Focus Pacific: Release

[paradigmblue]

ORIGINAL: Peever

The CB Admiral Lutzow has just arrived in the Indian Ocean and I must say my initial reaction is negative. With all the extra aircraft and ships in the DEI it seems doubtful that this ship will be able to run the gauntlet and reach a Japanese port. We'll see what happens but I except this to be sunk soon without really inflicting any damage or adding anything helpful to Japan.

In my experience the Japanese player can usually get it to safety, often while doing some damage to allied shipping along the way. Unless you run into an allied carrier group or get too close to Singapore - which has some Torpedo Bombers - it should be relatively safe. Dutch naval attack skills are low enough early game that you can sail it right past Koepang and Ambon without difficulty, and the allied CLVs that start at Darwin don't carry TBs, which means that their small Dauntless complement is going to have a very tough time putting a dent in the Lutzow.

Just don't sail it through Merak, you'll be eaten alive by the mines and CD guns.

Alternatively you can park it in an out of the way part of the Indian Ocean and wait until you've gotten the DEI a little more under control before bringing it to port.

[btd64]

ORIGINAL: Peever

The CB Admiral Lutzow has just arrived in the Indian Ocean and I must say my initial reaction is negative. With all the extra aircraft and ships in the DEI it seems doubtful that this ship will be able to run the gauntlet and reach a Japanese port. We'll see what happens but I except this to be sunk soon without really inflicting any damage or adding anything helpful to Japan.

You may have to be creative. There are ways to get the ship intact and fueled to a Japanese port....GP

[btd64]

ORIGINAL: larryfulkerson

ORIGINAL: Peever
The CB Admiral Lutzow has just arrived in the Indian Ocean and I must say my initial reaction is negative. With all the extra aircraft and ships in the DEI it seems doubtful that this ship will be able to run the gauntlet and reach a Japanese port. We'll see what happens but I except this to be sunk soon without really inflicting any damage or adding anything helpful to Japan.

Mine arrived out of fuel, dead in the water. Great.

Larry, out of fuel. Only if it arrives and is left alone for a while. Might use up her fuel. If it was the same turn then we need to look at it....GP

[paradigmblue]

Quick patch update - I was planning releasing last night/this morning but Cardas is working on some plane art for us that I'd like to put in. Once that is done we'll be good to go.

[blueskywhitesun]

Check land ID 5548 - Guam's marine def bn is prepping for 610 (Johnston Is.). Also look at 5147 - Guam's AA rgt is prepping for CLark Field.

[paradigmblue]

ORIGINAL: blueskywhitesun

Check land ID 5548 - Guam's marine def bn is prepping for 610 (Johnston Is.). Also look at 5147 - Guam's AA rgt is prepping for CLark Field.

Thanks again.

[BillBrown]

French DD class Desaix starts with a maneuver speed of 72 but with its upgrades it drops to 55

[paradigmblue]

Thanks.

[Peever]

A few months ago I had started a project to create some unique unit patches for Japan but had to set it to the side for awhile. Now that I'm back into playing a game of War in the Pacific I have renewed interest in the project. The first thing I need to do is get the basic set of patches set up to match the focus Pacific database. The Japanese side isn't that hard to do because they have so few unique unit patches so setting up the files is relatively easy, time consuming as all mod work is but easy.

The Allied side is more complex with over 10,000 unit patches available for stock so converting that to Focus Pacific will take time. I'm also not going to do every ship at least not right away. The first release will focus on capital ships, air groups, and some of the ground units, primarily the units you would most likely actually see the patches for.

Below is a sample of some of the unique unit patches I made for Japan. The air group patch you see is the current Japanese air defense force emblem. I should probably enlarge the emblem a little better but it works for now. The Shanghai patch is the seal of the city and the Osaka unit carries the flag of the city. The purple doesn't show up too well so I should redo that one too.



I'm going to start work on the Japanese side first since that's who I'm currently playing as and as I said they don't really have any unique art so matching the patches to the database is simple. This is will take time doing but the nice thing about art mods are you can constantly update without having to restart games.

[BillBrown]

How is the new patch going? We are still in a holding pattern, but I am running out of fuel. [8D]

[btd64]

Bill, scenario 75 is ready and Para is waiting on some air art. Thanks for your support....GP

[paradigmblue]

ORIGINAL: General Patton

Bill, scenario 75 is ready and Para is waiting on some air art. Thanks for your support....GP

Working on it now! Air art is received, all editor changes made, creating new files for the patcher now.

[paradigmblue]

One quick hiccup - Patton's most recent scen 75 files has one that is labeled for scen 14 instead. Waiting to get it straightened out with Patton and then we'll be good to go.

[BillBrown]

Great, we had the same problem as you, my opponent did not set No Unit Withdrawals to ON. So since we had to restart, we are waiting for this next patch.

[paradigmblue]

Focus Pacific Patch 1.03

Patch can be downloaded HERE. Please see first post for patch installation instructions.

Balance Changes

Japanese Economy

Japanese resource production has been greatly increased, primarily in Manchuko, Hokkaido and Korea. The Japanese player also starts with a significantly higher Heavy Industry pool than in stock, allowing for more flexibility in early expansion.

Light Industry on the Home Islands has been reduced slightly, freeing up those resources for more efficient use in Heavy Industry.

Thanks to Peever, Lokasenna and others for their help with their insight into Japanese industry.

Japanese Starting Political Points

Japan begins the game with much higher political point values, allowing them greater flexibility in buying out units on the Home Islands for use in additional invasions.

Air Model Changes

Some air-frames now have lower service ceilings, including the Oscar and the P-50.

Soviet Armor Production

Soviet armor production has been extended so key vehicles do not stop production in March of 1942, but those vehicles have also had their per-month production reduced:
BT-7 - Reduced to 55 to 70 per month, removed end date
T-26S - Reduced to 60 from 80, removed end date
T-38 Tankette - Reduced to 12 from 16, removed end date.
Several Soviet heavy tanks were also present as devices, but with no production. That has now been fixed, and some Soviet heavy tank models now receive replacements - but in very small numbers.
Thanks to HansBolter for noticing the end-date on the tank production.

Bug Fixes

Art

Missing atopalpha files have been added, thanks to the generous work of Cardas. Planes like the MS.410 should now appear in game. Some French ship transparencies have also been improved, but may still need some work.

Missing credits image has been returned to the game.

Ordinance Positioning

Many planes had incorrect settings for the position of their bombs and droptanks in their extended range device data. These have been fixed. Thanks to blueskywhitesun and others for the catch.

Guam Base Prep

Units on Guam were preparing for other bases. They now prepare for Guam as intended. Thanks again to Bluesky.

French Destroyer Upgrade Issue

Desaix-Class destroyers lost maneuverability with their upgrade. This has been fixed. Thanks to BillBrown.

Nagasaki/Sasebo Port Build Size

The port build size field was set to zero instead of 6, this has been fixed and the port has been to restored to a size 6 build size.
Thanks to Peever for the catch.

US Bomber Squadron Fielding Incorrect Planes

A single U.S. B-25 squadron inexplicably was flying Dutch B-25s. The squadron now flies their intended B-25Cs. Thanks to Patton for the Catch.

Thank you to all who helped contribute bug fixes and suggestions. Special thanks to Cardas for his work on the air art, as well as Lokasenna and Peever for their help with the Japanese economy.

[Lokasenna]

Alright, that's a start with the economy. I'll re-download this week and see if I can get Tracker to work this time.

[paradigmblue]

ORIGINAL: Lokasenna

Alright, that's a start with the economy. I'll re-download this week and see if I can get Tracker to work this time.

Great, thank you Lokasenna.

[paradigmblue]

Hope the patch is working well for everyone. Even if you have already started a game you should still upgrade to the new patch for the art fixes.

[paradigmblue]

Focus Pacific 1.04 Patch Preview

Below are known issues that will be addressed in the next patch. More will be added as they become known.[/b]

Soviet Air Weaponry Adjustment

It looks like the accuracy rating on Soviet air-to-air weaponry is much too high. Accuracy values will be adjusted downwards so that anomalous combat results do not result. Currently in my PBEM game vs 1EyedJacks, my biplanes are achieving 1:1 and 2:1 results vs Oscars and Zeroes, which should not happen. Current accuracy values are around 70(!). I will adjust them to closer to 40-50.

French Cruiser Algerie Improper Primary Armament

The Cruiser Algerie is not fielding all of its primary armament currently. It's turret configuration should consist of eight guns, two per turret. This will be fixed.

Please let me know what other issues you encounter and I will add them here for this patch release.

[paradigmblue]

The issue with the Soviet air weaponry seems to be localized to one device - 176 - the 7.62mm ShKAS MG. It's accuracy rating of 39 is much higher than it's equivalents. I will be reducing its accuracy rating from 39 to 30.

One of the other reasons that the Soviet early-war fighters are performing better than they should be is because it looks like the Soviet starting experience level is set for 40 instead of 35. I'll be adjusting the 1941 experience level to 40 as it should be.