PMC Balkans Theater v1.0 has been released!

Balkans theater

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Snake Man
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PMC Balkans Theater v1.0 has been released!

Post by Snake Man » 2008-11-09 15:14:41

PMC Balkans Theater v1.0 has been released!

This is the SP3 Balkans theater, the last public/free release. I just took it and ported it over to work in RedViper, its not for OF/AF as they have their own Balkans installs included already. Don't try to install this to Allied Force or Open Falcon, it overwrites your original install.

This is for Red Viper only!

Here is the readme:
This is PMC's RedViper (RV) conversion of SuperPAK 3 Balkans Theater from 2001. Balkans theater is very interesting due the "Falcon politics" as LeadPursuit has released this same theater commercially with their Falcon 4 Allied Force (AF), but initially this theater was created by the community, including many many people (yes, including PMC guys). This conversion you're now handling is the taken from the Falcon4SP3BalkanTheater.exe installer which to our knowledge is the last free public release.

PMC will no way take responsibility of being the sole author of this theater, we acknowledge the huge list of people being involved in the development (see credits), we simply took the old installer and converted it to 2008 theater status for RV, naturally we didn't do AF conversion because much more improved version is already included in AF itself.

PMC goals for this theater? Well to develop it to the same SP3 stage including new sounds and skins, working for RV. If anyone is willing to help us, please get in touch with us as all help would be greatly appreciated.

Install

1) Run PMC_Balkans_Theater_v1.0.exe installer.
Done.

Feedback

Please send feedback and bug reports of the conversion process to PMC Tactical forums. (see web site / email links from bottom of this readme).

Special thanks for Sharpy to letting us use his campaign files, thanks!

Please refer to the full manual and readme from Theaters\Balkans\Documents\ directory. Here is the original credits from the Balkans PDF manual back from 2001.

Credits

These are the individuals who have given up their free time towards the development of this theater for no other reward than to be able to play the end result and share it with others. The members of the team are from all over the world and this represents a truly international effort. If we have missed anybody, please accept our deepest apologies. If your name is misspelled or you have a "callsign" that is not listed then please let us know so that we can amend it. The list is organized into meaningful tasks. Some names will appear more than once.

Producers

Chris "Washout" Carter
Julian "Codec" Onions
Manfred "Schumi" Nelles

Compilation and Tool Creation

Fred "Baldeagle" Balding

Object Placement and Campaign Creation

Joeri Cools
Manfred "Schumi" Nelles
Snake Man
Tobias "Buster" Adam

Tile Artists

Gregor "Madman" Papez
Manfred "Schumi" Nelles
Scott "Seaghost" Eddy

Terrain Tiling

Aaron "Spectre" Watson
Andreas "Komis" Kominos
Anne-Marie "Motherhen" Carter
Antonio "QWERTY" Ramos
Bob "Snowman" Crawford
Chera Bekker
Chris "Washout" Carter
Contiero "Josc" Giovanni
Darren "Merlin" Sadler
Dieter "Joxer" Blancqueart
Edgar Wneuf
Erik "Owl" de Klerk
Francesco "Mix" Missarino
Fred "Baldeagle" Balding
Gayle "Beartrax" Galbraith
Gregor "Madman" Papez
James "Rellick" Lumsden
James "Warlock" Farmer
Jason "Jaguar" Howlett
Jeff "Spin" Boaz
Jerry "Pookie" Davis
Julian "Codec" Onions
Keith "Chumpy" Slaney
Manfred "Schumi" Nelles
Mariano "Parsifal" Maciel
Masayuki "Jappo" Hojo
Matevz "White Angel" Jekovec
Mats Andersson
Paul "Too Easy" Poulson
Rick "Drummer" Centeno
Roberto Grasso
Scott "Seaghost" Eddy
Snake Man
Steve "Aim" Wattebled
Steve "Ironklad" Klastrup
Thomas Waelti
Vincent "Vinman" Faraci
William "Silent Death" Treasure

Additional Vehicles

Jerry "Pookie" Davis

Additional Graphics

Andreas "Komis" Kominos
Mathieu-Claude "Olric" Chaboud

Voices

Andreas "Komis" Kominos

Music

Jakob "VIP" Sejer-Neilson
Johnny Viggins
Steve "Bugman" Roach

Documentation

Chris "Washout" Carter
Colin "Cooler" Morrow
Kurt "Froglips" Giesselman

Web Site Administration

Matevz "White Angel" Jekovec

Advice, Technical Help and Other Resources

Luca "Grayhawk" Antinoni
Sylvain Gagnon
TBone
Feel free to send feedback if there is some issues and I'll try to fix them.

Download PMC_Balkans_Theater_v1.0.rar - 28mb.
Mirror 1: n/a
More mirrors welcome.
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zsoltfireman
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Re: PMC Balkans Theater v1.0 has been released!

Post by zsoltfireman » 2008-11-10 09:37:25

Hello Snake Man,

There is a little problem!
The TE selection is not F-16 model!!! :?

Thank you!

Regards,

Zsolt

ccc
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Re: PMC Balkans Theater v1.0 has been released!

Post by ccc » 2008-11-10 10:40:18

The TE selection is not F-16 model!!! :?
bug confirmed.. no F16s in TE ac selection list.

i try to replace teplanes.lst and Validac.act from default RV korea files, no go.

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Re: PMC Balkans Theater v1.0 has been released!

Post by molnibalage » 2009-02-11 08:11:05


ccc
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Re: PMC Balkans Theater v1.0 has been released!

Post by ccc » 2009-04-25 03:44:00

checking Balkan v1.0/RV-FF4, second campaing( middle one, save0.cam), run at 64x, up to Day 3.

note - 64x time compression, just for a quick-check on the dynamics of ground war.

- the road network looks quite complete. i can not tell any noticable choking point.
- i notice two major hot spots at FLOT.. both sides rushed ground units to capture/defend the two spots..after several rounds of offensive-cosolidation-defensive, the two hot spots still secured by Red.
- blue side seems losing the ability to launch another major offensive, due to short of armour units on Day 3. the overall ground war turned into more "stasis".

impression: the campaign looks favor Red ground force..if Blue side want to win, player should do more CAS/interdiction work to reduce Red ground force.

btw,
-i noted the "force level ratio" diagrams in 2d map UI and pop window all work. (Kurile mod not work)
- the boundary outlines of PAK in PAK map remain the same as Korea pak. background is correct. ( as in Kurile).
- the nation flags remain the same as DPRK/ROK/US.

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Re: PMC Balkans Theater v1.0 has been released!

Post by derStef » 2009-04-28 16:41:40

ccc wrote:
The TE selection is not F-16 model!!! :?
bug confirmed.. no F16s in TE ac selection list.

i try to replace teplanes.lst and Validac.act from default RV korea files, no go.

isn't that because the theaters are built for older versions of falcon than FF5? i'm talking about the heavily changed DB....

ccc
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Re: PMC Balkans Theater v1.0 has been released!

Post by ccc » 2009-06-30 03:04:38

ccc wrote:25 Apr 2009
checking Balkan v1.0/RV-FF4, second campaing( middle one, save0.cam), run at 64x, up to Day 3.
Another check on Balkan FF4/RV, second campaign( middle one, save0.cam)..

this time the war (campaign clock ) - STOP at Day 6, 0100. i confirmed the campaign ended..as there's no movie played, the reason to end could be [Blue side win by holding many objectives], or [ stalemate, both sides have no solid ground contact over 120 hr/5d]. I favor the first one, allied force wins.

impressions..

- Tho this campaign can reach an end, it's quite..boring. Blue side should hold many objectives along the border till Red side runs out of offensive ground units, which means Blue side is quite passive, ground units have no major offensive.. thus the air operation becomes somewhat meaningless.

- As TRI file defined, most Blue units will hold their positions.. and many mechanized units tend to retreat back to second lines.. leave infantry at frist line positions. occasionally there're minor ground offensive led by infantry units..but their advance is limited. There're THREE Red airbases extremely close to the FLOT, BUT all blue units refuse to advance and capture them, make blue units kept suffering from airstrike by G-4 and Mig-21! it's quite frustrating.. even manual order can not force Blue to capture those AFBs.

- i noted some blue units are inserted/airmobiled to an AFB in red-controlled Sarajeva sector..those units tend to "flea away", try returning back to blue-controlled border..two units did it and create an open route from Sarajeva AFB to Split sector, objectives turned "blue-owned" in this "escape" maneuvor. Even so, bulks of blue units did not use this route to advance/control Sarajeva sector.

- this campaign is designed to be " Korea - Iron Fortress " type.. i noticed Red side did move many mechanized units to FLOT, try to break blue defence line..the offensive was launched along two or three parallel routes. Thanx to A-10 and other CAS ac/helo, most was easily neutralized before Day 4. Now comes the problem.. unlike default Korea one, Red side ran out of offensive momentum( no more bulks of attack force), and Blue side refused to turn into offensive( to capture more Serbrian land/obj), the war turned into pure AA play...till the end of war.

- i noticed there're three Army bases near FLOT, kept sending helo to attack allied units.. i highjacked few flights to level them, thus eliminated the threat from red helos.. some are KA-50!.

- dunno why Blue ATO did not generate sufficient CAP flights..and a Blue carrier group reinforcement seldom launch any flights.. just do nothing in Adriac sea. Also there's a Red carrier group reinforcement, did not launch flights.

- in FF4/RV version, when try flying Mirage2000D in 3d word, it CTD. probabaly database or pit file linking issue.

- To sum up, the job for blue player is [disable THREE AFBs near FLOT] and [neutralize ALL incoming Red ground units], once no more Red dots moving toward FLOT( check it in JSTARS window), you may sit and wait the end of war.

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Re: PMC Balkans Theater v1.0 has been released!

Post by ccc » 2009-07-01 15:43:06

another quick test - FF4/RV Balkan, third campaign - Save1.cam.

The TRI file setting is - if Red side can not capture Tirane obj in 7 days, Blue side win.

well, Tirane city is in the middle of Blue ground units so.. i ran the war at 64x... and on DAy 7 0000, Blue side wins/ movie played.
During the test.. i did not notice any Red ground offensive pinpointing at Tirane.. Red side just aimed at Sarajevo sector..wierd.. theoreteically they should all rush toward their only target, Tirane obj.. but they appear disoriented.

ccc
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Re: PMC Balkans Theater v1.0 has been released!

Post by ccc » 2009-07-02 03:44:34

After checking the two Balkan FF4/RV campaigns( save0, save1), the test result shows.. [The dynamic side of campaign can be ignored or disabled to some extent, and run the sim as a pure Air-Air sim ]. :shock:

Also, it again proves that [ A campaign can be designed to end in given days, and one side is destined to win ].

in Balkan save0.cam, Red side do have many offensive ground units rushing toward FLOT, but the quantity is not sufficient to form a true "pressure" on blue FLOT..so there's no such "clash of steel" as Korea DMZ. imo double or triple Red mechanized units should turn the war more dynamic.

In Balkan save1.cam, the only goal to capture/secure is Tirane city which deep in blue territory, makes red ground operatoin pointless. However, such TRI setting sounds pretty ok for air-power-centered, historical campaigns.. campaign designers don't have to worry about how the ground war going, just set a given day to end the war.

say, Cuba, 13 day to win by US...with few ground fighting, and mostly A-G op on Cuba land. A non-dynamic Taiwan campaign or other small island-type campaigns can apply the trick... Even a historical Vnam can be done, simulating the last stage of historical Vnam war, simmers fly the last missions for US.. and wait NVA win in given days :mrgreen: I'd say.. such TRI setting saves a lot of headache on tweaking campaigns.. and return the fun and focus of flying/aircombat...and Best of all, the war can reach an end- and movie played :D

PS - tho it lost dynamics in ground operation, the air war still remain its dynamc ATO.

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Re: PMC Balkans Theater v1.0 has been released!

Post by toonces » 2009-07-02 12:12:01

ccc, sometimes I don't know whether to hug you or kick you! I've been tap dancing around the idea of an "air centered campaign" since 2008 before I even started deciphering "working" ground movement.

I have a couple of thoughts:

[edit] I'll just stay on topic and start another thread.

WRT this campaign and campaigns in general, are there any criteria that can be achieved using just air power that can be written into a .tri file as victory conditions?

This is an important question. Take Vietnam for example. I could write a Linebacker 1 or 2 campaign in which ground movement is relatively irrelevant. But what causes "victory" for the player? The time-out of the clock? We can already do that- Europe has a very dynamic air war for both sides.

I have a couple of ideas how you could write a campaign with victory conditions based on air war only.

1. I already know you can tie victory conditions to air superiority levels. Boring.

2. Supply level drops below some value/ratio. Can't figure out how to do that when flying the campaign- how to destroy supply.

3. Design a utility that "exports" the results of missions into some sort of scoring system. For example, 2 points for a target destroyed, -1 point for every member of a flight lost, and so on. Time-out the campaign at 7 days and the score determines victory or defeat (or victory level, major, minor, draw, etc).

4. Artificially. Give artificial victory conditions like: "Hanoi city, Haiphong city, Paul Doumer Bridge, and Hanoi SAM Factory must be destroyed by game day 6". The player can't just drive into Hanoi at 0600 on Day 1, he has to come up with a campaign plan to defeat the air and air-defense forces such that he can get a strike into Hanoi.

You have to have a goal-result campaign or else it's just flying around shooting things down.

I gotta run. You should start a new thread where we can flesh out these ideas. Until FF5 gets repaired, this is the best way to design campaigns right now IMO.

ccc
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Re: PMC Balkans Theater v1.0 has been released!

Post by ccc » 2009-07-02 13:43:24

i try to keep it short.. :mrgreen:
ccc, sometimes I don't know whether to hug you or kick you! I've been tap dancing around the idea of an "air centered campaign" since 2008 before I even started deciphering "working" ground movement.
i knew you brought up the idea. Honestly, if i can make ground units capturing obj to win, i won't use this type of TRI to end a campaign.. it's just a compromise, a shortcut.. and simply miss the ground war part of dynamic campaign.
WRT this campaign and campaigns in general, are there any criteria that can be achieved using just air power that can be written into a .tri file as victory conditions?
imo the only way is use airpower force ratio to end the war..

Code: Select all

#IF_FORCE_RATIO A 2 6 G 8   ( if aircraft quantity, blue/red is over 80% )
2. Supply level drops below some value/ratio. Can't figure out how to do that when flying the campaign- how to destroy supply.
supply level code does not work in FF or other falcon versions.. so the TRI can not use it as ending factor.
3. Design a utility that "exports" ...
4. Artificially. Give artificial victory conditions like: ...
Honestly i don't like this artificial scoring system..i like to see game exe end the campaign by iteself..and play the ending movie. :mrgreen:

ccc
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Re: Download Balkans Theater

Post by ccc » 2010-07-26 14:53:58

http://www.multiupload.com/9RL8BCX0JO

rough tga for ff balkan selection

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o F16s in TE ac selection list

Post by ghost-mike » 2010-09-15 17:51:20

ccc wrote:
The TE selection is not F-16 model!!! :?
bug confirmed.. no F16s in TE ac selection list.

i try to replace teplanes.lst and Validac.act from default RV korea files, no go.
Is there a way to fix this? :?:

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Re: PMC Balkans Theater v1.0 has been released!

Post by Snake Man » 2010-09-15 18:18:06

I have no idea. If someone shows how to fix this, I can include it to next release.
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Re: PMC Balkans Theater v1.0 has been released!

Post by derStef » 2010-09-18 10:05:30

Snake Man wrote:I have no idea. If someone shows how to fix this, I can include it to next release.

what else have you prepared for the "next release"?
what stuff have you worked out or collected in the meantime?

regards

Stef

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Re: PMC Balkans Theater v1.0 has been released!

Post by Snake Man » 2010-09-18 10:33:17

I haven't edited Balkans since the last release, if someone has edited files (like this mentioned fix) please send them on my way.
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derStef
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Re: PMC Balkans Theater v1.0 has been released!

Post by derStef » 2010-09-18 11:04:43

Snake Man wrote:I haven't edited Balkans since the last release, if someone has edited files (like this mentioned fix) please send them on my way.
FYI, there is a dedicated group who are creating new Terrain tiles for Balkans..

further, i have worked out a "beta" DB and 2 campaings, based on the FF5.3 DB..
1999 Kosovo war
~mid 80s Coldwar (but this one keeps CTDing with FF5.5.1 have to firuge that out first..


cheers

Stef

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Re: o F16s in TE ac selection list

Post by demer928 » 2010-09-19 20:57:00

ghost-mike wrote:
ccc wrote:
The TE selection is not F-16 model!!! :?
bug confirmed.. no F16s in TE ac selection list.

i try to replace teplanes.lst and Validac.act from default RV korea files, no go.
Is there a way to fix this? :?:
Need's to be Listed here as well: lcktxtrc.irc for Falcon4 Type Version's,I think Unit's.irc for AF Sherlock???............... :wink:
There's more................!!!!!!!!HAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!
teplanes.lst is VCD specific
Validac.act is UCD specific
But you guy's already know this.
This is why, in FF5, you can fly just about any plane you want in TE,but I restricted what you can fly in Campaign!!!!!
Reason!?!?!? If it does'nt Shoot and Scoot in Campaign.Then you as Player will not effect the outcome,this is VERY needful for the Campaign engine.You need to acheive something, whether good or bad, to Propel the Campaign forward.Flying an AN-2\C-130 will not modify your SCORE....................HAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!

Question's??
demer

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