FC: Southern Storm - v.2.1.1.6967 Public Beta Now Available

[MaximKI]

Hello everyone,

There's a new public beta update installer (v2.1.1.6967) available at the following download link: HERE

What’s New in Version 2.1.1.6967

Beta #1 had a text scaling issue in several areas of the game due to a missing Manifest setting. This was found and fixed and all fonts sizes behave as they did in the original release again. Thanks to everyone who helped us troubleshoot this one.
• The Main Map has a Flyout Panel that shows all the individual units and map markers in a hex in a side-by-side format. Beta 1 was changed to show a little hint message over the various map markers to identify what they were. These hints have been made to operate more reliably in Beta 2
• Sometimes friendly and enemy units in the same hex would stop fighting unexpectedly. The combat weights to keep them engaged have been increased. We are still working on this area, so please post any odd cases with save games for us to review. Thanks.
• Thermal Sights appeared not to be seeing through smoke as expected. In fact, they were, but the LOS overlay itself was not showing the correct numbers. The overlay has been fixed for single-unit LOS, multi-unit LOS, and single-unit SOP ranges to show the correct numbers from all sensors.
• The US and Soviet national data files have been updated with small user-suggested tweaks to names and capabilities. Thanks for the information!
• A recent change to the scenario editor resulted in new forces showing as “on-map off-map” instead of waiting to be “Deployed”. This was very confusing and has been fixed.
• When firing FASCAM artillery rounds, the threshold for creating a new minefield was announced as 40 rounds but was 41 rounds internally. It is now 40 rounds internally.

What’s New in Version 2.1.1.6839

New Scenario
• One new standalone scenario by Mike Johnstone called “Cross Checking”. It has Canadians facing Soviet forces.

New Campaign
• A new campaign: “Canadian Campaign – Opportunity Knocks” by Mike Johnstone. This is a four-scenario campaign featuring the Canadians.

New Features
• Hex Grid Overlay. There is a new menu item under “Options, Show Hex Grid” for players who prefer to see a hex grid over the main map. This preference is remembered from game to game.
• Mission Graphics Transparency. There is another new menu under the Options, Mission Graphics Transparency Option, that allows you to reduce the default 50% transparency used on the mission graphics that can be imported from the Staff Menu. The other options are 25 or 10%.

Bug Fixes and Enhancements:
Data and Scenarios
• An updated campaign. “Big Red One” by Alex Schwarz (American forces facing Soviet and Czech forces) with multiple tweaks to enhance gameplay.
• Updated weather files. We have extended our spotting model to use starlight on moonless nights as some sensors of the era were able to take advantage of it. This will render the Warsaw Pact units (and some NATO units) somewhat less blind in scenarios like Regulars Forward.
• Data Files and Unit Images. Miscellaneous tweaks were made to data files for spelling and formation corrections and subunit silhouettes (better upscaled unit images for many units).

User Interface
• Subunit Inspector. Formerly it showed only unique subunits and this made it impossible to see the details of subunits that had different ammo packages. We have adjusted the display so that all the ammo package variations for a specific subunit can be browsed.

• User Mission Graphics.
• Both the Mission Briefing and Threat Assessment overlays can now be loaded over the main map at any time from the Staff Menu.
• The old system to limit each side to just one user-created overlay per scenario has been scrapped and now each side can have as many different user-created overlays as desired. Each one is saved under a name the user specifies. Be advised, nothing is stopping the other side from browsing your custom overlays!

• TOC Scenario Info Report. The game allows asymmetrical victory point values to increase the variety of outcomes. Inparticular, a hex may be very valuable to one side and worth nothing to the other should the scenario author so desire. A VP location worth zero is not drawn on the map for that side - it is meant to be a surprise – but they were listed on the Victory Status & Condition screen and this gave away the surprise. This has now been suppressed but note that the player for whom it does have value will still see it in this report IF the player secures it. Once the game is over then that 0 VP location will show in the final report for both sides.

• Unit Counter Spotting Dots. To assist the newer players, a small white dot was drawn on the bottom edge of the counter towards the right when a unit was spotted. Very often this information was either redundant or gave away too much information. The new rule is:
• If the Difficulty Settings for a side has "Enemy Units are Always Visible" enabled then the spotting dots will be shown as before. This is intended to help new players distinguish between spotted and unspotted enemy units in the introductory settings. It will tip them off when their own units are spotted, which is potentially unrealistic, but worthwhile if this setting is enabled.
• If that visibility option is NOT checked then the spotting dots will NOT be drawn. With this setting disabled then any enemy units being drawn must be spotted by definition, and the player is left guessing as to the status of his own units, as the player should be.

• “Show All Friendly Movement Paths During Turn Resolution” This user preference was broken and did not work. It has now been fixed.

Game Mechanics and Other
• PBEM++ Connectivity Errors.
• There was a problem with PBEM++ games sometimes throwing a web service error when uploading a turn causing the player to lose the most recent orders.
• The game has been changed to create and save a special recovery file immediately prior to accessing any of the PBM++ web services so that the player can easily reupload the turn if there is a connectivity problem.
• If this happens then the player will be shown a detailed list of steps to follow. In brief, the player logs in, goes to “Upload…” button on the Games in Progress tab, and selects the recovery file to use to try another upload. If this upload is successful, then the player is back where he or she would have been originally.
• The “Upload…” button is enabled only if there are any recovery files waiting to be used. When the new upload is successful then the recovery file is erased. The recovery files are given a name that makes it easy to pick out the right one if there is more than one present. The saved game .PBM file and the recovery .INI file are both get in the usual \Saved directory where the other saved games are kept.

• Unit Relocation.
• We improved the unit relocation behavior due to SOP, distinguishing between short-range scoots and (new) longer-range withdrawals.
• Units that need to relocate due to hostile fire or stand-off range violations will now attempt to withdraw to new locations outside their SOP's stand-off range. And, units now are quicker to recognize a withdraw destination being compromised due to enemy movements, in which case they will try to pick an alternative location to withdraw to.
• A withdrawing unit will show a "W" orders indicator in the bottom right corner of the counter. Note: "Withdraw" (like "Scoot") is not an order you can explicitly give a unit. When withdrawing, the unit will prefer paths that minimize exposure to hostiles.
• Units with a larger stand-off range will be a lot better at maintaining that stand-off range and will pick better paths when withdrawing. Recce units will try harder to find concealing locations that maintain line-of-sight to threat at stand-off range.

• Night-time Illumination and Spotting.
• New: Soviet and M60 night vision equipment can function with *starlight*.
• We have upgraded the weather data to honor starlight (no moon and limited clouds) next to dark (overcast night) and bright (moonlight and limited clouds) conditions.
• The game now supports filtering in ScenEdit on 'partially dark' (starlight) weather.
• The Regulars Forward scenario has a lot of moonless night hours and the Soviet forces will now be much less blind as a result.

• Morale Loss. Morale is gained and lost in a variety of ways. In cases where the unit suffered what should have been catastrophic losses, the Morale rating did not drop by a reasonable-looking amount. This has been examined and the Morale penalty for subunit losses has been significantly increased.

• Cross-Attaching Units to Change Setup Areas. There was a worry that cross-attaching units gave units access to the target unit setup hexes and this could be unfair. This would not be the case very often, and cross-attaching units is normal and expected, but in extreme cases it could be abused. We have added a new option in the Scenario Editor in the Unit Parameters editor so that resubordination to an HQ during the game setup phase can be
denied by the author of the scenario. If the scenario author has not disallowed a certain unit from receiving resubordinated units during game setup then it is allowed. Approximately ten of the standalone scenarios have had this new option used in them. In most cases, recon units are stopped from receiving cross-attachments so that tanks and mech infantry from other units cannot be dropped in unrealistically.

• User Interface Miscellaneous
• Helicopter crash animations were not playing before but do now
• QoL Suggestion: Show the name of the marker in the main map flyout panel as the mouse is rolled over it. For example, "Improved Position", "Minefield", "Nuclear Contamination", etc.
• The MCOO Legend dialog has a bit more explanatory text added to it.
• Map scrolling: improved game edge scrolling by not requiring the mouse to be inside the game window. • Rename “User” speed button on the bottom toolbar to “Mission” to be consistent with menu captions under Staff using “Mission Graphics”. • Map zoom behavior with scroll wheel: when using scroll wheel and map expanded beyond window: zoom around mouse position, not hex cursor. • Default map zoom: when restoring saved zoom setting, restore the zoom setting as soon as possible
• When a unit is killed its Ammo, Morale and Readiness will drop to zero, zero and one respectively in any reports.

[Art_Ozols]

Morning Folks!

Happy Wednesday! and thank you for the update I will have myself dipped rolled and double dunked later with glee of an even better game

What is the suggestion on current scenarios - update or hold off until the current ones have been completed?

[byzantine1990]

Maybe I missed it but does this update also change artillery so it doesn't show when unspotted units are hit?

[Searry]

Maybe I missed it but does this update also change artillery so it doesn't show when unspotted units are hit?

I think how it works is that the smoke/explosions from destroyed units is shown only under certain circumstances as you don't always see that. Unless it's really a bug.

[Tcao]

After installed the patch I noticed that the version is 6938, not 6839? A typo?

[Shadrach]

New issue:
Text in the info dialogs is no longer scaled according to DPI Scaling.

Examples: https://imgur.com/a/txuiBu1

• Description text
• Briefing text
• Log text
• Order SOP text
• Tank icons and description
• +++

I use 150% DPI scaling on a 2560x1440 screen. The text used to be larger, similar to the rest of the UI (buttons etc) and much easier to read. This is bad news for those of us with old eyes...

Other stuff:

Hex Grid Overlay. There is a new menu item under “Options, Show Hex Grid” for players who prefer to see a hex grid over the main map. This preference is remembered from game to game.

Awesome, much appreciated

QoL Suggestion: Show the name of the marker in the main map flyout panel as the mouse is rolled over it. For example, "Improved Position", "Minefield", "Nuclear Contamination", etc.

Hmm, I don't see this when hovering a hex:

[CapnDarwin]

@Tcao - probably a typo.

@Shadrach - was the text in those cases scaling before the patch? To get the marker's name, once the flyout is up, hover your cursor over the marker in the flyout to get the name.

[cbelva]

Morning Folks!

Happy Wednesday! and thank you for the update I will have myself dipped rolled and double dunked later with glee of an even better game

What is the suggestion on current scenarios - update or hold off until the current ones have been completed?

According to Rob, the patch is backward compatible with current games.

[IronManBeta]

Yes, I would not break backward compatibility with existing games without letting everyone know in big flaming letters.

It has happened maybe twice in the last 20 years but it is something I go to great lengths to avoid!

Have fun, Rob C

[Shadrach]

@Shadrach - was the text in those cases scaling before the patch? To get the marker's name, once the flyout is up, hover your cursor over the marker in the flyout to get the name.

Yes, the text was definitely scaling fine before the patch.

The font size was similar to the scaled font on other elements like buttons and tab.
And the Subunits view shows that it's not just text - the unit icons are much much smaller than they used to be.

I tried to dig up some screenshots showing the view before, but couldn't find any. It's strange if you guys don't see this on your systems with 150% DPI scaling set. I doubt it's some Win10 thing, but maybe something changed in a patch on the OS-level too.

[byzantine1990]

Maybe I missed it but does this update also change artillery so it doesn't show when unspotted units are hit?

I think how it works is that the smoke/explosions from destroyed units is shown only under certain circumstances as you don't always see that. Unless it's really a bug.

I just remember the stream mentioned that artillery hits are no longer shown unless you have spotted the unit. Like it’s a change in this patch. In the previous patch, if I hit an enemy arty battery 3km away I still see the hits.

[Shadrach]

@CaptDarwin: I think I might've figured out at least partly what goes on.

In Windows there's a setting in the executable properties to override the High DPI Scaling. If set to "Application" FCSS is back to "normal". However, I can't remember setting this before. Setting it to "System" or "Enhanced" makes everything super-blurry so that's not really an option.

But I don't think I set it earlier. So maybe you did some changes to DPI handling, or removed something from the application manifest?

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windo ... -a-process
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-gb/windo ... dfrom=MSDN

I just now used Resource Hacker to change the manifest, and adding:

Code: Select all

  <asmv3:application>
    <asmv3:windowsSettings>
      <dpiAware xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/SMI/2005/WindowsSettings">true</dpiAware>
      <dpiAwareness xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/SMI/2016/WindowsSettings">PerMonitorV2</dpiAwareness>
    </asmv3:windowsSettings>
  </asmv3:application>

This makes the game scale as "Application" mode. The point is telling Windows that "Yes, this application supports DPI scaling on multiple monitors".

But I have no idea why it this only affect some parts of the UI, like text fields, and other parts are very small.

[CapnDarwin]

As a clarification/correction - the unspotted artillery kills/hits are still in the game. We need more time to deal with all of the code changes and test them out. We hope to add it to an update down the road.

[Art_Ozols]

Re: FC: Southern Storm - v.2.1.1.6839 Public Beta Now Available
Post by Shadrach » Thu Feb 02, 2023 6:22 am

New issue:
Text in the info dialogs is no longer scaled according to DPI Scaling.

Examples: https://imgur.com/a/txuiBu1

I have updated to beta version

All the info during play is now loaded on the left, and I have to manually move of the map, but cannot do so until the proceed button is clicked/ Also all the text is now at 6pt making it hard to read on any reports ads status of results in the scenario

[mssm45]

On my 4K screen, the SI and log text is no longer scaled and it makes it very hard to read.

[CapnDarwin]

Sorry for the glitch with the scaling/DPI. I am not sure what we would have done to break that, but we are investigating to get a fix for the release version of the update.

[Shadrach]

For now a workaround for the font DPI Scaling issue seems to be to force Windows to apply Application scaling. This can be done in the properties for FlashpointCampaigns.exe:



Unfortunately, if your OS is older than Windows 10 this is not really an option.

[Art_Ozols]

Thanks, Shadrach

Scaling issue resolved

But still all reports are on left side covering map on file open and cannot move them until I hit proceed to replay turn so it's a scramble to move and observe - Any suggestions on a solve for that?

[Genosse]

Apologies if this was already answered but I didn't see it - do you have a target release week for this update in final form?

Thank You!

[CharlesV]

The 3rd scenario in the Canadian campaign seems to have a bug. There are 3 units which are not in valid setup locations:
hex 0427 Bde Recce & 1Tp/3Sqn
hex 0426 3/Bde Recce
I can't relocate them and as a result can't begin the scenario.

Southern Storm is a great improvement over Red Storm but the Warsaw Pact capabilities do seem overstated. As was demonstrated in Afghanistan and now in Ukraine their training & morale is poor and capability of their equipment is very high in the game, for example tanks firing and BMPs firing missiles on the move.

Charles