Last Stand Arnhem v5.60.02 Public Beta (Updated) (Full Version)

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Andrew Loveridge -> Last Stand Arnhem v5.60.02 Public Beta (Updated) (10/6/2010 3:46:59 PM)

Greetings,

This update has a huge number of changes, including the much anticipated pathfinder overhaul. After a significant amount of testing we feel this is ready, but would like to give Members a chance to look it over before we make it official. Remember this is still a beta, and any feedback will definitely be appreciated.

It is available in the Members Club. If you have a members account, and have registered Last Stand Arnhem, a link will be on your Members Home page under Downloads. If you don't have a members account, create one! It is free, it will keep track of all your Serial Numbers, and allow you to get additional content like this Public Beta!

Change History:
V5.60.02 – September 28, 2010


  • Path Finder Overhaul

    • The path finder has seen a major overhaul to improve its ability to successfully find a path through areas with blocking terrain and to evaluate long, complicated paths (such as across long bridges). For game performance reasons, paths are evaluated while the game continues to run, and long and / or complex paths may take up to a few seconds to complete. For a long move you may notice a brief delay between the time you issue the movement order and the time the unit actually starts to move.

  • Battle Setup

    • Fixed a bug where pre-battle deployment could be initialized with the wrong battle’s data, resulting in a ‘checkerboard’ of deployment zones around controlled Victory Locations.
    • Fixed a bug with determining when a river crossing was required to move off a map or setup across a river.
    • Extended cross-river setup zone restrictions to single battles.  Previously this was determined only for Operations or Campaigns.
    • Bridge Victory Locations now exert more influence on the shape and extent of entry setup zones, making them much less likely to change control due to entry setup zones.
    • Bridges are no longer automatically unprimed at the start of a battle unless the Germans have lost control of all of the bridge’s VLs.
    • Fixed a rare case where deploying teams in open ground would fail, even though the area was within a valid setup zone.
    • Fixed a bug that allowed you to stack your vehicles on top of each other during setup.  Sorry, the world will have to find another solution to its parking problems.

  • Tactical Combat

    • The pixel size of the Mini-Map is now scaled based on the size of the resolution of the game window and the size of the tactical map. For resolutions where x or y size is 800 or less, the mini-map is scaled to 4 pixels per mega-tile (24m) if the map is greater than 36 mega-tiles in size, 5 pixels/MT if the map is greater than 30 MT in size, or 6 pixels per MT otherwise.  If both x and y resolution are greater than 800 pixels the mini-map is scaled to 5 pixels per MT if the map is greater than 31 MT, or 6 pixels per MT otherwise.  For map makers, if your MMM file is scaled to 6 pixels per MT they will only ever be ‘squashed’, rather than ‘stretched’, so they should not look blocky regardless of the scaling.
    • Fixed a bug where mini-map display of setup zones could be offset slightly from their actual location on the main map.
    • Fixed a crash that could occur on the Nijmegen Bridge map when playing the game in 800x600 resolution and displaying the mini-map.
    • Base number of rounds for ‘off-map’ mortar fire support reduced. Combined with the accuracy reduction in the data files, the overall punch of mortar support has been reduced.
    • Vehicle crew members are now vulnerable to small arms fire when manning exposed weapons or when in an open topped vehicle fired on from a large height advantage at close range.
    • Vehicles using the MOVE command will only use reverse for short moves, or when there is a known enemy to keep the front armor towards.
    • Vehicles using SNEAK will no longer abort their move when spotting a new enemy unless they are moving towards a known enemy.
    • Reduced the chance for non-penetrating hits to cause internal damage or crew casualties to vehicles.
    • Vehicle movement speed near / through trees is now much slower, with a higher bog chance but a lower chance of immobilization.
    • Vehicles that are bogged or mired move more slowly.
    • Bailed out crews now continue to rout towards the home map edge, rather than stop and stand, if they are unable to rout off the map on their first attempt.
    • Routing teams can no longer capture territory or Victory Locations.
    • Light armored vehicles and open topped vehicles now more vulnerable to infantry close assault.
    • Infantry teams with secondary weapons effective against vehicles (demo charge, gammon bombs) now employ them when close assaulting a vehicle.
    • Infantry close assaulting a vehicle has an increased chance to hit.
    • Line of Sight for teams manning heavy machine guns or mortars is now always traced from the team’s gunner.
    • Pinned or Cowered soldiers now prefer crawling to standing when moving.
    • Soldiers with a weapon requiring a setup time will only move to a new location if it is rated significantly better than their current location.
    • Fixed vehicles no longer pivot or move a very small distance right after you hit ‘Begin’ to start a battle.
    • Fixed a crash that could occur when a weapon with a very small blast radius was fired (Stuart V SP ammo is the only such case in LSA)
    • Fixed a case where the “We can’t hurt that” message was displayed when targeting infantry in heavy cover.
    • Fixed case where fire orders could be cancelled when the option “Always See Enemy” was on but the target was considered to be concealed still.

  • AI

    • Deployment of infantry teams more heavily favors building edges facing towards the enemy.
    • Deployment of AT guns now favors areas with a moderate field of fire, rather than a very restricted field of fire.
    • Reduced chance that AI will decide to move a team while the AI has decided to defend.
    • The AI is more likely to offer a cease fire when close to a Force Morale failure.
    • The AI is more likely to accept a cease fire offer if no Victory Locations have changed hands in some time.
    • Fixed a case where AI player could target a human player’s team that was in line of sight but not yet spotted.

  • Battle Group Screen

    • Slots available to the reserve battle group are now allocated into slots not available to the primary battle group first, assuming the primary battle group has a platoon of the correct type which does not already have the maximum number of slots. If there are no such slots the primary and reserve battle group will both be able to fill some slot(s).
    • Added the text “RES” to the team icon for teams that are on loan from the reserve battle group.

  • Strategic Screen

    • Front line battle group name (in info banner area) properly updated when you issue a Relieve order.
    • Fixed a bug that could cause a hang when a valid location for a reinforcing battle group could not be found.
    • Fixed a bug that could show the wrong supply level for a battle group stacked with a friendly airborne battle group when the airborne battle group was on limited supply due to the automatic airborne supply level for the first few days.  NOTE: Incoming supply display still only reflects the state of incoming supply at the start of the current strategic turn.
    • When merging two battle groups, the absorbed battle group now returns all active teams to its Force Pool before being absorbed, recovering whatever points it can get back for returning those teams.  The total purchase points from the absorbed battle group are then transferred to the absorbing battle group.
    • Initial purchase point allotment for all battle groups increased slightly, based on the number and type of teams they might be expected to loan while in reserve.
    • Static Troops are now immediately absorbed into friendly battle groups when a friendly battle group starts the game, or enters the strategic map, on the same map as the Static Troops.

  • Debrief Screen

    • For single battles: If the battle ends because a bridge was blown, victory is determined by the map and VL control at the moment the battle ended, rather than granting all map control to the side that was trying to capture the bridge. NOTE: This is for single battles only.
    • Non-tank vehicles (halftracks, armored cars, etc) now count as vehicle kills, not tank kills.
    • Fixed a bug where the Axis side could be incorrectly granted control over neutral ground adjacent to Axis controlled ground during post-battle calculations.

  • Scenario Editor

    • Fixed a crash that could occur when the game was running in full screen mode if you loaded a battle, operation, or campaign that did not use all possible dates in the game, then minimized and restored the game window.
    • Fixed a bug where the editor could give incorrect error messages when you tried to save a valid scenario file if you had previously played a battle, operation, or campaign before entering the Scenario Editor.

  • Data File Changes

    • Campaign.txt: Fixed incorrect (blank) entry in Veghel Bridge data that could cause incorrect calculation of the river line for this map.
    • AlsTeams.txt: Corrected White, Humber, and Daimler Scout / Armored cars that were set to SAI unit type 10 (halftrack) to SAI unit type 9 (armored car) for correct path finder behavior.
    • AxsTeams.txt: Corrected Sdkfz 250/9 halftrack to SAI unit type 10 (halftrack) from SAI unit type 9 (armored car) for correct path finder behavior.
    • Elements.txt: Added a new column ‘Foliage’. This column is for terrain elements that represent the foliage around the central trunk of a tree. Elements coded with ‘foliage’ set to 1 will be scaled to the height of the tree they are adjacent to.
    • Elements.txt: Increased visual hindrance and cover values for all foliage elements. Line of sight is blocked much quicker through woods, and soldiers are harder to hit in woods.
    • Elements.txt: “Field” element now rubbles to “Shellhole”.
    • Elements.txt: “Sandbag” element now rubbles to ‘Debris” instead of “Brick Wall”.
    • Vehicles.txt: Corrected fire angles for Pz III turret weapons and Sdkfz 250/9 turret weapons.
    • Weapons.txt: German 5cm and 8cm mortar accuracy reduced to match all other mortars.
    • Weapons.txt: Accuracy of ‘off-map’ mortar fire support reduced to match all other mortars.

  • Stock Scenarios

    • Last Stand Arnhem Operation: Added KG Brinkmann to German forces present on the first turn.

  • Additional items

    • Numerous map fixes. All 64 maps triple-checked for elevation issues. Other issues addressed pertained to map coding, RFM and art issues. A few known issues will be addressed in the next update.
    • Corrected several misspellings to battle briefings and battle names.
    • A few strat map image improvements.
    • Corrected echelon symbols on three strat BG icons.
    • Fixed error where sandbags rubbled to "brick wall" element instead of "debris" element.
    • Fixed campaign.txt co-ordinates where Best bridge map where the destroyed bridge graphic was off by one pixel.





RD Oddball -> RE: Last Stand Arnhem v5.6.0.02 Public Beta (10/6/2010 5:21:49 PM)

Andrew I'd add that the other aspect of this update beside the pathfinder overhaul we opted for is the improvements made to the AI. All feedback welcomed.




Sapa -> RE: Last Stand Arnhem v5.6.0.02 Public Beta (10/6/2010 7:18:35 PM)

Thanks for your effort with this![:)]

Mats




Dundradal -> RE: Last Stand Arnhem v5.6.0.02 Public Beta (10/6/2010 9:32:56 PM)

Plays great! The new pathfinder is really a great leap forward. Tanks and vehicles respond very nicely.




Tejszd -> RE: Last Stand Arnhem v5.6.0.02 Public Beta (10/7/2010 2:30:56 AM)

Glad to see the patch out there in the wild!!!




squadleader_id -> RE: Last Stand Arnhem v5.6.0.02 Public Beta (10/7/2010 2:48:18 AM)

Impressive list of fixes! Downloading now! Thanks a lot for the hard work, Devs!




zon -> RE: Last Stand Arnhem v5.6.0.02 Public Beta (10/7/2010 6:19:38 AM)

Thanks for the patch!

One thing missing from the list of data fixes: The Sd.Kfz. 10/4 flak gun rotates now — although the rotation is lightning fast.




berndn -> RE: Last Stand Arnhem v5.6.0.02 Public Beta (10/7/2010 1:54:32 PM)

A big thanks for pathfinding stuff. Started a new GC as allies and was suprised how good I could move my tanks in the first battle. A huge improvement !

Thanks




Ivan_Zaitzev -> RE: Last Stand Arnhem v5.6.0.02 Public Beta (10/7/2010 5:14:59 PM)

Thanks guys! Downloading now!




stolidog -> RE: Last Stand Arnhem v5.6.0.02 Public Beta (10/7/2010 5:16:35 PM)

Does this address the leapfrogging of BG's or will that be addressed in the next patch?

http://www.matrixgames.com/forums/tm.asp?m=2544812






xe5 -> RE: Last Stand Arnhem v5.6.0.02 Public Beta (10/7/2010 5:22:04 PM)

@Oddball - are you referring only to AI improvements documented in the Change History?

Could somebody translate this into English -
"Slots available to the reserve battle group are now allocated into slots not available to the primary battle group first, assuming the primary battle group has a platoon of the correct type which does not already have the maximum number of slots. If there are no such slots the primary and reserve battle group will both be able to fill some slot(s)."




topper6 -> RE: Last Stand Arnhem v5.6.0.02 Public Beta (10/7/2010 6:16:19 PM)

I agree, the patch feels like a huge improvement. Thanks to all of you working with the game. Impressive list of improvements, i get the feeling that you are truly dedicated in making this game better and better. Respect and appreciation to all of you Matrix employes for this. Still have alot of wishes for further improvements, mostly with the AI. But have to play the patch alot more before i can say anything in perticular.




Captmatt -> RE: Last Stand Arnhem v5.6.0.02 Public Beta (10/7/2010 6:37:03 PM)

The AI pathing is much better! Good work guys! Vehicles still seem to "bounce" down the road from shoulder to shoulder but at least they do it and maintain a constant pace respective of what the speed chosen. And they dont seem to get "hung up" as much either. This makes it much more of a joy for me to play!

Thanks!




RD Oddball -> RE: Last Stand Arnhem v5.6.0.02 Public Beta (10/7/2010 7:38:37 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: stolidog

Does this address the leapfrogging of BG's or will that be addressed in the next patch?

http://www.matrixgames.com/forums/tm.asp?m=2544812



Steve's working on a solution for this. So yes the official patch would be the soonest it would be addressed assuming there's a workable solution available.

@ Xe5 - The section in the very first post under AI and pathfinder.

RE: your request to explain the quoted line in a different way - I'm assuming Steve meant the reserve battlegroup slots are allocated first with the caveats he mentioned.




Captmatt -> RE: Last Stand Arnhem v5.6.0.02 Public Beta (10/12/2010 12:47:18 AM)

I finished the GC last night playing as the Allies. I finished on day 21 with all maps green.  The video which played indicating the end of the GC was the video which said I had fallen short of my objectives...basically saying I did not get Arnhem bridge, I assume.  I did not have a saved game unless it does it automatically.  I just wanted to post a quick post about it.




RD Oddball -> RE: Last Stand Arnhem v5.6.0.02 Public Beta (10/12/2010 2:11:01 PM)

Do you recall what the settings were for that GC? If you haven't changed them nor started a saved game they should be the same. Thanks for pointing it out.




Captmatt -> RE: Last Stand Arnhem v5.6.0.02 Public Beta (10/13/2010 6:35:11 PM)

The difficulty settings were set to "line" for both sides. Realism ratings, only "always obey" was checked. And for the "Battle ends..." I checked all boxes.
I dug up the save game file. It did it again.
You will need to make a couple of strat moves to capture two maps and then execute to get to the end.
I will email the save game to you.




RD Oddball -> RE: Last Stand Arnhem v5.6.0.02 Public Beta (10/13/2010 6:51:22 PM)

File received. Thanks CaptMatt.




topper6 -> RE: Last Stand Arnhem v5.6.0.02 Public Beta (10/16/2010 4:42:24 PM)

I am so glad to say and thank you all developers about the pathing. It has never been better in any edition as it is after this patch. Wonderful work.

EDIT: Although, PLEASE, remove the BUG that makes a tankgunner not reload after running out of HE ammunition or if they only have AP not reloading after the first shot at all.




RD Oddball -> RE: Last Stand Arnhem v5.6.0.02 Public Beta (10/16/2010 11:26:14 PM)

We'll look into it topper. Thanks for making us aware of it.




Tanaka0 -> RE: Last Stand Arnhem v5.6.0.02 Public Beta (10/17/2010 3:46:01 AM)

After reading the good impute regarding the beta patch here in the topic, went ahead and finally bough the game. Just finished my first campaign and I really enjoyed it.  As a “veteran” from original Atomic collection, obviously I see much has changed improved since then.[;)]
 
Like one of the previews posters, I too finished the Allied campaign at the end of the 3rd day by occupying the all campaign map and like him I too got the mixed-up video at the end. Played with Elite settings for me (Allies), Green for the AI (Axis) but most importantly, removed the battle ending condition due to force moral getting too low (makes it easier to destroy AI KG).

Thumbs up and please do continue to improve the series I should be around to buy them [8D]

Btw, in my view, in the day & age of good looking & 3D, continue to improve the strategic aspects of the series and where these series real excel in my view:  The personal touch (those things who makes us want to keep that “funny name” guy alive the all campaign). 

Just a final note before I go start my (Elite) Axis campaign (this time with force moral rules), the guys who did the Dutch voices must have had a blast; first time I heard them, I was like “What?, who is scramming inside the toilet?”, by the 3rd battle with them, I was eager to battle “these Netherlanders” just to hear those battle scream/noises… priceless! [:D]

Cheers,




7A_Woulf -> RE: Last Stand Arnhem v5.6.0.02 Public Beta (10/17/2010 1:58:20 PM)

A priceless feeling to give my tanks their Move-orders, focus on the rest of the battle and then return to them when they are in place (or in trouble when the Evil Enemy are firing at them...) -No more babysitting! [:)]

GREAT WORK guys!! [sm=happy0065.gif]




tigercub -> RE: Last Stand Arnhem v5.6.0.02 Public Beta (10/18/2010 8:13:08 AM)

I think it is great work but its the sort of work that should have been done before the game was SOLD to us.




final_drive -> RE: Last Stand Arnhem v5.6.0.02 Public Beta (10/21/2010 11:11:40 PM)

First of all thanks for all the nice work put into LSA.

I like LSA's innovation of giving the possibility to combine two BGs onto one map a lot. However, I don't see the need why one BG has to be defined as 'frontline', and the other as 'reserve' when filling up the BG Active Roster.

As it is working now, the reserve BG adds little team slots with little BG points to the overall battlegroup screen. Especially in the following cases, the effect of combining battlegroups doesn't live up to expectations. Firstly, when combining two different battlegroups entering a map from different entry points: in this case (as in the others) the supporting BG can usually field a very little amount of (cheap) teams, which here doesn't feel right if the feature is intended to simulate some kind of flanking movement. Secondly, when combining two battlegroups of a different type, eg. an armor BG with an infantry BG, one just cannot add any significant amount of armor to an infantry BG and vice versa (this is a pity for any mods which would want to recreate lower echelon BGs on the strategic map, whereby a BG represents for instance a pure suport battalion or company, to be combined with pure infantry BGs).

What counterarguments would there be against a slightly different approach whereby two combined battlegroups are considered equal? Combining them on the Stratmap would just mean that in the Active Roster teams can be recruited from both the respective forcepools. The total amount of points to be spent would be the average amount of the separate BGs. The overall amount of slots available in the Active Roster would be the average of both individual BG's amount of slots, with no restriction at all on the amount of slots that are actually filled up by the reserve BG.

It's an idea and I can imagine that there are other gameplay reasons for which the distinction between a frontline BG and reserve should be kept in some way, but the ability to draw more teams from the reserve BG would be welcomed. Any further insight?




Andrew Loveridge -> RE: Last Stand Arnhem v5.60.02 Public Beta (10/30/2010 4:29:25 PM)

Hello again,

We have an updated version of this Beta, v5.60.021beta now available in the Members Club. This replaces .02 beta, and addresses much of the feedback we received. Are plan is to make this official next week, but thought we would have the Members look at it one more time before doing that. Thank you for all your input! Here is a list of additional changes;

  • Grand Campaign: Added German major supply depot on Helmond map.
  • 506.s.Pz.Abt. no longer gets more starting purchase points on Elite than on Veteran.
  • Fixed extra team(s) could be assigned to a BG when it returned after retreating off the map.
  • Fixed a case of soldier getting into circular move along the side of a long, linear obstacle.
  • Fixed a case of soldier getting stuck behind an obstacle right at the map edge.
  • Fixed last survivor on a team could capture terrain when routed.
  • Timer and force morale now show up when viewing Overview screen.
  • Scenario Editor no longer shows the wrong battle group name in the top banner when you clicked on or very close to the diamond rectangle.
  • Fixed case where incorrect end game video could be shown when game ends on the Strategic screen.
  • Fixed case where extra Victory Location could be awarded to opposing side when one side switched front line battle groups.
  • Reduced chance of a gun damage result for non-penetrating hits on vehicles.
  • Fixed crash with custom scenario on Ravenstein map when no Allied entry zone was set.
  • Fixed case where a bridge could become primed for demolition when Axis captured a single bridge Victory Location.
  • Scenario Editor "Battle Group Info" now reflects reinforcements that will arrive in the battle group's force pool based on turn currently selected.
  • Reduced gun damage and immobilize chance for grenades versus vehicles with higher armor.
  • Reduce soldier's likelihood of throwing grenades at vehicles outside of close assault situation.
  • Reduced rating of anti-vehicle SP ammo (i.e. APDS) vs. infantry and terrain, so it is not used unless all other ammo is gone.
  • “Under repair” bridge status now cleared correctly after movement resolution when full supply is lost and the bridge is uncontested.
  • Battle Group Screen: Removing a team (returning it to the Force Pool) removes the surviving team members as well, rather than re-distributing them to bring other teams up to strength. Teams that are automatically removed due to excessive casualties (immediately post-battle) still re-distribute their personnel to fill out other understrength teams.

    WEAPONS.TXT
  • Removed incorrect blast effect from 17pdr SP (APDS) ammo
  • Corrected 17pdr AP penetration at point blank range.
  • Corrected base accuracy for 3.7cm Pak HEAT round.

    FPOOLS.TXT
  • Added header fields to control BG slot scaling.

    BGROUPS.TXT
  • Modified KG Knaust default slot types so the AI will select tanks by default.





Tejszd -> RE: Last Stand Arnhem v5.60.02 Public Beta (10/30/2010 5:02:13 PM)

Great to see more bugs being eliminated....

Also, thank you for the mod maker enhancement;

# FPOOLS.TXT
# Added header fields to control BG slot scaling.




e_barkmann -> RE: Last Stand Arnhem v5.60.02 Public Beta (11/1/2010 8:48:08 AM)

Well, I relented and bought the bloody thing :-)

Boot camp is broken in v5.60.021beta. CTD's abound - try selecting a boot camp tutorial and you'll be back to the desktop pronto.

cheers Chris




berndn -> RE: Last Stand Arnhem v5.60.02 Public Beta (11/1/2010 10:52:17 AM)

Monitor resolution 1600x1050

I checked Bootcamp too and with v5.60.021beta every boot camp mission start results in a CTD

With an ATI card with 1280x1024 and an Intel graphic chipset with 1600x1050 the small messages in battle are messed up. The last message is displayed as well as the number of messages but the scroll window above stays empty. With my intel chipset (it's a notebook) I can see the messages but it seems to be 'erased' by a new refresh/layer. With my ATI card I can see them (history of messages) by minimizing and restore. But only until the next message clears history window seen messages.




Tejszd -> RE: Last Stand Arnhem v5.60.02 Public Beta (11/1/2010 4:21:05 PM)

For the messages, a workaround until its fixed, zoom out and back in. It seems to work fine after that.




berndn -> RE: Last Stand Arnhem v5.60.02 Public Beta (11/1/2010 5:03:35 PM)

Thanks for the tip. It's unhandy because I use the history stuff if to much is happening at the same time to locate enemy contacts and to keep my soldiers from assaulting a spot instead of them going back into cover ;)

As it's a more or less public beta I think feedback is important?

And I know that some AT guns from the germans are where they belonged to but could this be changed for the static BGs to random? If I know where the guns are it's more or less easy to avoid them or to destroy/suppress them.

:)

And thanks for working on it to get rid of bugs and adding some more stuff to it.




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