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SPWaW Manual v4.1 released - 9/25/2000 1:11:00 PM

David Heath

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We have placed the SPWaW v4.1 online for everyone to start downloading now if you like. You can download these at http//www.matrixgames.com/spwaw/downloads.asp [This message has been edited by Paul Vebber (edited September 26, 2000).]

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- 9/25/2000 1:41:00 PM

BomBeer

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Thanks gonna get it now

BomBeer

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- 9/26/2000 3:45:00 AM

Fuerte

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The 4.1 manual has a lot of new pictures, good. Unfortunately the picture quality is very bad, especially on the old pictures, like they were saved in a very much compressed jpeg format. Some of the pictures are completely useless for this reason.

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- 9/26/2000 5:58:00 AM

Kharan

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quote:

Originally posted by Fuerte: The 4.1 manual has a lot of new pictures, good. Unfortunately the picture quality is very bad, especially on the old pictures, like they were saved in a very much compressed jpeg format. Some of the pictures are completely useless for this reason.

The pictures are probably compressed so the manual (and the patch) would be smaller. But wouldn't the information be packed in the zipped release anyway to the same smaller size, even if the pictures themselves weren't jpeg-compressed? Incidently, why's there a breakdown roll on paved road, dirt road and trail? [This message has been edited by Kharan (edited September 25, 2000).]

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- 9/26/2000 6:17:00 AM

Bonzo

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There is a breakdown roll for all terrain types because vehicles DO break down in all terrains. That's why there are call boxes along the freeway

Bonzo ------------------ Robert (Bonzo) Lindsay, Coordinator 28th (North-west) Battalion Headquarters http://dreadnaught.home.icq.com [email]nwbattalion@icqmail.com[/email]

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- 9/26/2000 8:28:00 PM

Paul Vebber

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The breakdown roll is substantially greater in the hex types labled "breakdown roll" but the dice are rolled every time you enter a hex. We have cut the incididence down some with the higher movement factors in the patch.

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- 9/26/2000 9:08:00 PM

Kharan

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The hexes labeled "breakdown roll" in the manual are mud, swamp, paved road, tiled road, trail, streams, canals, coral reef, shallow water, sandstone and stone walls, wood, stone and multi-hex buildings, trenches, gullies, rice-paddies and polders. I was wondering why the roads were labeled hazardous instead of, say, rocks, boulders and forests.

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- 9/26/2000 9:25:00 PM

renwor

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quote:

Originally posted by Kharan: The pictures are probably compressed so the manual (and the patch) would be smaller. But wouldn't the information be packed in the zipped release anyway to the same smaller size, even if the pictures themselves weren't jpeg-compressed?

Abit off-topic maybe, but I cannot resist

No, zipped and "jpegged" pictures wouldn't be of the same size. Zip uses so called loss-less compression, that is, could be unzipped to basicly the original copy. Jpeg cannot. It uses a kind of approximation of what it compresses. Loss of information (unrecoverable) is proximite to the compress ratio. Photographs usually doesn't zip very well, the same goes with complex pictures (like Spwaw screenshots) On the other hand abusing JPEG is just another crime agains humanity

Another aspect is text cannot be "jpegged". The result may well have all "j" replaced by "i" and all "k" replaced by "l". They look so similar and "i" and "l" are smaller, so whats the fuss

(ok, I oversimplified a bit, I hope I can be forgiven )

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- 9/26/2000 10:11:00 PM

Fuerte

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There is no reason to use jpeg compression in pictures like the preferences screen. A simple run-length encoding used in GIF format will probably compress this picture more than jpeg, and it will not lose any information, so the text is readable. GIF format should be used in the tutorial map pictures as well, because now they are almost totally useless.

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- 9/26/2000 10:19:00 PM

Graf Speer

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Excellent, David! Thanks for the announcement. Albert p.s. Hi David, I downloaded the "SPWAW ver. 4.1 manual" at http://www.matrixgames.com/spwaw/downloads.asp (Downloads) Thanks

[This message has been edited by Graf Speer (edited September 26, 2000).]

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The Good Nazi

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- 9/27/2000 3:26:00 AM

Graf Speer

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Immediate Question: Are the Manual Table of Contents text lines supposed to be individually boxed? (this doesn't look right . . . ) -A

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- 9/27/2000 4:30:00 AM

Wild Bill

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All in all, I think Brent Grenadier Richards did a superb job on the manual. Both our resources and our time has been extremely limited, with changes coming by the hour, not the day. This makes for a most chaotic situation of the manual composer. Brent took it all in stride. Its true that some of the graphics don't show as much detail as we would like. All in all, however, the work done was one of the best I've seen. It is complete and offers explanations on just about everything in the game. I wish it had an index and someday maybe it will. But overall, compared to many manuals I have read, I think it is an excellent piece of work. Now I know the comments here were meant in a very positive vein and no one takes offense. This is where we all learn. So thank you for ideas on making it better. Again, however, compared to most manuals that come with games that cost you money, this one is superlative. Good job, Grenadier! Wild Bill ------------------ In Arduis Fidelis Wild Bill Wilder Coordinator, Scenario Design Matrix Games

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- 9/27/2000 4:54:00 AM

Iron Cross

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Grenadier, The V4.1 manual is outstanding!!! One of my complaints in todays gaming market place is that one of the corners cut constantly in the area of computer wargames is poorly written and incomplete manuals. The V4.1 manual is excellent, well laid out and full of excellent notes and hints. Keep up the outstanding work. Iron Cross Wenn Alles Bruders Es Schweigen

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- 9/27/2000 8:28:00 AM

Graf Speer

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Wild Bill, I have to agree with you! (it always amazes me how 'Speer' can spot unimportant, useless things like boxed divider lines all over his TOC pages and, yet, this is simply cosmetic glitch and so he now regrets having mentioned this as is his penchant to and has sought out a ruthless "domimatrix"

for thirty lashes

(Hey, I really appreciated the 3.0 manual from start to finish! . . . and will dig into the new manual - to review changes / clarifications / enhancements - as soon as the 'complimentary' 4.1 patch arrives.

) Albert

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The Good Nazi

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- 9/27/2000 11:47:00 AM

Supervisor

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This allows you to click on the box and go directly to that page in the manual. I find it much easier than pagfing down to get to the correct page or or using cntrl-5 to do the same. As for the graphics. If any of you would like to redo them, I will be happy to send you the graphics or you can make new ones and then I will replace the current ones

quote:

Originally posted by Graf Speer: Immediate Question: Are the Manual Table of Contents text lines supposed to be individually boxed? (this doesn't look right . . . ) -A

------------------ Grenadier Matrix Games Technical Writer

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- 9/27/2000 12:22:00 PM

Bonzo

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I'm currently printing the v4.1 manual. For the most part the graphics are printing not bad, in fast, quite legible when printed at 1200x1200dpi (even on plain paper). I do not think that the problem people are having are caused by jpeg "lossy" compression. IIRC, this compression scheme loses color depth, not pixels. There is a secondary image compression that is available in Adobe Acrobat (the "maker" not Reader). This compression sets the pixels per inch, thus actually losing pixels. I think that this is probably the culprit. One must therefore balance overall final file size against print quality. Perhaps two runs of the manual? The current version unchanged for us cable deficient, & a high res minimally compressed for them preppie, upscale folk? I think the trick for sharper images is to get as high of a pixel count as possible. colour depth is not as important as long as the contrast is adequate. If you want, you can send the graphics to to me & I'll give it a go to sharpen them up, but, perhaps, explore the acrobat settings used & see if less compression leads to an unacceptable file size first. If you are sending, use the adress bonzo@agt.net,. Bonzo ------------------ Robert (Bonzo) Lindsay, Coordinator 28th (North-west) Battalion Headquarters http://dreadnaught.home.icq.com [email]nwbattalion@icqmail.com[/email]

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- 9/27/2000 2:24:00 PM

Graf Speer

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quote:

This allows you to click on the box and go directly to that page in the manual.

Hi Brent, Oh! even if the TOC looks somewhat 'cluttered' now, these 'hyper'links (boxes) are definitely the right idea . . . sheesh, before we know it, maybe the Adobe people will be paying the Matrix team to even do the next Acrobat upgrade?

Albert

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- 9/27/2000 6:19:00 PM

frank1970

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Is there a gameversion 4.1, too?

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- 9/27/2000 10:13:00 PM

Panzer Commander

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I was wondering the same thing and I did not see an answer. Why do rough, rocks, boulders and trees NOT have breakdown roll but paved roads and other seemingly made for travel surfaces do?

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- 9/27/2000 10:46:00 PM

Wild Bill

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Breakdown system in the game is being thoroughly revised and brought up to date. Wild Bill ------------------ In Arduis Fidelis Wild Bill Wilder Coordinator, Scenario Design Matrix Games

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- 9/28/2000 12:01:00 AM

stevew

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Just a stupid question. How can I know what has been fixed or enhanced by the patch v4.1 from the manual 4.1 ?? (I already searched the keywords with "fix" and "bug", but nothing is relevant to v4.1 from the search results.) Thanks a lot in advance. Tiger Private

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- 9/28/2000 12:43:00 AM

Fuerte

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Still about the manual... I downloaded the Pacific War from ftp://ftp.edome.net/demot/strategia_ja_sotapelit/pacific_war_complete_v2_0.exe The file size is 7 458 561 bytes. It has a very nice manual, 82 pages, only a few pictures and one cool diagram, and the size is 1 752 497 bytes. It looks very professional; it is probably the original. Then there is a What's New manual, made by Matrix, 7 pages, size 2 639 381 bytes. That's right, 35% of the download size is in this pdf. I copied the text into clipboard and made a text file, it is only 3 123 bytes. There are unnecessary background and title graphics in the pdf, that's why it is so big. The point of this message? The manual in SPWaW could be better. It is probably as good as the limited human resources allow, but I would still like to give a few hints: 1) Update graphics, don't use jpeg compression when it is not needed, and if necessary, don't have a too big compress ratio in jpeg. For example, the Selection Screen and Preferences pictures are totally useless as they are now. 2) Game Changes section is confusing, because it does not say which versions are being compared. Are these features new to 4.0 or 2.3 or 1.0? Perhaps this whole section should be removed, and the necessary information moved to appropriate places elsewhere in the manual. 3) Add a campaign tutorial. "We completely revised the User Generated Campaigns..." but in which version? Information like "Players can now have over 1,000 campaigns" is useless. "In campaigns, the number of turns for a battle was randomly determined each time the battle was loaded. It is now determined when the battle is generated and saved with the game." Useless information. 4) New Terrain Types. Why only the new ones? It would be better to have a complete listing and perhaps the version number with each terrain type. Same thing with New Battlefield and Obstacle Effects. And so on... I hope that I don't offend the manual writer, I know that this is a free game and there is only a limited time to spend on the manual, but after seeing the Pacific War manual I couldn't resist. Sorry!

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- 9/28/2000 12:48:00 AM

Fuerte

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Steve, there will most likely be a What's New document with the 4.1 patch.

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- 9/28/2000 1:06:00 AM

Paul Vebber

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And here it is... Version 4.1 1. Casualties from previous battles that weren’t yet repaired were being counted as kills in the current battle in the WWII campaign and generated campaign. This is now fixed. 2. Reloading a saved game would recalculate the starting number of men in a squad (when Reduced Squads). Caused scoring problems in addition. Fixed. 3. Fixed a bug in the PBEM playback that could cause the vcr replay to end prematurely (which would cause many strange and bad problems). 4. Sniper-class units can no longer capture victory hexes. 5. Fixed problem with online games not starting with same data if reduced squads or combat ammo was chosen. 6. Increased reliability of combat results on remote machines in online games. 7. Differing OOBs or game versions in online play will no longer let you continue the game. 8. Victory hexes that score every turn will score for any turns left unfought in the battle (for example, if the other force breaks or surrenders). 9. Removed OOB cost multipliers for aircraft and artillery from the program. Values in OOBs are now used as-is. 10. Many of the preferences are now locked out during online play like they are in PBEM. 11. Online games now have a different order to the setup sequence -- selection of game type is now after the players join. This allows the next change to work. 12. Specifying “mech.exe /i” in the MGN filename box will allow the skipping of many of the online setup screens. It automatically fills in the correct ip address, uses the saved name, and attempts to connect three times (just in case the server is slower than you). IMPORTANT: make sure that SPWAW knows what your ip address is. Check this by running spwaw.exe and clicking “online”. If the wrong ip address is shown here (for example, if you are using a proxy or NAT to reach the internet), do not use the /i switch! 13. Fixed unit ID tags not showing up. 14. Fixed wrong formation assignment of units during scenario editing. Units of side #1 were sometimes being assigned formation letters that belong to side #2. Because of the nature of this bug, it is only truly fixed for scenarios that start buying units for side #2 from scratch, but it is only necessary to do this if the existing lettering problems bug you; there do not seem to be any ill game effects other than not being listed on the HQ menu or unit list. 15. Added a third setting to the Unit Numbers preferences, “All Units” (renamed the others “Your Infantry” and “Your Units”

. This setting displays unit numbers on enemy infantry, and cannot be modified once a PBEM game or online game starts. 16. Random vic hexes now only put every-turn scoring hexes in the middle third of the map (east-west axis). 17. Fixed Done button sometimes not moving second player on side forward to deployment, also put in text for that player to explain how the process works. 18. Disabled some more of the side buttons in online games when it’s not your turn (was not behaving well when anything interesting happened while you were not on the map screen). 19. Fixed bug with random numbers used in combat results. 20. Saying ‘n’ to surrender prompt no longer ends your turn. 21. Answering ‘n’ to quitting the game would sometimes end your turn. Fixed. 22. Prevented “too many people to fit” message from popping up on other players’ screens in online play. 23. Prevented line of sight showing up on other players’ screens in deploy phase when changing facing. 24. Fixed bug that could get online game out of sync when op fire confirm was not being used. 25. Fixed units teleporting and problems with rocks appearing in online play. 26. Made default points for generated online battles same as in single player. 27. Removed breakdown & malfunction messages for the other side’s units. 28. Changed the end-of-buying process in online games with 3 or more players. Now, each person must press Done before it moves on. 29. You can no longer move your teammates’ units around in the deploy phase. (Unless you specifically grab them on the HQ menu). 30. Fixed some overlapping text on the save screen in online play. 31. Fixed problems with op fire being prematurely interrupted in online play. 32. Fixed AAA not firing at planes in online play. 33. Fixed caves, coastal guns, and immobilized units able to change facing by clicking on enemy unit. 34. Near blast damage reduced to 67% of current value vs. infantry. 35. Smaller generated battle map sizes now have shorter default turn lengths. 36. Custom maps now use 3-digit numbering system; the old 2-digit ones will still load if a 3-digit map is not found (so you don’t have to rename all the 2-digit files). 37. Made rough map graphics appear in appropriate generated battle locations. 38. Fixed inability to say ‘n’ to bail out prompt. 39. Fixed problem with reloading online autosave if one player continued for some of the next turn before quitting. It was not properly checking to make sure both people had the same saved game. 40. Fixed syncing problems with reloading online saved games. 41. Made F1, F5, i, and / keys work when it isn’t your turn in online games. 42. Plays a more noticeable sound when someone loses their connection in online play. 43. The cost of elite and second line troops is calculated as though their average morales are 80 and 60, respectively, when purchasing them (unless True Troop Cost is turned off). 44. Fixed problem with abandoned tanks not being counted as destroyed. 45. Fixed random battles always being on day 0 of the month. 46. Counter-battery fire is now synced properly in online play. 47. Fixed reinforcements not being available in PBEM generated battles. 48. Fixed problem with computer AI not using proper sighting routine in one place, and therefore acting strangely towards hidden units. 49. Vehicle breakdown chance is halved. 50. Fixed 5-foot slope around plowed fields. 51. Changed cost of moving across slopes. 52. Changed movement costs in bad weather. 53. Renamed some unit classes, changed some units’ movement classes. 54. Inf SAM class is now Ski troops. They pay half movement cost in winter.

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- 9/28/2000 1:13:00 AM

stevew

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Thank you, Fuerte and Paul. It's very appreciated. Steve

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- 9/28/2000 1:58:00 AM

Bonzo

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Just to keep flogging away at the manual "file size" issue

IIRC, the actual manual is composed in MS Word. Word is a pig (like so much of the Evil Empire's product) when it comes to images. I did a small presentation in Word - 2 pages of text with about 10 photos inserted. Jpegs were about 200kb each, so total raw size was about 2.2 mb. Actual finished word file size? 24 mb. Word converts images to .bmp for insertion. Can you say "File Bloat"? I'm not a Word Wizard (so I'll look to the folks on the forum), but could using object linking result in smaller file size (& fewer file format conversions) by keeping the images in their original compressed forms? Or perhaps going to an HTML format rather than Word & creating the PDF from the HTML? Brent, can you use my (limited) skills to help with this manual & other projects? Bonzo ------------------ Robert (Bonzo) Lindsay, Coordinator 28th (North-west) Battalion Headquarters http://dreadnaught.home.icq.com [email]nwbattalion@icqmail.com[/email]

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- 9/28/2000 4:03:00 AM

John T_MatrixForum

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quote:

Originally posted by Bonzo: Word converts images to .bmp for insertion. Can you say "File Bloat"? Bonzo

I haven't seen that problem since word 6.

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SPWaW Manual v4.1 released