Testing thread for Public Beta 1.03 M3 : Last Update 4th april (Full Version)

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Vic -> Testing thread for Public Beta 1.03 M3 : Last Update 4th april (1/27/2016 3:10:43 PM)

Hi all,

1.03m3 is still PUBLIC BETA. Public beta means that it is still in testing and might not be fully stable.
(the latest official release version is 1.02g)

Please do report in this thread if you have installed and running the v1.03 without any issues.

If you are uncomfortable installing files manually or your anti-virus software is not playing ball please wait till this patch goes gold.

If not keep reading...

Install instructions

1. Download the ZIP: http://www.vrdesigns.net/privatepatch/Barbarossa_Public_Beta_Patch_103m3.zip

2. Find your game directory.

3. Rename your existing Barbarossa.exe to something like Barbarossa_backup.exe

4. Rename your BarbScenarios directory to something like BarbScenarios_backup

5. Unzip the zip downloaded in step 1 and copy the contents inside your game directory.

6. Start the game and verify you have v1.03m3 in the left-top corner of the main menu. (the scenario setup screen should read in very small print 21st march below the title)

NOTE: That save games are fully compatible between all versions in circulation.
NOTE: Only the items below noted with (E) should kick in with older saved files, for the other fixes to kickin you'd need a fresh start.

Changelist 1.03m

- War Diary implemented

- Map Graphics improved

- Hoth’s photo implemented correctly on PG tab

- Auto relocate Siege Artillery back to Warsaw at game start if moved during Free Set-up

- Siege Artillery NATO symbol changed.

- Reorganised preferences tab

- Multiple different resolution options (for 1280x960 or higher)

- Changed back the smaller OFF and DEF modifiers (people didnt seem to like it)

- Added AP+RDN to select attacking units popup

- Big and minimalist counters now also show divisional + same hq highlighting

Changelist 1.03h

PBEM++ wrong preview settings issues fixed (fixed when challenges are made with 1.03h) (E)

Windows 10 rendering improvements. Used to look slightly fuzzy. Should be sharp now. (E)

Free Set Up option for both sides (Pre-Start turn)

Fixed first turn Soviet AI defensive penalty (normal AI) from -45% to -65% (they were transposed for the first and second turns)

Update ‘Tougher Soviet’ mouse over text to indicate it’s non-historical

German fast Division field maintenance only occurs if unit didn’t move OR fight (previously only did not move)

Fixed a few message typo's.

Ranks corrected, eg. Kol.Gen -> Gen.Obst., MajGen -> Maj.Gen.

Past Relationship no longer affects Soviet Difficulty rating if Germany is an AI

Additional (-30%) Soviet AI Defensive penalties on Easy Mode (for duration of game)

Finland Border violation and Fatigue movement bugs fixed

Siege artillery reverts to travelling on ALL rail for Decisions OFF and Easy mode (all else is German rail only). Also in Easy mode the effect is to reduce entrenchment levels to zero (down to 100 for all else)

Fixed faulty +5 PP refund when Soviets play Defensive Posture card in a theatre where Zhukov is present and there is a Comm’s breakdown

Helper buttons - fixed bug where buttons were disappearing when first clicked and prevented multiple uses of a button in a single turn

Finnish units base colour changed to a darker blue

Commanders Report - Supply added

Changelist 1.03b

The Zhukov / Card cost issue has been fixed

The Soviet AI no longer receives a small extra AI bonus during the German Human turn. This should making winning against the AI on normal at bit less difficult.

Changelist 1.03

This update is primarily aimed at balancing the game for the Soviet Player, whether versus the AI or PBEM.

Fixes

Army Status report fatigue tool tip made clearer
German 110st Inf changed to 110th Inf (and a few others)
Fatigue bands (eg. Low/Mod/High/Severe) corrected in Div report (minor bug)

Engine Changes
After panicking units can never have more morale remaining then basemorale. (E)
Mouse over on unit morale now shows base morale as well. (E)
P-key in history was performing as intended but now also changes stop/play text on button. (E)
The history and AI replay of regular moves (non-combat) speed has been halved to be able to actually see what's going on. (E)
The 0-6 hotkeys now also work with keypad (if numlock switched on) (E)
The 0 key now displays the units again when pressed for the second time. (E)
Could not pinpoint the Korean combat detail button issue, but at least prevented the combat window from closing on any key. Now only closes with SPACE or ESC. (E)

Balance

New Combat calculation check: Reduced Chance Panic Check is now done if losses+retreats are above base morale of unit troops.

NOTE: Chances are not huge, but you’ll be taking a risk when putting retreat standing order above the base morale of the unit. Chance for a reduced chance panic increases with the difference between morale and base morale getting smaller. This makes it harder for the Germans as they can get stellar morale units in early mid-game.

Siege Artillery restricted to German gauge rail
Siege artillery base delay % now increased by a small amount (round # / 3) to represent the increasing inability of the converted rail to handle very heavy trains
Siege Artillery now reduces entrenchment levels to 100 (halved), rather than 0

NOTE: Siege artillery was overpowered and has been place on a more realistic footing. It's still very useful but no longer a silver bullet.

Minor city Ports no longer access seaborne supply. Units cut-off in grey dot port cities will be treated as any other cut-off units. Units in red dot major cities will continue to receive seaborne supply as will any nearby units in the pocket.
Sevastopol now a Major City (Major Garrison, Threat increase if lost, 5 VP)

NOTE: Sevastopol has increased in importance not only from extra VP (and Paranoia increase if lost) but it also provides bonus PP's while held (see below)

Soviet Retreat % locked at 50% (normal) for first active German turn only in order to prevent a Soviet Player exploit (changing all to 100%)

Initial Soviet Blitzkrieg and Entrenchment penalties no longer apply to Soviet units situated in the Finnish, Romanian and Hungarian border region.
Soviet units on the Romanian & Hungarian border regions commence with a Neutral posture (previously offensive)
Soviet adverse terrain bonuses (forest and marsh hexes) no longer apply to Soviet units in the Finnish border region

NOTE: The Romanian/Hungarian frontier is no longer the walk over it was before. Both this and the Finnish frontier are immune from the big early turn Soviet penalties as they were a lot better situated when the campaign commenced. On the other hand the Soviets no longer gain a forest/marsh bonus against the Finns as they were equally competent, if not more so, in fighting in this terrain.

Soviet units that did NOT activate no receive 50 AP (previously 40 AP)

NOTE: The extra 10 AP should allow the 12th Soviet Army in the Southern Front (and a few others) to retreat across rivers.

Leningrad, if unable to trace route to Murmanks (hex 41,0, northern rail line) or Gorki, will have it’s per turn supply amount reduced to 200 (was 20,000)

NOTE: A cut off Leningrad still retains a small amount of supply as it's assumed to have it's own limited resources but it's only enough for a small force.

Zhukov’s presence at a Front (any HQ) lowers cost of Def Posture card for that Front by -5 PP (no effect if he is at STAVKA or travelling)
Soviet Reinforcements will arrive configured to a Defensive Posture (previously Neutral) if the objective city in that Front is under threat

NOTE: Two big changes here to enable the Soviets to better defend their objectives. Once the Germans get close enough reinforcements will automatically turn up in a defensive posture (desperate times require desperate measures) and Zhukov now has the ability to lower the cost in whatever front he is in. The Combat bonus differential between a Soviet Division set to Offensive posture and Defensive is 60%.

Soviets gain bonus PP’s for each Strategic city held beyond a certain point (see Staff report rd 3+). Cities generating PP’s are shown with their name in Yellow

NOTE: The idea here is to provide the Soviets with additional PP's (not a lot but enough to make a difference) which is handed out if they can manage to hold strategic cities past a certain point (shown both in the Daily Staff Log from round 3 onwards and visually by the city having it's name displayed in Yellow).

Soviet ‘No Retreat’ card initial cost changed to 0 PP (was 5 PP)

NOTE: Major Garrisons have greatly increased in value with the changes to Siege Artillery. The cost of the first one is now free (+5 PP for each additional one).

Soviet Player gains pre-set fortifications at game start at Leningrad & Moscow

NOTE: These represent a small number of preset fortifications that the Soviet player would normally build. It frees up the Garrison card for alternative fortification strategies.

German Starting Fuel Bonus lowered a touch (-1k bbls) in each theatre

‘Tougher Soviets’ option added (all Soviet Reinforcements +5 XP), Diff +15

NOTE: This is a straight difficulty increase aimed at PBEM players.

A number of German Commander Reports added to highlight problems.

NOTE: There are five reports displaying, for example, the Divisions with the highest fatigue levels by theatre. They represent the situation at the start of each turn and aim to help the German Player identify problem areas without having to ask each Division to report status.

FINAL NOTE: Balance is a difficult thing to get right and it would greatly help us if you turned the Metrics setting on, if you haven't already, so we had some hard data to work off. (See the Metrics post in the stickies section of the forum).

Testing
Feel free to give feedback in this thread!


Best wishes,

Vic and Cameron



willgamer -> RE: Public Beta 1.03 : Balance Adjustments (1/27/2016 3:27:11 PM)

Vic said-
"FINAL NOTE: Balance is a difficult thing to get right and it would greatly help us if you turned the Metrics setting on, if you haven't already, so we had some hard data to work off. (See the Metrics post in the stickies section of the forum)."

Perhaps the metrics could be further refined. When turned on, a new drop down box could ask the player to identify whether he considers himself to be novice, intermediate, advanced, or elite.



James Ward -> RE: Public Beta 1.03 : Balance Adjustments (1/27/2016 4:00:58 PM)

Looks good.

One suggestion if you want to test it is to set the front line soviet units to 25% retreat level initially. This lets you open up some decent holes the first turn where some good size pockets can be formed.



Flaviusx -> RE: Public Beta 1.03 : Balance Adjustments (1/27/2016 4:54:44 PM)

I might quibble with some of this stuff (Leningrad supply could be a bit higher, still think major garrison costs should be fixed at 5 PPs) but on the whole it looks solid. Am especially pleased to see the positive PP incentives for the Sovs to hold on to territory.

It should be much easier to get defensive posture now, too. 35 PP investment + Zhukov = free defensive posture for a given theater. Heck, 15 PPs investment +5 per army for a given theater with Zhukov is not terrible. This is especially important down south. And having reinforcements arrive with said posture for threatened theaters is a pretty huge.



governato -> RE: Public Beta 1.03 : Balance Adjustments (1/27/2016 6:21:06 PM)

these are all excellent changes going in the right direction!




Falke -> RE: Public Beta 1.03 : Balance Adjustments (1/27/2016 8:01:45 PM)

quote:

Zhukov’s presence at a Front (any HQ) lowers cost of Def Posture card for that Front by -5 PP (no effect if he is at STAVKA or travelling)


Small Bug(s) with this(Turn 3):
a) Card costs 5 pp but should be 10pp (other fronts are 15pp)
b) If you get failed communication when playing the Card you gain 10PP



Flaviusx -> RE: Public Beta 1.03 : Balance Adjustments (1/27/2016 8:20:39 PM)

I'd say those are big bugs!



Tweedledumb -> RE: Public Beta 1.03 : Balance Adjustments (1/28/2016 1:38:12 AM)

Thanks, Vic (and Cameron), for your ongoing support of this unbelievably good game.



lancer -> RE: Public Beta 1.03 : Balance Adjustments (1/28/2016 1:53:16 AM)

Hi,

Looks like the law of unintended consequences has affected the Zhukov part of the update.

Sit tight, we'll get a new version out shortly.

Cheers,
Cameron



Flaviusx -> RE: Public Beta 1.03 : Balance Adjustments (1/28/2016 2:03:18 AM)

Yeah, this is borked. Among other things, Zhukov doesn't need to be assigned to a Theater for his cost reduction to apply. He will grant the bonus even from an Army.

There's also some oddities in how bonus PPs are getting calculated, but that might be me not understanding the mechanic. It seems to be generating more PPs than it should as time goes on. Is the bonus per city increasing by design or is this a bug?

But it is definitely worth fighting forward now. You can more or less average an extra 4 PPs a turn pretty quickly doing so. That adds up and makes the expensive cards much more playable than before. This indeed helps to offset in large measure the increase in costs.



nukkxx5058 -> RE: Public Beta 1.03 : Balance Adjustments (1/28/2016 2:19:15 AM)

Cool !
"0 key" and numpad already implemented !
Thanks guys for your reactivity [&o]



Vic -> RE: Public Beta 1.03 : Balance Adjustments (1/28/2016 11:54:56 AM)

v1.03b is coming up shortly! Thanks for spotting those issues so quickly. Thats why we do PUBLIC BETA's :)



Vic -> RE: Public Beta 1.03 : Balance Adjustments (1/28/2016 12:20:38 PM)

Updated with 1.03b.

Best wishes,
Vic



Flaviusx -> RE: Public Beta 1.03 : Balance Adjustments (1/28/2016 3:51:51 PM)

Are the bonus PPs working as intended then? I confess not entirely understanding how this amount is calculated as it doesn't seem to match +1 per active city objective. I was getting bigger numbers than that.



VANorm -> RE: Testing thread for Public Beta 1.03b : Balance Adjustments (1/28/2016 8:28:09 PM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: Vic


Soviets gain bonus PP’s for each Strategic city held beyond a certain point (see Staff report rd 3+). Cities generating PP’s are shown with their name in Yellow

NOTE: The idea here is to provide the Soviets with additional PP's (not a lot but enough to make a difference) which is handed out if they can manage to hold strategic cities past a certain point (shown both in the Daily Staff Log from round 3 onwards and visually by the city having it's name displayed in Yellow).


Vic and Cameron



In Turn 1, as the Soviets, I don't see any city names in yellow displayed on the map in 1.03b. Are these only displayed later and maybe variable, so the Russian player does not know exactly what they will be?



Michael T -> RE: Public Beta 1.03 : Balance Adjustments (1/28/2016 8:30:07 PM)

quote:

Soviet Reinforcements will arrive configured to a Defensive Posture (previously Neutral) if the objective city in that Front is under threat


What exactly defines the 'threat'?

Also I see nothing in the patch that stops a Soviet just deciding to pack up and defend the 3 objectives. Why fight forward? A few extra PP if you fight forward. Nice. But you still need to penalize the player who gives up the whole country just to defend the objectives. This is not the mindset of Stalin. You have provided the carrot but not the stick. Why not a reduction in PP if said cities fall to early? That is not unreasonable.




Klydon -> RE: Public Beta 1.03 : Balance Adjustments (1/28/2016 9:43:26 PM)

The issue is a tough one. On one hand, you can penalize for not forcing the Russian to hold, but what happen if they tried in good faith or took a blood bath doing it? Great.. you took very heavy casualties and get nothing for it except you avoided a penalty to make things worse.

On the other hand, you can reward for holding. The Russians may take extra casualties holding, but hopefully some extra points is good enough incentive to hold. For the Germans, it places the burden to advance a bit more faster than perhaps they would like and if they don't take those areas, it will start piling up on the Germans that the Russians are going to get stronger by holding onto areas more forward if the Germans don't take them.

If I have to pick one or the other, it would be the second. While the Russians play run away, the Germans also don't advance as recklessly as they did at times either and if they do in some games, they are almost bullet proof in that most any Russian attack against them is a disaster.

At any rate, I also agree on some how avoiding the clumping of the front into 3 separate groups. While that might be somewhat plausible in the Leningrad area and in front of Moscow, it is not in the south where there are a lot of different important areas all over the place.



Michael T -> RE: Public Beta 1.03 : Balance Adjustments (1/28/2016 9:59:22 PM)

I am thinking in the context of what Flavius did in our last PBEM. If he were to employ the same strategy again with this latest patch and cover Gorki then I fail to see how he (or any experienced player for that matter) employing the same strategy could lose.

I am happy enough with the changes if the Russian fights forward. But the Russian who runs with everything and just defends the 3 objectives has a pretty solid position for doing the very thing that Stalin would not have tolerated.



lancer -> RE: Public Beta 1.03 : Balance Adjustments (1/28/2016 10:01:29 PM)

Hi,

The bonus PP's are best understood by looking at the Daily Staff Log for the Soviets. It doesn't kick in until round 3.

Strategic, red dot, cities will provide a bonus + 1 PP for each turn they are held beyond a certain round (shown in the Staff log).

Once a city is 'Active' (it's been held past the point required and is generating a bonus PP) it'd name is displayed in Yellow on the map (up until it is captured) so both sides can see which cities are generating bonus PP's. Cities that could potentially generate PP's but which haven't been held for long enough to do so don't receive the special yellow name treatment.

It's possible for the Soviets to gain bonus PP's from other sources but there is a summary of where all their PP's are derived from in the Daily Staff Log.

Cheers,
Cameron








lancer -> RE: Public Beta 1.03 : Balance Adjustments (1/28/2016 10:04:53 PM)

Hi,

Somebody asked at what point do Reinforcements arrive configured to a Defensive posture?

It's when the objective city in that front is under threat. When's that?

It's deliberately undefined to prevent people trying to game the system.

If you were living in Moscow at the time it's about where you'd expect it to be at the point where you'd start packing your suitcase.

Cheers,
Cameron



Flaviusx -> RE: Public Beta 1.03 : Balance Adjustments (1/28/2016 10:05:49 PM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: Michael T

I am thinking in the context of what Flavius did in our last PBEM. If he were to employ the same strategy again with this latest patch and cover Gorki then I fail to see how he (or any experienced player for that matter) employing the same strategy could lose.

I am happy enough with the changes if the Russian fights forward. But the Russian who runs with everything and just defends the 3 objectives has a pretty solid position for doing the very thing that Stalin would not have tolerated.


I wouldn't do it. Not with 1.03. On the contrary, I'm looking pretty hard on how to cling to objectives well forward as much as possible.

The extra PPs make all the different to me. An increase of 30-40% in my PP budget is a big freaking deal and the only way to bring in the big cards in a timely fashion. I see you want penalties. I believe these are otiose, but wouldn't object to them. Sure, bring em on.

But if you plan as the Soviet on getting out those C&C and defense reduction cards, and affording lots of major garrisons, you've got to fight pretty bitterly forward.

In test play I'm dropping garrisons in Riga and Odessa from the getgo. Kiev of course. Tallinn. Kharkov. Zhukov is doing interesting stuff. By turn 3 the extra points are flowing and if you can stay ahead of the schedule will keep flowing.



Flaviusx -> RE: Public Beta 1.03 : Balance Adjustments (1/28/2016 10:08:16 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: lancer

Hi,

Somebody asked at what point do Reinforcements arrive configured to a Defensive posture?

It's when the objective city in that front is under threat. When's that?

It's deliberately undefined to prevent people trying to game the system.

If you were living in Moscow at the time it's about where you'd expect it to be at the point where you'd start packing your suitcase.

Cheers,
Cameron


Heh.

I've seen it happen so far in front of Moscow. The trigger point seems to be somewhere along the x axis near Vyazma, possibly just east of it.

So far I haven't seen it trigger elsewhere yet. You've got to get pretty close to Leningrad for this to happen near as I can tell, past Luga and Narva is my guess. Rostov, no clue.



etsadler -> RE: Public Beta 1.03 : Balance Adjustments (1/29/2016 12:04:45 AM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: Michael T

I am thinking in the context of what Flavius did in our last PBEM. If he were to employ the same strategy again with this latest patch and cover Gorki then I fail to see how he (or any experienced player for that matter) employing the same strategy could lose.

I am happy enough with the changes if the Russian fights forward. But the Russian who runs with everything and just defends the 3 objectives has a pretty solid position for doing the very thing that Stalin would not have tolerated.


Perhaps not surprisingly I like my idea of granting VP each turn. The great Soviet Skeedaddle will cost them the game by VP if all they hold are the three objectives under that scheme.



Tweedledumb -> RE: Testing thread for Public Beta 1.03b : Balance Adjustments (1/29/2016 12:42:37 AM)

I'm playing the Soviets on June 22nd in a 1.03b PBEM game and every single Army did not activate.

That's par for the course, but they all have only 40 AP.

I thought they would get 50 AP in this version?!

The divisional reports say: Army not activated -60 AP

Ignore this POST - I didn't properly update barbarossa.dc3

Sorry for the inconvenience...



Falke -> RE: Public Beta 1.03 : Balance Adjustments (1/29/2016 3:16:03 PM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: Flaviusx

Are the bonus PPs working as intended then? I confess not entirely understanding how this amount is calculated as it doesn't seem to match +1 per active city objective. I was getting bigger numbers than that.


I am getting exactly what is in the staff Report but:-

Game started with 1.03 then upgraded to 1.03b (in case this is relevant)

4th July Germans took Minsk - I still got 1PP for Minsk - Could be WAD
8th July - I Still got 1PP for Minsk.

Have to Abandon this game though, since the Zhukov/Def.Card fix seems to Need a restart



Orm -> RE: Testing thread for Public Beta 1.03b : Balance Adjustments (1/29/2016 6:05:35 PM)

quote:

Siege Artillery restricted to German gauge rail
Siege artillery base delay % now increased by a small amount (round # / 3) to represent the increasing inability of the converted rail to handle very heavy trains
Siege Artillery now reduces entrenchment levels to 100 (halved), rather than 0

NOTE: Siege artillery was overpowered and has been place on a more realistic footing. It's still very useful but no longer a silver bullet.

Somehow I doubt this statement.

For me to use the siege artillery against Odessa I would have to direct the German rail conversion, and eventually the supply route, through Odessa and then wait for the workers to change the rail gauge and then wait even longer for the siege gun to actually arrive. All this time I have to either use another, now secondary, supply route or wait to move my supply chain forward. And waiting for the siege artillery to invest Riga seems even worse.

And considering that these cities (or so I assume) will generate extra political points while waiting for the siege train arrives makes me doubt that I will have much use for the train. Maybe sending it towards a city that already has German gauge leading up to it.

And what is the earliest, practical, date that you can even have the German gauge to a main objective?

And if you plan to use the siege artillery you must push the rail conversion as fast forward as possible. You can then forget any options that slows this (and I liked selecting 'em).

But what do I know? I am still learning how to play this game. [:D]



DicedT -> RE: Testing thread for Public Beta 1.03b : Balance Adjustments (1/29/2016 7:13:34 PM)

So the consensus is that the game favors the Germans? Because almost all of these changes seem to favor the Soviets.



barkhorn45 -> RE: Testing thread for Public Beta 1.03b : Balance Adjustments (1/29/2016 8:01:54 PM)

Unintended consequences,in order to get siege artillery to Riga you now are forced to set agn route to go to riga which I don't find optimal prefer the kaunas route.
Your right s.a.is now virtually useless.
quote:

ORIGINAL: Orm

quote:

Siege Artillery restricted to German gauge rail
Siege artillery base delay % now increased by a small amount (round # / 3) to represent the increasing inability of the converted rail to handle very heavy trains
Siege Artillery now reduces entrenchment levels to 100 (halved), rather than 0

NOTE: Siege artillery was overpowered and has been place on a more realistic footing. It's still very useful but no longer a silver bullet.

Somehow I doubt this statement.

For me to use the siege artillery against Odessa I would have to direct the German rail conversion, and eventually the supply route, through Odessa and then wait for the workers to change the rail gauge and then wait even longer for the siege gun to actually arrive. All this time I have to either use another, now secondary, supply route or wait to move my supply chain forward. And waiting for the siege artillery to invest Riga seems even worse.

And considering that these cities (or so I assume) will generate extra political points while waiting for the siege train arrives makes me doubt that I will have much use for the train. Maybe sending it towards a city that already has German gauge leading up to it.

And what is the earliest, practical, date that you can even have the German gauge to a main objective?

And if you plan to use the siege artillery you must push the rail conversion as fast forward as possible. You can then forget any options that slows this (and I liked selecting 'em).

But what do I know? I am still learning how to play this game. [:D]




Michael T -> RE: Testing thread for Public Beta 1.03b : Balance Adjustments (1/29/2016 8:22:28 PM)

quote:

So the consensus is that the game favors the Germans? Because almost all of these changes seem to favor the Soviets.


It did for sure. But now? Maybe the other way. They did not address the Soviet run away strategy.



barkhorn45 -> RE: Testing thread for Public Beta 1.03b : Balance Adjustments (1/29/2016 8:58:23 PM)

Have they been able to stop it in wite?And it's been out for how long?



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