[REL] U.S. Medals Fix

[CapnScurvy]

I thought I'd give a short run down of what prompted me to make some changes to the first U.S. Medals Fix. The element that kept throwing a ringer to me was why a 4th tier award (no matter what we call it) was given before a 3rd tier award. This problem occured with my first Fix, and of course the stock game. In the stock game the medals that switched were the Bronze Star with the Congressional Medal of Honor! Take a guess as to why the Medal of Honor was awarded so easily.


That's where the UPCData\Medals.upc file was messed up (well, at least the hard coded calculations are pooched that uses this information, seems their looking for the wrong medal I.D.). By switching these two ID's the game would award the correct medal!! You may notice that the Crew Management screen (in the picture of the first post of this thread) now has the crewman's center panel showing the medals in correct order. From left to right, the Purple Heart is first, with the 1st tier next, and then up the ladder to the Navy Cross. This positioning was not an accident. With this correct order the medals are awarded correctly for the Captain. Who Knew!?!

Does this mean that the highest tier award will be harder to achieve? Nope, those calculations are again hard coded, but you can feel sure that the award is the correct one, lame as it may be.


=========


On another note, I've added a compatible edition for the RFB 1.52 at the first post of this thread.

[jazzabilly]

Are there any issues with existing careers and awards?

So the CMOH has essentially been removed from the game, then.

[JGoldrick]

Originally Posted by jazzabilly

Are there any issues with existing careers and awards?

So the CMOH has essentially been removed from the game, then.

I do believe so, I once received 3 during one of my careers, kind of unrealistic for just completing a bunch of objectives and sinking almost the entire Jap fleet. I would have rather found out if I made it to rank of Admiral or such, when the war ended it was kind of anti-climatic. Using TMO+RSRDC.

[CapnScurvy]

Originally Posted by jazzabilly

Are there any issues with existing careers and awards?

Yes, the Readme spells out the problem and a possible solution. In short the UPCData\UPCCrewData\Medals.upc was modified to correct the medal "identification" by the hard coded award calculation system. It also changed the order of presentation, and the actual text used to describe the specific award (the mouse over text, and the Captain's award written citation).

Unfortunately, this file also is plugged into the saved games folder to keep track of the award calculations at the end of a specific patrol. To keep the saved games straight, the game will use whatever the Medals.upc file states at the time of the patrol start. So, that's why I have in the readme you should be in port, or start a new career, to enable the change. The game will not rechange the information in mid patrol. Neither will it go back through previous saved points and change the initial information it uses to track game play.

As a possible workaround, I have in the Readme the process for manually changing the saved files Medals.upc. It may work to see if a past saved point could be replayed with the new file enabled. Not a guaranteed thing though. In the saved game folders there are all sorts of ways the game keeps track of a patrol's event. It's just safer to enable the modification back in base before you go out on a mission.

Originally Posted by JGoldrick

I do believe so, I once received 3 during one of my careers, kind of unrealistic for just completing a bunch of objectives and sinking almost the entire Jap fleet.

Yes, that's right. the CMOH has been removed from the game. The Navy Cross will be the top tier award. It will still have whatever the game calculates as a criteria for award as the CMOH (again, this is hard coded), but being awarded 3 Navy Cross's makes better sense than 3 CMOH's. I wish there was a way to add various Devices and Attachments to the awards to mark subsequent issue's. We're just lucky to have what we have, anyone seen the original stock awards and their names?!?!

[LukeFF]

CS, is it alright if I roll this into RFB 2.0?

[CapnScurvy]

Originally Posted by LukeFF

CS, is it alright if I roll this into RFB 2.0?

Of course Luke. Sorry, I didn't post it to the .ftp site, not enough time in the day.

As Ernest Angley the evangelist would say as he slapped folks on the forehead, "Take what you need"!!

[LukeFF]

Originally Posted by CapnScurvy

Of course Luke. Sorry, I didn't post it to the .ftp site, not enough time in the day.

As Ernest Angley the evangelist would say as he slapped folks on the forehead, "Take what you need"!!

Thanks!

[Kongo Otto]

Just a Question about the Bronze Star Medal.
Wasnt the Bronze Star just exclusivly for the Army in WW2 and not for Air Force and Navy.

Found this, so it confuses me a little bit:

a. The Bronze Star Medal was established by Executive Order 9419, 4 February 1944 (superseded by Executive Order 11046, 24 August 1962).
b. The Bronze Star Medal is awarded to any person who, while serving in any capacity in or with the Army of the United States after 6 December 1941, distinguished himself or herself by heroic or meritorious achievement or service, not involving participation in aerial flight, in connection with military operations against an armed enemy; or while engaged in military operations involving conflict with an opposing armed force in which the United States is not a belligerent party.

[LukeFF]

Originally Posted by Kongo Otto

Just a Question about the Bronze Star Medal.
Wasnt the Bronze Star just exclusivly for the Army in WW2 and not for Air Force and Navy.

Found this, so it confuses me a little bit:

a. The Bronze Star Medal was established by Executive Order 9419, 4 February 1944 (superseded by Executive Order 11046, 24 August 1962).
b. The Bronze Star Medal is awarded to any person who, while serving in any capacity in or with the Army of the United States after 6 December 1941, distinguished himself or herself by heroic or meritorious achievement or service, not involving participation in aerial flight, in connection with military operations against an armed enemy; or while engaged in military operations involving conflict with an opposing armed force in which the United States is not a belligerent party.

No, there were sailors who were awarded the Bronze Star Medal during the war.

http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~tnsmith/oldpics/kemp_charles.htm :

Charles Lee Kemp was born in Hopkinsville, KY and moved to Florida during World War II. He was in the U.S. Navy and was in 7 major battles in the Pacific even being awarded the Bronze Star Medal for his actions in the Battle of Leyte Gulf.

[CapnScurvy]

Originally Posted by Kongo Otto

Just a Question about the Bronze Star Medal.
Wasnt the Bronze Star just exclusivly for the Army in WW2 and not for Air Force and Navy.

Originally Posted by LukeFF

No, there were sailors who were awarded the Bronze Star Medal during the war

Thanks for the reply Luke, you are correct. There are several U.S. Medals that transcend the specific branch a serviceman is enlisted for. The Purple Heart, Bronze Star Medal, and the Silver Star are three that are awarded across the board in all branches of service. There is no change made to the medal or ribbon for a specific branch for these three awards.

The Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal was awarded to all military branches that served only in the Pacific Theater. The Europe-Africa-Middle East Medal was awarded for the European Theater service. Two other medals that transcends the entire U.S. military, including the European Theater, were the American Campaign Medal WWII, and the Victory Medal WWII.

[LukeFF]

Originally Posted by CapnScurvy

Thanks for the reply Luke, you are correct. There are several U.S. Medals that transcend the specific branch a serviceman is enlisted for. The Purple Heart, Bronze Star Medal, and the Silver Star are three that are awarded across the board in all branches of service. There is no change made to the medal or ribbon for a specific branch for these three awards.

The Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal was awarded to all military branches that served only in the Pacific Theater. The Europe-Africa-Middle East Medal was awarded for the European Theater service. Two other medals that transcends the entire U.S. military, including the European Theater, were the American Campaign Medal WWII, and the Victory Medal WWII.

And to take it a step further, while the Medal of Honor can be awarded to any member of the U.S. military, there are three different versions of the medal:

-The Army version
-The Navy/Marine Corps/Coast Guard version
-The Air Force version

During WWII, members of the Air Force would have been awarded the Army version, given that it wasn't an independent branch of the military at the time.