Survey of Working Specialisations

[bru888]

I did a survey of all official DLC to see which specialisations were used in them. I figure these specialisations are vetted and proven; however, there are others in the files that either are forgotten leftovers or drawing board projects. Unfortunately, some of these appear in the editors and including them in our scenarios and campaigns may have adverse effects.

The yellow-highlighted specialisations are the ones that I saw in the DLC. The pink-highlighted specialisations do not appear in any DLC and it is a good assumption that they do not work, at least for now. Some are probably abandoned and some (USSR?) may be in the works for the future.

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The problem is, as I said, some of them appear in the editors depending on how they were programmed. Here are some samples; note that in the campaign editor, they are on by default:

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I'm not advocating editing specialisations.csv although I did think about it. Who knows, maybe they will resurrect some of the old ones and we will need the new ones for upcoming DLC, perhaps.

What I am recommending to my modding buddies is that we refer to this list and add only the "tried and true" specialisations to our scenarios and campaigns in order to avoid unforeseen consequences.

[Erik2]

Thanks!

I've saved the spec list images for later use.

[Horst]

Man, this forum is giving me the creeps again. It takes at least 10 seconds to visit each subforum and topic. Is some pacifistic dude nuking a wargame site again?

Some unused specs work, others rather not or at least not good enough to be playable.
The new Guard Infantry is nice by upgrading a 4-star inf to a Guard Inf. I like the idea as it motivates to train your usual cannon fodder infantry.
Arctic Convoy and Lend_Lease_USSR are rather only requirements to purchase foreign tanks. Arctic didn't gift me a Valentine tank, but I only a did a quick, dirty test that I have possibly missed something.
I haven't really tested the other new USSR ones yet, although the Molotov Pact should rather become obsolete if Germany starts invading the SU:
Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact
Signing the "Treaty of Non-aggression" with Germany will secure peace along our western borders, which in turn allows the Red Army to concentrate more strength in other sectors.
• Additional land and air CP

Home_Guard, Free_French, and Resistance_Fighters have been there since Burma, so no idea if these will ever make it a DLC, similar like Unrestricted_Submarines, Kleinkampfverbande, and Destroyer_Tender. I haven't bothered to test them either yet

Isn't the US version of Torpedo_Improvements used in U.S. Pacific? You can create alternative specs with new IDs and exclusive factions on different dates this way. Compare the dates with the German/KM version in the spec tree which one is used.

I wanted to test if Bomber_Stream won't make strat-bombers invincible but something went wrong and made my Brit bombers all invisible. Eh, is invisible the new invincible? I have to test this another time again.

I have been using Rationing for a long time as it only requires an icon to add, but ditched it later in favor to increase my mod's difficulty. It's nothing more like another +2 CP for Land/Naval/Air spec like War_Economy and Female_Laborers

Lastly, Gruppe_Monsun and British_Pacific_Fleet kinda work, but they only give a meager amount of RP that is hardly enough to keep units running for a while. There is no income value. No big deal to play without these extra unit specs.

[bru888]

Isn't the US version of Torpedo_Improvements used in U.S. Pacific? You can create alternative specs with new IDs and exclusive factions on different dates this way. Compare the dates with the German/KM version in the spec tree which one is used.

You may be remembering this campaign popup that occurs between New Georgia and Philippine Sea:

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but they seem to have purposely not included US version of Torpedo_Improvements in the specialisations along with two others that I pointed out as non-functional:

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As you mentioned, the German/KM version of Torpedo_Improvements is in use and apparently does something.

Lastly, Gruppe_Monsun and British_Pacific_Fleet kinda work, but they only give a meager amount of RP that is hardly enough to keep units running for a while. There is no income value. No big deal to play without these extra unit specs.

That's my point though. Gruppe_Monsun was supposed to cause "Two German Type IX U-Boats [to] be added to our [Japanese] naval forces" but that was never implemented. Instead, left behind were those extra RP and, as we saw in another thread, an incorrect activation of the German specialisation tree. So while these vestigial (and prototypical) specialisations may have residual effects, it's best to avoid using them while they are not fully implemented and understood.

[GabeKnight]

That's my point though. Gruppe_Monsun was supposed to cause "Two German Type IX U-Boats [to] be added to our [Japanese] naval forces" but that was never implemented. Instead, left behind were those extra RP and, as we saw in another thread, an incorrect activation of the German specialisation tree. So while these vestigial (and prototypical) specialisations may have residual effects, it's best to avoid using them while they are not fully implemented and understood.

I think those specs work kinda like the Waffen-SS spec for the German faction. The subs from "Gruppe Monsun" and the ships from "Brit Fleet" form a separate faction (with separate income) rather than being added to your nation's core. Thus the separate spec tree.

To my last knowledge, the "destroyer tender" spec does nothing.

The "bomber stream" spec is super annoying. Erik used it with some of his campaigns. Makes adjacent strat. bombers (almost) invincible to fighters or AA - I think it was fighters.

Isn't the "carri armati" spec the one that gives the Italians the P43_Bis tank?

[LNDavoust]

Very informative info as always, thanks, Horst.

Some weeks ago I tried (with mixed success, I must confess) to edit some specs for my mod. Reusing Specs as new requeriments for units is easy (and creating little icons for them is both possible and fun).



What I don't know for sure is if is it possible to edit or create new effects for an existing (or a new) spec. For example, let's say i want to add a +1 defense to my infantry units using a spec (similar to the +1 attack of the Auftragstaktik spec). Is this feasible? Has anyone tried to mod something like that?

Also, and more related to the Horst topic, i think that there are other specs in the game (in the language files) not included in the specialisations.csv.

For example:

spec_thach_weave_title = Thach Weave
spec_thach_weave_descr = Conceived by naval aviator John S. Thach, this aerial combat tactic allows fighter pilots to defeat a more maneuverable opponent lashed to their wingman's tail.
spec_thach_weave_effect = • Fighters gain +1 attack against small air targets

although I'm not sure if there is any effect linked to this or this is just a hollow descriptor

[Horst]

You can create duplicates of specs with different id#, dates, requirements, and cost for each faction, like officially done with the torpedo_improvements, but you still have to stick to the currently used effects as anything related is hardcoded.
Easy to do are additional spec-requirements for units that can be added in the units.csv file.
Among all these unused spec-effects, unrestricted_submarine_warface could possibly still work: +4 torpedo atk vs naval transport class.
Anything else seems like removed from the code.

About the new Soviet ones:
molotov–ribbentrop_pact (+6 Land, +3 Air CP, expires on 22/6/1941)
great_patriotic_war (+6 Land, +3 Air CP)
siberian_reserves (+6 Land, +3 Air CP)

[bru888]

As we know, specialisations continues to be a module that needs tidying. Some specialisations appear in the editors even though they are not defined or working in the game. Let's see if we can agree on a list of specialisations to avoid:

Destroyer Tender - All
Rationing - All
British Pacific Fleet - U.S.
Bomber Stream - Great Britain
Gruppe Monsun - Japan
spec_kleinkampfverbande_title - Kriegsmarine
spec_II_ussr_logistics_title - U.S.S.R. *
spec_spec_shock_army_title - U.S.S.R. *
spec_guards_army_title - U.S.S.R. *
spec_II_ussr_aircraft_title - U.S.S.R. *

* Likely to be defined and implemented in Red Steel

These are specialisations that appear by default in the campaign editor and are automatically marked to be included. At best, they do little or nothing. At worst, they are suspected of corrupting files. Best to avoid them, IMO.

Your comments are welcome.