LWD_Tree Problems

[stuart277]

Hi All,

I have been doing a new install of the MTO to take advantage of all of the new goodies. (AND GET USED TO WINDOWS 10)

Started with a fresh CFS2 install.

Using the The_Balkans_Project installs from Rami.

Fixed the missing ships and plane.

Did the Scenery.

1. Start up is missing the 'LWD_trees'

2. I have the lwd_tree_library, so I installed them, mdlnames etc.

3. BUT, I get the dreaded 'failed to initialize' problem.

4. Take them out and I am back to '1'
I have looked at an older thread, but no success.

Cheers,

Stuart

[Rami]

Stuart277,

Skip the mdlnames.txt step and see what happens. Sometimes that step is troublesome. You're actually better off in retrospect not even touching that.

If you're still having issues I'll dive deeper into the pool.

And....thank you for installing my research labor of love. It is by far my favorite campaign package I ever released.

[stuart277]

Hi Rami,

Thanks for the reply. (And of course, your outstanding work with this project)

Well as you suggested, I copied the LWD files and I still get the 'failed to initialize' problem when I try to open the mission builder.

I can, however, open the game.

Having said that, I tested it withe the mdlnames added.

The game opens.

It probably opened before I posted, but I tend to open mission builder when testing.

In both cases, I still get the 'failed to initialize' problem when I try to open the mission builder.

Now here is the can of worms.

I love a bit of purple texturing. Check these couple of pics.




I should have taken a screen shot of the panel. Wow, hallucinating colour.

Not sure why, but, at some point during some missions, the game stall's briefly and I think something is happening at this stall.

Perplexing!

Cheers,

Stuart

[Blood_Hawk23]

After installing scenery you should open the game before you open mission builder.

It looks like you have a driver issue with the textures. It would seem your comp doesn't like the format. If Rami can ID them we should be able to figure out what needs to be done to fix it. I would try messing with the graphics settings in game first.

What do you have them set at?

Hopefully its a simple fix and not a format change of every texture.

[Rami]

Stuart277,

I recognize the shot heading east out of Malemes, with Canea in the foreground and Souda Bay off to starboard at about 2 o'clock. Here is what mine looks like.

I would try deleting all of your filelist.dat and .cdp files and see if that fixes the texture issue. Sometimes I get that on my laptop if she starts getting a little toasty.

I use 1024 x 768 x 32 screen resolution settings on my desktop and laptop.

[Rami]

Stuart277,

After deleting the .cdp and filelist.dat files from your install, please try removing the entries from the mdlnames.txt, or just use the stock mdlnames.txt and don't modify it at all. If you do this, and replace the quick combat file with a backup, this should fix your "failure to initialize" problem.

Keep me posted on the textures...if nothing fixes it, just put "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" on in the background while you're flying and either a strobe light or black light and have a party.

[kdriver]

Hi Stuart,

I've had the same issue with Mission Builder. It can't handle as many aircraft, ships and object dps as the main sim.

I have a separate MB install with only the aircraft and ships needed for the mission or campaign which I'm testing. My MB OBJECTS_DP folder is also a whittled down version - all the weapons are removed.

Regarding textures for your MTO, particularly the south, I would recommend using Captain Kurt's Spain Terrain which was done for the Spanish Civil War.

Cheers,

Kevin

[The B24 Guy]

Hi Guys,

I have two LW Tree files.

One BGL is named LDW_TreeLib.bgl

The other is named LWD_TreeLib.bgl

Maybe this is the problem.

Regards,

B24Guy

[Rami]

The B24 Guy,

Nope, those are two separate tree packs.

[Captain Kurt]

Yep. The LDW is Lindsay Watt's tree pack while LWD is Maskrider's tree library with Lindsay's work. There are different trees in each package.

IMHO regarding the mdlenames file -

I never add anything to the stock mdlnames file. I learned a long time ago that there is no reason to put add-on names into the mdlnames file. CFS2 only looks for the stock objects names in that file but doesn't seem to notice whether new add on names are in the file or not.

Originally I thought the names needed to be added so the objects could be identified in the Mission Builder and in missions. But no, it seems what Mission Builder looks for is a dp file either in a model folder or the objects_dp folder. Even if a bgl is missing but the dp file is in the objects_dp folder, Mission Builder will show it as a selection and place it in mission file. It won't show up when the mission is loaded of course but shows as a missing object.

Conversely, if you want to remove the stock aircraft to save space or create a dedicated installation like an Eastern Front or European theater, you need to remove the aircraft names from the mdlnames file or the game won't initialize.

The failure of MB to open in my experience also means that Free Flight and QC won't open. That means there is a combination of too many aircraft models, ships models and dp files in the Objects_dp folder. The total of all together seems to have a limit. The game itself will continue to open. The fix is to delete unused files of one or all three of these. If you like all of the airplanes and ships, then delete any unused dp files in the Objects_dp folder. There are always a bunch of unused dp files depending on what missions you want to open or build.

Stuart, I would bet that you are right at the limit before you add the trees, and just over the limit after you add them.

Hope that helps.

PS Thanks for the plug for my Spain_Terrain Kevin

[Blood_Hawk23]

IMHO regarding the mdlenames file -

I never add anything to the stock mdlnames file. I learned a long time ago that there is no reason to put add-on names into the mdlnames file. CFS2 only looks for the stock objects names in that file but doesn't seem to notice whether new add on names are in the file or not.

Originally I thought the names needed to be added so the objects could be identified in the Mission Builder and in missions. But no, it seems what Mission Builder looks for is a dp file either in a model folder or the objects_dp folder. Even if a bgl is missing but the dp file is in the objects_dp folder, Mission Builder will show it as a selection and place it in mission file. It won't show up when the mission is loaded of course but shows as a missing object.

***mdlnames***

what does this do...

when you fly a mission and target an object, the name that is displayed will either be the model name or the name from the mdlnames list "mdl=model" hence it is a model names list. this give you the ability to rename the models displayed name. look at these name and tell me which would you rather see.

"AmRockLa"=*American M4A3 Sherman w/T34 Rocket Launcher

with this one I'd rather have the model's name not the mdlnames list.

"Hangar1"=*Hangar Style 2

this one doesn't really matter either way.

"Inf_TentS3"=Tent Small open

This one is a little more descriptive. Could be usefully when trying to ID the correct target.

"Veh_MarinesUH1_55mA"= UH-1E 'Huey' Assault 55m

This is one of my own.

The mdlnames list is used in MB in the same way. When you look for an object would you rather look at, the model name or the mdlname.

It does come down to preference. the mdlnames list can be blank with no ill effects. though it would change how you look at things.

also note in the case of weapons. would you rather see this

Wep_Db_Us_250lb_Gp_C

or this

U.S. Enhanced 250lb General Purpose Bomb

when you are selecting weapons.

food for thought.

'til Later,
John

[No Dice]

Just wondering; so do not laugh..But

So long as you are not creating missions or scenery using Mission Builder,
Can you just name a folder "trees", with the Scenery and texture folders
and put it in the scenery db file, activate and skip all that other stuff?

I do that with trees v.3 for some scenery.......and it seems to work as
long as I am not placing them, just want to view them in a scenery.

??

[stuart277]

Hi all,

Thanks everyone for taking the time to reply.

It seems that using the stock mdlnames fixes the "failure to initialize problem."

I have 80 ships, 63 aircraft and 1558 objects.

With regard to the technicolour objects (I should have taken a picture of the Ju88 crew and cockpit), I did not have the 'enable mip-maps' and 'anti-alias' boxes crossed.

Crossing those seemed to fix the problem.

At the moment I have detailed texture uncrossed, I will test this at some point.

It was interesting that technicolour objects were normal colours when taking off, but changed at some point in the mission.

Thanks again.

Stuart

[Blood_Hawk23]

If the models have LODs then that could be why they looked different on the ground. Then again if they didn't, then there could be some correlation between the draw distance and the textures. Quite possibly in the mip mapping. Thats just a guess mind you.

I wonder if there was a typo in the previous mdlnames list. If you leave out one of the " or =, that would cause a problem. Most likely it was a " at the beginning of the text line. That can happen when you copy and paste. Again just a guess.

Glad its all working now.