BioWizard

I am playing right now a TCP/IP game versus Iron Ranger playing as Allies and I am reporting what i think is a bug related to patch 1.03. At the beginning of each turn, the convoy routes that now are supposed to be visible directly in the ocean are invisible to me. I found a way to make them appear and this is to click on "war map", then "convoy routes" and this leads me to a blank screen. When i exit this window and go back to the game, Voilà, the convoy routes are visible again and when i go back to the convoy routes war map (for example to adjust the percentage of income sent through convoy...) it is no longer blank. This is happenning at each and every beginning of my turns. Just a little annoyance. I might have an autosave.sav file but it is Iron Ranger who saved the game during its turn last time we stopped.

@ xwormwood, what you point out appears strange but some can be explained. -In your first example, the danish corps can attack because of its artillery units incorporated within the corps unit, but the whole german corps is too far from it to be able to use it! -Attacking Ireland's and Gibraltar's port from across a sea makes no sense. Don't think WW2 artillery shells could reach it... -For your third example, the way HC handled the non-cooperation of Riga toward the russians is that city, unlike what you say, never generates partisans, just like 4 other russian cities. I already mentionned them in the thread: Partisan's appearance prevention 101. http://www.battlefront.com/discuss/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=34;t=001961 which i'll bump. -Your last example, i totally agree with. If you don't have zone of control over something, it should not switch color! For game purposes, to prevent partisans from appearing, make sure to put a unit on (104,9)... [ August 27, 2006, 10:58 PM: Message edited by: BioWizard ]

bump

Ok, this one ended in another Iron Ranger grand victory! I feel no shame from my part, he is a very good player. Apparently, coming from him, it was close in Russia. My 4 well experienced planes up there did very good jobs against tanks, planes and HQs. Minor collecting by Russia in Irak and Iran (could not do anything against 4 rockets up there) and Norway by England all together with a joint USA attack in France and an all-out attack in Russia by all armies against low-morale germans made me loose 5-6 units per turn for 4 turns straight. My economy could not sustain such losses. During this game, I learned a lot. The biggest lesson was how to handle navy battles. Having air planes spot the area before the engagement is a MUST... learned that the hard way. Also, a ship who just attacked and still can move should be moved one tile away from ennemy ships to make sure, during the opponent's turn, his ships will run into surprise contact with yours.

Summer 43: There are about 10 US armies in France, having taken the 2 coastal cities. Axis succeded in killing Bradley or Eisenhower left unprotected there but too many troops around. Paris still stands but for how long? Russia took an empty Iran and England took Norway with 3 corps sent surrounding the capital. This huge morale boost makes axis fighting capacity very bad. They have been loosing 5-6 units per turn and cannot afford to buy them back turn after turn. They managed little success in Russia with killing 3-4 tanks and an aircraft but there two many corps and armies with high morale up there.

So, if i resume well what most people think, -There should be some morale loss for bombers attacked by aircrafts. -Ireland should at least give a 10-15% boost to USA. -Canada's money should be put to some use once England and Egypt are no more: either a minor for USA, or an alternative capital after London and Manchester and not Cairo anymore.

I read all the changes coming in 1.03 and they all seem to improve the gameplay. But still, I would like some changes still to be made if possible. -When I play versus a German player, I keep receiving messages in German. Most off them I can understand but some I just can't. I know it refers to his german campaign Fall WeiB folder's script but, at least with the "standard" scenario, could it be made bilingual? -Attacking with air a target reduces a lot its morale and makes the kill easier. But, I once was attacking a Bomber in Malta with 4 aircrafts (high supply, HQ right beside) and it's morale never went down, even when it had no entrenchment (I had an italian ship right beside to see its stats). Grounded bombers in WWII were very susceptible to air attack, Pearl Harbor is a good example. So, is there something I don't understand or Bombers are immune to morale loss in SC2? -Minor error with no consequence: A Battleship in the French force pool is called "Richielieu" while it should be called "Richelieu", the name of well known Cardinal Richelieu, a stewart in the beginning of Louis XIV's reign, the bad guy in Alexandre Dumas's "Three Muskateers"! I don't think i am a very bad player but... During a game I had as allies, the axis player declared no war to any minor and, after taking an abandonned Egypt, put all his military efforts in air superiority and harrassed England. The House rule "No Sealion before Barby was on", but he still took London the same turn he declared war on Russia in November 1941. Even if i diploed USA and got 3 hits before that date, they were still in the 80% and i don't think any player could have kept England with 3 air in Ireland + bomber and no convoy money. I think I won't give up yet that game as i guess he is bad on ground forces. So, here are changes I would like be done... -As HellRaiser pointed out, there are no diplomatic consequences for Axis taking Ireland. That is plainly illogic! There are a lots of irish people in america and USA would care more if axis plundered Syria, Irak, Tunisia or else? Illogic! And mostly a game-breaker i think if axis adopts this stratedy... -So, in my game in which i have lost England but still have Russia and USA both with industrial Level 5, I see Canada at 100% readiness (connected to Washington) but doing nothing with all that cash. In version 1.03, they now send that money to Egypt if England falls, which is good. But what in my case? Once again, there is no way in WWII that Canada would have surrendered to Axis if England had fell, just like in the game. But there is also no way they would have stopped their war effort either, on the contrary. I therefore propose two things, Canada becomes a minor to USA or, I prefer this one, Ottawa becomes the fourth alternative capital to England. What do you guys think?

I don't know if there are any copyrights issues but here is some COPY/PASTE from the forum in Panzerliga by Pfeiffer. Enjoy! p.s. I guess the changes for the German version are the same as for the English! v1.03 GAME ENGINE CHANGES - changed diplomacy hit calculations, determined as follows: - cumulative friendly diplomatic pressure (%) - cumulative enemy diplomatic pressure (%) now determines percentage chance for a successful diplomatic hit - diplomatic hits now only happen once per major (per targeted country per turn) and only for the major with the highest diplomatic pressure assigned to the targeted country, i.e. Germany has 15% pressure targeting Spain and Italy has 9% pressure for a total of 24%, if a hit is successful Germany will be credited for the hit and lose a chit if applicable - enemy diplomatic activity is also now reported (partially) under FoW - diplomacy dialog now lists cumulative influence (by each major) per targeted country - fixed a reinforce bug when there were no weather zones in place (John Hugo) - fixed a paratroops bug that allowed for continual movement if the unit was prepared and then un-prepared (Mr. Dozer) - fixed an upgrade bug that did not allow for proper upgrades of discounted units, i.e. those re-purchased at 60% (BioWizard) - fixed a major PLAN script bug that inadvertently canceled multiple plans and as a result caused some unpredictable AI planning behaviour, mostly to do with SEA TRANSPORT and AMPHIBIOUS plans - fixed a bug where transport information was not shown in the unit box when unloading a unit (Randy) - fixed a bug where you were able to purchase units beyond available MPP - fixed an AAR bug that did not apply proper losses to attacking bombers (Terif) - fixed a bug where unit morale never increased once it reached 0%, in this case units will start their turn with a minimum of 10% - fixed a bug where recently unloaded Paratroops were able to re-pepare right away for another drop - fixed a bug where saved games were sometimes listed twice in the SAVED GAME dialog - multiplayer passwords are now set to null whenever a game over condition has been met. This will allow both sides to freely view the final turn - units in a naval loop will also now be removed when the parent country surrenders - fixed a bug where Air Fleets, Bombers and Rockets would sometimes attack friendly resources (Wolfe) - fixed a bug where Amphibious and Sea Transport plans (once activated) did not take into account #CANCEL_POSITION conditions - fixed an amphibious bug that caused a fatal error (Louis, Normal Dude) - fixed a transport bug where transport units without a plan would not unload if they started a turn in port - fixed a bug where HQs would continually load and unload when assigned to a transport plan (Edwin P.) - fixed a bug where amphibious units were not ideally unloading once reaching the 50% (within range of attack position) threshold - fixed a country surrender script bug (Lars-Holger) - fixed a bug related to FoW and friendly resources when moving friendly units off of them (Chris) - fixed a bug related to the Properties dialog giving away too much research info under FoW (Blashy) - fixed a bug related to the repurchase cost of HQs after the 60% discount cost had been applied, re-purchase cost was not properly calculated if a Production Technology discount also applied - fixed a bug where the AI did not repurchase destroyed HQs when available at 60% discount cost - AI now reclaims diplomacy chits when no longer applicable, i.e. targeted country is already at 100% activation - AI now reclaims research chits when a particular research area has been fully achieved - land units that move into a friendly fortress/fortification now automatically entrench up to 1/2 the max entrenchment value - land units that start a turn within a friendly fortress/fortification now automatically entrench up to 1/2 max entrenchment regardless of initial entrenchment value - fixed a bug where free units would surrender if their original parent country surrendered a second time - fixed a bug where unit purchases were still possible in some circumstances under 'Hard Limits' (Major Spinello) - fixed a bug related to UNIT scripts where the game engine did not properly handle the case of units arriving with unavailable destination tiles. For now these units will be skipped by the game engine (Lars) - convoy routes are now shown on the game map - sub raiding has been adjusted to check for subs directly on a convoy route first followed by a range check if the initial check fails. This will allow, for example, Axis subs to raid a US convoy if directly on this route whereby previously if the US convoy was within 1 tile of a Canadian convoy then the Canadian convoy would be raided first until all MPPs are exhausted as a result of convoys being checked in event order. EDITOR RELATED CHANGES - fixed a map shift error that did not update RESEARCH, DIPLOMACY and PURCHASE scripts properly - changed diplomatic chits for France and Italy to 3 from 5 - changed diplomatic effective range for France, USA, USSR and Italy to 7-10% - changed diplomatic bonus range for France, USA, USSR and Italy to 15-20% - changed Amphibious range default to 4 with the exception of UK, France, USA, Italy and Canada which have a default of 5 - changed Zurich to Bern - changed South African and Indian UNIT script arrivals to #TYPE=1 (Blashy) - fixed AI script update errors when shifting the map (Lucas) - changed Corps SA value to 1 (Blashy) - bumped SD/TD=2 for Canadain Armies to match other minor armies such as Finland, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland - localization text modifications to better accomodate translation efforts - increased default Air Defense Bonus and Bomber Defense Bonus for Cities and Capitals from 1 to 2 (Terif) - added some extra DIPLOMACY scripts (Edwin P.) - Turkey -> Allied - added some extra US/USSR RESEARCH scripts (Edwin P.) - added some UK invasion of Ireland scripts (Edwin P.) - added some additional US invasion scripts for Vichy France, Tunisia as well as for Italy - added some additional UK North African offensive scripts as well as invasion scripts for Italy - adjusted start MPP values for the 1940, 1941, 1942, 1943 and 1944 campaigns (Bill) - fixed a VICTORY script error that did not properly list the Paris #MAP_POSITION - fixed a RESEARCH script issue that did not have the USA, USSR researching prior to war entry (Edwin P.) - changed unit costs for Army=175, Rockets=275, Bombers=325, Subs=225 - changed Cruiser sub attack/defense=4 - changed Leningrad port name to Kronstadt (Kuniworth) - added France to the NAVAL LOOP scripts - changed Romanian 1st Army to Romanian 4th Army for 1941 campaign (Kuniworth) - replaced Manstein in the 1944 campaign with Schorner (Kuniworth) - changed USSR max research MPP to 750 and changed USA initial Amphibious tech level to 1 (Blashy) - added Wolfe's unit mod to the Extras folder - added Fevsi Turkish HQ - added 2nd Turkish Army - removed ACTIVATION#1 events for Axis DoW on Denmark and Norway with a subsequent bump in initial US activation from 15-22% - removed ACTIVATION#1 event for an increase in USA % when Allies DoW Norway - lowered ACTIVATION#1 event for an increase in Swedish % when Allies DoW Norway. #TRIGGER was also lowered to 25% - made adjustments for Axis DoW on Turkey resulting in a higher % increases for Syria, Iran, Iraq towards Allies (ACTIVATION#1) - made adjustment for Axis DoW on Iraq resulting in a higher % increase for Turkey towards Allies (ACTIVATION#1) - made adjustments for Axis DoW on Syria resulting in a higher % increase for Iran and Turkey towards Allies (ACTIVATION#1) - removed a plan for the UK to amphibiously attack Essen if vacant as the automatically calculated ideal coastal landing position was less than ideal - fixed a bug related to setting Amphibious #GOAL_POSITION as an island location (i.e. Malta). Editor no longer complains that it is not within 2 tiles of a coastal position - fixed a bug where the unit name text limit was not the same in the Properties dialog and the Rename dialog. Text limit for unit names is now 15 characters for both dialogs - changed USA ACTIVATION#2 increases for Axis Sealion landings to a #TYPE= 1 event with a one time increase of 15-20% from multiple increases of 5-15% - fixed a bug related to VICTORY scripts that allowed for sea tiles to be selected as a Victory #MAP_POSITION. Only Land or Land + Sea tiles can now be selected (Lars) - adjusted how the CONVOY scripts have been implemented... now you can set multiple scripts for the same #COUNTRY_ID and/or #TRANSFER_ID essentially allowing for several convoys between countries. Note, there can still only be one convoy at a time but should a destination port no longer be available due to occupation or a strength level less than 5 then the secondary convoy script will be used. This will also allow, for example, for Canadian MPP convoys to be redirected to Egypt from Canada should the UK become Axis occupied. Under this new system, validation checks for valid source and destination ports relative to #COUNTRY_ID and #TRANSFER_ID respectively are no longer performed by the Editor during complilation but rather by the game engine at game time - following lines were added to the localization.txt file: - #CAMPAIGN_DATA_TEXT_14= Advanced - #IMPORT_MAP_INDEXES= Import Map Indexes - #EXPORT_MAP_POSITIONS= Export Map Positions - fixed a few AI scripts relating to Amphibious assaults and the lack of proper cancelation checks, i.e. USA sending units to liberate the UK and not checking to see if mainland USA has Axis units - fixed a few AI scripts so now the AI will re-try D-Day should the original assault fail via a change from #TYPE=1 to #TYPE=2 (Blashy) - many thanks to the Beta team, forum members as well as Terif and Jollyguy for their inputs on this patch

Hubert, since you so kindly answers questions asked to you, and you yourself don't yet know when the next patch will be ready, could you tell us if saved games run in version 1.02 will still be playable in version 1.03? (I know 1.01 files were compatibles to 1.02 but 1.00 were not.) I am currently hesitating in starting new multiplayer games since i might not be able to finish them with the patch coming out. (i know i could delay patching once its out, but potential adversaries won't)

Well, unlike many of you, I like it. SC2 is about great thinking, not great visual design. I prefer HC working on gameplay then other less important things. Also, regarding the eternal hexes versus squares subject, hexes are better for representing real movement of a unit while squares increased mobility of units, which was a problem with SC1. The best of systems is no tiles at all!!! Maybe in SC3, there won't be any tiles just like what StarCraft introduced in the world of RTS games. Units could move anywhere within their range of movement but still could not overlap one another.

Yes, you can change the name of your saves in SC2. Something simple that might have happened to you, as it did to me, is that you don't see the cursor when you choose the name of your file. It might have been all the way to the left already and, while you tried deleting some characters by preesing "delete", nothing happened. Just press the right arrow then... I know it sounds stupid but it could be simply that.

I think what TaoJah is talking about is what many of us discovered the hard way! As I said, a unit standing South-West (105,9) of the little lake South-East of Leningrad does not have zone of control on the Northern side of this lake (105,8) and Vice-Versa. There is no land contact between those 2 squares. That is why you need to put a unit on (104,9), to take care of the 2 sides! Also, I don't think the supply of units affects zone of control.

I have an idea concerning engineers not beeing able to reproduce the kind of fortifications the Germans built on the shores of France. What would you think of them being able to also build landing damaging devices instead of the standard bunkers. These barb wires, land mines and weirdly shaped concrete blocks could just be sitting there without needing any unit to garrison it and amphib sent troops against it could have a higher percentage of landing casualty and/or higher damage! Also, regarding air vulnerability, maybe they could get one more point of air defense, or maybe even better, always getting an entrenchment point of 1 at the end of the same turn they had moved as they are a unit perfectly designed in Entrenching! An other idea could be that these anti-landing devices could be built instantly at the end of the same turn and give air defence value only to engineers...

Go to: http://www.battlefront.com/products/sc2/demo.html click "Download the full game manual (.pdf format) here! (4 MB)" Take notice that the manual refers to verion 1.00 and, for now, you also have to read the version 1.01 and 1.02 changes.

I think so. Also think you should ask this in the tech forum.

Partisan’s appearance prevention 101 : Partisans keep appearing in Russia and Yugoslavia in very specific places. They cause damage to surrounding cities and resources and keep Axis troops busy killing them far from the front where they are much needed. Therefore, a good axis player should place minor troops (not good for fighting anyway) at very specific positions. Here, I specifically say what is the minimal number of troops needed and where to place them to prevent partisans from popping up. I am doing so because I could not find a thread revealing that, and was wondering myself what to do. So, after reading some scripts… In Russia, there are two zones where they can appear: near Leningrad and in the marshes around Minsk and Kiev. For the Leningrad surroundings, the minimum number of troops you need to cover these squares is 2. One placed at (104,9) and another placed at (102,9). One should note that this strategy is somewhat risky since that leaves Leningrad unoccupied, but still in the zone of control by (102,9). So, if you see red units close to Leningrad and capable of recapturing it, 3 units is safer! One of course in Leningrad (102,8), one at (104,9) again and one at (101,9); a forest is a better defense position IMO than a marsh. One should note, as Iron Ranger learned from Terif himself, that the little lake South-East of Leningrad prevents zone of control of its North-Eastern shore if a unit stands South-West of it and vice-versa, hence the square (104,9) as the best position for zone of control! For the huge marsh between Minsk and Kiev, the minimum number of units is 3, placed at (100,15), (102,14) and (104,16) or (105,15), (101,14) and (100,16). This strategy is again risky if there are enemy units nearby as it leaves respectively Kiev or Minsk unoccupied. For garrisoning both Kiev and Minsk, you therefore need 4 units. The best position for the 2 units outside the cities is (98,15) and (102,16), once again two squares with forests on. Other then these 2 zones, partisans in Russia can only appear directly in Russian cities captured but left unoccupied by Axis or with no units directly adjacent. A notable exception to this rule are 5 cities : Riga and Kazan and Tblisi, Baku and Grozny (the 3 cities in Caucasus). They never generate partisans even if captured and left unoccupied. In Yugoslavia, partisans can appear in 4 mountains in a row (90,22), (91,22), (92,23) and (93,23) and in Belgrade itself. The minimum number of units to cover that is 2, something like (93,22) and (90,22). If you don’t feel confident in leaving Belgrade empty, garrison it and put two units anywhere in the mountains mentioned, not side by side unless directly in the middle That’s it! No more partisans…

Just had the same problem with a corps right beside Moscow. I have 43 mpps and the cost for upgrading the "infantry weapon" of a corps is 10, it is supply 9, there are no enemy units by at least 4 squares and the corps has not moved yet. And I kept the save, which i am sending to Hubert right this moment.

Regarding cutting all the readiness of Russia's ressouces and city, I think you would have to encircle all three potential capitals : Moscow, Stalingrad and the city in the Urals. It was a classic change brought in with a version of SC1 that prevented cutting Russia in two halves by just running a tank right through that was kept in SC2. Practically, you can still do this but only with little chunks of territory, like cutting off Caucasus from Stalingrag and the rest of Russia when you get Rostov. Regarding Canada, Blashy explained very well the SC2 engine comportment that allows 100% to be reached when USA is in. Nevertheless, it does not represent reality. I don't see why we canadians (I'm from Montreal), would only use half of our potential war effort and, suddenly, be all-in when USA joins. Maybe an easy correction that does not need a huge SC2 engine fix could be using Ottawa as a potential capital for England, just as Stalingrad is for Moscow.

Bump

Spring: The Allies plan is just unfolding in one turn. Iron Ranger is just pulling a gigantic combined operation by all its forces at once! The turn before, Yugoslavia (my geography sucks as HellRaiser demonstrated, but this time it is really Yugoslavia ) entered the war and attracted a german tank and HQ there. Now, D-Day finally happens as 2 US armies and an HQ take Brest easily. The rest of England's armies (all evacuated from Egypt) still doesn't show themselves. On the Eastern front, a russian corps takes an empty Bagdad reduced to rubbles by 4 rockets, at least level 4. Also, a lot of troops deployment seen around Stalingrad including 2 big armors. So, it will be a hard one next turn for the axis as it has 2 fronts to fight. How many units should I deploy to Paris to contain or repel the americans? Are these units going to be just slaughtered by a yet to be shown Great Britain army? How much will i miss these units around Stalingrad for the epic battle yet to come? Stay tuned...

Sorry, my bad. It was a russian partisan strenghtened to 10 amphib sent from Sebastopol to Hungary, not Yugoslavia, in case it finds the capital of either Hungary or Bulgaria empty. An inexpensive attempt that could have paid a lot for Iron Ranger in Morale boost, diversion of ressources and so on... Lucky me, I left the minor armies rightfully entrenched in their capitals!

Learning of the so-called Middle-East Gambit, I am very affraid then! (IR is playing me) If it worked on Mr Legend Rambo, I guess it will work on me. My only consolation is I'll be the lucky witness of this strategy ... to my demise.

Finally, Axis gets some success in Russia. The tank in Smolensk is no more and Germans start rebuilding the city for possible Moscow assault. The next turn, Surprise! Russians start using three LVL3 rockets and kill a corps. A strenghtened partisan is amphibitiously sent to Yugoslavia in case it finds an empty city but they are well guarded. I guess Russians did not know what to do with it... Fortifications start to appear near the coastal city south west of Stalingrad. A lone Finland corps walked all the way to Archangel to find an empty city. Russians make sure to operate there the only unit they can, an aircraft. Axis possesses now all of Mediterranea, except Algeria... Morale boosting will soon stop. Still no sign of the almighty USA but I am sure its gonna be painful!

January: Delaying Barbarossa by the axis is proving very costly. The russian theater is starting to look like WW1 trenches. The line of fortifications between Leningrad and Smolensk is complete and direct assault is out of question. We therefore have to try to pass south of it. The Axis try to get the russian tank out of Smolensk but with little success with the winter reducing air effectiveness. So long known by both sides(Axis/russians) : Infantry Weapon 2/2, Motorization 2/1, Heavy tanks 2/2. Steady minors collection by axis (Denmark, Tunisia, Syria and Egypt) keeps artificially high the morale/effectiveness of eastern troops but the 2 north afrikan tanks will soon run out of targets... Iron Ranger assures me that I am giving him some challenge but I doubt it.

Beginning of Barbarossa and, already Hitler realises it might not be such a good idea after all to attack the almighty red wich such a small army. He takes much comfort in the arms of Eva Brown. There is a straight line of fortifications trying to link Leningrad with Smolensk. One corp is sent to push the finns a little but mud makes movements very hard. It is october and winter is soon going to strike. Axis central command would pay a lot (if they could afford it) to know what the US plans.