How are combat results calculated?

[mmacg]

I set up a situation, air assault on the camp, in DeGoey and saved before beginning the Combat Phase. My intention was to run the phase several times to see what variation there would be in combat results.

I ran it quite a few times but so far as I can determine, combat results were identical each time in terms of units destroyed/ damaged/ attrited, artillery impact locations (accuracy 0-2) and Force Lethality Values.

It looks like every event was resolved by referring to a previously calculated and saved table of random numbers? (I'm still on v3.02!)

[MajorH TacOps Developer]

That is correct program behaviour.

If you replay a saved game file then it should always repeat the same combat results for the following combat turn - so long as you don't change anything such as unit orders, arty targets, air targets, etc.

If the program did not work that way then the military users could not replay a particular saved game file during after action reviews and PBEM gamers would complain that it was too easy to cheat.

[Redwolf]

Originally posted by mmacg:

It looks like every event was resolved by referring to a previously calculated and saved table of random numbers? (I'm still on v3.02!)

Technical note: a computer random number generator will give you a reproducable series of numbers every time you run it with the same seed. You don't actually need to store a bucket of numbers.

[MajorH TacOps Developer]

Except that TacOps does actually save an array of random numbers in each saved game file.

The technical note in the previous post is correct to a point but can not be depended on to keep a PBEM or multiplayer game in synch across multiple computer models, multiple operating systems, Mac vs PC, etc.

Early on, I also ran into situations where a different stream of results would occur on a single computer because another program or utility was running in the background at the same time as TacOps that was also pulling on the "built in" random number generator.

The solution was for one computer in a group to periodically generate an array of random numbers. That array is then passed to all other computers in the group so that every computer in the group ends up pulling the same numbers in the same order.

If each computer in a group used only its built in random number generator there would be sync problems.

[ September 30, 2002, 01:51 AM: Message edited by: MajorH ]

[mmacg]

OK, that sounds like a pretty good reason to me.

Now the real question.

If I want to run a given assault situation several times to see different combat results is it sufficient to simply change orders for one or two other uninvolved units, or do I need to "Save As..", or how else should it be done?

[MajorH TacOps Developer]

No comment.

[Covert Sniper]

If I UNCHECK the box at startup labeled 'firing units are always spotted', thus the firing units are NOT always spotted, does the game engine take into account the caliber of the weapon being fired, the volume of fire, the availabily and suppresion of enemy units in the LOS, or is it simply a random chance? In other words, does a platoon of Abrams with cannons blazing have a better chance of being spotted than a four man rifle team firing M-16s?

Thanks,

Randy

[MajorH TacOps Developer]

Yes to the last line.