Unit Depictions on Screen

[Shannon V. OKeets]

The Russian air force has arrived - or about half of it. Counter sheet 8 from Planes in Flames to be precise.

Here are 3 screen shots.

[Shannon V. OKeets]

2 of 3. Those MBR-2's are a problem to fit on the counter.

[Shannon V. OKeets]

Last in the series.

I have to abbreviate Shturmovik.

I should have the German planes from counter sheet 8 ready tomorrow.

[Froonp]

2 of 3. Those MBR-2's are a problem to fit on the counter.

On some real cardboard counters, the plane graphic is overlaping some piece of graphic in the counters. Example : Some B-24 wing is overlaping the extended range circle & arrow.
I know it is below your standards, but why bother too much for the MBR-2 ?
I never saw them on the map anyway [:D]

[Froonp]

Dude, I forgot to say how beautifull those USSR planes counters are !!!
All those latest counters are so great, that we begin to get used to seeing great counters, and I forgot to tell !!! [:D]

Thanks for the efforts !!!! [&o]

[Neilster]

ORIGINAL: Shannon V. OKeets

Last in the series.

I have to abbreviate Shturmovik.

I should have the German planes from counter sheet 8 ready tomorrow.

You could lose the h. The popular flight sim is called IL-2 Sturmovik and from memory it was developed by Russian guys, so they're probably going to get the spelling closest to the Russian pronunciation. Moving the lettering down slightly would stop the clash between the name and the trailing edge of the wing.

Cheers, Neilster

[Neilster]

ORIGINAL: Shannon V. OKeets

2 of 3. Those MBR-2's are a problem to fit on the counter.

I couldn't find any info on a Pe-21 but the image looks a lot like a Pe-2 and there was a Pe-2I and...

"Some sources hint that Myasishchev also proposed a high-altitude fighter variant of the Pe-2I, the "Pe-2VI (Vysotnyi Istrebitel)", with a pressurized cabin and four ShVAK 20 millimeter cannon in the nose, but this may be a confusion with a Pe-2VI program conducted by his predecessor, Alexander Putilov, that came to nothing."

(from http://www.vectorsite.net/avpe2.html)

Is there a mix up or was there a Pe-21?

Cheers, Neilster

[Shannon V. OKeets]

ORIGINAL: Neilster
I couldn't find any info on a Pe-21 but the image looks a lot like a Pe-2 and there was a Pe-2I and...

"Some sources hint that Myasishchev also proposed a high-altitude fighter variant of the Pe-2I, the "Pe-2VI (Vysotnyi Istrebitel)", with a pressurized cabin and four ShVAK 20 millimeter cannon in the nose, but this may be a confusion with a Pe-2VI program conducted by his predecessor, Alexander Putilov, that came to nothing."

(from http://www.vectorsite.net/avpe2.html)

Is there a mix up or was there a Pe-21?

Cheers, Neilster

A keen eye. Here is your reward for finding the mistake. [You weren't expecting cash were you?]

[Klingon]

Aha! Pe-2I, not Pe-21. "i", not "one". [:D]

[Froonp]

A keen eye. Here is your reward for finding the mistake. [You weren't expecting cash were you?]

It is also wrong on the WiF FE original CS. I looked at the High res PDF files from the WiF Companion CD, and it is written Pe-21, not Pe-2I.
There is also the Pe-2Ibis too.

[Greyshaft]

Typo on Pe-2I information.
The text should say 'The Pe-2I's two 1,000hp engines...' not 'The Pe-2's two 1,1000hp engines...'
There are two mistakes in this snippet
Mea culpa [:(]

[Shannon V. OKeets]

The German air units - about half of them. Fighters first. Screen shot #1 of 4.

What I have done with the names is to make the extension a smaller font, but only if an Also Known Name is given. For example, the Emil's have their E-1, E-4, et al in a smaller font. While the Bf 109F-1 has its F-1 portion of its name full size. This will fix the Italian planes too (e.g., Macchi C.202).

[Shannon V. OKeets]

#2 of 4. The Natter needs a Death's head added.

[Shannon V. OKeets]

#3 of 4.

[Shannon V. OKeets]

Last in the series.

I haven't worked out how to put the corps sized symbol on the air transports yet. Some also need a symbol for unable to paradrop units too.

The off-color units are from Finland, Rumania, Hungary, and Bulgaria. WIF FE used a uniform gray for all of those countries. MWIF has slightly different colors, but those colors are closely related so you shouldn't mistake them for Russian (for example).

[Zorachus99]

ORIGINAL: Shannon V. OKeets

I am working on a popup that gives more details about the units under the cursor. This will be an alternative to dedicating a fixed portion of the screen for that purpose (code already exists for the latter). As you say, the counter depiction, and the details about the units in a hex provided in the popup, should complement one another. I'll keep that in mind.

Thanks.

Quite some time ago I requested a feature that is a tall order but would be 'a nice thing' to have.

I'd like it if you mouse over a hex that has more than one unit in it, that the units would slide out to the right or left in an animated style, reminiscent of a a stack.

I inspect every single stack before I commence land movement every impulse. Not having to click or press some key combination to look at the stack contents is very important to me. Some arrangement that shows stack contents without having to click on the hex would be wonderful.

[Shannon V. OKeets]

ORIGINAL: Zorachus99

ORIGINAL: Shannon V. OKeets
I am working on a popup that gives more details about the units under the cursor. This will be an alternative to dedicating a fixed portion of the screen for that purpose (code already exists for the latter). As you say, the counter depiction, and the details about the units in a hex provided in the popup, should complement one another. I'll keep that in mind.

Thanks.

Quite some time ago I requested a feature that is a tall order but would be 'a nice thing' to have.

I'd like it if you mouse over a hex that has more than one unit in it, that the units would slide out to the right or left in an animated style, reminiscent of a a stack.

I inspect every single stack before I commence land movement every impulse. Not having to click or press some key combination to look at the stack contents is very important to me. Some arrangement that shows stack contents without having to click on the hex would be wonderful.

I haven't forgotten. What I have worked out in discussions with the beta testers is a design that can provide a similar capability as part of MWIF. WIF permits virtually unlimited stacking in a hex (for naval units), so that had to be addressed. My current plan is for both a fixed and a dynamic units panel that show you all the units in a hex.

The fixed units panel could be placed anywhere you like and it would contain either a horizontal or vertical list of units. One of those dimensions would be 2 units (wide or high) while the other would be resizeable by the player - pretty much up to the limits of screen space you want to devote to it. In another forum thread I mentioned that <Ctrl> J lets you toggle its visibility on and off. Most likely players will size it and place it where they want and then use Ctrl+J to pop it into view whenever they want. This feature partially exists already. It isn't resizable but its placement is up to the player, and it can be toggled on and off.

Because there is limited space on the screen, most players will want to have it devoted almost exclusively to showing the detailed map. Anything that gets in the way of that will be annoying (e.g., a fixed units panel). The beta testers also wanted to have the need for toggling the panel off and on eliminated, with an automated response to the cursor being preferred (as you described and as is done in other war games).

Looking to minimize the dynamic units panel, its size would depend on the number of units in the hex. If there were only one, then there would be no popup at all. For up to 9 units the program would show them all in a very tight grid of 1x2, 2x2, 2x3, 2x4, or 3x3. Its location on the screen would depend on the cursor's location and positioned to minimize obscuring the hex itself. When there are more than 9 units in a hex, then the dyanmic panel would be 2x4 with a single scroll bar.

I am still unsure how to do the status boxes, which is the fly in the ointment.

[Capitaine]

Hmm, I think I'd prefer a toggle for a "fixed" unit panel from which I could select a unit and then have that unit appear on the top of the stack. It might be annoying if everywhere you drag your mouse, you kept getting the automatic popup unit panel. Just my thoughts while reading the description...

I also think that even if there's just one unit in a hex, it would appear in the "unit panel" (either fixed or dynamic), and that all its status info would be shown there. Keep the counters on the map a bit simpler with just the 3 "essential" boxes on the top as you had described earlier. The less clutter on the map the better.

[fuzzy_bunnyy]

ORIGINAL: Shannon V. OKeets

The German air units - about half of them. Fighters first. Screen shot #1 of 4.

What I have done with the names is to make the extension a smaller font, but only if an Also Known Name is given. For example, the Emil's have their E-1, E-4, et al in a smaller font. While the Bf 109F-1 has its F-1 portion of its name full size. This will fix the Italian planes too (e.g., Macchi C.202).

semi unrelated to the discussion at hand, but this shot reminded me of an old problem i had. why in gods name would the germans ever not scrap that 2 factor 2 range FTR? why is it even included in the game?

[tigercub]

german aircraft look great!top work