Fun with TMODs, the Gualalcanal invasion edition

[rotton50 19]

I'm working on a total makeover of the target set in SPAW.

Part of the project involves moving the frontlines around for a couple of reason:

1 - I never liked the idea of having three SPAW scenarios, one for default, one for online play and one for the floatplanes. I'm going to try to combine the needs all three scenarios by moving the frontlines and some of the aircraft carriers. We'll see how it goes. At some point I'll need input from the online players but not just yet.

2 - I wanted to replicate a beach assault. I tried it in ETO2015 but I didn't know as much about the TMOD's dat files so I gave up on including it. Now that I have a better grasp of the data I got it to work for Guadalcanal.

Here's a few screenshots to give you an idea:
The invasion fleet-

Jap fortifications in the foreground, Allied landing forces in the background-


BTW, those puffs of brown smoke are shell blasts If you add this setting to the [EAW] section of your ini file you will get this affect ----- GroundBattle=1

Also, there is a date trigger in the TMOD.dat files. It was originally meant to turn on the V-1 launch ramps only in 1944-45 but it can be used to turn on and off any TMOD in any year. Meaning, this invasion fleet will only show up in 1942. In all other years this is Allied territory so there's no need for an invasion fleet off the coast of Guadalcanal.

In addition to the invasion scenario I've produced a number of TMOD's that are elevated thus allowing for all sorts of new add-on targets attached to existing ones, like AA guns, carrier deck aircraft and deck cargo:







One of the great things about the target editor is you can magnify the terrain down to a couple of feet, thus putting TMOD's exactly where you want them. For instance, here's a radar tower at the very top of a mountain peak:


I have a long way to go. So far I have most of the targets in the Solomon chain and all the fleets upgraded to the new standard but that's only about 1/4 of the total number of targets.

I'll post updates periodically as I come up with other inventive ways to use the vastly superior modifications available in the 1.6 development line.

[Stratos 3,186]

Good work Ray, looks promising.