MP version?

[Von_Clausewitz]

Hum, I guess I am having a hard time understanding what files had to be changed in such a drastic way to prevent compatibility with MP. Did he have to alter exe files?
Maybe it is a question I should address to gunship and see if it would not be better to forgo some changes to allow MP.
To my knowledge, and it is not much, unless you tampered with exe or dll, things should be ok.
I think to allow a square formation he might have had to do that. I will ask him when I get the chance.

VC

[gunship24]

Hi Von_Clausewitz, welcome. Ive always admired the work at Lordz, keep up the good work. Im at work so cant reply in detail, i will later. But i can add that the files edited are those on the 'blocked' list for MP. These are simply some of the csv files that were deemed by NSD that shouldnt be changed to ensure limited problems with people connecting and playing over MP. These files needed to change to enable the Napoleonic expereince otherwise it would by Gettysburg in shakos. No exe files were changed. However, its never been confirmed why those files are blocked for MP other than editing the files could lead to cheating (possibly), or bad press for the game in general if lots of people suddenly have problems trying to connect to each other with so many modded files.

Im all for MP and hope the restrictions are relaxed. It does make sense that if people want to play they must have the same files, like a scan like you say, which i assume already happens, so maybe their just sitting on the side of caution.

Ok thats all i can get in in my 5mins tea break. I got loads more to say on the mod though later. I am glad you are enjoying the SP B) .

[Saddletank]

This is a quoted post of Gunship24's he wrote in January:

I dont think mp will be possible under the guidelines. SDK says that any of these files found in the mod folder will disable the mod:

demoscreens.csv
unitglobal.csv
unitmodel.csv
defines.ini
munitions.csv
battlescript.csv

I use unitglobal and unitmodel for the new units and munitions for the artillery so it looks like it cant happen, unless things have changed.

I could see that munitions.csv could potentially be put back to its vanilla version and the problem would not be too bad. But if the unitmodel file cannot be changed we are stuck since unitmodel defines the graphical sprites.

While the game can be modded to a great degree for ACW MP games, any MP gamemod MUST remain an ACW game since the unit models cannot be altered.

However...having written that, I searched the norbsoftdev folder for all instances of "unitmodel.csv" and found 5 copies in my game install. While 1 is a copy of the vanilla file released with the SDK, and 3 others relate to this mod, the USCT mod for Olustee also has such a file. I am not sure if the USCT Olustee scenarios can be played MP. If they can, then there might be light at the end of the tunnel.

[Baldwin]

No the USCT doesn't work in MP. I was going down that same road of thought. You can use British colonials with no Zulus in MP but that's basically pointless. There is basically a yes/no switch and right now they are saying no for those files you listed below. That's why it's frustrating is that they could turn it on as well as map modding but won't. As you can see the USCT would keep it an ACW game yet they are still unwilling to let that be a MP mod? Very weird indeed.

Any mod that functions in single player without crashing would be the same in MP if NSD would allow it.

[Von_Clausewitz]

This is a quoted post of Gunship24's he wrote in January:

I dont think mp will be possible under the guidelines. SDK says that any of these files found in the mod folder will disable the mod:

demoscreens.csv
unitglobal.csv
unitmodel.csv
defines.ini
munitions.csv
battlescript.csv

I use unitglobal and unitmodel for the new units and munitions for the artillery so it looks like it cant happen, unless things have changed.

These files should be modded without problems and should not affect any connectivity problems.
Any overhaul mod should allow graphical changes and changes in ammunition. Battlescripts are used for SP, not really for MP.
The list of files looks very harmless, in the TW series you can mod any file outside an exe or dll and the mod can be played MP.
I am not sure why NSD took such a decision. The game has been out more than a year no? additions to it were made (map pack and antietam), people play it, people love it.
So why not allow MP mods that are overhauls? They are not responsible for the quality of mods released. Cheating will be disallowed by a simple version checker like any other game.

VC

[Michael Slaunwhite]

I can understand why they didn't allow mods to be used in MP simply because MP was still pretty unstable. Since MP is now stable, I can't see why they wouldn't allow us to use Mods in MP.

I have no idea what goes into programing that into SOW, so it's pretty simple for me to say what I said above.

[gunship24]

I am a big fan of the napoleonic era. I played TC2M for ages and did some napoleonic work there, then this game cam eout and the engine was far superior so i started doing a mod for this.

This mod is by no means perfect, there are limitations on the engine, but i would gladly erase all i have done if NSD released a Napoleonic game, however i know Norbs heart lies with ACW so that probably wont happen, still, heres hoping .

So i decided to make my own using the engine. And it works, to a point. Infantry and Artillery there are no problems and the battle field experience is close to what you would expect. There are limitations with cavalry warfare, buts its all about balancing what i have to simulate what actually would happen. For example yes there are squares but theres some limitations and quirks which mean they dont act like you would expect but i try to get it as close and balanced as possible.

The sprites are generated from NTW2 models (with permission) with some tweaks for uniforms and different eras. Any unit could be modelled, but it does take time to do each one so i concentrate on ones that are shown most often and work my way down. That keeps me busy! Therefore it can never be endorsed by NSD due to potential issues with ownership. That is why i would gladly delete it all if Norb made his own nap game. However its still ok to release it a user made mod.

In the meantime this is what there is and im improving this all the time, as theres still much to tweak and balance although i think its mostly there.

Coming back to the point, i think the files could be opened up as i see no reason why they cant be, apart from what ive already said previously. All unitglobal does for example is list the sprites, sounds and formations for that unit. They did have MP issues in the past so maybe they are checking to ensure no other game breaking bugs exist. The guys at NSD have done a grreat job to get an engine like this out.

[Von_Clausewitz]

Yes the engine is great, the NSD team did very well.
the nap mod is the best mod/nap game out there, even if the square mechanics are not perfect.
Hopefully the MP world will be open to it, I am sure it would boost sales to allow overhaul mods.
Mods, being free and only playable when people bought the original game, should not cause licensing conflicts and do not in any means prevent the company of making their own version.
I'll keep my fingers crossed, hoping to command soon large nap armies in 10 vs 10.

VC

[Saddletank]

I'll keep my fingers crossed, hoping to command soon large nap armies in 10 vs 10.

Absolutely! This is what we all want and I can see that NSD would sell a stack of units to players who wanted their game just for the Nap Mod in the same way a bunch of people bought M2:TW just for the Middle Earth Third Age mod.

How this logic cannot be argued against we mere customers cannot fathom but so far NSD are sticking to their policy of not allowing these simple files to be changed for MP games.

As you say VC, we can only wait and hope.

[NY Cavalry]

SOWG is built for civil war battles. If I truly wanted to play Napoleon, I would want the engine redesigned for Napoleonic warfare. I'd like to see an entirely new game with the same engine tweaked.

Formations would be much more important and I'd want to see the ai set up its army in formation rather than just bumping into the enemy while marching on a road.

I'd like to see the use of cavalry modeled differently and used differently by the ai.

I think players will pay for a truly Napoleonic game if it was true to the era.