💥 1941 Global Command Decision - Official Thread

[Jason Green-Lowe]

@thedog Sounds good to me! Looking forward to giving it another try, although it might be a while; juggling lots of projects right now.

[TheDog]

As and when, we are just happy for the feedback and engagement to make it better.

[wc_sumpton]

@thedog, @Black_Elk

If I'm reading it correctly, the Pacific-Allies receive the British Production with the Carrier-Fleet, but not the Fighter-Jet:

<attachment name="triggerAttachment_Britain_Research_Fighter-Jet" attachTo="Britain" javaClass="TriggerAttachment" type="player">
	<option name="conditions" value="conditionAttachment_Britain_Research_Fighter-Jet_Success"/>
	<!-- <option name="productionRule" value="production_Britain:buyFighter-Jet"/> -- Need to remove this line -->
	<option name="notification" value="Notify_Britain_Research_1944_3Q"/>
	<option name="players" value="$All-Players$"/>
	<option name="uses" value ="1"/> <!-- only do this once -->
	<option name="when" value="before:BritainPurchase"/>
</attachment>
<!-- New attachments to add/remove Fighter-Jet -->
<!-- Add before British Production -->
<attachment name="triggerAttachment_Britain_Add_Fighter-Jet" attachTo="Britain" javaClass="TriggerAttachment" type="player">
	<option name="conditions" value="conditionAttachment_Britain_Research_Fighter-Jet_Success"/>
	<option name="productionRule" value="production_Britain:buyFighter-Jet"/>
	<option name="when" value="before:BritainPurchase"/>
</attachment>
<!-- Now remove Fighter-Jet prior to Pacific-Allies procuction -->
<attachment name="triggerAttachment_Britain_Remove_Fighter-Jet" attachTo="Britain" javaClass="TriggerAttachment" type="player">
	<option name="conditions" value="conditionAttachment_Britain_Research_Fighter-Jet_Success"/>
	<option name="productionRule" value="production_Britain:-buyFighter-Jet"/>
	<option name="when" value="before:Pacific-AlliesPurchase"/>
</attachment>

Will talk about the German's V-2 rocket, and Japan's Kamikaze-Plane later.

Cheers...

[TheDog]

Correct.
Not historically correct, if not, they are bit mundane.

[wc_sumpton]

@thedog, @Black_Elk

The German's V-2 rocket can only be started after the completion of the V-1 (I would split up the V-1 and me262):

<attachment name="conditionAttachment_German_Research_V-2_Success" attachTo="Germany" javaClass="RulesAttachment" type="player">
	<option name="switch" value="true"/> <!-- This time leave this switch 'true' -->
</attachment>
<!-- Do not need a when to start condition, V-2 starts after V-1 completion -->

<attachment name="triggerAttachment_German_Research_V-2_Chance" attachTo="Germany" javaClass="TriggerAttachment" type="player">
	<option name="conditions" value="conditionAttachment_German_Research_V-1_Success"/> <!-- Tells when V-1 completed -->
	<option name="conditions" value="conditionAttachment_German_Research_V-2_Success"/>
	<option name="chance" value="1:4"/> <!-- Acts like a Tech roll -->
	<option name="chanceIncrementOnFailure" value="1"/> <!-- Increasing chance on next turn -->
	<option name="playerAttachmentName" value="RulesAttachment" count="conditionAttachment_German_Research_V-2_Success"/>
	<option name="playerProperty" value="switch" count="false"/> <!-- was left a true, now change to false -->
	<option name="when" value="before:GermanCombatMove"/>
</attachment>

<attachment name="triggerAttachment_German_Research_V-2" attachTo="Germany" javaClass="TriggerAttachment" type="player">
	<option name="conditions" value="conditionAttachment_German_Research_V-2_Success"/>
        <option name="invert" value="true"/> <!-- change the switch about so check for the inverse -->
	<option name="productionRule" value="production_German:buyV-2"/>
	<option name="notification" value="Notify_Germany_Research_1944_4Q"/>
	<option name="players" value="$All-Players$"/>
	<option name="uses" value ="1"/> <!-- only do this once -->
	<option name="when" value="beforeGermanPurchase"/>
</attachment>

So this will set the V-2 to only begin after the V-1 completion.

Cheers...

[Black_Elk]

I'm on board with all these suggestions

I was running experiments for the relief. Right now it's around 90mb when I reconstruct from the reliefTiles folder. If I desaturate the ocean sea zones and reduce their opacity I can get this down to just shy of 70mb. This would allow the player a bit more control over the color blue that displays in-game by modifying the blue in the baseline, while still preserving the basic blue-ish/white glow effect of the border. Looks like this with the current default baseTile colors...

If I desaturate the entire image the relief would then be down to about 35mb. This would allow the player to change the ocean to any color (doesn't necessarily need to be a blue) but will also show land more evenly colored over. A little washed out basically, since only the color-value information would come through from the under terrain. It's more pastel compared to the current cause the vibrancy is only coming from the national hex. Essentially color there would be more true to the assigned national Hexes, since the only thing that's really changing within the relief is the value (brightness/darkness) within that defined color range. The difference is subtle, but still noticeable for me. It will adjust how the national hues present in some spots, particularly for Germany, which becomes more of a uniform gray. Looks like this...

Basically in both of those what I did was to make the sea zone tiles a midtone gray, and then put that portion of the relief at 60% opacity, so 40% of whatever the base color is will show through. The user can then control the exact hue of the ocean by just paintbucketing a chosen color into the baseline image, running it through the baseTiles breaker, and then the relief would show that color/color range. Gives the user a way to tweak the ocean color on the fly that way. Not as easy as changing Hex colors for the national ownership on land in the map.props, but gives at least some flexibility. All I lost in the process was the lighthouse beacon color really, cause those went ghost, though I could add those back in pretty easily. Like just pasting the graphic over again I guess. Probably only a few kb for that. For me the full bw is a bit too slate, so I think it's kinda worth the extra 30mb for just a hint of the color there, but for people who like a pastel that's pretty easy. Like just make it grayscale and running it back through hehe. Mostly it's the color information in the land/ocean relief that takes up the most space, and the blue is about a third of that or more, so got a pretty good savings just from that.

Anyhow, just thought I'd share real quick in case that idea seems cool for a space saver. Not sure which people prefer. I'm pretty used to running the relief tilebreaker in the map creator tools, but might not be super intuitive. Still if players like to customize and change colors around, I still think would be nice to have some way for the end user to modify the blue. Just cause it's the only thing that can't be quickly tweaked by assigning new Hexes in the map.properties.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/s6zqwaraslute38/relief_map_sz_bw.png?dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/s/o5iqtfbd57r8w83/relief_map_full_bw.png?dl=0

[wc_sumpton]

@TheDog, @black_elk

Japan's Kamikaze-Plane, like the Inf-Conscripted, are units designed to give a losing player a chance to swing the game. Kamikaze-Planes should only be developed/deployed when an invading fleet remains within The Empire's territorial waters after Japan's combat phase. Fleet size could be 7 or more surface warships, and territorial waters are the zones Japan owns at the start of the game.

<!-- Check for invading fleet, 7 surface warships within Japan's territorial waters -->
<attachment name="conditionAttachment_Fleet_Invading_Japan_7in1" attachTo="Japan" javaClass="RulesAttachment" type="player">
        <!-- One originally owned sea zones -->
	<option name="enemyPresenceTerritories" value="original" count="1"/>
        <!-- 7 surface warships -->
        <option name="unitPresence" value="Destroyer:Cruiser:Battleship:Carrier:Carrier-Fleet" count="7"/>
</attachment>
<!-- Might also want to check for a split up fleet 3 in 2 -->
<attachment name="conditionAttachment_Fleet_Invading_Japan_3in2" attachTo="Japan" javaClass="RulesAttachment" type="player">
        <!-- Two originally owned sea zones -->
	<option name="enemyPresenceTerritories" value="original" count="2"/>
        <!-- 3 surface warships -->
        <option name="unitPresence" value="Destroyer:Cruiser:Battleship:Carrier:Carrier-Fleet" count="3"/>
</attachment>
<!-- Are fleets invading Japan -->
<attachment name="conditionAttachment_Fleets_Invading_Japan" attachTo="Japan" javaClass="RulesAttachment" type="player">
	<option name="conditions" value="conditionAttachment_Fleet_Invading_Japan_7in1:conditionAttachment_Fleet_Invading_Japan_3in2"/>
         <option name="conditionType" value="OR"/>
</attachment>

Now that the 'when' is done, state development:

<!-- Japan Kamikaze-Plane -->
<attachment name="conditionAttachment_Japan_Kamikaze-Plane_Success" attachTo="Japan" javaClass="RulesAttachment" type="player">
	<option name="switch" value="false"/>
</attachment>
<attachment name="conditionAttachment_Japan_Kamikaze-Plane_Invert" attachTo="Japan" javaClass="RulesAttachment" type="player">
	<option name="conditions" value="conditionAttachment_Japan_Kamikaze-Plane_Success"/>
	<option name="invert" value="true"/>
</attachment>
<attachment name="conditionAttachment_Japan_Research_Kamikaze-Plane" attachTo="Japan" javaClass="RulesAttachment" type="player">
	<option name="conditions" value="conditionAttachment_Japan_Research_Kamikaze-Plane_Invert"/>
        <!-- The soonest development may start -->
	<option name="rounds" value="11-+"/>
</attachment>
<attachment name="triggerAttachment_Japan_Research_Kamikaze-Plane_Chance" attachTo="Japan" javaClass="TriggerAttachment" type="player">
        <!-- Research can start and stop depending on the following condition -->
	<option name="conditions" value="conditionAttachment_Fleets_Invading_Japan"/>
	<option name="conditions" value="conditionAttachment_Japan_Research_Kamikaze-Plane"/>
	<option name="chance" value="1:4"/>
	<option name="chanceIncrementOnFailure" value="1"/>
	<option name="playerAttachmentName" value="RulesAttachment" count="conditionAttachment_Japan_Kamikaze-Plane_Success"/>
	<option name="playerProperty" value="switch" count="true"/>
        <!-- The Emperor wants to give his fleets a chance to diminish the invading threat -->
	<option name="when" value="after:Japan:Combat"/>
</attachment>
<attachment name="triggerAttachment_Japan_Research_Kamikaze-Plane" attachTo="Japan" javaClass="TriggerAttachment" type="player">
	<option name="conditions" value="conditionAttachment_Japan_Research_Kamikaze-Plane_Success"/>
	<option name="notification" value="Notify_Japan_Research_Kamikaze-Plane"/>
	<option name="players" value="$All-Players$"/>
	<option name="uses" value="1"/>
	<option name="when" value="before:JapanPurchase"/>
</attachment>
<!-- Add before Japan Production -->
<attachment name="triggerAttachment_Japan_Add_Kamikaze-Plane" attachTo="Japan" javaClass="TriggerAttachment" type="player">
        <!-- Only add if there is an invading fleet -->
	<option name="conditions" value="conditionAttachment_Fleets_Invading_Japan"/>
	<option name="conditions" value="conditionAttachment_Japan_Research_Kamikaze-Plane_Success"/>
	<option name="productionRule" value="production_Japan:buyKamikaze-Plane"/>
	<option name="when" value="before:JapanPurchase"/>
</attachment>
<!-- Alway remove the Kamikaze-Plane because conditions will merit when to purchase -->
<attachment name="triggerAttachment_Japan_Remove_Kamikaze-Plane" attachTo="Japan" javaClass="TriggerAttachment" type="player">
	<option name="conditions" value="conditionAttachment_Japan_Research_Kamikaze-Plane_Success"/>
	<option name="productionRule" value="production_Japan:-buyKamikaze-Plane"/>
        <!-- can be done anytime before purchase -->
	<option name="when" value="after:JapanCombat"/>
</attachment>

Inf-Conscript is done in about the same way, but would use 'directOwnershipTerritories' and 'controlledNoWater'.

Cheers...

[wc_sumpton]

@TheDog, @Black_Elk

Using the new research, Germany's Submarine-Adv, and Submarine placements would look like:

<!-- Germany Player & AI Submarine  - these subs are free, but must have a Industry-Hvy in specific territory -->
<!-- Germany Submarine-Adv switches -->
<attachment name="conditionAttachment_Germany_Research_Submarine-Adv_Success" attachTo="Germany" javaClass="RulesAttachment" type="player">
	<option name="switch" value="false"/>
</attachment>

<attachment name="conditionAttachment_Germany_Research_Submarine-Adv_Invert" attachTo="Germany" javaClass="RulesAttachment" type="player">
	<option name="conditions" value="conditionAttachment_Germany_Research_Submarine-Adv_Success"/>
	<option name="invert" value="true"/>	<!-- need to check the inverted condition -->
</attachment>

<!-- Check for Industry-Hvy in Hamburg-Lower Saxony -->
<attachment name="conditionAttachment_NationalTheme_Germany-2-Ham" attachTo="Germany" javaClass="RulesAttachment" type="player">
	<option name="directPresenceTerritories" value="Hamburg-Lower Saxony" count="1"/>
	<option name="unitPresence" value="Industry-Hvy" count="1"/>
	<option name="rounds" value="2-+"/>
</attachment>

<!-- Submarine placement chance -->
<attachment foreach="$SubmarineSZ$" name="triggerAttachment_Germany-2-Ham_@SubmarineSZ@" attachTo="Germany" javaClass="TriggerAttachment" type="player">
	<option name="conditions" value="conditionAttachment_NationalTheme_Germany-2-Ham"/>
	<option name="conditions" value="conditionAttachment_Germany_Research_Submarine-Adv_Invert"/> <!-- If true, Submarine-Adv research not completed -->
	<option name="placement" value="@SubmarineSZ@:Submarine" count="1"/>
	<option name="players" value="Germany"/>
	<option name="chance" value="1:10"/>
	<option name="when" value="after:GermanyEndTurn"/>
</attachment>
<!-- Submarine-Adv placement chance -->
<attachment foreach="$SubmarineSZ$" name="triggerAttachment_Germany-2Adv-Ham_@SubmarineSZ@" attachTo="Germany" javaClass="TriggerAttachment" type="player">
	<option name="conditions" value="conditionAttachment_NationalTheme_Germany-2-Ham"/>
	<option name="conditions" value="conditionAttachment_Germany_Research_Submarine-Adv_Success"/> <!-- If true, Submarine-Adv research completed -->
	<option name="placement" value="@SubmarineSZ@:Submarine-Adv" count="1"/>
	<option name="players" value="Germany"/>
	<option name="chance" value="1:10"/>
	<option name="when" value="after:GermanyEndTurn"/>
</attachment>

<attachment name="conditionAttachment_NationalTheme_Germany-2-Mec" attachTo="Germany" javaClass="RulesAttachment" type="player">
	<option name="directPresenceTerritories" value="Meckleburg" count="1"/>
	<option name="unitPresence" value="Industry-Hvy" count="1"/>
	<option name="rounds" value="2-+"/>
</attachment>
<attachment foreach="$SubmarineSZ$" name="triggerAttachment_Germany-2-Mec_@SubmarineSZ@" attachTo="Germany" javaClass="TriggerAttachment" type="player">
	<option name="conditions" value="conditionAttachment_NationalTheme_Germany-2-Mec"/>
	<option name="conditions" value="conditionAttachment_Germany_Research_Submarine-Adv_Invert"/>
	<option name="placement" value="@SubmarineSZ@:Submarine" count="1"/>
	<option name="players" value="Germany"/>
	<option name="chance" value="1:10"/>
	<option name="when" value="after:GermanyEndTurn"/>
</attachment>
<attachment foreach="$SubmarineSZ$" name="triggerAttachment_Germany-2Adv-Mec_@SubmarineSZ@" attachTo="Germany" javaClass="TriggerAttachment" type="player">
	<option name="conditions" value="conditionAttachment_NationalTheme_Germany-2-Mec"/>
	<option name="conditions" value="conditionAttachment_Germany_Research_Submarine-Adv_Success"/>
	<option name="placement" value="@SubmarineSZ@:Submarine-Adv" count="1"/>
	<option name="players" value="Germany"/>
	<option name="chance" value="1:10"/>
	<option name="when" value="after:GermanyEndTurn"/>
</attachment>

<attachment name="conditionAttachment_NationalTheme_Germany-2-Pom" attachTo="Germany" javaClass="RulesAttachment" type="player">
	<option name="directPresenceTerritories" value="Pomerania" count="1"/>
	<option name="unitPresence" value="Industry-Hvy" count="1"/>
	<option name="rounds" value="2-+"/>
</attachment>
<attachment foreach="$SubmarineSZ$" name="triggerAttachment_Germany-2-Pom_@SubmarineSZ@" attachTo="Germany" javaClass="TriggerAttachment" type="player">
	<option name="conditions" value="conditionAttachment_NationalTheme_Germany-2-Pom"/>
	<option name="conditions" value="conditionAttachment_Germany_Research_Submarine-Adv_Invert"/>
	<option name="placement" value="@SubmarineSZ@:Submarine" count="1"/>
	<option name="players" value="Germany"/>
	<option name="chance" value="1:10"/>
	<option name="when" value="after:GermanyEndTurn"/>
</attachment>
<attachment foreach="$SubmarineSZ$" name="triggerAttachment_Germany-2Adv-Pom_@SubmarineSZ@" attachTo="Germany" javaClass="TriggerAttachment" type="player">
	<option name="conditions" value="conditionAttachment_NationalTheme_Germany-2-Pom"/>
	<option name="conditions" value="conditionAttachment_Germany_Research_Submarine-Adv_Success"/>
	<option name="placement" value="@SubmarineSZ@:Submarine-Adv" count="1"/>
	<option name="players" value="Germany"/>
	<option name="chance" value="1:10"/>
	<option name="when" value="after:GermanyEndTurn"/>
</attachment>

<attachment name="conditionAttachment_NationalTheme_Germany-2-Kon" attachTo="Germany" javaClass="RulesAttachment" type="player">
	<option name="directPresenceTerritories" value="Konigsberg-E.Prussia" count="1"/>
	<option name="unitPresence" value="Industry-Hvy" count="1"/>
	<option name="rounds" value="2-+"/>
</attachment>
<attachment foreach="$SubmarineSZ$" name="triggerAttachment_Germany-2-Kon_@SubmarineSZ@" attachTo="Germany" javaClass="TriggerAttachment" type="player">
	<option name="conditions" value="conditionAttachment_NationalTheme_Germany-2-Kon"/>
	<option name="conditions" value="conditionAttachment_Germany_Research_Submarine-Adv_Invert"/>
	<option name="placement" value="@SubmarineSZ@:Submarine" count="1"/>
	<option name="players" value="Germany"/>
	<option name="chance" value="1:10"/>
	<option name="when" value="after:GermanyEndTurn"/>
</attachment>
<attachment foreach="$SubmarineSZ$" name="triggerAttachment_Germany-2Adv-Kon_@SubmarineSZ@" attachTo="Germany" javaClass="TriggerAttachment" type="player">
	<option name="conditions" value="conditionAttachment_NationalTheme_Germany-2-Kon"/>
	<option name="conditions" value="conditionAttachment_Germany_Research_Submarine-Adv_Success"/>
	<option name="placement" value="@SubmarineSZ@:Submarine-Adv" count="1"/>
	<option name="players" value="Germany"/>
	<option name="chance" value="1:10"/>
	<option name="when" value="after:GermanyEndTurn"/>
</attachment>
<!-- END Player & AI these subs are free, but must have a Industry-Hvy in specific territory -->

Research

<!-- Submarine-Adv switches moved to Submarine placement chance -->
<!-- Without successful research, setup when to begin -->
<attachment name="conditionAttachment_Germany_Research_Submarine-Adv" attachTo="Germany" javaClass="RulesAttachment" type="player">
	<option name="conditions" value="conditionAttachment_Germany_Research_Submarine-Adv_Invert"/>
	<option name="rounds" value="7-+"/>	<!-- 7 Research begins on round 7, and continues untill successful -->
</attachment>

<!-- Using chance to research -->
<attachment name="triggerAttachment_Germany_Research_Submarine-Adv_Chance" attachTo="Germany" javaClass="TriggerAttachment" type="player">
	<option name="conditions" value="conditionAttachment_Germany_Research_Submarine-Adv"/>
	<option name="chance" value="1:4"/> <!-- Acts like a Tech roll -->
	<option name="chanceIncrementOnFailure" value="1"/> <!-- Increasing chance on next turn -->
	<option name="playerAttachmentName" value="RulesAttachment" count="conditionAttachment_Germany_Research_Submarine-Adv_Success"/>
	<option name="playerProperty" value="switch" count="true"/>	<!-- If successful change success switch to true -->
	<option name="when" value="before:GermanyCombatMove"/>
</attachment>

<attachment name="triggerAttachment_Germany_Research_Submarine-Adv" attachTo="Germany" javaClass="TriggerAttachment" type="player">
	<option name="conditions" value="conditionAttachment_Germany_Research_Submarine-Adv_Success"/>
	<option name="productionRule" value="production_Germany:buySubmarine-Adv"/>	
	<option name="productionRule" value="production_Germany:-buySubmarine"/> 		<!-- replaced by Submarine-Adv -->
	<option name="notification" value="Notify_Germany_Research_Submarine-Adv"/>
	<option name="players" value="$All-Players$"/>
	<option name="uses" value="1"/> <!-- only do this once -->
	<option name="when" value="before:GermanyPurchase"/>
</attachment>

Cheers...

[wc_sumpton]

@TheDog, @Black_Elk

Using the new research, I have been backing up the chance to start the research by one round. Because Germany's Armor-Hvy started on round 2, backing up to round 1 means that there is no check on when to begin the research:

<!-- Germany Armor-Hvy -->
<attachment name="conditionAttachment_Germany_Research_Armor-Hvy_Success" attachTo="Germany" javaClass="RulesAttachment" type="player">
	<option name="switch" value="false"/>
</attachment>

<attachment name="conditionAttachment_Germany_Research_Armor-Hvy_Invert" attachTo="Germany" javaClass="RulesAttachment" type="player">
	<option name="conditions" value="conditionAttachment_Germany_Research_Armor-Hvy_Success"/>
	<option name="invert" value="true"/>	<!-- need to check the inverted condition -->
</attachment>

<!-- Using chance to research no round check since research begins on round 1 -->
<attachment name="triggerAttachment_Germany_Research_Armor-Hvy_Chance" attachTo="Germany" javaClass="TriggerAttachment" type="player">
	<option name="conditions" value="conditionAttachment_Germany_Research_Armor-Hvy_Invert"/> <!-- This tell when to start and stop the research -->
	<option name="chance" value="1:4"/> <!-- Acts like a Tech roll -->
	<option name="chanceIncrementOnFailure" value="1"/> <!-- Increasing chance on next turn -->
	<option name="playerAttachmentName" value="RulesAttachment" count="conditionAttachment_Germany_Research_Armor-Hvy_Success"/>
	<option name="playerProperty" value="switch" count="true"/>	<!-- If successful change success switch to true -->
	<option name="when" value="before:GermanyCombatMove"/>
</attachment>

<attachment name="triggerAttachment_Germany_Research_Armor-Hvy" attachTo="Germany" javaClass="TriggerAttachment" type="player">
	<option name="conditions" value="conditionAttachment_Germany_Research_Armor-Hvy_Success"/>
	<option name="productionRule" value="production_Germany:buyArmor-Hvy"/>	
	<option name="productionRule" value="production_Germany:-buyArmor-Lgt"/> 		<!-- replaced by Armor-Hvy -->
	<option name="notification" value="Notify_Germany_Research_Armor-Hvy"/>
	<option name="players" value="$All-Players$"/>
	<option name="uses" value="1"/> <!-- only do this once -->
	<option name="when" value="before:GermanyPurchase"/>
</attachment>

Thus less code, and easier to debug!!

Cheers...

[wc_sumpton]

@TheDog, @Black_Elk

Question about order of battle. On the European side Germany goes first, as the major aggressor, this is good. Which is followed by USSR, and the British, with Italy stuck between them as support for Germany.

On the Pacific side, China goes first, forcing Japan, which should be the Pacific's side major aggressor, to defending and countering. Japan should go first. China can do very little to aid USA or the Pacific-Allies. So even if it looks lopsided, 3 allied players going together, I think it plays out fairer for the Japanese.

Sometime, while testing and playing as the 'British', I receive the notice: "Britain and their allies are close to victory what shall we do?" on the first turn.

Just some thoughts.

Cheers...

[Black_Elk]

OK so I threw this together for the territories that have a terrain effect going on. I reduced the icons to 36px so they would display around the size of the VC star. Just tried to keep them all sorta near the top of the tiles, trying to dance around the current place and pu_place where I could. It's not prescriptive, I just put down what was already there so it would be easier to parse at a glance. I did these on a separate layer so it would be easier to make adjustments or substitutions.

Here they are isolated on a transparency layer at the same dimensions as the map, but just by themselves...

https://www.dropbox.com/s/xqab13jcimkuf0y/terrain_icon36px_layer.png?dl=0

Here they are added to the relief...

https://www.dropbox.com/s/x4doyrbu047y0mx/relief_map_sz_bw_with_terrain_icons.png?dl=0

Looks like this...

To move em around you can just cut/paste and drag, then merge the layer with the relief image. For a visual, this would probably be cool to have as toggle where the player can option them on/off via a skin. Probably would make sense to display the pu_place directly below them or something along those lines, but just wanted to get stuff laid down.

Couple thoughts suggestions... Right now there are some gaps (Eastern Front, Coastal France, North Africa, Central Asia etc) where there are only a couple TTs that have terrain effect, and other regions (Central Europe, the Americas, West Africa, Southeast Asia etc) where there are many terrain effect TTs concentrated together. Might make sense to add a few more to kinda fill out those areas. Some effects like Marsh and Desert have only a few active tiles, others like Forest, Urban have many tiles. I think you could add some desert spots for the Gobi and many tiles in the Mid-East or North Africa. Marsh is more complicated cause the effect is very extreme, but probably anywhere at a low elevation with a river mouth flood plane could work maybe? Perhaps some of the jungle/forest spots you have might get switched out for marsh for variety. Urban is probably the most abstract, and there are quite a few, so that might be another way to mix it up. Right now they seem to be pretty much everywhere that starts with an Industry-Hvy, though I did spot a couple exceptions. For neutral TTs there are some regions that have a quite a few, but I think these tiles would be mostly inactive so might be worth considering how they are distributed. I think for a neutral TT to enter play, that'd be fine, but there's not much incentive if the TTs have no or low values. I don't know how the terrain effects play with just the bunkers (no standing army to complement them), but if there's a malus to the attacker that's a pretty strong disincentive. With large enough armies during the endgame even 9 bunkers could probably be overcome, like if players are cruising around with 20 tanks or whatever hehe. I'd say for neutrals, if we want them in play, might make sense to fiddle with the forces/PU values or some areas. I've seen the AI go after them on occasion, though pretty rarely, which seems fine, but some spots are much more attractive. like Konduz, since they can open up a front. So might make sense to add something there. Another option might be to just give every tile a terrain effect, though in that case I'd maybe consider dialing down the effect to be less pronounced. I still think movement restrictions have a much greater impact than att/def adjustments by unit type. As I recall, Forest was the default initially, so there might be some holdovers there? Many of the pacific islands have forest in the current. I wasn't sure, so just put down everything I saw that was there. I figure it'd be easier to swap or delete where needed once you got a visual going.

Oh and here are the icons shrunk down to 36.

I agree about the Japanese turn order. I would say switching the position of Pacific Allies and China in the turn order sequence would probably be the best approach. Even if it messes up the current balance. Having USSR control Pacific Allies and USA control China I think would be largely similar. It would probably be more entertaining for the USSR player as well, since then they could have a little naval play going on during their turn block. Pacific Allies would present a different challenge for the team, but they would be more useful in a can opening role with that sort of sequence.

Oh one last thing I caught, there is a land connection between Corregidor and Manila-Luzon in the current which probably should be removed for consistency with other spots in the neighborhood.

Anyhow, hopefully it helps. Let me know if I missed anything, or if you want to make a tweak somewhere.

Catch ya next round!

[wc_sumpton]

@TheDog, @Black_Elk

This is a static Anti-Aircraft gun:

But the code indicates that it can move 2 spaces, and be used on offence. Saying that a crew can pack-up, carry farther then they can move unburden, set it up and fire!! Give every infantry crew one to carry!! LoL

Just some laughter!!

Cheers...

[TheDog]

@wc_sumpton
That took longer than expected, 8 hours plus to convert the tech, have conscripts etc.
Seriously though its my ideal form of tech advancement.

Now for testing.

Also changed the nation turn order, swapped China and Pacific-Allies.

wc_sumpton said
I receive the notice: "Britain and their allies are close to victory what shall we do?" on the first turn.
You probably took Benghazi, this notification is because we have starting VCs of
19 Allied VC
10 Axis VC
with warnings of impending victory at 20 VC and
Total Victory at 21 VC

Its a known issue, because I wanted to keep the Total Victory the same for both sides and as low as possible. Ideally we should remove 1 Allied VC ?

.
Territory Terrain @Black_Elk
Yes the starting default terrain was forest, it should have been blank/none.

Defining a territories terrain is difficult as it should be 51%+ of that TT terrain or have a significant feature like a capital/Industrial area/Built up Area making it Urban, in short it is very subjective, so I'm happy to make changes, especially if you are from/visited that country.

I will add your terrain reliefTile.png as a Map skin then players can swap between the current and the new one with a mouse click, in the next release. So if you want to change it, do it soon.

Connection between Corregidor and Manila-Luzon removed.

[TheDog]

@wc_sumpton
Re AA gun, for an American your humour is very British.

The AA move 2, was before I decided to have Railways, move 3, linked to Industry. My thinking was that AA requires a prime mover so 2 seems fair, once placed they rarely move and it was also an attempt to the AI to buy them, as they have to 5pu+ so they are not classed as fodder by the AI. Even so, the AI still does not buy them.

[wc_sumpton]

@thedog

With 1940 Europe/Pacific rules, allowing factories to have AA capabilities, the unit becomes worthless. A towed of self-propelled version would not be able to hit high flying targets. And with almost every unit here having AA capabilities to hit those low flying targets, they seem even more worthless.

So... hemm...

Cheers...

[TheDog]

@wc_sumpton @Black_Elk
Im happy to remove the AA gun?

• It will also make the Purchase screen one less.
• Every Factory has AA.

It is a counter to Bombers, but Fighter is an even better counter, but dearer ...

[wc_sumpton]

@thedog

Bomber do not attack Base-Camp or Bunkers, their attack value is "0", their airAttack value is 0, they have no AA attack against other air units. The only thing they can do is SBR a factory and factories have their own AA. So it counters a bomber doing what? Shooting spit-wads...

LoL AA and Bomber who need them.

Cheers...

[Black_Elk]

Yeah I wouldn't mind if you wanted to ditch the AAgun. In my view it is the least compelling unit in the roster and kinda more trouble than it's worth. In the standard games it's a very cumbersome and also a very swingy unit. I think a more interesting design might have been an AAgun that is more reliable, but which prevents the SBR damage rather than destroying the bomber. Sadly if they're good enough to reliably destroy the aircraft, they tend to just shut down bombing altogether, which isn't really what we want I don't think hehe. Currently the graphics show German 88s for everyone, since that was the default AAgun image, but it's a little wonk to see everyone rocking German flak (even if the designs are largely similar.) I think the only way to make an AAgun useful in A&A games is if they are "always on" during the Combat move phase, meaning that the player must face a shot if trying to fly over a TT that houses an AAgun. Done that way they can at least block certain air transits, since nobody wants to face AAfire if they can avoid it, but otherwise it's a hard sell during purchase. I think a more nuanced air-superiority/dogfight phase preceding normal combat would be more engaging than rolling for Flak, so if anything I might just build something like that into standard air battles.

Right on. Kinda what I figured regarding the terrain. I can give it a once over tomorrow. I think what you got going is pretty good, so I'd probably just add a few more rather than remove.

For VCs I'd lean in the direction of adding more rather than subtracting, since that gives more opportunities for a hail Mary save hehe. But if looking to remove one from Allies I guess I'd just ditch whichever is least likely to be contested in normal play, which would probably be Ottawa or Washington DC. As a game resolution mechanism, VCs work well in PvP games where the spread is narrow, but I think the VC win is somewhat less satisfying in a Solo game where the TKO can often feel premature. Even if the AI can be made to target the VCs, they still wouldn't go for the all-in 'do or die' approach that the human player would, since it really doesn't understand the win/loss in those terms. I think the endgame in Solo play is often quite enjoyable, since you get to do things you wouldn't normally get to do, like a late game Sea Lion or Invading the USA as Axis, or the satisfaction of stomping Berlin or Tokyo as Allies, but once the game is called by VC that sorta loses it's luster.

I think this might recommend different VC Win conditions for Solo play, perhaps with a different split by sides. For example under the current with 29 VCs, total victory at 25 for Axis would mean taking London or one of the North American VCs, which could be pretty challenging, even after Russia is destroyed. An Allied total victory at 28 would mean taking Berlin or Tokyo. Even then though, I think it would be cool to find victory system that allows the underdog to pull out a win from behind somehow. Like where an 'honorable victory' can be achieved, even if that side is objectively toast, which you can't really get from the VC or Economic Victory. Like once the underdog falls below a certain threshold, recovery there is probably impossible, especially absent a cash/capture thing going on. I think this one is more likely to progress a bit like the actual war, where the ultimate Victory is pretty much a foregone conclusion well in advance of the actual unconditional surrenders, but that doesn't mean we can't find a way to hang the laurels a little differently. I think for Axis, a plausible Victory could be achieved by just foot dragging and forcing a stalemate. Like to me that's a bit easier to imagine from a realism standpoint than Jackboots marching up the Potomac, or the Sun Rising over San Francisco. In either case, Axis are unlikely to get into that sort of position if they've already lost control of 19 or 20 VCs heheh. So again sorta like waiting for the other shoe to drop once you're into the midgame, if it's already basically in the bag. The tech advance or unlocks like conscripts could be cool for that, to forestall the sense of inevitability, or like WC mentioned mainly as a way to give the underdog a leg up. But even with crazy weapons like the Nuke, it'd still be pretty hard to mount a late game turn around and convert that into a route. Even though I said before that it was cool to have a flexible timeline so the player can control the narrative, another option might be sudden death in round 20, where as long as you can stay alive you might still have a chance to prevail (obviously with a better chance if you're already winning at that point, but still a chance even if your backs against the wall). But I'm not really sure what that might look like in practical terms.

[wc_sumpton]

@TheDog, @Black_Elk

Very insightful, @Black_Elk. To continue the discussion on Bombers vs Factories. The factories AA is limited to 2 shots, so if more then 2 bombers attack, it's more or less going to get hit (-1 on 3 means all could miss). AAguns can't help, their SBR defense value is false. And even though factories can fire their AA for multiple rounds, SBR is only one round, and factory AA can't be used for normal combat (that is set to false on factories). I watched the British AI player pound on Germany's factories. Between upkeep cost, and repair cost Germany was being hurt bad.

So there is a strange play dynamic. Question is, is that what is wanted?

Losing is not losing? I'm don't like "stalemate" rules (I also don't like to lose either). When your losing, you don't have the funds to fight back. So I like the idea of introducing cheaper units. Here you have the Inf-Conscripts, there is also the Armor-Lgt, and Fighter-Early. There could be introduced Destroyer-Lgt, Mini-Submarine, and even a Transport-Lgt (3 TransportCapacity instead of 5). The problem leis in trying to figure out when a player would benefit from such options. PUs can't be checked. Factories could be count to gauge production. That was why I was talking about rolling a player's borders back to 1939, then you could get a better feeling about where a player stands.

Ah well... More food for thought.

Cheers...

P.S. Beginning to feel like @Black_Elk!! ;}

[wc_sumpton]

@TheDog, @Black_Elk

I'm trying to find the reason why '41 GCD will not run in 2.6+. I think the problem centers around 'Bomber-Lgt'. In trying to correct this, I've been going through all the unit attachments, and how they interact with each other.

Artillery 2/2/1 7PUs 1:6 vs Bunker & Base-Camp 1:1 all infantry
Anti-Tank 1/1/1 4PUs 1:6 vs movement 2 units n/a
Anti-Air 0/0/2 1 5PUs 1:6 vs all air units n/a

All unit can move during combatMovement, and all units should be considered towed (isInfantry).

The question here is should these units be treated as Inf-Trained plus 1/2/1 7PUs, and receive all buffs as Inf-Trained? They would receive +1 attack from artillery, +1 attack/defense from HQ-Army and +1 defense from some territory effects (the same one that give the defense bonus to All-Infantry). Territory effects do not hamper a unit's special ability (AA attacks), maybe they should, so there should be no -1 attack. Support can buff AA attacks, so HQ-Army could increase these units special abilities on both offence/defense.

If these unit are to be considered support with no Inf-Trained, then they should be 0/0/1 3PUs and only receive HQ-Army's AA buffs.

The Anti-Air unit can still be treated as static unit, cannot move during combat movement, but can still be treated like the other towed units.

These are just some thoughts.

Cheers...