LOS problem in WO4 "I Don't Like Retreating"

Juzek

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Playing this scenario and the VASL LOS string doesn't line up with the hex centers. We've resorted to stringing LOS manually on the computer screen. Both of us are using VASL 6.4.2. The boards are 54 and 63. Any idea what is causing the problem?
 

jrv

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I just created the map (board 63, new row board 54, truncate both to K-GG) and tested LOS. Works ok here. In the "chatter" window you should see a line showing the board load. Mine says, "- Using board(s): 63(v6.1) 54(v6.1)" The first time through my boards updated. What does your chatter say?

JR
 

von Marwitz

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Sometimes I found that re-cropping the boards solves this issue. This is true, if the LOS is off half a hex.

Should that be the case, try the following:

Click the "Orange Soldier" button in the VASL Map window and select "Pick new boards for this scenario" from the dropdown.

Do not actually change the boards (or anything else) except for clicking on the "Crop boards" button. There you have the option to "Crop to the middle of hex row" or "Crop nearest full hex row".

Sometimes switching the modes does solve LOS issues. Note that you will have to specify the necessary hexrows or coordinates to crop. You might need to add a bit of terrain that is "out of play".

von Marwitz
 
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JR Brackin

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I am the player playing Juzek -and I did the cropping thing and it seems to have worked.

Thank you
 

DougRim

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Sometimes I found that re-cropping the boards solves this issue. This is true, if the LOS is off half a hex.

Should that be the case, try the following:

Click the "Orange Soldier" button in the VASL Map window and select "Pick new boards for this scenario" from the dropdown.

Do not actually change the boards (or anything else) except for clicking on the "Crop boards" button. There you have the option to "Crop to the middle of hex row" or "Crop nearest full hex row".

Sometimes switching the modes does solve LOS issues. Note that you will have to specify the necessary hexrows or coordinates to crop. You might need to add a bit of terrain that it "out of play".

von Marwitz
Does this particular LOS issue happen frequently to you? When both players are using VASSAL3.2.17 and VASL6.4.2? Does it happen for both players or only one?
 

von Marwitz

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Does this particular LOS issue happen frequently to you? When both players are using VASSAL3.2.17 and VASL6.4.2? Does it happen for both players or only one?
I have not systematically kept track of it, so I am afraid I cannot provide detailed information for your questions.

Altogether, I would not rate the issue as "frequent" but instead rather as "now and then". I have not systematically attempted to recreate it. Since VASSAL v3.2.17 is the current version of VASSAL for quite some time, my *guess* is, that it does likely happen with this version being present on both sides.

As for the VASL version, I have been using v6.4.2 only since the beginning of this year and v6.3.3 before it. As far as I remember, I had it come up in various versions of VASL.

I *think* to remember, that when the problem came up, both players were affected.


All the best,
von Marwitz
 

DougRim

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I have not systematically kept track of it, so I am afraid I cannot provide detailed information for your questions.

Altogether, I would not rate the issue as "frequent" but instead rather as "now and then". I have not systematically attempted to recreate it. Since VASSAL v3.2.17 is the current version of VASSAL for quite some time, my *guess* is, that it does likely happen with this version being present on both sides.

As for the VASL version, I have been using v6.4.2 only since the beginning of this year and v6.3.3 before it. As far as I remember, I had it come up in various versions of VASL.

I *think* to remember, that when the problem came up, both players were affected.


All the best,
von Marwitz
Thanks for this. VASL6.4.0, released in May, 2017, contained code enhancements to enable the LOS engine to work regardless of the map configuration. Previously, it did not work with certain crop/flip configs.

The error described in this thread suggests that the code is sometimes using the wrong configuration to calculate the hex centers, thus the LOS is off by a half hex. I will do some debugging on this.

Doug
 

JR Brackin

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Does this particular LOS issue happen frequently to you? When both players are using VASSAL3.2.17 and VASL6.4.2? Does it happen for both players or only one?
This was the first and so far the only time this has occurred.
 

JR Brackin

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Thanks for this. VASL6.4.0, released in May, 2017, contained code enhancements to enable the LOS engine to work regardless of the map configuration. Previously, it did not work with certain crop/flip configs.

The error described in this thread suggests that the code is sometimes using the wrong configuration to calculate the hex centers, thus the LOS is off by a half hex. I will do some debugging on this.

Doug
Thanks for looking into it.
 

Eagle4ty

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I only noticed this when I brought old files forward and converted them (e.g. 6.0 vasl to 4.1.1 vasl or 4.2), perhaps this is a part of the problem?
 

von Marwitz

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I only noticed this when I brought old files forward and converted them (e.g. 6.0 vasl to 4.1.1 vasl or 4.2), perhaps this is a part of the problem?
I am pretty sure that I have encountered the issue before moving to v6.4.x. So it *might* be related to to older versions, possibly older versions only (which *might* carry over as part of conversions to newer versions).

von Marwitz
 

DougRim

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Hi

It has taken me a while to investigate this. I have not been able to recreate your error starting a new game of WO4 using vasl 6.4.2. I crop the boards, either half-hex or full-hex, and LOS still works as it should.

I was able to create a los error when opening a cropped board of a saved game that was created in an earlier version of vasl. In this case, the whole los engine was kicked out. Re-cropping the boards as von Marwitz discussed solved the problem.

So, there may be a problem with the version converter. I will explore that.

In the meantime, should anyone encounter similar issues, please let me know and also re-crop and/or re-flip the boards to see if that fixes the problem (I think it should do).

Doug
 

JR Brackin

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Thank you - the issue was fixed in our game by the suggestion from Von Marwitz in post 3. We did not have any more issues and I am in two other games without this occurring. However, during set up I have tried a LOS checking down and open road or such to ensure that it is working.
 

nekengren2

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I have the same issue with W04.vsav from 6/2/2020, VASL 6.5.0, VASSAL 3.2.17.
I have noticed this quite often with various .vsav
 
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