New patch in the works

[davidjruss]

Thanks for the update - looking forward to the patch .I appreciate the effort put by both of you to keep this excellent game going.

[Orm]

I am looking forward the update as well. But, please, do not rush things.

[Pete McCullagh]

Really looking forward to the patch release. Even if not complete, go for it! As I understand there are now fixes for:
1) turnaround bug
2) failure to launch
3) sweep issues.

Just this will be a huge step forward. This is a large and complicated sim. Now over 20 yrs old. It is simply the best ww2 sim. It could take years to fix everything. Fixing these 3 issues will really improve it. Thanks to those hard working folks who devote time to this.

[simovitch]

A few more tweaks (including AI fixes) and we will be ready to go. Got a lot done this week.

[hapshott]

Hello Simovitch,

Any news on a release date for the patch?

I'm really looking forward to this. Esp. as you will include AI fixes as I'm only playing against the AI.

Best regards,

Hapshott

[simovitch]

We are very close. Play testers are sending in favorable comments, just a few more wrinkles to sort out. The latest bug I've been trying to squash is some groups with only a few planes left would remain leaderless when a wounded leader returned from the hospital. He would be present but his qualities were ignored. I think this is fixed but needs testing.

[hapshott]

Wow, Thanks for the fast reply. Good to here that the last bugs are being solved.

I'm happy that you are still supporting this game. Kudos for the dedication

[simovitch]

OK we finished testing the latest build and I think we are good to go. We apologize for the delay but this build needed lots of testing to get this right. We will wrap it up and ship it to Matrix this week. Here is the list of fixes:

PATCH version 1.05 (Note that old 1.04 and earlier saves will not work in new version, so new version will be 1.05)

Fixed the dreaded turnback bug.

Fixed “failure to launch” bug, which also allows mouse-over information to appear on units from later flights like night bombing, intruders, and night fighters.

Fixed garbled fatigue display for Axis interceptors in flight.

Raid path lines are now color coded. Blue=night mission, white=day bombing, yellow=recon, green=sweeps. Red is always return leg regardless.

Fixed turns since last mission for assign lead group.

Fixed changing of attacker view of target damage levels after loading saved game.

Added OVC and moonrise display to raid planning screen.

Added random altitude loss for damaged bomber stragglers.

Added minor moral check penalties for not resting between missions. Rally (regaining of morale) dependent more on leader inspiration value.

Fixed supply bug where troops were tracing supply using non-existent locations

Fixed bug where some groups without replacement aircraft remained leaderless after leader returned to group.

1945 AI will convert older me109’s to TA 152’s if available.

Gave Recon pilots more opportunity to gain experience

Added more availability dates to unit display.

Cleaned up allied action log display columns. Re-added asterisk symbol for NAV-equipped bomber groups (not sure why this was taken away in the first place.)

Several unused locations no longer appear in game data. This fixes targeting and hidden flak-trap bugs as well as odd troop supply route choices.

Mistaken targeting slightly reduced if long range, but slightly increased if weather is bad.

Overall Flak effect slightly reduced.

Fixed odd supply line trace from German units in south France.

Air Unit display now shows attached HQ properly.

Strafing fighters will only target airfields with recon-confirmed enemy planes, otherwise they will simply patrol over the target airfield until bingo fuel. This eliminates suicide airfield attacks on empty airfields on the return leg.

Allies must have AS of 3 or greater to win BTR campaigns, otherwise best they can achieve is a draw.

Sudden Death score threshold now shows in red beneath score total in BTR campaigns.

Greatly improved shuttle functionality.

***

Added Allied-Italian roundel (was German cross).

[V72]

I say "respect" and thank you for the work you have done !!!

[Piteas]

Great Work!

I worship you [&o]

[nelmsm1]

Great news. Thanks for all the hard work!

[BigDuke66]

Great work!

[demyansk]

Good job on the work. Does this game have historical pilots?

How is the screen resolution?

Nice sale

[Pete McCullagh]

Really happy to see this upgrade. Not sure how changing US reserve ac will work, historically they had this system to improve readiness, but if it improves gameplay that is OK. In any case this is a big step forward. Thank you.

[simovitch]

ORIGINAL: demyansk

Good job on the work. Does this game have historical pilots?

How is the screen resolution?

Nice sale

Many Historical pilots yes, but replaced by auto-gen as they die off. Full screen or windowed. Resolution is a bit pixilated for some; it's built on a dated engine. Check some screenies and see for yourself.

[simovitch]

ORIGINAL: Pete McCullagh

Not sure how changing US reserve ac will work, historically they had this system to improve readiness,

Pete, do you have a source for this info? all I found was 36-48 planes made up a US fighter group. I looked at WITPAE and those groups don't keep a spare squadron of planes lying around.

[warshipbuilder]

FG and BG were made up of 4 squadrons of 12 aircraft. One squadron always rested so only three would go on a mission for a max of 36 a/c. As in all things it never worked out that way all of the time, but that is pretty much the rule of thumb.

[brucemcl777]

I have the boxed versions of this game from 20 year ago.

The reviews of this combined version were pretty much all critical of the outdated interface.

I don't mind buying this if the interface has been overhauled or is in the works to improve it.

Can anyone advise of the current situation please?

[simovitch]

Well, it's a Gary Grigsby product so that should be the baseline consideration for any discussion about interface design. It's not as flashy as the newer WITP, WITE, WITW, etc. but the EDTBTR UI has been given a fair bit of attention since the original Matrix release. The defender aircraft production interface has been completely overhauled by harley, hotkeys have been added to screen menu items for easy reference, unit detail comes up with a double click of the radio button (a big help) and much more information added to the unit detail screens.

It's come a long way but there is always more to be done.

[demyansk]

I hope Gunther Rall is in the game, 3rd highest ace