PWCG 7.1.0 Released - Fixes and Improvements - lots of them

[PatrickAWlson]

PWCG 3.4.1

Add Yak7B
Restore squadrons fro Me-109 E-7, Me-110, Hs-129, Ju-52
Enabled mixed flights
Fixed missing aircraft profiles

[Semor76]

Thanks Pat. For some reason,PWCG can handle this dreaded AI much better than the ingame career system. I didn´t had a single AI crash or really bigger issues till now. (35 Stuka/ 12 He111 missions)

 

 

[sniperton]

8 hours ago, Semor76 said:

PWCG can handle this dreaded AI much better than the ingame career system

I guess PWCG missions are more 'streamlined'. If mission files size tells anything, PWCG missions have only one half to two third of the objects and do not hit the performance wall that the ingame career missions do.

[Semor76]

10 minutes ago, sniperton said:

I guess PWCG missions are more 'streamlined'. If mission files size tells anything, PWCG missions have only one half to two third of the objects and do not hit the performance wall that the ingame career missions do.

Oh,dont get me wrong, the performance wall ist still there. I have all those funny "features" from the new patch like slow downs, stutters, freezes, Ai crash into ground moves,etc. But at least the AI can hold the formation without constant mid air/runway crashes.

 

 

[sniperton]

Slow downs and stutters are clearly performance issues, we can only hope they will be addressed soon.

[Trooper117]

Pat, you are a star!

[Taxman]

For me the latest up date to version 3.002 does not have any single missions in the Mission area.  PWCG 3.4.1 does not work with 3.002 for me at this time.  Leaving on vacation in the morning and will return the 28th I do hope it is fixed  by then.  As being reported many are having a problem with the down load of 3.002, well it took me 3 tries and about 3 hours. I am wondering if some files are missing with the new down load?

[Taxman]

1 hour ago, Taxman said:

For me the latest up date to version 3.002 does not have any single missions in the Mission area.  PWCG 3.4.1 does not work with 3.002 for me at this time.  Leaving on vacation in the morning and will return the 28th I do hope it is fixed  by then.  As being reported many are having a problem with the down load of 3.002, well it took me 3 tries and about 3 hours. I am wondering if some files are missing with the new down load?

In the general discussion forum 3.002 update section I'm not the only one unable to access single missions.  For now PWCG is furball until a fix for the single missions being missing is addressed.  

[busdriver]

I just started a new campaign and completed my first mission. 

 

[PatrickAWlson]

Newly introduced bugs aside, missions not showing up in the game are generally associated with the player being in a plane that he does not own.  When you are in the PWCG pilot assignment page during the mission briefing, take a look at the plane that you are assigned to fly and make sure that you own it.

 

Would be nice if they showed the mission but greyed it out.

 

Sorry - didn't see the issues with the latest update.  Looks like they have the download fixed as of an hour ago.  Let's see what happens.

Edited April 19, 2018 by PatrickAWlson

[PatrickAWlson]

I just verified PWCG with the latest download.  Seems to work.  

[TheSNAFU]

Just wanted to report the new version is working well with the update. Additionally the new PWCG version is very nice. The feature richness and flexibility remains unsurpassed in my opinion. I've begun a new campaign starting Aug 1 on the Stalingrad map with the expert JG52. Several pilots have 15, 20 or more victories already so I have a lot of work to do to catch up. Got a PE 2 on my second mission but not before he made cheese of my crate. Had to put down at the first friendly airfield and hitch a ride back to base. Great fun! Thanks for all this Pat! 

[Trooper117]

Right... if it's now confirmed as working I'll be right back on it.

[Semor76]

@PatrickAWlson

 

Can you have a look at Bf-110ers´s again please. The "AI wont land bug" is back. I flew 3 mission so far and again,they circle forever over our AF.

 

Thank you.

 

Edit. Before I forget. 2 suggestions for improvement.

 

It is possible to add radio beacons for the active Airfields?

 

How about to make the map a bit more colourfull? more like what we have in career mode or in some scripted campaigns.

Edited April 22, 2018 by Semor76

[Yogiflight]

Hi Patrick, I started a new career with the Bf109 in july 1942 on Kuban, but on 09/07/1942 I get a new airfield Krasnodar, which is located around 30km south of the front on russian side. Maybe you forgot to move the frontlines? I tried to take my name out of the pilot roster, to go on to a date, where the frontlines have moved south, but as the player's name is grey, this doesn't work.

[PatrickAWlson]

I'm not sure what to do about the AI landing.  I can post in mission making to see what others do.  I know that landing works very well sometimes and not so much at others.  Maybe different parameters are needed for different planes.

 

The map came directly from Jason.  Unfortunately I do not have the skill to make the changes that you are looking for.

 

I'll look into the misplaced squadron.  If you want to get past it immediately you can take some leave.  You can also temporarily transfer to a different squadron and then return.

[Yogiflight]

52 minutes ago, PatrickAWlson said:

I'll look into the misplaced squadron.  If you want to get past it immediately you can take some leave.  You can also temporarily transfer to a different squadron and then return.

I already tried that, after my transfer I was based in Severskaya and after retransfer in Maikop, but the frontlines were still, where they were on july 1st. I had started the same career before the 3.001 game patch, then it worked, so the patch seems to have it broken somehow.

[Smallfry155]

G'day

Just trying this with BoK only  (I have not bothered with BoS and BoM whilst I test out the product).  However I cannot complete the campaign set up initial screen.  Everything but the campaign name is greyed-out.  Playing with "PWCG Information" does not seem to help.  Am I missing something?

 

regards

 

[Dauntless]

Type name click next step, do same for all.

[Belgicos]

On 23/04/2018 at 9:15 PM, Yogiflight said:

Hi Patrick, I started a new career with the Bf109 in july 1942 on Kuban, but on 09/07/1942 I get a new airfield Krasnodar, which is located around 30km south of the front on russian side. Maybe you forgot to move the frontlines? I tried to take my name out of the pilot roster, to go on to a date, where the frontlines have moved south, but as the player's name is grey, this doesn't work.

 

Hi. I have  the same problem on Stalingrad map. I started a new campagn on a Yak 1 on 1st april 1942 and every airfield is on the german side of the frontline with ennemies flak all around.

The biggest problem is that after landing, all the pilots of the flight are considered as prisoner of war and the career stops. The only solution is to land on an airfield witch is on the right side. In this case, the problem is that I am the lonely pilot not prisoner. The other problem is that the next mission will start at the first airfield.

I've tried to launch a new career in may, june, july, etc... and nothing works. The frontline is always at the same place.

 

[Smallfry155]

1 hour ago, Dauntless said:

Type name click next step, do same for all.

Excellent.  I tried that before and must have been doing something wrong as it would not "click"!

 

Works now.

 

Error between seat and keyboard 

[PatrickAWlson]

OK - I have the date thing fixed.  You are going to have to delete and reinstall PWCG when I release - you can save any campaigns and use them.

 

The latest PWCG will be out this weekend.

[Semor76]

Pat, it is possible to add transfer missions if the players flight change the Air fields? It´s a bit strange if I found myself magicly on a new AF if the front moves ahead.

[PatrickAWlson]

The difficulty there is the discrete way in which the front moves.  if I make the transfer the day before the front moves your new airbase might  be behind enemy lines.  If I make the transfer after the transition your old airbase might be behind enemy lines. 

 

The answer is to make the front move much closer to the way that it really did - much more gradually.  This way when the lines start to encroach on an airbase the units stationed there can move.  That would involve a whole lot of work - many more line transition dates with carefully planned airfield moves.  Not saying never.  A more gradual adjustment of lines would certainly enhance the experience as well as making ferry flights possible, but probably not soon.

[PatrickAWlson]

PWCG 3.5.0

Add several new mission variations

- Low altitude bombing

- Low altitude patrols

- Low altitude battlefield CAP

Improved climb WP generation to reduce climb WPs to only as many as necessary to achieve altitude.

Bugs:

Fixed starting behind enemy lines (PWCG was still using old as well as new front line transitions)

 

The low altitude bombing is always tactical support.  I do not put you behind enemy lines at low alt.  Additionally, Ju52 bombing missions are always low alt since you are effectively pushing the bombs out the side doors.

 

Low altitude patrols are there to catch low flying opposition. Of course that makes high flying opposition harder to catch and more dangerous, but such is life.

 

Low alt CAP is hopefully a fun mission.  Your goal is to protect troops engaged in battle from ground attack.  However, you can also join in the fun and do ground attack yourself.

 

The bug fix is the most important change. I messed up the deploy process and also failed to note the issue of mixing front line dates when users just overwrote the existing PWCG install.  The latest code changes properly add the new front lines and also clean up the older version automatically.  You should be able to simply unzip this version of PWCG and it will work, regardless of previous installs.

[dburne]

Awesome, thank you so much Pat!!

[Trooper117]

Many thanks as usual!

[TheSNAFU]

Great advancements Pat. Thanks so much!! Cant wait to get some cap missions!! 

[Bando]

Thanks a bunch!!

Awesome.

[TheSNAFU]

Pat, I installed 3.5 but haven't been able to generate a CAP mission. Will the briefing describe the mission as a CAP? I get the same patrols, intercepts, escorts etc. but nothing that specifically references a mission as a CAP. I even increased the odds of a CAP mission to 80 just to see if that made a difference. Should we be seeing CAP as part of the mission description or is there another way to know the mission is a CAP? For reference, I am flying a Luftwaffe campaign with JG52 in August 1942 at Stalingrad. Thanks in advance.

Edited May 6, 2018 by TheSNAFU

[PatrickAWlson]

It is listed as an intercept.  Note to self: improve the description.

 

 

[TheSNAFU]

Ok thanks Pat. I really like what your doing with the program. Still my favorite way to enjoy this great game. 

 

Two things, one I mentioned some time ago. When squadron mates are killed or captured I don't receive notice of the pilots coming into the squadron as replacements. As I recall they would be announced on the tabs and while I get tabs reporting the fate of pilots, I dont get them for the replacements. Maybe you could look into that when time allows? Also, with PWCG for ROF there was a mod that started BOX from inside PWCG with a push of a button. Really made it more convenient. Any chance you can add the feature for BOX? 

[PatrickAWlson]

The menu mod does not exist for BoX.  It's really more than a user mod.  That mod required 1C to writer code inside their product to support the whole process.  Probably not going to happen for BoX.

 

I will take note of the no replacement notification issue.  You are correct, there should be tabs for new arrivals.

[SCG_Space_Ghost]

I know you haven't been privy to the idea in the past but will you ever reconsider tracking the number of aircraft available in a squadron? It makes mixed squadrons (one example is 109 F-2/F-4 squadrons) a bit moot when I have an unlimited amount of brand new F-4's I can assign to pilots.

 

A squadron stats page like the official career has would be a nice addition too - it would be cool to view the total combat statistics of your squad and to tally the number and type of aircraft/ground forces that have been destroyed.

 

I know there is also a way to provision specific skins to individual pilots in a squad but is it possible to teach PWCG to interchange spring/summer skins and winter skins based on the current month in the campaign? If PWCG is already configured for this function it doesn't seem to be working.

 

Is it possible in the scope of how PWCG generates missions to give the player more than one mission per day? This would slow down the campaign speed a little bit. Maybe a randomized variable that will give the player an opportunity to generate between 0-4 missions per day? Or missions that don't include the player?

 

One other thing that would be kind of nice is a "Number of AA/Flak over base" variable - thicker clouds of flak (still at a lower AI level to prevent sniping) would be immersive and nice to have.

 

Last one... Is it possible to add a generic description of a squadmate's AI level to his pilot book? It would be handy to give the player an idea of where the other pilots in the squadron are at, who needs an opportunity to train, who you should bring on a dangerous mission, etc. Something like:

Amateur - Lacking discipline and experience. A new pilot.

Novice - Some discipline and experience. A novice pilot.

Average - Shows some initiative and skill. An average pilot.

Veteran - Daring and motivated. A skilled pilot. 

Ace - Fearless and disciplined. An exceptional pilot.

 

I know, I know... A bunch of requests... But these are a few nice features from the official campaign which would be much appreciated if they could be held over in PWCG. I took a break from PWCG when the official career was launched but the design decision not to integrate all time/theater correct aircraft in to the available campaign stages and the deeper level of customization brought me back to PWCG.

Edited May 8, 2018 by Space_Ghost

[PatrickAWlson]

Tracking planes and pilots:
Starting work towards that goal now.  This is not a small change so it will take time.  When I am done every squadron will be independently staffed and equipped.  Replacement of men and material will be more gradual.  Out of mission events will  be applied across the front.  Squadrons might stop operations if losses are too high.

Squadron stats page
That sounds like a good idea.  I have all of the information.

Teach PWCG to interchange spring/summer skins and winter skins
This capablility already exists.  You can check the squadron files for impementations.  Short version is that skins in PWCG have a start and end date.  By setting start and end dates for skins you can choose when PWCG uses summerand winter.
 
More than one mission per day
This is possible.  Right now PWCG names missions by date.  It would have to chage to date/time.  Also, campaign date would have to change to date/time.  Finally, mission assignment frequency would also have to change.
 

"Number of AA/Flak over base" variable 
That is doable.

Add a generic description of a squadmate's AI level to his pilot book
That is already there.  Each pilot has a status of Novice, Competent, Veteran, or Expert (or somethinglike that).  There is no description of characteristics beyond that because hell, they are all fearless (to thepoint of not terribly bright).
 

[SCG_Space_Ghost]

Shwing!

[=EAustral=Topeka]

 

I dream that the PWCG improve its cooperative phase to be able to fly FoF campaigns. Will I be lucky?

[PatrickAWlson]

First I have to be told what an FoF campaign is

 

A lot of what I am doing is moving from names to serial numbers.  90,000 + lines of code - most of which depend on name to identify a pilot.  Anyhow, serial numbers should make for better and easier identification. 

 

One thing that I want to do is use different blocks of serial numbers to identify different categories of pilots: Human pilots, AI pilots, and historical aces.  That will allow for PWCG to begin to understand the concept of more than one human player.  That will take a lot of work though.  For instance: advancing time depends on the player - if the player is wounded PWCG advances time.  So how to handle that if there is more than one human player?  PWCG needs a completely altered and much more complex set of rules.

[Cybermat47]

Any news in regard to RoF?

 

Pat, I was flying a career with Jasta 2 near Arras, but most of the aircraft I encountered were from French squadrons based far to the south, around Verdun. Would it be possible to make an update that makes sure that the aircraft you encounter are based reasonably near you?

[GSP_Hund]

Not new to BoX but to PWCG, I installed as per instructions (3.5.0), generate mission (Kuban theater) but once I start the game the Kuban mission does not show up and only see premade/canned BOS/BOM/Tank scenarios.  What am I doing wrong?!