Don Bowen
Posts: 8183
Joined: 7/13/2000
From: Georgetown, Texas, USA
Status: offline
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Ok, this is the way pilot assignments work as of Version 1.8.0.1
First, there are (and always have been) two pilot pools:
- The generic pilot pool, which consists simply of a counter of available pilots of a default experience level.
- The Named pilot pool, which consists initially of pilots created in the editor and assigned to airgroups at some future date (have a delay specified).
There have been a number of changes in the handling of the Named Pilot Pool, beginning prior to Version 1.8.
- Originally (prior to the onset of running-out-of-pilots problems), named pilots were assigned to a specific airgroup. If more pilots were assigned to an airgroup than were needed, the extras just sat there – waiting to be needed and not available for any other use.
- Sometime in the Version 1.7series, protection against running out of pilots was installed. This included removing extra named pilots waiting for use in their assigned groups and discarding them.
- In Version 1.8, the running-out-of-pilots and pilot assignment routines were modified to retain the freed named pilots. Their airgroup assignment was cleared but they were no longer discarded and became available for assignment to other groups of the same nationality - thus preventing historical figures from simply disappearing from the game.
- In Version 1.8.0.1 we provided the disband-with-merging routine to allow players to withdraw airgroups and free the pilots for use in other squadrons. An important reason for this is to provide some control over pilot assignment when approaching the running-out-of-pilots point (30,000). I also like it as a way of cleaning up unwanted/unneeded airgroups and provides ability for a possible house-rule involving airgroup withdrawal.
The process for assigning a pilot to an airgroup (whether automatic or manual with the Get Pilot buttons) is:
- Pilots allocated to the airgroup in the editor but not yet assigned. These are Named (historical) pilots that initially had a delay, whose delay has expired, and were not previously needed by the specified airgroup.
- Named pilots of the same nationality that are available (no delay) and not assigned to an airgroup. These will be pilots freed by the new disband feature or by the running-out-of-pilots routines. Previously existing edits (Version 1.0?) prevent the use of pilots created in the editor but not allocated to an airgroup. This has not been changed in any way.
- Pilots from the National Pilot Pool. These pilots do not exist until needed and are created on-the-fly. The Pilot Pool counter is reduced and an empty pilot slot is used to create a new pilot with a generated name and standard experience for the Nation/Date.
- Untrained pilots. If steps 1-3 do not successfully provide (enough) pilots, an untrained rookie is created. Again, a pilot is generated into an empty slot, but with abysmal experience.
It is important to note that available Named Pilots are used prior to the generic pilot pool. This means that pilots freed by disbanding will indeed be available for assignment to other groups of the same nationality. There is no direct way to control which named pilot goes where but a careful and cunning player could use this as a method to transfer high-experience pilots from one type of aircraft to another. Such transfers would really happen in wartime but the mechanics of WITP do allow unrealistic transfer of experience from one aircraft type to another – quality transport pilots morph into quality fighter pilots.
It is also important to note that running out of pilots is still a major concern and disbanding airgroups is the only way to recover pilots.
I await the deluge.
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RE: War In The Pacific Updated to v1.801 - 
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