15.03.2009, 06:58
I finally got it figured out - more or less - after a number of tries. It does work, replacing textures one by one. Enough members told me so and it finally worked.
But there are a few things to keep in mind and do.
First, I found that the game should never be running while you make changes to a load.ini. It won't effect the game of course, but I believe when starting up, Il-2 reads a number of files and keeps them as such in its memory. So when you change one of these files, Il-2 won't know or crash.
Also, for simplicity's sake, put all the textures you'll be using into one and the same directory. It will be easier that way to keep track of the path.
The default directory for summer textures is ... MODS/MapMods/_Tex/land/summer ....
put all your textures into that directory. You can also make copies of all the textures you'll be using and rename them to a system that makes it easy for you to find and remember them. Some textures have such odd and complicated naming systems that it becomes easy to make typos. Don't worry about having copies of a same texture file. As long as they have different names, the game will work fine with them. Just be sure never to use spaces in the texture filenames. If necessary use underscores '_' when renaming.
___________
Now comes the replacing part. Some lines in map load.ini's refer to directories other than the standard one above.
You will get a line like this for instance:
LowLand0 = Italy_DF/land/summer/LowLand_2neu.tga
The part 'Italy_DF/' refers to a directory that may not even be in your game folder as such. And you may not be able to find the texture file 'LowLand_2neu.tga'. It could be in a sfs file. So you will have to extract any of those files with the sfs extractor tool.
Open all map sfs files one by one and extract the textures you need. Put those textures, renamed or not, into the standard texture folder: ... MODS/MapMods/_Tex/land/summer ...
Now you can start renaming the individual lines in the map load.ini without having to worry about which folder they are in. They are now all in one and the same folder.
The line, 'LowLand0 = Italy_DF/land/summer/LowLand_2neu.tga' can then become:
'LowLand0 = land/summer/LowLand_2neu.tga'
And you can do this for any line you wish in your new map:
MidLand0 = Italy_DF/land/summer/macchia_neu4.tga,2
MidLand1 = Italy_DF/land/summer/dryland.tga,2
MidLand2 = Italy_DF/land/summer/dry1.tga,2
MidLand3 = Italy_DF/land/summer/macchia_neu3.tga,2
in the new map they can become for instance
MidLand0 = land/summer/macchia_neu4.tga,2
MidLand1 = land/summer/dryland.tga,2
MidLand2 = land/summer/dry1.tga,2
MidLand3 = land/summer/macchia_neu3.tga,2
But: remember to check for typos, wrong caps in filenames etc. Take your time and first off do one line at a time, start the game and load the new map to see it is working. Once you've gotten the hang of doing one line at a time, then you can do multiple lines with ease.
I take it that you know how to add a line in the 'all.ini' file for adding new maps. Once that is also done, you can start up the game and try out your new map.
Hope this helps. I only just got it working myself and this opens such scope for tweaking the maps to one's heart's content.
I've also started making textures of my own, working from on-line free texture libraries and turning the textures into seamless tiles with Paint Shop Pro 7. It works very easily and may be another way of helping you achieve the look you wish for on your map.
But there are a few things to keep in mind and do.
First, I found that the game should never be running while you make changes to a load.ini. It won't effect the game of course, but I believe when starting up, Il-2 reads a number of files and keeps them as such in its memory. So when you change one of these files, Il-2 won't know or crash.
Also, for simplicity's sake, put all the textures you'll be using into one and the same directory. It will be easier that way to keep track of the path.
The default directory for summer textures is ... MODS/MapMods/_Tex/land/summer ....
put all your textures into that directory. You can also make copies of all the textures you'll be using and rename them to a system that makes it easy for you to find and remember them. Some textures have such odd and complicated naming systems that it becomes easy to make typos. Don't worry about having copies of a same texture file. As long as they have different names, the game will work fine with them. Just be sure never to use spaces in the texture filenames. If necessary use underscores '_' when renaming.
___________
Now comes the replacing part. Some lines in map load.ini's refer to directories other than the standard one above.
You will get a line like this for instance:
LowLand0 = Italy_DF/land/summer/LowLand_2neu.tga
The part 'Italy_DF/' refers to a directory that may not even be in your game folder as such. And you may not be able to find the texture file 'LowLand_2neu.tga'. It could be in a sfs file. So you will have to extract any of those files with the sfs extractor tool.
Open all map sfs files one by one and extract the textures you need. Put those textures, renamed or not, into the standard texture folder: ... MODS/MapMods/_Tex/land/summer ...
Now you can start renaming the individual lines in the map load.ini without having to worry about which folder they are in. They are now all in one and the same folder.
The line, 'LowLand0 = Italy_DF/land/summer/LowLand_2neu.tga' can then become:
'LowLand0 = land/summer/LowLand_2neu.tga'
And you can do this for any line you wish in your new map:
MidLand0 = Italy_DF/land/summer/macchia_neu4.tga,2
MidLand1 = Italy_DF/land/summer/dryland.tga,2
MidLand2 = Italy_DF/land/summer/dry1.tga,2
MidLand3 = Italy_DF/land/summer/macchia_neu3.tga,2
in the new map they can become for instance
MidLand0 = land/summer/macchia_neu4.tga,2
MidLand1 = land/summer/dryland.tga,2
MidLand2 = land/summer/dry1.tga,2
MidLand3 = land/summer/macchia_neu3.tga,2
But: remember to check for typos, wrong caps in filenames etc. Take your time and first off do one line at a time, start the game and load the new map to see it is working. Once you've gotten the hang of doing one line at a time, then you can do multiple lines with ease.
I take it that you know how to add a line in the 'all.ini' file for adding new maps. Once that is also done, you can start up the game and try out your new map.
Hope this helps. I only just got it working myself and this opens such scope for tweaking the maps to one's heart's content.
I've also started making textures of my own, working from on-line free texture libraries and turning the textures into seamless tiles with Paint Shop Pro 7. It works very easily and may be another way of helping you achieve the look you wish for on your map.