Aircraft Production Advice Sought

[Icedawg]

First of all, is it worth trying to accelerate the arrival of aircraft by setting r and d factories to "on"? It seems like a huge investment (100 airframes plus engines) to merely speed up production by one month. I'm thinking of doing this for at least some of the following models: A6M5c Zero, A6M8 Zero, NIK2-J George, Ki-43 IIb Oscar, Ki-44 IIc Tojo, P1Y1 Frances, P1Y2 Frances, D4Y3 Judy, D4Y4 Judy, B6N1 Jill, B6N2 Jill, B7A2 Grace, J7W1 Shinden, J8M1 Shusei, Ki-94 II and the Ki-202 Shusei.

Any advice on doing this 1) at all and 2) with which of the aircraft listed above?

Secondly, how significant is the self-sealing fuel tank modeled by the armor rating of 1? I'm assuming it is pretty important - that's why I'm inclinded to favor many of the models listed above.

Finally, three questions on factory upgrades. Does a factory upgrade to the aircraft listed in the "aircraft replacement pool" screen? Next, do all factories upgrade - provided there is an ugrade available as per the aircraft replacement pool screen? And, last but not least, if I change a factory's production to some new aircraft, does it upgrade according to the new aircraft or the original. For example, suppose I change a Ki-43 Ic Oscar factory to a G3M2 Nell factory. Will this factory upgrade to the G3M3 Nell (the new aircraft) or will it upgrade to the Ki-43 IIa Oscar (the original aircraft)?

Any advice anyone can offer would be greatly appreciated as I am getting rather discouraged by the process of planning aircraft production. I've spent a total of 40+ hours in front of the computer and my dry erase planning board on this one aspect of the game alone and still haven't actually made any changes. [:(] Am I a bit too much of a perfectionist or borderline OCD?

[n01487477]

ORIGINAL: Icedawg

First of all, is it worth trying to accelerate the arrival of aircraft by setting r and d factories to "on"? It seems like a huge investment (100 airframes plus engines) to merely speed up production by one month. I'm thinking of doing this for at least some of the following models: A6M5c Zero, A6M8 Zero, NIK2-J George, Ki-43 IIb Oscar, Ki-44 IIc Tojo, P1Y1 Frances, P1Y2 Frances, D4Y3 Judy, D4Y4 Judy, B6N1 Jill, B6N2 Jill, B7A2 Grace, J7W1 Shinden, J8M1 Shusei, Ki-94 II and the Ki-202 Shusei.

some reading tm.asp?m=2253970&mpage=1&key=factories

Any advice on doing this 1) at all and 2) with which of the aircraft listed above?

I doubt you'll be able to do all that much due to time restrictions and slots available.

Secondly, how significant is the self-sealing fuel tank modeled by the armor rating of 1? I'm assuming it is pretty important - that's why I'm inclinded to favor many of the models listed above.

Usually means the plane is a bit more durable in combat

Finally, three questions on factory upgrades. Does a factory upgrade to the aircraft listed in the "aircraft replacement pool" screen?

Yes ... and as was said to you in last weeks thread about the same topic ... in the editor.

Next, do all factories upgrade - provided there is an ugrade available as per the aircraft replacement pool screen?

Yes and that you haven't switched off "keep" on the factory

And, last but not least, if I change a factory's production to some new aircraft, does it upgrade according to the new aircraft or the original. For example, suppose I change a Ki-43 Ic Oscar factory to a G3M2 Nell factory. Will this factory upgrade to the G3M3 Nell (the new aircraft) or will it upgrade to the Ki-43 IIa Oscar (the original aircraft)?

No it isn't that smart ... just the factory you've got so in this case the G3M3 Nell.

Any advice anyone can offer would be greatly appreciated as I am getting rather discouraged by the process of planning aircraft production. I've spent a total of 40+ hours in front of the computer and my dry erase planning board on this one aspect of the game alone and still haven't actually made any changes. [:(] Am I a bit too much of a perfectionist or borderline OCD?

Well I have no sympathy for you cause I suggested Tracker in the first place and you refused its help so all of this work would have been made much simpler IMHO ... read the War Room forums for advice on air production.

Goodnight [;)]

[CarnageINC]

I shared your pain with this problem myself.  I too had a hard time deciding on what to do with my A/C.  My advice is the old ' at first if you don't succeed, try and try again'.  It really comes down to personal choice on airframes.  I broke it down into 2 parts.  R&D and actual production models.  What do you want in the future and how much, versus what you need now and how much.  Experiment on number of A/c you want, keep an eye on supply for that first turn also.  as far as speeding up R&D, I have no advice except that don't go for so many models if you think they are that important.  Good luck [;)]

[Icedawg]

Yes ... and as was said to you in last weeks thread about the same topic ... in the editor.

No need to get all nasty about it. And yes, I looked in the editor as per your excellent advice.

I just happened to notice that the same upgrade noted in the editor matched the upgrade in the aircraft replacement pool screen. I checked it with a half dozen or so aircraft but didn't want to check for all of the 100+ types. So, since "alt tab"ing back and forth between the editor and the open game is a complete pain in the @$#, I decided I would ask for confirmation of my hypothesis here on the usually very civil forum.

[Icedawg]

Well I have no sympathy for you cause I suggested Tracker in the first place and you refused its help so all of this work would have been made much simpler IMHO

I didn't exactly "refuse its help". I just can't get the darn thing to install properly. I've tried downloading several times and just can't get the thing to work. So, if you consider not being able to get something to work to be equivalent to refusing its help, then yes, I did refuse.

[Mark Weston]

Even given that experience, my advice would still be to work out why WitPTracker won't work and fix that. If you're interested enough to spend 40 hours on production planning, then Tracker is an essential tool and worth the time invested. Personally I wouldn't have even considered playing Japan and dealing with the production game without the information available in Tracker.

[Bearcat2]

ORIGINAL: Icedawg

Well I have no sympathy for you cause I suggested Tracker in the first place and you refused its help so all of this work would have been made much simpler IMHO

I didn't exactly "refuse its help". I just can't get the darn thing to install properly. I've tried downloading several times and just can't get the thing to work. So, if you consider not being able to get something to work to be equivalent to refusing its help, then yes, I did refuse.

I can't get it to work either; gave up asking game questions some time ago.

[n01487477]

ORIGINAL: Icedawg

Yes ... and as was said to you in last weeks thread about the same topic ... in the editor.

No need to get all nasty about it. And yes, I looked in the editor as per your excellent advice.

I just happened to notice that the same upgrade noted in the editor matched the upgrade in the aircraft replacement pool screen. I checked it with a half dozen or so aircraft but didn't want to check for all of the 100+ types. So, since "alt tab"ing back and forth between the editor and the open game is a complete pain in the @$#, I decided I would ask for confirmation of my hypothesis here on the usually very civil forum.

I apologise if I seemed like I was digging in my response ... that wasn't my intent, I was alluding to the fact so that others wouldn't jump in and talk about the editor again. So maybe I shouldn't respond when I've had a few drinks and it is 2am in the morning ... sorry. I must need to work on my civility & communication skills ... I'll be more careful in the future, but I think that most people who have dealt with me in the past know I'm usually very positive and helpful ... sorry you got the wrong end of the stick.

ORIGINAL: Termite2

ORIGINAL: Icedawg

Well I have no sympathy for you cause I suggested Tracker in the first place and you refused its help so all of this work would have been made much simpler IMHO

I didn't exactly "refuse its help". I just can't get the darn thing to install properly. I've tried downloading several times and just can't get the thing to work. So, if you consider not being able to get something to work to be equivalent to refusing its help, then yes, I did refuse.

I can't get it to work either; gave up asking game questions some time ago.

Well, both Floyd and I standby to help and we've never not got it working on a system ... start by looking at the instructions on the web site and then I'll walk you through it if required...

[castor troy]

ORIGINAL: n01487477

ORIGINAL: Icedawg

Yes ... and as was said to you in last weeks thread about the same topic ... in the editor.

No need to get all nasty about it. And yes, I looked in the editor as per your excellent advice.

I just happened to notice that the same upgrade noted in the editor matched the upgrade in the aircraft replacement pool screen. I checked it with a half dozen or so aircraft but didn't want to check for all of the 100+ types. So, since "alt tab"ing back and forth between the editor and the open game is a complete pain in the @$#, I decided I would ask for confirmation of my hypothesis here on the usually very civil forum.

I apologise if I seemed like I was digging in my response ... that wasn't my intent, I was alluding to the fact so that others wouldn't jump in and talk about the editor again. So maybe I shouldn't respond when I've had a few drinks and it is 2am in the morning ... sorry. I must need to work on my civility & communication skills ... I'll be more careful in the future, but I think that most people who have dealt with me in the past know I'm usually very positive and helpful ... sorry you got the wrong end of the stick.

ORIGINAL: Termite2

ORIGINAL: Icedawg



I didn't exactly "refuse its help". I just can't get the darn thing to install properly. I've tried downloading several times and just can't get the thing to work. So, if you consider not being able to get something to work to be equivalent to refusing its help, then yes, I did refuse.

I can't get it to work either; gave up asking game questions some time ago.

Well, both Floyd and I standby to help and we've never not got it working on a system ... start by looking at the instructions on the web site and then I'll walk you through it if required...

unlike me, n01487477 is a very civilized and amiable guy. [;)]

[crsutton]

Nates.....build lots of friggen Nates.

[seydlitz_slith]

ORIGINAL: crsutton

Nates.....build lots of friggen Nates.

Actually it is not a bad idea to keep the original factories producing nates until you exhaust the engine supply. You then use the nates as pilot trainers and your more capable fighters in your well trained front line units that will be seeing action.

[CapAndGown]

ORIGINAL: seydlitz

ORIGINAL: crsutton

Nates.....build lots of friggen Nates.

Actually it is not a bad idea to keep the original factories producing nates until you exhaust the engine supply. You then use the nates as pilot trainers and your more capable fighters in your well trained front line units that will be seeing action.

You will have lots of Nates without building a single additional Nate. As your Nate squadrons convert over to Oscars, those Nates will be added to the pool. It makes no sense to build an obsolete airframe of which you will have plenty from the hand-me downs of the front line squadrons.

[xj900uk]

For what it's worth, I can't get Tracker to install properly either! [:(]

BTW for what it's worth I discontinued producing Nates ASAP and converted over the factory to Oscars. Haven't noticed the shortage of Nates but am keeping a couple of squadrons in the rear for training purposes