SELECT A SERVICE A Modification Management Program for Aces over Europe English Version 1.0 Date 3-25-1994 TABLE OF CONTENTS: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Section 00: WHAT THIS PROGRAM WILL DO FOR YOU Section 01: INSTALLATION Section 02: MODIFICATIONS & COMPATIBILITY Section 03: WARNING Section 04: PLAY BACK OF VCR TAPES Section 05: DISCLAIMER Section 06: EXPERIENCING PROBLEMS? Section 07: ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Section 08: VERSION HISTORY Section 09: POINT OF CONTACT Section 00: WHAT THIS PROGRAM WILL DO FOR YOU ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I wrote this program to make it a little easier for everyone to utilize some of the realistic modifications made by Nicholas Bell and I in the AOEREAL (AOEREA.ZIP) modifications. Plus a few more nifty little things that I think you realistic folks will enjoy? This program will do "TWO" basic things for you automatically. First: This program will, depending on the service you select, automatically cut ALL the ammo loads of the AC on the opposing side (enemy) by one third. This is done for two reasons, one to provide a pseudo disengagement of the enemy AC and two, to remove the "cheating" by the AoE program that provides the enemy AC with two to three times the AC's basic ammo count. It was discovered that the only time the enemy AC will disengage is when they run out of ammo. And Nick discovered that the enemy AC are given two to three times (Tucker say's two?) the AC basic ammo count. So by cutting ALL the enemy AC's "basic" ammo counts by one third it will now give them the correct ammo count (plus or minus) when the program "cheats" and multiplies the enemy AC's ammo counts by two to three times their basic ammo count. Second: When I was in Germany I contacted Joachim Bluhm (who I had met earlier in FSFORUM) and he provided me with the info and data files from the German version of AoE that made it possible to convert the gauges of the Luftwaffe's AC from the english system to the metric system, in the English Version of AoE. Now the altitude, airspeed and VSI (and other gauges) will all read meters, kph and kph respectfully. The problem with this is, say for example that you manually did what this program (SASE1.EXE) does for you automatically and set it up for the Luftwaffe. Then with out resetting all the files back you started flying for the RAF or USAAF you would find that your AC's have one third the ammo that they should have and or the wrong gauges! That is why I changed AoE's data files a bit to only allow you to fly for "One Service at a Time". What this means is that if you run SASE1.EXE and choose to fly for the Luftwaffe, the only service you will be able to access from any and all menus (except for the VCR section) is the Luftwaffe. That is provided you follow the initial instructions in the INSTALLATION section! True this will make it a bit more difficult to fly for the Luftwaffe for awhile, and than switch to the RAF by just selecting and RAF option or carrier. But I think the benefit is worth the extra effort? And it is much easier than doing it the old un-zip way. And with this program it is very quick and easy. If you are tired of flying for the Luftwaffe simply exit to DOS, run SASE1.EXE and choose the RAF or the USAAF, and then restart AoE. At which point you will now notice that all the menus are now set up for the service that you selected. Section 01: INSTALLATION ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Simply unzip the SASE1.ZIP file and or copy all the files in the SASE1.ZIP file into your AoE game directory. But before you run the SASE1.EXE program for the first time run the bat file called "SETUPAOE.BAT". What this bat file does is make three copies of your ROSTER.DAT file (This file contains all the info on your campaign pilots) one for the Luftwaffe Campaign Pilots called ROSTER.GER, one for the RAF Campaign Pilots called ROSTER.RAF and one for the USAAF Campaign Pilots called ROSTER.USA. Now when you select a different service this program will check to see what the current service was, and rename the current ROSTER.DAT file to the corresponding service's back up file. The take the newly selected service's backup file and rename it to ROSTER.DAT. So each service will have it's own data file to keep record of only it's pilots. So what I'm implying for you to do is to, once your have run the SETUPAOE.BAT, is to Select Each Service from the SASE1.EXE menu (Luftwaffe, RAF and USAAF) and delete any and all of the campaign pilots from the OTHER services. Don't worry these pilots will not be lost (if you do it right) because their records will be kept in their respective data file, i.e. ROSTER.GER, ROSTER.RAF or ROSTER.USA. Here are eight steps you should follow to ensure that you do install correctly 1st: Run SETUPAOE.BAT. 2nd: Run SASE1.EXE. Select the Luftwaffe to fly for. 3rd: Start AoE. Go to the campaign roster and delete all the RAF and USAAF campaign pilots. Exit DOS. 4th: Run SASE1.EXE. Select the RAF to fly for. 5th: Start AoE. Go to the campaign roster and delete all the Luftwaffe and USAAF campaign pilots. Exit to DOS. 6th: Run SASE1.EXE. Select the USAAF to fly for. 7th: Start AoE. Go to the campaign roster and delete all the Luftwaffe and RAF campaign pilots. Exit to DOS. 8th: Delete the SETUPAOE.BAT file, and then this SASE1.TXT file if you want. There that is it, now note that you do not have to do this each time you wish to Select a different Service! This is just to install the SASE1.EXE program and it's related files. Once installed (setup) all you have to do is run the SASE1.EXE program. Also note that if you are already using some previous modifications that when you unzip the SASE1.ZIP into your AoE game directory you may note a prompt by pkunzip stating that a file may already exist, and prompt you if you wish to overwrite it or not. Well to be safe say yes, but if you have a *.GL file edited to you liking (Different gun sizes) then say no to that particular file. Because SASE1.EXE will only change is the ammo counts, not the gun types! Section 02: MODIFICATIONS & COMPATIBILITY ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This SASE1.ZIP program & modified files have been tested and found to work with: AOE Version 1.0 Nicholas Bell and I have been working on many modifications for Aces over Europe. One of our projects was the modification called AOEREA.ZIP that can be found in FSFORUM's Historical section (Better know as AOEREAL). In my AEBMR*.ZIP there are two versions. The STANDARD Version, and the REAL Version. This SASE1.ZIP files support both versions except for the ammo counts! The REAL ammo counts are now used for both, but the other differences remain the same between REAL and STANDARD. This program does not affect the type/size of weapons, just the ammo counts. Hopefully later I will find the time to support both versions, plus other REAL features, but for now this is all I have time for. You will have to reinstall the all the *.GL files from AEBMR*.ZIP if you are using the STANDARD version. Because SASE1.ZIP contains some duplicate files and will overwrite them. But if you are using the REAL version of AEBMR*.ZIP then you have nothing to worry about. But also note that you do not have to be running the AOEREA.ZIP, AOEFIX.ZIP and or AEBMR*.ZIP modifications to use this SASE1.ZIP program and related files. The only problem will be with the ARADO's GL file in that the original did not have any guns. Section 03: WARNING ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ There have been quite a few modifications made for Aces over Europe, but not all are the same! And the way they interact is unpredictable. Nicholas Bell and I have worked together on all of our modifications and have supported each others work to insure that one modification would not udo another. But there are other people out there working on their own and independently. This is not a bad thing - just different. So I just want to point out that a modification made by someone other that Nicholas Bell will probably not work. Section 04: PLAY BACK OF VCR TAPES ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ There is one side effect to using modified data files that "change the performance" of the aircraft in this game. When I say "change the performance" I'm not just referring to the aircraft speed and agility (*.FMD's). Performance also includes such things as the weapons and ammo count (*.GL's). And such things as the aircraft damage ratings (*.DMG & *.BXL's). The reason there is a problem is due to the way the VCR tapes works. Prior to playback the VCR tapes scans the tape and loads all the pertinent data (*.FMD, *.GL, *.DMG & BXL's etc.) for each aircraft that is in the VCR. If this data is different then the data that was used during the original recording of the VCR then you will get a different play back of the VCR. An example of this would be after you added the modified files you noticed that your aircraft appears to shoot at a target that's not there. So, if you or anyone else wishes to view your VCR as it was originally recorded, then you must insure that the same modified data files which were present during the recording of the VCR are also present during the replay. NOTE: Due to this it will be very easy to tell if anyone is cheating during a FSFORUM tournament! So if you were thinking of giving yourself an edge during the next tournament then just forget it because all tournaments are flow with the original "performance" data files! There is no problem in playing back a VCR using modified data files that change an aircraft "appearance" or "ordnance load". If you change an aircraft appearance via a modified *.TBL file and then record a VCR tape with that modified data file present, and then later remove or change that data file, there will be no problem during playback except for the fact that the plane's appearance will change. If you change an aircraft ordnance load via a modified ORDNCE0.DAT file, then record a VCR tape with that modified data file present, and then later remove or change that data file, there will be no problems during the playback. But the one specific problem with SASE1.ZIP is that you will have to insure that you select the correct service to match the AC in the VCR playback, that is if you want it to playback correctly. Section 05: DISCLAIMER ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Note that the utilization of these files and information is at your own risk! I assume no responsibility for any damage that may occur to your program or hardware due to the modifications you may make to these or any of the original program data. Section 06: EXPERIENCING PROBLEMS? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ If you are experiencing any type of problems contact me and I will try and help you. But before you contact Dynamix with your problem I urge you to do one thing before you do so. First remove all the modified data files! Now if you are still experiencing the same problem, then when you contact Dynamix to report your problem you can rest assured that the problem is with the program itself and not due to a modified data file. This will save you and Dynamix allot of time. Section 07: ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Below is a listing of all the people who have, in one way or another, contributed to the hex editing ability of AOE. I WANT TO THANK.... 1) Damon Slye: for his dedication to turning out the most realistic dog fighting sims on the market. And for his savvy decision not to encrypt the Dynamix code, which enables guys like us to tweak the game to our liking. 2) James "Jaybird" Johnson: for his inspirational and pioneering work on Dynamix Flight Sims. I especially want to thank Jaybird for all the informative DOC's that he has either posted or personally sent me. His detective work and understanding of Dynamix Code is top notch! 3) Tim Kilgore: for his wonderful Dynamix editing & utility programs! 4) Nicholas Bell: for his personal help and insight, and to his dedication to furthering the knowledge of the Dynamix data types. His overall knowledge of all the data types is unsurpassed. Nicks dedication to accuracy and realism is also top notch. Leave it to an ADA guy to know his AC! Go Army! 5) Uwe Serf: for his work on the TBL data files. Due to his efforts we can color the planes to just about any color we desire. 6) Larry Grill: for his extensive work on the FMD & PLT files! His contributions are many but his initial break down of the PLT files is phenomenal. 7) Brian "ID" Sanford: for his extensive and endless work on the FMD data, no single person has worked harder on the FMD's. Thanks to Brian we can make the AC do just about anything we want at any altitude! Section 08: VERSION HISTORY ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ SASE1.ZIP Version 1.0 3-25-94 Section 09: POINT OF CONTACT ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Contact me if you have any new information or corrections to this doc and I will incorporate or correct the next version. The best way for us to figure all this data is to share all our information. GRANT C. SENN aka TAGERT CID [70713,136]