Hot Patch Version 02.07.04.00

[Shannon V. OKeets]

Attached is a zipped file that contains the new MWIF.exe: version 02.07.04.00. It also contains the Release Notes shown below.

Many of these changes were for NetPlay. Others were in direct response to recent posts in Tech Support.

===

Release Notes for Version 02.07.04.00

All Modes of Play

Setup
1. Fixed a problem with setting up the Communist Chinese in the Missed the Bus scenario where the USSR units in the Production Pool were being moved back into the Force Pool.

2. Added some checks to prevent the City Based Volunteer units from being placed in the Force Pool unless that optional rule is enabled.

Trade Agreements
3. Added a new table to the Lending/Trade Agreements form to display which resources are fulfilling each trade agreement.

4. Removed the new buttons from the Lending form (a.k.a. Trade Agreements form). These will be restored once the code for them is complete.

Air Operations
5. Moved the insert panel of the Air-to-air Combat form, which requires the player to acknowledge the message about the results of the latest die roll, 20 pixels to the left. It no longer gets hidden by the primary Air-to-air Combat form.

6. Added a restriction for air units aborting from an air mission so they cannot return to base to a hex controlled by a major power with which: (1) they do not cooperate, and (2) they do not meet Foreign Troop Commitment restrictions.

7. Fixed a problem with undoing return to base moves for air units. Previously they had been stuck in their target hex if their return-to-base move was undone. Now they can be selected as second time and returned to base.

8. Added a check to avoid a possible non-fatal error in air-to-air combat when one side has no air units.

9. Eliminated the spurious display of the Antiaircraft Fire Results form when surprise points are used to avoid combat.

10. Modified the effects of aligning minor country A to check if the aligning major power has surprised any countries (e.g., C) in the current impulse. If so, then A is added to the list of countries that have surprised the attacked minor C. For example, this comes up if Germany DOW’s Yugoslavia in the DOW Minors subphase and then aligns Rumania in the following DOW Align Minors subphase. Rumania now correctly surprises Yugoslavia in the ground strikes and ground support phases.

Land Operations
11. Fixed a problem where Allied units moving into Eastern Poland after it was occupied by the USSR did not have to meet Foreign Troop Commitment requirements for moving into the USSR.

Naval Operations
12. Added a check to prevent partisan units from being loaded onto air or naval transports (since they can never leave their home country).

13. Added some “just in case” code to the Naval Interception form, so it is removed from view once the decision to intercept (or not) is made.

14. Fixed a problem with the Naval Review Summary form which was limiting the number of Saved Displays to one. Now you can add more displays to the Display List in the lower right side of the form (you should keep the names shorter than the width of the panel since otherwise the full name is not visible).

Supply
15. Fixed a problem with determining enemy zones of control between a major power and an enemy minor country when the major power is not at war with any major power (just the minor country). Previously, USSR units were able to trace supply through Bulgarian unit zones of control if the USSR was only at war with Bulgaria,

Production Planning
16. For Production Planning, cleared the Override settings if a path is found for a resource that does not use the Override settings. That only happens if using the Override settings fails to find a path. Similarly, cleared the Default settings if a path is found for a resource that does not use either of the Default or Override settings.

17. Added a button to the Production Planning form for calling up the Trade Agreements form.

Screen Layouts
18. Corrected several problems with the placement of forms when using multiple monitors. Previously, with the Main form on the left monitor, other forms (e.g., Player Interface) would be off-screen and require killing the program using the Windows Task Manager.

19. Modified where on the screen many of the forms appear so that instead of them being precisely under the Main form, they now overlap the bottom of the Main form slightly (i.e., 20 pixels). This change is an attempt to solve problems that occur for some players where a form is completely hidden by the Detailed Map (which typically is aligned precisely with the bottom of the Main form). By having forms overlap the Main form, the top 20 pixels of the form should be visible above the Detailed Map and accessible by using the mouse to bring the full form into view.

Unlimited Breakdown
20. For Unlimited Breakdown, set all new units to NOT elite. Similarly, repaired saved games when they are restored so all those units are now non-elite.

21. Added some code for restoring very old saved games where divisions were created using Unlimited Breakdown, and those divisions ended up in the Force Pool or Future Force Pool. They are now moved into the Removed Pool where they belong. Those type of divisions which are on the map or in the Breakdown Pool are unaffected.

Cosmetic
22. Made a cosmetic change to the Relationships form so clicking on the column for the USSR no longer eliminates China from the display.

23. Removed the currently displayed Choose Action form prior to displaying it for the newly chosen major power - when switching major powers during the Choose Action phase via the major power flags on the Main form.

Peace
24. Fixed a problem with relocating Axis units to Vichy France. This came up with the conquest of Libya forcing the relocation of an Italian Supply unit. Previously they would be required to move to Vichy held territory, but were not permitted to be placed in any of those hexes because Vichy was neutral. Now the unit is correctly forced to rebase to an Italian held hex.

25. Fixed a problem with surrendering a major power (e.g., France) where the surrendered major power’s units incorrectly remained on the map in their home country. Note that units belonging to aligned minor countries are not removed from the map.

Other
26. Added a check so the Pools form can no longer be used to call out reserves unless the current major power is at war with another major power.

27. Added a check for if the US Entry Option “Reopen the Burma Road” has already been taken when deciding whether the US Entry Action “Close Burma Road” is available to the Japanese. Once the US has reopened the Burma Road via a US Entry Option, the Japanese cannot close it a second time using a US Entry Action. Instead they have to have a land unit exert a ZOC to prevent resources from traveling along the Burma Road. This change may only affect NetPlay games.

Head-to-head Play
28. Added H2H to the beginning of games saved using head-to-head mode play. This is to differentiate them from Solitaire games so automatically saved games using one of those modes of play do not overwrite automatically saved games using the other mode of play. This change is similar to the way NetPlay games are saved, with NP at the beginning of the name of the saved game file.

29. Fixed a newly created bug in starting a Global War game where the program was not advancing to the automatic German DOW on Poland. Instead, it simply stopped.

NetPlay
30. Fixed a problem with starting a new Global War game. The problem was with initiating the game so Italy had conquered Ethiopia.

31. Fixed a problem with the USSR claiming the Baltic States. At the same time, made sure that a similar problem would not occur when declaring Vichy France or occupying Vichy France.

32. Fixed a problem with the Antiaircraft Fire form appearing on both computers instead of just the side that is selecting which bombers suffer the effects of the Antiaircraft fire.

33. Fixed a problem with using Surprise points for Antiaircraft Fire against Port Attacks.

34. Added code so Axis computer updates which US Entry Actions have occurred. Previously, only the Allied computer had an accurate record of these events (e.g., whether the Japanese had closed the Burma Road).

35. Fixed some problems when partisans overrun numerous air and naval units.

36. Added a check to avoid a fatal error when a player changes his Production Planning settings (outside of the Production Planning phases). Previously the other player’s computer would generate a Mad Except error.

37. Fixed a bug that sometimes occurred when one player’s changes to his Production Planning Actions/Destinations/Routes generated a fatal Mad Except on the other player’s computer.

38. Fixed a bug when playing with Unlimited Divisions and a major power must reform divisions into a corps at the start of the Production phase. It had been generating an infinite loop - until the player clicked on the OK button of the form.

39. Fixed a problem with undoing a land attack causing a fatal error.

40. Fixed a problem with undoing a factory rail move causing a fatal error.

41. Fixed a problem with keeping track of the remaining land moves after undoing land moves.

42. Fixed problems with keeping track of the remaining air missions and naval moves after undoing air and naval moves.

[jjdenver]

Ty.

I've got this installed on 2 different PC's and now it takes a really really long time when I pick up an HQ unit. The game clocks for probably 30 to 60 seconds (or longer?). The same with many but not all units. When I pick them up and drop them into a hex the game clocks for a looong time. Tough to play this way.

I hope you can troubleshoot this. Here's a file. Just pick up for example the German 6-3 INF in Memel and drop him next to Riga and the 3-4 CAV.

Then pick up von Bock 2 hexes east of Konigsberg and move him 1 hex NE.

Btw, I think it doesn't clock with divisions just corps when you put them down and HQ's when you pick them up. Also games are taking much longer to load now - maybe because the supply calc slowdown is occurring during load?

I rolled back to 7.4.0 and notice a small slowdown when doing these things but an order of magnitude less.

[Shannon V. OKeets]

ORIGINAL: jjdenver

Ty.

I've got this installed on 2 different PC's and now it takes a really really long time when I pick up an HQ unit. The game clocks for probably 30 to 60 seconds (or longer?). The same with many but not all units. When I pick them up and drop them into a hex the game clocks for a looong time. Tough to play this way.

I hope you can troubleshoot this. Here's a file. Just pick up for example the German 6-3 INF in Memel and drop him next to Riga and the 3-4 CAV.

Then pick up von Bock 2 hexes east of Konigsberg and move him 1 hex NE.

Btw, I think it doesn't clock with divisions just corps when you put them down and HQ's when you pick them up. Also games are taking much longer to load now - maybe because the supply calc slowdown is occurring during load?

I rolled back to 7.4.0 and notice a small slowdown when doing these things but an order of magnitude less.

It is not due to the change in the code.

The DOW on the USSR has an effect. Possibly the Axis lost some supply linkage to Northern Africa?

The time is due to changing hex control and/or moving HQs. The program is testing to see if the minor country capitals in Africa can now provide supply to the OOS units in north Africa. While anyone would see that moving units in Lithuania won't affect the supply problems in north Africa, the program can't 'see' that. It has to check laboriously.

I've worked on trying to speed this up a lot (months) but there are always some cases where changing hex control (or enemy ZOC) could put some units in supply that were OOS, or vice-versa.

It remains on my task list as something to improve - but I am out of ideas at the moment.

[jjdenver]

ORIGINAL: Shannon V. OKeets

ORIGINAL: jjdenver

Ty.

I've got this installed on 2 different PC's and now it takes a really really long time when I pick up an HQ unit. The game clocks for probably 30 to 60 seconds (or longer?). The same with many but not all units. When I pick them up and drop them into a hex the game clocks for a looong time. Tough to play this way.

I hope you can troubleshoot this. Here's a file. Just pick up for example the German 6-3 INF in Memel and drop him next to Riga and the 3-4 CAV.

Then pick up von Bock 2 hexes east of Konigsberg and move him 1 hex NE.

Btw, I think it doesn't clock with divisions just corps when you put them down and HQ's when you pick them up. Also games are taking much longer to load now - maybe because the supply calc slowdown is occurring during load?

I rolled back to 7.4.0 and notice a small slowdown when doing these things but an order of magnitude less.

It is not due to the change in the code.

The DOW on the USSR has an effect. Possibly the Axis lost some supply linkage to Northern Africa?

The time is due to changing hex control and/or moving HQs. The program is testing to see if the minor country capitals in Africa can now provide supply to the OOS units in north Africa. While anyone would see that moving units in Lithuania won't affect the supply problems in north Africa, the program can't 'see' that. It has to check laboriously.

I've worked on trying to speed this up a lot (months) but there are always some cases where changing hex control (or enemy ZOC) could put some units in supply that were OOS, or vice-versa.

It remains on my task list as something to improve - but I am out of ideas at the moment.

Will this last one turn or forever?

Also if you load this same save game with 2.7.0 and 2.7.4 the difference in speed is dramatic, I mean extremely evident.... so it seems clear that there is a difference in the code.

[rkr1958]

Steve,

I have to agree with Johnny here. There does seem to be something that's changed in the code from 2.7.0 to 2.7.4 that's causing this significant lag. At least for our situation (i.e., game), it's neigh unplayable with 2.7.4 because of these lags when moving units. We've had to revert back to 2.7.0 in order to play through an impulse in an acceptable amount of time.

[Joseignacio]

I have felt this too, but in our case it was a matter of 1 second. Very different.

[MorningDew]

Playing Guadalcanal using 02.07.04. Single monitor. Every message box is now popping up behind other boxes.

To be fair, I can now see it and pull it forward, but it is now almost every message box during that scenario.

[Shannon V. OKeets]

ORIGINAL: rkr1958

Steve,

I have to agree with Johnny here. There does seem to be something that's changed in the code from 2.7.0 to 2.7.4 that's causing this significant lag. At least for our situation (i.e., game), it's neigh unplayable with 2.7.4 because of these lags when moving units. We've had to revert back to 2.7.0 in order to play through an impulse in an acceptable amount of time.

[:(]I will try to take a look at this.

But I am traveling tomorrow and might not get to it until the middle of next week when I get back.

In my NetPlay game today, it was taking 27 seconds per move if changing hex control or moving an HQ. That lasted for one impulse and then dropped to 8 seconds (although that may have been because the weather changed from Fine to Rain).

[rkr1958]

ORIGINAL: Shannon V. OKeets

ORIGINAL: rkr1958

Steve,

I have to agree with Johnny here. There does seem to be something that's changed in the code from 2.7.0 to 2.7.4 that's causing this significant lag. At least for our situation (i.e., game), it's neigh unplayable with 2.7.4 because of these lags when moving units. We've had to revert back to 2.7.0 in order to play through an impulse in an acceptable amount of time.

[:(]I will try to take a look at this.

But I am traveling tomorrow and might not get to it until the middle of next week when I get back.

In my NetPlay game today, it was taking 27 seconds per move if changing hex control or moving an HQ. That lasted for one impulse and then dropped to 8 seconds (although that may have been because the weather changed from Fine to Rain).

27 seconds per move ... that's getting close to what we were seeing. That's 4 1/2 minutes to move 10 pieces ... at 60-seconds it was taking us 10 minutes to move 10 pieces. With the Soviets and US in the war, we're talking more like 100 pieces. At 27-seconds, that's somewhere between 45-minutes and 1 1/2 hours just to make the moves. [:(]

[Shannon V. OKeets]

ORIGINAL: rkr1958

ORIGINAL: Shannon V. OKeets

ORIGINAL: rkr1958

Steve,

I have to agree with Johnny here. There does seem to be something that's changed in the code from 2.7.0 to 2.7.4 that's causing this significant lag. At least for our situation (i.e., game), it's neigh unplayable with 2.7.4 because of these lags when moving units. We've had to revert back to 2.7.0 in order to play through an impulse in an acceptable amount of time.

[:(]I will try to take a look at this.

But I am traveling tomorrow and might not get to it until the middle of next week when I get back.

In my NetPlay game today, it was taking 27 seconds per move if changing hex control or moving an HQ. That lasted for one impulse and then dropped to 8 seconds (although that may have been because the weather changed from Fine to Rain).

27 seconds per move ... that's getting close to what we were seeing. That's 4 1/2 minutes to move 10 pieces ... at 60-seconds it was taking us 10 minutes to move 10 pieces. With the Soviets and US in the war, we're talking more like 100 pieces. At 27-seconds, that's somewhere between 45-minutes and 1 1/2 hours just to make the moves. [:(]

I found the problem this morning. Hot Patch 02.07.05.00 fixes it.

While investigating the supply bug with Bulgaria vs the USSR earlier this year, I had disabled a conditional statement. Once I restored it, all was well.

[rkr1958]

ORIGINAL: Shannon V. OKeets
I found the problem this morning. Hot Patch 02.07.05.00 fixes it.

While investigating the supply bug with Bulgaria vs the USSR earlier this year, I had disabled a conditional statement. Once I restored it, all was well.

Thanks Steve. MWiF with this fix is running so much faster and smoother. It's makes a big time difference!

[tom730_slith]

"City Based Volunteers" are mentioned above. Has this been coded now? If so I really need to update my "hoy patch" and start using it!

[paulderynck]

No they are not coded yet.

[tom730_slith]

ORIGINAL: paulderynck

No they are not coded yet.

Too bad. But in any case, many thanks to those that continue to refine and update this game! [&o] After all this time I still play this game a LOT! [:)]