Bugles & Flags XIX

Thanks Guys!

I might have found the shared link now. Someone please check it out to confirm.

Update 16.6...

- Added eight new USA Corps Designation flags



This completes the infantry corps, all units should have their proper, and official Corps Designation Flags now. The Cavalry Corps flags are almost complete with the four additions above, with only one unit left out, 3rd Division 2nd Brigade. Since I'm sticking to a minimum of four flags per set, General Custer's second brigade flag will have to wait till my next reorganization upgrade. Glad I've at least got Buford's division represented properly now since his troops saw most of the cavalry actions at Gettysburg.

The downside now is that the 80 corps flags that weren't replaced are showing their age by comparison with the new. Hopefully these old low resolution representatives will be replaced in time.

Update 16.7...

- Added eight new USA Corps Designation flags




Decided to continue with a few more sets, completing the cavalry corps and adding replacements for 1st Division infantry units.

Update 16.8...

- Added eight new USA Corps Designation flags



This completes replacement of all the 1st Division flags.

Update 16.9...

- Replaced four flags with conflicting patterns to better standardize Corps designations




This wraps up version XVI, version XVII coming soon with more HD flag upgrades on expanded texture sheets...8x, or 8192x8192 at 16 flags each.

Update to XVII, version 17.2...

- HD upgrade, twenty-four USA Corps Designation flags replaced

Up to 64 new HD flags completed now, on four 8x sprite sheets. Still at least that many remaining to upgrade all the USA Corps. Upgrades of 16 flags per set will follow as time allows.

Update version 17.4...

- HD upgrade, sixteen USA Corps Designation flags replaced
(surrender flag is universal)





Two more Corps to finish up along with cavalry and artillery...getting there.

Update version 17.6...

- HD upgrade, sixteen USA Corps Designation flags replaced






Infantry done with this update, cavalry and artillery coming next...Happy New Year ya'll

Update version 17.75...

- HD upgrade, twelve USA Corps Designation flags replaced

USA Corps Designation Flag Upgrade to HD now complete! Total of 108 flags upgraded.

First time most of these last flags have been represented through B&F...



Next up, upgrading previously labeled HD flags to higher resolutions, equivalent to the Waterloo and Chickamauga flag clarity.

Update, version 17.85...

- HD upgrade, eight USA National and Regimental flags replaced



Before and After shots:





Side by side comparisons such as these examples convinced me that this upgrade is well worth the effort. Once I did a few, how could I pass up improving the remaining 72, formerly HD flags? Coming in the next weeks, or months.

Update, version 17.9...

- HD upgrade, twelve USA Regimental flags replaced



Previous vs upgrade comparison...


Folks with older or less capable computers when it comes to large battles may want to stick with this flag update as all flags are now consolidated on the lowest number of 8K texture sheets possible. When the final sets are upgraded three more sheets will be added. So, if you can handle not having the remaining 64 flags, mainly CSA, not being upgraded, this present upgrade is your best bet for FPS performance.

Now, for the rest of us with at least fairly adequate rigs, I'll be trying out 16K sheets once this flag upgrade is complete. That will give us 192 flags on three 16K sheets, which should benefit performance noticeably.

Update, version 17.94...

- HD upgrade, five USA Regimental flags and seven CSA flags replaced; three new USA flags and one new CSA flag; Victory Conditions, scenario name, casualty totals and Difficulty Level are now included on all B&F scenario End Screens














This update completes the Union flag upgrades and begins the CSA conversions. The new flags were made possible by slots opening up with this new consolidation procedure on 8x sprite sheets. As the CSA upgrade proceeds there may be some more slots made available, so, if anyone has a flag request and can provide a good template I can work with, post away.

Lots and lots of changes with this update. All 43 scenarios and 24 OOBs were edited...What could go wrong there? So, please report any errors thereof so we can have a bugfree version XVIII coming at the completion of the CSA HD Upgrade...forty-eight more flags.

Update, version 17.96, February 7th, 2018

- HD upgrade, sixteen CSA flags replaced
- fixed a casualty count issue with the new End Screens

This was a stubborn bunch, had to totally redo five before they passed muster. Also, built a flag I can't use yet. Built a nice South Carolina 1st regiment flag to replace the present state flag, then researched a bit and found that the present one was established in 1861 and really fit the role better, so, no change. Did redo the original, went with ties over sleeve and darkened it some, I've found that most CSA flags historically used ties. Hopefully I can find a convenient slot for the 1st regiment flag, but I won't look forward to editing 24 OOBs to get it in.
...and now, the new bunch of sixteen...




Before and after comparisons...



Regarding the fixed casualty count issue, now the casualty count is for ME, not the top officer in the OOB as before. Only difference in play is that after the End Screen is displayed and 'Return to Battle' is opted, the camera returns to ME, not its last location.

Update, version 17.98, February 17th, 2018

- HD upgrade, fourteen CSA flags replaced
- two new CSA flags, 1st Maryland and 1st South Carolina Regimental



*Annotations courtesy of The Museum of the Confederacy
...I used its website to get many of my flags, excellent pictures, and flag info several years ago. Unfortunately the site is now gone. I'm guessing another casualty of the Charleston massacre.

Before and After Comparisons...


This is a makeover of the 1st and 3rd Florida flag, the 2nd only having a text description. I think this is a more accurate representation this time around. At least it looks better...By Far!


This completes all 176 flags for the Gettysburg theater. Still got 16 more for this HD upgrade though with the Chancellorsville set remaining...Then we promote ourselves to version XVIII.

Also with this upgrade I overhauled all the OOBs. Fixed numerous flag misplacement's and eliminated the extra flag, the Southern Cross, carried with the infantry CSA brigade officers. Added them initially trying to follow Lee's orders of all his units to carry the battle flag into battle for better 'friend or foe' identification. However, for the game they just added clutter and I think the regimental flags follow history well enough...Lots and lots of Southern Crosses to be had, or as the Yanks called them, "Those Damned Red Flags"

Update, version 17.99, March 1st, 2018

- HD upgrade, sixteen CSA flags replaced that are called from the Chancellorsville Extras mod

Prioritize B&F below Chancellorsville and Chancellorsville Extras in the 'in game' Modifications window to see these flags while playing Chancellorsville scenarios or Sandbox OOBs.



Got the Arkansas Hart's Battery mixed up with the South Carolina Hart's Battery back in 2012 so wound up assigning an Arkansas flag to a battle it didn't attend. By a strange set of circumstances the battery was involved in the defense of Richmond during the Chancellorsville Campaign after being captured at Arkansas Post and then winding up in Richmond after a prisoner exchange. Maybe that's where I went off track, not a good excuse though. Regardless, I'm leaving it for now, especially since I built it twice once the 'clean' version appeared 'too clean', easly seen below. Additionally, it does serve as a very distinctive battery officers' flag and is representative of the First Nationals in use at that time.


Did a reverse treatment with these before and after comparisons, let the yellow show some. I'm finding that besides de-saturation, allowing some yellowing to stay from the originals makes for a more realistic flag look.



Didn't promote this version to XVIII yet. Version XVIII will happen in a week or so with a reduced flag sprite sheet total of three. With this present update there's twelve. I'm delaying the next update for testing time and make a numerical distinction between versions. When we switch to three sheets we're going up a level with video card capabilities so at least folks that don't have that capability will know to stick with the XVII version. I'll include a heads up about this when XVIII is released so folks won't delete XVII before testing out their rig with XVIII.

Another thing, giving this update a decent testing time may root out some errors in the three month 192 flag upgrade, and its a good time to watch FPS rates til the next version arrives, then compare those rates with the new version. I'm anxious to see how much performance boost we'll get with the larger sheets, and especially how they affect other rigs.

Nice to have all these flags overhauled now. Didn't realize how dated some of the designs were, not to mention the resolution shortcomings. More upgrades coming in 2018, stay tuned.

Update to XVIII, version 18.15, March 27th, 2018

- HD upgrade, sixteen CSA flags replaced that are called from the Pea Ridge 1862 mod
- Elimination of the B&F SPLASH screens so SPLASH screens from other mods will display when B&F is enabled




The Southern Cross flags were rare in the early western battles, only four were present at Pea Ridge, and Van Dorn never displayed his personal version due to his incapacitated condition due to illness. For gameplay he gets his flag.

Before and After Comparisons...



Replaced the primary 3rd bunting representing the officers and the newly issued (a month before Gettysburg) regimental versions. The replaced version was just too perfect, being derived from a graphic. The replacement is from an imperfect original plus I added some extra animation to improve the hoist movement.



Blew off the 16k texture sheets upgrade, they caused excessive lag with my rig besides showing no FPS gain. So, a lot of hype for nothing. In theory the reduced number of sheets should have improved performance, but I'm thinking now that it also has to do with CPU capabilities, and the larger sheets need more processing power to reap their FPS advantages.

Now we're off to more flag upgrades, still lots of early/crappy flags to overhaul...The rest of Pea Ridge, Prairie Grove, Antietam and The Red River Campaign, around 80 to 90 flags. B&F will become literally the "Flagship" of many of my mods, not only for convenience, but because I can't update any of these mods any more unless I move them to Drop Box, which has its limits. A recent change in the website eliminated access to the NSD server I've been using for years.

To experience the new flags prioritize (in Modifications) B&F below the mod being upgraded.

Chamberlain wrote: Hey Reb

Thanks again for all of your effort on re-making these flags....

I received the following error in the log when starting up the scenario PR01 with your newest B&F mod :

12:00:00 Graphic not found GFX_CS_Creek
12:00:00 Flag not found while loading unit: McIntosh's Creek Regiment |UGLB_CSA_DCAV_5

I reloaded up your previous B&F mod and the scenario loaded up fine with no errors.

Thanks

Chamberlain

Hey John, good hearing from ya!

Please check that you have the latest Pea Ridge update, the Creek flag was included then. Look for the Graphics/Flags/AmericanIndian.dds file where its included. Rather than a new update of Pea Ridge there is the separate flag download here . Since I've moved the Pea Ridge OOB to B&F with this latest update these flags are all you need, I think.

Great having you troubleshoot these updates, regardless of the issue. Keep in mind that the error "Unit Type differs..." is allowed with this mod because some cavalry units are assigned to infantry brigades. Besides that there shouldn't be any further error messages.

Thanks Again...

billy28804 wrote: __________
I installed the mod Flags & Bugles and all appears to run fine except the flags show up strange. Looks like bad tv reception where the flags should be.

Please post your Work/sowgb.log file after ending a game using this mod.

Sounds like an inadequate graphics card issue, the log readout should confirm this or another issue.

Thanks for the report!