REN II Leader Graphics

6/16/2012

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Now the Modding Kit is done and I have got my ideas about unit portraits pretty straight I have some decisions to make about leader graphics. I am pretty clear that I want two types of these. Firstly graphics of specific national, and unit flags  & banners, and secondly ones with a generals head and shoulders in the foreground with the relevant flag showing behind them.

The big question is with a usable graphics area behind the head and shoulders figure of 49 pixels high and 40 wide, is it better to have the flag in the “flying” position in which case it can be only 40 wide, or have it “dipped” so that it can be 49 pixels from end to end ?

Pros and cons here are that in this scale having the flag that bit larger will make its detail rather clearer but this is offset by having more of the flag obscured by the head and shoulders of the general in the foreground.

Included below are a couple of screenshots. The first of these shows a pure flag graphic. With no foreground figure and a few more pixels available (as there is no frame) I am clear that “dipped” is the way to go here. The screenshot also shows what the “French” leader box looks like when selected.

The second screenshot shows two alternative graphics styles (both depicting the French king Frances I) one with a “dipped” and the other with a “flying” flag. In both cases the leader box has not been selected.

What do you think ?

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Getting going again & modding REN

6/15/2012

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Sorry for the long silence, hopefully its worth it. In addition to my “Field Of Glory PC” scenarios I have been working on a large modding project, the 1st stage of which I can now go live with “REN II” and its associated “REN Modd Kit” The aim of this mod (which will be called REN II) is to expand the scope of the HPS “The Renaissance” game (know as REN) so that within its original time period it can cover a wider range of armies (currently 75 are planned) and battles.

With This stage, stage 1, I am releasing today the “REN Modd Kit”. This contains the core modd files and the template files necessary to make the actual mod.  Stage 2 will involve the release of the full mod with some new and modified scenarios. (using the new graphics) Stage 3 will be the release of a series of battle packs containing further new and modified scenarios. You can download the mod direct the “Graphics Mods & Files” section of this site or direct from here.

https://dl.dropbox.com/u/54384751/REN%20Modding%20%20Kit.zip

Since I enjoy gaming with modds of others as much as making my own, I am also making this kit available for others to use and modify in creating their own modds. All I would ask here is that, (as I agreed with Richard Hamilton of  HPS / John Tiller Software)  you do not use it to make modds for any later time periods not already covered by HPS / John Tiller Software,  without checking with him first, so as not to endanger the market for future “Musket & Pike” series titles. However since that leaves you free to make modes for everything from the year dot up to 1600 and to use the “units” file to make new large uniform graphics modds for the Napoleonic Battles series that should not prove much of a restriction.

The kit contains the revised unit & leader box files as well as 2 new 2DSymbols files. You will see that there are no national flags in any of these, so as not to restrict the number of armies covered.  The idea here is to place national and / or personal / unit flags in the background of the unit and leader portraits. Blank template files for these have also been included. These files employ a solid frame style, something which has been done very successfully for a number of modds made for the related HPS Napoleonic Battles series in particular the EZJAX2 modd series.  I have provided a MS Word chart showing the changes in the 2D counters and some suggestions as to how scenario designers might use them.

The blank template “units” file contains 1000 image slots wile its “leaders” equivalent has 960. Richard Hamilton assures me that there should be nothing to stop the game recognising unit and leader portraits with 4 digit numbers (although its not yet been done) so the portrait files could be enlarged to over 1000 slots if necessary. I have placed alternating blue and red navigation dots at the start of every 5th line in each file to make it easier to plan work and find one’s way around them. To keep track of the identity of unit and leader images created for the mod I have also included 2 large MS Word table  “planning grid” files.

At present I don’t have any plans to make 3D graphics for the modd and would suggest that when you install the REN II modd that I am working on, that you delete the 3D graphics files from  that install of the game (it runs perfectly well without them. However if anybody is interested it making new a 3D  counter mod for the game (perhaps along the lines of the 3D counters that exist for the HPS Panzer Campaigns series. I would be very interested to here from them.

If you have any comments or suggestions about this kit and the REN II project generally, please feel free to post comments in response to my blog posts on this website   or in the “Musket & Pike” sub forum of the “Wargamer” website which can be found at http://www.wargamer.com/

Finally I have included a “sneak peak” folder in the mod. This includes the working document I am using to work out which armies the mod covers and how many unit images each army gets, as well as some sample unit tiles.

I will be alternating work on the mod with the production of scenarios for the “Field Of Glory PC” game and plan to do regular updates on its progress here as I go along.

In the immediate future I will be revising and publishing the Tours 732 AD scenerios with which I had a lot of help from StockwellPete and getting my revisionist historians version of “Stamford Boridge” ready for publication. Two battles in one here not only the battle itself but the great Anglo Saxon cavalry debate as well.

Enjoy

Ian Leask

15th June 2012

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Tours 3 at last

4/5/2012

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After further reworking and private play testing I finally have a revised version of Tours ready for open play test.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/54384751/Tours%20732%20AD%20IDL.zip

The strength of the Arab side has been somewhat increased, and the terrain redesigned to make it more aesthetically appealing.  I have also dispensed with the unpopular "player probity guardians" and replaced them with weak units of local peasants, who will both warn the Franks well in advance of any Arab flanking attempt, and can join in an attack on the Arab camp if the Franks choose to make one. Any comments, and feedback, would be greatly appreciated.

Regards

Ian

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Brunanburh Updated

3/21/2012

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Just a quick blog today. I have updated my battle of Brunanburh 937 AD scenario to utilise the new Viking figures that shipped with the 1.72 patch. I have also changed a few of the images used for some of their Celtic allies, The revised scenario is available on the scenario downloads section of this site and can also be downloaded here.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/54384751/Brunanburh%20937%20AD%20%28IDL%29.zip

Work continues on revising my Tours 732 AD scenario, the forthcoming Stamford Bridge game, and on planning for Fontenoy 841 AD.

Regards
Ian

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Window-shopping For all

3/4/2012

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This week has seen substantial changes to the scenario design resources available for “Field Of Glory Digital” with the release of its new 1.72 patch.  Not only do we have a whole new host of Viking figures along with a number of extra feudal knights and a few more Ancient Egyptian & Libyan figures, but the patch has seen any major reorganization of the way in which battlegroup images are stored and accessed in the scenario editor.

Up until last week, battlegroup images in the scenario editor, were accessed via folders for each expansion module.  This meant, that while you only needed the basic “Field of Glory Digital” game in order to play custom scenarios designed by other players, that you needed to possess the relevant expansion modules, to get access to the battlegroup images that shipped with those particular modules.

This has now changed.  Additional images to those which ship with the basic game are now organized into three top-level folders, called Ancient, Medieval, and Other. which contain separate nationality folders, Macedonian, Swiss etc in one of the 3 folders..  This avoids the duplication which occurred earlier, where individual nationality folders such as say Saxon or Frankish, might appear in  each of several different expansion module folders such as say Legions Triumphant & Decline and Fall. 

The really good news is that as of the latest patch you only have to  purchase and install one (any one) of the expansion modules, to get access for scenario design purposes to all the unit images in all three top level folders. Not only does this mean that a would be scenario designer “gets access to the lot for less” but it also makes creating preview scenarios for the game much simpler since you only need to make one for each of the three top folders. 

This week, once the new patch came out, I put on hold work on the Tours & Stamford Bridge scenarios that I am working on for “Wolves from the Sea” in order to create three new preview or window shopping scenarios.  These show each and every battlegroup available to scenario designers in the game and can be downloaded as a single package from the following link.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/54384751/1%20Point%2072.zip

If you have “Field Of Glory Digital” and at least one expansion module you can view these using the “Edit Scenario” button. However if you just have “Field Of Glory Digital” and have not bought and installed any expansion modules yet, you will need to click on “New Scenario Battle” and look for the scenario in “Custom Game”. Once you have found it then set it up to play as a human verses human game. Each scenario has 1 battlegroup set up for side 1 and the rest for side two.  Be warned as each of these scenarios contains many hundreds of battle groups they will take quite a while to open.

The arrival of new unit images with the new patch means I will also need to revise my scenario for Brunanburh in order to incorporate the new Viking figures which a rather better than the various substitutes I had used originally.  It’s also really encouraging to see that  Slitherine are continuing to add battlegroup images to the game, which will be appropriate for the “Oath of Fealty” & “Swifter Than Eagles” modules, as this strongly suggests that we will get both of them after all.

Now that I have finished the new “Window-shopping” scenarios, once I have revised Brunanburh I will go back to working on a major revision of my Tours scenario, on which I have had some very helpful and constructive feedback  in the Slitherine forum and  from open play testing.  I will also update the book review section of this web site to incorporate the works I have used both for Tours and for the forthcoming Stamford Bridge scenario.

Enjoy the new scenario design opportunities J

All the best

Ian

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Moving on to Stamford Bridge

2/19/2012

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Back to work this week so progress has slowed down.but I have still managed to make quite a bit of progress with my Stamford Bridge scenario. I now have the map just about as I want it prior to playtesting and have also finished the draft orders of battle for both sides.

Setting these up using my new MS Word template certainly makes things a lot easier and quicker. Here is a link to the draft order of battle file with scenario notes,glossary and sources still to be added in.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/54384751/Stamford%20Bridge%201066%20AD%20Draft%20Scenario%20Design%20Notes%20OOB%20%26%20Sources.zip

As you will see my scenario for the battle steps right into the middle of the ongoing Anglo-Saxon cavalry debate. (did they or didn’t they fight on horseback)  In this refight of the battle I have drawn heavily on the work of the American medieval military historian Kelly DeVries, specifically his 1999 work “The Norwegian Invasion of England in 1066” published by Boydell Press, ISBN 1-84383-027-2. In this book drawing heavily on Saga and other sources he makes the case for Harold  fielding a substantial cavalry force at Stamford Bridge and using it to mount a series of attacks on the Viking Shield Wall.

Other sources I am using for my scenario include “1066: The Battles of York, Stamford Bridge and Hastings”  by  Peter Marren, Pen & Sword Books Ltd (6 Jun 2002) and an 11th century map of Norway found at

http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=mideavel%20norwegian%20maps&source=web&cd=1&sqi=2&ved=0CDEQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FHistory_of_Norway&ei=jttAT8W8Jo748QPL-dmDCA&usg=AFQjCNH9zyd5rF4nyIVjAlpo9OVw6x2R6w

for the provincial unit titles of the Leidang Bondi contingents making up King Harald Hardrada’s Norwegian army.

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Time To Test Tours

2/8/2012

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My Tours 732 AD scenario is now ready for playtesting. Also inside  the scenario folder is the new style “Notes, OOB & Sources” file which is set up in landscape format for easy viewing and reference purposes.

This is the first scenario in which I have tried out the use of an off map movement track to give the Franks (but not the Arabs) the option of making a flank march on their left flank to attack the Arab camp, The scenario can be downloaded here.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/54384751/Tours%20732%20AD%20IDL.zip

Enjoy the scenario. I would be grateful for any comments feedback or AAR’s you might wish to make particularly on the “flank march” simulation method I have used and the way that I have used a MS Word file to provide extra scenario information. You can comment either using the reply facility here or in the Slitherine run “Field Of Glory Digital” forum. I have also expanded the book review section of this website to include the works used to make this scenario and done the same for the glossary section.

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Clearing the decks for Tours

2/5/2012

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Just a short blog today. I have finalised my scenario for the battle of Las Navas De Tolosa 1212 AD and posted it on the mediaeval scenario downloads page.

 I have also revised and expanded the book review section in the resource centre. This is now broken down into 6 sub pages including a new one devoted to early history up to 559 BC. When I start to do scenarios for this period I will also create a separate downloads section for these also.

 I was away for most of the week which is why my book selling link was switched off, its up and running again now.  I have annual leave in the coming week so should be able to get a good chunk of work in on by battle of Tours  732 AD scenario a first draft of which I hope to have up and running for playtest by Monday 13th February.

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Tours & Templates

1/27/2012

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Wile waiting for the results of what I hope will be the final round of playtesting of Las Navas De Tolosa 1212AD I have begun work on my next battle which is to be Tours 732 AD between the early Carolingian Frankish forces of Charles Martel and a raiding Andalusian Arab force under the command of Abdul Rahman Al Ghafiqi..

I have started with the map. This is the first scenario where I am making use of an out of playing area movement track to give the Frankish forces the option of a flank march down the eastern side of the map to come out in the rear of the Muslim position and raid their camp. I have uploaded a screenshot below of the northeastern corner of the map showing the start of this, which also shows the whole battlefield in less detail in the mini map in the bottom right.

Effectively we have an L shaped playing area with the main battle taking place along the vertical axis with the Muslim camp in the horizontal axis and the Franks having the option of feeding a raiding force along the movement track to approach this from the east. The scenario should always be played with fog of war on so that the Muslims don’t know if the Franks are going to take up the option to make a flank march until they debouch from the woods to attack the camp.

I am also using Tours to test out a new scenario documentation template in Microsoft Word which will sit inside the scenario folder but outside the data subfolder and contain detailed scenario design notes, orders of battle, a glossary of terms used, and sources employed for the Scenario. This will mean that only a brief introduction has to be put into the information box in the game itself.

I want to go down this route because any text for the information box in the game has to be copied in, and cannot be spell checked once its there, while laying everything out in a Word document makes it easier to present more information in a more user friendly format. Anybody who wants to have a look at the draft template I am using at the moment and wants to use it, as, is or modified for their own scenarios can download it here.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/54384751/Draft%20Scenario%20Design%20Notes%20OOB%20%26%20Sources%20Template.zip

I now have a couple of weeks leave coming up the 1st of which will be in Weymouth were we are going for my 49th birthday during this time I expect to get some background reading in for some Viking & Carolingian scenarios I plan to work on later in the spring. To this end I will working my way through “The Viking Art Of War” by the late Paddy Griffith and I P Stephenson’s new book .”Viking Warfare.

Enjoy

Ian

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Las Navas De Tolosa

1/14/2012

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My scenario for the battle of Las Navas De Tolosa 1212 AD has now been through several closed beta tests and subsequent revisions with 2 of my established virtual sparring partners. At this point I thought it would be a good idea to make it available for more general testing and invite players to post feedback using the option to make comments on this blog. The open beta version of the scenario can be downloaded here.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/54384751/Las%20Navas%20De%20Tolosa%201212%20AD%20IDL.zip

At this point the scenario text and bibliography still needs to be typed in and checked, something I will be making arrangements to do over the next couple of weeks. I have also put the full orders of battle for both sides into an MS Word document which has been saved into the scenario folder for easy viewing.

To balance the scenario (which was previously weighted to heavily in the Christians favour) I have cut scenario length down to 10 turns. Any result other than a Christian victory by game turn 10 should be deemed to be a victory for the Almohades on the basis that had the battle been drawn out longer than it actually was then the superior numbers of the Almohades would have told to a greater extent.

This week I have also made a start on the Glossary page in the “Scenario Design Resources” sub section of the “Resource Centre” part of this website. The idea here  is to provide a source of relevant words and wordings to help give orders of battle and scenarios generally a suitably authentic feel.

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