Graviteam

Originally related to Steel Armor but probably common to both games.
http://graviteam.com/forum/index.php?topic=10034.0

I was adding new squads to new campaigns but they werent showing up.  After much comparing and hair pulling Flashburn offered to look at my raw campaign files.  He found no problems and was able to see all the units I added.
Here's what I found that the problem was:

OK I found out with Flashburn's help that, at least for APOS my files were correct.  What finally allowed me to see new units in my mission was to create a new user profile, delete the old one and THEN new units would be visible in the mission.
Apparently that since I had previously played this campaign, that maybe it was somehow locked.  Unless theres a way to restart a campaign that Im missing.

This makes it harder to playtest a mission and build it as you go.
But its worth it when you see Soviet rifle squads dismount from T-34's as they approach dug-in German inf squads.

Again well done Andrey.  I see now what you mean about being able to quickly copy/paste to make campaigns in the op editor.

You got the hardest part of the making missions figured out  ;D.  From this point its like cake.  Just alot of play testing and balances with a little bit of config work.  Cant wait to play your APOS stuff.   ;D 

One thing Flash Im not clear on(Ok more than one thing) is turn management.
If your mission is several turns long, do you just start with turn 1, place your units, AI actions, and strategic points.  Then click save, and change the current turn to 2 and re-place everything?

Yes, but you dont replace.  Well Ive never tried that.  But you can give gernral orders for units by turn.  Like take and hold for turns 1-3 then go assualt for turn 4, then retreat for the rest. 

2Flashburn: Retreat order (on op phase) will be changed from next patch (beta 5). Retreat will be more intense and far as possible (as now).

For SABOW  beta 5 I take it?  EEK thats good and bad all in one  ;D.  Might have to rework Crescent as the recon guys are set to do alot of retreating. Thanks for heads up.

OK but can you have reinforcements come in on a specific turn?  For example what if I wiped out the enemy on the previous turn?  Or does that just end the campaign?

Do you mean a new reinforcement squad?  The yes.  To pool, dont know, but that would be vary useful.  You know I have no idea what would happen if every unit was destroyed on one side but they had a reinforecment squad not yet commited.  My quess is that it would not end battle untill all turns are used. 

Retreat with rearguards would be a nice option and provide some intense action as you try and hold up enemy pursuers and also extricate yourself at the right time to try and save the rearguard  :)

To Randall.flag:- Would you be happy to share your edited creations? I like the sound of those infantry laden T34's advancing  8)

It was pretty bare-bones, I havent figured out yet how to create a briefing.  Thought Id hit Flashburn up for that later.

Briefings...ah there is something that could definitely be enhanced in APOS  :P As there is almost a complete lack of them other than the odd map with an arrow or two  ;D It would add to the immersion factor if some rhetoric was thrown in, like 'hold this high ground at all costs' or 'this road junction must be captured and held' etc

If they will be enhanced - very complex task to translate to English or German.
"Arrows" are completely best in this sense.

I'm not saying that they will automatically write an AI (because every time the mission is different) that puts quite a challenge to developers - teach him to talk like a man ;D

Heres the link for v1, its just a single basic scenario:
http://kidobutai.serveftp.net/APOS/test_Wehrmacht_campv1.zip (http://kidobutai.serveftp.net/APOS/test_Wehrmacht_campv1.zip)

I tried adding a basic briefing for it on the campaign selection screen. But for some reason it doesnt always seem to show it, just showing <briefing 1> instead.

I agree.  Its the Eastern front, we're not here for a hug.  Something like "NKVD units placed to our rear will execute any man failing to do his Internationalist duty!" or "OKW orders this village held at all costs.  A platoon of sturmgeshutz will join you to engage Sowjet tanks if the situation requires it. Seig Heil!"

ah yes, i forgot the missions can play out different each time (which i am glad of  :) ) but that is from the AI side and its orders. A briefing should/could still specify what 'our' orders are as the human player. We can do this with our own imagination i know, but it could add to the intensity if we have been ordered to hang on grimly to a certain objective/feature or attack an objective regardless of cost etc.

Thanks for the link Randall. Will give it a test later. Is it a 'quickbattle' ? and do i have to add it to the game like an update pack?

No, I included a readme in the zip that states to copy the individual campaign folder to your <APOS folder>\data\k43\shared\camps\

The raw files are in there as well in case someone wants to look at them or see how I did something.

thanks Randall, it all worked fine. I even tried saving and exiting and it was fine.  :)

Only things i noticed, the objective flag just had  '???' as a call up, no name.

The stug platoon was in fact a Marder platoon.

Only 2 T34's showed up with a platoon/company of infantry after about 25minutes. (which i defeated easily  :) )

But seems you now know how to create a battle...so get cracking on that new campaign featuring the Gross Deutschland  ;)  ;D

Yeah theyre supposed to be Marder II's.  But Ive never to wait more than about seven minutes for at least three T34's to show up laden with Ivan.
The objective flag is something I havent even looked at yet.
I usually setup the infantry on the "hilltop", while the assault guns I setup on the reverse slope.

i thought it odd that they didnt show up for so long. They also arrived dismounted as far as i could see, though it may be that they jumped off as soon as one of my idiot nervous men fired his rifle a long way off. He is now on latrine duty for next few days ;D

Regarding the Marder 'stug' platoon, is that the designation the game gives it? I would have thought Marders came under 'JPZ' (Jagd panzer) designation rather than Stugs as we know them (infantry support, especially early war years).

Last night after adding another T-34 and inf platoon I tried  placing my units on the crest of the hill.  I never saw the sov infantry dismount because, Im assuming, they were already taking fire at long range from the SPG's. I think that alot depends on where the player places his units.
As far as the stugs go, Im no expert on German designations.  I thought all tracked guns COULD be called sturmgeshutz, SP's, or SPG's, or ofcourse stug's.  Youd think all the games Ive played and books Ive read over the years something would rub off but Ive always thought these German designations were damn difficult to remember and there were alot of them.

i left my infantry in the hollow (default location) for the test, only placing my Marders where i wanted them. So the Russians only appeared once they crested the high ground to the north of my positions.

Yes your right also, forgot most tracked guns are also designated SP's or SPG's but wouldnt that have been a western allied force term for them? As the Germans wouldnt call them self propelled guns.

I dont know man, theres so many books that say different things.  I always thought that all assault guns, Marders, Hetzers, Jagdtigers, Jagdpanthers, stugs, Jagdpanzers, Brumbars, and sturmtigers could "technically" fall under the umbrella of the term Sturmgeshutz.
I wouldnt think that an infantry unit that was being reinforced for example would be told whether they were being reinforced with assault gun type A or assault gun type B.  I would think they'd be told "A platoon of assault guns will be joining us."
Again Im no expert, just an enthusiast. :)

Sounds about right to me  :)

So is your plan to populate the battlefield more by adding extra units (its a bit empty at the moment in my humble opinion....though that could also been seen as realistic with the vastness of Russian and units being stretched over miles of front!) or are you intending to try and recreate some battles/campaigns or even just some entertaining quick battles?

Well its a learning process as you can see.  So Im really still just tinkering as I go.  But yes I do plan to continue to add units to both sides.  I doubled the size of the attacking Russians lastnight. Things didnt end well for the heroic SP crews, although they got some pretty good licks in before that.

Yes and no some fronts were over stretched such as, in belaroussian front the central army's positions in 1944 but in Kursk there were some really intense battles. In some instances hundred panzers supported by assault guns attacked to small villages for to capture some key positions. Anyway, I also believe we need more units in the maps,but Im not sure how it would effect our pcs.I have 40 fps on some intense battles with 2600k ,16gb ram and 570

Holy Moly 16GB of RAM? In your PC?  Our main SQL server for our bank doesnt have that much.

I know bit too much but it wasnt that expensive and Im a hardcore gamer

interesting, i havent had any graphic slow down yet, even with the bigger fights that happen towards end of 320inf campaign, when the SS counter-attack in the south.

I have i5 cpu, Nvidia gfx 460 card and 8gb RAM. I have been pretty impressed with how smoothly its all run out of the box on high detail and with all the great attention to detail in the sim.  :)

What exactly is the max size of forces that the sim permits can be used in any one battle? ie company, battalion...regiment?