Why Won't My New General Work?

[Colonel Ric]

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Why Won't My New General Work?
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Colonel Ric
Civilian
Why Won't My New General Work?
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Sat May 02, 2020 1:32 am

First off, let me say that this is my first AGEOD title. I picked it up recently when I read an online review comparing it to Empire's Civil War ( 1992 I think ) and this is absolutely one of the best turn-based game engines I've come across in 20 years.

Second, I've been scouring these forums, and this seems like a good community. Lots of help from the veterans.

With that said, I would like to see some more historical generals in the game. I read everything I could find on here and this is what I did:

I made a copy of Braxton Braggs Unit and Model files, then changed everything to Lo Armistead, except adding a portrait of Lo Armistead to the portraits folder and using it. I also updated the model and units aliases to match up with what was in the files. In both, I used the next corresponding number ( I believe his UID was 870 ) and renamed the filed accordingly.

Now, the portrait was a .JPEG and not a .PNG. Does this matter? Also, whenever I saved the unit and model files, it always saved them as text documents and not uni or mdl files.

Could I have messed up by copying Braggs files and missed something? I know one alias was Armistead3 and the other Armistead 2. Is it possible that I picked two of Braggs files that may have been for different scenarios respectively?

I tried adding Lo to the '61 Generals Division ( or was it General Pool? ) in the CSA Leaders file. The first time, what I got was 2 Gustavius Smiths. So I deleted everything about Lo, removed him from the Aliases, and started from scratch. This time the game crashed on Turn 2 of the full campaign ( when the '61 Generals Division is created ). I tried to post the log, but the site won't let me.

Thanks in advance for anyone who can help me with this.

Also, I posted this in the main forum and was advised to post it here.

[grimjaw]

OK, I'm not sure I follow the sequence of events here. I don't know what you know about adding models and units to the game. I tried to find an existing tutorial on the forum but couldn't. There's an old thread that covers some of it.

viewtopic.php?f=340&t=36595

IMO, copying an existing file is fine if all you're going to do is add a few models and/or units. If you're adding a bunch, it's alot easier in the long run to use the databases. For not, I'll try to help with the copy/paste/edit method.

So you copied the model and unit files for Braxton Bragg. Bragg has more than one set of files. Which one did you use?

I don't have the regular set of game files in front of me so I can't reference them. If you're adding a new leader, the UID of the file will depend on how you set things up. There are a few generic generals already in the list of files. You can recycle them into a leader easily without adding new files. There are only a limited number, though. Recycling a generic file means you don't have to worry about the UID, since the file is already in the proper sequence. You'd only have to edit the contents (minus the UID), and rename the file (minus the UID).

Adding a new file means placing it at the tail end of the list of existing files and incrementing the max UID by one. The new leader has to be added to the file containing the list of aliases. I *think* the only alias file that is actually referenced by the game is the one in the alias directory, but for completeness you should have the same file in the alias directory and it's respective gamedata directory. The cache files in the model and unit directories have to be deleted so the game can recreate them with your updated info. It's the cache files that the game uses.

If there are errors involving your new files, they'll be listed in the startup log for the game. The location of the log will vary depending on your operating system and setup. The game will not detect every possible error in the model and unit files while parsing it on startup for cache file creation. For example, I don't think it cares about whether or not it can file the appropriate graphic files for the elements and may not log that as an error in the log.

If none of the above information is clear or helpful, please be more specific about the steps you've taken and if possible post a copy of the errors from the log file.

[Colonel Ric]

Thank you for your reply Grimjaw. I think what I have been doing wrong is not deleting the cache files. Since my last post, I copied all of Braggs files, updated them with the next numbers for the models and unit files, and added them to all the alias files.

For some reason, there is an alias file in the model and unit folders as well as in the aliases folder. I updated all of these.

I lost interest with trying ( the only step I didn't follow was deleting the cache files ), so I played with a bunch of D. Ruggles.

My goal was to create a lot more historical generals for flavor, as well as have enough on both sides to play with the 200% unit cap option. It's aggravating for the CSA especially ( even at normal unit cap ) because there's never enough generals to form enough decent corps and divisions, in my opinion.

AGEOD made an awesome game. That is my only gripe with it. I guess I'm trying to recreate the system in Empire's Civil War ( 93 I think ) where when you needed a new brigadier general or higher, the game would spawn one for you.

Sorry for the delayed response