Bugles & Flags XIX

[RebBugler]

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

Corps Set 33_34.jpg (189.93 KiB) Viewed 1262 times

New USA adds.jpg (257.43 KiB) Viewed 1262 times

Corps Set 35_36.jpg (211.42 KiB) Viewed 1262 times

Louisiana Tigers.jpg (37.99 KiB) Viewed 1262 times

GB3Days Union.jpg (410.67 KiB) Viewed 1262 times

GB150-01.jpg (318.59 KiB) Viewed 1262 times

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? :unsure: 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.

[RebBugler]

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. :S
...and now, the new bunch of sixteen...

CSA Sets 37_38.jpg (199.12 KiB) Viewed 1261 times

CSA Sets 39_40.jpg (194.11 KiB) Viewed 1261 times

Before and after comparisons...

5th Texas comp.jpg (240.08 KiB) Viewed 1261 times

13th AL comp.jpg (194.1 KiB) Viewed 1261 times

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.

[SwampRat]

RebBugler,

I've been real tied up with RL, so I have not played a lot lately.

But I want to thank you for your awesome work. You are making a superb game even better.

Thank you!

S

[RebBugler]

Update, version 17.98, February 17th, 2018

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

CSA Sets 41_42.jpg (270.82 KiB) Viewed 1260 times

CSA Sets 43_44.jpg (238.75 KiB) Viewed 1260 times

*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...

SC 1st comp.jpg (282.85 KiB) Viewed 1260 times

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!

Florida 2nd comp.jpg (249.48 KiB) Viewed 1260 times

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. :woohoo:

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"

[RebBugler]

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.

HD Sets 45_46.jpg (209.16 KiB) Viewed 1259 times

HD Sets 47_48.jpg (203.09 KiB) Viewed 1259 times

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.

Harts Battery comp.jpg (95.63 KiB) Viewed 1259 times

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.

SC 26th comp.jpg (200.53 KiB) Viewed 1259 times

Tenn 7th comp.jpg (193.02 KiB) Viewed 1259 times

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.

[RebBugler]

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

Set3_4 West.jpg (194.17 KiB) Viewed 1258 times

Set1_2 West.jpg (172.5 KiB) Viewed 1258 times

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...

Southern Cross Silk comp.jpg (185.11 KiB) Viewed 1258 times

Louisiana 3rd comp.jpg (259.5 KiB) Viewed 1258 times

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.

New 3rd Bunting.jpg (194.22 KiB) Viewed 1258 times

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]

Hey Reb

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

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

[billy28804]

__________
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.

[RebBugler]

Hey Reb

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

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...

[RebBugler]

__________
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!