Game Managment (Rant)

[kayjay]

Ok, Ive played thru the tutorial, the smaller scenarios (Coral Sea & Saipan) and started on the campaign - <<rant on>> AND I CANT KEEP TRACK OF WHAT IVE DONE OR WHAT I AM DOING!The interface is manageable in the smaller (one or two zone games) but in the "BIG ONE" there is no way to keep track of who is doing what other than lots of notes on peices of paper. Base X needs more air support - so you hunt around for a E unit - then some AKs to move it - order the AKs to where the ENG is - a few days (turns) later unless you wrote it down (but that might have been yesterday) when the AKs show up yo umay or may not know who they were going to pick up and where he was supposed to go. I cant make notes in a WP program unless I alt tab out and I cant copy/paste from the query's like 'all AF' sorted by support ... I am not a UV vet - not all that much into computer wargames but Ive played board wargames for 40 years including so called 'monsters' USN, DNO, TTW, WACHT AM RHINE etc so I got my grognard quals ...
My options right now are
EBAY - for sale WITP with patches on a cd
or
maybe buy the f**kin map and do grease pencil plotting like I did for 20 yrs in the Navy - but this is the computer age ....
Rant off

BTW Ive actaully had no computer issues - sounds are fine , no CTD, turns run in a couple minutes...

Kevin

[worr]

Only way to overcome the initial shock is to get a geography lesson.

Otherwise all the names make your eyes glaze over, and you loose track of things. Just think of any WWII commander not knowing where Manila was.

Here are some good resources for maps:

http://www.military.com/Resources/Histo ... eoffensive

http://mathubert.free.fr/

Worr, out

[Oleg Mastruko]

Worr, I don't think Kelley needs a geography lesson if he did that "20 years in the navy" [:D]

A simple notebook-like applet or "captains log" accessible in game would suffice for me. So that I can write "19/12/41 sent this ship there, because of that" etc.

Of course one can do that in Windows Notebook or Word but that's just too much Alt-Tabbing for many player's taste...

O.

[bradfordkay]

I do keep a small notebook on my desk for comments like "Sent convoy of AKs (no APS available) to Seattle to p/u No Pac RCT & take to Anchorage" or "check on subs in Yellow Sea". Just enough information to keep my informed. Normally, playing allies, I just send all my TFs to Pago Pago and route them further on to the bases where they will be of the most use. Those from Karachi headed to Oz get sent to an empty hex in the middle of the Indian Ocean to teh left of Sumatra/Java. Having regular destinations for many convoys makes that easy. The notes are for those oddball needs that occaisionally pop up.

[Captain Cruft]

Personally I have found that with practice it gradually becomes easier to remember everything that's going on. Even the unpronouncable base names start to become familiar.

I didn't think that would be possible when I first looked at it though ...

[tsimmonds]

I keep a notebook as well. I mean the spiral-bound-with-paper-pages analog kind. When I think of something I need to do I write it down. I have one of those 5-subject pads with dividers, the sections help me organize my notes.

[Oleg Mastruko]

Problem is... computers, in last 10-20 years, managed to make me totally unable to write in the old fashioned way, with pen and paper. My handwriting is so ugly and garbled and it requires some actual mental and physical effort to do it.

On the other hand, when you have notebook applet within the game itself, all it takes is some tapping on the keyboard (which is what I already do 8 hours a day, and is the way I communicate with the outside world anyway [:D][:D]).

Pen and paper... how horrible...

O.

[tsimmonds]

Pen and paper... how horrible...

It does have the advantage of being portable. You never know where you will be when an idea hits you, and you can use your time in the WC to review your plans.

[mongo]

ORIGINAL: irrelevant
and you can use your time in the WC to review your plans.

Now THAT folks is a grog! [:D]

[UncleBuck]

Mongo you are sick! I would nto want any of that Grog ! [:D]

I do have 5 differnt legal pads at my desk for notes. My Problem is that I can't always find what I wrote down, since I wrote it down by TF number and that was 5 pages ago and three days prior. [:(] I am planning ot get the Poster and do the grease pencil thing, as I did in the Navy only as training thank goodness. But I am still going to need the notebooks to keep track of what TF is goig where and doing what.

One of the things I have found that helps is to have one Notebook and label an individual page with a Base name. Then write down any unit, supply need and a future plan you ahve for he base on that sheet. This lets me remember what the hell I am doing.

I get hit in the head alot.

UB

[ZOOMIE1980]

ORIGINAL: kkelley

Ok, Ive played thru the tutorial, the smaller scenarios (Coral Sea & Saipan) and started on the campaign - <<rant on>> AND I CANT KEEP TRACK OF WHAT IVE DONE OR WHAT I AM DOING!The interface is manageable in the smaller (one or two zone games) but in the "BIG ONE" there is no way to keep track of who is doing what other than lots of notes on peices of paper. Base X needs more air support - so you hunt around for a E unit - then some AKs to move it - order the AKs to where the ENG is - a few days (turns) later unless you wrote it down (but that might have been yesterday) when the AKs show up yo umay or may not know who they were going to pick up and where he was supposed to go. I cant make notes in a WP program unless I alt tab out and I cant copy/paste from the query's like 'all AF' sorted by support ... I am not a UV vet - not all that much into computer wargames but Ive played board wargames for 40 years including so called 'monsters' USN, DNO, TTW, WACHT AM RHINE etc so I got my grognard quals ...
My options right now are
EBAY - for sale WITP with patches on a cd
or
maybe buy the f**kin map and do grease pencil plotting like I did for 20 yrs in the Navy - but this is the computer age ....
Rant off

BTW Ive actaully had no computer issues - sounds are fine , no CTD, turns run in a couple minutes...

Kevin

I suggest a mind-meld with Mogami....

[UncleBuck]

And exactly what level of Navigator would you need to reach Mogami? Where would you get that much Spice?

UB

[RUPD3658]

If you are going to micromanage you need to be very organized or have a photographic memory. It doesn't hurt to be cold and heartless either ie "You guys go draw their fire while I land over here".

If you find it too much to keep track of (as many people do) try assigning certain areas such as China/Kwangtung/ or subs to computer control. This make for less units to keep track of and gives you someone to blame/execute if all does not go well.

[Kitakami]

ORIGINAL: UncleBuck

And exactly what level of Navigator would you need to reach Mogami? Where would you get that much Spice?

UB

You might try the Vulcan mind meld, which requires no spice. Now, reaching [&o] the great Mogami [&o] in person might be the difficult thing to do

Kidding aside, I use a 192-page, hard-bound, A4-sized, French-ruled notebook (a niece in a French Licée is an interesting asset) which is about half-full by now. I wrote down the upgrade paths, the at-sart forces by location, the objectives and what ships are carrying what units... the works. I do not have the head to keep all the data in RAM... have to see if a few more terabytes are available for purchase somewhere

As for paper and pencil being obsolete... man... to whoever posted this, you may not be old enough to be playing this game

[Nomad]

I use a combination of both. I use notepads for notes and then transfer them to a Word program with sections. I can always print it out or a part of it to see what needs to be done.

[Theng]

I transfer all sightings and SigInt onto a spreadsheet to know where the enemy keeps all their units, type, strength, location and date of last info on top of all of that. I can nicely see a trend. Now if I would get the map I could repeat my MI time and make it all visual too... ugh.

[Bill Durrant]

As for paper and pencil being obsolete... man... to whoever posted this, you may not be old enough to be playing this game

The paperless office is about as likely as the paperless toilet

[grumbler]

I have found that using the spoke and hub supply system I can keep track of things. I also tend to organize (in my mind) most of the rear-area units like the construction units into ad-hoc brigades and just move them where they will next be needed (like early on I move a bunch to Saigon and Takao as the Japanese, and send a convoy every turn to those bases as soon as they are built enough to not waste supply and fuel). All the Japan-based construction units start to build up Nagasaki. The Navy construction units go to Truk as soon as I have the transports to spare, and get dictributed from there.

I use the 7000-load transports for the hub convoys (mostly auto-convoy), and the 3500-load boys for spoke runs under my control.

Ironicaly, it is easier at the start to keep track of the vast Japanese forces than the scattered Allied forces, because you have more control and they start better-organized.

A coupla points, though. First, look to see where the initial setup has stashed lots of troops in malarial zones. The troops in the Pescadores are wasting assets, for instance, as there is nothing for them to do and they suffer from being in a Malarial zone. Once you have some bases in the PI, send them there. In the meantime, send them back to Japan except the construction boys that can go to Takao (or, if you grab it early, Hong Kong which makes an excellent repair base for ships damaged travelling up or down the Osake-Saigon axis). The troops in Camranh Bay are just a short march from healthy Saigon. Get them marching immediately unless you have loaded them out turn one.

Second, remember to plan way ahead. Those convoys take time to get anywhere. Get the moveable dvisions in Japan to Nagasaki (they move by rail and don't get tired by it) and send all the Japan-based transports there as well. No later than the end of December, get those divisions (which I use in the invasion of Java) loaded and headed to the closest hub to the action.

In other words, think of the units as assemblies of units and not individual units. That way, you can keep track of what you are doing. Also mass your forces in their jumpoff points so that you don't have to search for them.

The planning settting actually makes all this easier. Once you have prepared your strategy, setting the objective of each unit planned for a given base will help you keep track of what you planeed to do with what.

[DrewMatrix]

I keep a notebook as well

I have found it helpful to:

1) Print a page with each command at the top. For the Allies: North Pacific, CENTPAC, China etc.

2) I have the pages there on my desk and jot notes with a pen. "Need more Air Support at Kwajiwaba" etc. Cross out each as I do it.

3) Print a new page when the old one gets smudgy.

Me, I can't really flip back and forth to a window with notes in another program. in part because of the hardwired screen resolution of the game. I find pen and paper easier.

But to each his own. You will certainly need to take notes as to what you want to do and what is going wrong. I suspect Nimitz kept notes too.[:)]

[bradfordkay]

Maybe Matrix should market a WitP specific Organizer/Day Timer (calendar starts with Dec 7, '41 and runs to the end).