Using WOFF Terrain in CFS3 Procedure

[Threedp]

My best shot! This replaces anything I've posted before. I've proofed it dozens of times, so I hope there are no consequential errors in it.

The object of this procedure is to describe a relatively simple way to employ Wings Over Flanders Fields (WOFF) terrain in CFS3 with as little modification of the latter as possible. There are certainly other ways to do it. Put simply, this works for me! If it's not obvious, the prerequisite for doing this is ownership of WOFF. To sum up what's below in one sentence: Replace the 'assets' and 'terrains' folders in CFS3 with the equivalents from WOFF. That said, to detail the intricacies . . .

INITIAL ACTIONS

1. Run WOFF, choose Quick Combat, set the season to 'Summer', fly (even if only briefly), and exit WOFF.

2. Create a folder where you please (a different drive to where CFS3 is installed works best) called something like 'CFS3 Season Changing Files'.

CREATING SUMMER

3a. In it, create a sub-folder called 'Summer'.

3b. Into 'CFS3 Season Changing Files/Summer', copy the 'assets' and 'terrains' folders from the main WOFF directory.

3c. In 'CFS3 Season Changing Files/Summer/assets/WW1Texture', delete the all the folders except 'Sum Spring Tex'.

3d. In 'CFS3 Season Changing Files/Summer/assets', delete the seven non-Summer season folders (one will have texture files in it, but that's fine), namely: WW1Autumn, WW1AutumnLight, WW1Spring, WW1Winter, WW1WinterFull, WW1WinterLight, and WW1WinterMed.

CREATING WINTER FULL SNOW

4a. Repeat Steps 1, 3a, and 3b, but for 'Winter Full Snow'.

4b. In 'CFS3 Season Changing Files/Winter Full Snow/assets/WW1Texture', delete the all the folders except 'Win Full Tex', then rename 'Win Full Tex' to 'Sum Spring Tex'. This is to facilitate overwriting later.

4c. In 'CFS3 Season Changing Files/Winter Full Snow/assets', delete the seven non-WW1WinterFull season folders, namely: WW1Autumn, WW1AutumnLight, WW1Spring, WW1Summer, WW1Winter, WW1WinterLight, and WW1WinterMed, and then rename the 'WW1WinterFull' folder to 'WW1Summer'. This is to facilitate overwriting later.

Note: If you are only interested in what's available in the stock installs of CFS3 and the European Theater of Operations (ETO) and Battle of Britain (BoB) mods, which really only support two season options Spring/Summer and Autumn/Winter, then you can skip step 5 below and jump to Step 6.

CREATING ADDITIONAL SEASONS

Repeat this step six times, once for each of the <season options> (<Autumn>, <Autumn Light Snow>, <Spring>, <Winter>, <Winter Light Snow>, and <Winter Medium Snow>). Note: Spring does not require the 'rename bit at the end of Step 5b.

5a. Repeat Steps 1, 3a, and 3b, but for <season option>.

5b. In 'CFS3 Season Changing Files/<season option>/assets/WW1Texture', delete the all the folders except the one for <season option>, then rename the <season option> folder to 'Sum Spring Tex'.

5c. In 'CFS3 Season Changing Files/<season option>/assets', delete the seven non-WW1<season option> season folders, and then rename the 'WW1<season option>' folder to 'WW1Summer'.

FINAL STEPS

6. In the main CFS3 directory that you want to use the WOFF terrain in, remove the 'assets' and 'terrains' folders. Store them somewhere so you can bring them back later if you desire, but they must be out of the main CFS3 directory in question (not renamed or placed in a sub-folder). CFS3 doesn't actually care about sub-folders and if you leave the originals anywhere in the main directory, the app will find them and conflicts will ensue!

7. Copy the WOFF-derived 'assets' and 'terrains' folders (created above) of the season you want to fly in into the main CFS3 directory that you want to use the WOFF terrain in. Happy flying! Note: When in CFS3, be sure to still pick the appropriate season. If you don't, you'll likely see summer terrain with winter trees or vice versa!

8. When you want to change seasons, just copy in the appropriate WOFF-derived 'assets' and 'terrains' folders, overwriting when asked. In fact, to avoid any GUI weirdness, you may want to first copy in the 'assets' and 'terrains' folders of a season that is not in the season 'family' (Spring/Summer or Autumn/Winter) you want to fly in, then overwrite with the ones that you do want to fly in. This will give your install a 'complete' set of textures.

ETO

If you desire to use more than just 'Summer' and 'Winter Full Snow' in ETO, things get a little trickier!

9. From the main ETO directory, copy the '46th Airfield Addons', 'ACC_Airfields', 'ACC_Axis_airfields', and 'BoF Airfields' folders to the 'Summer' and 'Winter Full Snow' folders you created in your 'CFS3 Season Changing Files' folder. If you wish, you can delete the summer-specific files from 'Winter Full Snow' and the winter-specific files from 'Summer' in these four ETO-specific folders.

10. Then you need to replicate these folders in the six other season options by sifting through Winding Man's or Von Oben's 7 Season Scenery for ETO which do not use per-airfield sub-folders. This is a very tedious task as the 'ACC_Airfields' directory in particular has 54 separate sub-directories where you need to place texture files so they'll overwrite when switching seasons, and I'm not even sure you'll find the necessary texture files for all airfields, so you'll have to make judgement calls on what texture to use in a given season for a given airfield. It helps to clean out the sub-folders as described above and copy the 'Summer' one when doing 'Spring' and the 'Winter Full Snow' ones when doing the Autumn and Winter ones.

11. If you go down this path, you need to do steps 9 and 10 before Step 7.

ALTERNATIVE - ZIP Files

In each of the season folders you created in your 'CFS3 Season Changing Files' folder, you can select the 'assets' and 'terrains' folders and create a ZIP file for each season that you can then just unzip into the desired CFS3 installation instead of copying them in.

ALTERNATIVE - JoneSoft Generic Mod Enabler (JSGME)

As I understand it, JSGME is a nifty app that can automate the switching of seasons and would work with the 'mods' created above. I'm afraid I have not used it as I actually change seasons very rarely. With my 'mod' files on a separate drive to my CFS3 installations a drag & drop a couple times a year has met my needs, but if you require regular switching, you should pursue this!

[grover1]

You'll still need a new landclasses.xml as the WW1 frontline is still visible. I'll upload a package with the landclasses.xml file for those who want to use WOFF scenery in ETO

[Threedp]

Cool. Thanks for the input. While I'm at it, Does one need to grab terrains2 from WOFF too? I've never noticed any detrimental effects without it.

[grover1]

Cool. Thanks for the input. While I'm at it, Does one need to grab terrains2 from WOFF too? I've never noticed any detrimental effects without it.

You should grab assets, terrains, and terrains2. WOFF has better terrain features that I found has improves ETO.

[Threedp]

Where exactly should one fly from if one wants to see the WW1 front line? Just curious!

[mongoose]

i would imagine anywhere near the Ypres (Belgium) region in the British sector for a start.

[Threedp]

So, in the interest of proper 'change in terms', Step 3b above is modified to:

3b. Into 'CFS3 Season Changing Files/Summer', copy the 'assets', 'terrains', and 'terrains2' folders from the main WOFF directory.

And there is a new 6b:

6b. In all eight of your seasons in 'CFS3 Season Changing Files', in the 'assets\WW1Landclasses' folder, replace the landclasses.xml file with the one here WOFFScenery.zip. This removes the WW1 front line.

[grover1]

So, in the interest of proper 'change in terms', Step 3b above is modified to:

3b. Into 'CFS3 Season Changing Files/Summer', copy the 'assets', 'terrains', and 'terrains2' folders from the main WOFF directory.

And there is a new 6b:

6b. In all eight of your seasons in 'CFS3 Season Changing Files', in the 'assets\WW1Landclasses' folder, replace the landclasses.xml file with the one here WOFFScenery.zip. This removes the WW1 front line.

I'm going to update the landclasses.xml later to include the rivers and different regions. Like I said, the best way to swap out the scenery is to use JSGME. This method also works for WOTR.

[Threedp]

Would it make sense to make this and grover1's JSGME procedure post into sticky posts?

[MajorMagee]

They should just be pasted into the existing knowledge base thread.

[mongoose]

Agree! Just the finalized version of the 2 methods should be pasted. Is there already a good 'how to' for JSGME?

[MajorMagee]

Agree! Just the finalized version of the 2 methods should be pasted. Is there already a good 'how to' for JSGME?

This post combined with the info already in the knowledge base should do it.
http://www.sim-outhouse.com/sohforum...=1#post1243817