things:

 

1. The map theme is embedded in the scenario. The scenario might have unique terrain types and characteristics that the original map did not have, keep this in mind.

2. If the bumpiness values are too high, then the safest thing to do is save the map theme, then follow the directions in the map conversion thread, then return to the Mission Editor and replace your them with the updated one.

3. Alternatively, if the map had its theme updated then you can just replace the map and take the theme from the map (but this can be risky if you aren't sure if the scenario's theme is unique, or if you aren't sure if the map's theme was updated).

 

[Ssnake]

 

While this video doesn't cover all cases, it probably covers more than 90% of all your legacy scenarios.