How do you add years to a sub's useage?

[Ducimus]

Lets say that, you wanted to play the game a little unrealistically, and wanted to use a VII/42 for operation drumbeat in 1942.

Well, you'd think its just a simple matter of adjusting the date of the /42 to, the first month of 1942 instead of its default value in the basic.cfg file.

Well editing this lead you to look at the sub ammo section. After all, you can't have a sub in any given year and not have a loadout for it.

Now herein lies the intresting problem:

A C/42 has loadouts listed for 1943, 1944, and 1945. Kind of odd since the vanilla game has it available for only 2 years starting in 1944. If you look at all the other ship loadouts, you'll find the same thing. A loadout for 1 year before the boat becomes available. As another example, the XXI has a loadout for 1943, 1944, and 45, yet it also becomes available in 1944.

So the problem here is, you want the boat in 1942, yet its loadout only supports 43,44, and 45. So, why not just add an additional loadout and mimic the earliest loadout, and hence adding a 4th year?

Well, this works, only up to 3 years (the number of years the boat was aviable for orignally) but the instant you hit the 4rd year, you run into all sorts of weird behavior. Its like somewhere theres a variable or hardcode that defines exacly how long a boat is used, despite the settings in the basic.cfg file.

Anyone follow me on this? What file or setting am i looking for?

[JScones]

Acquant yourself with Flotilla.cfg. It and Basic.cfg work together in this regards.

[Ducimus]

Acquant yourself with Flotilla.cfg. It and Basic.cfg work together in this regards.

You refering to the section in each floatilla that notes how many types of boats it uses and which ones? Ive messed iwth that too.

At one point, i was trying to get an XXI to work from say 42 to 45 (later gave up on the boat, its just not as fun). Anyway, even making the adjustments to the boats a floatilla uses, id end up with a 0 patrol grid bug, anytime after the intial 3 years of use is up. (which conicidently 3 years is how its originally set). In this case, 1944 since i bumped the start date of that boat to 1942 instead of 1943. I coudlnt get it to work flawlessly (meaning with asigned patrol grid ) outside of its initial 3 years.

So is there some other setting in the floatilla.cfg im missing?

[Ducimus]

Im more then postive that something im missing, and either nobody beleives me, or nobody knows.

Ive come to the conclusion that somewhere, there is a structure that defines what Uboats have, and how long they are used.

For instance i added 3 years use to the C/42 (1940, 41, and 42), and attempted to use it in the 7th floatilla.. In the stock game it is available from 43 through 45 in the CFG files. Worked fine from 40-42, instant you hit 43, the game acted weired... i had exceeded the orginal 3 year limit. WHEN those years are is irrelvant, only that there are 3 years total to use it.

The CFG files im positive now is just filler data. The structure of that data is defined elswhere. Looking over the SIM, and ZON files via time travelelrs tools, im not sure its there. But what makes me think that theres a struct somewhere, and the CFG files are just data to feed the structure is, one the abovementioned C/42 problem and two, you can't add extra torepedo storage slots in the basic.cfg file. It just doesnt work.

You an for instance copy and paste the C/42 torpedo layout into a VII/C layout on an identical year (say 44') and it will not work. The VIIC is looking for a configuration for ONE forward external store, not THREE. The instant you feed it a three external storage loadout via the basic.cfg file, you'll see awhole lot of abnormalties in the sub fitting screen. YOu'll still see the torpedo storage slots - 1 forward external, like it should have.

But this is idespite the fact you defined for 3 of them in the basic.cfg... all slots will as part of that abnormality be empty because the game doesnt know what to do. Its expected one external store.. not 3.

So its defined elswhere. Where ever this location is im sure you'll find what you need to change to add additional years to sub usage.

Anyone have any idea?