PWCG 9.0.0 Beta Available at PWCG Download Site

[PatrickAWlson]

I'm going to need some help in a little while.  I am in the process of making a pretty big change to PWCG.  It should both simplify the mission creation process and create better missions,

 

PWCG Now: Flight centric.  PWCG makes flights.  If it needs ground targets then PWCG makes those for the flight.  Because there are limits AI flights are limited to tiny ground targets - usually an AA.  MG.  The process is very complex as it requires an analysis of available target types, then the creation of one of those target types during flight creation specific to the flight.

 

PWCG Next: Battlefront centric.  PWCG makes the ground activity first.  If a flight needs a ground target one is selected from the activity in the mission.  No more availability analysis, just assignments to attack what's there.  

 

What I hope to achieve:

Organic funneling.  In real life attack planes went to where the action was and fighter planes went to where the attack planes were.  This new model will exactly emulate that.

Easier time modeling historical action tempo.  Give you the feeling of intense activity during battles and less activity during quieter times.

Better overall feel for what you and the planes around you are doing.  AI only flights will now attack real targets on the battlefield.

Better software.  This implementation is both simpler than what exists today and should produce more enjoyable missions.  Easier maintenance, reduced risk of bugs, easier to expand, etc.

 

Worst case there should be minimal difference.  If you are a fighter jock then you're mostly interested in killing other planes.  You might notice that the planes are attacking real targets.  I think this will really make the ground attack experience light up ... or it will look pretty much the same as today.

 

I should have a beta out in a few days.  

Edited May 24, 2020 by PatrickAWlson

[Almenas]

? Sounds great!

[Dutch2]

25 minutes ago, PatrickAWlson said:

I'm going to need some help in a little while.  I am in the process of making a pretty big change to PWCG.  It should both simplify the mission creation process and create better missions,

 

 

 To be clear on this; you need testers? If so let me know, I can't do this on a working-day, but I'm available every weekend, if not doing extra weekend shift.

[Napping-Man]

?

 

Do you EVER sleep?  Sounds great!

[PatrickAWlson]

The interesting thing is that this is largely being written by moving some stuff and deleting code.  This is a very good thing - more code is not necessarily better.  PWCG already had the concept of "ambient" ground activity.  The thought occurred "why should it be ambient?".   So I moved the ambient generation before flight generation and presto, ground activity now exists before flights are created.  Now to go to all of the flight generation code and rewrite it to select a ground target from what is available instead of making one specifically for the flight.

 

The battles in particular were always pretty complex structures, with multiple skirmishes and each skirmish has a set of units on both sides.  Now instead of an AI flight attacking a random machine gun somewhere they will actually target the battle, or the train, or a truck convoy, or whatever.  It should be rare, but multiple flights targeting the same unit is a possibility.  I also think the new box system largely stopped rail attacks from happening as they were outside the usual radius.  In 8.8.1 trains are always in every mission.  The rail stations closest to the battle area will generate trains but they still might not get selected using the existing algorithms.  With the new target selection method, as long as the target is on the map and within configured range it will be a possible target.

 

I have no real idea how this will play out.  What I am going for is the same thing that I always go for: a feeling.  You should feel that events are not pre planned (in PWCG they aren't),  You should feel part of something more than a running victory total when you fly.  We'll see.  If it flops ... oh well.  I don't think it will though.

 

[Almenas]

If several units are involved in an attack on a target, is it possible to point this out in the briefings to coordinate an attack?

[Varibraun]

24 minutes ago, PatrickAWlson said:

Now to go to all of the flight generation code and rewrite it

 

51 minutes ago, Napping-Man said:

Do you EVER sleep?

 

I haven't even had a chance to download 8.1.1 yet and another big PWCG idea and rewrite of the code...just Wow! 

 

The answer is clearly that Pat never sleeps (or codes in his sleep), and he also never stops thinking about the next step forward.  All I can say is THANK YOU again, and I look very forward to trying it out.

[sevenless]

Pat, great news! Let me thank you for offering such a wonderful tool to us.

[Thad]

I strongly suspect that Patrick loves what he is doing. 

[PatrickAWlson]

1 hour ago, Almenas said:

If several units are involved in an attack on a target, is it possible to point this out in the briefings to coordinate an attack?

 

It already is there.  You can see friendly missions on the map.

[dburne]

All sounding really good Pat, thanks so much for all your hard work!

[[808_BOB]_RlCK]

If what you need are testers Patt, I'm up for it. PWCG is basically the only way I play cooperatively. I cannot touch PvP of any kind due to medical issues, so all I have left is PWCG for coop and Career mode. This idea looks extremely interesting. God speed with it.

[Nadelbaum]

Looking forward to the beta, sounds great! Will the new stuff be available directly for the old campaigns or does it require a new campaign to be created?

[PatrickAWlson]

1 hour ago, Nadelbaum said:

Looking forward to the beta, sounds great! Will the new stuff be available directly for the old campaigns or does it require a new campaign to be created?

 

There should be no compatibility issues.  If there are I write code to convert the campaign.  I have my own campaign so I have a vested interest in backwards compatibility  

[Napping-Man]

Quick question...what about WWI?  They weren't tied to ground battles as such (usually).  Lotsa patrolling and Recon, etc.  Will this cause much of a change in FC?  Just curious...still sounds awesome.

[Yogiflight]

This idea sounds absolutely great. I am very curious to see, how this will be.

 

5 hours ago, Almenas said:

If several units are involved in an attack on a target, is it possible to point this out in the briefings to coordinate an attack?

Coordinating the attacks might not be too easy. The AI only flight would have to spawn at the right time in the right distance to the target, so the timeline between this flight and your flight fits. The second possible issue is, if you are flying in a flight of fighterbombers or 110, they will stop their attack, if they encounter an enemy flight on the way to the target, to attack the enemy aircrafts, which will ruin your coordinated attack.

Don't get me wrong, I absolutely like the idea, but I don't know how easy to do, it will be.

[Almenas]

Honestly, I have no idea if and how this is technically feasible. It's just an idea. It would be interesting not only to see the routes and targets of the other missions (which you can already do now), but to get an overall picture with partial objectives already in the briefing, especially for larger ongoing operations. But like I said, just an idea. Either way, the program is already excellent.

[Dutch2]

 

Maybe this would be a nice extra, moving soldiers: 

 

[grcurmudgeon]

On 5/21/2020 at 11:53 AM, PatrickAWlson said:

...deleting code.  This is a very good thing...

 

This is my favorite work activity as well!

[Sandmarken]

Wow cant wait!!

[PatrickAWlson]

PWCG 9.0.0 Beta Available at PWCG Download Site. 

 

I flew three test missions: one on my campaign, one Il2 attack mission, and one FC Pfalz mission.  No issues.  

 

The beta installs to a different directory so it can live side by side with 8.1.1.  8.1.1 campaigns are usable so if you want you can just copy them in.

 

It looks a lot like PWCG does today, but under the hood it is much more solid.  The premise of creating the ground activity and then adding air on top of it is just more straight forward and more viable.  The main difference that you may notice is that enemy bombers and ground attack missions will go after real targets and not the single AA gun placebos that they used to.

 

Give it a go and let me know what you think.

[inexus]

Do you think it would be technically possible to have a campaign generator for TC or are there any obstacles from this happening? (AI path finding, etc.? )

[PatrickAWlson]

2 minutes ago, inexus said:

Do you think it would be technically possible to have a campaign generator for TC or are there any obstacles from this happening? (AI path finding, etc.? )

 

I have been asked about that.  It's not really feasible in the near future.  Pathing is the biggest obstacle, but beyond that it is pretty much a 50 to 60 percent rewrite of 150K lines of code. 

[AerialShaDrone]

Outstanding Pat, thanks for doing all of this. I find myself checking your site almost daily because - like it was said above - you don't sleep and every update is better than the last. Me and Dad play just about every night, will probably continue doing so for awhile. As I encounter bugs I'll send'em your way to help out. Great stuff man, thanks so much.

[TheSNAFU]

The concept of having the ground war be what drives PWCG makes a lot of sense. I really like the idea. I’ll get it set up and provide feedback as soon as I can. Meanwhile many thanks Pat. As an exclusive SP enthusiast, I consider your amazing work to be as important to my experience as the game itself. Your commitment Is amazing and the contribution you make to the game and community are second to none. Thank you!

Edited May 25, 2020 by TheSNAFU

[Nadelbaum]

First mission flown (fighter campaign II./JG52) and all I can say is wow! The front line is full of action on the ground now. I almost crashed with my flight leader while admiring what was happening around. Really looking forward to trying the new version with my bomber campaign too. 

 

Here's one thing I noted, this has probably been reported already earlier. During debriefing the tabs have funny titles "Plane Lost" while the actual item is about a victory (with absolutely no plane lost):

 

Spoiler

 

[Nadelbaum]

Here's another (minor?) issue, the picture of the ace Hermann Graff is not found:

 

Spoiler

PWCG Error
Mon May 25 08:48:21 EEST 2020
pwcg.core.exception.PWCGUserException: Ace picture C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\IL-2 Sturmovik Battle of Stalingrad\PWCGBoSBeta\BoSData\Input\Aces\Pictures\Hermann Graff.jpg not found
    at pwcg.campaign.PictureManager.getAcePictureFile(PictureManager.java:62)
    at pwcg.campaign.PictureManager.getAcePicturePath(PictureManager.java:91)
    at pwcg.campaign.PictureManager.getPicturePath(PictureManager.java:40)
    at pwcg.gui.campaign.pilot.CampaignPilotListPanel.makePilotPicButton(CampaignPilotListPanel.java:116)
    at pwcg.gui.campaign.pilot.CampaignPilotListPanel.createPilotButton(CampaignPilotListPanel.java:80)
    at pwcg.gui.campaign.pilot.CampaignPilotListPanel.makeSquadronRightPanel(CampaignPilotListPanel.java:59)
    at pwcg.gui.campaign.CampaignRosterTopAcesPanelFactory.makeCampaignHomePanels(CampaignRosterTopAcesPanelFactory.java:43)
    at pwcg.gui.campaign.home.CampaignHomeGUI.createSquadronMemberContext(CampaignHomeGUI.java:336)
    at pwcg.gui.campaign.home.CampaignHomeGUI.createTopAceContext(CampaignHomeGUI.java:314)
    at pwcg.gui.campaign.home.CampaignHomeGUI.actionPerformed(CampaignHomeGUI.java:364)
    at javax.swing.AbstractButton.fireActionPerformed(Unknown Source)
    at javax.swing.AbstractButton$Handler.actionPerformed(Unknown Source)
    at javax.swing.DefaultButtonModel.fireActionPerformed(Unknown Source)
    at javax.swing.DefaultButtonModel.setPressed(Unknown Source)
    at javax.swing.plaf.basic.BasicButtonListener.mouseReleased(Unknown Source)
    at java.awt.AWTEventMulticaster.mouseReleased(Unknown Source)
    at java.awt.Component.processMouseEvent(Unknown Source)
    at javax.swing.JComponent.processMouseEvent(Unknown Source)
    at java.awt.Component.processEvent(Unknown Source)
    at java.awt.Container.processEvent(Unknown Source)
    at java.awt.Component.dispatchEventImpl(Unknown Source)
    at java.awt.Container.dispatchEventImpl(Unknown Source)
    at java.awt.Component.dispatchEvent(Unknown Source)
    at java.awt.LightweightDispatcher.retargetMouseEvent(Unknown Source)
    at java.awt.LightweightDispatcher.processMouseEvent(Unknown Source)
    at java.awt.LightweightDispatcher.dispatchEvent(Unknown Source)
    at java.awt.Container.dispatchEventImpl(Unknown Source)
    at java.awt.Window.dispatchEventImpl(Unknown Source)
    at java.awt.Component.dispatchEvent(Unknown Source)
    at java.awt.EventQueue.dispatchEventImpl(Unknown Source)
    at java.awt.EventQueue.access$500(Unknown Source)
    at java.awt.EventQueue$3.run(Unknown Source)
    at java.awt.EventQueue$3.run(Unknown Source)
    at java.security.AccessController.doPrivileged(Native Method)
    at java.security.ProtectionDomain$JavaSecurityAccessImpl.doIntersectionPrivilege(Unknown Source)
    at java.security.ProtectionDomain$JavaSecurityAccessImpl.doIntersectionPrivilege(Unknown Source)
    at java.awt.EventQueue$4.run(Unknown Source)
    at java.awt.EventQueue$4.run(Unknown Source)
    at java.security.AccessController.doPrivileged(Native Method)
    at java.security.ProtectionDomain$JavaSecurityAccessImpl.doIntersectionPrivilege(Unknown Source)
    at java.awt.EventQueue.dispatchEvent(Unknown Source)
    at java.awt.EventDispatchThread.pumpOneEventForFilters(Unknown Source)
    at java.awt.EventDispatchThread.pumpEventsForFilter(Unknown Source)
    at java.awt.EventDispatchThread.pumpEventsForHierarchy(Unknown Source)
    at java.awt.EventDispatchThread.pumpEvents(Unknown Source)
    at java.awt.EventDispatchThread.pumpEvents(Unknown Source)
    at java.awt.EventDispatchThread.run(Unknown Source)
 

 

[[808_BOB]_RlCK]

2 hours ago, Nadelbaum said:

Here's one thing I noted, this has probably been reported already earlier. During debriefing the tabs have funny titles "Plane Lost" while the actual item is about a victory (with absolutely no plane lost):

 

That's been there for a while. Instead of "Plane Lost" the title should be "Claim confirmed: PILOT_NAME" or something like that. It still confuses me after 20 flights or so.

[Varibraun]

15 hours ago, AerialShaDrone said:

Outstanding Pat, thanks for doing all of this. I find myself checking your site almost daily because - like it was said above - you don't sleep and every update is better than the last.

 

12 hours ago, TheSNAFU said:

Meanwhile many thanks Pat. As an exclusive SP enthusiast, I consider your amazing work to be as important to my experience as the game itself. Your commitment Is amazing and the contribution you make to the game and community are second to none. Thank you!

^^^^^^^^^ THIS!!  

 

I hope to install and get started testing some campaigns today.  Thank you!

[TheSNAFU]

I was able to get in 2 missions in the beta and was very impressed with the results. A penetration and low cap mission flying p51’s with 352 FG early September. The missions were action packed and varied. They really went nicely with encounters outside the flight path and enemy showing up from several directions. A ground battle was going on below. More AAA than I’ve ever seen before in a PWCG mission. A lot more!! It was lovely. AA set at medium in simple config. Only thing I noted was 2 109’s chased me all the way home and stayed there till one shot me down. Lots of AAA but they didnt turn and leave. 
 

Very fun missions. I’ll play more when I can and update further. Looks good so far Pat! 

[BB-Madman]

3 missions (1 in each of 3 campaigns) flown with the beta. No problems to report. 

[DrKarrot]

4 missions here, no problems at all, lots of fun. Encountered something different on each, including running into a flight of A20's on my 190a8 ground attack, which was cool!

 

I did notice that on the ground attack missions the more detailed objective descriptions are gone in lieu of "Attack the specified objective using all available means." which I assume is due to the new system.

[FTC_Riksen]

Great work Pat!

 

I just tested with 5 missions and no problems encountered except the skins are still no working when you configure the needed files. I mean they do work but the squadrons only select the last skin that was setup in the files. It does not randomize from the list. Anyway to include that in the next update?

[TheSNAFU]

One thing I do recall was I couldn’t give my commander a skin in skin management. He didn’t show in the pilot list in skin management. All others did and no problem assigning them skins. 

[PatrickAWlson]

1 hour ago, Riksen said:

Great work Pat!

 

I just tested with 5 missions and no problems encountered except the skins are still no working when you configure the needed files. I mean they do work but the squadrons only select the last skin that was setup in the files. It does not randomize from the list. Anyway to include that in the next update?

 

Skins in the squadron directory are default squadron skins.  They are not randomize - only one is selected based on date.  

[FTC_Riksen]

47 minutes ago, PatrickAWlson said:

 

Skins in the squadron directory are default squadron skins.  They are not randomize - only one is selected based on date.  

 

Oh I see. Anyway to introduce that into the software? I made some numbered skins for several squadrons in Moscow and it would be great if the AI units could also use the skins in a randomized manner so in mission we could see planes in the same squadron using similar skins with numbers and all that.

For example:

 

"skins": [ { "skinName": "Bf109f2_IIJG52_01", "planeType": "bf109f2", "startDate": "19400801", "endDate": "19450601", "squadId": 20112052, "country": "Germany", "category": "Squadron", "definedInGame": false }, { "skinName": "Bf109f2_IIJG52_02", "planeType": "bf109f2", "startDate": "19400801", "endDate": "19450601", "squadId": 20112052, "country": "Germany", "category": "Squadron", "definedInGame": false }, { "skinName": "Bf109f2_IIJG52_03", "planeType": "bf109f2", "startDate": "19400801", "endDate": "19450601", "squadId": 20112052, "country": "Germany", "category": "Squadron", "definedInGame": false }, { "skinName": "Bf109f2_IIJG52_04", "planeType": "bf109f2", "startDate": "19400801", "endDate": "19450601", "squadId": 20112052, "country": "Germany", "category": "Squadron", "definedInGame": false }, { "skinName": "Bf109f2_IIJG52_05", "planeType": "bf109f2", "startDate": "19400801", "endDate": "19450601", "squadId": 20112052, "country": "Germany", "category": "Squadron", "definedInGame": false }, { "skinName": "Bf109f2_IIJG52_06", "planeType": "bf109f2", "startDate": "19400801", "endDate": "19450601", "squadId": 20112052, "country": "Germany", "category": "Squadron", "definedInGame": false }, { "skinName": "Bf109f2_IIJG52_07", "planeType": "bf109f2", "startDate": "19400801", "endDate": "19450601", "squadId": 20112052, "country": "Germany", "category": "Squadron", "definedInGame": false }, { "skinName": "Bf109f2_IIJG52_08", "planeType": "bf109f2", "startDate": "19400801", "endDate": "19450601", "squadId": 20112052, "country": "Germany", "category": "Squadron", "definedInGame": false }, { "skinName": "Bf109f2_IIJG52_09", "planeType": "bf109f2", "startDate": "19400801", "endDate": "19450601", "squadId": 20112052, "country": "Germany", "category": "Squadron", "definedInGame": false }, { "skinName": "Bf109f2_IIJG52_10", "planeType": "bf109f2", "startDate": "19400801", "endDate": "19450601", "squadId": 20112052, "country": "Germany", "category": "Squadron", "definedInGame": false }, { "skinName": "Bf109f2_IIJG52_11", "planeType": "bf109f2", "startDate": "19400801", "endDate": "19450601", "squadId": 20112052, "country": "Germany", "category": "Squadron", "definedInGame": false }, { "skinName": "Bf109f2_IIJG52_12", "planeType": "bf109f2", "startDate": "19400801", "endDate": "19450601", "squadId": 20112052, "country": "Germany", "category": "Squadron", "definedInGame": false }, { "skinName": "Bf109f4_IIJG52_01", "planeType": "Bf109f4", "startDate": "19400801", "endDate": "19450601", "squadId": 20112052, "country": "Germany", "category": "Squadron", "definedInGame": false }, { "skinName": "Bf109f4_IIJG52_02", "planeType": "Bf109f4", "startDate": "19400801", "endDate": "19450601", "squadId": 20112052, "country": "Germany", "category": "Squadron", "definedInGame": false }, { "skinName": "Bf109f4_IIJG52_03", "planeType": "Bf109f4", "startDate": "19400801", "endDate": "19450601", "squadId": 20112052, "country": "Germany", "category": "Squadron", "definedInGame": false }, { "skinName": "Bf109f4_IIJG52_04", "planeType": "Bf109f4", "startDate": "19400801", "endDate": "19450601", "squadId": 20112052, "country": "Germany", "category": "Squadron", "definedInGame": false }, { "skinName": "Bf109f4_IIJG52_05", "planeType": "Bf109f4", "startDate": "19400801", "endDate": "19450601", "squadId": 20112052, "country": "Germany", "category": "Squadron", "definedInGame": false }, { "skinName": "Bf109f4_IIJG52_06", "planeType": "Bf109f4", "startDate": "19400801", "endDate": "19450601", "squadId": 20112052, "country": "Germany", "category": "Squadron", "definedInGame": false }, { "skinName": "Bf109f4_IIJG52_07", "planeType": "Bf109f4", "startDate": "19400801", "endDate": "19450601", "squadId": 20112052, "country": "Germany", "category": "Squadron", "definedInGame": false }, { "skinName": "Bf109f4_IIJG52_08", "planeType": "Bf109f4", "startDate": "19400801", "endDate": "19450601", "squadId": 20112052, "country": "Germany", "category": "Squadron", "definedInGame": false }, { "skinName": "Bf109f4_IIJG52_09", "planeType": "Bf109f4", "startDate": "19400801", "endDate": "19450601", "squadId": 20112052, "country": "Germany", "category": "Squadron", "definedInGame": false }, { "skinName": "Bf109f4_IIJG52_10", "planeType": "Bf109f4", "startDate": "19400801", "endDate": "19450601", "squadId": 20112052, "country": "Germany", "category": "Squadron", "definedInGame": false }, { "skinName": "Bf109f4_IIJG52_11", "planeType": "Bf109f4", "startDate": "19400801", "endDate": "19450601", "squadId": 20112052, "country": "Germany", "category": "Squadron", "definedInGame": false }, { "skinName": "Bf109f4_IIJG52_12", "planeType": "Bf109f4", "startDate": "19400801", "endDate": "19450601", "squadId": 20112052, "country": "Germany", "category": "Squadron", "definedInGame": false }, { "skinName": "II_JG52", "planeType": "bf109g2", "startDate": "19400801", "endDate": "19450601", "squadId": 20112052, "country": "Germany", "category": "Squadron", "definedInGame": false } ],

 

 

I have the above code in both the bf109f2 file and the II./JG52 file and they represent 12 aircraft skins (a skin pack specifically created for the II./JG52) with numbers 1-12. I set them up specifically for the same dates in hopes that PWCG would randomly pick one for each pilot unless specifically assigned by the player. However, the system only uses whichever one is the last for that squadron and aircraft (in the case for the Bf-109 F4, the system always uses #12 because it is the last one). Could you introduce a feature to randomize them so the community could create skin packs for the squadrons?

Edited May 25, 2020 by Riksen

[Almenas]

11 minutes ago, Riksen said:

 

Oh I see. Anyway to introduce that into the software? I made some numbered skins for several squadrons in Moscow and it would be great if the AI units could also use the skins in a randomized manner so in mission we could see planes in the same squadron using similar skins with numbers and all that.

Like old ROF times. I have so many skins now and would like to see them in the missions.

[rieper_420]

Hello Pat,

Awesome update! I am really impressed. Missions are really fun. I get shot down a lot by flak, though ? I need to be more careful.

 

 

I had some interesting findings in some missions trying out PWCG9.0.0 Beta:

 

1)

Flying IL-2 ground attack in Stalingrad (Winter), I saw some ships that were spawned in the frozen Volga river and were somewhat exploding.

 

Screenshot & mission attached

 

 

2)

In a ground attack mission at Kuban I saw some trains stuck in a town - unfortunately, I cannot provide the mission file.

 

just screenshot

 

 

Thanks again for your awesome update!

 

Best regards

Rieper

 

SturmoStalingrad.zip

Edited May 25, 2020 by rieper_420

[vanson77]

First, thanks a lot for PWCG! Great stuff...

 

Today i had a lot of flights with 9.0.0. To be honest, i didn´t notice a great difference to the old versions, which i think is not necessery a bad thing. Bomber and Atacker strikes make a lot more sense now as you already described. Only thing i hat to slightly increase the number of flights and planes to get contacts, but thats fine. Overall i really like the new concept.

 

 I have a problem you might look into. My career startet with version 8.8.1 in Stalingrad, transfered to Kuban where i also switched to 9.0.0. At about the 20th July it startet to give me error messages. Most time in the past i got this solved with some days departure from squadron, which seems to fix a lot of problems when you get missing log errors. This time seems different, also according to the exception in the PWCGErrorLog.txt ("No roles for date range Mon Jul 27"). Think there is a problem in the transition between maps proceeding in timeline.

In the end i got it sortet by manually setting the Date to 1st August in the Campaign.json, which transfered me to Stalingrad back again.
 

Attached the PWCGErrorLog.txt and PCGW_BF109F4_1202005252105892.zip.  

 

Best regards

 

 

PCGW_BF109F4_1202005252105892.zip PWCGErrorLog.txt

[Varibraun]

5 Beta missions today - 3 from a legacy campaign (WF) and 2 from a new campaign in Kuban.  Everything seemed normal, only 1 mission without contact.  Definitely saw more AA around my AFs.  Thank you for the continued development!!