Generals' Portraits

Posted: Tue Jan 10, 2012 9:23 am

I have been modding A&A for the past few days, but there is one thing I just can't figure out. How does one change a general's portrait as displayed at the Corps HQ and elsewhere with a static image (jpg or other)? Is there a way of disabling it?

Posted: Tue Jan 10, 2012 5:33 pm

Like i said before, its experimental. You tell us. If you find out, might be good to record a Youtube video.

Posted: Tue Jan 17, 2012 8:51 am

Well, I managed to add Hitler, by pasting his face over manstein's. Still because the proportions are not exactly the same, when the eyes blink, the motion is on the forehead and the same with the mouth. I'll see if there is a way to stop the animations or redo it.

Posted: Wed Jan 18, 2012 10:47 pm

maybe you could borrow the more generic looking CO animations for each regiment? they might prove more flexible towards alteration... just a thought. most people just use a fixed icon to represent mod-generals... kudos for getting as far as to experiment with animation.

Posted: Thu Jan 19, 2012 11:13 am

Gizmotron wrote:

maybe you could borrow the more generic looking CO animations for each regiment? they might prove more flexible towards alteration... just a thought. most people just use a fixed icon to represent mod-generals... kudos for getting as far as to experiment with animation.

Thaat's a good idea. I never thought of using officer faces.

The Hitler thing was me simply finding opening up the dds for manstein and finding a similiar face online (Facing the same direction). Thankfully I was able to find a color portrait of Hitler that faced the same direction as the original and it worked out rather well. Still, I don't know if I can find similiar pictures for Stalin, MacArthur, Churchill, etc (I plan on adding these guys as the balanced ai type).

How do you get a fixed icon to replace a general though. I tried for ages and I have no idea what file I must change to allow a fixed image. I tried the general's data, but if I place a jpeg in there, it doesn't show up and the game hates me for it (No image whatsoever - just a small pink box).

Posted: Thu Jan 19, 2012 9:51 pm

haven't touched the generals yet.

the Forgotten Combatants mod, however, has added 12 new generals to three completely new nations... so that would be a really good place to look. I enjoyed the previous Netherlands and Finland editions-- and I imagine that the new Italian regiments are cool too. my only disappointment is that they can't be integrated into the existing dynamic campaign-- but to bring all of that into the dynamic campaign would require overhauling the game to an insane degree!

I believe the creator just posted a link for FC 6.05 (I don't remember the version number) on this forum the other day. go check it out-- it will help you learn the ropes by reading through it. it certainly helped me out a great deal!

(the Morgenblitz mod was great for learning meta and dynamic game properties-- but FC was nice for the fact that it adds new nations, and helps you learn what files are the most important for new units and regiments.)

Posted: Fri Jan 20, 2012 11:15 am

Gizmotron wrote:

haven't touched the generals yet.

the Forgotten Combatants mod, however, has added 12 new generals to three completely new nations... so that would be a really good place to look. I enjoyed the previous Netherlands and Finland editions-- and I imagine that the new Italian regiments are cool too. my only disappointment is that they can't be integrated into the existing dynamic campaign-- but to bring all of that into the dynamic campaign would require overhauling the game to an insane degree!

I believe the creator just posted a link for FC 6.05 (I don't remember the version number) on this forum the other day. go check it out-- it will help you learn the ropes by reading through it. it certainly helped me out a great deal!

(the Morgenblitz mod was great for learning meta and dynamic game properties-- but FC was nice for the fact that it adds new nations, and helps you learn what files are the most important for new units and regiments.)

That's a good idead. I downloaded a mod called world at war over at triple threat clan and it adds some new stuff, but it is incomplete. I was depending on that for help in modding. This mod seems like it will be better.

I have the Morganblitz mod too, but it seems he has original files in the mod too, so its still hard for me to determine what changed (In the templates area especially).

See my avatar to get an idea of what I did. I know it looks crappy right now, I have to change it some.

Posted: Fri Jan 20, 2012 11:58 am

Just finished with Stalin. Still have to do some touchups. However, the mouth and the eyes are perfect, so no need to change the animation with him. I'm going to try the same with Hitler.

I tried adding Hitler as a general, but when I try to add him to the nation/ger.tgi, the game crashes. Any ideas? I changed portrait names and everything, am I missing a file that I am supposed to add him to?

Posted: Sat Jan 28, 2012 4:58 pm

I was thinking that, in addition to MacArthur and Guderian-- that you could consider Richard O'Connor as another potential general. although he was a POW for the middle of the war-- during Operation Compass he led British forces on an 800 mile advance, crushed 10 Italian divisions, and took over 150,000 prisoners. he also participated in Market Garden later in the war (after his third escape attempt, where he was able to make it back home!)

sure, he may not be as formidable a general as some of the ones that exist in the game--but he's got a very interesting story!

since Wingate died in '44 it's not so absurd to include the likes of O'Connor.

Posted: Sat Jan 28, 2012 5:08 pm

you also might consider using Rodion Malinovsky or Nikolia Vatutin as potential Russian generals.

Posted: Mon Jan 30, 2012 11:55 am

I'll try doing this sometime in the future. It all depends on a) whether they have a color photo b) whether there is a portrait somewhere of them looking forward. But right now I'm concetrating on adding units, so I'll do this later.

Posted: Sat Feb 18, 2012 6:32 pm

finally got around to fixing hitler and making him look unique.

Posted: Tue Mar 13, 2012 9:04 pm

so I was tinkering around with the metagame interface and learned how to add more generals to the metagame:

make the buttons smaller and move them closer together. since each button is using a stock graphic, the size and location is actually determined by the choose_dynamic_campaign file. here's my work thus far... once I get it to a satisfactory level I'll post the file online. six generals is the most I could do thus far... but if I can get that pesky bottom tile reduced in size, I might be able to do seven.

Posted: Tue Mar 13, 2012 9:07 pm

gotta admire your ambition with the new generals-- I just reduced the animated portrait head to microscopic size and then put the new general's portrait on the background!

Posted: Wed Mar 14, 2012 9:16 am

Gizmotron wrote:

gotta admire your ambition with the new generals-- I just reduced the animated portrait head to microscopic size and then put the new general's portrait on the background!

Yeah, it takes a lot of work to paste the head on correctly. The hardest part is matching up the mouth and eyes, so that when they move, they look natural. The other hard part is finding a good picture of the general. I wanted to add MacArthur, but I can't find a good-looking picture for him to use. That's why I went with Taylor. In the mod downloads section is what I've done so far, if you haven't seen it already.

Also, that metagame file you are working on will help me a lot. Right now one general is overiding another.

btw, I have not been modding much recently due to midterms and I want to take a break modding during my spring break.

Posted: Thu Mar 22, 2012 12:41 am

I've found a way to have eight generals available for the metagame dynamic campaign menu. I've looked into increasing it to 9 or more-- but right now it doesn't seem worth the extra trouble.

once extracted, replace the original by pasting it onto the following file path:

Program Files\ Atari\ Axis & Allies\ Data\ Metagame\ UI

it will replace the "choose_dynamic_campaign.tgi" file.

Posted: Wed Mar 28, 2012 10:35 pm

I was experimenting with Zhukov, Patton, and Eisenhower-- and I learned that you can create a "tutorial" version of each general. although this general will never show up for the Metagame (aka Dynamic Campaign). where they DO show up is in the game editor.

what this means is that you could have 8 generals available in the dynamic campaign, but as many as 16 possible generals through the editor interface.

I haven't figured out how to assign new portrats for them successfully just yet.

Posted: Fri Mar 30, 2012 9:23 am

Gizmotron wrote:

I was experimenting with Zhukov, Patton, and Eisenhower-- and I learned that you can create a "tutorial" version of each general. although this general will never show up for the Metagame (aka Dynamic Campaign). where they DO show up is in the game editor.

what this means is that you could have 8 generals available in the dynamic campaign, but as many as 16 possible generals through the editor interface.

I haven't figured out how to assign new portrats for them successfully just yet.

I don't think they are usuable in skirmish though, unless I'm wrong? Seems the only difference between the two is that public = false for tutorial generals.

Posted: Sun Apr 29, 2012 11:15 am

I found good pictures of Mao, Himmler, Chiang Kai-Shek, so I'll do those guys next when I get the chance.

Need some suggestions for other Chinese, Italian generals. I'm trying to do Mussolini, but I haven't found a good picture yet. I would like to do five for China (Three Nationalists, two Communists) and four more, excluding Mussolini, for Italy. Any suggestions?

I have been also gathering sounds from other games. I am going to use the Chinese voices from C&C generals for China. They are in English, but its the best I can do with my limited resources. For Italy, I have no idea.

Posted: Sun Apr 29, 2012 12:26 pm

Just finished Mao. He looks better in game.

Posted: Sun Apr 29, 2012 1:04 pm

these were the Chinese generals I was planning to use... Zhou Enlai is kinda too important to overlook, and his role in military intelligence gives China a (fun change of pace)

(Mao Zedong)
Communist Zeal
Propaganda War
Communist Purge
Corps HQ

(Zhou Enlai)
Communist Zeal
Espionage
Lend Lease (cuz the dude sold opium, lol)
Code Breaker
Corps HQ

Zhu De
one of Mao's most capable generals during WW2. he launched an offensive that so startled the Japanese that they launched a vicious scorched earth campaign in retaliation.

Communist Zeal
Supply Drop (RUS)
Sniper Ambush
Corps HQ

(Chiang Kai Shek)

Smoke Barrage
Economic Aid
Lend Lease
Corps HQ

Sun Li Jen
(nick-named the Rommel of the East)
he was so respected by the Brits and the Americans that rumors were flying around that he was going to replace Chiang Kai Shek at the behest of the Brits and Americans-- he was accused falsely of plotting a coup-d-etat after the war and stayed under house arrest for decades!

Infantry Assault
Lightning Advance
Military Gear Up
Corps HQ

Li Zongren
(got side-lined to the general staff for most of the war, but stopped the Japanese cold at the battle of Tai Erh Chuang in 1938. widely regarded as the best Chinese general of his time-- but since Chaing Kai Shek questioned his loyalties he was kept on a short leash-- since this is a game-- it's more fun to imagine what he could have done if given a chance. there are already some historical inaccuracies to the game (like a ton of late war gear being available by 1942!)

Artillery Barrage
Infantry Assault
Infantry Resupply
Corps HQ

the Chinese will have it rough in this game-- because all they get to work with is infantry. I believe the Nationalists only had a handful of tanks-- so the toughest regiment they could realistically put out there is a Mechanized Infantry Regiment!!! guess you could offset that by given them cheap tents, and 6 regiments per tent. give them the conscription tech and spam, spam, spam that infantry. they'd get rolled in every online game-- but if you could play them offline and crank out three infantry regiments to every mech or tank regiment you might be able to pull off some victories here and there. (they'd get an airfield, but no airborne HQ.)

since the Chinese were getting trainend in the most modern artillery tactics by the Germans and the Americans-- they should get improved fire control and long-range artillery tech to help offset their almost complete lack of mechs and armor.

don't have any Italian suggestions just yet-- but I'll find some later.

Posted: Fri May 04, 2012 1:46 pm

Gizomtron, do you want me to upload the new generals as I get down with them?

It seems you already have a plan in place for the new generals, so I could give them to you to use them if you want.

Posted: Sat May 05, 2012 10:30 am

sounds cool.

I've got my Chinese factions mostly figured out-- since it's almost exclusively infantry regiments.

Italy is a work in progress...

currently I've got 8 generals for each nation in the dynamic campaign (excluding Japan, which I just have to hunker down and finish) it adds a nice bit of variety to the dynamic game because some generals match up well, but other generals can steam-roll over the other. case in point, a general with a strong emphasis on air-power or the navy can get rolled pretty badly by a strong infantry or mech general on land-locked territories. conversely, with coastal territories or island based maps the sub-based generals can get an almost gauranteed win if they hold out long enough to sink the battleship.

it's made for some interesting match-ups.

finally added Model (aka Hitler's Fireman) to the game awhile back. he's got virtually no good offensive ops, because he was reputed to have never won an offensive-- and Germany comes up really short with defensive generals in the stock game.

Posted: Sat May 05, 2012 10:52 am

Okay, here's Mao.

Tell me your other generals, and I'll try to make models of them.

Also, please mention me in your mod's readme.

Posted: Sat May 05, 2012 12:07 pm

Just finished up with Chiang Kai-shek.