Range Key Doesn't Work
 

Although this has probably been mentioned here a thousand times, I for one have never noticed it, and in my case is a bit irritating.

As long as winSPWW2 has had the range key (Y) my favorite key to hit in that list never works, so that I then have to mouse over to it, which I would rather not do. The key that isn't working for the longest is (H). It's working would quite helpful to set ranges to half. I am on V.4, and it hasn't worked on any of the versions as far as I can remember. Thanks.

Re: Range Key Doesn't Work
 

Suggest check your keyboard both H & Y have always worked, do you have them assigned as hot keys to other running programs which take precidence.

Re: Range Key Doesn't Work
 

You are correct. There is a problem there. The reason it HAS NOT been "mentioned here a thousand times" is becasue most people mouse over and cannot be bothered with short cut keys ( like me ..) and AFAIK this is the FIRST time anyones bothered to complain

Don

Re: Range Key Doesn't Work
 

Thank you DRG, it's good to know that it was the first time mentioned. Somehow or other, I run this game almost completely from the keyboard, even battlefield scrolling. Using scrolling off the mouse just doens't work too well to my satisfaction, and the zoom doesn't work at all from there, which are probably the two most common things I would use a mouse for. I am also unaware of any other commands offhand that I can use a mouse for, since the game was especially made, it seems to me, to have been keyboard-driven in the first place (can't fire guns with a mouse etc.).

Re: Range Key Doesn't Work
 

I was talking about the H key not working once the Y key (range) had been used. In that sub-menu it does not work, but all the others do.

Re: Range Key Doesn't Work
 

Simply mouse over the potential target - see the cursor change to cross hairs? - left click to fire. I've been doing that since SP1.

Cheers
Andy

Re: Range Key Doesn't Work
 

And the 'T' key gives about 30% range when the hotkey is pressed but 3/4 when the mouse is used. There is a conflict someplace in that range code

Don

Re: Range Key Doesn't Work
 

I'd also like an hotkey to choose 1/2 the range, since is the one I use the most. During the first turn I check all my unit ranges and set them to an appropriate value, with leaders set to a lower distance.

Re: Range Key Doesn't Work
 

Upon further review, you are right, but I am using both hands at the same time. It's quite simple to move or turn the facing of a unit with the mouse, while hitting fire with the left hand. Say, does this game still have units retain their previous targets from the prior half-turn? IOW, when the opponent has it's turn, and your unit in question fires, then when it's your turn again it will or will not have that same target? I'm under the impression that some SP's have kept that target, while I'm thinking current winSPWW2 does not. You like to try to repeat targets if possible, for at least those SP games where that worked (build accuracy).

I think another reason I ignore a good many of the mouse-driven menu is not only because I find it clumsy but because I've had damage to my wrist over so long that I'm looking for ways to ease the mouse pain, plus of course wanting to utilize both hands if possible. With more modern gameplay, I scarcely use keyboard commands at all. It often boils down to how easy it is to reach a frequent commnd. It seems easier to me to hit Y and then H, as opposed to mousing way up to the top right, then hitting the correct icon (the Y one) and then scrolling down to click the H selection. I also would rather hit F with my left hand and see if the last target fired at is the one I want, then I might hit F again to try a few more possibilities, and then perhaps unzoom a bit hitting the minus key. I just never would think of moving the mouse to a target I might desire (saving the mouse mostly for facing and movement) partially because I have no idea which target the unit last fired at.

The opposite of that is a more modern game I've played quite a lot of in the past months, Sins of a Solar Empire. I don't think there's a single keyboard command I use and that may be partly because unlike SP, the keyboard shortcut isn't labeled on the icons.

Re: Range Key Doesn't Work
 

Ah, I could have swore it was working. You must be right though. I was probably just checking if the hotkeys changed or not, say from full range, therefore didn't notice that it wasn't 75%. I don't know if I ever used the T command before I thought I was checking it, but at least the half key sees significant use. Unfortunately the half key doesn't change the range at all.

Re: Range Key Doesn't Work
 

Zero and one are also popular keyboard commands for me (off the Y command), as I often will reduce all my infantry to some minimal range like that to encourage armored ambush and to help from being seen from distance rifle fire. Then when the enemy infantry show up a good many of them will get the M command (off the Y comamnd).

Re: Range Key Doesn't Work
 

Okay misunderstood, never noticed those hotkeys to be honest

Re: Range Key Doesn't Work
 

The targeted unit is kept unless it moves out of sight, you move too much and your stabilizer can't keep up, or your unit op fires onto other unit as far as i can tell

Re: Range Key Doesn't Work
 

Thanks for that, but I wonder sometimes. For instance, assume that, as in my current game, you have 3 Polish AC's in sight of one PZIVB. They all are moving, yet the target the tank has gave a 19% result when going through the target selection, yet, another of those targets, actually further away and with the same size and movement status (all moving, but with different speeds) pulled up 21%.

Here's a strange one, and I've never noticed this before. I have a clump of cavalry a good 500 yds in front of some polish tanks, which my PZIIIB/D can see all of them. Leave all the guns active and it targets the closest cavalry. Turn off the main gun to engage it with MG's only, and re-target it, and now it selects a tank first. Needless to say, if that targeter were always just targeting the last fired at unit, if indeed it had any (and from what I can tell it actually did not fire on the AI turn), then it shouldn't come up with different targets just because I turned the main gun off. The silly thing about it, is that the MG weapon can't range out to the 1650yds that the tank is at, and it being an HE weapon should make it even more prone to target the cavalry which is within it's range. I don't consider that targeting a unit it now cannot fire at is anything to worry about, because it will show it cannto fire that far if you actually try to fire, but what is a bit troubling is that it comes up with different results as though just changing a gun makes it think it fired differently than it did. I understand that "if" the unit had fired on my turn, but not on the AI turn, it 'might' retain the last time I fired with it (though this tank did not fire on that cavalry on my turn and I don't think it did on the AI turn either) and also that it might just be the last unit it 'targeted' not the last unit it 'fired upon'. Beats me.

Re: Range Key Doesn't Work
 

The furthest of the targets was probrably the one you/tank crew shot/opfired, or at least targeted the last turn, so the hit chance is increased for the next shot, that's called target solution, the crew is trying to find out how to take a shot that hits.

Re: Range Key Doesn't Work
 

That may be an accurate accessment, and it's one I'm trying to believe, but it does contradict what you said earlier. If I have a unit and hit F, then the target it comes up with first, is the one it shot at last, is what you seemed to have told me. I know there are some SP's that worked that way, but this one and some of the earlier versions don't appear to do that. How many times, for instance, have I hit F and it actually gives me the furtherest target, one completely outside of the range I gave it, and often even completely outside the range of any of the unit's guns?

Re: Range Key Doesn't Work
 

F is the hotkey for FIRE, the hotkey to set target is T, so, when you press f you are firing at the designated target, if there is one, if not, unit won't fire.

Re: Range Key Doesn't Work
 

That sounds right. My knowledge of what I'm hitting on the keyboard largely stems from a spot on that keyboard, or a certain sequence to hit, and so what happens to be painted on those keys is absent sometimes. I must think I'm hitting F when I'm hitting T.

Re: Range Key Doesn't Work
 

they're close to each other so, yeah, you might be hitting the wrong key, happens a lot for people who can't type without looking at the keyboard ;)

Re: Range Key Doesn't Work
 

I have found a rather interesting game improvement guys. Now I don't think the game works this way for infantry, or if it does I certainly haven't fired with them much, but I do have two PZ38t's which are doing this. What happened was I fired their entire load on a target and then dropped their range to zero so they won't fire during the AI turn, and therefore I won't waste accuracy on them re-targeting then.

Anyway, I came back to those tanks and fired their entire load again, however, their range stayed at ZERO instead of ranging out as far as they fired. Now is that a much needed keeping of the prior range or what? I blinked my eyes for a minute as i couldn't believe wwhat I just saw, and sure enough, the next tank did the same thing, keeping it's prior zero range. Of course if you want range to always go out to the distance being fired at, this can be a hassle. I guess time well tell if this is a good feature.

Another unrelated thing I noticed, it seems my IG's instead of having a range limit on the map, simply won't fire when it comes time to do so. I reset all guns (150mm and 75mm German) to bombard the same spot again, after I could has swore they didn't bombard and should had; same result. Time passes and they don't bombard. I think the 150mm may technically reach those targets rangewise while I'm pretty certain the 75's would not. The prior version, if you tried to target beyond their range on a hex, would take away the bombard command. To further test out those guns a bit, I switched roles with my off-board artillery and used the IG's much closer up, and they performed perfectly normally.

If this indeed is happening, it may not be a bad thing, as units would't know probably for sure how far their rounds would go, but those rounds should be expended and fall short. If those rounds were falling short they were at least 20 hexes short, and I saw no artillery of my own hitting in some weird area I wouldn't had targeted. I hadn't thought of checking their load to see if any had been used, but these bombard commands went for two straight turns, sufficient to build up a good smoke concentration over my guns, and they did no such thing until I switched them to the shorter ranged targets.

BTW, when I said they didn't bombard for two straight turns, I mean they went through their entire delay two straight times and didn't bombard (their delays were 2.2 when spotting through a VB). That would total 4-5 turns of their not bombarding until I shortened their range and they then bombarded on time (after another 2.2 delay).