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All Forums >> [New Releases from Matrix Games] >> War in the Pacific: Admiral's Edition >> Tech Support >> bizarre sighting reports

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bizarre sighting reports - 3/29/2011 10:05:08 PM

berto

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--------

OPERATIONAL REPORT FOR Jan 21, 42

[...]

Lysander II sighting report: 8 Japanese ships at 57,50 near Toungoo, speed 17, Moving Southeast

--------

Toungoo, Burma is ~150 miles inland from the Bay of Bengal (Andaman Sea). No river at Toungoo either.

edit>There are no Japanese forces -- naval, air or land -- anywhere near (within 100+ miles of) Toungoo.

The above is at least the third questionable operational report that I've encountered in the past several game turns reporting ships impossibly far inland.

(If it matters, I am playing Andy Mac's Burma scenario. Also, my install has been modified to accommodate JWE's DEI scenario, in particular with a replacement pwhexe DAT file.)

There's Fog of War, and misinformation, then there's ... WTF?!

< Message edited by berto -- 3/29/2011 10:48:36 PM >

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Post #: 1

RE: bizarre sighting reports - 3/30/2011 3:12:43 AM

topeverest

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Now THATS fog of war...

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Post #: 2

RE: bizarre sighting reports - 4/5/2011 9:28:46 PM

Alpha77

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Another funny issue

(in reply to topeverest)

Post #: 3

RE: bizarre sighting reports - 4/27/2011 7:50:53 PM

berto

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From: metro Chicago, Illinois, USA
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Sorry, I have to bring this up again.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

OPERATIONAL REPORT FOR May 18, 42

[...]

Ki-21-IIa Sally sighting report: 7 Allied ships at 58,57 near Pisanuloke, speed 18, Moving West

--------

Pisanuloke, Thailand is 150+ miles inland from the Andaman Sea, and far from any navigable river.

There are no Allied forces of any kind--naval, air or land--anywhere near (within 250+ miles of) Pisanuloke.

I have seen many such bogus ship sighting reports. They are not at all uncommon. (I'm currently playing the 1108k9 beta, but I've seen this in the latest official release, too.)

I accept that the intelligence and operational reports are meant to be imprecise at best, misleading at worst. But is this WAD? What recon pilot would report such patent nonsense? What group of pilots? Time after time?

It doesn't help the immersiveness, not at all.

Might this be fixed?

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Post #: 4

RE: bizarre sighting reports - 4/27/2011 8:07:33 PM

witpqs

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An errant sighting report was sent in, and it had the Lat/Lon garbled...

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Post #: 5

RE: bizarre sighting reports - 4/27/2011 8:16:35 PM

berto

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What were they thinking? What were they drinking?

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Post #: 6

RE: bizarre sighting reports - 4/27/2011 8:23:22 PM

witpqs

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Just a slip of the key and the Morse Code is all katty wampus.

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Post #: 7

RE: bizarre sighting reports - 4/27/2011 8:42:14 PM

berto

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Granted.

But beginning with raw field data, as intelligence reports are assembled and analyzed and passed up the chain of command, wouldn't most of the errant nonsense be edited out?

I accept that this sort of rubbish would be reported some of the time. (It's all part of the fun.) But quite so often? I'm just suggesting that it be toned down, be reduced in frequency, that's all.

< Message edited by berto -- 4/27/2011 8:43:59 PM >

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Post #: 8

RE: bizarre sighting reports - 4/27/2011 9:55:02 PM

USS America

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More experienced and better skilled Naval Search pilots will improve the quality of the reported sightings.

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Post #: 9

RE: bizarre sighting reports - 4/27/2011 10:52:32 PM

berto

Posts: 1315
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quote:

ORIGINAL: USS America

More experienced and better skilled Naval Search pilots will improve the quality of the reported sightings.

Pilots reporting ship movements 100+ miles inland and other such impossibilities are not low-skilled; they're moronic. (And any low-level intelligence officers passing reports like that up the chain of command are not low-skilled; they're practical jokers. Fool me once--the joke's on me. Fool me twice, thrice, many many times--the joke's on you, and you're headed for a court martial, if not the psychiatric ward.)

I have no problem with pilots and/or intelligence officers occasionally: reporting the Kido Butai 1,000 miles from its actual location; or seeing a destroyer and reporting an aircraft carrier; or even imagining a couple of sea gulls to be an entire bomber squadron.

I do have a problem with pilots and/or intelligence officers repeatedly: reporting ships over land; seeing a tank and reporting a plane; or imagining a handful of peasants to be a 500-ship invasion armada. (The latter two being hypotheticals; I haven't seen such absurdities in-game -- yet.)

A few such nonsensical reports--it's a feature. Many, many such reports--it's a bug.

IMHO of course. Standard Disclaimer: Your Mileage May Vary.

< Message edited by berto -- 4/28/2011 1:24:33 AM >

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Post #: 10

RE: bizarre sighting reports - 4/28/2011 12:37:59 AM

USS America

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Sorry, I didn't read your first post closely enough. I regularly have low skill and exp pilots report enemy ships in areas where there could only be my own ships, or even nothing at all. I have never seen ships reported to be in a land hex before. This honestly sounds like a cross up in your different map/pwhex/scenario files.

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Post #: 11

RE: bizarre sighting reports - 4/28/2011 12:54:10 AM

berto

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quote:

ORIGINAL: USS America

This honestly sounds like a cross up in your different map/pwhex/scenario files. �

You could be right. As I wrote earlier:

quote:

If it matters, I am playing Andy Mac's Burma scenario. Also, my install has been modified to accommodate JWE's DEI scenario, in particular with a replacement pwhexe DAT file.

Which is why I haven't harped on this before. (I am now.

)

If other players aren't seeing this, if it's just me, I'll accept that it's due to my DEI-modified install, not to any intrinsic, general game flaw.

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RE: bizarre sighting reports - 4/28/2011 2:44:05 AM

witpqs

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This one is real easy to just ignore. All the patches (even the initial development actually) are volunteer. There are much better things to ask the team - and at this point "the team" means 1 (one) volunteer programmer - to tackle. You might just chalk it up to simulating a radio operator that's drunk on duty.

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Post #: 13

RE: bizarre sighting reports - 4/28/2011 3:16:04 AM

Don Bowen

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The fog-of-war sightings are (sometimes) intentionally not accurate. Ccould be close or outrageously wrong. Just like real life. If the reported position is inland, you should:

1. Don't believe that the enemy is there.
2. Wonder where he is.

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Post #: 14

RE: bizarre sighting reports - 4/28/2011 3:54:31 AM

berto

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In my most recent game, in five months of action, there were a total of 161 "Allied ships at" sightings in the operational reports. Of those 161, at least 50 (25 Rahaeng, 19 Pisanuloke, 6 Chiang Mai) were at places well over 100 miles inland. (No, I didn't count these by hand. Using a little Cygwin Unix command-line magic, I was able to determine these statistics in just a couple of minutes.) That's over 30% outrageously inaccurate--no, plainly impossible--sighting reports.

My point was never that they were; it's that they were far too many.

It could be due to a bad pwhexe DAT file. Or it could be some quirk in the scenario setup.

There are any number of implausibilities in the game. These are just a few more. (Well, maybe not so few.)

Anyway, point well taken: In the larger scheme of things, not a big deal. I should just ignore it. Michael no doubt has plenty of other more important things to fix.

'Nuf said.

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Post #: 15

RE: bizarre sighting reports - 4/28/2011 5:41:14 AM

rockmedic109

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The pilot was taking an unauthorized detour so his flight path would cross a nude beach he knew about. While looking for non-existant tan-lines, he came across an enemy ship and had to report it.....but he reported his position as where he was supposed to be rather than where he was.

Odd, yes. Game killer, no. Certainly not the only oddity in the game {would a destroyed communist chinese unit reforming under Chiang Kai Sheks nose in Chungking count?}. And in a game this huge, we have far less than should be expected. Have fun with it. Read one of Cap Mandrake's AARs for ways of turning something odd into something humerous.

(in reply to berto)

Post #: 16