PBEM Issues with patch?

[murphstein]

Rick and I were comparing notes by email, and find that both of us have had problems during the replay of the other's turn.

In my case, the app went blank and skipped to the end of the replay; in his case, the app crashed entirely during the replay, after zooming all the way out (with loss of any useful detail).

Anybody else seeing issues on their early turns?

[JAMiAM]

Hi Dan,

Out of curiosity, did you happen to hit the scroll wheel while starting or watching the replay?

[General Staff]

Yes, I'm finding that a bit of a pain too. Used to be it moved you round the map as opposed to the current function of placing you in orbit around the planet. And takes a while too as your Soyuz launch vehicle powers up, then manually checks all systems before taking you up, up and away... Or in reverse, down, down and up against the sharp end of a grain of sand or the spike of a mountain unit.

Yes, yes I know. Progress takes time and appreciated effort. Thank you. Keep going- that way at the very least you're a moving target.

[murphstein]

jamiam...

Quite possible I tried to change the zoom level of the replay for turn 1, accidentally or on purpose, using a wheeled mouse. It's a Windoze UI habit deeply conditioned by lots of other apps to use the mouse to scroll. Overloading a "de facto" UI standard with different behavior is usually not an optimal design choice.

But I digress...

I went back to using the "nubbin" pointer device on my laptop and obviously got rid of scroll/zoom UI issue, had no problem viewing the replay of his second turn, but was also being very careful not to give the UI any unnecessary inputs.

On a different topic, GenStaff asked for save-files from the start and end of my 2nd turn; I did the usual save-as steps, and TOAW exited without any warning after successfully (I hope) saving the SAL file. Is this a normal TOAW PBEM behavior (I hadn't actually ended my turn yet in either case); it certainly doesn't happen when saving a game in progress vs Elmer.

[JAMiAM]

Quite possible I tried to change the zoom level of the replay for turn 1, accidentally or on purpose, using a wheeled mouse. It's a Windoze UI habit deeply conditioned by lots of other apps to use the mouse to scroll. Overloading a "de facto" UI standard with different behavior is usually not an optimal design choice.

For what it's worth, I have the same problem with scrolling by habit, and am not completely happy with the implementation. I was fine just using the panel button for zooming, but Ralph snuck this in, and I didn't want to break his heart by telling him to rip it out...:laugh:

It's actually of more utility in the Scenario Editor, since it allows easier zooming while map editing. In the game, I would prefer to have an option to turn it off though.

jamiam...
On a different topic, GenStaff asked for save-files from the start and end of my 2nd turn; I did the usual save-as steps, and TOAW exited without any warning after successfully (I hope) saving the SAL file. Is this a normal TOAW PBEM behavior (I hadn't actually ended my turn yet in either case); it certainly doesn't happen when saving a game in progress vs Elmer.
When playing a PBEM game, the application is supposed to close after saving a game, whether a mid-turn SAL file, or the end of turn PBL file. Earlier versions of TOAW had a cheat path when allowing the application to stay open after saving PBEM games. We just never went back and cleaned up the button choices to make them different for PBEM games.

[murphstein]

Attached is the PBL file I got for Turn 3. German password is: Dother1

Back in Turn 2, I noticed I was missing 1 sub-unit of a divided Falls AT Btln near Pesaro. I assumed it got shelled and evaporated without me noticing, but when I replayed Allied turn 3, there it is, over on the western map edge near San Marino. After the replay is over, however, the unit isn't on the map anywhere (again). And it's not in the OOB list anymore, either.

This might explain Rick's comment in:

http://www.matrixgames.com/forums/tm.asp?m=1574882

about his replay of my Turn 1 (when I split up the AT unit) giving him an error about "parent unit is invalid". I think we have a orphan AT unit loose in our game. He's still having issues seeing the replays, but maybe the issue isn't in the UI code after all.

I should point out Rick didn't (and doesn't) zip up his turns, so I assumed he doesn't have the capability and haven't been zipping mine either. This means file corruption in transit is a possibility.

If Ralph wants additional info (like the PBL file I sent Rick originally), let me know. I don't have the Allied password (obviously), but Rick would provide it to the TOAD team if asked.

SAL files for my Turn 2 and Turn 3 are already posted to my AAR thread in this sub-forum.

[murphstein]

Watching the replays of my opponent's turns, I can see his units moving behind his lines (yes, I have a spotter unit in San Marino) but also have them identified by name in the status line that shows up event by event across the bottom.

This seems to be awfully detailed intelligence for an army without a prayer of keeping its planes aloft behind enemy lines, operating in an occupied country; is this new behavior in this release, or has PBEM in TOAW always worked this way?

[JAMiAM]

Watching the replays of my opponent's turns, I can see his units moving behind his lines (yes, I have a spotter unit in San Marino) but also have them identified by name in the status line that shows up event by event across the bottom.

This seems to be awfully detailed intelligence for an army without a prayer of keeping its planes aloft behind enemy lines, operating in an occupied country; is this new behavior in this release, or has PBEM in TOAW always worked this way?
Yes, it's always been this way. It is a function of the recon level of the scenario, and being on a peak grants additional visibility.

[Telumar]

Watching the replays of my opponent's turns, I can see his units moving behind his lines (yes, I have a spotter unit in San Marino) but also have them identified by name in the status line that shows up event by event across the bottom.

This seems to be awfully detailed intelligence for an army without a prayer of keeping its planes aloft behind enemy lines, operating in an occupied country; is this new behavior in this release, or has PBEM in TOAW always worked this way?


Yes, it's always been this way. It is a function of the recon level of the scenario, and being on a peak grants additional visibility.


Comparable to Anzio where the germans had a very detailed knowledge of allied positions and OOB despite being hopelessly outnumbered in the skies. The plain where the allies landed was surrounded by hills and mountains which provided the germans formidable observation sites.

Also note that the 'peak recon' is dependent on weather conditions.