It may look daunting, but once you get started it's really not that hard. ECA Panel is very straightforward to run. And Stab is pretty easy, too. I was able to get it all working with very little trouble just by *carefully* following the instructions in the assorted "ReadMe" files. Most of what Stab does is automated (installing skins) and what isn't automated is as easy as unzipping files into a folder that Stab creates (no harder than the changes you've been making manually already).

I'm sure JWC will chime in here with step-by-step instructions (in fact, it seems he's done this one before more than a few times... ), but in the meantime, give it a shot and drop me a note if you run into trouble.

The thing to remember is that ECA Panel changes *only* flight parameters and weapons(flight models) for the aircraft, and that Stab changes *only* the skins (and often the associated 3DZs and cockpits) and the terrains.

Good luck,

PR

Let me know if I can help.

Lex Morton AKA BazookaJock

JWC: Don't you have a "canned" answer in your magic book somewhere? These poor fellows need the kind of help only you can provide...

I'm a going to have a little trouble telling you how to set this up in Stab because I don't use Stab for much more than terrain moving. When Stab first appeared, I only had a little space free on my 3.0 GB HD, and really couldn't afford to have several unzipped terrains sitting in Stab. So I didn't even use it for terrains until recently, when I upgraded to a 20.4 GB. Now I use Stab, but only for terrains. There are many more things out there now that do as good a job, and (I think) are less complicated to explain.

Which brings me to this. For campaigns, I use mane_raptor's "Campaign Mover 1.5". This allows you to very easily set up a campaign without worrying about adding filetypes in Stab.

dwitt, the following is a step by step set of instructions on how I would go about setting up the campaign you want to play in mane_raptor's Campaign Mover 1.5. It is not necessarily the only way, or even the best way; it's just the way I would do it. If anybody else has any suggestions, feel free to add them or make corrections to anything I might have overlooked.

First, download the things that will be needed to set up the campains. They are:

1) ECA 1.4
2) ECA Control Panel 3.3
3) Campaign Mover 1.5
4) Whatever terrains your want (for the Pacific, I like -E's "Rabaul" terrain)
5) (optional) Collect any "airplane skin" files that you will want to use---both the .tpc "skin" files and the .3dz "shape" files, if needed. Also, look into the add-ons that remove references to German fighters, possibly add the Japanese Speech Pack, check into the Ground Targets Mods, etc.

For the actual installation:

1) Unzip ECA 1.4 into the EAW directory. ECA 1.4 has no executable files to worry about: it's just a collection of "data" files.

2) Unzip ECA Control Panel 3.3 into an empty folder. If you can see three files labeled VBRUN300.DLL, COMMDLG.DLL, and CMDIALOG.VBX in this folder, good.

[If you can't see those three files, go to the "View" menu at the top of Windows Explorer and click on the "Folder Options" tabsheet. ---this is valid for Win98; if you have Win95, let me know--- Now click on the "View" tabsheet. Find the section that says "Hidden Files". Make sure there is a mark next to either "Show all files" or "Do not show hidden files". There MUST NOT BE a mark next to "Do not show hidden or system files". If there is, change it to one of the other two.]

Try to drag each of these files into the "System" folder inside of your "Windows" folder. If they go in, fine. If they won't go in and you get a message stating something to the effect of "the file cannot be replaced because Windows is using it", that's no problem: that means that file is ALREADY on your computer, so you don't need to add it.

Now COPY and PASTE (do not drag) the "Ecapanel.dat" and "Ecapanel.exe" files to the EAW directory. Make sure that you are copying the Ecapanel.dat file, not the text readme file. Likewise, make sure to copy the Ecapanel.exe file (it probably won't have ".exe" on the end of it; at any rate it should have a little Mustang nose icon next to it).

Open your EAW directory and create an icon on your desktop to the Ecapanel.exe file (or else configure Stab to open Ecapanel.exe).

3) Create a folder in your EAW directory and name it Campaigns. Unzip the Campaign Mover 1.5 zip file into this folder. Create a shortcut on your desktop to the Campaignmover.exe file (or else configure Stab to open it).

Congratulations! You have now successfully installed the basic campaigns for EAW.

Now let's take this one step further. You said that you wanted to play a Guadalcanal campaign. At this point, it is helpful to begin to make a list of all the things that you might want to include in this campaign. Here is what I compiled before I began this campaign:

1) Emil's Guadalcanal Campaign Files
2) DDLoco
3) Modified Ground Targets
4) Palm Trees from BlueyT
5) Pacific Tarnames
6) -E's Pacific Map
7) Pacific Terrain (Rabaul)
8) -E's Pacific War Main Screen
9) no-bar windscreen for F4F Wildcat (.3dz)
10) Aircraft (a, b, and c)
a) P*.tpc files
b) P*.3dz files
c) flight model files (*.flt files/planes.dat)

#1, the campaign files, is already taken care of since the files are included in the Campaign Mover 1.5.

#'s 2, 3, and 4 are useful additions for better immersion. After downloading them, I will unzip them into the "CAMGuadalcanal" folder inside the "Campaigns" folder in my EAW directory.

#5, the Pacific Tarnames, will be created by ECA Panel. Open ECA Panel and click on the "File" Menu. Go down to "Place Names" and choose "Pacific". Now open the EAW directory and locate the "Tarnames.str" file. Drag it over to the "CAMGuadalcanal" folder.

#6, -E's Pacific map, is not strictly necessary, but is a nice addition. After downloading it from -E's EAW Page, just unzip it into the "CAMGuadalcanal" folder.

#7, the "Rabaul Terrain", can either be handled in Stab or in the campaign mover! If you wish to use it in the campaign mover, just unzip it into the "CAMGuadalcanal" folder.

#8, -E's Pacific War MainScreen, is another one of those things that is not really required, but is a nice touch. Download it, and yes, unzip it into the "CAMGuadalcanal" folder.

#9, the no-bar windscreen fix for the F4F Wildcat, is the .3dz version developed by Paulo Morais. Again, unzip it into the "CAMGuadalcanal" folder.

Finally, we get to #10. First, you need to create the flight models of the aircraft you will need. Check the readme file that came with the particular campaign (in this case, the Guadalcanal campaign) for the aircraft that will be required.

Create these flight models by opening ECA Control Panel. Then select each aircraft in the proper slot. Now close the Panel and open the EAW directory. COPY and PASTE all the .flt files and the planes.dat file into the "CAMGuadalcanal" folder.

OK, so now you have the flight models. Next, you will need the skins and 3D files to make the airplanes look right. Check the list of aircraft whose flight models you created. Locate and download a skin for each one. In all probability, any needed .3dz files will be included in the skins download. Unzip each one of these into the "CAMGuadalcanal" folder.

OK, now you should have the Guadalcanal campaign set up. !!!

To play the campaign:

1) If you are using Stab to install the terrain you will use in the campaign, run Stab now and install the desired terrain. If you are using the Campaign Mover to install terrain, then skip this paragraph and go on to the next.

Double click the Campaign Mover icon. On the Campaign Mover interface, select a campaign on the upper left (obviously, in this case you would choose "Guadalcanal"). Then hit the lime green button on the bottom left marked "Load Selected Campaign". This should install everything that you loaded into the Guadalcanal campaign folder (CAMGuadalcanal).

2) Close the Campaign Mover and launch EAW. Select a career in 1943. That should be it!

Lex Morton AKA BazookaJock