New Stuff

[freeboy]

ok, probably already answered but I did not see it..
Is there a multiday or campaign?

[HansBolter]

ORIGINAL: freeboy

ok, probably already answered but I did not see it..
Is there a multiday or campaign?

There is no campaign, but every scenario is multi-day, with several as long as 9-11 days.

[Grell]

This game is really shaping up to be something great.

Regards,

Grell

[Arjuna]

Forgot to mention that we have also amended the read only task view for subordinate unit tasks to display the supply levels as well.

[Arjuna]

I've finished the first cut of the new feature that allows the scenario designer to set an initial orders delay for each side. In the ScenMaker the designer sets two values - a Modifier ( percentage ) and a Period ( duration ). The default values are 100% for the modifier and zero duration for the period. If the period is set to any other value - eg 120 minutes, then a special modifier will be applied to orders issued by the player/onMapBoss within the first 120 minutes of the game. The modifier gravitates to the default 100% ( ie no effect ).

Eg1. Modifier = 200%, Period = 120 minutes. Orders issued in the first minute will have their delay doubled, those given at start +60 will be increased by 50% and those at +2 hours will have no special modifier applied.

Eg2 Modifier = 0%, Period = 60 minutes. Orders issued at start will have no orders delay. Those issued at +30mins will have 50% delay and those at +60 minutes will have the normal delay applied.

The initial orders delay for a scenario is specified in the briefing tab view.

[Arjuna]

Setting the Initial Orders Delay is easy. In the SM you just select the desired side, select the Initial Orders Delay from the Side menu and enter the values.

[Deathtreader]

Love what I'm seeing Dave........... but oh such a tease!! [:D]

Rob. [:)]

[Arjuna]

RE the effects of Intial Orders Delay. Note the screen dump below taken almost five hours after scenario start. I'm playing the Yanks, who are defending and suffer an initial orders delay modifier of 400% for the first 12 hours. This means that any orders I give are going to take a long time to get through. The companies of the southern Bn are still waiting on orders while the German assault troops are upon them. However, arty can still provide fire support without any added delay. So my units on the front line can still defend and fire back while I can direct my arty units to provide effective fire support. I'm just having to be patient while I wait for my orders to take effect.

Given the long period that the initial orders delay applies for in this particular scenario, I'm being very careful about the orders I do give and I'm keeping some small reserve units that can act as firebrigades. These are motorised company units that have a short orders delay period. Even when modified they can still get going in around 90 minutes at this time in the scenario. This will gradually reduce to their default 20 minutes. But for now I'm glad I have resisted the urge to commit them.

[Arjuna]

Initial Orders Delay affects the onMapBoss - ie the senior unit on the map. Hence it affects only those orders from the AI at the top level and from the player. Once orders are received down the command chain they process their orders with normal delays - ie unmodified.

Moreover, they can react and reasess normally as evidence by my light tanks company that have bunkered down here. The German thrust through the centre is causing a few headaches.[:)]

[FredSanford3]

A thought that occurred to me when reading that other thread referred to in post 19: Right now, you have some method when a unit disbands of transferring the remaining assets to another nearby unit. Why not do something like that when a motorized unit dismounts, but have the vehicles "disband" into either the owning HQ or base force. When the unit remounts, the vehicles "disband" from the HQ or base back to the original owner. No separate counters, just an accounting change. An appropriate "transfer delay" analogous to orders delay would account for drive time between units.

If a coy/plt size unit dismounts > vehicles go to bn HQ.
If a Bn or larger dismounts > vehicles go to base.

I believe that's not too far away from what they did IRL in many cases.

The hard part is doing a "partial disband" of select items that would be player initiated and reversible. It would also require a re-definition of a unit's movement class on the fly. I bet there's other hard parts, but just a thought...

[pamak1970]

I noticed in one of the screens a button called "intelligence display mode".
Can somebody explain what is this?
Is it relative with friendly fog of war?

I have to say that i always thought that the introduction of friendly fog of war gives a total different feeling in the game and unfortunately it is something that we do not see it often.
I remember once i asked if it is possible to simulate the time lag for receiving accurate intelligence about BOTH friendly and enemy units.
For example most of the times the friendly command does not know the exact level of friendly casualties ,until after the end of the battle.Somethimes they do not even know the true location of friendly units.
During the battle the level of information is very basic to the point of describing casualties or enemy resistance as heavy or light, or reporting contact with enemy units , without giving farther information.
Sometimes the higher command does not have knowledge of the fact that small units have become actually ineffective or eliminated.
I recall reading a book about Yom kipur war where communication equipment was much better than the one used during wwii.
The brigade commander came in the battalion net asking questions about the situation during a fight in golan heights.
The battalion commander answered " general, if you continue asking questions ,soon there will be no one left to answer them".
Small unit leaders have many things to do which prohibit them from giving accurate reports about BOTH friendly and enemy units.

So returning to the game, i was thinking if it was possible to have the game engine tracking and resolving events according to the real situation in the underground ,while presenting to the player an "alternative situation" which will not provide real time information ,nor will be accurate or detailed for both friendly and enemy units.

[Arjuna]

pamak1970,
 
Good point.
 
First off, the Intel Display Mode button that you saw is in the ScenMaker application. It is used to visualise the enemy intel reports that have been created by the scenario designer. Refer to the SM Manual for more details.
 
As to friendly intel, well yes it would make for a more realistic simulation. However, it would require a separate database of friendlies and enemies for each unit in the game to be comprehensively accurate. This would blow out RAM requirements and place an incredible burdon on the processor that the game would grind to a snails pace with current hardware.
 
At present we maintain separate databases for each side. In the future I would like to support multiuple commands per side and then have separate databases for each command. Again not perfect but a step in the right direction.

[Fred98]

ORIGINAL: pamak1970

....most of the times the friendly command does not know the exact level of friendly casualties ,until after the end of the battle.Somethimes they do not even know the true location of friendly units.

This is not actually the case. if you have 3 battallions out there on the right wing and you, the over all comander, don't know their current state, the Brigade commander is there on the spot and he knows their state.

As wargamers we would probably make the same decision as the local commander - and then click on the units and give commands.

-

[Arjuna]

Another new feature added today is the ability to change the map patterns when the grund condition changes. By way of example, I have modified the Hofen Ho Down scenario. I changed the historical weather pattern so there was snow on Day 1 and Normal on Day 2. I duplicated the original map patterns and made a quick hack for the new Snow version. ( All I have done is change the lightness of the contour layers - we will have something better for the final ).

Below is a screen dump from late on Day 1 with a snow pattern.

[Arjuna]

At midnight the second day's historical weather comes into force and the ground condition reverts back to normal. Voila!

[BigDuke66]

Cool!
Do those ground conditions have an impact on the game(movement etc.)?

[Arjuna]

Sure do.

[pamak1970]

ORIGINAL: Joe 98

ORIGINAL: pamak1970

....most of the times the friendly command does not know the exact level of friendly casualties ,until after the end of the battle.Somethimes they do not even know the true location of friendly units.

This is not actually the case. if you have 3 battallions out there on the right wing and you, the over all comander, don't know their current state, the Brigade commander is there on the spot and he knows their state.

As wargamers we would probably make the same decision as the local commander - and then click on the units and give commands.

-

I will disagree.Even battallion commanders,although they will have a better picture of the current situation ,they will still not know the actual casualties of their companies until after the battle .

In addition my comment is relative with the attitude i see of leading the game to a more realistic command simulation at higher level.
Notice that small units become more independent, with the ability to initiate on their own various actions.
What i love in this game engine is that it was focused from the start in avoiding micromanagement , letting the player assume the higher command. As time passes the engine becomes more efficient in giving you the feeling of actually be a brigade or division commander instead of a god type player where one minute you act as a general and the next one as a major.

[Arjuna]

Task Coordination

I am currently polishing off the user interface controls that allow a player to set the timings for an order - ie start, end, HHour and Duration. You can set the start and end for all task types. In addition, for attacks you can set the HHour which determines the start of the assault. And for Bombardments you can set a Duration that determines how long the guns will fire for.

With these controls you can now coordinate your orders. Here is an example taken from the Greyhound Dash scenario. I'm playing the Germans and I am going to coordinate a series of attack and bombardment tasks to clear the village of Samree. The time now is 09:00.

First, I give attack orders to my two infantry Bns. For each I leave the start and end on "Auto" but I set the HHour to 11:30.

[Arjuna]

Here's the 2nd Mot Inf Bn.