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RE: Ground Units upgrade and replacements

Posted: Thu May 26, 2005 4:21 am
by pasternakski
ORIGINAL: Mr.Frag

Nevermind, on it ... it's accessing the SPS value, not the built value ... asking if by design or accident.
You know, Frag, you have led this discussion to a place where it makes about as much sense as condoms to a cockroach.

All right. There are some bases "hardwired" to be malaria-free (Noumea, Darwin, Singapore, Rangoon, and so on). There are other bases "hardwired" to be malarial (Lunga, Rabaul, Port Moresby, and many others).

So far, so good.

Now comes the fun part. The effects at malarial bases can be either attenuated or eliminated entirely under certain conditions that seem to revolve around semi-divine, quasi-mystical incantations focusing on the number "8."

I don't understand anything about it beyond this point. All I have ever done is improve malarial bases, note that the effects are not so severe as the airfield and port expand, and rotate units out when they seem too fooked oop to perform their function efficiently.

So, could you take a deep breath, pull out your best widdle cwayon, and draw us a clear picture of how this all works? Please?

RE: Ground Units upgrade and replacements

Posted: Thu May 26, 2005 5:40 am
by michaelm75au
Mr.Frag
Nevermind, on it ... it's accessing the SPS value, not the built value ... asking if by design or accident.

I think he is checking on that.

RE: Ground Units upgrade and replacements

Posted: Thu May 26, 2005 11:16 am
by Captain Cruft
Code!!! I love it ... :)

What is the definition of

Code: Select all

gPlace[base].size
though please?

BTW you gotta love those hard-wired slot numbers. Couldn't malaria have just been another parameter in the locations table?

RE: Ground Units upgrade and replacements

Posted: Thu May 26, 2005 12:15 pm
by Mr.Frag
BTW you gotta love those hard-wired slot numbers. Couldn't malaria have just been another parameter in the locations table?

The game engine was completely written with no plans for an editor. The fact that as much was made editable after the fact is to 2by3's credit. There is still a lot not exposed.

RE: Ground Units upgrade and replacements

Posted: Thu May 26, 2005 1:49 pm
by Mr.Frag
You know, Frag, you have led this discussion to a place where it makes about as much sense as condoms to a cockroach.

Would those be normal cockroachs or those in MiB? [:D]

Seriously, at this point in time I do not know if it is by design or a bug. Until I know, you will not know [:D]

RE: Ground Units upgrade and replacements

Posted: Thu May 26, 2005 2:11 pm
by mc3744
ORIGINAL: Mr.Frag

Nevermind, on it ... it's accessing the SPS value, not the built value ... asking if by design or accident.

[&:][&:][&:]
I thought I knew how it worked. Now I'm not so sure anymore.

What's 'accesing' the SPS (?) value?

What's the 'SPS'? The maximum potential size?

'Never mind' to what? ......

I'm loooost [X(]

RE: Ground Units upgrade and replacements

Posted: Thu May 26, 2005 2:24 pm
by Mr.Frag
ORIGINAL: mc3744

ORIGINAL: Mr.Frag

Nevermind, on it ... it's accessing the SPS value, not the built value ... asking if by design or accident.

[&:][&:][&:]
I thought I knew how it worked. Now I'm not so sure anymore.

What's 'accesing' the SPS (?) value?

What's the 'SPS'? The maximum potential size?

'Never mind' to what? ......

I'm loooost [X(]

Correct, Standard Potential Size (SPS)

Code looks at this value, not the "I have built the base to size x" value.

Since this is only set in the editor, there is no way to change the effect after the game starts.

RE: Ground Units upgrade and replacements

Posted: Thu May 26, 2005 2:27 pm
by Bradley7735
What's the 'SPS'?

Lunga has a port SPS of 2 and an airfield SPS of 4 (I think). The maximum build is always 3 higher than the SPS. So you can build Lunga up to 5/7. SPS is the other number you see at a base. One is the current size of the port/airfield. The other is the SPS.

Note that SPS is the ideal size of the base. You can go 3 higher by expending significantly more effort.

RE: Ground Units upgrade and replacements

Posted: Thu May 26, 2005 2:31 pm
by mc3744
Ok

So does this new piece of information mean that building up a base does NOT reduce the effect of Malaria?

Please let me know, it's VERY important. [&o]

RE: Ground Units upgrade and replacements

Posted: Thu May 26, 2005 2:33 pm
by Captain Cruft
What I think the code is saying is If a base's combined port SPS + airfield SPS is greater than 8 then it is considered malaria-free.

I'm not sure about this though since Rabaul (SPS 5+5=10) is shown as Malaria Zone in the game. Maybe the MalariaZone() routine doesn't get called in all the right places?

What Frag is wondering about is whether the code should be looking at actual built size rather than the SPS.

Definition of SPS is in the manual.

RE: Ground Units upgrade and replacements

Posted: Thu May 26, 2005 2:35 pm
by mc3744
Hence the first part of this thread that said that by building to air+port >8 is now FALSE.
Is that so?

RE: Ground Units upgrade and replacements

Posted: Thu May 26, 2005 2:45 pm
by Bradley7735
MC3744, the larger the base, the less effects you'll see from malaria. I know this is absolutely true. However, units that are sitting in a malaria zone will always have at least some fatigue and disruption when compared to units sitting in nice malaria-free zones.

What Mr. Frag is saying is that it may be possible to build a base so that malaria is eliminated. At first, he thought it was building the base up to a combo of 8 or more. However, it may have to do with the SPS being a combo of 8 or more.

The only malaria zone base that has an SPS combo of 8 or more is Rabaul (to my knowledge). So, I don't know if you build Rabaul up large enough if you will see Malaria negated.

Here is a list of things you should look at when units are at Malaria bases: Supply (they should have a lot), Support (there should be enough), Base size (the larger the better), activity (combat, construction, repair and movement will increase fatigue and disruption faster), other stuff? Anyway, malaria effects will be reduced if you have all 4 of these things going for you. Eliminating the malaria effects is something I've never been able to do. Mr. Frag is checking to see if the game is working as designed in regards to base size or SPS size.

bc

RE: Ground Units upgrade and replacements

Posted: Thu May 26, 2005 2:47 pm
by mc3744
Thanks [:)]

RE: Ground Units upgrade and replacements

Posted: Thu May 26, 2005 3:30 pm
by pasternakski
ORIGINAL: Mr.Frag
Would those be normal cockroachs or those in MiB? [:D]

Seriously, at this point in time I do not know if it is by design or a bug. Until I know, you will not know [:D]
Those are the giant race of cockroaches that, according to "Venus on the Half Shell" by Kilgore Trout, created the universe - and know the date and time when it will end, but they're not telling anybody.

The only help I have to offer is that I know the effects of malaria attenuate to some degree as you expand malaria zone bases, but it never goes away entirely. Even in a place like Rabaul, for example, that can be built to size 8/8, most land units seem to retain a low level of fatigue that never goes away.

RE: Ground Units upgrade and replacements

Posted: Thu May 26, 2005 7:50 pm
by Toast
Kilgore Trout! Man that is an obscure reference. I hadn't heard that name since reading all fo the Vonnegut books in High School. Awwwwww, good times!

I might have to pull out my battered paperback copy of "Venus on the Half Shell" when I get home.

RE: Ground Units upgrade and replacements

Posted: Thu May 26, 2005 8:19 pm
by pasternakski
I was sitting in study hall one day in my sophomore year in high school ... reading "Sirens of Titan" ... The librarian, Mrs. Hanley (you know the type - middle aged, pinchfaced, severe, black hair, ugly, immense floppies) came up from behind me and yanked the book out of my hands, yelling, "You are not permitted to bring this kind of trash into the school!"

I knew right then and there I was onto something good.

RE: Ground Units upgrade and replacements

Posted: Thu May 26, 2005 8:28 pm
by Terminus
Ahh, school librarians. A strange species.

When I was eight years old, I spent a lot of time studying a chronology of WW II in my school library. One of my teachers, in "co-operation" with the school librarian, decided that this was not "healthy reading" for me, and decreed that I wasn't allowed to check it out of the library anymore.

Of course, I've been a student of military matters for over twenty years now, so I guess it didn't take...[:D]

RE: Ground Units upgrade and replacements

Posted: Fri May 27, 2005 10:29 am
by Darksky
Coming back in Topic, so what the best strategy for allied in the first turn ?
Sending immediately "incomplete" USA division waiting on west coast to the Pacific key islands to defend them and so grant me the supply route from USA or waiting these division reach the 100% of their TOE before sent them in action ?
Do i have time to wait they reach 100% before Jap landing on my south pacific key island ?

RE: Ground Units upgrade and replacements

Posted: Fri May 27, 2005 11:43 am
by Terminus
Depends on you opponent: if you're playing the AI, then you should have time to wait, but if you're playing another human, then all bets are off.

RE: Ground Units upgrade and replacements

Posted: Fri May 27, 2005 1:42 pm
by Darksky
I meant strategy in a pbem against human jap player