New Gary Grigsby's Eagle Day to Bombing the Reich Beta

Eagle Day to Bombing of the Reich is a improved and enhanced edition of Talonsoft's older Battle of Britain and Bombing the Reich. This updated version represents the best simulation of the air war over Britain and the strategic bombing campaign over Europe that has ever been made.

Moderators: Joel Billings, harley, warshipbuilder, simovitch

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SamSlitherine
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New Gary Grigsby's Eagle Day to Bombing the Reich Beta

Post by SamSlitherine »

Hi Everyone,

We have a new Public Beta ready for you to start playing!

The patch is available via the Members and Public download Areas.

Changelog below.

Please see the Global Performance options section if you are experiencing any issues tabbing in and out while in Fullscreen mode on Windows 10. - DXWnd Instructions
• Variable moonlight now corresponds to actual phases of the moon relative to sunrise/sunset.
• Fixed a bug in BoB 40 & 41 campaign where moon rise and set hours went past 24:00 clock during mid-late game.
• Added several tweaks and smarts to make the German AI day and night bomber offensive in BoB more potent.
• BoB: Kg 40 and Kgr 126 units in Brest were maritime patrol and minelaying units. They have been reduced in size from Gruppe to Schwarm (assuming some were used for bombing England) and the balance of He 111's returned to the replacement pool.
• Fixed ops points in BoB and non-campaign BTR scenarios to match rulebook.
• BoB ’40 sudden death clarification: as an addendum to what is stated in the rulebook, at the end of the second 31 day period (turn 62), the German player must have a combined victory total of 10 or more or the game ends immediately (this has been in effect since the initial 2009 release.)
• Modified default max ranges for German HQ in BoB to keep early-game AI bombing missions within fighter escort range.
• Ensured detached groups combine with parent when sharing the same base.
• Overcast display simplified to show OVC (overcast) base and height elevation.
• 'Top pilots' and 'Honor Roll' views now show days until return to service for WIA veterans.
• Luftwaffe units in Balkans "Sud Ost" groups now go on alert normally when Allied raids form up in Italy.
• Fixed duplicate German infantry division showing up on French coast in 1944.
• Ensured ground war events are triggered the same dates in both 1943 and 1944 campaigns. D-Day happens June 6, 1944 (note that the date for D-Day, Avalanche, and East Front collapse cannot be influenced by bombing troops.)
• 88mm FlaK 41 now distributed by AI from AA pools to home defense in BTR. Similar fixes to some RAF AA guns in BoB.
• Map now re-centers only when an event falls outside of the current view. The frenetic screen jumping is greatly reduced, especially noticeable for BoB and the smaller scenarios.
• 'Intercept', 'Set Patrol', and 'Set Doctrine' displays now show Nightfighter Groups in blue for easy reference. 'Set Doctrine' display now lists only aircraft currently in use by that Command, with ability to quick reference aircraft database for selected aircraft type.
• Fixed a bug where the random number generator was always producing the same sequence of numbers at start and not re-seeding. This impacts anything that is randomly set at the start of the scenario, and possibly some other effects.
• Fixed a bug where "lowest ready" aircraft was showing incorrectly.
• Clarified "autoplan missions" button and renamed "set bomber targets" to "autoplan missions". Added hotkey text to menu buttons.
• Verified that changing clock speed from anything but 1 impacts the combat results (as previously suspected). Fixing this bug was very complex so for now clock speed hardwired to 1 and menu button removed. You can still adjust the clock/timer settings under 'Options'.
• Fixed a major bug/exploit where the cloud cover in BoB games would reset to the north edge of the map whenever the map was zoomed out.
• Reworked the Fuel-Oil economy routines and greatly reduced the amount of oil and avgas produced by industry. Added a penalty/benefit to ground troop supply depending on shortage status. Shortages are now much more likely to occur with a dedicated fuel/oil campaign. Both players will be notified when the shortage is in effect, but only the defender will see just how severe it is. Besides needing avgas to fly airplanes, shortages impact the delivery of replacements to ground units in BTR leading to greater ability to break the defensive lines.

Note that Oil refineries do not produce avgas in BTR, avgas comes from synthetic fuel refineries only. Oil in BTR is used only by the home economy and for supplying the ground troops and the excess is stored.

In BoB, avgas comes from weekly port deliveries and oil refineries. Oil that is not converted to fuel in refineries is used by the home economy and the excess is stored. When the demands of the home economy in both games can no longer be met, a shortage occurs.

• Fixed several cases where aircraft were not converting to elint or other types.
• BTR: Fixed several German fighter default doctrines. Also, as the war progresses, Luftwaffe AI doctrine may tend to ignore escorts and become more aggressive toward bomber formations.

BTR: "Wilde Sau" nightfighters Bf 109G-6/U4N and Fw 190A-5/U2 cease production and convert into day fighters sometime before the end of March 1944.

Happy gaming!
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mikkey
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RE: New Gary Grigsby's Eagle Day to Bombing the Reich Beta

Post by mikkey »

Thanks for update!
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V72
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RE: New Gary Grigsby's Eagle Day to Bombing the Reich Beta

Post by V72 »

Patch installed yesterday, it works perfectly with BtR, to be continued...
Thank's [&o]
Bêta testeur for : Bombing The Reich.
kentcol
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RE: New Gary Grigsby's Eagle Day to Bombing the Reich Beta

Post by kentcol »

I keep getting Error: "couldn't init font"
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mikkey
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RE: New Gary Grigsby's Eagle Day to Bombing the Reich Beta

Post by mikkey »

kentcol, try to rename VIDEO folder (located in DAT folder) to No_VIDEO. Here are some more details.
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joey
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RE: New Gary Grigsby's Eagle Day to Bombing the Reich Beta

Post by joey »

I have been getting the same message again with the new patch. I have found the following works most of the time.

I have sound and video renamed. I start the game. I get the error message; I close the program. I restart it a second time. It works most of the time.

I can also start the game in DXwnd. I use the following procedure. I open DxWnd, but do not select this game. I open the game; I get the error message. I exit the game. I then open the game in DxWnd. It works more of the time. If I come up with a better method, I will share it with you.
I hope this helps.
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JeffroK
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RE: New Gary Grigsby's Eagle Day to Bombing the Reich Beta

Post by JeffroK »

I have never had this problem, must be other settings you use.

As for the new beta:

I dont like (dont understand?) the new weather info. Is Europe covered in overcast(or smog) between 9000 & 10000ft??? The old method of the % gave you info about how bad the weather was, maybe the OVC info should support this number & not replace it.

I have a feeling, going to check more, that if you use the Autoplan button it stops you from manually planning any raids. I'm lazy and let the AI plan recce missions, now if I do this first (I often fiddle some heights) I cannot plan any bombing missions. NO I think I have to do the recce last. Could be WAD.

The target icons on the map blend in a bit, especially at the lower settings.

Noticeably, raids on Ploesti get intercepted earlier plus, in about 4 days, I used to get intercepted by Me410 over Benelux, seems to be more bf109 interceptions now.

Well done to all involved for perservering in delivering the mod.
Interdum feror cupidine partium magnarum Europae vincendarum
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joey
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RE: New Gary Grigsby's Eagle Day to Bombing the Reich Beta

Post by joey »

I just tested the autoplan. I can go back and forth between autoplan and manual raids with no issue. What are you seeing?
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simovitch
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RE: New Gary Grigsby's Eagle Day to Bombing the Reich Beta

Post by simovitch »

ORIGINAL: JeffroK
I dont like (dont understand?) the new weather info. Is Europe covered in overcast(or smog) between 9000 & 10000ft??? The old method of the % gave you info about how bad the weather was, maybe the OVC info should support this number & not replace it.
The cloud graphic itself represents where the clouds are, and the interface tells you the base and ceiling. To me, the old % number was too abstract. But you can get the old % number by subtracting the base from the ceiling and dividing by 100.

The "can't init font" is related to something running in the background during initialization. Disable the video folder and don't touch anything until the game loads.[:)]
simovitch

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JeffroK
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RE: New Gary Grigsby's Eagle Day to Bombing the Reich Beta

Post by JeffroK »

ORIGINAL: simovitch

ORIGINAL: JeffroK
I dont like (dont understand?) the new weather info. Is Europe covered in overcast(or smog) between 9000 & 10000ft??? The old method of the % gave you info about how bad the weather was, maybe the OVC info should support this number & not replace it.
The cloud graphic itself represents where the clouds are, and the interface tells you the base and ceiling. To me, the old % number was too abstract. But you can get the old % number by subtracting the base from the ceiling and dividing by 100.
[:)]
I thought the clouds moved?

Abstract was OK, predicting weather is an artform and not a science.

I'm happy to know the cloud base &ceiling but how much of it is there?

With the auto plan, could be me but its never been aproblem before, maybe sticky buttons.
Interdum feror cupidine partium magnarum Europae vincendarum
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simovitch
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RE: New Gary Grigsby's Eagle Day to Bombing the Reich Beta

Post by simovitch »

Think of the moving cloud graphic as being a big floating wafer. Fly under the base and all is clear below but you can't see the blue sky above. fly between the base and ceiling and you are in the clouds - invisible but also blind. fly above the ceiling and you are in the clear blue sky again but you cant see the ground.

As a pilot this is second nature to me but I can see how it may by confusing. I figured representing it this way would allow players to easily set the altitudes of their raids or patrols to take advantage of the weather.

Adding to this, the cloud cover is coded such that the more clouds you see on the map the thicker (i.e. the altitude between base and ceiling) the clouds will be.
simovitch

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JeffroK
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RE: New Gary Grigsby's Eagle Day to Bombing the Reich Beta

Post by JeffroK »

The OVC rating is OK, but it shouldnt represent how much of Europe is affected, and it changes by region as well.

As a tool combined with the old % rating you can see that 50% of Europe is covered with cloud, and that it is between 1000 & 6000ft or 12000 & 17000ft and you plot your raids accordingly.

My problem with the Auto Plan has cleared up, but I have more "sticky button" problems than I used to. A couple more turns and I continue to believe that there are more bf109 interceptions of Benelux than in the past.(Probably as it should be)
Interdum feror cupidine partium magnarum Europae vincendarum
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joey
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RE: New Gary Grigsby's Eagle Day to Bombing the Reich Beta

Post by joey »

ORIGINAL: JeffroK

The OVC rating is OK, but it shouldnt represent how much of Europe is affected, and it changes by region as well.

As a tool combined with the old % rating you can see that 50% of Europe is covered with cloud, and that it is between 1000 & 6000ft or 12000 & 17000ft and you plot your raids accordingly.

My problem with the Auto Plan has cleared up, but I have more "sticky button" problems than I used to. A couple more turns and I continue to believe that there are more bf109 interceptions of Benelux than in the past.(Probably as it should be)

Have you tried DXwnd? It has done a lot for me to minimize the "sticky Button" problem. Without using it, the sticky button issue is really, really bad. But, most of those issues disappears using DxWnd.
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simovitch
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RE: New Gary Grigsby's Eagle Day to Bombing the Reich Beta

Post by simovitch »

ORIGINAL: JeffroK

As a tool combined with the old % rating you can see that 50% of Europe is covered with cloud, and that it is between 1000 & 6000ft or 12000 & 17000ft and you plot your raids accordingly.
That's just my point - although there is a somewhat linear correlation, the old % number did not represent % cloud coverage. So to me it made more sense that the player look at the actual cloud graphic moving across the map and reference the base/ceiling than to ponder an abstract % number and then calculate the ceiling in their head.
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boogabooga
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RE: New Gary Grigsby's Eagle Day to Bombing the Reich Beta

Post by boogabooga »

ORIGINAL: simovitch

ORIGINAL: JeffroK

As a tool combined with the old % rating you can see that 50% of Europe is covered with cloud, and that it is between 1000 & 6000ft or 12000 & 17000ft and you plot your raids accordingly.
That's just my point - although there is a somewhat linear correlation, the old % number did not represent % cloud coverage. So to me it made more sense that the player look at the actual cloud graphic moving across the map and reference the base/ceiling than to ponder an abstract % number and then calculate the ceiling in their head.

WOW, that's good to know. I was taking that literally, such that if cloud cover was say 30%, I assumed a 70% mission success rate for the day and planned accordingly.
The boogabooga doctrine for CMO: Any intentional human intervention needs to be able to completely and reliably over-ride anything that the AI is doing at any time.
CaptCarnage
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RE: New Gary Grigsby's Eagle Day to Bombing the Reich Beta

Post by CaptCarnage »

I understand the clouds and their base/ceiling.
But I guess there is no way to tell which way the wind blows at Mission Start? I can plan a mission because I see a clearing but then the clouds move and block the target when I play the turn. Is it correct to say that's a bit of a guessing game?
Oh why didnt they implement a mission recall...
"One must always distrust the report of troop commanders: 'We have no fuel' [...] You see, if they become tired they suddenly lack fuel" - Heinz Guderian, Panzer Leader
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simovitch
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RE: New Gary Grigsby's Eagle Day to Bombing the Reich Beta

Post by simovitch »

I think that overall it was a big guessing game. We plan on implementing some forecasting ability into the next patch to help with planning.

The classic decision for a mission commander was whether to attempt to penetrate heavy weather blocking target routes because of unknown future conditions, as well as visibility over the target, particularly French targets. In the case of targets over occupied France, the bombers could not even salvo bomb loads unless clearly not a hazard to French people below – an impossible decision if clouds obscured the ground. Nor were conditions over alternate targets guaranteed to enable mission success.

Equally important was the consequences of sending hundreds of crews in heavily loaded bombers into the heart of thunderstorms with high turbulence and terrible icing conditions. Mistakes made with weather decisions in theory and practice caused loss of many lives and aircraft.

(excerpt from THE SCOUTING FORCE At Steeple Morden Bill Marshall 23 April, 2007)
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warshipbuilder
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RE: New Gary Grigsby's Eagle Day to Bombing the Reich Beta

Post by warshipbuilder »

This will help with the clouds

tm.asp?m=3412233
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CaptCarnage
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RE: New Gary Grigsby's Eagle Day to Bombing the Reich Beta

Post by CaptCarnage »

Thanks!
So from that thread I can conclude clouds always move at the same speed at a 45 deg angle?
Wind direction never changes?
"One must always distrust the report of troop commanders: 'We have no fuel' [...] You see, if they become tired they suddenly lack fuel" - Heinz Guderian, Panzer Leader
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warshipbuilder
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RE: New Gary Grigsby's Eagle Day to Bombing the Reich Beta

Post by warshipbuilder »

Pretty much. Just read his post carefully, there is a lot there to take in.
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