RagnarokGeneral Code
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ZQ
Adam Mencwal
Read Me
===================================================
LGeneral Converter for Panzer General (DOS Version)
===================================================
Quickstart
----------
If you have installed LGeneral by 'make install', mount your Panzer General
CD (e.g., to /mnt/cdrom) and run the following command as root user:
import-pg-data -s /mnt/cdrom/DAT
If you do not have the CD you can download the abandonware pg-data package
from http://lgames.sf.net, extract it (e.g., to /tmp/pg-data) and run
the following command as root user:
import-pg-data -s /tmp/pg-data
If you compiled the source with option --disable-install to play from source
directory (e.g., necessary to use the reinforcements editor---see README.redit
for more) you will have to explicitly specify the destination directory. E.g.,
if you extracted the source to ~/sources/lgeneral-X.X.X (with X.X.X being the
version number) then you have to run the following commands:
cd ~/sources/lgeneral-X.X.X/import-pg-data
./import-pg-data -s /mnt/cdrom/DAT -d ../src
Thus, the src-directory of the package is the destination for converted data
in case installation is disabled.
This will convert the original Panzer General data. The converter can also
convert single custom scenarios. How, is explained below.
Usage
-----
import-pg-data -s <PG DATA DIR>
-d <LGENERAL DIR>
[--defpal]
[-n <NAME> [-i <ID>] [-t <TACICONS>]]
[--applyunitmods]
-s <SOURCE PATH>
You always need to specify the source directory which contains the original
data or a custom scenario.
-d <LGENERAL DIR>
By default the data is converted to the installation path. With this option
another path which must contain the LGeneral data structure may be used as
destination. If installation has been disabled it must be specified.
--defpal
This is optional and forces all PG images to use the default palette.
Usually you won't need this but if a custom scenario provides some strange
graphics it might be due to a corrupted palette. Using the default one for
conversion might fix this.
-i <ID>
If set it signals that a single scenario should be converted instead of
full campaign. This is the XXX in the source gameXXX.scn.
-n <NAME>
This is the scenario's file name and default title. This option can also be
used when converting a campaign to change the default name (pg).
-t <TACICONS>
If custom tactical icons are involved (scenario offers a TACICONS.SHP) this
is the name of the target image file. If this option is not provided it
defaults to <NAME>.bmp.
--applyunitmods
Certain unit modifications are hardcoded to import-pg-data. Usually these are only
applied for the original PG campaign. But if a single scenario uses a modified
PG unit database these changes should be applied as well which is done with
this option.
Examples
--------
1) Converts all data from CD-ROM:
import-pg-data -s /mnt/cdrom/DAT -d /usr/local/share/games/lgeneral
2) Converts a custom scenario:
import-pg-data -s /home/michael/newstuff/dunk -d /usr/local/share/games/lgeneral
-n Dunkirk -i 44
Limitations for single scenarios and custom campaigns
-----------------------------------------------------
Certain things cannot be converted from original data by import-pg-data and are thus
hardcoded for the original PG campaign. Therefore if a single scenario or a
custom campaign is converted, these things have to be adjusted *manually* after
conversion.
Hardcoded and necessarily the same for everything converted by import-pg-data are:
- weather types (e.g., fair)
- terrain types (e.g., clear)
- target types (e.g., soft)
- movement types (e.g., tracked)
- unit classes (e.g., infantry)
- nations (e.g., Germany)
Of course, names and to some extend attributes can be changed directly in the
output files after conversion (e.g., renaming a nation).
import-pg-data converts the following with some limitations:
- nation flags
- unit database
- unit icons
- terrain icons
- maps
- scenario names and descriptions
- scenarios
The following limitations apply:
- a single scenario (not converted as part of a campaign) will lack title,
description and author
- .order file with all scenario file names in chronological order (used for
sorted list in LGeneral) is only generated for PG campaign
- campaign tree file is hardcoded for PG only
- victory conditions are hardcoded for PG only; for custom scenarios the
default is that attacker has to capture all major objectives for victory
- prestige per turn is hardcoded for PG and guessed for custom scenarios
- weather is hardcoded for PG and randomly generated (but then fixed) for
custom scenarios
- nation of a unit database entry is determined by name for PG only; in
custom scenarios it defaults to none which means it is not possible to buy
any units unless one manually sets nations after conversion
- special corrections like certain unit flags (e.g., bridgeeng), spelling
corrections, attribute balancing and mirroring of tactical icons are only
applied for PG
If a single scenario uses its own unit database and it is more or less the same
as the original database the last two items of the above list can be forced by
option --applyunitmods. However, this may lead to corruptions, e.g., when a unit
was totally changed and certain flags no longer apply to it. Nevertheless, in
general it is a good guess to run this option. A single scenario file directly
includes the map and modified units (but not their icons).
Troubleshooting
---------------
1) Lars Ekman discovered that you'll have to mount the cdrom with option
'check=r'. So if your distro uses another option as default and 'import-pg-data'
doesn't work just try:
mount -o check=r /mnt/cdrom
2) NOTE: I found various notes in the Internet that this format explicitly
requires Panzer General *DOS* version so I guess the Win32 version won't work.
Enjoy!
Michael Speck
