EASY QUESTION: CHGING TRANSPORT SPEED

[craterous]

I suspect it is easy to change transport speed. I am GUESSING it is in the baseline folder under the transport line "TD_SPEED,7," ---I change that 7 to a 2?

Then anything special to save the change? Or will just typing it & close the file -- do it?

Background:
I want to try playtesting with a transport speed of 2.
- I think it might be enough encouragement for the WA to maintain semi historic convoy routes. (Rather than do weird things like collapsing convoy routes to invade.)
- I think it might slow down some of the flash invasions - invade here- then there - then hide from u-boats - then go re-establish convoy routes --- this sort of thing.

[Paul Vebber]

As long as you have a contiguous line of transports transports can move an unlimited distance along the "Sea line of communication". Changing their speed makes it take longer to shift SLOCS or extend them, but won't change how they can move along one already established mor "collapse" it to invade.

[craterous]

As long as you have a contiguous line of transports transports can move an unlimited distance along the "Sea line of communication". Changing their speed makes it take longer to shift SLOCS or extend them, but won't change how they can move along one already established mor "collapse" it to invade.

I know this, it is part of the "plan."
- With speed 2 transports, the "cost" of collapsing a convoy is the time to re-establish whatever you collapse. So it will no longer be done on a WA whim. (Yes, you can collapse once - no problem.)
- Similarly there is incentive to keep convoy routes operational - England to India comes to mind. If you collapse a convoy to "game" the u-boat war (deny targets to the U-boats), there is a very definate time cost to re-establish the convoy.
- 'Longer to extend them' (to quote you)- means invasions are more deliberate and planned for the WA. The Japanese have more incentive to move their navy out to do battle and head off the spearhead (as opposed to sit in Japan and use the otherwise spent supplies to increase tech and "fortify" Japan with tech.) The US in turn is more likely to be more aggressive with extending supply lines, defending same, and in meeting Japan in naval combat at sea earlier - I think this would be very very good for this game.
- I like keeping the free move along existing transport lines as it cuts down on player workload, the player does not need to be shifting individual units in a chain reaction along a transport line. (So indeed, retaining this aspect of the game is part of the plan.)

It appears I am getting the input I need to get this set up to try out. In other words, my original question is getting answered. The only problem is I am getting more ideas from my compatriots - that we are evaluating.
--One idea that is intriguing - is in particular make transports blind to enemy subs and - perhaps add even more fog of war to the entire sea area - perhaps by making coasts not see into the sea areas or similar ideas. That would add the mystery and the hunt, to the sea war (fog of war) that this game lacks. But I am hearing that would involve re-coding.
--Another idea (of mine) is making it so most WA resources (in particular S. Amer and African) need to be transported by transports; instead of somehow filtering their their way by land over continents. As it stands, transports in the game are much less critical in resource transport than they should be.

Well, maybe I told you more than you want to know.

[Paul Vebber]

Sounds like you have a good plan - and have thought it through!

[craterous]

AN UPDATE - we tested out the reduced speed transports. We used speed 3. We rejected the idea, it works in some parts of the world map and not in others. As we rejected the idea I will spare you the details.

Next we are going to try making the transports behave more rationally:
-by making transports cost strategic movement, thus only the first transport gets to move infinite distance, as the first transport will cancel the strat move capablity for subsequent transports
-and they will cost supply to move more than one space (but will again have speed 7)