Adjusting length of bombardment doesnt "stick"

[Blond_Knight]

Just bought this the other day, due to the holiday sale. Been a fan since the Red Devils first jumped.
Something new Im noticing is that when I order a unit to bombard, and goto adjust the length of the bombardment within a few seconds the duration snaps back to the original duration. Im patched to the latest beta from the members area.

[Arjuna]

Do you have a save taken before you give the order? If so zip and upload here and let me know which particular arty unit you gave the bombard order to an dwhat the duration you set. I'll then check it out and see if there is anything untoward oping on.

[Lieste]

It will stick if the game is paused during the adjustment.
Annoying that it doesn't while running, but it can be made to work with that work-around.
The other thing that needs pausing is browsing the estab data (equipment pages) for enemy force intel reports. The pages close while viewing them if the game is running, but you can examine the data for equipment reported (not necessarily present) after pausing.

[Blond_Knight]

No sorry Arjuna I dont have a save. Thanks Lieste I'll try that. Yeah I wondered if something was wrong because its not what I remembered from games prior to Bftb.

[GoodGuy]

Interesting, I was about to report the same issue today, just a couple of hours before Blond_Knight created this thread, but I was too tired, so I decided to hit the hay instead and post it today (Sunday).

Anyway, I tinkered around with the demo version a few weeks ago and figured right away that it's impossible to adjust the duration of bombardments (it doesn't matter what arty units are involved) when the game is running.

I thought that the demo may be based either on a pre-gold version or on the unpatched release version, so I didn't know whether I should report a bug in a demo or not, as I had just skimmed over the patch list (so that I was unsure whether this issue was listed and if it got fixed for the release version, or not).

I am still surprised that noone (except for Blond_Knight) ever reported this bug. I wonder whether this is an indicator for a high tolerance level of loyal panther fans, or just the fact that ppl rarely detach arty units, or never adjust durations, hehe. Well, Lieste figured it too. [:)]
Whatsoever, my play style actually calls for frequent adjustments to the duration of bombardments WHILE the game is running, to dislodge stubborn/dug in foes and trace routing enemy units with shells in a timely manner, so I figured the bug right after I had detached the first arty unit (to issue a bombard order) of the scenario.

ORIGINAL: Lieste

It will stick if the game is paused during the adjustment.

As a matter of fact, it doesn't stick every time you pause it. If you pause it several times in a row (pausing, adjusting and unpausing the game right away), in a fast pattern, it will ignore say the 3rd or 4th adjustment - means it will not stick, even if it was paused.

I wonder how the BETA bunnies could overlook that, as it's a pretty noticable bug.

Until I read the post of the OP, I was really tempted to get BFTB (with the current x-mas sale's tag), but now I don't feel like getting a game with a major (and important) function (for me) not fully working, and I don't feel like waiting for a fix for another 6 (or 7?) months. No thanks.

Another annoying erm feature is the "Avoid Friendlies" check box. I mean, this is a feature many ppl wanted and waited for since the very first installment, but now, when it finally made it into the game, the user has to uncheck it for each and every bombardment order issued during a scenario. It would be really nice to have a memory function, where the current state (checked/unchecked) is being stored for every individual bombardment unit, or to have an option in the Options tab (like "Avoid Friendlies always off") to disable it for all units, at least, or - another solution, to have it unchecked for all units as default, as there will be less cases where a user will want to enable FF protection than the other way around.

Last but not least: Fatigue is a real issue. The major moves (note: moves to perimeters, not attacks) of German tank units were carried out at night, as envisioned/ordered by Model. Tank units won't move at all at night, unless they had been idle during the day... that's way off and not realistic at all, imho. Inf has the same problem, to quite some extent, major marches, like the forced marches through France in 1940 (with 24 to 48 hrs without rest !!!!!, to at least try to catch up with the motorized units) are absolutely impossible to perform, let alone short 8 km marches across a (small) scenario map.
It was pretty common that Combat units did not get any sleep for 20 to ~40 or even 48 hours (where they then just fell asleep in a ditch next to the road, after a massive forced march), this was clearly not an experience exclusive to defending (and rather stationary) units, only.

I'll rather wait and see if there will be an instance with real mixed movement (mot. infantry units that are able to leave their vehicles behind in order to say cross woods), means with a full mount/dismount procedure/mode, realistic supplies at horse speed and naval/offboard bombardments.

Well, this may materialize in the Russian theatre game, who knows.

[JudgeDredd]

I did report it some time ago when I was playing the demo and was given the same answer - the game has to be paused. I wasn't buying the game back then so didn't mention it further - just took the mentioned fix and carried on trying the demo out.

I would like this to be rectified though - it used to work in CotA - as one of the things I actually like to do with this engine is to take control of bombardments...so I guess it's maybe one of those new features in BftB [;)] - more likely tied to the new code for start/stop times for other tasks.

Obviously it wasn't a deal breaker for me as I bought it knowing this issue was there

[GoodGuy]

ORIGINAL: JudgeDredd

I did report it some time ago when I was playing the demo and was given the same answer...

I see. Well, I didn't see/read your report anywhere. But it's a pity that it didn't get fixed/looked at, even though you reported it.

Obviously it wasn't a deal breaker for me as I bought it knowing this issue was there

Well, fair enough, but it'd collide with my way of using bombardment units. This is a definite deal breaker for me, so I'm glad that the OP confirmed the bug to be part of the full version, right before I was going to dump my spine (by buying BFTB). [;)]

[JudgeDredd]

I totally see your point GG. I don't know if maybe my post came across as a "shake off" by saying it wasn't a deal breaker for me. I totally understand why it would be. I take command (mostly) of my arty - mainly because it gives me something to do - and it is a bit of a pain to keep pausing.

Sometimes I want a short sharp jab at the enemy - other times I want a longer sustained battering - and I may even go for a prolonged bombardment with max aggro for a really stubborn unit - but it is something I like to take control of.

[Blond_Knight]

It struck me as odd because Ive been adjusting bombardment durations for every game since RDOA.

[Arjuna]

I have to laugh. The beta testers just bumped an old thread from 2010 dealing with this issue on the Panther Dev Forum just to prove that they had done their bit and the blame for this problem lies squarely with me. I'll look into this today.

[Arjuna]

OK I have fixed this bug and am putting out a replacement exe file for the beta testers to check out and ensure we haven't stomped on anything else in the process. Stay tuned.

[Blond_Knight]

ORIGINAL: Arjuna

OK I have fixed this bug and am putting out a replacement exe file for the beta testers to check out and ensure we haven't stomped on anything else in the process. Stay tuned.

And that is why we {$affectionate_adjective} you.

[GoodGuy]

ORIGINAL: Arjuna

I have to laugh. The beta testers just bumped an old thread from 2010 dealing with this issue on the Panther Dev Forum just to prove that they had done their bit and the blame for this problem lies squarely with me. I'll look into this today.

Hehe. Well, the bunnies should have insisted to get it fixed when testing the release candidate, plus they should have put it on their personal lists of things to check.
I guess they need their own task tracker in order to track what you are doing, lol. [;)]
Hm, but who tracks what the beta testers are doing (or not), .... the customer who obtains the game?

[Arjuna]

GoodGuy,

You know deep down that I only did this fix because you mentioned it! [;)]

[JudgeDredd]

whoa back - I asked first Dave! [:D]

Thx for fixing [&o] ...I thought it may be embedded with the task timing controls and thought it would be a paint to fix.

It will make my tasks a little easier...often if I see a unit not budging, I click to give it another 5 minutes or so to get it to hunker down or bugger off.

[GoodGuy]

ORIGINAL: Arjuna

GoodGuy,

You know deep down that I only did this fix because you mentioned it! [;)]

Lol, not really.
You know deep down that you developed a tendency to ignore the bunnies during your work on the last 2 installments [;)], though, which is odd, as you used to be a perfectionist, actually. [:)]

[Arjuna]

Yeh I ignored 'em really good...I did, I tell yah! [;)]

[wodin]

ORIGINAL: JudgeDredd

whoa back - I asked first Dave! [:D]

Thx for fixing [&o] ...I thought it may be embedded with the task timing controls and thought it would be a paint to fix.

It will make my tasks a little easier...often if I see a unit not budging, I click to give it another 5 minutes or so to get it to hunker down or bugger off.

JD there is a bug being fixed with regards to units not moving or locking up...

[JudgeDredd]

I meant an enemy unit - sometimes they hunker down and don't move - get stubborn - so I extend my bombard order and maybe increase fire rate