01-30-2013, 05:46 AM
Hi all
If anyone is interested, and this post is long, there is a lot of information on new or updated units which we have managed to make over the past few months. So word of warning, this is long and boring but may be interesting to some.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
I managed to fix the problem with the American Battleship in WF It had a incorrect unit picture so I went to RS copied the upbmp gave it a unique # in WF and entered all the needed information into the 10platoon and the weapon folders and the battleship works as it should, below are the changes if your interested.
P10801 12 0 19 50 0 0 30 0 0 0 5 13 9 0 1 66 88 P10910 10 131072 8 44 264 15 30 1 53 12 30 18 18 Battleship , Battleship , Battleship
P10910 88 88 84 84 80 80 76 76 72 72 68 68 64 64 60 60 56 56 52 48 44 40 36 32 28 24 20 16 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12
124 124 124 124 124 124 124 124 120 120 120 120 120 120 120 120 116 116 116 116 116 116 116 116 112 112 112 112 112 112 112 112 108 108 108 108 108 108 108 108 104 104 104 104 104 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 96 96 96 96 96 96 92 92 92 92 92 92 88 88 88 88 84 84 84 84 84 84 84 84 80 80 80 80 80 80 76 76 76 76 76 76 72 72 72 72 72 72 72 72 68 68 68 68 64 64 64 64 64 60 60 60 60 60 56 56 56 56 56
Also by taking out the P51D aircraft at the bottom of the 10Platoon and the weapon folders, the line 404 error goes away when you turn on the unit viewer and when you are viewing the Americans/United States.
JUST BAND AIDS BELOW
I was always partial to a transport ship that could not only carry cargo but also unload it, which a transport ship can not unload in the original game, so I now have transport ships which can carry and also unload in shallow water and also on land and in a city hex(like a port).
But these are just band aids until the coders can come up with and design a port hex for the map editor so that ALL ships/boats can dock and unload.
Many of the other changes were just making smaller size units of the originals and transferring German units to the Allies and Allies to German.
As you already know the Germans now have a British A13CS (captured)smoke tank like the allies and also helicopters and which if I understood Mike correctly, you wrote the company/battalion files so the helicopters would show up in the German OOB.
Now that would be interesting in learning on how to do, making higher echelon units as company/battalion etc
I was also looking into different graphic design tools/programs to design new UPBMPs for new units that existed but are not in the game as of yet.
AIR UNITS
Air units are still a big problem. My goal was to bring on all of the aircraft and have them only shoot one time to stay within the 6 min rule. We have done that but here is the problem.
If there is more than 2 air units in a target hex and you are using your air units to fire on them, the game will not allow it. Furthermore, even if there is only 2 air units in the target hex and 1 is disrupted the game will not allow you to shoot at those particular units either.
We managed to make a fighter that shoots a stacks of air craft no matter how many air units are in that target hex and whether the air units are disrupted or not but they never run out of ammo or they become low on ammo and are replenished which should not happen in a 6 min rule game without an airfield which could refuel and rearm the air unit after it shoots.
But I will try a few different #s to see if I can get what is needed.
Is there anyway to get a print out of what all of the #s used in the unit viewer/platoon files to see what they mean? instead of clicking on a unit to see what it means. Some have UNKNOWN which doesn't help much.
Lastly is there any way to get a copy of the encryption tool to make things easier for you. Would be more than willing to do research and play test in order to speed up the 105 patch.
If not, no problem, just thought I would ask.
1) Soviet (Axis) leader
There is a Soviet Axis leader that when used in a game makes the game freeze up. We found this out over a year ago. We cant give you which leader it is, whether it is foot or not or which year or what strength. This information came from Mike. Mike said when you click on a certain leader and move it to the right side of a new OOB, no name shows up and is probably the problem.
Air Units.
The German He 111 Bomber and the American B-26 Bomber are indestructible using the 2056 # in the (#24-Digging in) slot of the platoon file. You just cant kill them. If you change the 2056 to 2052 they still function as a bomber but now can be destroyed. But this has a draw back, by changing the numbers, they now do not run out of ammo and can keep firing. The original units could only fire once.
But counter to this the German Hs 129B Anti-Tank and the American A26A have the 2052# but can only fire once in a game (which fits the 6 min rule), then are made redundant and can only fly around the map for the rest of the game with no more firing. It would be great to be able to make code for an air field so these air units can land on an airfield after firing and then after a certain amount of turns refuel and arm and go back into combat for longer time and larger scenarios.
The other problem with air units is that they act/move just like land moving units, and take the path of least resistance which cost them in movement points when they should just fly over the obstacle such as but not limited to embankments. If you force the air unit to fly through an embankment hex, it costs the air unit extra movement points when it should not because it should just fly over the obstacle. Air units will also not enter mine fields which makes no sense since they are above the ground anyway. But you can manually move the air unit into the mine field with no mine damage no reaction by the mine.
The other problem I have already explained is if there are more than 2 air units in a hex and if one of them is disrupted you can not fire on them with the air units that can come on map. The only way I could find to be able to shoot at that combination of air units was to change the weapon of the firing air unit to a weapon like the Duster Gun (light AA) but a better alternative is to change #23 slot (indirect fire) to a 2 (light AA) which enables the air unit to fire at any combination of air units, disrupted or not. But the draw back is that they now never run out of ammunition.
The one sure thing about shooting this combination of air units is and that all Light AA Units can always shoot at these units or combination thereof such as but not limited to and using the American 40mm AA gun.
A strange thing happened when using the American 90mm AA gun in our last game. The gun would not fire at any air units after I changed the "D" setting as to what units it should only fire at, mainly air units. Even when I changed the setting back to the original "D" setting it still would not fire at air units either using opp fire (firing on it's own) or firing it manually. In other words, the 90mm would fire at the air units before I changed the "D" setting but would not after I changed them and changed them back to the original "D" settings. I cam up with a way around that by changing the #23 slot (indirect fire) to a 2 which makes the heavy AA gun now fire like a light AA gun and which always fires at air units no matter what the combination of air units are in the hex, but still allows the 90mm to fire it's more potent (heavy) AA gun with better combat results. I also made these changes to the German 88mm and 128mm AA guns but had to make them show up in the Soviet Axis OOB because I could not make them show up in the German OOB.
2) Engineer Trucks
The engineer trucks are super trucks. They can load without expending movement points, move there entire movable distance using up there movement points and still unload. These units can also load and carry any unit in the game with the exception of navel vessels/landing craft etc.. These trucks can carry and load 16" guns, tanks of all sizes, air units, 600mm Karl mortar, etc.
3) Navel Vessels
I miss spoke when I stated that a transport vessel (or any navel vessel that can transport units) could not unload, it/they can, but only in a full water hex and only if a permanent bridge is going through the water hex. The vessel just has to move into the water/permanent bridge hex, unload and the unit can move at the paved road movement rate if it has movement points.
I already informed you that I have designed vessels (ships) that now can unload in shallow water and on land like a city hex but are just band aids until map port hexes can be designed for ships to unload.
4) Axis Platoon changes V Allied Platoon changes
Unless I am working with bad Axis platoon files which also include the Soviet Axis platoon file, there seems to be some sort of difference in the Axis platoon files insofar as to the ease it is to make changes to the Allied platoon files. In simple words, it it much easier to make changes to the Allied platoon files than any of the Axis.
Case in point, I have yet to increase the speed of a German destroyer, frigate, transport, submarine, s-boat, Marine Artillerie Lichter. So I went to the Axis Soviets and was able to increase the speed of the Soviet destroyer, frigate, transport, for the Germans to use, and also was able to create a Soviet s-boat, Marine Artillerie Lichter, for the Germans to use and are in the Soviet OOB. But was still unable to increase the speed of the Soviet Axis and or German submarine.
The biggest problem with the Germans for me anyway is creating new or realistic air units. Even tried to make them in the Soviet Axis OOB but with no results.
Now on the other hand, the Americans seem to be a snap compared to the Germans. I informed you of the line 404 error concerning the P-51D which came with the game and is at the bottom of the OOB. You informed me that there was no hard return for that unit, which I do not know what that means. When I removed the P-51D from the platoon file and the weapon file, the line error went away, but the A26A would no longer work so I had to put the P-51D back in so I would have use of the A26A again.
But as far as changing American platoon units, very little problems at all. I managed to even make an American version of the 600mm Karl Mortar and the Sturmmorser Tiger and the only minor problem is that the 2d icon will not show up (Sturmmorser Tiger 2D icin did show up) and I do not know where to look for the 2D icons. Other than that, the 600mm Karl Mortar and the Sturmmorser, fire , move and the 3d icon shows up while in play and work just fine with the following exception. I also made a Soviet version of the German Mouse and after play desting I ran into the same problem as the 600mm Karl, no 2D icon and also and even though you can destroy/disable these units, they do not leave a WRECK.
Now using the 600mm Karl Mortar and the Sturmmorser Tiger as an example again, I did not have to make any new company/battalion files to make these units for the Americans as you did for the Germans to have captured American CH 34 helicopters which work just fine.
This is it for now, If I think of anything else, I will send it your way.
Take care,
Joe
If anyone is interested, and this post is long, there is a lot of information on new or updated units which we have managed to make over the past few months. So word of warning, this is long and boring but may be interesting to some.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
I managed to fix the problem with the American Battleship in WF It had a incorrect unit picture so I went to RS copied the upbmp gave it a unique # in WF and entered all the needed information into the 10platoon and the weapon folders and the battleship works as it should, below are the changes if your interested.
P10801 12 0 19 50 0 0 30 0 0 0 5 13 9 0 1 66 88 P10910 10 131072 8 44 264 15 30 1 53 12 30 18 18 Battleship , Battleship , Battleship
P10910 88 88 84 84 80 80 76 76 72 72 68 68 64 64 60 60 56 56 52 48 44 40 36 32 28 24 20 16 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12
124 124 124 124 124 124 124 124 120 120 120 120 120 120 120 120 116 116 116 116 116 116 116 116 112 112 112 112 112 112 112 112 108 108 108 108 108 108 108 108 104 104 104 104 104 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 96 96 96 96 96 96 92 92 92 92 92 92 88 88 88 88 84 84 84 84 84 84 84 84 80 80 80 80 80 80 76 76 76 76 76 76 72 72 72 72 72 72 72 72 68 68 68 68 64 64 64 64 64 60 60 60 60 60 56 56 56 56 56
Also by taking out the P51D aircraft at the bottom of the 10Platoon and the weapon folders, the line 404 error goes away when you turn on the unit viewer and when you are viewing the Americans/United States.
JUST BAND AIDS BELOW
I was always partial to a transport ship that could not only carry cargo but also unload it, which a transport ship can not unload in the original game, so I now have transport ships which can carry and also unload in shallow water and also on land and in a city hex(like a port).
But these are just band aids until the coders can come up with and design a port hex for the map editor so that ALL ships/boats can dock and unload.
Many of the other changes were just making smaller size units of the originals and transferring German units to the Allies and Allies to German.
As you already know the Germans now have a British A13CS (captured)smoke tank like the allies and also helicopters and which if I understood Mike correctly, you wrote the company/battalion files so the helicopters would show up in the German OOB.
Now that would be interesting in learning on how to do, making higher echelon units as company/battalion etc
I was also looking into different graphic design tools/programs to design new UPBMPs for new units that existed but are not in the game as of yet.
AIR UNITS
Air units are still a big problem. My goal was to bring on all of the aircraft and have them only shoot one time to stay within the 6 min rule. We have done that but here is the problem.
If there is more than 2 air units in a target hex and you are using your air units to fire on them, the game will not allow it. Furthermore, even if there is only 2 air units in the target hex and 1 is disrupted the game will not allow you to shoot at those particular units either.
We managed to make a fighter that shoots a stacks of air craft no matter how many air units are in that target hex and whether the air units are disrupted or not but they never run out of ammo or they become low on ammo and are replenished which should not happen in a 6 min rule game without an airfield which could refuel and rearm the air unit after it shoots.
But I will try a few different #s to see if I can get what is needed.
Is there anyway to get a print out of what all of the #s used in the unit viewer/platoon files to see what they mean? instead of clicking on a unit to see what it means. Some have UNKNOWN which doesn't help much.
Lastly is there any way to get a copy of the encryption tool to make things easier for you. Would be more than willing to do research and play test in order to speed up the 105 patch.
If not, no problem, just thought I would ask.
1) Soviet (Axis) leader
There is a Soviet Axis leader that when used in a game makes the game freeze up. We found this out over a year ago. We cant give you which leader it is, whether it is foot or not or which year or what strength. This information came from Mike. Mike said when you click on a certain leader and move it to the right side of a new OOB, no name shows up and is probably the problem.
Air Units.
The German He 111 Bomber and the American B-26 Bomber are indestructible using the 2056 # in the (#24-Digging in) slot of the platoon file. You just cant kill them. If you change the 2056 to 2052 they still function as a bomber but now can be destroyed. But this has a draw back, by changing the numbers, they now do not run out of ammo and can keep firing. The original units could only fire once.
But counter to this the German Hs 129B Anti-Tank and the American A26A have the 2052# but can only fire once in a game (which fits the 6 min rule), then are made redundant and can only fly around the map for the rest of the game with no more firing. It would be great to be able to make code for an air field so these air units can land on an airfield after firing and then after a certain amount of turns refuel and arm and go back into combat for longer time and larger scenarios.
The other problem with air units is that they act/move just like land moving units, and take the path of least resistance which cost them in movement points when they should just fly over the obstacle such as but not limited to embankments. If you force the air unit to fly through an embankment hex, it costs the air unit extra movement points when it should not because it should just fly over the obstacle. Air units will also not enter mine fields which makes no sense since they are above the ground anyway. But you can manually move the air unit into the mine field with no mine damage no reaction by the mine.
The other problem I have already explained is if there are more than 2 air units in a hex and if one of them is disrupted you can not fire on them with the air units that can come on map. The only way I could find to be able to shoot at that combination of air units was to change the weapon of the firing air unit to a weapon like the Duster Gun (light AA) but a better alternative is to change #23 slot (indirect fire) to a 2 (light AA) which enables the air unit to fire at any combination of air units, disrupted or not. But the draw back is that they now never run out of ammunition.
The one sure thing about shooting this combination of air units is and that all Light AA Units can always shoot at these units or combination thereof such as but not limited to and using the American 40mm AA gun.
A strange thing happened when using the American 90mm AA gun in our last game. The gun would not fire at any air units after I changed the "D" setting as to what units it should only fire at, mainly air units. Even when I changed the setting back to the original "D" setting it still would not fire at air units either using opp fire (firing on it's own) or firing it manually. In other words, the 90mm would fire at the air units before I changed the "D" setting but would not after I changed them and changed them back to the original "D" settings. I cam up with a way around that by changing the #23 slot (indirect fire) to a 2 which makes the heavy AA gun now fire like a light AA gun and which always fires at air units no matter what the combination of air units are in the hex, but still allows the 90mm to fire it's more potent (heavy) AA gun with better combat results. I also made these changes to the German 88mm and 128mm AA guns but had to make them show up in the Soviet Axis OOB because I could not make them show up in the German OOB.
2) Engineer Trucks
The engineer trucks are super trucks. They can load without expending movement points, move there entire movable distance using up there movement points and still unload. These units can also load and carry any unit in the game with the exception of navel vessels/landing craft etc.. These trucks can carry and load 16" guns, tanks of all sizes, air units, 600mm Karl mortar, etc.
3) Navel Vessels
I miss spoke when I stated that a transport vessel (or any navel vessel that can transport units) could not unload, it/they can, but only in a full water hex and only if a permanent bridge is going through the water hex. The vessel just has to move into the water/permanent bridge hex, unload and the unit can move at the paved road movement rate if it has movement points.
I already informed you that I have designed vessels (ships) that now can unload in shallow water and on land like a city hex but are just band aids until map port hexes can be designed for ships to unload.
4) Axis Platoon changes V Allied Platoon changes
Unless I am working with bad Axis platoon files which also include the Soviet Axis platoon file, there seems to be some sort of difference in the Axis platoon files insofar as to the ease it is to make changes to the Allied platoon files. In simple words, it it much easier to make changes to the Allied platoon files than any of the Axis.
Case in point, I have yet to increase the speed of a German destroyer, frigate, transport, submarine, s-boat, Marine Artillerie Lichter. So I went to the Axis Soviets and was able to increase the speed of the Soviet destroyer, frigate, transport, for the Germans to use, and also was able to create a Soviet s-boat, Marine Artillerie Lichter, for the Germans to use and are in the Soviet OOB. But was still unable to increase the speed of the Soviet Axis and or German submarine.
The biggest problem with the Germans for me anyway is creating new or realistic air units. Even tried to make them in the Soviet Axis OOB but with no results.
Now on the other hand, the Americans seem to be a snap compared to the Germans. I informed you of the line 404 error concerning the P-51D which came with the game and is at the bottom of the OOB. You informed me that there was no hard return for that unit, which I do not know what that means. When I removed the P-51D from the platoon file and the weapon file, the line error went away, but the A26A would no longer work so I had to put the P-51D back in so I would have use of the A26A again.
But as far as changing American platoon units, very little problems at all. I managed to even make an American version of the 600mm Karl Mortar and the Sturmmorser Tiger and the only minor problem is that the 2d icon will not show up (Sturmmorser Tiger 2D icin did show up) and I do not know where to look for the 2D icons. Other than that, the 600mm Karl Mortar and the Sturmmorser, fire , move and the 3d icon shows up while in play and work just fine with the following exception. I also made a Soviet version of the German Mouse and after play desting I ran into the same problem as the 600mm Karl, no 2D icon and also and even though you can destroy/disable these units, they do not leave a WRECK.
Now using the 600mm Karl Mortar and the Sturmmorser Tiger as an example again, I did not have to make any new company/battalion files to make these units for the Americans as you did for the Germans to have captured American CH 34 helicopters which work just fine.
This is it for now, If I think of anything else, I will send it your way.
Take care,
Joe