ABATIS disappeared?

A new scenario/battle editor is in development and should be following hot on the heels of Waterloo - any questions can go here.
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mcaryf
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ABATIS disappeared?

Post by mcaryf »

I have been using the scenario editor to update game scenario WL10 the whole battle from French side as it is a bit weak on historical forces etc.

I have been making changes to OOBs, events and objectives but not intentionally the map. However some of my attempts to learn the editor might have caused an unintended change. In particular the Abatis, a barrier made by the Allies to block the road by La Haye Sainte, has disappeared from both my own scenario and all other methods of using the main Waterloo map. Any suggestions as to what I might have done and how I can get it back?

The only clue I have is an error report in the scenario editor log saying this:

WRN Map Unable to parse grayscale value "Grayscale (RGB)"
WRN Map Unable to parse move mod value "Movement Rate Modifier"

As the Abatis was coloured grey (probably should have been trees actually) I thought this might relate.

Now I have your attention I will mention one or two other error reports.

ERR Dictionary`2 [GetValue] Unable find "NorbSoftDev.SOW.Formation" "DRIL_Lvl3_Inf_Div_DoubleLine_FR" in System.Collections.Generic.Dictionary`2[System.String,NorbSoftDev.SOW.Formation]
ERR Dictionary`2 [GetValue] Unable find "NorbSoftDev.SOW.Formation" "DRIL_Lvl3_Inf_Div_DoubleLine_FR" in System.Collections.Generic.Dictionary`2[System.String,NorbSoftDev.SOW.Formation]

I have not actually seen anything that this causes but I do get CTD about every 4th time I run the scenario through.

Similarly with these:

WRN Sprite Missing key: 'GFX_FR_SC_19-1_Walk' used by [UNIT_Mod_Fr_WT] C:\Program Files (x86)\MyProduct\SDK\Base\Logistics\unitmodel.csv
WRN Sprite Missing key: 'GFX_FR_SC_19-2_Stand' used by [UNIT_Mod_Fr_WT] C:\Program Files (x86)\MyProduct\SDK\Base\Logistics\unitmodel.csv
WRN Sprite Missing key: 'GFX_FR_SC_19-3_Load' used by [UNIT_Mod_Fr_WT] C:\Program Files (x86)\MyProduct\SDK\Base\Logistics\unitmodel.csv
WRN Sprite Missing key: 'GFX_FR_SC_19-3_Ready' used by [UNIT_Mod_Fr_WT] C:\Program Files (x86)\MyProduct\SDK\Base\Logistics\unitmodel.csv
WRN Sprite Missing key: 'GFX_FR_SC_19-3_Fire' used by [UNIT_Mod_Fr_WT] C:\Program Files (x86)\MyProduct\SDK\Base\Logistics\unitmodel.csv
WRN Sprite Missing key: 'GFX_FR_SC_19-4_Run' used by [UNIT_Mod_Fr_WT] C:\Program Files (x86)\MyProduct\SDK\Base\Logistics\unitmodel.csv
WRN Sprite Missing key: 'GFX_FR_SC_19-5_Charge' used by [UNIT_Mod_Fr_WT] C:\Program Files (x86)\MyProduct\SDK\Base\Logistics\unitmodel.csv
WRN Sprite Missing key: 'GFX_FR_SC_19-6_Melee' used by [UNIT_Mod_Fr_WT] C:\Program Files (x86)\MyProduct\SDK\Base\Logistics\unitmodel.csv
WRN Sprite Missing key: 'GFX_FR_SC_19-7_Prone' used by [UNIT_Mod_Fr_WT] C:\Program Files (x86)\MyProduct\SDK\Base\Logistics\unitmodel.csv
WRN Sprite Missing key: 'GFX_FR_SC_19-8_Death_2' used by [UNIT_Mod_Fr_WT] C:\Program Files (x86)\MyProduct\SDK\Base\Logistics\unitmodel.csv
WRN Sprite Missing key: 'GFX_FR_SC_19-8_Death_2' used by [UNIT_Mod_Fr_WT] C:\Program Files (x86)\MyProduct\SDK\Base\Logistics\unitmodel.csv
WRN Sprite Missing key: 'GFX_FR_SC_06-6_Kneel' used by [UNIT_Mod_Fr_SC_Kneel] C:\Program Files (x86)\MyProduct\SDK\Base\Logistics\unitmodel.csv

There are other reports about Mules but there not any of those at Waterloo!

ERR Slot DRIL_Lvl6_Cav_SingleLine Unable to parse slot x

I tried to work out what this meant but I think your DRIL files need a bit more study before I will mess about with them! However, does this ERR report matter?

Last one from Scenario Editor

WRN DefaultMod Cannot Find Mod "Game" "C:\Program Files (x86)\MyProduct\Base"

Moving on to the game log itself I have annoyingly innumerable instances of these:

08:00:06 Language Tag not found: #{IDS_Rallying}

That was not from my own scenario but just to show the type of report of which there are hundreds if not thousands!

11:31:49 Formation DRIL_LVL3_INF_RES_CORPS_FR cannot support additional unit type:1
11:31:49 Formation DRIL_LVL3_INF_RES_CORPS_FR cannot support additional unit type:1

I checked the scenario.csv file that I inherited from the standard scenario and then added more Prussians. I found that I had cavalry core commanders with lvl4 cavalry stances. My understanding is that all Corps commanders should have Lvl3 Infantry stances. So I changed mine but still got these reports. I checked the scenario original data and found Paget for example as a Lvl4 so I changed him and I thought all the others but I still get some of these reports although it appears fewer. I do not know if the report is generated when the officer moves so the reduction may be chance.

Once I have cleared up the missing Abatis I will nearly be ready to publish the scenario.

By the way I should say I do like the editor and the way you have designed the files to be so accessible.

Regards

Mike
Saddletank
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Re: ABATIS disappeared?

Post by Saddletank »

It might be a daft suggestion but the road block is not present in the afternoon map. Is that the one you are using?
HITS & Couriers - a different and realistic way to play SoW MP.
mcaryf
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Re: ABATIS disappeared?

Post by mcaryf »

Hi Saddletank

It uses the Waterloo map.

I have now created an all day scenario for the Allied player which has the historic Prussian OOB i.e. it includes elements of Ziethen's 1st Corps and Pirch's 2nd Corps as well as Bulow's 4th Corps. That too uses the Waterllo map but has no Abatis.

This was the first time I tried playing as the Allies and I am rather disappointed with the lack of effectiveness of the Shrapnel munition. Many historians describe this as the secret weapon that won Waterloo but my experience in the game with it was that it was pretty ineffectual. I am not sure how the game handles indirect fire which is a major advantage of Shrapnel - I rather suspect that artillery only fires at known targets. I have a number of ideas about artillery so I think I will start a different thread on that but I hope I might get some answers on this thread first.

Regards

Mike
Saddletank
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Re: ABATIS disappeared?

Post by Saddletank »

It uses the Waterloo map.
Which one? There is more than one and one of the differences between them is that roadblock. In your options have you got your scenery objects set to "best"?

Artillery is generally ineffective in the stock game. It was one of the first things we made more lethal in the KS Mod.

Shrapnel was a direct fire weapon just as all other Napoleonic artillery was. I think only Bull's troop fired indirect at Waterloo and they were conducting what today we'd call "area fire" and were not attempting to hit specific targets, so yes, in WL an artillery battery must have a LoS to an enemy unit.
Last edited by Saddletank on Thu Feb 04, 2016 2:17 pm, edited 1 time in total.
HITS & Couriers - a different and realistic way to play SoW MP.
mcaryf
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Re: ABATIS disappeared?

Post by mcaryf »

Hi Saddletank
Actually my ABATIS returned last night and I was puzzling over this when I read your post. What I have now found is the ABATIS disappears on the HIGH setting for map objects but is visible on BEST and on MEDIUM. Having added a load more historic Prussians and having loads of dead bodies the game was running very slow on my PC so I tried reducing the various image quality values and suddenly the ABATIS returned! So that might either be a function of my PC and its capabilities or it might be a clue for some sort of error in the program.

Turning to artillery - you are not entirely correct about indirect fire in the Napoleonic era. The Howitzer was often used to probe areas of the battlefield that were not visible to the gun crew. Napoleon's Grand Battery would have had virtually zero return on its shooting were it not for shells and solid shot passing over the ridge and hitting concealed troops. I am guessing in the stock game if all the Allied units were pulled back over the ridge then the Grand Battery just would not fire.

Returning to Shrapnel - do you know how the game tries to implement it? It seems to me that it should have similar values to Canister in the munitions.csv file in that the question is how many balls does it carry and over high wide an area are they dispersed. I am going to try setting those values against Shrapnel and seeing what the game does with them. On the displayed values Shrapnell seems to be given the same lethality as shells which is quite wrong. If my experiment shows that Shrapnel does not get a dispersion benefit then my next try will be to give the British 9lb guns a super long range canister with low dispersion and use that to implement a true Shrapnel like impact.

In the KS mod have you tried to stop artillery from firing all day long without any bad effects om their crews? In truth the crew would have been exhausted after 30 minutes or so continuous fire. In the fatigue rating for artillery it gives a zero impact on fatigue for loading but of course the guns had to be heaved back into position and realigned with the target before being loaded and that was the really exhausting part. I guess the problem is that the AI may not be clever enough to stop firing for a while if the gun crews are made to be highly fatigued by changing those settings.

Regards

Mike
Jean Lafitte
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Re: ABATIS disappeared?

Post by Jean Lafitte »

Is the roadblock technically Abatis or perhaps Cheval de Frise?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheval_de_frise
Last edited by Jean Lafitte on Sun Apr 10, 2016 10:32 am, edited 1 time in total.
mcaryf
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Re: ABATIS disappeared?

Post by mcaryf »

Hi Hean

I think by La Haye Sante it was just a pile of debris so really only a roadblock and not a Cheval de Frise.

There was another "roadblock near Hougoumont and that might have been more like a Cheval de Frise. In both cases they were quite a hasty construction but more of Wellington's engineers were involved around and in Hougoument and the game accurately shows that they built a parapet by the walls of the garden.

Regards

Mike
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