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David Heath -> Whats Coming Very Soon in Patch v2.10 (11/26/2002 9:00:05 PM)
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Hi Guys
Here is what you can expect in v2.10. Now some may say that we are just releasing a patch before a holiday weekend but that is not the case. The testing period for this has been going on before the releae of v2.0. You should be able to start downloading it tonight or Wednesday. I would also like to extend a major thanks for both the playtesters, 2by3 Games (Keith Brors and Gary Grigsby) and the Matrix staff (Mike Wood and Ross Moorhouse) for really going over and above in solving and expanding the game play.
UNCOMMON VALOR PATCH ITEMS VS. 2.10
1) Destroyers (DD), Destroyer Escorts (DE), Patrol Gunboats (PG), Patrol Craft (PC) and Destroyer Transports (APD) have been given very limited mines-weeping abilities. Each can locate and destroy a few mines by shooting them, if the crew makes the proper experience rolls and spot others. This awareness of the minefield will allow the task force entering the mine field to be hit by fewer mines.
2) Right clicking on a task force should no longer lock up some machines.
3) When a carrier task force is assigned to follow another task force and ordered not to react to enemy task forces, the task force should no longer close range by one hex. This will allow the player to move a carrier task force with some other task force and the carrier CAP will also provide area CAP to the other task force.
4) Combat pilot rotation for missions should now allow more inexperienced pilots to fly, by grounding highly fatigued pilots. For patrol, ASW and training missions, pilots with fewer missions flown now have priority over more experienced pilots.
5) Minefields placed in hexes with a friendly base that has a size 1 or better airfield or port will attack enemy transport task forces or fast transport task forces that enter the hex. Now, if the hex does not contain a friendly base with a size 1 or better airfield or port, mines placed in the hex will attack all enemy shipping. The distinction is that if the hex has a friendly port or airfield, the mines will be placed close to the shoreline, to defend against invasion. In this case, the mines attack at double strength.
6) New naval and air-to-air combat sounds have been added.
7) Aircraft resistance to Flak has been increased.
8) When air groups transfer to a new base, they now try to take adequate pilots or air crews with them.
9) The screen in which groups transfer to new base now includes the total aviation support of the listed bases.
10) The air to air combat system has been rewritten. Messages referring to aircraft flights have been replaced by individual aircraft dogfight messages. Squadron messages remain. The calculations revolving around pilot fatigue, disruption and weapons platforms accuracy have been modified, which should produce a bit higher number of damaged and destroyed planes in dog fighting and attacks on bombers. New rules for attacking aircraft using deflection firing and firing from behind have been added.
11) Play by email games should no longer auto-save in slot zero.
12) When a task force achieves a T-crossing in naval combat, it is now awarded a to hit bonus against ships of the enemy task force. This is in addition to the extra shots the player normally gains from crossing the T.
13) Dive bombers and torpedo bombers now attack at maximum speed, instead of cruising speed..
14) New messages have been added to the naval combat screen.
15) A general weather report has been added to the combat reports screen.
16) The security requirement for restarting the game, before PBEM combat resolution or VCR playback was not well received. This requirement has been removed. Other security measures have been instituted in place of a restart. These measures should be user-transparent. Just play normally. Security should be valid and VCR playbacks should be accurate. Please note that in a game started in an earlier version, there may be some problems with the VCR for the first turn played with this build.
17) A new routine checks submarines on a patrol mission and under player control at the end of each turn. If the submarine is low on fuel or out of torpedoes, the submarine will automatically return to home base. This cannot be over-ridden by the player. Since the option to return has been placed in the hands of the ship’s skipper, the player should base the submarine out of the closest base to the area where the player will have the ship operating to avoid wasting significant amounts of fuel going to and coming from station. Also note that the routine is not full proof. It is still possible to run out of fuel with a high speed chase right before the submarine would return to base or by taking battle damage and leaking a large amount of fuel. Bingo is defined by the routine as fuel needed to return to base x 1.5. This should leave adequate fuel to return, even if harassed by aircraft on the way home. Note that submarines on special operations missions, such as transport or mine-laying do not undergo the test.
18) The chances for a minesweeper (MSW) or fast minesweeper (DMS) hitting a mine have been greatly reduced.
19) Load and save routines have been optimized for speed.
20) A new file naming system has been added, that allows the user to see his game comment in the Windows file directory.
21) Fixed extraneous message indicating ships were arriving in theater, when they were not.
22) Added mine depot in Brisbane.
23) Rewrote code which allocates damage to better reflect distinctions between various armaments and hit locations. Players should find deck hits, tower hits and turret hits do less floatation damage, while doing more fire and system damage. Torpedoes should now do less fire and system damage and more floatation damage.
24) Rewrote naval combat code to allow for surprise attacks. Combat Japanese task forces that have ships mounting the Long Lance torpedo will now try to sneak up and surprise attack with a volley from every able ship, before normal combat occurs. Combat Japanese task forces that do not contain ships with the Long Lance torpedo and combat Allied task forces may also make surprise attacks, gaining a free round of combat, firing limited shots, before normal combat occurs. To make a gun surprise attack, the side attacking must make skill rolls to properly line up the ships and coordinate fire, and radar or spotting rolls, while the other side fails the radar or spotting rolls. To make a Long Lance attack, the Allied side must either fail a radar or spotting roll or fail a skill roll (required to turn into the torpedoes) and the Japanese side must make skill rolls to line up the ships in proper formation and coordinate the attack. Surprise attacks can be devastating for the surprised task force sometimes and sometimes of little value, depending on a lot of skill rolling. Be sure to have at least one ship with good night experience and one with good day experience in every combat task force, along with a leader with the best naval skills you can muster.
25) Long range combat air-patrol penalty values have been decreased, slightly. The penalty values for LRCAP should be flying over carrier groups more than one hex from the groups home should still be severe, as these groups usually maintain radio silence.
26) Scenarios have been adjusted and now will end on the proper end times.
NOTES TO END USERS: on air to air combat. Climbing to intercept means the climb rate of the interceptor is inadequate and it is at a disadvantage. Intercepting means the interceptor is trying to locate and attack with no penalty. Area CAP intercepting means the defending group is not close to the enemy and is trying to regroup, find the enemy and attack at a disadvantage. Due to radio silence, long range combat air patrol over a friendly aircraft carrier task force is at a still greater disadvantage. Bombers too high means the interceptor cannot climb high enough, fast enough to engage the enemy bombers. Climbs towards bombers means the climb rate of the interceptor is inadequate and it is at a disadvantage. Dives on bombers means the interceptor has altitude and speed is at an advantage. Attacks bombers means the interceptor is trying to locate and attack with no penalty. In this game, bogie is an unidentified enemy aircraft, that is spotted, but too low a detection level to identify. Bounced means surprised and at a disadvantage. Evades means the evading aircraft being attacked was too fast or maneuverable to shoot at. Engaging means two aircraft are maneuvering to fire at one another and the first aircraft listed is at a slight advantage. Firing at range indicates that the aircraft is deflection shooting at the given range times 100 yards. Firing from behind indicates the firing aircraft is directly behind the enemy aircraft and the victim has no rear firing guns that can bear, which gives the attacker an extra burst at good odds. Although all the CAP for a hex shows up on the combat screen, some of these planes may not know where the battle is or be close enough to engage, such as the Japanese CAP in the battle of Midway, which was out of position, when the American dive bombers attacked. Additionally, each aircraft has a detection level (which is modified by weather, skill rolls, the number of planes it has engaged and other factors), and a small group of planes can sometimes slip past CAP or only have to engage a few enemy planes, before it can reach the target.
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