Guerrilla Percentage

[Lobster]

A question for any who have used Guerrillas in the Event Editor...exactly what is meant by Guerrilla Percentage? It's one of those poorly or unexplained things in the scenario editor/event engine. My guess is that it's the percent chance that a guerrilla unit will appear. But I think for new scenario authors a little explanation would be nice.

[76mm]

I'm glad you asked this, this is one of my questions as well...

[sPzAbt653]

If you use a Guerilla Event, the percentage that you input is the percentage of hexes that will convert to enemy control.

[Lobster]

ORIGINAL: sPzAbt653

If you use a Guerilla Event, the percentage that you input is the percentage of hexes that will convert to enemy control.

Thanks for clearing that up. [&o]

We need a better manual maybe. That is not even close intuitive. [8|]

[sPzAbt653]

I keep a 'Manual' document for suggested changes, and this thread reminded me that I had addressed it as:

17.9.4. Event Effects
§ Force 1 or 2 Guerrilla Capability: ... is set to
a certain percentage.
CHANGE TO: ... Set a percentage chance for locations behind friendly lines to spontaneously switch to enemy control.

But looking at my notes, I see I never submitted it, so it's my fault !

If the above reads satisfactorily, I will submit it.

[Lobster]

Yeah it's very good. It actually let's people know what the percentage is related to.

[sPzAbt653]

Thanks! One more opinion would be nice, maybe Tom will weigh back in.

[76mm]

Yeah, actually, I took a look at the event itself in the editor, and something is still not clear...

The event calls for both a probability (default is 100%!), and a "value". The default for the value is zero, but there is no explanation of what this "value" represents. At first I thought that it might be a radius from some hex, but the event does not provide for a location...

If this event indeed sets the percent probability that friendly hexes will revert to enemy control, surely the default should be less than 100%, or it seems that all friendly hexes would flip to the enemy, which would seem rather, ah, dramatic?

And if you don't mind, I think I have some questions about some other events, but I need to take a look!

[EDIT] I think my only other question about Events is the "Strategic Bias" event--there is a cryptic reference to it in the manual (IIRC something about "Beserk Strategic Bias") but not clear what it is--I guess some kind of aggressiveness setting, but not clear?

[sPzAbt653]

The probability value is with every event, so I would think that is understood to be separate from an event Effect. That is, it is the percentage of probability that each event will fire. You'll notice as you cycle thru the various events that some use all nine fields, some do not. In the case of the Guerilla Event only six fields are used, one of them being the Probability percentage of the event firing [which is a field in every event].

So maybe a better explanation =
Force 1 or 2 Guerrilla Capability: The Value set is the percentage chance for locations behind friendly lines to spontaneously switch to enemy control.

What do you think ?

Strategic Bias is as you guessed, call it an aggressiveness setting. The 'AI' has it's own set of rules, but Norm knew that in some cases these would not be sufficient so he added in this effect. Flip thru the choices and what you see is what you get. For example, you may have a scenario where one side is supposed to be on the attack, but Elmer won't budge. So the designer can gradually increase this setting and hopefully end up with the desired effect.

[76mm]

Oh, duh, of course that makes sense that the Percentage is for the probability of the event firing. Your proposed text is pretty good, but a couple more questions:

1) If I put "1" in Value (for 1%, presumably), I guess that 1% of hexes can be expected to flip to enemy control every turn? For a not-very-large map (say 100 x 100), that would still be 50 hexes every turn (assuming that I control half the map), and that is the lowest possible setting--is that correct? Especially if turns are daily (or less), this result seems rather over-the-top?

[EDIT]Or is this 1% chance a one-off event rather than every turn?

2) Are all hexes treated the same for this purpose? For instance, it would seem that hexes such as Dense Urban, Urban, Port, Airbase, Fortification, etc. should be excluded from this flip probability--any idea if that is the case?
[EDIT] Maybe it only applies to forest/jungle/mountain, etc. hexes?

Sorry for all of the nitpicking!

[76mm]

ORIGINAL: sPzAbt653
Force 1 or 2 Guerrilla Capability: The Value set is the percentage chance for unoccupied hexes behind friendly lines to spontaneously switch to enemy control.

actually, in addition to my questions above, one additional tweak, in bold (if it is correct).

[Lobster]

Seeing how the section explaining event triggers and effects are mostly copied over from the old printed manuals I'd say change is in order. For new scenario designers it would probably be a good idea to rewrite almost the entire event engine section. Some parts are very vague. "Explain as you would a child".

[sPzAbt653]

Well, I took it upon myself a couple years ago to write/rewrwite an Editor Manual, but after a few hours put into it I realized that it's pretty impossible to cover all aspects of intelligence and common sense. For example, I am now being asked if friendly occupied hexes will revert to enemy control based on a Guerilla Event. C'mon Tom, are you funin' with me ?

Ok, here we are now - CHANGE TO: ... The Value set is the percentage chance for each location behind friendly lines to spontaneously switch to enemy control.

So while I will not rewrite the manual, I don't mind spending a little time hashing these things out with forum members' help and submitting them for approval, rather than Bob or Ralph spending their coding time on it.

[Lobster]

Oh heck no. I don't want either of them doing anything but burning the midnight oil working on the game, not the manual. But you have to admit that with the changes past, present and future that something needs to be done about the manual and it's sometimes vague explanations. Most game manual questions that have been asked on this forum will be asked again. The search engine in the forum is fairly clunky although it can be made to work ok. Will the manual be rewritten? Don't know, DHS confiscated my crystal ball.

[76mm]

ORIGINAL: sPzAbt653
C'mon Tom, are you funin' with me ?

[:D] Sorry, can't help it, I'm a lawyer! Each hex, is, well, each hex!

Did you see my questions in the next post up? Given the general level of fidelity in the game, it seems odd that they would have coded it for all hexes to flip, including cities, airfield, etc., rather than just forest/jungle, etc. Just sayin...

[sPzAbt653]

I'm drawing a blank on that one, but easy enough to test if someone has time.

[76mm]

ORIGINAL: sPzAbt653
I'm drawing a blank on that one, but easy enough to test if someone has time.

I can put that on my plate, but probably not for a couple of weeks when I'm back from a trip and settled back in.

[76mm]

I finally got around to testing this, and made a couple of interesting findings. Just for the fun of it, I set the "Guerillas" rating to 50% and reviewed the results after one turn. Here is what I found:

1) As far as I could tell, no cities or towns (out of several dozen) flipped;
2) No airfields flipped, although the sample size was much smaller (only a handful), so it might have just been luck of the draw;
3) If there was a large block of forest or mountains, it seems like the whole block would flip (or not), rather than individual hexes (although see below); and
4) It also seems like hexes along roads are less likely to flip, and sometimes would be the only hexes in a forest/mountain block that would not flip.

Generally seems fairly realistic, and while I would have preferred that open hexes be a bit less likely to flip, not a big deal I guess; it's possible that this % setting is for open terrain, and that mountains/forest are more likely than this, although I couldn't be sure from my very limited testing.

[sPzAbt653]

Guerrillas can cause a location’s ownership to
change. Guerrillas operate more effectively in Hills,
Badlands, Mountains, Light Woods, Jungle, and
Forest locations. Guerrillas operate less effectively
in Anchorage or Road locations, and will not
operate in Airbase or Urban locations.