AI generated shipping question for RSRDC

[CapnScurvy]

Without trying to circumvent Lurker's fine work (I thought he's had a long standing request of not using his mods incorporated into other mods) yet, I've not really found much on his "Permission" request. In mods past, I've had to change some of his files to either make them more accurate, or correct a problem with them when making some of my mods "compatible" with his (and he knew I did). He's also taken the liberty to do the same with mine (I still find some of my SCAF Recognition Manual images in his RSRDC work). So, explaining how a player could increase merchant traffic in RSRDC is purely instructional in nature, and not intended to disrespect his request of permission. Frankly, I've looked all through his RSRDC file documentation and have found only this:

Absolutely nothing found within the RSRDC may be used for any commercial product of any size, shape or form.

Below is a comparison of the two Random Group entries of the "42a_Jap_Merchants.mis" file:



You'll notice there is no difference in the two 1st [Mission] paragraphs, except for the Year and Month entries. The RSRDC file is from the "RSRDC_V5xx_Patch1" mod (which is intended to overwrite any RSRDC version). The Patch is intended to correct the dates for the game allowing for some overlap in mission availability......DON"T MESS WITH THE DATES IN RSRDC. Nor, should you open the file in the games Mission Editor to make corrections to RSRDC's work. It apparently will change the dates Lurker so diligently worked on.....making them as the stock game has them. This is why Lurker warns about not making changes using the ME.....use Notepad to open, and save your changes to his files.

The second paragraph is the one I'll explain....the [RndGroup 1]

Be assured, these two files are referring to two completly different merchant routes. So, please realize this is like comparing apples to oranges. The fact is, RSRDC doesn't have a single merchant route that's comparable to the stock game....their all different in where they start, when they start, what ships are used, what speeds they travel etc. What's important to see is the general differences between them and what some of the specific entries mean.


GroupName=xx_xx_xxx
The name of the mission

Category=0
????

CommandEntry=0
Not sure what either of these two parameters do.

Long=xxxxx.xxxx
Lat=xxxxx.xxxx
Where the mission starts on the map

Height=0.000000
Unit's will start on the surface when at 0.000000

DelayMin=60
Minimum time taken between last check of spawning attempt, in seconds. This entry is usually kept at 60 seconds.

DelayMinInterv=xxxxxx
This is the maximum interval of time between the last check of a spawning attempt (in seconds), until the next chance is made. Notice RSRDC has this number doubled over the stock entry. For some of RSRDC's routes, this factor is many times the average stock period of time.

SpawnProbability=xx
The precentage of time's you'll actually get a spawn of the mission route when an attempt is allowed, after the "DelayMinInterv" period of time has passed. On average, RSRDC has this precentage set to below 50%.....Stock has it mostly over 50%. As in the two examples, RSRDC has 40% of the time you'll get a spawn....Stock has it at 70%.

RandStart Radius=0.000000
How far away from the Long=, Lat= map position the mission will randomly spawn, within a given radius.

ReportPosMin=xxxx
This is the minimum amount of time, in seconds, it takes to make a "Contact Report" on the mission route, after it's sucessfully been spawned.

ReportPosProbability=xx
The precentage chance of having a "Contact Report" made once a spawn is sucessful. RSRDC has this setting usually lower than 10%. Stock always has this set to 50% of the time.

The rest of the entries are somewhat self explainatory.

The 3rd paragraph [RndGroup 1.RndUnit1] is explained from a passage I copied from Peabody:

[RndGroup 1.RndUnit 1]
this is the first ship in the group

Type=102
Obviously the type of ship (102=Cargo). Found in the Roster/Names.cfg file.

Origin=Japan
Country from the Roster

Side=0
Side is taken from the DefSide.cfg in the Roster

CargoExt=1
External cargo from a list in the mission editor.
List:
0=Ext Oil
1=Fuel
2=Oil
3=Ammo Containers
4=Ammo Crates
5=Aircraft
6=Tanks
7=Trucks
8=TrapContainer
9=American Tanks
10=American Trucks
11=Ext fuel
12=Ammo
13=Engine Oil
14=Engine Fuel

CargoInt=0
Internal Cargo from a list:
List:
0=Freight
1=Ammunition
2=Engine Fuel

CfgDate=19420301
Date the ship is available

No=1
How many of this unit are added to the convoy/task force. You can add one at a time and this will be one, or in mission editor you can add 5 all at once and in the mission editor you will see an entry "American: 5XGeneric cargo 100%. So if you edit that by hand you can change 1 to 5 and it will add 5 of that type of ship to the mission. (I have not tested this with Notepad, but it does work with the mission editor). It the person that wrote the mission added the ships to a random group one at a time it will always be 1. That is the way I do it, so you can put in different settings for each ship.

Escort=false
If you add or change DDs, you should change this to True so the DDs will not travel in the columns but will actually act like Escorts and travel randomly out side the group. Normally for cargo ships this will always be false. Usually the only time you change it is for an escort ship such as a Destroyer.

SpawnProbability=100
The chance that this specific ship will actually be added to the group. You need to be a little careful here, if you add all ships at 70% but the Escort destroyers are set to 100% you may have all DDs and NO ships in the convoy. Or you may end up with seven DDs escorting 1 ship. By setting some ships at 100% and Generic, and others at 70% you can vary the convoy so it isn't the same every time you see it. I always make sure I have at least a few set to 100% so it isn't an empty convoy. (Don't confuse this with the SpawnProbability in the RndGroup1 entry. That one sets the probably that the entire group will spawn. The entry here determines if this ship is in that group or not.)

CrewRating=1
Just like the cargo it is a list of choices from the mission editor.
List:
0=Poor
1=Novice
2=Competent
3=Veteran
4=Elite

A good choice to make them Novice at the start of the war and increase to Elite as they get better at their task, and zig zagging and evading you.

========

It goes without saying, there are a lot of individual mission routes. If you just concentrate on the various year Merchant and Tankers .mis files....you'll be at it for quite a while. As I said, I'm working on a comprehensive change to the RSRDC merchant files now, with the plan on relaesing a new mod to overlay RSRDC v550.