GWX 1.04 Development sneak peek part III

[bigboywooly]

This week for a change we will be bringing you some of the campaign changes in 1.04

Part of the GWX campaign changes have included removing the random groups that started in the middle of nowhere and ended the same way



These groups were mainly hunterkiller groups
Now they begin in a port and end in one



The hunterkiller groups now typically follow the convoy routes a few hours behind one convoy and in front of another
So if you get pinned down by a convoy escort you may find he gets reinforcements from another source

Plus you may also encounter random HK groups



Patrols are another thing we have changed
Instead of the static patrols that change warship type once a year and activate when you come within rendering range



Patrol groups are now random
Journeys start in or close to a port and end the same way
Entries for groups are random so any warship of a particular type called for may show up
Of course removing the static patrols reduced the SCR by some 1.5mb - These patrols are implemented around the US\UK\Caribbean and Germany



And only added .7mb to the RND layer
Now as warships follow a patrol pattern if you get spotted by one patrol boat there may be othes well within range to join in the hunt

Milkcows can also be seen leaving and entering ports going to \returning from station in the Atlantic

Convoy entries are now as generic as they can be
The only entries not generic are for lit ships or dark ships by nuetral countries\the Black Sea and historical convoys with named units

Generic convoys mean you should see a difference of units from convoy to convoy
This will also mean that any future merchant releases are literally plug and play and can be dropped into rosters and show ingame with no further work
The same will apply to Patrol boats\Corvettes\Frigates and Destroyers
Especially in the RND groups

So even if the GWX team is no longer around to include new units it can be done simply by you - the player

This time around we have been able to include the new Kreigsmarine units by Sergbuto and Greg Law
Allowing us to replace many " placeholder " units in historical missions for the correct ones
Operation Cerberus for example now uses the correct Torpedoboot classes as was the case
Operation 60,000 in the Black Sea has also had an update thanks to Ichneumons own Kreigsmarine fleet

I wont give away all the secrets here

Not to mention the multiple roster alterations that have taken place with a lot of unsatisfactory units removed from certain countries

I will say as one last thing that GWX 1.04 will include over 35+ new sea units alone
And you wont like all of them
:rotfl:

To further help with load times the Black Sea and Indian Ocean are removed from the main GWX campaign files
Removing over 1mb from each
These two areas will have their own JSGME enabled campaign files for when transferring to those areas ( Thanks in part to Hitmans idea )
Load times in both those theatres are considerably faster

Air cover has also been looked at and without giving too much away you wont be seeing any Hurricane fighter patrolling before 1941
You will still have air cover but not as heavy as shouldnt be during that time

That is all
Carry on

[Hitman]

Wow, do you ever sleep? Amazing amount of hours must have gone into this I just wish I had a computer like I would have in 5 more years to be able to see this all loading in 30 seconds

[danlisa]

Originally Posted by bigboywooly

I will say as one last thing that GWX 1.04 will include over 35+ new sea units alone
And you wont like all of them
:rotfl:

I'm too frightened to goto sea, put me in front of the firing squad now.

Huge amount of work BBW, kudos.

[Hitman]

I'm too frightened to goto sea, put me in front of the firing squad now.

Yeah, looks like you have more surviving probablities in front of that firing squad

Generic convoys mean you should see a difference of units from convoy to convoy
This will also mean that any future merchant releases are literally plug and play and can be dropped into rosters and show ingame with no further work
The same will apply to Patrol boats\Corvettes\Frigates and Destroyers
Especially in the RND groups

I love this Seeing the ships recently released by AOTD MadMax (SH4 conversions) this can be very promising

[bigboywooly]

Thank you Hitman

Yes was the reasoning behind making entries as generic as possible
Was done originally to accomadate Iambecomes work but since then more SH4 units are becoming available too

[GoldenEagle8]

Looks good!
You are very good at what you do with SHIII.

I can't wait for the update, it looks really cool!

PS. that one unit, or group thing there, near Bermuda, does that say "Bermuda Badasses"??

[danlisa]

Originally Posted by GoldenEagle8

....that one unit, or group thing there, near Bermuda, does that say "Bermuda Badasses"??

Yep.

I think it is left over from Ducimus' reworking of the Caribbean traffic. Umm, as the name suggests, try to stay away from them.

Now this is the stuff I like to hear. Admittedly, the graphical enhancements of GWX are nice but its the underlying campaign enhancements that rock my boat.

I think i'm gonna have to give this version a trial.

[denis_469]

Great work.
But apparently in my comp new company not loading:hmm:

[Thniper]

Amazing! Kudos to BBW!!!

I have one minor question about convoy routes.

With the SH3 DVD there came a map showing general convoy routes, single merchant routes and air coverage.
When I take a look at picture #1 and #2 I see that the routes for convoys are slightly altered (I know that they are routes for HK groups but you said they follow convoys).
Example: Convoys from Halifax don't go down to CC area anymore, they just go east (correct me if I'm wrong).

So, will there be a new general map showing routes and air coverage or do you leave this to us to find out? :hmm:

Thniper

[ichso]

These groups were mainly hunterkiller groups
Now they begin in a port and end in one

It sounds somewhat CPU intensive to track many groups of ships around the atlantic. Of course this has nothing to do with AI or script controlled ships actually sailing around. This is the case if you get really near them, listening/spotting range.
But still it sounds like factor of lower performance of the game.
Did you experience anything like that ?

But the ideas in the mod I've heard and seen so far are great, can hardly wait to test it myself

[danlisa]

Originally Posted by Thniper

With the SH3 DVD there came a map showing general convoy routes, single merchant routes and air coverage.
When I take a look at picture #1 and #2 I see that the routes for convoys are slightly altered (I know that they are routes for HK groups but you said they follow convoys).

The convoy routes on the supplied map were never completely accurate, there was always a margin in either direction. The same can be said of the convoy routes in GWX, although they are slightly different they still follow roughly the same route, you'll just have to find them. IIRC the RND routes you see in the above pictures have not moved since GWX 1.0, so I guess carrying on as usual would be the order of the day.

[Kpt. Lehmann]

That's the stuff BBW. We never get to really talk about the coding and campaign inclusions in GWX because you can't "see" code.

To those who have found any "predictable" ASW unit and manage to always plan for it in advance... Well, those days are pretty much over. The historical accuracy remains... but the exactness of their locations are random in a sweeping way at the same time.

This is a series of huge advances BBW. Thank you for all the hard work that you do.

That's no moon!

[danlisa]

Originally Posted by ichso

But still it sounds like factor of lower performance of the game.
Did you experience anything like that ?

But the ideas in the mod I've heard and seen so far are great, can hardly wait to test it myself

So far the general concensus is an improvement in FPS in and around port aswell as a general improvement out at sea.

I can say, that during basic testing (loading into ports only), that on my system I have seen a rise in FPS of about 3-7. I have, however, not spent lengthy amounts of time in the oceans at high TC but we would have received reports from our testers it there were performance drops. (I think)

[bigboywooly]

Originally Posted by Thniper

Amazing! Kudos to BBW!!!

I have one minor question about convoy routes.

With the SH3 DVD there came a map showing general convoy routes, single merchant routes and air coverage.
When I take a look at picture #1 and #2 I see that the routes for convoys are slightly altered (I know that they are routes for HK groups but you said they follow convoys).
Example: Convoys from Halifax don't go down to CC area anymore, they just go east (correct me if I'm wrong).

So, will there be a new general map showing routes and air coverage or do you leave this to us to find out? :hmm:

Thniper

:hmm:
Not touched the convoy routes
The 2nd pic is hunter killers groups search areas not convoys etc