PWCG 7.1.0 Released - Fixes and Improvements - lots of them

[SCG_Space_Ghost]

10 minutes ago, II./JG77_Hund said:

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?!

 

Did you include any special characters (like umlauts for instance) in your pilot name?

 

This will cause issues with missions displaying in-game.

[GSP_Hund]

No sir only a space in between as in: Der Hund.  Thanks for the reply SG!

[SCG_Space_Ghost]

4 minutes ago, II./JG77_Hund said:

No sir only a space in between as in: Der Hund.  Thanks for the reply SG!

 

I don't think PWCG normally works outside of the correct directory but the PWCG folder was copied to the ROOT of your IL-2 install, correct?

[GSP_Hund]

Well as a test I deleted that campaign named Der Hund and just started a new one simply named Hund, went through all the steps to create mission and same scenario as before; only canned missions for BOS/BOM/Tank scenarios.  Also, the PWCG folder is installed in the root directory for BoS:  C:\Program Files (x86)\1C Game Studios\IL-2 Sturmovik Battle of Stalingrad.  Thanks again SG for helping troubleshoot, hopefully I'll find a solution.

[SCG_Space_Ghost]

Good luck, Hund.. Wish I had more for you.

[PatrickAWlson]

2 hours ago, II./JG77_Hund said:

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?!

In the past this is usually caused by the player trying to fly a plane that he does not own.  If the mission file is in the data/missions directory then it should appear in the list.  If you do not own the plane that the mission has you flying then the game will not show that mission.

[GSP_Hund]

Patrick first of all thanks for responding, and I own the premium version of all three products excluding the Ju52 & and some the "Red" collector birds.  Whats interesting is that I can go into the mission editor and see the json file and open it and it matches what the PWCG created but I still can't see it in the "Missions" tab other than the canned stuff previously mentioned.  Perhaps I'll create a campaign for BoS or BoM and see if it works then and narrow it down to whether it's only with Kuban in my case.

 

BTW, below is a screen shot of the generated mission as it appears in the mission editor, please note at the top the software folder located and the mission properties as author "ROF atuo generated" and the fact that no map appears and it's exactly as generated.  Hope the image helps, thanks

 

Thanks again for product you've created and self support, hats off to your efforts..

Edited May 9, 2018 by II./JG77_Hund
amplify response

[PatrickAWlson]

Can you zip your campaign and post it.  If I can recreate it I can probably figure it out.

[GSP_Hund]

Patrick, when you say zip my campaign which directory or file is it you want sent, I'll get done.  Ok sir I hope I zipped the right folder, it was labeled "Campaigns" and located here:  C:\Program Files (x86)\1C Game Studios\IL-2 Sturmovik Battle of Stalingrad\PWCGCampaign

Thanks,

Der Hund

Campaigns.zip

Edited May 10, 2018 by II./JG77_Hund
update

[PatrickAWlson]

That should do it - thanks

[=EAustral=Topeka]

On 8/5/2018 at 6:16 PM, PatrickAWlson said:

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.

 Force on Force,team vs team...Sorry Pat and thnxs a lot for PWCG for BoS and RoF!

 

 

Edited May 11, 2018 by Topeka

[GSP_Hund]

Hello Patrick, I finally figured out where those missions went, they ended up in the COOP mission folder.  I decided to try and setup a coop mission as a test using Zlodey's

Cooperative mission generator and when I went to setup the server I discovered your missions there, is it some setting I hosed up during the install of PWCG 3.5?

[jeanba]

In last version, the FW190 is back on Stalingrad

[PatrickAWlson]

7 hours ago, jeanba said:

In last version, the FW190 is back on Stalingrad

 

It always has been.  I have never removed it.

[jeanba]

Strange, for quite a long time, I never met them, but that's ok : I simply scrub the mission when it happens

 

Edit : will you make a RoF variant of 3.5.0 ?

Edited May 26, 2018 by jeanba

[PatrickAWlson]

RoF and BoS mission formats diverged in 1C code a few releases ago.  I made the changes for BoS because that was broken.  I pushed that release for BoS but not RoF.  I did make an effort at backwards compatibility for RoF.  Problem is testing and time constraints.  3.5.0 might work if I did everything right, but I have been very time constrained and have not done in mission testing with RoF.  I wish I could tell you that I'll get right to it, but I can't make that promise.  I still code and write automated tests for both, so it 's not like PWCG has hopelessly diverged, but ... time.

 

I will revisit RoF at some point, but it might have to wait until Flying Circus.

[TheSNAFU]

Pat a couple of questions. First is there a setting to reduce ground activity? I have the random ground setting off and simple setting on low but after a mission the AAR often reports a ton of ground action. I am trying to improve game performance and ground action seems to hit my rig pretty hard. I don't recall seeing so much ground action in the AAR's in earlier versions. Also I have played a bunch of missions and still haven't had a CAP mission. I know you said it wouldn't be called a CAP mission but still I haven't seen any CAP during any mission. Thoughts? 

Edited May 26, 2018 by TheSNAFU

[Smallfry155]

G'day Pat,

 

Just getting my head around the log (txt) and MLG files.  They seem to be all over the place.  :)

 

It appears that BOS creates a non-continuous log file that you stitch together.   Is that right?

 

We re-flew our co-op mission several times as testing/familiarity. 

 

In PWCG there seemed no option to select which of the  missions we flew was to be kept as the 'real'' one, and the content was not what I recall actually happening in the mission.

 

What happens if you re-fly the same missions for PWCG.

 

How can I read the MLG files (If that matters - whatever they are :) )?

 

regards

[PatrickAWlson]

On 5/26/2018 at 5:20 PM, TheSNAFU said:

Pat a couple of questions. First is there a setting to reduce ground activity? I have the random ground setting off and simple setting on low but after a mission the AAR often reports a ton of ground action. I am trying to improve game performance and ground action seems to hit my rig pretty hard. I don't recall seeing so much ground action in the AAR's in earlier versions. Also I have played a bunch of missions and still haven't had a CAP mission. I know you said it wouldn't be called a CAP mission but still I haven't seen any CAP during any mission. Thoughts? 

Advanced Config -> Mission Ground Objects

Reduce numbers and increase spacing

 

Advanced Config -> Mission Limits

Reduce smoke.

 

I probably need to make some of the other detailed controls visible in advanced config

 

6 hours ago, Smallfry155 said:

G'day Pat,

 

Just getting my head around the log (txt) and MLG files.  They seem to be all over the place. 

 

It appears that BOS creates a non-continuous log file that you stitch together.   Is that right?

 

We re-flew our co-op mission several times as testing/familiarity. 

 

In PWCG there seemed no option to select which of the  missions we flew was to be kept as the 'real'' one, and the content was not what I recall actually happening in the mission.

 

What happens if you re-fly the same missions for PWCG.

 

How can I read the MLG files (If that matters - whatever they are )?

 

regards

 

PWCG automatically mates the logs with the last mission flown.  The mission name is store in the mission data file in PWCG.  It is also included in the header log - [0].  Having it in both places allows PWCG to make the match.

 

The game does create many log files for a single mission.  A single mission has the same starting time stamp but the logs go in sequence .... [0], [1], etc.

 

If you refly the mission PWCG will pick up the most recent set of logs and ignore previous attempts.

 

I don't know what an MLG file is.

 

[TheSNAFU]

Thanks Pat. I will try adjusting those settings. Since the big update I have not been able to get my rig to run the game smooth consistently. Ground activity seems to be the main issue although I used to run it at medium in PWCG. 

Edited May 29, 2018 by TheSNAFU

[Yogiflight]

5 hours ago, TheSNAFU said:

Thanks Pat. I will try adjusting those settings. Since the big update I have not been able to get my rig to run the game smooth consistently. Ground activity seems to be the main issue although I used to run it at medium in PWCG. 

The biggest issue for my rig was the smoke along the front lines. I had to tone it down to 1 instead of 3 and 25% instead of the default 100%. It still looks pretty impressing, but my rig runs much smoother.

[jeanba]

On 5/26/2018 at 10:43 PM, PatrickAWlson said:

RoF and BoS mission formats diverged in 1C code a few releases ago.  I made the changes for BoS because that was broken.  I pushed that release for BoS but not RoF.  I did make an effort at backwards compatibility for RoF.  Problem is testing and time constraints.  3.5.0 might work if I did everything right, but I have been very time constrained and have not done in mission testing with RoF.  I wish I could tell you that I'll get right to it, but I can't make that promise.  I still code and write automated tests for both, so it 's not like PWCG has hopelessly diverged, but ... time.

 

I will revisit RoF at some point, but it might have to wait until Flying Circus.

Indeed, PWCG for Bos is very good and I enjoy a lot my campaigns there but after the "version 3 rush", i went back to RoF.

[M_A_X]

Thank you, Pat!

[oho]

On 5/28/2018 at 11:29 PM, PatrickAWlson said:

Advanced Config -> Mission Ground Objects

Reduce numbers and increase spacing

 

Advanced Config -> Mission Limits

Reduce smoke.

 

I probably need to make some of the other detailed controls visible in advanced config

 

 

PWCG automatically mates the logs with the last mission flown.  The mission name is store in the mission data file in PWCG.  It is also included in the header log - [0].  Having it in both places allows PWCG to make the match.

 

The game does create many log files for a single mission.  A single mission has the same starting time stamp but the logs go in sequence .... [0], [1], etc.

 

If you refly the mission PWCG will pick up the most recent set of logs and ignore previous attempts.

 

I don't know what an MLG file is.

 

 

I played around with mission ground objekts, but it had no effect on CAP missions. I put the 3 spread numbers on 5000 and on 20000. 

They only say AAA, airfield and Group (city large airfield) so this doesn't seem to help my problem.

My problem are the other ground objekts like tanks, arti that seem to use a lot of CPU when flying a CAP mission, low intercept or low patrol. They turn the mission into a slide show. Perhaps you can make some more ground mission option for these objects available, to decrease their density. 

In the meantime: how can I edit a mission and delete some ground objects? 

 

 

[Yogiflight]

2 hours ago, oho said:

I played around with mission ground objekts, but it had no effect on CAP missions. I put the 3 spread numbers on 5000 and on 20000. 

They only say AAA, airfield and Group (city large airfield) so this doesn't seem to help my problem.

My problem are the other ground objekts like tanks, arti that seem to use a lot of CPU when flying a CAP mission, low intercept or low patrol. They turn the mission into a slide show. Perhaps you can make some more ground mission option for these objects available, to decrease their density. 

In the meantime: how can I edit a mission and delete some ground objects? 

Hi oho,

did you decrease 'Maximum amount of smoke in an area' and 'Maximum amount of smoke in mission' in MISSION LIMITS? The frontline smoke costs a lot of CPU, so I had to decrease it to 1 and 25.

Did you set 'Create random ground units in mission' to '0'? It might be, that you have to set the ground units to '0' in the 'Configuration' folder. I tried setting it in the advanced Config, but the result was the same, lots of action on the ground, which my rig isn't able to do on the Kuban map, as well. But setting it in the 'Configuration Folder' did the job, no random ground war anymore. The path is 'Battle of Stalingrad/PWCGCampaign/BoSData/Input/Configuration/ConfigSetMissionLimits', and in the third line from below 'UseAmbientGroundUnits' the "value" has to be set to "0".

[jasta11ace]

I made this adjustment to "0" and what a difference. Flies as smooth as glass. Thanks, Yogiflight, for the tip.

 

[PatrickAWlson]

Please delete your entire PWCG directory before installing the new version (I recommend zipping it and backing it up before you delete it).  Campaigns are not backwards compatible. and the data structures have changed.

 

PWCG 4.0.0

Every squadron in PWCG is staffed.

Every plane in the mission maps to a pilot in PWCG

Out of mission events affect pilots in PWCG.

If a pilot gains a victory out of mission, the victim will also be a pilot in PWCG.

The fate of the plane and pilot are separated - a pilot can easily survive being shot down.

A replacements pool of pilots exists.- During each time cycle, "needy squadrons" request replacements.  Replacements are distributed from the pool.

The replacement pool is drained to compensate for squadron losses.

There is a lag between the time a pilot is lost and the time that the request for a replacement is acknowledged.

The replacement pool is periodically replenished.

Over time manpower will become more of an issue, but not to a severe degree.

Slightly depleted AI squadrons may not fly.

Severely depleted AI squadrons will not fly.

The player's squadron will not fly if severely depleted.

 

4..1.0 will bring equipment logistics.

[Stlg13/Sgt_Schultz]

Man I can't wait to try this. Cheers Pat 

[Cybermat47]

Awesome news! Has this update applied to the RoF version as well?

[dburne]

 

Sounds great Pat, thank you so much!

[Bando]

About to DL it.

Thanks in advance Patrick!!

 

??️

[Columbar]

Hi Pete, thank you very very much for your work.

I have one question: Can we have LaGG 3 in Moscow battle?

Now in version PWCG 4 we can fly yak 1 ser.69 from date 1/10/1941 (with 11th fighter sqd.) which is formally incorrect, because yak 1 ser.69 comes in May 1942. But I very like it. Yak 1 was important aircraft in this battle. Not only Mig and I16 fought there...

Can we fly LaGG 3 ser.29 in Moscow battle, which comes on front at the same date as Yak1 ser.69 (May 1942). It is historically incorrect, but it will be nice to have more fighter in Moscow battle. LaGG 3 was important aircraft in this battle (lower series of course).

 

Sorry for my english and thank you for info.

 

Keep up perfect work sir! ?

[PatrickAWlson]

@Columbar Interesting that you mention that.  I noticed the same this afternoon when testing equipment assignment.  In the next release 11 Regiment will fly the Lagg3 early and then transition to the Yak after Moscow.

[Yogiflight]

Apart from the bugs, I posted in the bug report thread, a really good step for PWCG. The effects were so far not as big as I thought, because most fights happened over friendly territory, so most shot down pilots were counted as 'not injured' but a few losses were noticeable and it was nice to see, there were only eleven or even ten pilots on the pilot board, and that it needed a few days until the squadron had its full strength again.

What I noticed, too, is the rank in the AARs, not only the name. It is something I was missing a bit, so I am glad you implemented it now.

And we now have a radio beacon.Thanks for this, I tried it yesterday with a G6 and it worked.

I am looking very much forward to version 4.1.0, to see the effects, when the aircraft losses get mapped, too. Hopefully we will see, how many aircrafts our squadron has available.

[PatrickAWlson]

Glad that the feel of the algorithm seems to be producing the desired results.  One of my favorite aspects of the algorithm is the lag.  Losses are not replaced immediately.  It takes some time (a week or 10 days) before a replacement is considered a possibility.  Then you have to compete with all of the other units for available resources.  The intended effect is potential short term crisis for many losses in a short period, continuous hunger but not continuous starvation.  I wrote code to simulate a 200 day period to the algorithm in action, and then tweaked until my simulations were producing the results that I wanted.  

 

Also, as always, the replacement pilots are not nearly as good as the more experienced pilots.  This has always been true of the player's squadron but now will be felt by all squadrons.  

[JonRedcorn]

NVM!

Edited July 5, 2018 by JonRedcorn

[oho]

Yogi: how can I use  the radio beacon?

 

[oho]

Another question:

can I continue my career that I started in 4.0 with the next versions 4.1 and 5 or do I have to start the carreer again?

[Yogiflight]

4 hours ago, oho said:

Yogi: how can I use  the radio beacon?

Is your question, how to use it with the G-6, however there is no modification in the PWCG career for it? If so, you have to select the 'Peilrahmen PR 16' beacon finder in the 'Bf 109 G-6 setup', before clicking on the 'Start' button. This, of course, means your squadmates won't have the radio loop at their aircrafts, but I don't think this should be an issue.

The beacon itself works like in the game's career mode, too. Your beacon finder shows you the way back to your base.

 

2 hours ago, oho said:

Another question:

can I continue my career that I started in 4.0 with the next versions 4.1 and 5 or do I have to start the carreer again?

A good question, especially as currently the missions don't get counted. If after the bug fix the missions still are counted with '0', it doesnt make sense, to go on with your career with zero missions but several kills. I think it would make more sense to start a new career then with zero missions and zero kills. And I am not sure if it is possible, that PWCG can count the missions, you are flying now, after the bug fix.

Version 5.0 shouldn't have an influence on your career, as it is for coop missions, as far as I understood.

[CCIP]

Just wanted to say thanks for the hard work - I've run into the same issues re:counting missions and inability to generate attack missions that others have already reported, so I'm waiting eagerly for 4.1 to fix that before jumping back in :) 

 

Hope the work on it goes easy!