The following steps should be taken by anyone who wants to vary or amend any of the existing Korsun Pocket scenarios or battles. Following these steps should create a close to exact copy of the scenario/battle that you intend to modify.
In this example, we are going to create a copy of the Last Stand at Korsun scenario. After creating this copy, we will then be free to modify the newly created copy and make a variant based upon the copy. You can apply these same principles to make a copy and then a variant of any of the existing scenarios/battles.
Note the Map Coordinates:
The first thing we need to do is take note of the map coordinates for the active part of the map in the scenario. So load up the Last Stand at Korsun scenario in Korsun Pocket - just as you normally would if you were going to play the game. Now scroll around the map and note down the upper left hand coordinate of the active part of the map, and then note down the bottom right hand corner of the active map. I refer to the active map as the part of the map that is used for a specific scenario. In this example for Last Stand at Korsun, the two active map coordinates in question are: 1,12 and 38,48. These hexes represent the upper left and bottom right hexes that the map uses.
Whilst we are here we should also take note of the number of turns in the scenario - we can get this from the upper right of the screen just where the current turn and weather data is.
Creating the Scenario:
Now load up the Scenario Editor, and lets create the template for the scenario! Select, Korsun Pocket as the battleset, and then click on Edit Scenario. Now click on Create New Scenario and then enter the name of the folder which this new scenario will be created and located in. The name of the folder must be unique and it is recommended that it is something which can be used to help identify your new scenario. In this example Im going to call my new folder "Run5 Variant".
Now enter a unique name for the scenario - this will be the title that will appear for your scenario, so make it something unique and which describes the variant that you are going to make. It may simply be something "Run5 Last Stand Variant", or you may elect to give it a completely new name like "Rescue in the Snow". Im just going to use "Run5 Last Stand Variant".
Finally, enter the hex coordinates that we previously noted down. With the Min Location being the upper left coordinate (1,12) and the Max Location being the bottom right coordinate (38,48).
After you have entered all of these fields you can then click on Create. This will now create a raw template for the scenario.
Now exit from the Scenario Editor.
Copying the Scenario Data:
Now that we have the raw template for the scenario created, we need to copy over some of the data from the existing Last Stand scenario, into our newly created variant scenario. To do this you will need to be familiar with copying and pasting in the Windows Environment.
Using Windows explorer, or another file management program of your choice, navigate to your ..korsun pocket\scenarios\korun folder. Under the Korun folder you should see a range of folders which relate to all of the scenarios which are part of the Korsun Battleset. For example you should see 1st Ukranian Front, 2nd Ukranian Front, Last Stand at Korson etc. You should also be able to see the folder which you just created in the previous step - in this example, I should have a folder there called "Run5 Variant".
Now it is just a case of copying over the data from the folder that the scenario is based upon (Last Stand at Korsun) into our newly created folder of our variant. But beware! We do not want to copy all of the files over... we only want to copy some of them. Before we copy anything though, lets have a look at what each of the files in the Last Stand at Korsun folder actually do. Obtaining an understanding of each of these files will provide us with a greater choice over which ones we need to or want to copy over.
The following files are located in the Last Stand at Korsun folder:
Scenario_Debug
operation1Al.ais
operation1Ax.ais
bridges.sav
countryData.sav
crtData.sav
newunits.sav
objectives.sav
reinforce.sav
scenarioData.sav
scenarioInfo.sav
stringData.sav
strong.sav
supply.sav
terrain.sav
terrainData.sav
Many of these files are also already present in our new variant folder (Run5 Variant), as they were copied from the main Battleset automatically when we created the scenario. Because we are basing this scenario variant on the Last Stand at Korsun scenario though, we will replace some of them with the ones from the Last Stand at Korsun folder. But before we do that, lets look at each file a bit closer.
Scenario_Debug: Is an internal checking file used by SSG and the Korsun Pocket Engine. We do not need to, and infact do not want to copy this file over into your new scenario folder.
operation1Al.ais and operation1Ax.ais: Are the actual AI files used by the computer when you play against an AI computer opponent. We can copy this over if you want to, although depending upon how many changes you make to the units and objectives will determine how effective this AI will be. It is usually best to create some new AI from scratch though and we will not copy these files over (although you can if you want to!)
bridges.sav: Is the database that stores all of the information relating to bridges on the map (their location and whether they start the game blown or repaired etc). We do want to copy this file over into our new scenario, as we will need bridge information and data in our new variant.
countryData.sav: This file stores information about each of the countries in the scenario, along with turn and weather information. You need to copy this file over to your new scenario directory to effectively create the variant.
crtData.sav: This the database that relates to the Combat Results Table. You should copy this file over also.
newunits.sav: This is the unit database, it stores all of the information about the units, strengths and locations etc for the scenario. You must copy this file over to effectuvely create the variant scenario.
objectives.sav: This database relates to the objectives within the scenario, and you must also copy this file over to effectively create your variant scenario.
reinforce.sav: This file is the reinforcements database - this should also be copied over to your new scenario folder.
scenarioData.sav: This file should NOT be copied over! This file stores information relating to the scenario, like the name of the scenario and the folder that the scenario lives in. This file should be unique to each seperate scenario or variant. Each time you create a new scenario (like we did above), this file is created automatically based upon the scenario name and folder information that you specified when you created the scenario. We therefore want to keep the scenarioData.sav file that already exists in our new variant scenario folder - in other words - we do NOT want to copy the one from the Last Stand at Korsun folder over to the Run5 Variant folder.
scenarioInfo.sav: This is a text file that is used to display the Scenario Briefing information when you select the scenario from the scenario menu within the game. This file can be edited by using any text editor (Word or Notepad) and should be update to provide scenario briefing information about your new scenario/variant. This file is not automatically created when you create a new scenario, we therefore do want to copy this file over to our new scenario/variant folder.
stringData.sav: This file is used to display the dates for each of the turns and the army names used in the order of battle screen. This file should be copied over to effectively create the variant scenario.
strong.sav: This is the database that relates to the strongpoints in the scenario and therefore it too should be copied over to effectively create a variant scenario.
supply.sav: This is the database that relates to the supply sources in the scenario and therefore it too should be copied over to effectively create a variant scenario.
terrain.sav: This is the database tells the engine what sort of terrain is located in each hex on the map, therefore it too should be copied over to effectively create a variant scenario.
terrainData.sav: And finally, this is the terrain database which stores information about each of the terrain types (eg: movement penalties, etc). It also should be copied over to effectively create a variant scenario.
So that all being said and done, the only files you should NOT copy over are the Scenario_Debug and scenarioData.sav files. Infact if you do copy these files over your vaiant scenario will not work. All over files can and should be copied over - with the exception of the AI files which are optional.
So now, based upon those instructions, copy all of the files (except the Scenario_Debug and scenarioData.sav files) from the Last Stand at Korsun folder and past them into your new variant scenario folder (Run5 Variant).
Now load up the editor, select the Korsun Pocket battleset, click on Edit Scenario, and then click on Edit Scenarios, and finally select your variant scenario (Run5 Variant) in the top right hand panel and click on Load. You should now see the name of the variant scenario in grey in the bottom panel. Enter the length of turns for the scenario and select the first side which will go first. Now click on Save.
You should now have an exact replica of the Last Stand at Korsun scenario, but now called Run5 Variant. You should now use this scenario as the basis of making your variant!
Good luck!
Remember when you have finsihed creating your variant to update the scenarioinfo.sav file in the variant scenario's folder (Run5 variant) with a text editor to provide a brief description of the new scenario.