CO2 Changes

[Greg]

Just wow Dave.

 

[BigDuke66]

Now what will change in the guts of CO2 compared to CO1?
All that is listed sounds great and useful but it could all be summed up by "adding chrome & improving ease of use" and that doesn't sound so much for a second game.

 

[Dave 'Arjuna' O'Connor]

AI Changes

• Now units select what weapons to fire in a more smart way, taking into account what’s the “best tool” for the job depending on the range.
• Forces now have a comms rating attribute, which represents the level of wireless connectivity of the units’ elements. The higher this rating, the less time units will need to process and send orders, and speeds up as well slightly reassessments.
• On-Call Support overhaul:
  • Several parameters governing the behaviour of AI artillery fires are now exposed on the EstabEditor as Service attributes
    • Adjustment time - the time required to adjust fires at 500 meters
    • Min/Max Fire-For-Effect times - these values allow to control the fastest and the slowest that arty assets are capable to fire
    • Maximum Liaison Force Size - the smallest force in a service which is assumed to have a forward observer section attached (or direct access to the artillery radio network).
    • Max Command level - the maximum distance an artillery request can travel through the command chain. Requests made by a force whose size is smaller than the value above, can only make requests to arty assets belonging to their same force group (i.e. max distance is 1).
    • Commitment Probability - the chances of an artillery request going through a command structure level. Note that requests are generally requested every minute or so, this accounts for how long it takes to sort out the “red tape”.
  • Force comms rating is now used to determine if a given unit can make contact with artillery assets.
  • The force “ready for bombardment duration” attribute is now used to determine how long it takes to train tubes on targets.
  • Barrage durations are now more varied for the AI, oscillating from very short, 2 minutes stonks, to 10 minutes preparating barrages. More work needs to be done so this (and ROF) is adjusted by the AI in a more intelligent way.
• Command & Control durations are now exposed in the EstabEditor as Service attributes. This allows to model forces with very different command loop lengths. The values in the tables are taken to be the “standard” times, that is, for units with average communications, with average commanders and staffs.
• Ensure Bases count personnel on supply runs when determining their persLevel during the Disbandment code. This prevents them from disbanding when in fact they have plenty of personnel, only out on supply runs.

 

[Dave 'Arjuna' O'Connor]

Big Duke66,

Thanks for the reminder. Above are the AI changes we have added. I have made quite a few other tweaks as I have been working my way around the code. But let me say this. The focus IS on the User Interface (UI) for a good reason, namely that we received such a plethora of requests from users to make these changes and we think it good business sense to satisfy our customers. I know other users like your good self would like to see more AI changes and we will get to those next update. It would be nice to do everything all our users wanted but we don't have the resources to do that.

Our plan is to aim for two updates per year. After this one we will be focussing on Sequential Tasking and Mounted Ops so we can release a set of East Front modules.

 

[BigDuke66]

Thanks Dave.
AI Changes sound good, especially the changes to artillery behavior.
Is the player himself also exposed to these new changes, for example when you talk about "Maximum Liaison Force Size " will the player be unable or at least disadvantaged if he tries to use artillery on a target that is not spotted by a unit with a Forward Observer or some other form of connection to the artillery radio network?

 

[Rob]

Wow!

The AI changes sound good! Will any of the changes to arty induce the AI to fire more counter-battery missions?

Rob.

 

[Michael]

Hi all, it is possible to implement an info for the units were i can see the casualities? In command ops battle for the bulge i cant see the casualities for a unit - the problem is that some units have in the beginning only 60% of there strength and if the fights go on and the personal value says that the unit has a strength of, as exampel, 42%, i dont know how many men the unit lost during the fight. For me it is very intersting how many men/ equipment a unit lost during a fight. Perhaps it is possible to implement a infobox for casualities/ injured personal/ destroyed equipment.

Hope you understand what i try to explain - i am not a native englisch speaker

greetings

michael

 

[Iconoclast]

Hi all, it is possible to implement an info for the units were i can see the casualities? In command ops battle for the bulge i cant see the casualities for a unit - the problem is that some units have in the beginning only 60% of there strength and if the fights go on and the personal value says that the unit has a strength of, as exampel, 42%, i dont know how many men the unit lost during the fight. For me it is very intersting how many men/ equipment a unit lost during a fight. Perhaps it is possible to implement a infobox for casualities/ injured personal/ destroyed equipment.

Isn't the bar dropping in a different color, so you can always see in which shape the unit started the scenario? Your are right though, that it is difficult to get an overview over the combat power. E.g. being able to click on the Bn Hq and then see the overall shape of the Bn.

Hope you understand what i try to explain - i am not a native englisch speaker

We are all friends here

Regards,

A

 

[Michael]

yes thats right - there a 2 different colours (dark blue and blue) but the problem is the percentage - they tell me the strength from the full strenght of the unit but if the unit start the scenario with only 60% so i dont know the casualities during the screnario fight. The best i think were a system like in matrix war in the west/ war in the east - there is a toe system were you can see the start values and the actual values for a unit - so i can see every time how many men i lost/ equipment were destroyed.

thanks if not please ask me - so i will try to explain it better

 

[xavier trolat]

Such a great work guys ... and such nice that a developper takes the time to listen to and take account of the suggestions made by the community ... Got the game only a year ago, and find it so realistic .... way beyond each and every wargame i have come to try so far ... The new GUI features sounds great and i can't wait to play with the AI improvements ... Keep it up ...

PS : and although i am a bit disappointed not to be able to put my hands on the game for christmas, i do wish you some great christmas holidays and a good rest ... You can count on me for sure for your bundle pack ... Thank you again ...

 

[Dave 'Arjuna' O'Connor]

Yes Sorry Xavier. I realise I would be disappointing those who, like you, were hoping to get the game and play it over their Xmas break. But I just ran out of time. Part of the problem is that I am having to learn the UI code and that is taking more time than I thought.

 

[xavier trolat]

Yes Sorry Xavier. I realise I would be disappointing those who, like you, were hoping to get the game and play it over their Xmas break. But I just ran out of time. Part of the problem is that I am having to learn the UI code and that is taking more time than I thought.

Do not take it as a reproach as i know that you're doing your best to satisfy all of us ... I will look forward for the game and will be happy when it comes out ... best wishes to you and a happy new year - under the sign of "command ops 2 " -

 

[UKMule]

Wow! I had no idea this was being developed. Great news and I can't wait.

 

[kipanderson]

Dave, hi,
Your AI changes are spot on.. .
I was playing that great new Stalingrad scenario by CapHillRat and your above list of new AI tweaks are the exact wish list that popped into my head. Communications and called artillery needed a look at just as you describe.
Great game getting better and better,
All the best,
Kip.

 

[Dave 'Arjuna' O'Connor]

New Scenario Selection Screen

Note this now has a table list that provides the Name, Start, Duration and Active Unit Count for each scenario in the selected Module. You can sort by these values. Selecting an entry displays the generic briefing at the lower right and a Situational Awareness Map (SAM) at the top right. The SAM provides operational context.



The SAM are being prepared by Darren "Daz" Sharpe. He's done the first three for the scenarios that come with the Game Engine and will develop those for the Modules over time. Take a bow Daz.

In the meantime if a scenario doesn't have one it will use the default SAM as provided by RIch "The Plodder" Lloyd. Take a bow Rich.

 

[k0enig]

Looks great! This is going to be huge!

 

[kipanderson]

Hi,
Yup... the new selection screens and even more so the changes to the AI regarding artillery and communications generally are just the job.
Really superb set of tweaks.. .
All the best,
Kip.

 

[IronDuke]

• New Mil Green look. All Panther Graphical User Interface (GUI) elements revamped with new mil green look.
• New high res startup screen and images. We now have four hi res 1920 x 1080 startup images (Monty, Patton, Rommel and Zhukov) from which we randomly select one each time the game is run.

View attachment 621 View attachment 622 View attachment 623 View attachment 624​

• New Scenario Selections Screen. Includes context image to provide you with visual context as to where this battle was fought; additional meta data provided for each scenario including start, duration and active unit count; the ability to sort the scenario list by name, start, duration or unit count. (This feature is still be developed. I'll post up screenshots as soon it is finished).
• Enhanced About Box. Increased the size of text, increased the dimensions of the scrolling credits list and updated game logo.

View attachment 626​

• New Game Options Dialog.

View attachment 625​

• All Game Options now saved between sessions.
• New Centre Map feature. Hold down the Home key and select a unit, crossing or waypoint to centre the map on the selection.

....more to follow tomorrow.

Do you have a source for the Montgomery photograph? The attire / battledress within that photo looks Mediterranean to me (although I'm not an expert), and by that point, Monty (who I presume is the one pointing at the map with the cane) was dressing differently to the gentleman in the photo. He was tending to wear Berets, unit cap badges etc. It's rare to see him in a peaked cap. I'm probably wrong, but I'd be interested to hear more about the photo as it isn't one of him I have seen before.

Regards,
IronDuke

 

[Joe98]

No that's not Monty

 

[Art Hall]

Where do I find the screen that comes up when issuing orders about route, ROF, aggro, etc?