Built-In CSA Flag Mod

[fred zeppelin]

Some folks have noted that the flag used for the CSA on the game map is not especially accurate historically. The flag used in the game - the so-called "Blood Stained Banner" - was adopted only in the last two months of the war and few were ever actually manufactured.

The first Confederate national flag - the so-called "Stars and Bars" -was used, with slight modification, for most of the war.

The game actually includes both flags in the Graphics/Factions folder. There are three pertinent files, one for the waving flags on each city, another for the icon on the map that shows control and a third for the flags on the unit counters.

1. For the waving flag, there are two files in Graphics/Factions/Cityscape Flags: CSFlag_CSA (the Blood Stained Banner) and CSFlag_CSA2 (the Stars and Bars). Whichever one you name "CSFlag_CSA" is the one that will appear in the game.

2. For the map icon, there are two files in Graphics/Factions: MapFlag_CSA (the Blood Stained Banner) and MapFlag_CSA2 (the Stars and Bars). Same routine as above. Just delete the 2 from the second file (and rename the first) and you'll get the alternate map icon.

3. For the unit counters, the files are in Graphics/Factions/Counter_OnMap: Counter_CSA and Counter_CSA2. Rename as above.

NOTE: Neither flag is the Confederate Battle Flag, the flag most commonly associated with the Confederacy. We'll need an artist to step up for that one.

[PhilThib]

Good move. We'll check with the artist for the 3rd flag

[Templer]

NOTE: Neither flag is the Confederate Battle Flag, the flag most commonly associated with the Confederacy. We'll need an artist to step up for that one.

Incomprehensible as AGEOD could overlook that.

[FENRIS]

Incomprehensible as AGEOD could overlook that.

the Confederate Battle Flag was in AACW1 ! i don't understand...

[PhilThib]

The battle flag is NOT the national flag, as everyone knows...the stars and bars was not even present in the first battles....and we have it shown on battle reports if you have noticed...so here, we are just speaking of city (= national) flags. We shall have the original CSA flag displayed with the first official patch (but it won't be the stars and bars)

[vaalen]

The battle flag is NOT the national flag, as everyone knows...the stars and bars was not even present in the first battles....and we have it shown on battle reports if you have noticed...so here, we are just speaking of city (= national) flags. We shall have the original CSA flag displayed with the first official patch (but it won't be the stars and bars)

With respect, why won't it be the stars and bars? It was in the first game, and it is the flag that just about everyone in America associates with the confederacy. And could you please do something to stop that extremely annoying flag waving?

[Palpat]

This is Stars & Bars.



And it was flown in the first battles of the war, before its extreme likeness with Stars & Striped made the Confederate look for a more distinct substitute. It was nonetheless the national flag until may 1863. 50% of the war!

IMHO, should be the flag used for C.S.A and the battleflag should be used on Units/battle reports if one aims for the most accurate solution.

[fred zeppelin]

Two points:

First, in order to switch from the current flag to the Stars and Bars, in addition to the changes in the first post, you also need to change the BottomLeft_Banner_CSA image. This is the one that shows up in the ledger. You actually can use the MapFlag_CSA2 image, but you have to resize it a bit. (So, devs, if you're going to make the change, don't forget that one.)

Second, if we wanted to be most accurate on the map, we could use the Stars and Bars for the cities and map and the Battle Flag for the unit counters. The former was the national flag, the latter was the army flag.

[GlobalExplorer]

I request an option to disable the animated flags altogether. I find it annoying and distracting to see so many animated flags on the maps, AACW was much better in that respect.

[Templer]

The confederate did not use a single "real" flag.
How about if Civil War II generates, every time you restart a scenario, several flags for the South?

Sure, it would be another gimmick, but these are the animated seagulls and whales near the coasts also - and such gimmicks are just beautiful!

[Templer]

Look at the page 84 of the manual.
There you will find the "right" flag.
Strange!

[Taillebois]

I request an option to disable the animated flags altogether. I find it annoying and distracting to see so many animated flags on the maps, AACW was much better in that respect.

Agreed.

Strange how companies can so often make changes with no benefit other than to annoy people. Hope it is sorted in a patch or at least an option to turn off annoyng stuff.

[John S. Mosby]

Good move. We'll check with the artist for the 3rd flag

The option to turn off the animated flags along with the additional of the 3rd flag would be welcomed addition in the next patch.

[John S. Mosby]

Good move. We'll check with the artist for the 3rd flag

Any luck with the artist on the battle flag?

[John S. Mosby]

I suspect the artist will not draw the CSA battle flag as the game has gone into final production.
Hopefully, a highly talented modder can step in and fill this request.

[John S. Mosby]

So I have decided to use the Stars and Bars for my national CSA flag, ledgers and cities and the CSA battle flag for my counter emblem. That's a nice balance.

But the waving flags still remain a mystery to me. I could Photoshop a still flag if I knew what size to make it. It appears the PNG for this is a series of pictures. Any ideas?

[fred zeppelin]

So I have decided to use the Stars and Bars for my national CSA flag, ledgers and cities and the CSA battle flag for my counter emblem. That's a nice balance.

But the waving flags still remain a mystery to me. I could Photoshop a still flag if I knew what size to make it. It appears the PNG for this is a series of pictures. Any ideas?

I'm in the same boat. I assume there's a template somewhere for the waving texture of the cityscape flags (or maybe its an alpha layer embedded in the files we have that I'm too stupid to figure out how to extract). If we had that texture, then I could probably mess around with it an come up with a battle flag cityscape flag.

[Bohémond]

I'm in the same boat. I assume there's a template somewhere for the waving texture of the cityscape flags (or maybe its an alpha layer embedded in the files we have that I'm too stupid to figure out how to extract). If we had that texture, then I could probably mess around with it an come up with a battle flag cityscape flag.

Please have a look to ; Civil War 2\CW2\Graphics\Factions\Cityscape Flags folder. You will find all the wawing Cityscape flags.

Regards

[fred zeppelin]

Please have a look to ; Civil War 2\CW2\Graphics\Factions\Cityscape Flags folder. You will find all the wawing Cityscape flags.

Regards

I know where the finished flags are. What I don't know is how to mod them.

I assume whoever made them used a template - a layer with the waving effect that can be applied to a new flag image. If I had the template, I probably could make a new flag.

[John S. Mosby]

I have not had the time but I would think if you Photoshop the waving flag file and "crop cut and save" just one flag...that may do it. Just have to decide which flag is best to use since the artist is not an option. As I recall, I liked the first frame best.

Not sure this will work. Backup before of course.

[midnight]

Apologies if this is already solved / common knowledge but editing the following line in the flag .ini files (CSFlag_USA.ini, CSFlag_CSA.ini etc.) will alleviate the waving flag problem.

Pace = 33 to Pace = 0

Now this doesn't "fix" the problem but the flags flutter at a MUCH lower frequency.

[Stonewall]

I took 10 minutes and made a couple little flag mods. The attached zip file contains the following:

Confederate Battle Flag: City Flag (no waving)
Confederate Battle Flag: Map Flag
Confederate Battle Flag: Counter Flag
United States National Flag: City Flag (no waving)

I created the CSA city flag by hand. I'm not an expert graphics editor, so please don't whine at me about accuracy or how it looks. I think it looks damn good in-game, although I wish I knew how to give it a little texture. The USA city flag is simply me copying the final iteration of the 6 frame flag and copying it to be the other 5 iterations. As a result, the flag still waves, but you can't see it since all the movements are identical. I think it looks excellent and with I could get that "texture" on the CSA version. I didn't have the patience to mod the waving out of all the national flags, but since 95% of them are USA and CSA, this should help. Just stick the flags in the indicated folder.

CSFlag_CSA.png --> /graphics/factions/Cityscape Flags
CSFlag_USA.png --> /graphics/factions/Cityscape Flags
MapFlag_CSA.png --> /graphics/factions/
Counter_CSA.png --> /graphics/factions/Counter_OnMap

If you're not using modpath, make sure to back up your originals.

Preview:







[ATTACH]29435[/ATTACH]

[Palpat]

Can't seem to make the counter mod work. I still have the 3rd national flag on them.
Any idea?
I made a back up of the vanilla flag, then put the mod in the correct folder...