Matrix Games Forums

dr.hal wrote: Wed May 11, 2022 9:36 pm BC, I've viewed all your videos and I have to say thanks, they were informative. I've used tracker for a long time and you were able to expand my knowledge which is always a good thing. One aspect I fear you might want to explore further for a Japanese player is aircraft and engine management (this is not needed for Allied players). One thing that is vital for the JFB is to know what planes to produce and how many engines to manufacture to complement that production. This is a vital area and I would argue a more important area than ship production for a JFB (which you did a good job in explaining). There are a number of factors that I was hoping you might focus on. First, how to use tracker to facilitate the matching of engines to planes currently in production and next, in projected production. Another aspect is the utility of tracker in maintaining an eye on upgrades of engine factories and planes. In particular the tracing of plane "lineage" or defined upgrades vs. undefined upgrades (as there are grave penalties if one steps outside the defined path). In short, how can one use tracker to help manage the whole aircraft industry from opening salvo to final flyby. Now I'm aware that much of the management is subjective, which depends upon the player's likes, dislikes, style of play, etc., HOWEVER, many aspects of the mechanics are hardwired into the production process. How does tracker help here? It's just a simple request, right????? Hal

I appreciate the feedback very much. I can start working on a special like I did with the ship construction, about engine and aircraft production management. I think I can put together a
Basic how to on it similar to the ship construction. Because it’s such a large topic, I decided not to get too far into it. I feel it’s even more intricate than ship building. But if there is demand for this, I will do it! I like making the videos.

The key question to address is can you enhance the understanding of tracker as a tool to more effectively manage aircraft/engine production? I'm not sure how it can be used, but I suspect it could help given all the data it handles. Mathematically matching air engine production with current and projected needs, inclusive of airframe upgrades and engine changes is daunting, to put it mildly. There ARE some written tutorials that help, but I've never seen anything for tracker. So anything you can devise would be great.

dr.hal wrote: Wed May 11, 2022 10:08 pm The key question to address is can you enhance the understanding of tracker as a tool to more effectively manage aircraft/engine production? I'm not sure how it can be used, but I suspect it could help given all the data it handles. Mathematically matching air engine production with current and projected needs, inclusive of airframe upgrades and engine changes is daunting, to put it mildly. There ARE some written tutorials that help, but I've never seen anything for tracker. So anything you can devise would be great.

Just wanted you to know I haven’t forgotten about you. This is a massive topic to undertake. While Tracker is somewhat useful to monitor Japanese aircraft production, I feel there are additional tools available that need to be utilized in conjunction with this program to maximum aircraft production.

Thanks for the response and I'm glad to hear that you've not forgotten. I AM aware of the task it entails, that's why so few know how to tackle it... I appreciate you making the effort. Thanks again. Hal

Coming here to say thank you BC for your excellent video series of how to use Tracker!

I've used the Tracker successfully in the past but it was good to have a refresh and I also learned a few things I haven't know before.

haegint wrote: Fri Jul 15, 2022 7:48 pm Coming here to say thank you BC for your excellent video series of how to use Tracker!

I've used the Tracker successfully in the past but it was good to have a refresh and I also learned a few things I haven't know before.

Thank you so much! I really appreciate the feedback. Always taking suggestions on more Tracker topics to cover. Still trying to figure out how to approach aircraft production.... got any other ideas for now?

Brief: I'm not getting anything in the alerts section. WITPAE v1.01.26a, Tracker 1.11

The Story: Thanks for a great product. I can't play without it. Recently I lost the OS when I wasn't paying attention to what MS was asking and it tried to upgrade to Win11. No problem - all games are on different drives. I used the same short cuts for launching everything. Started getting many alerts about withdrawing air groups that were nowhere near time to withdraw. Found that there was version 1.11. I had been using 1.10. I also found I had never installed the v1.01.26a patch, so I installed that. I have an existing save I've been playing. I unzipped tracker into existing folder. It would not load a new turn. unzipped to new folder, configured stuff. everything works except alerts.

What have I missed in all the upgrades, reinstalls, etc?

launch command for WITPAE: -deepColor -altFont -wd -archive -skipVideo -px1680 -py1050 -dd_sw
Launch for tracker: java -Xms512m -Xmx768m -jar "WitPTracker.jar"
Tracker Properties:
# WitPTracker AE properties file
# Directory of the game
Dir=[D:\Matrix Games\War in the Pacific Admiral's Edition]
# Type of game. 0=AI, 1=PBEM
GameType=[0]
# Side you are playing. 0=Japan, 1=Allies
Side=[1]
# Password. Only needed for PBEM
Password=[abc123]
# Name of the base save file
SaveFile=[wpae005.pws]
# Mode the program will look for save files.
# 0 = just in the local folder
# 1 = just in the game folder: [Dir]/SAVE
# 2 = local and then if not found there, the game folder
SaveMode=[1]
# Text to put in the header of the main window
Header=[wpae005]
# Turn cycle (days per turn). 1 or 2 are supported
TurnCycle=[1]

axeman109 wrote: Sat Jul 30, 2022 2:02 pm Brief: I'm not getting anything in the alerts section. WITPAE v1.01.26a, Tracker 1.11

Hey Axeman,

reading through your post, I feel like your installs might be a little muddled. Did you install everything FRESH? Is your copy of Tracker installed right from the get-go as a clean install of 1.11 or did you "patch" over the original? I recommend you start entirely from scratch with 1.11, which can be gotten from the main post.

Also, I am concerned that the patch may have screwed something up with the save game somehow. Most games don't take kindly to you patching them, and then having success playing saved games from older versions.

If I'm off base, let me know, and I'll do my best to help you troubleshoot. Might I also recommend you check out my tutorial videos on Tracker? Especially video 1 and 2, where I go over some basic configuration and troubleshooting when using a fresh install of Tracker.

I will assist any way I can!

Thanks for the fast reply! I did as you suggested and installed everything a new location and everything works as expected. I still have that list of groups to withdraw. Any ideas on these? Turn 19 is 12/24/1941 in this scenario (something like that - late December '41) thanks again!

I can not answer why that is happening, but in Xarguns and my game we both had the same thing. Some time after about 6 month or so they went away. I had thought it was because our scenario files
had been modified, but maybe that was not the reason.

Nomad wrote: Tue Aug 02, 2022 2:56 am I can not answer why that is happening, but in Xarguns and my game we both had the same thing. Some time after about 6 month or so they went away. I had thought it was because our scenario files
had been modified, but maybe that was not the reason.

I get the same thing. I believe the coding or properties of Tracker tell it to forecast withdrawing groups X-days/weeks/months out to you as an info note so you’re aware of it. I can’t validate how far the lead time is. Unfortunately Floyd is AWOL and he isn’t answering PMs.

I also see that long list of Withdrawing air groups for my Scenario 1 game with Mike Solli. I had not seen it in previous uses of Tracker, but can't remember if there has been an update for the Tracker version since the last game I used it on or not. Good to hear that maybe it will go away at a future game date, but I've become pretty good at ignoring them.

Double post.

thanks for the help and feedback! I've taken to sorting on that column and ignoring them as well.

I think you’ll find in tracker that once the actual withdraw dates come and go through the first months of the war you’ll see less of I think. I’m almost certain certain now that Tracker is programmed to “forecast” withdrawals several months in advance as an FYI to the player.

BananaConvention wrote: Wed Aug 03, 2022 5:02 pm I think you’ll find in tracker that once the actual withdraw dates come and go through the first months of the war you’ll see less of I think. I’m almost certain certain now that Tracker is programmed to “forecast” withdrawals several months in advance as an FYI to the player.

Actually I do not remember seeing this behavior before. And if you look I have been using Tracker since it came out, even the WitP version from before AE.

Nomad wrote: Wed Aug 03, 2022 5:59 pm

BananaConvention wrote: Wed Aug 03, 2022 5:02 pm I think you’ll find in tracker that once the actual withdraw dates come and go through the first months of the war you’ll see less of I think. I’m almost certain certain now that Tracker is programmed to “forecast” withdrawals several months in advance as an FYI to the player.

Actually I do not remember seeing this behavior before. And if you look I have been using Tracker since it came out, even the WitP version from before AE.

Same for me, Nomad. I used Tracker since the original WitP and my current game is the first where I've seen all of these air group withdrawal notifications.

I am wondering if it is a Windows thing. They update all the time and maybe something they did changed the behavior. I am using the same 32-bit Java I downloaded years ago, so it is not that.

If it is a prediction, it's way ahead of when it's due - like over a year. Also, notice that the ships show up as unknown in my previous screenshot post. That's unrelated, but something else I noticed. Maybe there is an issue with database field format changing? I don't remember seeing this until I upgraded to 11.26a. This screenshot shows VS-2 with withdraw date of 1-mar-43. It does change to 18 in 18-jan-42. It's already at 18. this is just odd. I'm still around Christmas 1941.

I too have been getting those "withdrawl...." messages and my opponent Brian told me to just ignore those for now. I thought it had something to do with the particular scenario we were playing but checking in just now with a new question I discover that you guys are getting the same messages.....which proves it's not a scenario fault. Which I thought I was obligated to share with everybody since it may help the effort to find a fix for it. I feel obligated to the wargamming community since all you guys have made my life even more worth living. I'm retired and feel a need for still belonging somewhere somehow. You guys fill the bill in spades. Thanks.

Also, I have a question about the pilot's values after he becomes an MIA. Am I expected to just ignore those or is there something I can do to affect them somehow? By the way, I'm a MEGAfan of Tracker. I cannot, simply cannot play without it. It's my most important game-aid/tool and makes playing without it somehow medieval. Here, hold out your hand and I'll unload $4,000 virtual dollars into it.
<hands over $4,000 virtual dollars>
Thanks a heap.
</hands over $4,000 virtual dollars>