Potzblitz V25.0 OCT 18th 2024

[Robotron]

The logfile is unclear and I could not reproduce the bug by using the last autosave.

The bug seems to involve moving a unit, that much I can see.

Did the crash happen during your turn or during AI turn?

If it happened during your turn what/where did you move a unit?

[Argentum]

Crash strike when army corps unit move in Petrograd hex.

I think the pool of German commanders is drained and when "Caiser celebraits" event happened it's no one to celebrate.

[Robotron]

No, the Kaiser will only celebrate once per game and you got your bonus general when you captured Verdun. ^^

The bug happens when the Russian dreadnought is pushed out of the harbor when capturing the city.
The escape hex is empty and there is also no invisible submarine blocking it.

Strange.

[Robotron]

Fixed, you can continue your game...won't take too long anyway, I guess.

[Robotron]

Lol, please redownload 5.1 version attached in post above to fix another bug that soon followed.

[Argentum]

Yes, you are right. Thank you.

[Robotron]

If there's nothing else to report, I'll upload the (hopefully) final update V10.1 later.
It will contain all the scriptfixes and other minor adjustments I've applied since the last release.

[Robotron]

Update V10.1 is out:

Link:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1imF3G ... rcCQ155xch

It contains fixes for all reported bugs and some more found by me during testing.

After updating you cannot continue any unfinished campaign.
Finish any ongoing matches you want to complete before you update.

New:
- game ends immediately once all major nations of either alliance have 10 or more collapse points or have surrendered. Major nations for Entente are France, Britain and Russia. For CP: Germany and Austria.
- nations with 16 or more collapse points count as having surrendered for victory outcome calculation.
- reduced home water radius to 1 hex
- repositioned the British Royal Navy
- Russia suffers 1 collapse point if Tiflis (capital city in Caucasus) is captured by CP.
- France suffers 1 collapse point if Maghreb tribesmen capture Algiers
- In singleplayer vs CP AI, Serbian units will regain less efficiency from resting on Austrian hexes.
- In singleplayer vs CP AI,Russian units will regain less efficiency from resting on German hexes after the end of the Supply Crisis
- Lowered chance for Italy to join CP
- better pathfinding for German AI in France, still trying to get CP AI aggressive at the Eastern Front.
- German navy may rebel sooner if BBs, BCs and Pre-Dreads are left unused in port all the time: roughly 20+ turns without moving out any of them. However this is only of dangerous consequence if German morale is already lower than 25.
- new Serbian town of Bitola (Monastir) near Greek border.
- moved Tirana further west
- removed Austrian sea transport capability
- Norway can now be attacked without crashing the game
- fixed title screen music not restarting after game over.

Cheers.

[jkehoe]

hi this lockdown draws meback to Potzblitz, is there any final download available in one file?

[jkehoe]

sorry to be so lazy!

[jkehoe]

I've got V4.70 and V9.3 plus V.10

[Robotron]

You will only need V10 and the update V10.1.

Install V10 first.
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1NqAeW ... KzAmnuBhas

Then install the update V10.1
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1imF3G ... rcCQ155xch

There is no one-file solution yet, sorry.

[jkehoe]

no need to apologise:) the work you have done is magnificent, thank you so much

[cocolo]

Hi Robotron, Hnox and I retook the mod for a game. Technically it went pretty smooth but we found some mayor gameplay issues.
We found that navies have gotten really oversized. In a moment as the CP I had 10 surface units in the north sea while the British navy had retreated for a moment to its bases, this didn’t get to break the blockade because there were 22 light ships in the Atlantic fighting the subs.
Light cruisers seem too cheap and overpowered too, I was considering if subs were worth at all as apparently I was losing more income in subs than entente in transports. This few transports though apparently were enough to make USA declare war in January 1916 which Hnox and I agreed made German subs the best weapon of the whole Entente especially with what came soon after and is the biggest playability issue we found.

USA had 10 transport points and many army units as soon as it enters the war, worse than this is that it had the capability of building and sending in a few turns 6 already level 3 armor units to the western front, the impact there was fast and massive.

By the end of 1916 American armor units were doing a blitzkrieg on France, destroyed half front line, breaktrough and destroy planes artillery etc. CP first few level 1 armor units were no match and barely were trying to get a new front line in middle of Belgium. Just on time Germany and AH began massive construction and substitution of totally useless infrantry for more and more armor units… After winter in 1917 CP had 19! Armor units on map or in production, a new blitzkrieg began this time from Germany to Belgium and around Brussels began a massive tank battle Kursk style…We stopped here because it was all non-sensical. At this point German army was more mechanized than it ever was in ww2.

Hnox: I stopped the Flanders 1917 offensive as my tanks were isolated and wiped out, and then watched how Cocolo was planting tanks at every city in my LOS. Sure I could produce more tanks, but by the arrival time everything but the south of France would be conquered.

Our main issues with playability right now are in this order, fleets feel too cheap and easy to build, USA is overpowered... does it have the same strength entering war no matter what date? And specially, there should be an armor unit limit by tech, bomber style.

Hnox: feels the subs are too OP so the cruisers must be accordingly OP to fight them. Consider a convoy fully surrounded by a CA belt. You can throw a couple of subs, sink a single CA, then exploit the empty ZOC hex and a third sub will sink the transport. If you don’t sink the CA this turn, you will do the next.
The same for the Entente blockade fleet sitting at the North Sea. Remember those pesky CA? This time you can send a couple of BB, sink the CA screen freeing 2 hexes, then enter the subs. As the Entente must be sitting, the CP can scout with a single sub, and choose the right moment.
The problem is not your’s, Robo, but far beyond your role as a moder if I can dare to say, and excuse me if it sounds rude because I’m not meant to. The underlaying game is not good enough. I’m afraid the mod does well with the ground forces, but sea and air don’t do well when matching scales. As you have told us that the subs are hardcoded at the IA, then there is not much room for improvement it that way. I would abstract strategic war (subs, convoys, bombers and air fleets) in the same way as you did with single player Entente vs CP IA (an it’s done in other big games like AWAW). Otherwise, you are trying to sleep with a too small blanket.
It’s a pitty, because the naval game is funny until the mid game Armageddon.
My biggest complaint is every game I lost track of my numbers and factors. I have a rough idea of how the economics, diplo and intel are doing, but by 1916 everything is out of control by reasons I can’t understand as there is no clear numbers about what’s going on. In the East, CP conquered Varsaw by 1917, the front has been stale all the time as none could attack, but the Russian economy has been anemic after the supply crisis ended long ago. For the west Entente I feel the same. Even if I can contain CP, a couple transports loses in a row sets the Entente economy on a downfalling curve than takes time but always ends bad. Again, there are factors and events which I know they are doing something, but don’t know the numbers and it’s difficult to manage the situation so blinded.

[Robotron]

Finally some feedback!

First of all a thanks a LOT to both of you for this quite detailed summary. I'll try to address the points you made for the forthcoming V10.2 update which is already underway.

1. Fleets too cheap

Right now the values are
Dreadnought: build time: 12 turns, cost: 40 PP
Battlecruiser: build time: 6 turns, cost: 35 PP

New proposal:
Dreadnought: build time: 15 turns, cost: 75 PP
Battlecruiser: build time: 10 turns, cost: 50 PP

A small remark from me about the naval arms race in your game:
could it be that the eastern front in your game was in a stalemate because the CP player might have overbuilt his navy? Was there a lack of artillery/ammo or was the Russian army still too strong after the Russian Supply Crisis?


2. Submarines, light cruisers

2.1
Light cruisers too weak when attacked by subs: I cannot fix that by editing the values for unit-stats or anti-sub techs because there is no specific value for sub-defense.
Instead I'll modify the combat script so that sub attack strength will be lowered against light cruisers once the anti-sub techs are applied.
Depth Charge: -35 %; Depth-Charge Projector: - 50%, Passive Hydrophone: -65%.

2.3

As you have told us that the subs are hardcoded at the IA, then there is not much room for improvement it that way

That one I did not understand, what "hardcoded" part about subs are you referring to? Maybe there was a misunderstanding?


3. Tanks too strong:

3.1
US will no longer start with "Light Tank design" (tank tech level 3) but only with "Caterpillar combat vehicle" (tank tech level 1)

3.2
Tanks will have a hard limit according to the researched tank tech level, just like zeppelins and bombers (and submarines for that matter except Germany).


4. US war entry and PP

4.1
The reason for the premature US war entry seems to be an oversight in the MP attack scripts which lowers US alignment too often per submarine attack on a convoy. That's a glaring bug which must have been in there for ages.

4.2
Up to now US would start with 200 PP when entering the war.
I'll make it so that US starts the game with 100PP and adds +1D6 PP per turn until entering the war.


5. Losing track of stuff

Again, there are factors and events which I know they are doing something, but don’t know the numbers and it’s difficult to manage the situation so blinded.

I'd like to help making things more transparent but first I'd need to know what exactly you are referring to so please try to remember a situation where you were confused about what was going on.

Please give comments so that I can improve things.

Cheers.

[cocolo]

Finally some feedback!

First of all a thanks a LOT to both of you for this quite detailed summary. I'll try to address the points you made for the forthcoming V10.2 update which is already underway.

1. Fleets too cheap

Right now the values are
Dreadnought: build time: 12 turns, cost: 40 PP
Battlecruiser: build time: 6 turns, cost: 35 PP

New proposal:
Dreadnought: build time: 15 turns, cost: 75 PP
Battlecruiser: build time: 10 turns, cost: 50 PP

A small remark from me about the naval arms race in your game:
could it be that the eastern front in your game was in a stalemate because the CP player might have overbuilt his navy? Was there a lack of artillery/ammo or was the Russian army still too strong after the Russian Supply Crisis?

Those changes looks good to me
I as CP concentrated artillery on french fort taking a more defensive position in the east, later hnox took the offensive with Russia on Turkey, so Russian front was quiet until late 1916

2. Submarines, light cruisers

2.1
Light cruisers too weak when attacked by subs: I cannot fix that by editing the values for unit-stats or anti-sub techs because there is no specific value for sub-defense.
Instead I'll modify the combat script so that sub attack strength will be lowered against light cruisers once the anti-sub techs are applied.
Depth Charge: -35 %; Depth-Charge Projector: - 50%, Passive Hydrophone: -65%.

2.3

As you have told us that the subs are hardcoded at the IA, then there is not much room for improvement it that way

That one I did not understand, what "hardcoded" part about subs do you mean?

I actually have different view on this one from Hnox, the only reason i attacked light cruisers was because there were so many it was the only way to reach the convoys and the exchange was devastating for the subs so much so that i was considering scrapping them as i felt i was losing in the exchange and this even before i provoqued USA entry into war. This is my CP perspective of course but if light cruises are improved i think its maintenance should be increased back to 2 or raise the turns to be built. Or improve Light cruises but increase its maintenance to 2 and sub maintenance to 3.
All this reminds me i forgot to comment, in this atlantic battle, i was "suiciding" subs when they were damaged as it is cheaper to kill them and keep building new ones than waiting x turns to return port x turns to repair plus the expenses....much cheaper to buy a new one. Doesnt feel right at all. I dont know if anything can be done about this though.

3. Tanks too strong:

3.1
US will no longer start with "Light Tank design" but only with "Caterpillar combat vehicle"

3.2
Tanks will have a hard limit just like zeppelins and bombers but with double the unit limit, so you can start with 2 tanks with "Caterpillar combat vehicle", 4 at "Additional Armor" and 6 at "Light Tank Design" to make researching tanks worth at all.

i wouldnt double, 6 max per nation could make still easy to see around 12 tanks per faction. I think 3 per nation is more than enough to represent the weight tanks had in this war.


4. US war entry and PP

4.1
The reason for the premature US war entry seems to be an oversight in the MP attack scripts which lowers US alignment too often per submarine attack on a convoy. That's a glaring bug which must have been in there for ages.

4.2
Up to now US would start with 200 PP when entering the war.
I'll make it so that US starts the game with 100PP and adds +1D6 PP per turn until entering the war.

sounds good, maybe make USA not able to be influenced Italian style? I tried a single player and got USA to join in 1915...


5. Losing track of stuff

Again, there are factors and events which I know they are doing something, but don’t know the numbers and it’s difficult to manage the situation so blinded.

I'd like to help making things more transparent but first I'd need to know what exactly you are referring to so please try to remember a situation where you were confused about what was going on.

Please give comments so that I can improve things.

Cheers.

[Robotron]

Noted:

- 1 tank per tank tech hard limit.
- light cruiser upkeep raised to 2 PP
- make US resistant to influence

Proposal:
- no upkeep for submarines and free repairs but cost raised to 20PP?

[cocolo]

I think no upkeep of subs even rising the price to 20 would create giant swarms of subs

Improving Light cruisers and raising maintenance in a side and increasing price of subs and free repair for them i the other i think would make feel better.

[hnox]

New proposal:
Dreadnought: build time: 15 turns, cost: 75 PP
Battlecruiser: build time: 10 turns, cost: 50 PP

My builts: for the British a single Dreadnought and 3-4 Battlecruisers, 3 subs, and 25+ light cruisers. The french only built a single sub.

A small remark from me about the naval arms race in your game:
could it be that the eastern front in your game was in a stalemate because the CP player might have overbuilt his navy?

Was there a lack of artillery/ammo or was the Russian army still too strong after the Russian Supply Crisis?

The eastern front: a short advance in 1914, just to take some hexes for morale. Some probing attacks just to discover that the Germans were too strong in defense.

After the supply crisis, there were not enough PP to produce ammo for the next turn. The stockpile was exausted with reactive barrages.

2.1
Light cruisers too weak when attacked by subs: I cannot fix that by editing the values for unit-stats or anti-sub techs because there is no specific value for sub-defense.
Instead I'll modify the combat script so that sub attack strength will be lowered against light cruisers once the anti-sub techs are applied.
Depth Charge: -35 %; Depth-Charge Projector: - 50%, Passive Hydrophone: -65%.

Sounds good.

2.3

As you have told us that the subs are hardcoded at the IA, then there is not much room for improvement it that way
That one I did not understand, what "hardcoded" part about subs are you referring to? Maybe there was a misunderstanding?

A year ago, when talking about subs, if I recall correctly, you wrote that the subs behavior was coded in the original game in a way that makes impossible to mod. I'll look for it if you need it.

What I was meaning is that, perhaps, rather than tweaking this and that stats, a radical aproach could work better.

3.2
Tanks will have a hard limit according to the researched tank tech level, just like zeppelins and bombers (and submarines for that matter except Germany).

Maybe you can abstract some of the tank's power into a new infantry level.


5. Losing track of stuff

Again, there are factors and events which I know they are doing something, but don’t know the numbers and it’s difficult to manage the situation so blinded.

I'd like to help making things more transparent but first I'd need to know what exactly you are referring to so please try to remember a situation where you were confused about what was going on.

I would like a screen with the diplo and intel factors that are going public. For example:
1. Total DP count by factors (instead of checking the manual).
2. Effects from public events (not those that remain secret).
3. A list of known played events from both sides.
4. Reminder of the last codebreaking effect.
5. Reminder of intel and influence points in each country.
6. A more thorough detail of the management screen. For example, I played a British event (sorry, can't remember the name) that helped to ease the Russian Supply Crisis at the cost of hurting the British economy. I was blind about the effects on both sides.

I'm in a hurry now, but if you think it may be interesting, I could work more this proposal.

Anyway, you can deliver us a special version with full logging of events, moves, etc, so Cocolo and I we can play the next version and send you a full report.

Hope it helps.

[hnox]

So, to make things short, I add here my humble proposal:

Noted:

- 1 tank per tank tech hard limit.
- light cruiser upkeep raised to 2 PP
- make US resistant to influence

Proposal:
- no upkeep for submarines and free repairs but cost raised to 20PP?

Proposal:
- Keep convoy warfare abstract as in single player. A formula: ratio of naval sizes + tech + dieroll + events. Keep out actual sub units and light cruiser, use them just for fleet combat.
- Event log and known effects for diplo, intel, economy and tech in a single screen, with a breakdown.
- In addition to 1 tank per tank tech hard limit, add a new infantry tech.