bradk
Posts: 270
Joined: 12/12/2005 Status: offline
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quote:
ORIGINAL: Eno67 Bradk, What edits are you considering making? And what version of PACWAR do you consider the most "salvageable", SSI or Matrix? Just curious. Thanks, Eno Salvagable is not a word I'd use. They are both fine games. Has to use the Matrix exe for several reasons. The PBEM vcr feature is a Matrix addition. I personally am not conerned about the "secure" part of PBEM since I don't worry about my PBEM opponents cheating, but that's important to a lot of people. Also, all USN CVs represented and activated on schedule rather than the SSI system which provided just some of the CVs and additional ones if there were losses. The Matrix provision to convern IJN AVs to CVEs/CVLs is good. So it has to be an obc designed for the Matrix exe. I'm primarily interested in PBEM scenarios. I became bored playing against AI long ago when I played the SSI version. But I've started on a Campaign 41 scenario for playing against IJ AI. It will be harder to do one for play against Allied AI. Here's what I've done so far. 1) Error corrections. There are perhaps two dozen airgroups that activate with aircraft not yet in production. Fixed that. 2) In Matrix, US Army aircraft are available to Dutch, Commonwealth, and British airgroups in and AI game but not in a PBEM game. I have given these airgroups access to the P39, P40, P38G, and B26 in a PBEM game. They already have access in Matrix to all USN/USMC aircraft, plus the P47s, which is retianed. 3) Aircraft production designed for human skills since we know in PBEM the players are human! <G> Really there needs to be a separate production system depending on whether a human is involved. Aircraft production under "computer control' is not AI. Its basically fixed amount production that overproduces everything because there's no feedback loop. Same issue in SSI and Matrix. 4) Without the functionlly infinite supply of aircraft that AI needs for cya purposes, player decisions about production are relevant. 5) Aircraft costed so better aircraft cost more. Players can make cost and benefit based decisions about what to produce. (AI needs some better aircraft costed less because its going to produce each aricraft in x number of factories for y number of turns, same thing every game. Humans will change the number of factories and time of production based on game needs, which computer produciton knows nothing about.) 6) Restored the SSI balance between production and control ponts, and kill points. There is now a slight uncertainty about the outcome, as there is is SSI. There is no uncertainty about the outcome in Matrix. Whether or not IJ could have gotten the Allies to quit can be argued for ever with no resolution. Gary Grigsby states in the original game manual he thinks IJ was destined to lose, but that he gave IJ a slim chance for something other than a loss in the game because it made for a better game. 7) The Matrix ship and aircraft modeling is excellent. The only changes to aircraft relates to obsolete aircraft being costed at 99 to prevent their production. I think this doesn't address the real issue. If the real world judged the aircraft as obsolete in 1941, then the answer to to model them as less effective than their replacments. A lot of cotemporary performance claims don't match the technogy used. There's disinformation out there. Even Jane's swallowed some of it! <G> Anyway, the real world said the P36 and F2A were obsolete, and that's how I've modeled them. Costed comparatively so people can build them if they really want to. I have PBEM V 1.01 available. PM me with your e mail address if you'd like it. I'm currently testing V 1.02. Scneario for playing against IJ AI a week or two away.
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