I hope this is of some use!
Andrei Kizhevatov
Select the top line of text in this box, to choose your map. For Seelow we want "46 Germany 4". Select this with O again.
Once your map has loaded you get to see the picture of it, and start constructing by tapping R1. The screen you will have now is the main construction settings for your mission. This is where you need to start reffering to the manual! (which is here.)
-First off is weather, and we want a nice clear view, so it's the furthest option to the left (normal).
-Next is time of day, Dusk fits the Seelow atmosphere,but I chose midday, because the searchlights don't appear in construction mode, and the purpleish light is odd without them! So for this mission, it is the latter part of the battle after the sun has come up!
-Next option down is choosing who's side to be on. Obviously for this mission we want to be Soviets! And that's the second one in to the right. (This option seems to serve only to choose what unit markings will be available.)
-Next choose what shells you want to carry. Leave this as it is on default mixed loadout, as there are firepoints and tanks to contend with.
-Next is artillery, Leave this on the default 0, as we're going to put down a barrage instead of supporting salvoes! (This explains why you can't have fire support in every PF mission).
-The next option is whether to show place names, for this mission select Yes, the second option. This is because it's a map of Seelow, and we're making a Seelow mission, but if you wanted to use this map to recreate the battle of Narva, you'd select "No" to avoid Seelow coming up on the screen when your tank rolls into 'Narva'!
-Next we have the music, and sound effects section. You can press the triangle button to hear one of the lovely tunes. Option XI is a thunderstorm, but is good for getting an atmospheric battlefield, as it sounds like distant artillery and explosions. For this mission though, I chose the second to last option as it is the Russian language crew commentry.
-The next option is the victory/failure condition option. This is one of the most confusing parts of the editor! But get the hang of this, and experiment with it, and the possibilities are massive!
Select the victory/fail options with the O button. For Seelow the Red Army needed to smash it's way through, and take control of the heights, so we'll pick option 13. This means that to win, all enemies must be destroyed, and the mission is failed if Group 1 is destroyed. Group 1 we will make our tank. So, to do this we only need to set parameter (1). This is the second line down, (with 1 next to it!) Leave it on A, as this is the player tank. You can scroll through A, A1 A2 B1 etc, so you can create missions with this option where you have to protect a certain vehicle (e.g Ambleve river).
Now scroll down to the bottom and press O. This will take you back to the construction option screen, and the little box should be lit up yellow now, to show that you have set this option correctly.
- The next option lets you place your supply point. Place it somewhere to the Right on the map, as that's where The Russkies are going to start! You can adjust this later after a few practice tries, to get it in the most useful place. Place it with O and again if you do this right, the box will now be lit up in Yellow.
-Next is your scenario intro screen. You can write 13 lines. Select English type alphabet from the column on the left, its the third one down (punctuation and cyrillic, are the last one). Click on the letters to do your briefing, use the green "Return" arrow to go down a line. When you're happy save your message with the bottom right yellow box (use the manual to see what the buttons along the bottom are). I wrote this "We must capture the Seelow heights in order to advance on Berlin. (in English)For the Motherland!(in Cyrillic)"
The last 2 options on the main page are personal paint scheme, and in game messages, but We don't need to worry about them now! So R1 to the next page!
Ok! Now we want to decide what units we want in the battle. The top box is your unit, I picked a T34/85 as it's my favourite tank, and accurate for Seelow. Next you can select 7 other types of unit including aircraft and infantry. It doesn't matter what order you put these in. I chose:
Tiger2, Hetzer, 7.5cm pak40, T34/85, IS2 M, R-I.winter2 (late war Russian infantry), and Stug3 G. You can pick what colours you want, I like the stripey cammo for the Germans, and left the Russian tanks green, as the white stripes were only put on for Berlin, not Seelow.
When you've picked your units R1 to the next page.
Your tank will be highlighted, select it to get to the box on the right. The first line in the lower box lets you rename your tank from 'PLY' to whatever you want. The second line lets you place your tank on the map, so select that! Press O when the map comes up, so you can edit it. Zoom out with L2, change the elevation with R2. Move the red and orange cursor over to the right, and place your tank by pressing O. I put it on the track below the main road on the right, near the edge of the map. Be careful not to place it too close to the edge, or you will start off in the area where you cannot control the viewpoint, and get told that any further advance will fail the mission. Tap the O button to select which direction your tank will be facing at the start. When you're happy press the square button, to bring up the small menu. selecting the top option allows you to go back to the map, the second one down sets the position, the third one returns to the mission editor without changing anything.
Back on the construction screen, you will see that the unit grey boxes are divided up into different coloured sections, check the manual, to see what these all are for. I decided to make the buddy tanks (section A) a T34/85 squad. Place these along side your tank on the map in the same way you placed your own vehicle. If you want to name these units you can, and you can give them insignia, by selecting the bottom option, in the window where you name, and place the tank. To select the insignia scroll through the designs, and numbers, then select the 3rd line down in this window to apply the insignia. Again the little box will light up yellow if you have done this correctly.
Now you have your tank squad, set up the enemy units. Doing this first means that you can arrange the defence properly. If you do it the other way around it sometimes doesn't look natural, and is a slightly harder way of doing it. Although it doesn't matter which slots you put enemy or friendly vehicles in, try and keep it consistant, e.g. B1-4 all enemies, C1-4 all friendlies, this makes it much easier on the map screen, for a reason that I'll explain in a minute!
First I'll place the Tiger2's as they are going to be the toughest enemy, and the lighter German tanks will be positioned in positions to cover these important tanks. Select B1 and "name" will be highlighted, scroll right to select Tiger2 then press down. It's name will be in grey (B1) and can't be changed as it is set as a enemy. The second line (under it's name) is the option to change which side it's on, but leave it as it is for the kingtiger! The default seems to be 'enemy'. The next line down is the 'open fire range'. Ideally set this to normal, or short if you must, as you'll get nowhere against long range shooting Kingtigers. (Think jagdpanzers on Poteau, but with an 88). The next option is crew quality. For the Kingtigers I reccomend Normal, or excellent, as Heavy tanks usually had the most experienced or dedicated crews.(default is 'normal')
Skip the next line as you want it to start at it's first waypoint. (If you copy and paste a vehicle several times, you can set the copies to start at staggered waypoints to create a column, instead of a disorganised mass of tanks trying to drive in the same place.)
The next line is the map, and lets you place your unit, do this as you did the T34's. I placed the first Kingtiger on the road behind Seelow and with 3 waypoints, (O at each step like when controlling buddy tanks) drove it down to sit on the crossroads in Seelow, facing East.
After placing it you come back to the construction page, and can select insignia for the Tiger2 if you wish, or press X to choose your next unit.
Repeat the above process, and place a second Kingtiger in the centre of the village to the south. When the map screen is on, tou can now press R1 to highlight the position, and waypoints of all vehicles in group B, this is why it's easier to kep a group all enemy or all friendly, so you can avoid friendly tanks driving into each other, and be more tactical.
Add another Kingtiger in the middle where You start off on the German mission, have it drive from the dirt track up to the main road. Then add the last Kingtiger (B4), put it on the road in the very top left of the map, and have it drive down to the point half way down this road where the trees are on either side of the road. These will give a bit of cover to the first two Kingtigers.
Next, it's time to test it, to see that no vehicles are stuck against walls, trees etc!
Press R1 to scroll to the last page in the construction editor, and select the top option. It asks if you're sure you want to test it, and as you are, select yes. On your mission briefing screen, you'll need to press O again to continue to the mission.
As there's only a few Kingtigers, and you're quite speedy, you should be able to out manouver them easily enough, and finish them off. You can also select invulnerability from the options (press start, and select the picture of a tank with a shell bouncing off it). This is useful to check everything is where it should be without getting killed! Once you're happy exit the test, and this takes you back to the last page of the construction menu. Unless you need to adjust the position of any vehicles, now is a good time to save your work so far!
To save, select the second option down on the last page of construction.
-click on the top line in the next window, this is where you name your mission. Delete the japanese, and select English from the toolbar on the left (Third option down again) Type in "Seelow 1945 USSR" or whatever you want to call it! Confirm the name change by selecting the last Gold button from the toolbar at the bottom right, (same as when you did the mission briefing).
-The next line down is which memory card slot you're saving to. Remember you need 4 free blocks!
-The next line selects which space on the memory card to save on, be careful here not to overwrite any previous missions. The Highlighted mission is the one you are saving.
-Now go down to the text in the bottom left, select it,and confirm you want to save/overwrite.
If you do this correctly you will be taken back to the last page of construction.
Press L1 to go back to the setup page, so you can place more units on the map.