Asso

Got 1.10 today. Tinkered a little bit with quick battles. The time limit I was talking about is based on the QB setup: for a tiny engagement you get 20 minutes, small 25, medium 30, large 35, huge 40. As of 1.08 this time limit was ignored, and the one set in the mission editor was used (if a map had 45 minutes set, the timer started at 20, went down to 0 and reached 24, ending the game). I don't have much time right now, so if somebody could check if the timer is exceeding the limits set by the QBG, I'd be grateful. Also, I tried a tiny engagement playing as the U.S. Army and using only armors (branch: armor; type: armor), and when the game started I had no units to place. The other battle sizes worked. I don't know how the maps are chosen, but if selection could be based on the size of the battle and the composition of the forces, the AI plans for the maps could be better tailored to the various situations. I hate to be so pestering, but I really like fiddling with custom battles. EDIT: oh, I'm so busy whining I almost forgot to thank BFC for the work they did with the game. I'm no wargamer, but I like videogames in general. I especially like the AI system they used for this game. Alternative scripted plans and a reasonable TacAI seems to me to be realistic as well as a practical solution to artificial stupidity. I think it has much potential and I hope they work on expanding it as much as possible.

I made a backup of the original .btt file and saved the modified one in the qmb folder. In the original map the first "jump" must be done between 1:30 and 4:30, or something like that, so it should be working since my spotters are in place in about 2 minutes, and enemies are already moving when I get to see them. So, even if the timer is "bugged", triggers work as they should. I could try removing some steps to speed up their advancement, I'm almost sure it would work. So I take it's just a script balancing issue (otherwise the other maps wouldn't work as well). Sorry for the mess about the BMP.

Ok, I tried modifying "QB Meeting Engagement Open MAD.btt", putting all the "Exit Before" and "Exit After" times as in the other missions. Troops were already moving when I reached the complex. Funny thing is, I tried the original version, and there were no differences... Sounds like "gaming at late night strikes again" syndrome (forgetting everything). I was sure they were not moving/started moving late in the game... Whatever... The timer "bug" (starting at 20 independent from map parameters) is there, but it doesn't seem to influence anything (at least to me, the unreliable guy next door). So, in the end, some mission fine-tuning (by editing A.I. scripts, etc...) and some balancing in the troop selection are the only things I see as annoying (nothing that can't be resolved via editor or "Alt-Q"ing, but still...). Oh, and I got BMPs when selecting "Mech Infantry->Medium Infantry" as troop type.

About BMPs: hmm, I don't recall having used Special Forces, but i'm quite sure it's because I played until 2-3 AM and forgot everything, so it should be as Meach is saying. One thing to say before I go on: earlier I said the time limit was set to 20 minutes. It's not, the timer started from 20:00, went down to 00:00 and then started going up until it reached 24:00 (like starting from a negative value and going up to a positive one). That being said, I checked again the map I was talking about, it's "QB Meeting Engagement Open MAD.btt", obviously located in the "Quick Battle Maps" folder. I checked the time limit in the mission parameters and I found out that the battle is set to last for 45 minutes, without time bonuses. This would mean that the -20/+24 minutes interval has respected the mission parameters. The problem is, in standard battles (not QBG ones) the timer starts at the value that is set in the mission parameters (in the case I tested a mission with 1 hour and 30 minutes of battle time, so the timer started from 1:30:00). Every QBG battle I tried has the timer starting from 20, independent from the mission parameters. I then looked at the AI plans. The QBG battles that I managed to play have the "Exit After" time set to 00:00 for all phases, and the "Exit Before" time set to 1:00. The battle I was talking about earlier has these times set to reasonable intervals, all falling correctly inside the 45 minutes limit. I haven't tested yet, but I don't know if the "broken" timer in QBs has some responsibility. After all, I'm quite sure I started observing the first planned advancements too late in the mission. The fact that they didn't reach the building complex could have been caused by my presence there, and by the fact that my soldiers started shooting, forcing them to take cover or slow down. Could someone correct me or check the timer thing on their computer? Sorry if I've not been clear, if there's need I'll try to better explain the parts that aren't well described.

I don't really know how much this has already been discussed, but I thought I'd give it a shot anyway. I was playing a meeting engagement as the defender, using Mech Infantry-Medium Infantry as the Syrian Army against different combinations of American troops (Stryker Infantry, Light Infantry...), with different combinations of fitness, experience... Engagement size was set to Tiny. Terrain type to Open. The difficulty I chose was veteran. I almost always got this map (sorry but I don't recall the name, will check later if needed): a rectangular grassy field, with parallel slopes dividing it in... 6 parts, a tiny bunker on the red side and a building complex in the middle of the map, which is treated as an objective (I'm quite new at wargaming, so excuse me if I don't use the correct terms). I mean, the complex gives you points at the end of the game if you keep your troops in it. I sent some guys forward to spot enemy troops. Since there was no one in sight I sent forward the rest of my troops (using UAZs or BMPs). After seizing the building complex, I put all the infantry on the rooftops to look for incoming enemies. Nothing happened until 10-15 minutes into the game, when I started seeing Strykers hiding behind the slopes, infantry slowly advancing... Only a few shots were exchanged before the end of the available time (20 minutes + 4 extra). This always resulted in a victory for me, cause by seizing the complex I was getting more points. I glanced at the AI plans in the mission editor, and while I'm sure they guarantee a safe advance for the troops, they are executed too slowly to even give a chance to the AI to win (given the time limit). I'm no expert in wargaming, let alone in mission editing, but I thought that just a bit of fine-tuning on some of the maps could very well help out the whole gaming experience. For example, I don't know how much influence the mission editor can have on the selected troops, but a better balance between opposing forces, at least in terms of numbers, could be good (I wouldn't mind having numerical disadvantage, but 3 or 4 ATGM teams against a platoon sized force is... well ). Another thing to note is the balance between the time limit and the AI planning. In the example I made I could say that 10 or 20 more minutes could have resulted at least in a confrontation between me and the AI. Either that or a more "rushy" AI plan (i.e. less stops before arriving at the building complex). In another map I used the AI effectively advanced and proceeded to hand me my ass on a silver platter. Oh, I'm using version 1.08, I don't know how things are doing in 1.10.