JTS Moscow '42 Update 1.02 Released

[Compass Rose]

JTS just released Moscow '42 Update 1.02

Changes for Moscow '42 Version 1.02
- When units are combined, the combined unit takes on the average of the fatigue of the individual units by strength.
- Added 2D terrain slopes to show elevations.
- New Unit box graphics based off Panzer Battles
- New terrain graphics for all ground states.
- New hex features/hex side graphics. There is now both winter and summer versions in new directories under the map directory. Summer is the game default. Using Winter will add snowy trees and frozen rivers. To add just copy the 4 files under \Map\Winter into the Map directory and overwrite. To restore the summer defaults just copy the 4 files under the summer directory into the map directory and overwrite.
- New NATO symbols, courtesy Jison.
- New map embedded fortification graphics.
- New Winter Counterattack Order of Battle (Moscow '42 Counterattack - Variant).
This OB is the default for all scenarios other than the #1201_01 Naro-Fominsk series. All German units have lowered maximum unit size to prevent reinforcements creating units that are ahistorically strong.
- Various scenario changes.

The update can be found here:

http://johntillersoftware.com/Updates.html

[Strela]

Hi All,

As Compass Rose has mentioned we have released an update for Moscow '42. Though there are some significant changes to the Order of Battle and Scenarios, this update is a change to the look and feel of the game.

We have used the work done on the new Panzer Battles titles to update Moscow '42.


Here are a few screen shots;



Original Winter terrain graphics;







Same shot using the new terrain graphics including the optional 'Snow' trees and frozen rivers. Also note the raised contours to give the map more 'depth';







Zoomed in shot of the same area;







New Summer terrain, including fortifications;







And zoomed in;







New Soviet Troops (including embedded NATO Symbols);







New German Troops;







New Vehicles;








I'm currently working on an equivalent update for Panzer Campaigns Kharkov '43 as well as the next title in the Panzer Battles series.



Strela

[Zulu1966]

Looks brilliant. Any clue as to the panzer battles game ?

[Strela]

Hi All,

To save some angst.

We're seeing an issue overwriting the original Moscow42.exe (1.00 version) in some cases when the patch is being run. This is due to a read-only attribute.

If you have this issue, the patch will stop with 'Cannot create output file Moscow42.exe'.

Just go and delete Moscow42.exe in the game directory and then rerun the patch. That will allow the new exe to extract in place of the original.

Thanks,

Strela

[Boggit]

The graphics are looking really nice. O0

@Strela :)
Any news regarding the linked campaign for PzB Kursk that you mentioned a while back? I think it will be great, as the linked scenario campaign will make all the individual battles count in the greater scheme of things. I'm really looking forward to it.

[Strela]

Looks brilliant. Any clue as to the panzer battles game ?

It's West Front.

Strela

[Strela]

The graphics are looking really nice. O0

@Strela :)
Any news regarding the linked campaign for PzB Kursk that you mentioned a while back? I think it will be great, as the linked scenario campaign will make all the individual battles count in the greater scheme of things. I'm really looking forward to it.

A basic version of the campaign engine will come with the next Panzer Battles title. This will work with Kursk, but we won't be creating any campaign content officially for that title.

We are planning to enhance the campaign engine over time, particularly tied to some future titles that will require additional enhancements to represent aspects of those battles.

Strela

[Boggit]

Of course extra content is always a bonus, but that campaign - even if basic - is such a good idea, as it makes the individual actions meaningful, rather than as just isolated firefights. Nice one, Strela! :)

[panzerde]

Looking really good Strela! Any idea if we're going to see this as a wholesale change to the PzC games? And, will the older HPS titles get the same treatment or will this be JTS titles only? I realize that some of the older games may be very difficult/impossible to update.

[Boggit]

Looking really good Strela! Any idea if we're going to see this as a wholesale change to the PzC games? And, will the older HPS titles get the same treatment or will this be JTS titles only? I realize that some of the older games may be very difficult/impossible to update.

A big +1 to that. Would the older games really be too difficult to convert, don't they use much the same map files?

[panzerde]

It might be that while they're technically capable of being updated, it might not be economically feasible to do so.

[Strela]

Looking really good Strela! Any idea if we're going to see this as a wholesale change to the PzC games? And, will the older HPS titles get the same treatment or will this be JTS titles only? I realize that some of the older games may be very difficult/impossible to update.

There are two different updates here; terrain & units.

The terrain included in the patch will work with any PzC game that has been released by John Tiller Software. There is a difference in file structure between John Tiller Software releases and the original HPS versions, which means that the terrain won't work with the latter. If people were desperate to have the new terrain in another JTS game, they just need to unzip it to a neutral location and then copy the contents of the map directory over.

The unit graphics is a different issue. They need to be done one by one with new replacing the old. As there have been a range of different designers over the years, there has been inconsistency in unit naming and this is a very manual process.

With the above in mind, Moscow '42 (& Kharkov '43 to follow) have been updated by me as a personal project as I was the primary designer. There is not an official plan to do this for other titles as it's up to the individual designer to make that call.

There will probably be sufficient graphics assets available based upon our current Panzer Battles work, but there will always be a lack of time to go back and retrofit prior games. There is nothing stopping an enterprising modder from taking the work we have just released for Moscow '42 & using much of it to update Moscow '41 for example.

As far as economically feasible, it is when the designer does it for free!!!   :P

Strela

[panzerde]

Thanks for the information Strela! Good to know. Most of the older games I have are HPS, so I guess I'll be sticking with Volcano and Mapmod for the time being.

[Philippe]

Back in the days of my old computer the two railroad bitmaps were the bane of my modding existence.

I found one set that I sort of liked and redrew parts of it and modified the color a bit, but was never happy with the execution.  I did a bit of research and figured out that I needed to use a software drawing tool that turned the point of a stylus-mouse (which I didn't have) into a symbol that was essentially two rails and two railroad ties.  You'd then move the stylus over a template of where the rail lines were supposed to go, and you were done.  I'm pretty sure the railroad lines in the Ageod games were made using something like this.

I'm still growing into my new computer (executing graphic adjustments with a reasonably modern computer and old software is surprisingly tricky), but I'm delighted to see that someone unleashed a software drawing tool on a very tired pair of bitmaps. 

The style of the terrain seems very reminiscent of the Squad Battles games.  Who did the terrain work for Moscow '42 ?

[Strela]

Back in the days of my old computer the two railroad bitmaps were the bane of my modding existence.

I found one set that I sort of liked and redrew parts of it and modified the color a bit, but was never happy with the execution.  I did a bit of research and figured out that I needed to use a software drawing tool that turned the point of a stylus-mouse (which I didn't have) into a symbol that was essentially two rails and two railroad ties.  You'd then move the stylus over a template of where the rail lines were supposed to go, and you were done.  I'm pretty sure the railroad lines in the Ageod games were made using something like this.

I'm still growing into my new computer (executing graphic adjustments with a reasonably modern computer and old software is surprisingly tricky), but I'm delighted to see that someone unleashed a software drawing tool on a very tired pair of bitmaps. 

The style of the terrain seems very reminiscent of the Squad Battles games.  Who did the terrain work for Moscow '42 ?

Philippe,

It's all my work other than the NATO and a few other symbols that came from Jison of Mapmod fame (with his permission!).

A LOT of experimentation went into getting it right (as you would know). Essentially the base for these graphics came from the latest patch for Panzer Battles where this new graphic style was launched recently. The Panzer Battles graphics are higher res than in Panzer Campaigns but I resampled the textures rather than use a reduced version.

I had a few decisions such as using the 'larger' village/city graphics from Panzer Battles or use the smaller version from the original Panzer Campaigns, but I settled on the Panzer Battles individual house look.

As far as the railroad, that was probably the hardest one to do. I had a basic template to work off for both a section of straight and curve, but I ended up having to do a significant amount of manual work here. There are still some errors if you look closely, but all in all it's pretty good.

Strela