New changes with CS scenario listings!

[RedDevil]

In case you've been slacking and not paying attention lately :):whis:

The CS scenarios listings have changed!
They are now all combined into 3 main game listings, there are no longer sub-categories to report games in.

Any new addition to the CS scenario listings should be added only to the 3 main game listings from this point on.

Please Check and double check when reporting your games to ensure you're reporting to the correct entry and that you're not creating a duplicate entry for something already listed, but not spelled or listed properly.
Contact the CS Commanders for assistance BEFORE you add a new listing if you're not certain.

Report any duplicate listings to the CS commanders that you may spot, so we may merge them into a single listing ASAP.

Thanks for your cooperation!

[K K Rossokolski]

I think this is an excellent idea, but looking at the result I am confused. Admittedly I'm old, but do we need 15 separate categories for CS listing? A few points

2. Over the years, the Scenario Database has grown and while a lot of its contents may not be "balanced" there is a lot of pleasure to be had there. The very great majority are pre-Matrix. It is my understanding that many pre Matrix scens have compatibility issues with Matrix. Also, DG does not exist yet in a Matrix Edition. Yet the entire CS Scenario database is now classified as Matrix, meaning surely AALL are Matrix compatibility. Do we know this is true -there are for example nearly 700 WF scens alone?

3. Many of us will recall that Talonsoft WF and RS had a couple of later add ons, and TS EF II had the club-developed PBI. Up to now, all these variants had their own space in the Scen Directory, which was messy and confusing. Whilst I believe that the existence of these subdivisions has lost any meaning, it is perpetuated in the new scheme, but without any content!!

4.What are the precise meanings of the * and ** ? They refer to Matrix Games I think, but do not appear in Matrix RS!!

5. Many of our members will continue to own and play both TalonSoft Matrix. I suspect any incompatibly of older TS scens with Matrix will in some cases be fixed. It is unlikely that any new scenarios will be developed under the old TS system. Perhaps a Matrix version of DG/DGVN will appear. I would like to see a difference between the Talonsoft games and the Matrix games, noting that it is incorrect to classify DG as a Matrix game

CONCLUSIONS:
1. The attempt to tidy up the CS Scenario Database is long overdue.
2. The new version falls short of the mark, with the confusion factor remaining high, with classifications containing no data and whose meaning is obscure.
3. No attempt is made to differentiate between Matrix and TS
4. The * and ** are not explained.
5. The Matrix game is EF, not EFII

RECOMMENDATIONS

1.Classify Campaign Series within the Scenario Database under the following headings:
a. Matrix East Front
Matrix West Front
Matrix Rising Sun
(These three divisions will contain all scens known to be compatible with Matrix.)

b. Talonsoft Divided Ground
Talonsoft DGVN
Talonsoft East Front/East Front II
Talonsoft Rising Sun
Talonsoft West Front
(These 5 divisions will contain all other scens, many of which may be Matrix-friendly, but that would need to be proved)

3. Remove all other classifications
4. Explain * and**

OK, Talk the Talk I hear -but I am prepared to walk the walk by testing scens for Matrix capability, starting with WF.

[Von Earlmann]

Guess I'm just old but keeping things simple helps my feeble mind............seems to me all we need are four categories..........EF;WF;RS;DG..........just listing the scenarios under the fronts should do quite nicely........who cares which game version is used?

von Earlmann (the old)

[RedDevil]

CONCLUSIONS:
1. The attempt to tidy up the CS Scenario Database is long overdue.
2. The new version falls short of the mark, with the confusion factor remaining high, with classifications containing no data and whose meaning is obscure.
3. No attempt is made to differentiate between Matrix and TS
4. The * and ** are not explained.
5. The Matrix game is EF, not EFII

1. yep it's been long overdue.

2. not sure what confusion you speak of? The listings are now divided into 3 main categories, rather than 13. You play EF2, you look in the EF listing for the scenario, you play WF, you look in the WF listing. can't be much simpler than that :)

3. And why does there need to be any differentiation? It's all the same game, just a consolidation. There will be no separation on Matrix or TS, all CS WW2 scenarios will categorized as EF2, WF, and RS.

4. The *'s are used to encourage the order in which the scenario appears in your Game list, All newer scenarios are given this designation to allow gamers to see the newer scenarios before the older ones when they search the list for a scenario.
Jason has asked that we promote his template for new scenario descriptions to attempt to gain consistency amongst all CS designers thus allowing gamers to find them easier and indexing them becomes easier. I have posted his template in this thread.
CS Scenario Template thread link

5. It's all EF2, East Front was the original Talonsoft game that has become obscure and evolved into EF2. Thus the name shall always be known as EF2. Matrix's naming it EF is simply a misprint :)

DG and VN are NOT going to be inclusive of the WW2 listings, they will carry their own categories. I'm sure they will continue to have a future here at TheBlitz

I cannot remove the old listings, otherwise ALL the games reported under those listings will disappear. They will need to remain listed, but not used.

Scenario data is and still can be entered by members who can take the time to do so. This includes old or missing data that has been left out by people who entered the scenario into the DB but didn't fill out everything.

Custom scenarios, will be the only ones needing compatibility testing with matrix versions, this should be done as needed and updated scenarios uploaded for downloading from the scenario listings pages.
Since Server access is limited to only a few persons, this process would not be done on a daily basis, but compiled for monthly updates.

Contact the ladder commanders when you have an updated file. It must include the scenario ID # and any pertaining information that needs entered into the description in order to correctly updated.

[Huib Versloot]

Rod,

I think Talonsoft is phased out really. There is not a good way to determine which scns are Talonsoft compatible and which are not. It will only cause a lot of duplicate scn listings if this distinction is kept. and the distinction seems irrelevant to me.
I would recommend that the club doesn't invest any new efforts in the Talonsoft edition. If a scn works under Talonsoft, fine, but each scn should be listed only once. IMO.
In short: I completely support the way Randy has implemented it at the moment. He could have called the listings simply Westfront, Eastfront and Rising Sun, that would perhaps have been easier.

Huib

[K K Rossokolski]

OK . My major concern was the blank listings, which seemed a waste of time. Am I correct in saying that this is some computer requirement to preserve the listings? I note you state that "Custom scenarios will be the only ones that require compatibility testing with Matrix" Exactly my point in trying to differentiate, using a TS/Matrix terminology. The new system classifies all scens as Matrix, without it telling us knowing whether any particular one will play in Matrix. I think we need some way to indicate this in the new database -perhaps a suffix (m) or something like that. I remain willing to start a tryout program

[Hawk Kriegsman]

Hello Rod,

It has been my experience that almost all the scenarios created in CS Talonsoft work in CS Matrix.

Very few don't work and usually they don't work in TS either.

Thanx!

[Von Luck]

:stir:lol as long as i can still record all my losses its fine by me

[RedDevil]

Spoken like a true shark John :P
LOL