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Post by valorius on Mar 2, 2021 22:45:14 GMT
Yeah I had been playing the latest version from a few years ago, V760 i guess.
OK, so the "out of memory" error is persisting. It is "error 7" I believe. I have gone into task manager, and the game is hammering my memory to the tune of 90+% all by itself. I have set my hard drive to allow for a huge amount of virtual memory, and im still getting the error.
I have to completely restart my computer or the game just crashes again immediately when I relaunch. Sometimes it freezes the computer completely.
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Post by valorius on Mar 3, 2021 7:24:51 GMT
So I was messing around with M18 hellcats repurposed as recon class units (lightning fast, open top, low profile- they're literally perfect recon assets), and got a +1 range boost from R&D. They also picked up +2 to HA in earlier upgrades.
3 range Hellcats with 17 HA...talk about a Tiger killer
Might be a bit OP. lol
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Post by jeff on Mar 3, 2021 13:18:23 GMT
Ah ! I know why the run-time error 13 occurs I think from your post ! It is when you get the -12 cost. I bet. I was working on that section (R/D) last night, and will hopefully finish it up today. I will fix that too. I think I forgot about the 1 cost point in the equipment file is multiplied by 12 in the game. (Another old legacy thing from AG/PG era.) Getting the R/D details sorted out. Weapon Range improvements will be 1 hex for first bonus, but only increase 1 hex for every 10 after that. Coding out all the useless improvements. (CD for fighters, Bomb Loads for tanks, etc.) Then, I want to get back on the good old AI. I think letting the AI bunch his artillery. (Mutual supporting each other.) Helps him defend them, and seems to be a good way to concentrate his forces. I was thinking last night about how to get the US to stay neutral a bit longer. Seems like it jumps into the War a bit quick. I am going to nerf down the National modifiers toward England and France. I think they are 10 now. Maybe push them down to 3. To declare war you normally need to roll a modified 1/100 for attacking a single nation. 1:200 for attacking a member of a major alliance. So I think the US is needing to roll 10 out of 200. Which seemed pretty small, but the RNG seems to hit it pretty regular for me. US being neutral a couple years would help it invest in R/D more too. (Same for USSR, Italy too. (AI controlled anyway.) I guess I need to put the Dec. 7th 1941 trigger in too though. Tricky thing about that. Germany actually declared War on the US, Dec. 13th ? I think.
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Post by teophrastusbombastus on Mar 3, 2021 18:43:48 GMT
Ah ! I know why the run-time error 13 occurs I think from your post ! It is when you get the -12 cost. I bet. I was working on that section (R/D) last night, and will hopefully finish it up today. I will fix that too. I think I forgot about the 1 cost point in the equipment file is multiplied by 12 in the game. (Another old legacy thing from AG/PG era.) Getting the R/D details sorted out. Weapon Range improvements will be 1 hex for first bonus, but only increase 1 hex for every 10 after that. Coding out all the useless improvements. (CD for fighters, Bomb Loads for tanks, etc.) Then, I want to get back on the good old AI. I think letting the AI bunch his artillery. (Mutual supporting each other.) Helps him defend them, and seems to be a good way to concentrate his forces. I was thinking last night about how to get the US to stay neutral a bit longer. Seems like it jumps into the War a bit quick. I am going to nerf down the National modifiers toward England and France. I think they are 10 now. Maybe push them down to 3. To declare war you normally need to roll a modified 1/100 for attacking a single nation. 1:200 for attacking a member of a major alliance. So I think the US is needing to roll 10 out of 200. Which seemed pretty small, but the RNG seems to hit it pretty regular for me. US being neutral a couple years would help it invest in R/D more too. (Same for USSR, Italy too. (AI controlled anyway.) I guess I need to put the Dec. 7th 1941 trigger in too though. Tricky thing about that. Germany actually declared War on the US, Dec. 13th ? I think. The German War Declaration to the United States took place 4 days after the Japanese raid at Pearl Harbor. So, it was the 11th. On the basis 12 used for PG / AG unit costs I could swear you announced once you had coded that out of PGX and that for future e-file additions it would be possible to set any price. (Probably there is a technical maximum somewhere and zero is a strange number). And / but I could also swear not having noticed any e-file changes since then. (I think it was long after the e-files were made too) Mind my memory has seen much better days... v764 already started massing artillery (much more frequently than the old times vs), I'd say what may still need tuning are unit combos for screening purposes. At least infantries to the front and ADs to the side. But the tricky part is teaching them how to judge what is front and what is side. US and / or USSR leaning a bit more toward neutrality should have the potential to make room for a more aggressive (air) AI contributing for balance in German player matches. Less pressure from less enemies at first stage but pressure kept throughout a longer period as countries take longer to enter war. Seems equal to more balance. But of course, balance may have to do with many things. For instance playing basic or Konzev e-files isn't exactly the same. Playing all the block makes some difference from playing just a country. After many years of playing "block" one day I tried playing "single" and it didn't take very long to notice I was having less pressure from the air. Then I remembered the AI "kids in my block" were being managed as the enemy (with Air Budget), which doesn't happen playing "block". v767 Match 1 is at turn 41. As had happened to the Netherlands, the UK declared war on Spain. Immediately Spain-Rep sued, which was accepted despite that meaning a few less objectives. Advances of little significance by Germany in Poland and Spain in Morocco. Cease fire between Romania and the USSR; less pressure on the oil. Germany invested 2 in AD.
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Post by valorius on Mar 3, 2021 19:24:13 GMT
I got a "optics upgrade" in recon, - $12 cost, and it again caused the type mismatch error.
So that particular upgrade is definitely not playing nice with the code.
Still getting the "out of memory" crash constantly, almost exclusively on the AI's turn. Right now the "main" war is between UK/Belgium/France/Lux/Poland vs Germany/Italy/Netherlands, so not that many countries are even involved yet.
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Post by valorius on Mar 3, 2021 19:35:40 GMT
I stayed neutral with the US until turn 60, buying only 3 carriers and the planes to man them (I increase the size of the hangars and fuel tanks to Pacific general size for all players). Sailed through the straits of Denmark to lithuania and attacked/built my army there. Spent all my money on R&D the whole time. By turn 60, when i took the port, i had about 10k in prestige, about 100k in fuel, and tens of thousands in ammo. My R&D tree was December 1945...when everyone else is in early 1940. Took that port, then began building my force there. Heavily upgraded 3 range M18 hellcats for recon (I reclassified them because i dont have to adhere to goofy WWII US doctrine), M4A3E8(76)W easy eight shermans for tanks, and M36 TD's. M4(105)'s for SP artillery, M4A3(20/4) Skinks for AD and 8" guns for towed artillery. 43 Engineers and Rangers for Infantry forces, with M16 AAA for fire support. (Im using my own custom Eqp file i've been using for years) Top cover provided by P38J's and P51D mustangs. P47D Thunderbolts acting in the tactical bomber role and B29 strategic bombers. Again...the calender is early 1940. I LOVE the R&D option, but it's massively overpowered as currently configured. My suggestion to balance it would be as follows: If you buy R&D for a type of weapon, make it change the calendar for ONLY that type of weapon system. And if you want enhanced prestige/production increases, make a R&D button for ONLY that upgrade. Cause right now, im going to roll this map literally as fast as my units can move through the board. I doubt the Soviets will last even 50 turns. I agree that having AI mass artillery (and Air defense units) is a great idea. Fighters too. The whole key to warfare is the sufficient massing of forces to maintain momentum and provide mutual fire support. This update is definitely on the right track, just needs some tweaking.
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Post by valorius on Mar 3, 2021 23:50:03 GMT
Ive noticed after about 150 or so turns of playing the latest version, I have yet to see a soft attack R&D upgrade on any unit. Seen Hard attack (very frequent) air attack (also very common) Naval attack (not as common), but yet to see a single soft attack upgrade.
Might be worth seeing if that's actually enabled?
Loving the latest version of the game, even in it's early state.
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Post by teophrastusbombastus on Mar 4, 2021 13:43:31 GMT
v767 Match 1 Turn 51
Italy brought in. I think by the US. Not long after, an unusual though not unseen development with Turkey declaring war on Italy. One more "kid" on each block. The USSR remains embroiled in Baltic affairs.
As to operations, Germany continues on three fronts: North - mainly a naval front until any serious landing attempt happens - where the first US destroyers have already arrived. West - France - where the main attack column is engaging against Soissons in order to use it, first of all, as flank defense for the following advance on Paris. East - Poland - where the defenders are still holding Brest-Litovsk, Lemberg and Czernowitz.
The Netherlands have been quiet since defeating a weak enemy attempt immediately after the beginning of their participation. They're acting in support of Germany's North front.
Spain has been stabilizing the French border against Cavalry attacks. And progressing further in Morocco. Gibraltar was quickly dealt with.
The first priority defined for Italy is Malta, which is already under naval attack. But the huge amounts of Fighter units stationed at the island (Malta are actually two (main) islands) may cause havoc among a future landing force. Second priority is North Africa where there's already combat at the Egyptian border. A pair of support units has already shipped off Pantelleria, followed by a tank, to join the local infantry. It was found Corsica seems to be weakly defended, if at all, and a unit is already on route.
A rail connection between Germany and Italy is under construction, through a mountain passage. (As usual)
Germany invested 3 in Submarines. The U-boot is under way to become the U-boost. Which reminded me of the superb The Grey Wolves manual (pdf). Its from a mod for Silent Hunter III U-boot simulator. As the manual is packed with backup info I placed the link in Section H (History) instead of G (Games) Its more or less half actual manual, half technical data and history. From Alberich, the anti sonar coating to Zaunkönig, the torpedo, much of what there is to know about WWII U-boots is there.
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Post by jeff on Mar 4, 2021 18:14:06 GMT
Version 768 March 4, 2021 Got the type mis-match error fixed.
Cleaned up a few more R/D quirks. It's getting along pretty well now. (I got a Housefull of Grandson, and Wife this week, so development has been a bit slower than usual.) Plus, I was just playing the game a bit.
I forgot about the AI bonus thing. You know what's funny. I find a few things in the game I forgot were in there every once in a while.
I am going to try to get back on the AI now. Naval Unit Path-finding Solve routine needs some work. Takes a long time to figure out how to go from Leningrad to Sevastopol for example. I was working on Artillery movement last time. If I can get the Artillery units where I like them, and they seem effective. Then I could use that as an anchor for the Air concentrations.
I have been trying to divide the AI into 7 types of commanders. 1 being the craziest. wildest, most reckless, 7 being the most conservative. Montgomery is easier to code, than Rommel, eh ? There are 3 types of purchasing types too. 1 = buy cheapest, 2 = buy sort of randomly, 3 = Only buy the best. Sadly...even with 21 different AI combos, they are all kind of stupid ! Ha ... But, I will keep working on it. I noticed the last time I played Germany, it was getting a bit slower to conquer France. I actually had to bring up some massed artillery. Especially to clear out Paris. Poland tries...poor thing. Just not enough Production points. Every once in a while it throws a fort down on the road out of Berlin. Perhaps I should think a bit more about the AI depending on Forts ?
That reminds me...I was going to let a player build forts in any hex adjacent to an Engineer/ Pioniere Unit. What do you guys think about that ?
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Post by jeff on Mar 4, 2021 18:19:36 GMT
Soft Attack bonuses are possible. I actually got quite a few. Just the luck of the draw.
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Post by valorius on Mar 4, 2021 20:41:33 GMT
Soft Attack bonuses are possible. I actually got quite a few. Just the luck of the draw. I actually force the AI commanders to "only buy the best" by adjusting availability dates in the eqp file so that when a new unit becomes available the older version disappears at the soonest possible chance. Many of the pure trash early war units ive changed into later war but rarer weapons that arent in the original eqp files.- otherwise you get AI commanders buying completely obsolete 1939-40 gear even as late as 1944. I also put a huge emphasis on recon in my eqp file. For germany/soviets for instance, i nix all the early war cheap Recon units, and reclassed the PzIID- i think (6 speed) and BT7 (8 speed) into recon/cavalry units with 4 spotting. Same for the FR Somua S35, US M2a4/M3/M5, and the British early war 6 speed light tank (name escaping me right now). It would be great if "aggressive vs conservative" and "buy only best vs buy only cheap" AI was available on the main game options screen. By forcing the enemy to buy only good units it definitely increases the challenge as the game progresses. Smashing into a Soviet formation of early war T-34s with a task force of late war tanks is no challenge at all. Another thing that would really up the challenge level would be forcing the AI to upgrade fighter units to the latest versions as soon as a unit with a higher initiative becomes available. Same for artillery. I have tricked the AI into only buying good artillery by making 155mm and 8" guns available from 9-1939 onward, and converting 75mm guns into other useful units instead.
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Post by valorius on Mar 4, 2021 20:42:25 GMT
Interesting: Im about to hit the area south of Leningrad to open the war vs soviets, hitting them from every avenue of approach out of the baltic states, and they have like 50 air units concentrated at their forward most air base south of Leningrad.
Totally obsolete units...but at least it's massing them! I'll make the soviets human for a turn and upgrade them all to their best available fighters before attacking, to increase the challenge.
The fort/engineer idea is a very good one. I have done this in the past by buying transport when i buy the fort. Then i can drive the fort to where i want it, go into the F12 menu, and delete the onboard transport.
Forts should probably take like 10 turns (30 days) to build though. At least.
One other HUGE flaw from the last version of the game- the AI will buy tons and tons of fighters that it absolutely does NOT have the fuel to actually use. If you could prioritize fuel production for the AI, it would make it far more dangerous.
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Post by jeff on Mar 4, 2021 22:43:42 GMT
Buying Transports for Forts ! Ha Ha, I never thought of that ! Cool. Ha Ha. Memory Leak problem. If you get a chance, send me a copy of a save file for that game. It is using a modified equipment file ? Zip europe_1939 folder, and send that too. Or is it using a slightly modified Konzev e-file ? In which case, I got that covered. Maybe the program is getting hung in a loop during the AI turn.
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Post by teophrastusbombastus on Mar 4, 2021 23:46:10 GMT
That reminds me...I was going to let a player build forts in any hex adjacent to an Engineer/ Pioniere Unit. What do you guys think about that ? Telegraphic version of answer: Finally! Epistolary version of answer: Ever since the happy advent of the "home nation only deployment" option that I think Fortification class should be an exception. Build-able by Engineer attributed units isn't the same idea but it allows the thing to be done. Seen from the practical angle, its even better. Just making Fort class an exception to "hnod" option would not free the player from the constraint of having just cities and adjacent hexes as eligible choices. An Engineer can make it everywhere over land. Which at the same time brings the first potential mess I can foresee. Everywhere may mean on other country's hexes, provided they aren't marked for possession (aren't objectives or road). (Brings back old talks about all and every terrain hex on a map having a set of corresponding data, starting from possession) From there we may go for, of course, the balance question. The AI will make it too. But on throwing the weighs on the scales I return to the telegraphic answer. The rest are details; just Engineer / Pionier or extend to Bridge Eng. (Todt Org, Vol Peasants and Workers of Motherland, forced POW units of the future)? Build on adjacent's only (if land), on exact unit location only, or choice from all 7 hexes (if land)? A single model available (new or one of the existing?) or choice from list / purchase board? Will it have a cost? If so, in what parameter? Production? Time? (Valorius already spoken for this one) A bit aside, but having to do with an issue talked about a few days before the forum, would Fort class benefit from adding a generic or two. I keep thinking of "entrenched infantry" (static), like we can see in some OG e-files. and PacGen also has it. At the same time it sounds goofy to me in PGX context. And more so now... Seems to make more sense an Engineer type unit "building trenches" (more or less same effect as Fortification the terrain type) and those giving advantage to units sitting there. (Expressed graphically maybe by a modified version of the Engineer built railroad lines) Another possible question is: do Engineer laid mines cover well enough for all the obstacles we know from history or would it be better to have a bit of specialization? (Personal and anti-vehicle with of course different characteristics. Those two emulating all other possible anti-personal and anti-vehicle obstacles) An entirely different matter: About what I wrote on the 12 base costs, I did find reference to that issue at the archives but not any announcement that it was done with. I did find something from whence my confusing memory is liable to have sipped inspiration. The announcement of a new e-file system using integers instead of bytes thus allowing values above 255. October 10, 2013. But your reference I found on the 12 base costs was precisely to explain that SSI divided costs by 12 because of the 255 ceiling. From which seems to result the 12 base costs are still there in PGX but they aren't necessary since 2013.
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Post by valorius on Mar 5, 2021 0:35:16 GMT
As i moved my forces into final positions for the kick off into Russia, with my heaviest task force- Pershings backed by 155mm mobile guns, 20/4 Shermans and M4(105s), the Soviets reacted by putting every squadron in their airforce into the city directly adjecent- 60+ squadrons en masse. Nice! I attacked with my entire air force, and inflicted massive damages, with dozens of soviet frontal aviation regiments reduced to below 5 strength. The soviets counter attacked with their remaining regiments, killing 8 P47N squadrons (man are they AWESOME with R&D upgrades). This left me 28 full strength P47N sqns and 18 P38J squadrons to re-engage and totally wipe out the Soviet Airforce in turn 2 of the war. I used my B29 sqns (18 in total) to attack the 18 closest air fields and take them out of action. I was not able to attack the one where the battle occured, because of the concentrated AAA and fighter sqns still located there. This forces the soviets to keep their squadrons right in the crosshairs of my fighters, preventing their retreat. What happens? The SOVIET WINTER! But WTF.....The date is JUNE 25!!?!?!??!? SNOW ON JUNE 25th ....over the Soviet's only remaining functional airbase....As per usual in history, all hopes of the quick knock out blow are dashed. (and again, WTF) Diverted all my fighters into ground attack and interdiction missions, wiping out the units the Soviets began to move toward the FEBA to reinforce my point of attack. Diverted my 18 P38J sqns (retasked as tactical bombers) to attack the soviets MASSIVE massed sub fleet. About 30 boats in all. Poor bombing accuracy resulted in just 6 subs heavily damaged. Opposing them are a dozen destroyers protecting North Carolina, Iowa, Wisconsin and my carrier group composed of Yorktown, Enterprise and Hornet - who the Soviets have located. I guess I should've waited til freaking august to attack....
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