[REL] Dark Waters

[propbeanie]

That might work, young feller... but you still might get a Black Sea mission... only one way to find out! lol

[KaleunMarco]

Originally Posted by propbeanie

That might work, young feller... but you still might get a Black Sea mission... only one way to find out! lol

this is maddening!!!
excuse the hyperbole, but Ubi is playing games with us.
++
here is my modded Flotillas file:

[Flotilla 8]
ID= 30Flotilla
NameDisplayable= 30Flotilla-Flotilla-Name
AvailabilityInterval=1942-09-21, 1944-08-25

[Flotilla 8.Base 1]
ID= F8Constanza
NameDisplayable= 30Flotilla-Base-Name
Info= 30Flotilla-Base-Info
ExternalBaseName= Constanza
AvailabilityInterval= NULL, NULL
DepartureDescription1= 3436719.000000, 5298106.000000, 135.0000
DepartureDescriptionOut1= 3449068.000000, 5293404.000000, 090.0000

[Flotilla 8.UserPlayerUnitType 1]
ID= F8IIBlkS
NameDisplayable= Type IIB U-boat
AvailabilityInterval= NULL, NULL
IDLinkUserPlayerUnitType= IIBlkS
UnitTypeCommonality= 1
IDFlotillaLinkTransferTo= 11Flotilla_BERGEN

now, compare it to the Flotillas file that Ubi creates in its cache folder at program-launch-time:

[Flotilla 8]
ID=30Flotilla
NameDisplayable=30th Flotilla ( Constanza )
AvailabilityInterval=1942-09-21, 1944-08-25

[Flotilla 8.Base 1]
ID=F8Constanza
NameDisplayable=Constanza Harbor
Info= 30th Flotilla Home Base
ExternalBaseName=Constanza
AvailabilityInterval=1900-01-01, 1999-12-31
DepartureDescription1=3.43672e+006,5.29811e+006,13 5
DepartureDescriptionOut1=3.44907e+006,5.2934e+006, 90

[Flotilla 8.UserPlayerUnitType 1]
ID=F8IIBlkS
NameDisplayable=Type IIB U-boat
AvailabilityInterval=1900-01-01, 1999-12-31
IDLinkUserPlayerUnitType=IIBlkS
UnitTypeCommonality=1.000000
IDFlotillaLinkTransferTo=11Flotilla_BERGEN

no wonder the changes are not working. Ubi is overwriting them with its own parm values. WTF!!!!
i've checked every reference to Constanza and Type IIB & IIB/BS and none of them extends beyond 1945: base files, CFG files, Eqp, Sim, Zone, Unitparts, you-name-it.
so, from where is 1999 coming?

[propbeanie]

Oh my! You have just violated the space / time continuum!... run for our lives!!!



That does explain a lot! I wonder if something similar is contributing to the early sub "awards" the game does?... maybe the Balao is dated 1938-01-01 to 1999-12-31?? You of course, realize, you have found the Y2K problem...

[propbeanie]

We need the game to do this:




I STILL can't stop watching that and laughing... unfortunately, that's what the game does for us... lights one in our shorts

[KaleunMarco]

Originally Posted by propbeanie

Oh my! You have just violated the space / time continuum!... run for our lives!!!

That does explain a lot! I wonder if something similar is contributing to the early sub "awards" the game does?... maybe the Balao is dated 1938-01-01 to 1999-12-31?? You of course, realize, you have found the Y2K problem...

but Ubi doesn't reset the expiration date for ALL bases/boats, etc.
just some. Typical.
i spent a bit of time trying to find the common denominator to the changed base date, etc, but things started to blend together, visually, and i fell asleep with nightmares of 1999-12-31 mocking me.


p.s. it just clicked: Ubi seems to sub 1999-12-31 in Flotillas (and possibly elsewhere) when we use NULL as an end date.

[propbeanie]

Originally Posted by KaleunMarco

... p.s. it just clicked: Ubi seems to sub 1999-12-31 in Flotillas (and possibly elsewhere) when we use NULL as an end date.

Well, that cuts it then... nothing but specific dates for all future releases of anything... sigh. This complicates testing though...

[KaleunMarco]

Originally Posted by propbeanie

Well, that cuts it then... nothing but specific dates for all future releases of anything... sigh. This complicates testing though...

yep.
complicates many related items.

[Hawkins]

Doing a Med Campaign and it’s the summer of 1942, not a single convoy. Barely a handful of ships. Constant storms. What the heck? Is it supposed to be like this? I assumed the Ames would be dangerous and target rich but I’ve done 2 patrols where I’ve seen maybe 6 map contacts and 1 actual ship sighted. I’m using BHs mod which adjusts crew view range but even still I can’t seem to intercept targets and when I checked to see if they’re where indeed ships by waiting at a choke point. I finally spotted a ship. A German ship! Very frustrating. Any thoughts?

[KaleunMarco]

Originally Posted by propbeanie

Well, that cuts it then... nothing but specific dates for all future releases of anything... sigh. This complicates testing though...

well, the fix works: changed the 30Flot exit dates to hard core dates and when we dock we get an entirely different decision screen:


if you click No, you get a screen with some kind words and your career is over (which is desired).
if you click Yes (and there should not be a Yes branch) you are assigned to a Type XXIII based in Constanza which is no longer a base and assigned a mission off the east coast of England. starting said mission takes you to the land of CTD, which is probably appropriate.

since Ubi is insistent on continuing the career-thing, i may play around with trying to code for a transfer to a boat that could make it to Germany/Norway. however, as soon as i type that idea, it dawns on me that if i code for the transfer, there will be no career-ending decision.
i wish i could figure how Ubi coded the XXIII upgrade and then i could intercept that.

[KaleunMarco]

Originally Posted by propbeanie

Well, that cuts it then... nothing but specific dates for all future releases of anything... sigh. This complicates testing though...

ok, i took the changes one more step deeper...i changed all end dates of Boats and Bases from NULL to a date that matched either the Base End Date or the Flotilla End Date, whichever was more logical. i also tidied up the XXIII availability.

fired up that end-of-August mission (8/25-26), docked, took the Yes path and was assigned a IID with the same Thames mission (which is the default mission).

BUT (notice the big butt) we were no longer assigned to Constanza, we were assigned to Lorient (F27), which does not close up until 8/30/44. No way any boat except a nuke going balls-out could make from the Black Sea to NW France in 4 days, but let's leave that out of the discussion for the moment.

i may follow this path and see where it leads...probably to Germany or Norway, but there is no telling what Ubi logic will do. no idea why/how the transfer -logic made it from a IIB-BlkSea to Lorient-IID. i will have to think on it.

i would still like to know how we can dock at Constanza on August 26 and have our next mission begin the day before, on August 25. All kidding aside, please.

[Mad Mardigan]

Maybe... just maybe... find the aspect that transfers you from the Type II-B (I believe is what you had last command of, yes..???) to that Type II-D assignment... & convert it from a Type II-D, to... a Type VII-D, or whatever Type VII, that would be applicable for Lorient base to have had... at that time.



Just a thought...








M. M.

[KaleunMarco]

Originally Posted by propbeanie

Well, that cuts it then... nothing but specific dates for all future releases of anything... sigh. This complicates testing though...

i did some additional testing. Keep in mind that Flot, Base, & Boat all expire on 1944-08-25 and the latest available mission expires 1944-08-15

if i finish patrolling and get back to base by August 23 (as opposed to August 25), i am offered command of a new type of boat, which is bad. i should have been offered retirement instead, because the next mission should not begin until September and that date is after the Flot/Base/Boat expiration.

also, if i refuse the XXIII, i keep the IIB-BlkSea and get assigned the default mission (Thames) with a start date of August 25.

does the Pacific theatre perform the same way? like when the Asiatic fleet runs from base to base until they land at Fremantle and then Brisbane? does that logic assign a new mission on the day a base closes?

i am starting to think that UBI-illogic cannot handle a Flot/Base/Boat expiration....the illogic needs a follow-on Flot/Base at a minimum or it goes back to the default mission. this is partly why those Germany-based kaleuns were getting assigned Fremantle missions: the illogic could not assign a local mission and went back to the default mission which was defined for Pacific-only German Uboats and therefore was the Fremantle mission. i modded that out to be the Thames mission for Dark Waters but the illogic still ends up there under certain conditions.

[propbeanie]

The Pacific would probably do the same thing... the Cachalot that expires, actually expires at an active base, and the player should upgrade boats. The Aleutians are similar, in that the base and campaign expires, but the boats transfer to Pearl first, then the boats expire, and a player should upgrade to another boat. The player does have the option to transfer to San Diego, but that is a dead-end hole there. I might try to do that tonight, along with a "hat" test for Kal. Your making the Thames the default mission is probably why you are getting it. The game falls through all of the 'logic' it can muster, and lands there when nothing makes sense... As for the transfer stuff, yes, the player should get one last assignment at their first "home port" after they transfer to a new port - so if a player would attempt to out-smart the game, and transfer to another flotilla (which none are available with a IIB at the time), then they wake-up at the new location, but still have that assignment from when they came back in from their previous patrol, which would be in the Black Sea in this case... Catch-uh Twenty-Two-uh... again. I do not think there is a way to have the game end, and the player just has to accept that they did their duty, and are now POWs, and should just do a new career...