[CMFI] Pacific Project

By JM Stuff, Vacillator, and dragonwynn

First and Foremost:

This project is an extension of the CMFI Pacific Alpha Project, the CMBN LLF Pacific Mod and the Heaven and Earth Project. The original idea for this project goes to those guys that began the vision for a Pacifc War Modification. 37mm and LongLeftFlank were a few and there were others so kudos to all of that team.

We simply took the basic tools and mods they had put in place and reworked, re-designed and re-envisioned their goals into the project we are presenting here. We decided to use CMFI for this project since much of the previous work had been designed on that platform but, also for the versatility that CMFI offered.

About this Project:

The CMFI Pacific Project is a 4.5 month undertaking creating a 3 campaign series covering the U.S. Marines during the battles on Guadalcanal, Tarawa and Saipan. The battles will cover combat in thick jungles, beach landings, battles among volcanic cliffs and gullies, the largest tank battle of the Pacific war as well as one of the first urban combat battles the Marines faced in the Pacific.

You will face a determined fanatical Japanese military, with authentic uniforms, weapons and gear. The UI has been modified to represent the weapon systems used by both forces complete with silhouettes and adjusted script text so the correct weapons will show up under the UI.

(Note: All the included mods are required to play this series!!! There are separate mod folders for each Campaign.)

The series was designed with the most current version of CMFI and all the modules!!

All the maps are handmade to fit the theaters of combat and hopefully I have done a good enough job to represent the difficulties the Marines faced. I spent hours tracking weapons, vehicles and aircraft to give an authentic feel to the battles.

JM took the Italians, Luftwaffe and German SS and reworked uniforms, gear and weapons to fit the Japanese military in WW 2. JM Stuff led the way with numerous uniform, weapon and vehicle mods. We modified terrain, adding things such as bamboo and additional palm trees.

Of course there are a few restrictions due to trying to modify the game system. I will list some of them below and my recommendation on how to play.

Known Issues:

1. Even though all mods are modtagged to their respective campaigns I highly recommend playing with a clear Z folder. While I experienced no issues in designing and testing, with this many mods there could be conflicts, especially with other flavor object, vehicle and uniform mods installed.
2. As stated above there is an adjusted script text in all 3 campaigns. This renames Japanese and U.S. weapon systems so they appear in game. Obviously this must come out after playing these campaigns or your German SS may be sporting a Type 99 Rifle. Once again play with an empty Z folder.
3. In the Pacific Alpha Project, LongLeftFlank created a LVT Alligator from a Priest/Halftrack modification. I took his cool mod and gave it a paint job to represent the LVTs used by the Marines. It does a pretty good job as a placeholder for the LVT. These are used in the initial beach landings on Tarawa and Saipan. However since CMFI didn’t have an amphibious vehicle to work with you will find that as they drive for the beach they tend to bog and even become immobilized. I tried to work around this problem but to no avail. So have patience, if it bogs keep working it as many will work loose and move on, if it immobilizes then bail your Marines out and move to shore on foot as was historically correct.

Also the crews tend to want to turn around if faced with enemy fire so make sure to give new move commands at the beginning of each turn. Read the briefings for each mission where this is covered.

4. In the beach landings on Tarawa and Saipan you will have naval and air support. To make the landings a little less painful since the warships don’t offer smoke options I took a US 155mm howitzer, changed the silhouette to a Lt Cruiser and adjusted the script text to reflect this. This gives you the option to use smoke screens if you desire. However you may see some land artillery and mortars with the notation cruiser in the UI but the silhouette will be correct.
5. Most battles are large involving a lot of units as was the scale in the Pacific. Some battles take place in thick jungle, making visibility difficult. But with patience it will give a good feel for this type of warfare. Cut trees off as needed to give orders or inspect map objectives.
6. There may be other bugs that pop up so let me know when they do and we will try and fix.

Core Units:

Most campaigns follow the losses obtained from one battle to another of the units you assign as core units. These are adjusted in the campaign script file as to what % you want to replenish, repair and refit from one battle to another. In this project because of the time spans between battles and many different core units it is not much of a concern as the units will have time between engagements to refit realistically. The only exception is the Tarawa Campaign: Blood and Sand where the entire thing takes place over 72 hrs. So here your core units can be affected by losses. However I gave a substantial refer/repair % due to the Marines abilities to get supplies ashore.

Mods:

Here are a few notable mods for this series:

1. Authentic markings on US and Japanese armor for each campaign. For the Sherman tanks in Saipan JM added 3d wooden boards to the sides. This was a tactic Marines used to prevent Japanese soldiers from attaching magnetic mines to the sides.
2. JM created a very authentic looking Japanese Type 95 tank and I gave it a Japanese’s camo paint job.
3. JM created a Stuart Satan Tank that looks exactly like the real thing. This is a flamethrower variant first used on Saipan. It is a fully workable fire spitting beast to help take out those tough Japanese strongpoints. The only small glitch is occasionally you can see one of the crews feet from under the tank.
4. JM also created fire effects using an invisible burning Loyd vehicle. This enabled me to add fire to destroyed buildings, terrain, flavor objects etc and adds another dimension to immersion. He also created FOs for Japanese and Navy planes shot down or destroyed on runways as well as Japanese tanks and trucks to add an authentic feel to the battles.
5. I modeled a lot of buildings to represent asian style structures. Hopefully this will add to the immersion as well.
6. JM create Japanese officers with authentic uniforms and Samurai swords on their belts. Also in the Guadalcanal Campaign the Japanese have foliage attached to their uniforms as they had in jungle type of warfare.
7. I added some custom battle sounds to some of the missions featuring day/nightime jungle sounds, rain, as well as beach landing battle sounds. There are also custom music for the landing and end screens.
8. There is an optional UI folder that has custom screens that can be used while playing this series. They are based off JuJu’s UI Mod so all credit goes to him and I have included all his UI enhancements such as weapons slots etc with the download to go with the custom screens. To use this you will need to remove any UI mods from your Z or they will override the custom screens. That’s why it’s optional.

The Series:

There are three campaigns in this series:

1. Campaign 1: The Thin Green Line

This 5 mission campaign covers actions of the 1st Marine Division, the 1st Marine Parachute Battalion and the 1st Marine Raiders and other units in Operation Watchtower, the battle for Guadalcanal.

Mission Tree:

1. First Blood at Tulagi
2. Hells Point
3. The Tasimboko Raid
4. Edsons Ridge
5. Three Bridges
6. Campaign 2: Blood and Sand

This 4 mission campaign covers the 72 hour ordeal the 2nd Marine Division faced taking Betio Island on the Tarawa Atoll from the Japanese.

Mission Tree:

1. Foothold
2. The Grind
3. Shadows in the Night
4. Sands of Fire
5. Campaign 3: Shadow of the Empire is a 5 mission campaign covering Operation Forager and the 2nd Marine Divisions battle for the island of Saipan, the first time Marines set foot on the sovereign soil of the Empire of Japan.

Mission Tree:

1. Kicking in the Door
2. Breaching the Barrier
3. Tennoheika Banzai
4. Purgatory Ridge
5. Garapan

Each campaign will offer different challenges. You will lose Marines so be patient, plan carefully, and take those Marines to victory.

The Download:

The download will include separate folders for Guadalcanal Campaign, Tarawa Campaign and Saipan Campaigns. The mod folders go into your Z folder (I haven’t experienced any issues having all 3 in the z at the same time, but I recommend keeping them separate) and the three .cam files that need to go into your campaign directory. There is also the Optional UI folder with the custom screens that will go to Z if you use.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/13yH-VO9hVrhvF53vWlE7kiKsNvQZA_x6/view?usp=sharing

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