In Session 5 we completed the economic elements of the scenario and made it fully playable. We now have some military and storyline elements to complete but this session will see us to the end of our work. We will touch on the text elements fairly briefly but designers are encouraged to take their time in the storytelling, as it will reward them with a more captivating scenario. We will also place military units, add a map preview and finish the accompanying files for the scenario.

For those who are following along without creating their own version, click to download the scenario so far to see what the scenario currently looks like.

6-A – Placing units

As this is a fictional map, some scenario designers may chose to simply place units at random. Anything can be explained through a creative storyline so there really are not limits on what can be done. I tend to prefer working form a list, probably as a habit from doing real world maps. I usually create a spreadsheet for each player and the type and quantity of units they will get. My spreadsheet for this scenario can be found <here>. When creating a real world scenario, I will also use this spreadsheet to record which unit designs are researched and any techs I find they should have. This spreadsheet can be created at any point in the scenario creation process.

Once you have decided on the units each region shall get, simply use the mapeditor to place them in the scenario. Units placed on the map will be the same ownership as the player selected in the lower right panel and will be placed without any fuel or ammunition, but this will be corrected when the scenario is saved. Placing Garrison infantry in important cities and some form of anti air at strategic locations should be used to make a scenario that requires more than a simple rush tactic.

(Click for a larger screenshot.)

6-B – Final Configuration data

Once all the units have been placed in each region, we can review the number of reserve personnel we wish to give each of the players. In the defense department we are given values for the current reserve personnel and the total active personnel. The active personnel is calculated by the program but the reserves number is set in the player configuration file (variable popreserve;) using formulas. Since most sources for real world data provide total personnel our formula takes the total less the active to determine the reserves. For our scenario, any total that provides a reasonable reserve value is acceptable.

While we’re in the configuration file we can also update the initial Civilian Approval values. These where mentioned when discussing the log file in Session 5. If we go back to the log file we can find for each player a line that indicates a few values ending in CivApr Target. The value shown here is the calculated domestic approval based on the initial values for each region. These can be used as the values for the civapproval; variable in the configuration file.

We now have all major elements of the configuration file at an acceptable value. Some users may wish to take more time to review some of the values. This is to the discretion of the scenario designer.

6-C – Preview Image

In order to give the scenario a more polished look, it is suggested to create a preview picture for the loading screen. This is seen on any of the existing scenarios when a region has been chosen in the lobby and you proceed to start. On the next screen, along with the full storyline and basic region stats, is a preview image in the top right of what the scenario looks like. To create the preview picture simple scale the imagery down until it fits on a transparent background of 256 x 226 pixels. Center the image against the background and save this as a .PNG file into the \Maps\Previews directory. The file name must be the same as the .GMC file for it to load properly. In this case, the image would be New Bavaria.PNG.

(Click for the PNG.)

6-D – GMT file

Now that a preview image can be seen, a storyline would be nice to accompany it. The .GMT file contains all text elements for a scenario including notes, briefs and e-mails. It is found in the Localize\LOCALEN\CUSTOM folder. The simplest method to create a .GMT file is to make a copy of an existing file and adjust the text as needed. It should be noted that text elements specified here would take priority over other settings. Although a name has been assigned in the player configuration file, setting region names in the .GMT will take precedence. The name for a region will always be taken from the .GMT file if the file exists.

Some elements may also be unnecessary depending on the amount of details desired. As an example, names for groupings are optional as are unique e-mails for each region. The text for &&EMAIL 00 will be used for any regions that do not have their own opening e-mails. In many cases I will use this default e-mail until I have played the scenario once or twice. After I have made some notes one the regions, I will go back and write the more detailed individual e-mails. See the Mapeditor Documentation Ver 1.2 Appendix F for further details on GMT variables.

To see the text from the .GMT in the game requires updating the .GMC file to point to this one.