"ALT USE" device data field

[vaned74]

I was looking at bomb and ordnance data in the editor and noted the "alt use" and "alt device" for several weapons - like 800 kg AP vs 800 kg GP; 500 lb SAP vs 500 lb GP, etc.

I am wondering how this works. Is alt use only for naval strikes? Could one set up allied fighters with a "new" 500 lb GP bomb that has an alt device of rocket pods (or vice versa). Thus the fighters use the rocket pods on air-to-ground roles and then switch to 500 lb bombs for naval strikes?

I would like to explore making in particular allied fighter bombers and some fighters (P47, F4U) more effective in the ground support role.

[michaelm75au]

It was an attempt to allow simple weapon profiling without building a lot of extra screen handling.
The alternate device and use is a way to allow for bombs to be swapped depending on mission.

Basically you can link devices in a sequence specifying what missions can use said device. The code will attempt to swap out any device that has a 'Alt use' value that is applicable to the mission being executed. It will find the first alternate device that is applicable for the mission being executed.

It is a simple method that can be horribly broken if you try to chain too many devices together or give it conflicting mission profiles.
I would interested in hearing how it works as we used in a simple way for AE scenarios.

For example:
The 100kg SAP can be linked to the 100kg GP linked back to the 100kg SAP
This is done by putting the next device in the chain in the 'Alt device' field of the device\n
(100kg SAP has AltDev of 100kg GP; which has AltDev of 100kg SAP)
Now to keep the SAP limited to naval attack, you put 6 in the 'Alt use' field, and 120 (to use for land and AF attacks) for the other linked device.

Below is the values for the 'Alt use'. Just add the numbers of the missions that can use the device together.
- define PM_NAVAL_ATTACK      2                      // used for naval attacks
- define PM_NAVAL_ATTACK2    4                      // alternate for naval attack (like torp replacement)
- define PM_LAND_ATTACK        8                     // used for land (ground/port) attack
- define PM_LAND_ATTACK2      16                    // alternate for
- define PM_AF_ATTACK           32                    // used for AF attack
- define PM_AF_ATTACK2         64                    // alternate for

[vaned74]

Excellent - thanks for the information. I have begun setting up some tests. I will post back on here with results and information. What I would like to do is basically:

1) allow Allied fighter bombers the option to switch out to something like rockets for ground attack
2) potentially set up for Marine Corsairs late in the war the option of using a napalm device for ground attack
3) further exploring how runway, strategic bombing attacks are modelled and potentially put together a different bomb package for Allied B-29 strat bombers

[oldman45]

A little off the topic but I think this still fits here. The para frags that used to be in the game is something I have been messing around with. The added info you put answers some questions I was getting ready to ask about limiting when and how they would be used.

michealm can you suggest some values for the frags, that is the second part that I am stumped on. I remember the posts about rockets and how the engine deals with them.

[vaned74]

Sounds plenty on topic to me. I am exploring different ordnance models in general.

I have done some experimenting already with changing the B29 loadouts to 100 ICB clusters and doing city bombing - replacing 1 500 lb bomb with 5 100lb ICBs. I can confirm that fire damage appears to be strictly correlated to weapon effect - pretty much # of fires per manpower hit is equal to 88% of the weapon's effect. This appears to be consistent regardless of whether it is a 500 lb bomb or a 100 lb ICB.

I am setting up some tests on weapon effect on amount of airfield damage per hit also. I believe this is likely correlated to weapon effect. I of course would also like to determine the impact of accuracy on hit rates versus target type - ie, could the B29s be made more effective in an area wide strategic role without in turn making them too effective on airfield strikes or against shipping?

[vaned74]

Here is some B29 bomb raid information.

Set up vs undefended targets.

[vaned74]

Oh, I should note I modded Wakamaya in the test to have large manpower and industry stats.