Matrix Games Forums

Playing the latest Pac update I have the following problem:

The program upgrades squadrons with Ki43 to Ki43-II.

This would be a nice feature if the Ki43's in the pool would convert to Ki43-II too BUT they don't!

Now I have few Ki43-II and a lot of older but useless Ki43's in the pool. [:@]

Therefore, if auto-upgrade than both, sqn and pool, or no auto-upgrade at all, please [&o]

Planes already built in the pool do not upgrade, they already exist as built.

in fact the problem in my opinion is the program auto-upgrade.

the upgrade should be decided by the player not by the program.

Zeke,
As far as I know, in PBEM games there should be no aircraft (or a/c factory) auto-upgrades at all. The Ki-43 to Ki43-II upgrade is an oversight, which should be eliminated.

Now I have few Ki43-II and a lot of older but useless Ki43's in the pool.

Hey, they aren't totally useless! You'll be able to use them as kamikazes later, remember? [;)]
Jokes aside, I think I can solve your problem locally. One byte is all I need to edit.

BTW, you complained earlier that squadron #116 63rd Sen (Ki-43-II Hayabusa) doesn't build up to its proper strength; it stays at 36 a/c.
You said you have few planes of this type in the pool. If you have less than 50, a squadron is not guaranteed to refill to the maximum. Rich would know more about the latter. I also have a related question for him. --->

Rich,
Can you reveal us the latest rules behind the aircraft replacements? Specifically, how much planes should there be in the pool for the former to take place?
I remember it took forever (3+ months at least) for my Vildebeest torp bombers to rebuild to 36, since there aren't any Vildebeest factories in Pacwar. This was way back when we were still playing our PBEM game with an unmodified (or mostly unmodified) 3.2 exe.
In the later turns I still had few Vildebeest planes in the pool but enough to refill my squadron completely. Pacwar just didn't allow it.

It looks like 10 a/c per turn is the max number of planes a squadron is allowed to take in replacements. How many spares should I have in the pool?
I noticed that new understrength Beaufighter squadrons refill pretty quickly. I had 20+ Beaufighters in the pool and still received 10/ac per squadron, as, I suppose, I should.

OK, here are the "rules" as I understand them. Automatic Aircraft upgrades for air groups should behave as follows:

1) If your factories are set to computer control (alt-N), then your airgroup's aircraft will upgrade automatically, regardless of HQ setting, without asking.

2) If your factories are set to human control, but you have an HQ set to computer or operational control, then that HQ (only) will have its airgroup's aircraft automatically upgraded, without asking.

3) If your factory is set to human control, and an HQ is set to human control, then that HQ's aircraft should never upgrade automatically.

4) Secure PBEM games should not see any automatic aircraft upgrades.


As listed above, if your factory and HQ control settings allow automatic upgrades:

1) You must have at least 150 aircraft in the pool before an airgroup can upgrade its aircraft.

2) If you have less than 25 aircraft in the pool, you may see an airgroup downgrade its aircraft to the previous model.

Once each week, the AI cycles through each airgroup to check for possible upgrades. If the upgrade is allowed per above rules, then a final check is made comparing a randomized value between 0 and the old aircraft pool size with the new aircraft pool size. If the random value is less than the new aircraft pool size, then the automatic upgrade is carried out. So large old aircraft pools can inhibit the upgrade to newer aircraft types.

Hope this helps,

Rich

3) If your factory is set to human control, and an HQ is set to human control, then that HQ's aircraft should never upgrade automatically.

If memory serves, there is one other wrinkle. Each turn, the computer may give the human player the chance to upgrade an individual squadron. If the player accepts, the squadron does not suffer the experience penalty of converting aircraft.

ORIGINAL: Capt. Harlock

3) If your factory is set to human control, and an HQ is set to human control, then that HQ's aircraft should never upgrade automatically.

If memory serves, there is one other wrinkle. Each turn, the computer may give the human player the chance to upgrade an individual squadron. If the player accepts, the squadron does not suffer the experience penalty of converting aircraft.

Yes, correct Capt. Harlock. This feature has; however, been removed. Some considered it to be a nuisance that didn't give the player enough info about whether it was a good idea to make the upgrade. So a player with aircraft upgrades on manual control must now make all upgrades during his orders phase.

Regards,

Rich

Hi Rich,

"4) Secure PBEM games should not see any automatic aircraft upgrades. "

as my game is PBEM we found an other bug [;)]

ORIGINAL: zeke99

Hi Rich,

"4) Secure PBEM games should not see any automatic aircraft upgrades. "

as my game is PBEM we found an other bug [;)]

Zeke,

I'll run some tests and see what I can find. Would you check the PBEM game in question and see what is the factory control setting? (Press Alt-N) If it is set to computer control then that would explain why you're still seeing automatic upgrades; setting to human control would then stop the auto upgrades.

Regards,

Rich

Hi Rich,

seems you are right. Just uploaded previous turn, hit Alt-N and got "Human Control" on screen. I will change it as soon I get the next turn from Istfemer and try to change a sqn to see what will happen.

Cheers