Beta 4 (Release Candidate) release notes

[Rudankort]

Hello All!

New build is out. It is an RC (release candidate) build, which means we are approaching the release. No more beta versions will be release. The game will be locked early next week, so any feedback that will come over the weekend will be especially valuable. Here is what's new/changed.

- This build shows how AK, when installed as an expansion, will integrate with PzC to form a single big package. Tutorial campaign, Wehrmacht campaign and Afrika Korps campaign are all available, both in single player and multiplayer.

- All maps recieved the final polish and look pretty much final. We have not fixed all map errors yet, will do this in one big final round of fixing. Please report any issues you see on the maps, we'll make sure everything you report is fixed in the release.

- We have added one more MP map (Blood and Sand), and other 5 maps were updated based on your feedback. Thanks to everyone who is already participating in MP testing, and everybody else still has a chance to play some MP over the weekend! Note that Spoils of War map has been moved to the PzC part of the game.

- AK game will come with Library extended with a bunch of WW2 fighters and bombers, so you can see these in the Library section. Let us know if you find any mistakes in these new Library pages. Also, the Library now includes AK campaign tree.

- New AK intro video was added. This has increased the size of the package quite a bit, but we wanted to make sure it played well on all the PCs out there. If you have problems playing intro video, let me know.

- I've made one more round of AI tweaks. The AI in RC should be more cautious with its artillery units, and fire with them first too. Let me know if you notice any improvement in AI behavior.

- As a small experiment, we've included a feature to show how many heroes a unit has, directly on the map. This is done using golden dots on unit's strength plate. Each dot means a hero. Let us know what you think about this new feature.

- Also, some people were confused about special units which are important in scenario objectives. We've tried to provide some more visual clues about them. Supply dumps and old pumping stations have got their own icons. Other special units have got a different "glowing" strength plate. Let us know if things have become clearer now.

- We've made one more round of message tweaking, so that they do not appear on AI turn and make more sense.

- Italian unit list was extended to give them some better upgrade options. Compared to beta 3, the following italian units were added:
Bersaglieri 43
M15/42
Panther D
Brummbär
Bf 109K
Hs 129
75/46 C.A. m34 AT
90/53 M41c AT
The last two are AT versions of existing AA guns, which can now switch to AT mode.

- Italians have got one more order, awarded for 500 kills.

- We've made a huge number of bug fixes in game engine, UI and graphics. Here are some more important fixes:
All known problems with movement sounds and attack animations have been fixed.
All missing unit portraits have been added.
All buggy unit icons (wrong coloring, small planes overlapping ground units etc.) have been fixed.
Minefield should no longer prevent replacements, and properly trigger ambush
Air units supply no longer reduced by desert terrain
Recon units which have some movement points left, but cannot go anywhere, are not marked with green arrow
"Discard truck" option when loading into an air transport is back
Straits now have the same combat penalties as rivers
Motorcycle unit has got its own sound
Messages popup no longer shows HTML tags

- As usual, a number of tweaks and fixes in the scenarios was made, based on your feedback.

[Chris10]

looks good...dl now
in order to try to push a few more scenarios forward in the campaign...is this save compatible ?

[Rudankort]

looks good...dl now
in order to try to push a few more scenarios forward in the campaign...is this save compatible ?

Should be compatible, yes.

[VPaulus]

Is this exe similar to iteration 1, Alex?

[Rudankort]

Is this exe similar to iteration 1, Alex?

Wanted to drop you and Chris an email on that, but you were faster. Game mode with animations played from disk with no memory caching is not active by default, but it is available via /nocache command line switch. So people who are experiencing memory problems can use it. Let us see how it works for different people, maybe in the future this option could be made default one.

[VPaulus]

Is this exe similar to iteration 1, Alex?

Wanted to drop you and Chris an email on that, but you were faster. Game mode with animations played from disk with no memory caching is not active by default, but it is available via /nocache command line switch. So people who are experiencing memory problems can use it. Let us see how it works for different people, maybe in the future this option could be made default one.

You mean:

Code: Select all

PanzerCorps.exe /nocache

[Rudankort]

Yep.

[Kamerer]

How do you want us to report issues if we find them - in the original scenario thread, or in one central thread for Beta 4?

[Ballacraine]

The new motorcycle sound is very good.

Definitely a boxer twin.

Balla.

[Rudankort]

How do you want us to report issues if we find them - in the original scenario thread, or in one central thread for Beta 4?

Either way is fine, we are reading all messages.

[Balois]

In looking at the Library I see a minor disconnect. The vehicles have a picture that is captioned "interior view", which for them it is indeed an interior view. However the same "Interior view" caption is used for airplanes when the pictures are actually of an exterior view.

I liked the opening video.

Balois

[Balois]

I forgot to mention that for some unknown reason I was not able to open the scenario that I was currently playing (recon in force). I tried my turn 3 & 4 saves and also the authomatic saves and nothing opened.

Interestly my other saves of previous scenarios did open.

Balois

[zappel]

Beta4 - German Language

- This build shows how AK, when installed as an expansion, will integrate with PzC to form a single big package. Tutorial campaign, Wehrmacht campaign and Afrika Korps campaign are all available, both in single player and multiplayer.

Works for me.

- AK game will come with Library extended with a bunch of WW2 fighters and bombers, so you can see these in the Library section. Let us know if you find any mistakes in these new Library pages. Also, the Library now includes AK campaign tree.

Is there a button to change the campaign tree? Even if I load a original or a AK-savegame, I see only the original campaign tree.

- New AK intro video was added. This has increased the size of the package quite a bit, but we wanted to make sure it played well on all the PCs out there. If you have problems playing intro video, let me know.

Works for me. And is looking fine!!!

- As a small experiment, we've included a feature to show how many heroes a unit has, directly on the map. This is done using golden dots on unit's strength plate. Each dot means a hero. Let us know what you think about this new feature.

Works for me. Great feature.

Air units supply no longer reduced by desert terrain

I thought this was by design (lonely airfield in the desert provides lees fuel and ammo).

Messages popup no longer shows HTML tags

Works for me.

[Rudankort]

I forgot to mention that for some unknown reason I was not able to open the scenario that I was currently playing (recon in force). I tried my turn 3 & 4 saves and also the authomatic saves and nothing opened.

Is this issue reproducable (happens every time you try)? If yes, I might need to look into this.

[Rudankort]

Is there a button to change the campaign tree? Even if I load a original or a AK-savegame, I see only the original campaign tree.

In the Library there are two separate entries: Campaign and Africa Campaign. The former shows main campaign, the latter - AK campaign.

I thought this was by design (lonely airfield in the desert provides lees fuel and ammo).

Well, I think that an airfield should supply all planes (directly above it, or within 1 hex radius) the same way. Either 100% or 50%, but it should be consistent. It was not the case in earlier builds.

[zappel]

Is there a button to change the campaign tree? Even if I load a original or a AK-savegame, I see only the original campaign tree.

In the Library there are two separate entries: Campaign and Africa Campaign. The former shows main campaign, the latter - AK campaign.

Got it. Changed language to english and saw the new entries (AK-campaign tree and fighters), these entries are not shown in german version.

[Balois]

I forgot to mention that for some unknown reason I was not able to open the scenario that I was currently playing (recon in force). I tried my turn 3 & 4 saves and also the authomatic saves and nothing opened.

Is this issue reproducable (happens every time you try)? If yes, I might need to look into this.

This happens every time I try to load the Recon in Force scenario. I closed the program and restarted but same issue. However, all other previous scenarios load normally. The load issue is specific to the Recon in Force scenario.

[Rudankort]

This happens every time I try to load the Recon in Force scenario. I closed the program and restarted but same issue. However, all other previous scenarios load normally. The load issue is specific to the Recon in Force scenario.

Could you please send this save to me to rudankort@rsdn.ru?

[Chris10]

Is there a button to change the campaign tree? Even if I load a original or a AK-savegame, I see only the original campaign tree.

In the Library there are two separate entries: Campaign and Africa Campaign. The former shows main campaign, the latter - AK campaign.

Got it. Changed language to english and saw the new entries (AK-campaign tree and fighters), these entries are not shown in german version.

confirm
in german version the entire fighter and bomber sections are not present in library

[Kamerer]

Library Notes:

(for Fighter section; will read bombers later)


Fighter section:

1. FW-190: states radial engines unusual in fighter aircraft at the time. Should say “European” fighter aircraft. US designers and military were very fond of them at the time.
2. Hurricane: several typos/article errors in text; needs to be proofread.
3. Tempest has tempest in large profile image, but the smaller image looks quite different. Is it correct?.
4. Meteor: “safety record (insert comma), …”
5. Lightning: states it killed more Japanese than any other US fighter. I do not believe this is true. It should say “than any US non-naval fighter.” The lightning did not come close to the kill totals of the Hellcat in the Pacific War.
6. P-47 – “fully loaded it weighed over…”
7. P-51 – “Its superior range…” and “models of the Spitfire…”

Some general proofreading of all entries in this section would be good. Also, in US we spell out numbers one to nine, use roman numerals for 10 and higher. Don’t know UK standard for written English but I think it is the same. There are inconsistencies in this in the entries.

In general the entries read well, with interesting and varied commentary. Good stuff.