WinSPMBT v5.5-- NOW AVAILABLE

[DRG]

NOW AVAILABLE

Click HERE (http://www.shrapnelgames.com/Camo_Workshop/MBT/MBT_page.html)

WinSPMBT version 5.5 Upgrade patch

9 New Scenarios *( see note at bottom )
30 Updated Scenarios
8 Revised Campaigns
36 Revised Campaign files
1 New Terrain type ( Desert Houses )
337 New or revised Photos
530 New or Revised vehicle or aircraft Icons
92 Updated OOB Files
40 New or Revised Icon Graphic files
12 New or Revised Text files
1 Revised map
43 Revised picklists
Upgraded Cost Calculator
Upgraded MOBHack, MOBHack.INI and MOBHack Help file
Upgraded ScenHack
Upgraded Camo Map Editor
Upgraded Game Options

1/ Guns or vehicles loaded onto their transport planes in the game have
their crews split off when loaded so they are dropped separately. Previously
there was no way to rejoin them during the deployment phase. New code has
been added so that in the deployment phase only, if you unload one of these
units from a TRANSPORT AIRCRAFT, the crews will be re-united with their gun
or vehicle by pressing ' J '.

2/ All Anti Tank gun unit classes have had their cost reduced by
approximately 25%

3/ The GameOptions program will now auto-detect if your operating system is
Windows XP or earlier or Vista / Win7 and any future OS Microsoft may
release. If it finds you are running an operating system newer than Windows
XP it will automatically run a command line that shuts windows explorer down
briefly then restarts it ONLY IF you have the game set to run in FULL SCREEN
MODE.

4/ There was a minor bug that allowed artillery falling on map in some cases
to affect off map units. This has been corrected

5/ HQ's, scout classes, Forward Observers and ammo vehicles will now
withhold opfire if they have not been fired on so these units will no longer
give away their position prematurely. This makes scouts , for example, much
more likely to be bypassed than in the past

6/ Anti Tank guns and flak units will also withhold fire on moving infantry
and some soft vehicles as well but will not let the enemy get as close as
Scouts etc.. This is an improvement on past code that tended to allow opfire
from Anti Tank guns and flak units at moving infantry from long ranges when
they should have stayed concealed.

7/ Non FLAK units in the delay or defence will not fire AAA weapons except
if the fighter bombers are very close in the first 12 or so turns . This
stops " recce by spotting AAMG fires "', if you put strike planes in as a
pre-game deployment to find the enemy layout. Those units with AAMGs WILL
fire at paratrooper carrying aircraft and gliders normally, however.

8/ There was a small section of code missing from the pre-game deployment
screen (L)oad and (U)nload ALL UNITS routine where the (ESC)ape key did not
allow you to change your mind but loaded or unloaded all units when the
(ESC)ape key was selected. This has been corrected and the (ESC)ape function
now allows you to back out of that situation

9/ Units on water that were destroyed were not being credited as kills. Now
Corrected

10/ There is new min range code for artillery based on 1/5th of the units
range with 5 hexes being the absolute minimum on map artillery units will
target indirect, up to 20 hexes minimum. An on map gun , for example, with a
90 hex range would be able to target units a minimum of 18 hexes from the
gun. All guns with a range greater than 100 hexes will only be able to fire
at targets greater than 20 hexes from their location on the map. Mortar
units on the other hand will have their minimum ranges determined by their
sabot range with the absolute minimum mortars can target indirect now being
2 hexes.

11/ The PBEM long campaign was not supposed to have special battles, but a
bug was allowing these through. The campaign loop now clears down the
special battle flag in the correct place and these will no longer show up in
PBEM campaigns.

12/ Widescreen support has been added to the game for CD owners. This will
allow you to run the game at the same resolution as your normal desktop. If
a player wanted to use a resolution OTHER than the current windows desktop
mode (e.g. to run the game in 1024x768 full screen, with the desktop set to
say 1280x1024 ) then he would need to set the windows desktop to the
desired size before starting the game. (Click on desktop, settings, choose
required windows mode).

13/ The game code has been altered to make it much more windows friendly
when it comes to CPU usage. In the past the game wanted all the resources it
could have all the time including that time you were away from the keyboard
making a cup of coffee or thinking about what you would do next. Now, the
CPU usage will drop considerably when the game is waiting for input from the
human player. It still requires all the CPU usage it can handle when the AI
is moving but once it is the human players turn many players with high end
computers will notice their machine is not working nearly as hard as it used
to be and the effects are more obvious the newer and faster your computer is

14/ There were numerous minor unit , weapon and formation changes made to
the OOBs .

15/ SAMS are now filtered on warhead size versus spotter planes and UAVS.
Large SAMs will no longer needlessly engage small spotter aircraft or UAV's.
These will be left for the smaller SAMs


16/ SP ATGM classes allowed smoke if "main gun" ammo had a Warhead size
greater than 3 which allowed SP ATGM units smoke when they should not have
it. This has been rectified in the code and smoke will no longer be issued
to those units


17/ Unit class #59 and #102 are tank classes than now allow up to 4
passengers to be carried as if they were APCs and are used specifically to
allow Israeli Merkavas to carry 4 men internally

18/ All ON MAP rocket units that had a minimum range close to or exceeding
10km have been removed from ON MAP formations and now can be found solely in
OFF MAP formations

19/ Reaction fire with HEAT being used as HE against non-vehicle targets was
previously restricted only to close range targets (about 250 metres).Now,
units will occasionally reaction fire HEAT as HE out to longer ranges of 1
km (20 hexes). This is especially likely for the CS-tank classes.

20/ A new terrain set has been added to the game that will place single hex
desert houses when desert maps are called for on all auto-generated maps.
For sceanrio design purposes either house type can be placed on maps simply
by switching between desert and summer .

21/ Added Georgia and South Ossetia battle locations for RED (Georgia)
versus Russia in 2008.

22/ Smoke was not being replenished in some cases in Campaigns. Now corrected.

As usual we remind everyone that on going secure PBEM games WILL fail if this patch is applied while they are being played.

* Scenarios note: We originally announced 15 new scenarios but after the release discovered that in actual fact 6 of these were duplicates of scenarios that had been previously release. The duplicate scenarios are 249, 250, 251, 252, 254 and 255. These will be replaced in future upgrades

[Hermit]

First of all, thanks to everyone who was involved, but especially to Don and Andy for their continued work on this FANTASTIC game, and of course, the new patch.

That being said, I thought smoke round replenishment (after battles) for formation-leader tanks in generated campaigns was going to be one of the fixes in this release, but I didn't see that mentioned. I play almost exclusively pre-TI games, so that issue will affect my game play.

Did that fix not make it into this patch, or is it just not mentioned in the list of improvements?

[DRG]

As I recall we fixed that so long ago we forgot it was done when we wrote up the list

Don

[Roman]

Thanks ¡¡¡¡¡

[Warhero]

Thanks about info! Can't wait:)

[4rakbtl32]

This is great ! I hope im the next patch will be more Infantry icons, not only one set for enginer, infantry,..... This where great when the infantry have different icons, like the vehicles.

[RightDeve]

Very great as usual!!
But along with an announcement of "soon-to be released" patch usually follows a painful "wait" for any brand new PBeM games.

I think this one addition for the improvements already listed above will be good:
-a zero range close assault factor for infantry against AFVs, as already mentioned by Cross in the WW2 forum.

Thanks DRG and MobHack!

[SP4EVER]

3/ The GameOptions program will now auto-detect if your operating system is
Windows XP or earlier or Vista / Win7 and any future OS Microsoft may
release. If it finds you are running an operating system newer than Windows
XP it will automatically run a command line that shuts windows explorer down
briefly then restarts it ONLY IF you have the game set to run in FULL SCREEN
MODE.

There should be a beter way to fix the game on Windows 7 / Vista machines than force killing explorer.exe.

Games such as Command & Conquer, Red Alert, Starcraft and Fallout have all had the same color palette messup when running on those newer operating systems. And it is from forums for those games that I found out that they all work when a DirectDraw Compatibility registry patch is used.

See Microsoft has build in compatibility modes for old DirectDraw aplications that are wery poorly documented! The fixes are build in the operating system, but need to be enabled in the windows registry to work.

The compatibility mode can be found in windows Registry under:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\DirectDraw\C ompatibility\

On 64 bit machines the path is a little different in that it has the "WOW6432Node" path in it.
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\ DirectDraw\Compatibility\

So below there are the fixes for SPMBT v.5.00 only. This will most likely not work on older or newer versions of the game. For those one needs to write a new reg file with the correct value for the ID field matching the values in the .exe.

Copy paste the text below to notepad and save it as SPMBT_ddrawfix.reg for example. The .reg part is the important one. Then run the file you created and it will update your register.
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\DirectDraw\C ompatibility\winSPMBT-v5]
"Flags"=hex:00,08,00,00
"Name"="winSPMBT.exe"
"ID"=hex:81,62,A6,4B

And if you have a 64-bit operating system you need the text below instead:
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\ DirectDraw\Compatibility\winSPMBT-v5]
"Flags"=hex:00,08,00,00
"Name"="winSPMBT.exe"
"ID"=hex:81,62,A6,4B

If this works you should not be getting any color problems and you do not need the cmd file to start the game. And most importantly it is not closing your explorer.exe. Its just using a compatibility mode built into Windows itself.

Here are the links for discussion about the color bug in Fallout and Command & Conquer for referance:

http://www.nma-fallout.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=56175

http://www.cnc-comm.com/community/index.php?topic=711.0

Unfortunately I dont have access to a Win7 computer to test this so I don't know if it will work for SPMBT too. My apologies if it does not work. However im sure some compatibility option will fix the color issue without the need to use special tricks to close the explorer.

[SP4EVER]

13/ The game code has been altered to make it much more windows friendly
when it comes to CPU usage. In the past the game wanted all the resources it
could have all the time including that time you were away from the keyboard
making a cup of coffee or thinking about what you would do next. Now, the
CPU usage will drop considerably when the game is waiting for input from the
human player. It still requires all the CPU usage it can handle when the AI
is moving but once it is the human players turn many players with high end
computers will notice their machine is not working nearly as hard as it used
to be and the effects are more obvious the newer and faster your computer is

Would it help at all if the program run only using a single core on a multicore CPU system? It might reduse overheating and make the system better at multitasking if the resource hungry program would be using just one cpu core.

Heres a link to one way of fixing the processor affinity:
http://www.robpol86.com/index.php/ImageCFG

Also have you checked out Microsofts Aplication Compatibility Toolkit? With it you can create your own custom compatibility patches for old software to run on a new OS. I have had success in the past using it on my XP machine. It is the window to the inner workings of Windows XP/Vista/7 compatibility layers.

Wery useful program once you get to understand how it works. There are about 100 different compatibility options that you can play with instead of just the standard "run in windows 98 mode" etc...

Here's the link:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/en/details.aspx?FamilyId=24DA89E9-B581-47B0-B45E-492DD6DA2971&displaylang=en

[Mobhack]

I have seen the registry fixes on the net.

They are pointless since they are aiming at a moving target. They seem to be different numbers on each and every machine as well, not a fixed set of numbers. We cannot ask end users to manually peek at registry entries and edit hex codes every time the game is changed, or whenever Windows decides to mess with these "magic numbers".

Also, it would appear that we would need at least three different installers - an XP or earlier one, A 32 Bit Vista/7 and a 64 bit one. That is not going to happen - with 2 different games, multiple patches for each, and an existing stock of CDs.

The batch file fix is simple and does what is required - it runs the game full-screen for those who require that facility. You lose the ability to multi-task out and do email or whatever, but that is a small price to pay.

Should you require to multi-task then CD owners can run in windowed mode at desktop resolution. The task bar and start key are available at the bottom of the screen as usual then, and the GDI mode graphics do not clash with the Aero desktop interface.

Cheers
Andy

[SP4EVER]

The registry fields are not different in every machine just for 32 and 64 bit operating systems.

The registry patch is ofcourse meant for people with Windows Vista or Windows 7 only. So people having a older OS do not need it and you do not need to worry if those older operating systems have different registry paths.

As for the ID field it is indeed specific to the game version. When you edit the code and compile a new executable the number changes. However then you can just make a new .reg file with the correct dword value. Normally end users would have to be familiar with a hex editor to lookup for the values in the exe. However there is a program available for making the .reg file automaticaly too. It's available in the Fallout forum link that I posted.

Im not going to argue about this more. It is up to the designers ofcouse what methods they employ to fix the color corruption. But I felt compelled at bringing to light this other method too.

I love the game and have been playing it from the first DOS version. Keep up the good work!

[Koh]

Fire your sniper rifles at them - only weapon (unit class actually) that works, to give the anti-material rifles some usefulness.

Are you sure this works? At least with my copy of the game I can't get my snipers to shoot at them. The cursor changes to indicate a target you can fire at, but clicking on the IED does nothing. And trying to find a target with the T key doesn't result in the IED being targeted. Programming error/feature that got deleted at the last minute/my copy not working?

- Koh

It should work - that class was specifically set up to be the only one allowed to fire at demolition class. I'll look into it over the summer break.

Cheers
Andy


Sorry for the late reminder, but has this been addressed?

- Koh

[Mobhack]

Are you sure this works? At least with my copy of the game I can't get my snipers to shoot at them. The cursor changes to indicate a target you can fire at, but clicking on the IED does nothing. And trying to find a target with the T key doesn't result in the IED being targeted. Programming error/feature that got deleted at the last minute/my copy not working?

- Koh

It should work - that class was specifically set up to be the only one allowed to fire at demolition class. I'll look into it over the summer break.

Cheers
Andy


Sorry for the late reminder, but has this been addressed?

- Koh

Far too late - the patch should be out next week, hopefully.

I'll put on the to-do list to check it for sure.

Andy

[DRG]

The targeting cursor shows but you cannot fire.

This may need to wait for next time

Don

[void1984]

Hello

Does 5, 6 and 7 relate only to the AI side, or both?
Does 2 relate only to stationary AT guns, or also to SPAT guns?

[Mobhack]

Hello

Does 5, 6 and 7 relate only to the AI side, or both?
Both

Does 2 relate only to stationary AT guns, or also to SPAT guns?
AT Gun classes - the other is a vehicle


Andy

[glaude1955]

Thanks for your patch !
Good work !

Glaude1955

[PanzerBob]

Thanks yet again in advance. Waiting on the edge of my chair for it.

[DRG]

Both patches will be posted within the next 24 hours

Don

[glaude1955]

Downloaded, thank you!

Glaude1955

[Mobhack]

The patches are now up

They can be found at:
WinSPWW2
http://www.shrapnelgames.com/Camo_Workshop/WW2/WW2_page.html

WinSPMBT
http://www.shrapnelgames.com/Camo_Workshop/MBT/MBT_page.html

[RightDeve]

Yeeeehaaaaaw baby!!!!! Now at least I won't have any worries about setting up a new PBeM game!!!! You all are SO NICE, designers... never I've seen a FREE GAME being updated so often. Ok, I'm setting up an urban battle now, and I will post it here for those who want to taste the brand new "engine" SPCMo-5.5MBT with its eco-friendly exhaust system (no 100% CPU load)!

[Sgt_Walrus]

Thanks guys...great work.
I shall spread the word.

[Warhero]

Yippee:)!!! Thanks very much Don & Andy!

[whdonnelly]

Only 1 hiccup so far. I am showing "Battle of the Barricades" in slot 232 and 254. Not That I mind :)
Thanks for more great work
Will

[DRG]

Oops....

[Wdll]

Yeeeehaaaaaw baby!!!!! Now at least I won't have any worries about setting up a new PBeM game!!!! You all are SO NICE, designers... never I've seen a FREE GAME being updated so often. Ok, I'm setting up an urban battle now, and I will post it here for those who want to taste the brand new "engine" SPCMo-5.5MBT with its eco-friendly exhaust system (no 100% CPU load)!

Friendly suggestion, buy the game. It's not ghosts who keep updating the game.

[hawk66]

from my side, also a big thank you! The reduced cpu consumption is really helpful, playing on a netbook :).

also, the SAM and scout-improvements are nice!

[Double_Deuce]

20/ A new terrain set has been added to the game that will place single hex
desert houses when desert maps are called for on all auto-generated maps.
For sceanrio design purposes either house type can be placed on maps simply
by switching between desert and summer .
Well, I can't speak for anyone else but I am really grateful for this one. ;)

[Roman]

Thanks guys.

[RightDeve]

I have noticed that scenario 225 and 255 are exactly the same, "Somalian Pirate Hostage". I think it's just a minor scenario placement error. What I want to know is, where are those "desert houses" terrain icon on the map editor? Are they randomly generated (can't be created by user for each hex?)? Oh, and some scenarios don't state exactly which side the Human should play, is it ok to play either side?

[DRG]

255 will be replaced whenever we release the next patch.

If you generate a desert map you will see desert houses. The normal house button works for both except now the game uses the desert house set when you are editing a desert map. Had you created a desert map and tried placing single hex houses you would have seen this.

If a scenario does not specify which side to play in the description the standard rule of thumb is whatever side comes up HUMAN is the one you should use.

Don

[RightDeve]

Hi Don, thanks for the answer.
But I'm still worried about the desert houses. Just now I tried loading up a map editor on WinSPWW2, and YES, the houses and buttons showed up right (I love the look of them!). But when it comes to WinSPMBT, the desert houses won't show up, and the button keeps generating standard/generic buildings. I don't know what's wrong, but I believe I have patched my MBT chronologically and installed it in drive G:

Anyone having the same problem?

PS: What does that "A.Building" mean? Adobe building? Does it have any differences in terms of cover/concealment to the two other types?

[Double_Deuce]

Hi Don, thanks for the answer.
But I'm still worried about the desert houses. Just now I tried loading up a map editor on WinSPWW2, and YES, the houses and buttons showed up right (I love the look of them!). But when it comes to WinSPMBT, the desert houses won't show up, and the button keeps generating standard/generic buildings. I don't know what's wrong, but I believe I have patched my MBT chronologically and installed it in drive G:

Anyone having the same problem?

PS: What does that "A.Building" mean? Adobe building? Does it have any differences in terms of cover/concealment to the two other types?
Hmm, I just tested using my copy of WinSPMBT and the standalone Map Editor and they showed up OK for me.

Can't help you on the "A.Building" question though.

[DRG]

Everythng works fine. I have NO idea what you are doing wrong

First off, as stated , these are SINGLE hex houses NOT multihex houses so you need to select the correct type

Second.If you select any two nations in the editor and then select Terrain Type DESERT you WILL see single hex houses when you autogenerate the map AND when you edit in single hex houses on the map

Third, if you select two naturally desert nations.... say, Iraq and Saudi Arabia you will get single hex desert houses no matter what "season" you pick

A. Houses do indeed mean adobe and it's just a way to distiguish them from the regular houses and they give the same cover/concealment as stone/brick

Don

[RightDeve]

Here's what I've got/done :

1. Used single-hex houses (wooden/brick) from the very start.
2. Generated a random desert map.
3. Used in-game map editor (the one accessed from the "EDITOR" button inside the game, not standalone map editor found inside the game folder).
4. When generating a desert map with AT LEAST ONE desert nation selected (Saudi vs USSR), the map and buttons showed up fine.
5. When generating a desert map with NO desert nation selected (USA vs USSR), the map and buttons wouldn't show/create adobe buildings.
6. EVERYTHING WORKS FINE IN WINSPWW2.
7. Operating system is Windows 7 Ultimate-32 bit
8. Game mode is Windowed (I don't like the idea of killing a running windows process)
9. Game version (MBT) clearly shows 5.5
10. Game was launched not via GameOptions screen (directly to the game's .exe) both MBT & WW2.
11. I have tried different year & months
12. I DO BELIEVE I have patched it in ORDER.
13. The game's path is "G:\Games\WinSPMBT"

Anything not clear just tell me

[DRG]

When I get time later I will look into this. You may have hit on a combination that doesn't work and I won't know that until I have time to really dig into it and I don't have the time ATM so tell me also EXACTLY what month and year you used as well. All I know is when I retested after your first complaint everything loaded fine for me.

Until that time if the game generates the houses when you are actually in a desert nation then everything is working as it should. The editor is for scenario designers and scenario designers can easily find a workaround by using a desert nation as one of the opponents when generating the map and having some maps that autogenerate regular houses would be useful in some instances but scenario designers only occasionally use autogerated maps and any map they would custom make can easily be set to two desert nations when editing.

So yes, you *may* have found a bug but the solution is "don't do it that way". As Double _Duece said, and he's built more than his share of sceanrios and campaigns.. "they showed up OK for me".



Don

[RightDeve]

Hi Don,
I just made a CLEAN install of MBT, and WAS thrilled ONLY at first glance: Loaded the EDITOR, generated a desert map, pushed the house button twice (for single hex), and put a house terrain. Voila, it generated adobe buildings. But... It turned out that my DEFAULT BATTLE PAIRING in this newly installed MBT is ISRAEL v. EGYPT (the stock battle pairing). So, I'm wondering maybe someone actually has the same problem, only that he didn't select a Non-default battle pairing that he thinks he doesn't have the same problem?

Here's the results:

14. Launched the game via GameOptions.exe
15. Battle pairing is USA v. USSR/Russia
16. Date January until December 1946 = no Adobes
17. Date January until December 1983 = no Adobes
18. Date January until December 2020 = no Adobes
19. This time I'm 100% sure that the game is patched IN ORDER

What do you mean I *may* have found a bug? Do you mean somebody else out there may have this problem too?

[RightDeve]

And one more thing I just noticed:
I can't select/change the GDI/DirectX setting on Game Mode inside the GameOptions.exe, it is gray-shaded & fixed to GDI. My DirectX is on version 11 (I'm using ATI Radeon HD 5770, driver version 8.762.0.0). Could this be related to the problem?

[Roman]

Hello friends. I'm testing the new patch. Playing with North Korea against South Korea encounter that the tank P'okpoong-ho (North Korea) no have the sensor heat nor laser sight. In the previous version if the options were to have these qualities or not.
Greetings

[DRG]

Hello friends. I'm testing the new patch. Playing with North Korea against South Korea encounter that the tank P'okpoong-ho (North Korea) no have the sensor heat nor laser sight. In the previous version if the options were to have these qualities or not.
Greetings

The fancy technology was removed because information now suggests those tanks are not equipped with it

Don

[DRG]

And one more thing I just noticed:
I can't select/change the GDI/DirectX setting on Game Mode inside the GameOptions.exe, it is gray-shaded & fixed to GDI. My DirectX is on version 11 (I'm using ATI Radeon HD 5770, driver version 8.762.0.0). Could this be related to the problem?

This has been explained in the sticky Post Andy put up the day the patch was released entitled

Windows Vista and Windows Seven Installation



Certain things apply in Vista or Windows 7:

2.1) - In Windowed Mode, the GDI graphics mode is pre-selected.

Using this mode instead of DirectX solves the problems with the Windows Aero interface destroying the game palette if you minimised it. (Aero will still destroy the palette even if you selected 256 colour mode, and disable desktop composition etc in the "compatibility mode" dialogue for the executable).




As well, all that info is on page one of the game guide in the

Tuning Your Machine

Section

What version of DirectX you use is irrelevant to what Win7 does

Don

[DRG]

What do you mean I *may* have found a bug? Do you mean somebody else out there may have this problem too?


Although we are still investigating this there appears there may be a slight difference in the code between winSPWW2 and winSPMBT for placing houses in non desert nation pairings ( probably a misplaced bracket ) and it *may* be related to the use of some of the alternate desert terrains like arid and savannah that are used more by maps in MBT than WW2.

So far I have found no problem in generated maps used in generated battles. If the pairings call for desert you will get desert houses. If you fight USA vs Russia there never is a Desert battle location unless you add a custom map. The "bug" , from what we can tell so far, is in MBT's editor when two non desert nations are called for but only scenario and map designers use that utility and a work-around to that rather insignificant problem is easily accomplished so this does not affect gameplay in any way so it's not critical and when we find the line of code that is causing the problem we will fix it for next years patch.

OK?

Don

[RightDeve]

Ah, I see... That's so relieving to me Don. Somehow I think that this "bug" is useful when we want to create a map with mixed buildings, i.e, not all of them are "A.Buildings". I'm a fond map designer (at least for myself) and this problem makes a slight itching on my skin. Thanks so much

[DRG]

You can easily make mixed house maps in MBT as it stands by selecting desert nations then change to non desert pairings. In WW2 you can simply switch from Desert to Summer. MBT will be corrected so it works like winSPWW2 does

Don

[DRG]

That little bug will take a bit more time to sort through. There are always differences in the code between winSPWW2 and winSPMBT and for desert houses the problem is complicated by having much more varied battle location combinations and more than twice as many nations than is the case in winSPww2. The specific desert house code is called 6 times in winSPww2 but 70 times in winSPMBT and one reason for that is NONE of the nations in winSPww2 is a desert nation even though they may have fought in desert locations and although all desert locations in WW2 are applicable to flat roofed dwellings that is not the case with winSPMBT so it's a bit convoluted. It's obvious now when we tested MBT ( WW2 was done first ) we only set up desert pairs

Don

[Roman]

Hello friends. I'm testing the new patch. Playing with North Korea against South Korea encounter that the tank P'okpoong-ho (North Korea) no have the sensor heat nor laser sight. In the previous version if the options were to have these qualities or not.
Greetings

The fancy technology was removed because information now suggests those tanks are not equipped with it

Don

Ok. It is true that there are doubts. I've seen sites where they say they have thermal sensors and others not, or are in doubt.
I can spend the site report that it does not have thermal sensors?

[FASTBOAT TOUGH]

Well first off, wonderful job gentlemen on both patches! Seems to be some discussion here on the North Korean M-2002 tank, so I've done some research, however, this information will be on the MBT thread if any are interested. Again congratulations and I hope the technical issues don't cause much of a headache!?!

Have a great weekend!

Regards,
Pat

[PanzerBob]

As always, excellent work gentleman.

One question, what does the new three arrow button in the setup menu? It doesn't say when you paas the mouse over it, and pressing it does nothing either. My guess is an upcoming feature?

Again, many thanks.

BTW, really like the Desert Houses.:cool:

[animal mother]

Thanks for the new patch. I have also noticed the new icon and curios about it will be doing. :)

[DRG]

Mystery solved. It rejoins a vehicle/crew or gun/crew that have been loaded then unloaded from an AIR TRANSPORT during deployment . This is the new "J"oin hotkey code mentioned in the release notes. We'll make sure the next release includes descriptive text :doh:

Don

[Mobhack]

Thanks for the new patch. I have also noticed the new icon and curios about it will be doing. :)

See Item 1 of the release note in the first post of this thread. It does the "J" function, if you had gun crews or vehicle crews split by e.g. a load and then unload from a cargo plane because you changed your mind.

We simply forgot to add the descriptive text for the mouse-over event.

Cheers
Andy

[secretgeek]

Hi,

Quick question. I'm running version 5.02 which I updated to a while ago. Can I go straight to 5.5 or will I have missed something?

Thanks.

[Porrima]

Thank you very much for your work, again.


Two of these were already mentioned, but to summarize, there are a number of duplicate scenarios in the scenario list and so there are "only" 10 new scenarios. The other 5 (15 new scenarios mentioned in the listing of patch updates) accidentally copied over by old scenarios? If so, would a "hotfix" to correct the scenarios be possible relatively soonish?

Duplicate Scenarios;

Highway 1 Ambush (226 and 249)
Night Action in Chipyong-Ni (227 and 250)
The Road to Simmin-ni (228 and 251)
Fight along the Rach Ba Rai (229 and 252)
Battle of the Barricades (232 and 254)
Somali Pirate Hostages (225 and 255)

[DRG]

Hi,

Quick question. I'm running version 5.02 which I updated to a while ago. Can I go straight to 5.5 or will I have missed something?

Thanks.

Update directly from what you have now. :up:


Don

[DRG]

Thank you very much for your work, again.


Two of these were already mentioned, but to summarize, there are a number of duplicate scenarios in the scenario list and so there are "only" 10 new scenarios. The other 5 (15 new scenarios mentioned in the listing of patch updates) accidentally copied over by old scenarios? If so, would a "hotfix" to correct the scenarios be possible relatively soonish?

Duplicate Scenarios;

Highway 1 Ambush (226 and 249)
Night Action in Chipyong-Ni (227 and 250)
The Road to Simmin-ni (228 and 251)
Fight along the Rach Ba Rai (229 and 252)
Battle of the Barricades (232 and 254)
Somali Pirate Hostages (225 and 255)


I have added these to the next "to-do" list to investigate. I know for certain that no older scenarios were overwritten but obviously there was some confusion when the new ones were assembled.

Don

[DRG]

Duplicate Scenarios;

Highway 1 Ambush (226 and 249)
Night Action in Chipyong-Ni (227 and 250)
The Road to Simmin-ni (228 and 251)
Fight along the Rach Ba Rai (229 and 252)
Battle of the Barricades (232 and 254)
Somali Pirate Hostages (225 and 255)


Here is what happened

All of the duplicates were in a one RAR of eleven scenarios numbered 244- 255 sent to me by one scenario designer as "new" scenarios. None of the scenario names rang any bells with me so I assumed they were indeed new not duplicates of ones we had released a year or so ago but, as we all know now, 6 of the 11 had already been included in the game in the past

Yes, this is our error for "assuming" and not checking closer but nothing like this had ever happened in the past and with any release, especially a double release, things can get "hectic" so we had no reason to doubt they were anything but new so had no reason to double check all the "new" scenarios against all the previously released ones.

In future, we will check them more closely and those duplicates will be replaced in next years upgrade

Don

[Suhiir]

5/ HQ's, scout classes, Forward Observers and ammo vehicles will now
withhold opfire if they have not been fired on so these units will no longer
give away their position prematurely. This makes scouts , for example, much
more likely to be bypassed than in the past

Very nice tweak, thank you.

7/ Non FLAK units in the delay or defence will not fire AAA weapons except
if the fighter bombers are very close in the first 12 or so turns . This
stops " recce by spotting AAMG fires "', if you put strike planes in as a
pre-game deployment to find the enemy layout. Those units with AAMGs WILL
fire at paratrooper carrying aircraft and gliders normally, however.

Yay !

15/ SAMS are now filtered on warhead size versus spotter planes and UAVS.
Large SAMs will no longer needlessly engage small spotter aircraft or UAV's.
These will be left for the smaller SAMs

Bless you my son.
Much needed and much appreciated change.

[Stian]

Thank you for your continued work on this game guys. I tend to check these forums rarely these days, although I do play the game from time to time. Always good to see it keeps getting updates!

[drez]

YES! Thank you once again Shrapnel Games!

[Hermit]

First of all, thanks to everyone who was involved, but especially to Don and Andy for their continued work on this FANTASTIC game, and of course, the new patch.

That being said, I thought smoke round replenishment (after battles) for formation-leader tanks in generated campaigns was going to be one of the fixes in this release, but I didn't see that mentioned. I play almost exclusively pre-TI games, so that issue will affect my game play.

Did that fix not make it into this patch, or is it just not mentioned in the list of improvements?

I'm playing my first new scenario with the smoke rounds. This is a great improvement! Just one question: ALL my tanks have smoke rounds now. I thought the fix only applied to "0" label/command tanks. Are all tanks supposed to have smoke rounds? I'm currently U.S. Army in 1969.

[DRG]

We changed it to include all tanks

Don

[Warwick]

Thanks for the cool new bunkers!

[Nightblade]

Just noticed this new upgrade, just in time as i was going to dive into a new campaign.

Thank you to everyone involved for so many years of improvements on what is the finest computer wargame i ever played.

[daferg]

I really hate to ask a question because of the number of people that might insult me or make me feel dumber than I normally do. Here it goes....I downloaded the 5.5 patch and I own the CD version of the game. I got confused during the install because it said something along the lines of 'You must download this to a different directory' or something very close to that. My operating system is Vista. Normally I can just download the patch and execute the program. Can anyone give an old Infantryman a hand with this computer talk?

[void1984]

Download the patches wherever you want and install them.

[daferg]

Thank you very much.

[DRG]

I really hate to ask a question because of the number of people that might insult me or make me feel dumber than I normally do. Here it goes....I downloaded the 5.5 patch and I own the CD version of the game. I got confused during the install because it said something along the lines of 'You must download this to a different directory' or something very close to that. My operating system is Vista. Normally I can just download the patch and execute the program. Can anyone give an old Infantryman a hand with this computer talk?


We have been recommending that IF you are using VISTA or Win7 the games be RE-INSTALLED outside of the PROGRAM FILES folder. Some version of vista and all version of win7 can do strange things to the files when installed under program files.

So, The existing file structure on all the installers and patches is c:\program files\shrapnel games\The camo workshop\winspxxx

And we HIGHLY RECOMMEND that if you have VISTA or Win7 you reinstall the main game and all the patches to something like this

c:\shrapnel games\The camo workshop\winspxxx

As you can see that is easily accomplished simply by deleting "program files" from the path

YES, it's a PITA. Blame Microsoft. Everything worked fine until they decided to treat anything in Program files differently than any other folder. However, if you have the main game and patches handy re-installing doesn't take too long and then you won't have any problems.

So NO, it's not as simple as "Download the patches wherever you want and install them". The main V1 game has to be in place first then all the patches re-installed . DO NOT simply copy the files out of program files or you will have trouble


Don

[lee wykes]

Hi,

This is possibly a silly question but here goes. I have downloaded this game from Shrapnel Games. Do I have to download all the patches as well or are they included in the download?

Many Thanks,

Lee Wykes

[DRG]

You need to DL and install all patches in order to bring the game up to date. The patches MUST be installed oldest to newest



Don

[lee wykes]

DRG,

Many Thanks, will download.

Lee

[secretgeek]

I'm running 5.02x-CD am I ok to upgrade to 5.5?

[void1984]

I'm running 5.02x-CD am I ok to upgrade to 5.5?
Yes.