Matrix Games Forums

nvm found the answer in the manual

All you need to do is Right click on the Transports in the right hand UI and the unit cards change to whats being transported.

That is only for your transport. You can not tell what your the other sides transport is carrying, just that they are carrying something.

I there a way to see what unit have a unit loaded when you are in the firing window? Sometimes there will be 4 truck in a hex but only 1 with a passenger and I want to target that particular unit but I can't see any differentiation in the target window.

If you have the unit info display open (pressing U) and are on the 3d mode, you can select the loaded truck and note it's location within the hex, allowing you then target that specific loaded truck platoon.

What about from the targeting window? Sometimes they get pretty packed in the hex especially if a stack has retreated into it previously.

I'm not sure what you mean by targeting window. Can you post a screenshot?

I' at work so I can't post anything. I mean the window that comes up when you fire at a hex but click in an 'empty' area, not when you click on a specific unit.

Ah. I believe the order in the targeting screen is the same order the is displayed when U is pressed in the info display. Knowing the position of the loaded truck there should correspond with the position in the targeting screen.

Ah ha. That would work. I'll try it the next time a juicy target is in a crowded hex!
Thanks.

Um, with the Extreme Fog of War optional rule in effect, the loaded/unloaded status of enemy transports shouldn't be knowable. Get's me to thinking... [;)]

Knowable of what's inside, no, but the helmet graphic is displayed as full. So you can see it is loaded with something.

But under Extreme FOW, how would you know whether the transport is loaded or not, regardless of the precise load? So I would say under Extreme FOW, don't display the enemy helmet icon (full or empty) at all. (Remember: There is "ordinary" FOW for people who don't like to play under such extremes.)

Very true and good point!

Yeah, I like extreme FOW, that would be a cool feature as well!!

One reason I like Extreme FOW so much, and want it evenly applied across all aspects of the game (as an optional rule, of course): It helps to even the odds in human-vs.-A/I play.

Hi Berto, hope this day finds you well.

The new HAL(A/I) seems to be better than the old one especially with the new settings on aggressiveness, shifting, cautious
and audacious. With an Ex-FOW change not to be able to see if a transport was loaded or not would be a cool change for the good I think.

However, since were on the subject rather indirectly of the A/I, let me point out a continuous/recurring problem with the A/I and its use of artillery.

I'm not sure of what I'm going too say has been put out there somewhere else but I'll put it out there...

I just finished playing the EF scenario Retreat to Radomsyl as the Russians against the German (A/I), result Major Russian Victory.
I set the A/I on Shifting and aggressiveness on around 70%. I noticed throughout the game that the A/I is way bad in artillery FFE placement and I mean horrible. Even when I had troops sit in
a hex for 2-3 turns straight, they never got targeted. It seemed as though the A/I was blind and didn't see my units in this case and others
or it was too busy placing FFE missions in hexes where it thought I was going to move and in most cases the A/I was way off anyway.

Also recurring time and again was the A/I's nasty habit of piling on artillery in one hex, usually open ground with nothing there. It's almost as if the
A/I got stuck in a loop, got frustrated and/or belligerent and said to itself, I'll just drop almost every FFE mission in this one hex and be done with it!
Another nasty habit that appeared in this game was the A/I using up all of its smoke rounds in the first 2 turns!?

I see these errors as a fundamental problem with such lopsided victories against the A/I. The kill ratio of the human player is usually high versus the A/I because
the A/I's artillery targeting capability is very poor for starters. IMO against a seasoned player straight up I feel the A/I will lose almost all of the time in
scenarios and DCG games.

I'm not a programmer and I have never looked at the code for this wonderful game but I can only report on what I see. Not sure if these kinds of A/I issues
can ever be fixed but I figured I'd put it out there. Hope this helps.

Thanks
Ivan the Big

Thanks for your observations, Big Ivan. I too see what you see. Yes, the A/I's artillery targeting is particularly bad. Fixing that is high on my personal wish list.

Alas, much of the A/I code is inscrutable. I had begun to fathom its mysteries, had added special controls and logging facilities to track the A/I; but other more pressing concerns -- like working on the new Middle East game -- take precedence.

Revamping the A/I is a long-term project. I can't promise anything soon. But we might anticipate real improvements by 2016's planned JTCS 2.10 Update, if not before then in Middle East (and ?).

ORIGINAL: berto


Thanks for your observations, Big Ivan. I too see what you see. Yes, the A/I's artillery targeting is particularly bad. Fixing that is high on my personal wish list.

The AI may suck at targeting but it sure does know where I will be firing my guns!

It also tends to miraculously know where you park your headquarters, out of LOS.