Adjusting Beginning & Ending Years for SF2 Series Terrains

[Wrench 9,421]

The old trick of adjusting the year via edits of the Options.ini and SingleMission ini from 1st Gens (SF/SFG/WoV/WoE/WoI) no longer works, as those statements have been removed from those inis.

 

Ya see, TK went and changed how things work on us, and it probably pertains to 'fixing' aircraft and object types to specific terrains and time frames and the 'LimitedNations' statements ... instead of having it listed in the singlemission or options inis for global game use, it now contained in EACH TERRAIN'S MAIN INI. Probably a 'merged' useage thingy.

 

Important Note: read this ALL the way thorugh before attempting the adjustments!!

 

First off, you'll need Gerwin's Cat Extractor*. Unfortunately, the thing will unpack ALL 100-odd megs of stuff from the terrain cat, when you only need the singele ***.ini (ie: Desert.ini, GermanyCE.ini, VietnamSEA.ini, IsrealME.ini).

 

Follow the instructions for use on Gerwin's Extractor.

 

Keep said main ini, and THROW OUT EVERYTHING ELSE. (however, you may want to keep the types, targets, movements ini in the extracted folder. As a 'just in case I want to mod this terrain' kinda thing

 

Using the VietnamSEA.ini as an example (all the others WILL be similiar), this is the entire VietnamSEA.ini, you'll note the relevant statements at the bottom, higlighted in boldface:

 

 

[Terrain]

TerrainFullName=Vietnam, Southeast Asia

DataFile=VietnamSEA_data.INI

TargetFile=VietnamSEA_targets.INI

TargetTypeFile=VietnamSEA_types.INI

MovementFile=VietnamSEA_movement.INI

NationsFile=VietnamSEA_nations.INI

BriefingText=VietnamSEA_briefing.INI

DogfightFile=VietnamSEA_dogfight.INI

DogfightOnly=FALSE

Longitude=106

Latitude=16

LimitedNations=TRUE

GroundObjectTexture=green

 

[Map]

FilenameFormat=VietnamSEA_Map%d.bmp

Width=1000000.0

Height=1000000.0

NumZoomLevels=3

 

[WeatherChance]

ScatteredChance=35

BrokenChance=25

OvercastChance=20

InclementChance=10

 

[AllowedMissionTypes]

FriendlyMissionTypes=SWEEP,CAP,ESCORT,STRIKE,CAS,SEAD,ARMED_RECON,RECON

EnemyMissionTypes=SWEEP,CAP,ESCORT,INTERCEPT,STRIKE,CAS,SEAD,RECON

 

[AllowedDates]

StartDate=8/2/1964

EndDate=4/30/1975

 

[/Quote]

 

The "AllowedDates" are the lines you want to edit. I usuall use a 100 year spread, so you can change them to something like this:

 

[AllowedDates]

StartDate=1/1/1950

EndDate=12/31/2050

 

Or whatever suits your fancy!

 

After extraction, and editing, you'll need to move this 'new' ini into you mods folder's /Terrains subfolder, AND you'll need to create a "VietnamSEA" folder for it to reside in...

 

example, using XP (that I'm on):

 

C:\Documents and Settings\Kevin J. Stein\My Documents\ThirdWire\StrikeFighters2\Terrains\VietnamSEA

 

for Vista/Win7, it'll be in your SavedGames\ThirdWire\etc\etc\etc.

 

BTW, on a side note, the Latitude should read as

 

Latitude=-16

 

as the game engine WILL allow for latitutes BELOW the equator, and present the correct constellations and planetary/lunar positions at night. This also may have a the side effect of correcting sunrise/sunsets as they may differ with latitude...as well as longitude.

 

One will also note the lack of "Anti-Shipping" mission statements in the SEA region, as there are only 2 shipping routes defined in the VietnamSEA_Movement.ini; probably due to President Johnson's reluctance to attack PRC and Soviet ships at sea or in harbor....

Meaning: even if your aircraft HAS the ANTI_SHIP mission statement in it's Data ini, you won't be able to select that type of mission on THIS terrain. Such is life!

 

Questions? Comments? Clarifications? Post them in the General or Mods Forums, and we'll try to address them

 

Wrench

Kevin Stein

 

* = now, it reccomended you use the 3rd Wire Extractor, as you now can pull single files. It works MUCH better!!

Edited August 3, 2011 by Wrench