Modding Talonsoft Games - is it possible

MarkGaff · **Posted:** Mon Jun 20, 2011 2:49 pm

The Talonsoft games have a feature that "highlights" certain troops after selecting a button. For example, it will highlight all troops not fired yet, or all troops within one unit, etc. They are potentially useful aids....

...but I can barely see the "highlight." One - I am color blind. Two - the screen resolution on today's computers is much higher than when the game was first made....such that the "highlighted" portion of the icon is now only a slim sliver of color change. I do recall that these were more readable back in the 1990s when I first played these games.

These "highlight" aids are useless to me and I never use them.....but would like to use them.

Has anybody worked on a mod to fix the "highlighting?"

I see that there are .bmp files with lots of icon details......was wondering if they can be modified? If so, anybody figure out which ones to modify?

I will do a bit of playing around, but wanted to find out of anybody had put forth such effort before I begin.

Thanks!

Tom Bridges · **Posted:** Mon Jun 20, 2011 4:06 pm

Hey mark...I had the same issue and modded the .bmp that controls the highlighting. If you'll provide your email addy I'll send you a copy of the modded file.

tbridges (at) carolina (dot) rr (dot) com

Ernie Sands · **Posted:** Mon Jun 20, 2011 11:55 pm

Great work, Tom. Maybe you could advertise your MOD as it could help other members with similar problems that have never thought of asking the question.
By advertising, I mean making a brief message posting about that we can make into a STICKY.

old banshee · **Posted:** Tue Jun 21, 2011 1:39 am

Tom we would be happy to post it at the Old Banshee site if you would wish.

Jim Gleason · **Posted:** Tue Jun 21, 2011 8:17 am

It would be a great help for folks like me with eye troubles. I hope directions for use will be included.
Jim Gleason LG 3-3-I AoP

MarkGaff · **Posted:** Tue Jun 21, 2011 12:20 pm

Gentlemen,

Tom e-mailed me his mod, but in his e-mail he corrected that the mod is for HPS Gettysburg, not the Talonsoft games.

BUT....I did find "simovitch's graphics mods for John Tiller's Battleground Civil War, January 2010"

simovitch's mod changes the color of the bases of the units in the zoomed-in 3D view. I went in and changed the color for the zoomed-in 2D view by adding a yellow dot to the 2D icons (I typically only use the 2D view). The highlighting should work for when selecting unit organization, units fired, units fixed, etc. The Zoomed-out 3D and zoomed-out 2D have not been changed...though they can be, if anybody want to mod those icons. Or I can give it a try, if needed.

I have uploaded the file to my MediaFire account for easy downloading. The zip file can be found here: http://www.mediafire.com/?7465gqq3j24s4qg

There is a short readme file in the zip package by simovitch. I added a little note about my portion of mod. Simply replace the files in all games. It is recommended that you backup the original files first before replacing them.

PS - here are some images of the original simovitch mod: http://www.matrixgames.com/forums/tm.asp?m=2292260 It appears to also mod some items in Gettysburg, the 2D objectives and visible hex shading is added to replace the large "X".

MarkGaff · **Posted:** Tue Jun 21, 2011 1:00 pm

I should also note, if anybody has any other recommendations, I will gladly modify further.

Here is an example of the 2D yellow dot I added. I selected Unit Organization for a Rebel Unit. All icons within the unit are highlighted with a yellow dot.

RDavis · **Posted:** Tue Jun 21, 2011 8:54 pm

I would love to have that mod....I'm almost blind as a bat as it is.

MarkGaff · **Posted:** Tue Jun 21, 2011 10:48 pm

Cadet Davis,

The zip file can be found here: http://www.mediafire.com/?7465gqq3j24s4qg

RDavis · **Posted:** Wed Jun 22, 2011 9:06 am

MarkGaff wrote:

Cadet Davis,

The zip file can be found here: http://www.mediafire.com/?7465gqq3j24s4qg

Thank you, Lieutenant. It works great!!

simovitch · **Posted:** Wed Jun 22, 2011 9:25 am

Hey, I'm glad you guys found that old mod of mine. Hope it helps!

Frank - feel free to upload it to the banshee site as well.

MarkGaff · **Posted:** Wed Jun 22, 2011 9:40 am

Richard,

Awesome! Thanks for making it.

Hope you don't mind that I added my own little mod to it for the 2D icons.

RDavis · **Posted:** Wed Jun 22, 2011 3:30 pm

MarkGaff wrote:

I should also note, if anybody has any other recommendations, I will gladly modify further.

I don't know if this can be done..but this would be a mod similar to the visible hexes shading...But if there was some way to brighten how far a unit could move in any direction....that would be sweet....Hate moving and finding out you're just one movement point away from whatever objective you're trying to get to...and you end up getting blasted... :mrgreen:

MarkGaff · **Posted:** Wed Jun 22, 2011 4:01 pm

I agree, that would be awesome. But beyond my expertise. It would require "cracking" the games code and modifying the coding to add a whole new feature.

RDavis · **Posted:** Wed Jun 22, 2011 7:29 pm

Ah well....I know that function was in the Rising Sun game...That must have been long past the battleground civil war series....

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Modding Talonsoft Games - is it possible

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