Strategic Command v1.03.02 Beta available (includes updated UI)

[Benedict151]

Hello Everyone
An updated patch is now available for Strategic Command. This includes UI updates (so this now matches the manual), amendments to the HQ supply rules, campaign updates and various other improvements, fixes and tweaks

v1.03.02 is compatible with save games from v1.03 (although campaign changes won't take effect until you start a new one).


It is available from the members area :
https://www.matrixgames.com/members/pub ... sp?gid=504


And from the public area :
http://ftp.matrixgames.com/pub/Strategi ... ta.exe.zip

As usual please do let us know in this beta forum what you think of these, especially the surprise and naval movement amendments

regards
Ben Wilkins
v1.03.02

- user interface updates which now match the images as shown in the Manual.
- NEXT and PREVIOUS unit selections are now organized by types, Land, Air and Sea units. For example, if you currently have an Air unit selected, the next/previous unit will be another Air unit.
- tool tips added to War Map and Reports screens for the City, Port, Oil, Mine and Fortification icons.
- tool tips added to the Purchase Unit screen for the '#' and 'PD' symbols to indicate 'Build Limits' and 'Production Delay' respectively.
- disabled 'next/previous' unit selections for AI controlled units on your turn.
- HQ distribution supply has been changed to the following:
- HQ supply < 3 will then have a distribution supply value of 5.
- HQ supply >= 3 and <= 5 will have a distribution supply value of 8.
- HQ supply > 5 will have a distribution supply value of 10.
- HQs can now only be linked if the first HQ has a supply value >= 5, raised from a previous threshold of >= 3.
- the HQ to be linked must have a supply value < 3 and is now automatically boosted to a supply value of 5 which caps its distribution supply at 8. Previously linked HQs could have a maximum distribution supply level of 10.
- Country Selection Panel including avaiable MPPs will now display for any right mouse click unit action. For example, this will now allow players to see how many MPPs they have available when selecting to Transport, Operate a unit and so on.
- fixed a Prepared Attack Bonus display error that was incorrectly displaying this information for units that had swapped and then subsequently engaging in combat.
- fixed a convoy losses error that had convoy losses sometimes exceed the maximum convoy transfer amount.
- fixed a rare CTD when a naval unit retreats at strength = 1 and suffers a pass through combat loss from an enemy unit and is destroyed.
- fixed a DECISION event MPP transfer error that had these events erroneously accumulate and transfer more MPP than desired.
- fixed a false Sub dive reporting error that showed a Sub was about to dive in places like the Kiel canal and then nothing happened. Now Subs will no longer report a false dive when in a Land + Sea hex.
- fixed an AI animate transport CTD error.
- fixed a resource upgrade display error that incorrectly showed possible upgrades for Fortifications.
- fixed a GARRISON reinforce error that had them capped at strength 5 even if set higher in the Editor.
- adjusted the potential losses calculation for Subs that are attacked while in Silent mode. Results will still be 50% damage but they will be rounded up instead of down.
- Subs no longer receive any combat bonuses for being in Silent mode while in Port.
- Subs in Silent mode will no longer be hidden from general spotting under fog of war while in Port.
- naval units in Naval Cruise mode will now only reveal hidden units from its final destination position and no longer along its movement path.
- Coastal Guns can now surprise Amphibious Transports and conduct automatic defensive fire much like capital ships can when adjacent to a coastal landing area.
- National Morale for a surrendered Major now shown as 0%.
- Send Message button now only shown for PBEM++ games.



CAMPAIGNS
- increased the swing of the USA towards the Axis if the Allies declare war on Italy from 2-4% to 10-15%.
- added more trigger points for Allied ships to swing Norway towards the Axis if they are on its convoy line to Germany, and Norway's Mobilization will now swing in every Axis turn that there are Allied ships on the convoy route. One of the information only scripts has been removed, and all can now fire from the 1st September 1939 (geordietal).
- decreased the UK's starting Build Limit from 2 to 1 Amphibious Transport of each type.
- Subs' Convoy MPP Multiplier increased from 10 to 12.
- Carriers now benefit from Resource Attack upgrades with Naval Weaponry, rising by 1 per level (James Taylor).
- Soviet Shock Armies now benefit from a 10% Morale Boost as a result of Infantry Warfare (gingerbread).
- in the 1942 Campaign the U-30 in the Atlantic now starts fully upgraded.
- the cost of influencing a friendly Major using Diplomacy has been increased from 125 to 150 MPPs.
- France’s Diplomacy chits reduced from 5 to 3.
- in the 1939 campaign the arrival locations of the Italian HQ and Corps in February 1940 can now be deployed anywhere within Italian territory. (battlevonwar).
- Italy will now swing only 1-2% towards the Axis when the Allies abandon any positions in the Med, whereas previously this was 1-3%.
- mobilization_2 scripts added so that if the Allies abandon Gibraltar then Spain will swing 8-12% towards the Axis while Italy is neutral, and if it is still empty when Italy joins the Axis then Spain will swing 8-12% again towards the Axis.
- mobilization_2 script amended so that the chance of Stalin being concerned by an Axis landing in the UK is now 100%.
- Mobilization_2 script amended to increase slightly the % increase in Soviet Mobilization from 22nd June 1941.
- four of the Afrika Korps Unit script have been divided into three to reduce the chance of any units not arriving should enemy units be within the deployment area. These are the ones triggered by DE 642; DE 647; DE 649 and DE 671.
- for the 1939 and 1940 campaigns: while Italy is neutral and provided London is in Allied hands, if the British abandon any of Malta, Gibraltar or Cairo then their National Morale will fall by 500 points per turn.
- for the 1939 and 1940 campaigns: while Italy is neutral and provided Paris is in Allied hands, if the French abandon any of Algiers, Damascus or Tunis then their National Morale will fall by 500 points per turn.
- if the Germans say yes to DE 617 at the start of the game then they will receive 50 MPPs.
- media image added for Italian Partisans.
- Resource and Map Text corrected in the German Language campaigns.

[Christolos]

Great news!

Are v1.03.01 beta games compatible with this version?

When can we expect the screen resolution issue that prevents the weather from being displayed in the lower left hand corner, to be fixed for those of us with low screen resolutions that does not display it properly?

Thanks,

C

[sPzAbt653]

- France’s Diplomacy chits reduced from 5 to 3.

Suggest considering the same for Russia [I don't think Russia had any historical influence over anyone]. I've played many games with a self-imposed rule of not using any of Russia's Diplomacy and have never felt it to be a handicap.

[Giob1148]

I'm playing two games with 1.03 ver.With this update will they be playable yet?

[Guderian1940]

I installed .02. Loaded an on going 01 game. Issue with nothing happens when I right click. The rest of the functions seem to work. No right click, no loading unloading etc..

[Guderian1940]

Can't unload transports. Tried different ports, units etc..

[Amicofritz]

I play version 1.03. Will my ongoing games still play after the update?

[Benedict151]

Hello Amicofritz, giovbof and CC1
Yes, v1.03 save games are compatible with v1.03.02 (although campaign changes won't take effect until you start a new one)



regards
Ben Wilkins

[Benedict151]

Hello Guderian1940

I see Hubert got back to you and this issue was an option in the Advanced Settings menu and that all is fine now

regards
Ben Wilkins

[Guderian1940]

I noticed an issue with Naval units taking losses when moving through enemy units. USA not at war but surfer naval losses when moving through enemy(not yet) units.

[Hubert Cater]

Hi Guderian1940, I've just fixed this now on my end as well for the next build.

[sPzAbt653]

All of the UI additions look very nice [&o]

- Mobilization_2 script amended to increase slightly the % increase in Soviet Mobilization from 22nd June 1941.
I don't see a script that fits this description. I see a few from January 1941, but none from June 1941.

[BillRunacre]

Sorry, it's a Mobilization_3 one, my mistake.

[sPzAbt653]

Thanks again for documenting all the changes, I like to put most of them into 653H. Some I don't use because they don't fit with other changes.

[gingerbread]

I'm not seeing the Dnepropetrovsk morale events (1xGe, 1xSu).

[BillRunacre]

Hi gingerbread

There is no pop up for this, as it's only a small penalty to Germany of 150 points per turn and it could get a bit tedious for players if it appears every turn. It's explained in the 1939 Storm over Europe Strategy Guide, in section 1.20. The Importance of Food Supplies to Germany.

Bill

[sPzAbt653]

Hi Bill - I started a new game [1.03.02, Axis Human vs. Allies Computer, 653H] and I got a message about France abandoning positions in the Med. I poked around and saw there is no Guard Script for Algiers [there is for Tunis and Damascus]. I looked in the 1939 Campaign and saw the same, so if you think it is ok, I added this one below the Guard Script for 'France Guard - Syria'. To make sure it is ok, I could restart and test, or run a hotseat, but it doesn't concern me enough.

{
#NAME= France Guard - Algiers
#POPUP=
#FLAG= 1
#TYPE= 2
#COUNTRY_ID= 40
#TRIGGER= 0
#LEVEL= 0
; Set global variable condition to always trigger (dummy value)
#GV= 1[1,100]
; Set link value to always trigger (dummy value)
#LINK= 0[0]
#LENGTH= 1
#HOLD= 0
#ADD_HQ= 0
#GOAL_POSITION= 152,113
#DATE= 1939/09/01
#STEAL= 0
; Set friendly positions:
; 1st Line - Algiers
#FRIENDLY_POSITION= 152,113
; Set variable conditions:
; 1st Line - France politically aligned with Allies and not surrendered
#VARIABLE_CONDITION= 40 [2] [100] [0]
; Set tactical conditions:
; 1st Line - Paris not tactically threatened (dummy condition)
#TACTICAL_CONDITION= 151,84 [3]
; Set dummy activate position (no units at position 0,0)
#ACTIVATE_POSITION= 0,0 [0,0] [0,0] [0]
; Set dummy cancel position (single neutral unit at position 0,0). This is not possible as no
; unit can occupy tile 0,0 so event will not be cancelled due to #CONDITION_POSITION
#CANCEL_POSITION= 0,0 [0,0] [1,1] [0]
}

[sPzAbt653]

Version # went missing from the save files for 1.03.02. Also, may be just here, but when I click on Save, it takes 12 seconds for the save game box to pop up. Seems like a long time [>:]

[Hubert Cater]

The missing version numbers is actually intentional and simply means that those are from the current version of the game. The idea was to only highlight those that aren't from the current version as it is easier to keep track then of older saves.

Very odd on the delay time of 12 seconds. There is the possibility of a slight delay the first time through if there is no associated .dat file for each save and this is only because it needs to then fully scan the save files and then create the .dat files. After the .dat files are created it should work its way through the saved game files in your folder much quicker.

If you load the save screen again is it any faster after the first time through?

[sPzAbt653]

No it doesn't get any faster. It has been that way since I started this new game with 1.03.02 and I was up the summer 1941 at the time I posted about it. When I start a new game I give it a dedicated save name, in this case '653Hxe' [for 653H Mod, Axis, 5th full game]. I use that file to save it each turn. Then for specific points within that game I will create specific saves, such as 'AftFrance' for a save after France falls. Those are all usually overwritten during the next game, but recently I created a new one [AftSealion] and I noticed that one took longer to generate, but that is different from the dialog opening.

Edit: Ok, you put me onto it. Not seen in the above screen shot was Page 1 Saves, which had several from earlier versions. I deleted those, and the Save dialog now opens in the normal 5 seconds. With the version #'s there it was easy to tell which ones to get rid of. Thanks [&o]