Narayan Sengupta's Guide to Rapid Campaign Creation for Pacific General Hi everyone, I originally wrote this for myself as kind of a checklist of to dos. But I've added a little bit to it so that it is fit for public consumption. Here it is. If you have suggestions, then please let me know and I will add it to this. The first part is a brief outline. The second part is more detail. Thanks, Narayan February to July, 2001 NewFrontiers@Mindspring.com Development Tools ***************** 1. Pacific General Game (duh!) 2. (Optional) Equipment file download from PacGen Armory or from The 5 Star General. 3. (Optional) Map files from PacGen Armory. 4. (Optional) Unit name files from this site. Campaign Preparation ******************** 1. Decide which country is the primary country. 2. Research the time frame, the units, the maps, and the general idea behind your campaign. 3. Create a design notes file for yourself. 3. a) Outline the 10 scenario path of your campaign, including dates, allies and opponents. 3. b) Outline the number of core non-naval, core naval, auxiliary, total core units and scenario type for all 10 scenarios. 4. (Optional) Come up with a naming convention that you can use for units. 5. (Optional) Create maps from scratch. This is not recommended for first time developers. 6. (Optional) Freshen up existing AG/PG maps. This is not recommended for first time developers. 7. Create a template scenario. Backups ******* In developing a campaign, save and make backups frequently. It is often easier to go back to a previously saved version than to try to recreate it by changing the one you are currently working on. Template Scenario Creation ************************** A template scenario is one that you will load everytime you are creating one of your scenarios, and then modify as necessary. Alternatively, it may be easier to keep modifying the last scenario you made to make the next one. This way you can carry over unit names more easily. Scenario Creation ***************** Make your scenarios in order. So start off with making Scenario 1. Start the Battle Generator Assign the Primary country. Core units can only come from the Primary country. Assign the Primary country's Allies. Assign the Enemy country and its Allies. Select a map. Assign a title. (The game crashes if you assign a title and description without saving in between.) Save the scenario with a title like 01ScenarioName.scn (e.g. 01Poland.scn) Go back to the first screen. Assign a description. (This and the title are used by scenarios when they are played individually.) Save. Go back to the first screen. Set starting prestige to about 1000 for both sides. (The Primary country gets this on the first scenario of a campaign or on any stand-alone scenario.) Set the Victory Points to 99999* Set the units needed to live to 1* Set the victory hexes need to live to 1 unless one side or both sides will start without any victory hexes, in which case set to one or both sides to 0. An example of this would be a 100% naval scenario (both sides 0) or an Iwo Jima invasion by sea scenario (US=0)* Set the unit facings to what you think will be most commonly used througout your campaign.* Set the weather to what you think will be most commonly used througout your campaign.* Set the number of turns to what you think will be most commonly used througout your campaign.* Set the day time / night time turns to what you think will be most commonly used througout your campaign.* Select and then deploy one land unit for each side. Confirm that all of the victory flags look like they are set up correctly. Save. Test the scenario by playing both sides as the human (you). See if you can get the scenario to end with first one side and then the other. Deploy a few more units and then test the scenario again by playing both sides to see if the scenario ends as expected. If this step works, then you're in pretty good shape to start adding in more units. Name any units that you want to have historically accurate names (e.g. you may wish to change 109th Iowa to BB Wisconsin, etc.).* ** Entrench units, change experience, understrength or overstrengh units as needed, etc. Add whatever other details you feel you need until you are done. Use the Campaign Editor to migrate the scenario to be part of your campaign. Test it. Save just before ending every single turn. This allows you to recover to test someting over and over again. Play the scenario until completion. I don't remember for sure, but the game should continue to the next SSI scenario. You can now return to the Battle Generator. At this point, you should have an excellent scenario that you can use as a template for your other scenarios to follow. The good news is that the first scenario is usually by far the hardest. SETTING UP OTHER SCENARIOS ************************** You can now do two things. 1. Modify 01ScenarioName.scn to become 02ScenarioName.scn, etc. 2. Save 01ScenarioName.scn to Template.scn, and then base subsequent scenarios on Template.scn. Let's go with option 1. Save 01ScenarioName.scn as 02ScenarioName.scn (e.g. 01Poland.scn to 02Norway.scn) Now UNDEPLOY all units that aren't within 10 x 10 hexes of the top left corner (or so that they would fit on any map that you might use. You may have to make sure that there is at least one unit from either side that is on the map.) Select the map Change the title. Save. Change the description. Save. Change the first screen of the Battle Generator settings as needed (weather, unit facings, etc.) Change units as needed. Save. Generally repeat the steps that are above, including migrating it to be part of your campaign and then testing the flow from the last scenario you created to this one. Now repeat this process until you have finished all of the scenarios. *Most helpful in creation of the template scenario on which you will base the others. **It is really important to make these names that you will be happy with for the rest of the scenarios. FAQs **** "I can't deploy all my core forces. After I deploy my last two units into the deployment hexes, the icons show up, but when I attempt to click on them, nothing happens and no information (Unit name, fuel, etc...) shows up, even after leaving the deployment screen." Jinrosuju Yes, if I remember correctly, the answer the following: On one of the tabs in the CampEdit.exe, you have to setup all of your core and non-core units. Sometimes after making changes and adding in new units in the scenario, it is possible to forget to add them to the core or non-core in the CampEdit. And you have to make sure that one one of the other tabs that you have the right number of core/non-core set up as well. Otherwise they will not show up.