Matrix Games Forums

Hello everyone
The second update for Strategic Command is now available from the members and public area. Please see the links below.
Whilst v1.02 'headline feature' is the implementation of PBEM its also well worth checking out by those of you not interested in multi-player as it includes a substantial number of campaign updates and bug fixes. Please see the extensive change list below.
As with v1.01 you will note that several of the changes are the result of your suggestions so please do keep them coming (as of course further updates are planned, the next one focussing on enhancing the UI to match the manual)

v1.02 is a comprehensive update and you do not need to install v1.01 first (v1.02 includes v1.01)

SAVED GAMES – Single player games in progress from v1.01 will be compatible with v1.02 Of course campaign changes won't take effect until a new campaign is started but you'll be able to continue playing pre-existing games.

Please note that if you are currently playing a PBEM++ game with the beta version (v1.01.04) saved PBEM games from this will not be compatible with v1.02 So, if you are enjoying a PBEM and would like to finish it I'm afraid you should hold off updating to v1.02 until you have done so.
However the time available to finish a beta PBEM game will be limited (as I'm afraid that when the next patch is ready v1.01.04 PBEM games will no longer work)

Please note that any saved games from v1.0 will not be compatible with v1.02

Members Area:
http://www.matrixgames.com/members/priv ... sp?gid=504


Public Area:
http://ftp.matrixgames.com/pub/Strategi ... -v1.02.zip


Thank you for your continued support

Regards
Ben Wilkins


v1.02 CHANGE LIST
- implemented PBEM++
-fixed the zoom in and zoom out hotkeys, (+) now zooms in, and (-) now zooms out.
- units in 0 supply will have their morale losses doubled from the typical morale loss calculations.
- fixed an Amphibious Transport PROPERTIES screen display error that showed incorrect research level information.
- fixed a naval path spotting error for when naval units are moved from point A to point B, previously only point B had additional spotting when the move was completed.
- fixed a Paratroops crash error when dropping prepared Paratroops on some enemy hexes.
- fixed a slight graphical glitch at the bottom last pixel row of the game map
- fixed a mouse over information error that did not show info for resources and terrain at the far left edge of the map.
- fixed a MAIN MENU screen button display error for resolutions less than or equal to 1280x1024.
- fixed a right click Transport unit limit display error for when a limit starts at 0 but increases due to Amphibious Warfare research as it was previously not showing the increased limits.
- fixed a bug that allowed players to deploy Transports above the allowable limits whenever a transport was loaded and disembarked on the same turn.
- fixed a supply calculation error with linked HQs that did not calculate the proper supply for adjacent units
- fixed a predicted supply calculation error that did not properly calculate projected supply beyond friendly territory when calculating from friendly HQs.
- fixed a file stamp error for campaign scripts in the Editor as sometimes the scripts were not being shown as changed and in need of recompilation
- linking HQs (rule 7.25.9) now starts with the lowest rated HQs first to the highest. This way a lower rated HQ can potentially increase the supply of a higher rated HQ closer to the front and not vice versa.
- addresses seg violation error when trying to land paratroops
- Improves in some cases the missing dat file error reported by some users (only works if the same campaign is installed that the PBEM game started with)
- Resolved a crash for the 'commit_unit_last_unit_move' error
- fixed a rare RESOURCE calculation error that had some resources remain at a higher strength than they should be at when cut off.
- fixed further graphics loading and memory issues.
- fixed a PBEM++ Lobby selection highlight error
- fixed a PBEM++ Lobby resign from challenge error, now challenges can only be resigned from when it is your turn.
- fixed a PBEM++ 'on_left_button_down' CTD during replays
- fixed a PBEM++ game over interface error that didn't fully disable the 'End Turn' and 'Save' options once a game is over, only Quit should have worked.
- fixed a PBEM++ first turn error where you join a challenge but subsequently have a connection error, games can still now be properly played under this circumstance.
- added a PBEM++ in game chat function.


Campaigns AI
- German AI will now react better to an Allied invasion of Italy

Campaigns
- Command and Control research now automatically increases HQ’s Action Points by 0.5 per level.
- The following Mobilization_2 scripts have been removed: #NAME= Italian Naval Aggression in the Mediterranean (USA->Allies) and #NAME= Allied Naval Units In Italian Waters (Italy->Axis) (Tigercub; Leadwiehgt).
- National Morale script for the Allied liberation of Narvik corrected so that Germany is correctly penalized now when that happens.
- In the 1944 campaign there is now a German Rocket south of Ypres, and Germany now receives an Anti-Tank unit in its Production Queue in October 1944.
- Italy will now surrender to Germany and have her remaining territory taken over by the Germans when her National Morale falls below 20%. The Axis should place German or Axis Minor units in Tirana and Scutari in Albania before Italy's National Morale falls this low, as otherwise Albania will liberate itself.
- Naples and Palmero are now Alternate Italian Capitals. This is so that if Rome is retaken by the Germans it will not make Italy surrender.
- Albanian Partisan Build Limit corrected.
- Italian Partisan activity will now take place in northern Italy after Italy is taken over by the Germans.
- DE 614 now fires if DE 674 is triggered, whereas before DE 657 would trigger it.
- DE 615 is now set to fire at the start of the turn so that it won't happen before Mussolini is rescued.
- In the 1941 campaigns, DE 674 has been changed to DE 675.
- Increased the chance of retreating for all land units eligible to retreat from 30 to 50% if in Non-Resource positions.
- DE 370 and its CONVOY script set to Type= 2 (sPzAbt653).
- Marseilles spelling corrected to Marseille in the National Morale scripts for 1939 and 1940 campaigns.
- London and Liverpool can now spawn Partisan units in the UK (crispy131313).
- The loss of Leningrad now imposes a 5,000 point National Morale penalty on the USSR (sPzAbt653).
- Added Variable Conditions for DE 622 and DE 623 so that Portuguese, Spanish, Turkish, and Vichy French ships serving as Axis Minors can also trigger these Decisions for making the passage through the Gibraltar Strait (fractious celt).
- Renamed Edinburgh port as Rosyth and Rosyth as Ambrose (Kirk23).
- In the 1944 campaign Germany's starting MPPs have been increased from 200 to 400, Production and Industrial Technology levels have been increased from 3 to 4, German Garrisons have been deployed at Venice and Lyon, and Rhodes is now in Axis hands with a German Garrison.
- Extra translations of Map Text included for the French, German and especially Spanish game versions.

Hi,

Thanks for the update. Have the missing UI elements (which are shown in the manual) been added? I can't see anything in the notes.

ORIGINAL: Chuck B

Hi,

Thanks for the update. Have the missing UI elements (which are shown in the manual) been added? I can't see anything in the notes.

Quoted from above:

...(as of course further updates are planned, the next one focussing on enhancing the UI to match the manual)

Hi and thank you for this update.

For a new install, i need to patch with 1.01 then 1.01.04beta then 1.02 ? or only with 1.02 ?

Just 1.02 will do the job as it is an all inclusive patch.

ORIGINAL: elmo3

ORIGINAL: Chuck B

Hi,

Thanks for the update. Have the missing UI elements (which are shown in the manual) been added? I can't see anything in the notes.

Quoted from above:

...(as of course further updates are planned, the next one focussing on enhancing the UI to match the manual)

Yep, missed that one. Pretty disappointing, bought this at full price 4(!) months ago and it still does not have the functions laid out in the manual. As I said before, this is only a computer game, so there are more important things going on but I'll remember that next time a new product is released.

It will continue to stay off my HD until it's done

You have too many posts to be new to computer gaming, Chuck.

How about Hearts of Iron IV's update progress? How about Command Ops 2, which hasn't been updated in over one year? So many of my (Steam) games abandoned by Devs...

Don't mean to argue with you, but I thought the customer service on this game was pretty good compared to the average.

Hi Chuck,

I can certainly understand the frustration and this is also entirely on me and my apologies for the continued delay as I too want to see these features in place as soon as possible.

For some background, internally these were never considered critical features to the game (the game is fully playable without these optional menu items), but during development we did agree that they would be very nice to have and our honest intention was to have them in game right from the start. However, "best laid plans" and we had to make a decision on whether to include the eventual text for these features into the manual or not.

One big reason we included the text was that we wanted the hard cover Manual to be as complete as possible as it is always a shame when a game is released and sees significant changes that then no longer match the printed text of the game.

However, on the flipside, I now see how this feels like you are receiving an incomplete product. Going forward, and to avoid this type of optic, perhaps it would make more sense for us to not mention or include features in any text until they are actually a part of the game. Again, I only mention this as these were never features that were considered critical to begin with.

That being said, and now that PBEM++ Multiplayer is out of the way, and that a number of essential fixes have been implemented, this is absolutely on my radar and in fact is something I'm already working on.

Hope this helps,
Hubert

Hi Hubert,

Thanks for a great game. So many things to applaud but I'd note in particular the dynamic movement which so helps gameplay and additionally does a fine job in making up for lack of stacking. Single occupation of hexes with DM makes sense in terms of clarity and ease of operations eg multi-unit attacks, fighting retreats and helping players overcome any clumsy errors made when ordering units; in other games stacking might be required but not this one.

I disagree with criticism of lack of support which from you and Bill has been very good, after allowing for the understandable hiatus intially (hope you have fully recovered by now). Yes I was a bit disappointed with the delayed arrival of PBEM but fully appreciated why that decision had been made. Since then you've been turning out the fix patches in super quick time - too fast for me on occasions (!) when non-save compatible ones have required restarts. But that's so much better than some other games or developers who limit games to only a few infrequent patches or leave their community up in the air without any responses to forum queries.

Btw please don't change your approach on the manual. I much prefer it including planned future changes not ready for the initial release, rather than manuals which exactly match the opening contents but become swiftly out of date. As I no longer print out manuals but rely on a tablet acting as ereader, I cannot use cut and paste as formerly with hard copies so thats another plus for a future proof manual. Can't recall whether this was done with the current manual but it would help if these future additions could be highlighted in some way to assist the reader.

Don't know whether to post this here or in Tech Support. I downloaded the 1.02 version and now the game won't launch as my laptop does not support the required resolution. Is this temporary or is the 1600 x 900 the new normal for SC3?

Hi gchristie,

The game should support the default resolution of your system, and this could differ from system to system. Not sure why this error is popping up for you... can you try the following to see if it resolves it as this will have the game re-check and detect your resolution settings.

Navigate to the following folder and delete the SC3.ini file. You'll have to replace <username> with your own username on your system:

C:\Users\<username>\Documents\My Games\Strategic Command WWII - War In Europe

Try re-launching the game after you've deleted the file as the game will re-create it for you.

Hubert

Hi Rosseau, Ironclad, thanks for the kind words, much appreciated [:)]

ORIGINAL: Hubert Cater

Hi Chuck,

I can certainly understand the frustration and this is also entirely on me and my apologies for the continued delay as I too want to see these features in place as soon as possible.

For some background, internally these were never considered critical features to the game (the game is fully playable without these optional menu items), but during development we did agree that they would be very nice to have and our honest intention was to have them in game right from the start. However, "best laid plans" and we had to make a decision on whether to include the eventual text for these features into the manual or not.

One big reason we included the text was that we wanted the hard cover Manual to be as complete as possible as it is always a shame when a game is released and sees significant changes that then no longer match the printed text of the game.

However, on the flipside, I now see how this feels like you are receiving an incomplete product. Going forward, and to avoid this type of optic, perhaps it would make more sense for us to not mention or include features in any text until they are actually a part of the game. Again, I only mention this as these were never features that were considered critical to begin with.

That being said, and now that PBEM++ Multiplayer is out of the way, and that a number of essential fixes have been implemented, this is absolutely on my radar and in fact is something I'm already working on.

Hope this helps,
Hubert

Hi Hubert,

Thanks a lot for your detailed response and sorry that my posting sounded overly angry/frustrated, my bad.

I agree that what I'm looking forward is not a critical feature but when I read about it in the manual, I really liked it (I think it addresses a key issue many wargames have, which is making key indicators easily digestible without simply showing rows and rows of numbers) and was dissapointed when it was not part of the game .

I know that your team is a very small one and that you have to carefully pick "your battles" when working on the game (and I know that the financial payoff is not your main motivator.)

So, thanks for making this game, I'll install it now and will be looking forward to the next patches.

Chuck

P.S. I get your point regarding the manual and agree that making a lot of changes (especially the ones you have already halfway integrated) later, especially since it's such a shame when the really nice hardbound manual is outdated quickly. I think the best approach (not that it'll always work) is to communicate what may be missing upfront, this way the customer can decided if it affects his/her purchase decision (for example, I never do PBEM, so the fact that this function was not in the release didn't bother me at all.)

delete the SC3.ini file

Thank you Hubert, that worked.

Thanks Chuck, much appreciated as well and I think the biggest problem was that a few unexpected hiccups had things take much longer than originally anticipated and again that delay is on me. I see your point as well and to be honest I think the best solution really is to not have anything outstanding on our end in the first place. That is always our goal and we'll do better next time.

ORIGINAL: gchristie

delete the SC3.ini file

Thank you Hubert, that worked.

Great!

NATO symbols are not an option in 1.02? At least not for me.

Works fine for me here.

NATO symbols working for me in 1.02 as well.

I am downloading through the game installer on start up