WinSPWW2 V12 ( 2019 ) Upgrade

[PantherCub]

Thanks for your efforts!

Now take a long break and a well earned rest!

[Lose Cannon]

Thank you both for all your hard work on these games and enjoy a well-earned rest now

[Kritkeen]

Thank you! My sincere gratitude to our precious developers, scenarios designers and everyone else who contributed over the years to keep this gem alive and updated.

[chris h]

Having installed the new patch and used the Z key it does work as it says however I think there's something else happening different to how it worked before the patch.

In the attachment the highlighted unit could recon fire using the Z key into the german hex after the patch it can't. Is this as intended or a bug. If it's as intended it will really make a huge difference to game play.

[DRG]

It is right on the edge or yea or nay when it comes to Z fire being right on the line so no I do not think it's a "bug" and I don't think it's going to make a huge difference in gameplay. The changes we made will ensure that some things that used to work one way will not now and we knew Z fire users would be unhappy but it is what we had to do to stop the arty countdown cheat.

I have used Z fire a number of times in a scenario I've been playing and have not had anything I consider unusual or surprising happen and a screenshot is not nearly as useful as a save game but it would likely be impossible to run it with the old EXE then the new to compare results but YES allowable Z-fire has been tightened up a bit

[zovs66]

Z-Fire still works, you have to do it manually each time and only in hexes that are in your LOS (line of sight). Personally I think the new changes work out well, I had in the past PBEM games where the other fellow would Z-Fire out of LOS hexes and hit my units, repeatedly, causing massive suppression without any return fire. This can still happen but only if the Z-Fired hex is in your LOS, but a good counter is to save shots to fire back at those pesky Z-Firers.

[DRG]

Z-fire LOS is not much different than regular LOS when it comes to clear flat terrain

This is LOS around as building with the 2018 EXE




This is LOS with the 2019 EXE



and YES as I said Z-fire has been tightened up. in the past you could Z-fire into areas you clearly should not have been able to Z fire into-----like 1 hex on the other side of a house that blocked LOS the game use to allow Z fire into..... now it does not and we consider that an advancement for the game not a step back or a bug.


Up to this release the game allowed Z-Fire from the unit with the red hex into the hex with the yellow X


Now you cannot fire over a house and hit the hex on the other side with Z-fire. That makes the game better not worse and if that changes gameplay for some players that's what it's going to do

[Mobhack]

Plus, if the shot scatters into really out of LOS places, since the target is cleared, you cannot then press "F" again to beat up that way hex deep in the woods.

You now need to fire Z-fire at something you would have had LOS to if the visibility was good enough, and any scatter is limited to the one scatter roll - which you cannot then use as the target hex.

[zovs66]

Some screen shots for the day...

This first one is interesting, as you can see I got three tanks stacked in that hex and if you look to the right you can see how easy it now is to select a particular unit with a click!



In the next few screen shots is a scenario I have in testing.

Start of turn 2 zoom level Z4 (note this was before I 'fixed' the German reaction so they would stay put...):


Same screen shot but at zoom level Z5:


Zoomed in a sector at level Z6 (I think), notice how it helps to zoom in to 'avoid' the mud:


Another zoomed in level:

[chris h]

Originally Posted by DRG

It is right on the edge or yea or nay when it comes to Z fire being right on the line so no I do not think it's a "bug" and I don't think it's going to make a huge difference in gameplay. The changes we made will ensure that some things that used to work one way will not now and we knew Z fire users would be unhappy but it is what we had to do to stop the arty countdown cheat.

I have used Z fire a number of times in a scenario I've been playing and have not had anything I consider unusual or surprising happen and a screenshot is not nearly as useful as a save game but it would likely be impossible to run it with the old EXE then the new to compare results but YES allowable Z-fire has been tightened up a bit

I agree some Z fire should not have been possible, any hex with a decent density value should prevent that and looking at the game it's approx 40% density that blocks fire. In this case one is 100% the other only 15% so some fire should be possible.

The ability to suppress hexes in this way before moving into LOS is now serverely restricted. With high density terrain some other method needs to be found i.e. more artillery. Calling up artillery to surpress a hex will result on a slower game due to response times requiring longer scenario times.

Also, just about every scenario I've every played would require more artillery units in order to compensate for the inability to hose down a partially hidden hex as before. All-in-all it will make a big difference to game play.

Note that I do agree that some z fire should not have been possible, but in the instance I've posted here it should be.