View Full Version : Do the dates in the Names.cfg file control appearance?
Was wondering if the dates in Names.cfg actually prevent ships from appearing. Say you have "GENERIC Destroyer" as a choice for a given random group. If you (properly) set the date for the Akizuki as June 11, 1942, does that mean that the "GENERIC Destroyer" call will not pick that class until after the june date?
tater
I don't see any dates in the names.cfg. You mean the one in the roster folder or the ship specific cfg's?
As far as I know, no it won't pick that particular destroyer until after it becomes available. When using 'generic' though, there is no garrantee it will use it - I think it just picks from all the available ships of that type.
Sorry, I meant the "platform.cfgs" inside the roster folder by nation.
So is I pick a "generic destroyer" and 1 choice has a date that post dates the time of the random instance, will it possibly pick that ship or not?
Ie: there is a random TF with generic BB as one of the ships. If the date of the random TF is before Yamato, will she ever show up in that TF? What about the late war Ise?
Right, I see where you are coming from.
Basically, every time the sim spawns a random group (as according to the properties you have given it with regards to entry and exit dates, individual ship probability etc) and it has generic ships in it, it will pick from a list of ships that are available at that time. if the exit date of the group and the availability date over lap, and you have a generic battleship assigned to the group, there is a chance you will get that particular type.
In this case, if the group exit date is before the availability date of the Yamato then you should never see her in that TF, But obviously, if they overlap there is a chance she will. To avoid seeing here in TF's after she becomes available you would have to remove all generic battleships and replace them with specific types.
OK, can hand-placed ships violate this rule?
Say I was to change the availability date of Yamato so she entered and exited (in the roster file) in 1945. She'd then NEVER be a "generic" BB, right? The question is could we then place her by hand in a scripted mission that is technically outside her availability?
That would be a Q and D fix to remove some ships from the "generic" list by making them so they only appear when explicitly placed in a mission. Could do the same with Taiho. I was already thinking of changing the Akitsu Maru to a merchant or soemthing, she was not a real aircraft carrier, just a plane ferry.
OK, can hand-placed ships violate this rule?
Say I was to change the availability date of Yamato so she entered and exited (in the roster file) in 1945. She'd then NEVER be a "generic" BB, right? The question is could we then place her by hand in a scripted mission that is technically outside her availability?
I don't think so. In Sh3 this would generate a validation error when you tried to save the game. I have not tested this in sh4 yet but I think it would be the same. I'll try this now.
Mind you, 'Update instance' works by setting the entrydate to after the mission start so that it cannot be physically placed in the world until the trigger activates. But in this case I think the overriding availability date still matters.
Ah, gotcha.
I was planning on placing the ships by name anyway.
One thing I did do was to change the Minesweeper and the Subchaser to the unit type "corvette" so I use "generic corvette" for most convoy escorts.
tater
Ok, I set up a test in the editor with a Somers class (which is available at the start of the war,from 1938 in fact,) and a fletcher class (available 1942) and set the date to 1940.
The Somers follows it's waypoints fine, the fletcher does nothing. Advance the sim to the availabiltiy date of the Fletcher and it begins to move.
In game you wouldn't even see the Fletcher until it 'appears' (literally if you are close enough,) in 1942.
Unfortuntely This no longer seems to create a vaildation error - which means you have to be more careful in checking all the dates this time around.
Ah, gotcha.
I was planning on placing the ships by name anyway.
One thing I did do was to change the Minesweeper and the Subchaser to the unit type "corvette" so I use "generic corvette" for most convoy escorts.
tater
Yep, thats a good idea. Do they work ok?
BTW, what was the Subchaser set to originally?
They work fine! The only problem is that you have to change all existing explicit mission references to subchasers/minelayers to the new unit type.
The subchaser is set to "patrol craft" by default, and I wanted to reserve that for brown water stuff like those gunboats.
Odd error in the minelayer, BTW, it steams with the props out of the water halfway, and the draft in the cfg is lower than it was in RL, so it would have to be made even deeper if that controls the model's position in the water.
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