VASL 6.7.0-beta1 release

[ibncalb]

Thank you.

You're right the new feature is not awesome (yet) but it does a good job of sorting out dummies form non dummies.

The point I was making is that the new transparent ? counter appears, to the owning player, identical to a ? counter that has been HIPed. So we have a visual indicator that is confusing for the owner and the opponent.

In between caves and a scenario with a lot of HIP infantry this is not ideal - although it is a rare occurrence to have so much HIP.

 

[Robin Reeve]

Why would you need to HIP a concealment counter ?

 

[ibncalb]

Why would you need to HIP a concealment counter ?

If I unHIP a stack I will often conceal it first. Now I cannot tell if the ? Counter is HIP or not.

With complexes it's normal to HIP the japanese stack as they move into the complex. When I put them back into a cave they arrive concealed. Same problem.

 

[asloser]

Is this the VASL version where I can win a game in 2024? Time is running out.

With VASL you can always blame the dicebot.

 

[Michael R]

When I have HIP units, there is no concealment counter on top. When I want to bring them on concealed, I right click the top counter to add a concealment counter, which shows up not HIP, then I individually un HIP the counters below, which are concealed because of the top counter.

 

[ibncalb]

When I have HIP units

I known you're a cave player, try it next time you're moving concealed stacks from a complex and back into caves, you'll see what I mean.

 

[zgrose]

The goal is to easily spot Dummy stacks w/o expanding stacks, not create new workflows for real stacks.
It's that darn extra counter from meat-space messing everything up.

 

[apbills]

The goal is to easily spot Dummy stacks w/o expanding stacks, not create new workflows for real stacks.
It's that darn extra counter from meat-space messing everything up.

Just a thought - I think the solution would be a modification to a dummy counter. Given new code has been written that allows for a modification to the view of the owner without changing the view of the opponent, similar to what HIP does in terms of distinguishing between owner/opponent views, it would seem logical that the same type of function could be applied to add a layer to a dummy counter that could only be viewed by the owner. This would allow dummy counters to have that identifier without changing the view of the opponent. (e.g., add "Dummy" to the counter, perhaps in red).

I think the heavy lifting for the new code is done, with some tweaking maybe, and it just needs to be applied differently.

 

[zgrose]

Could be.... what's the definition of a dummy counter, though? And is that updated in real-time or a one-time decision?

I've never found this problem to be a big one for myself, but I know I'm going to try adding a HIP Label counter that says "Dummy" over my dummy stacks moving forward and see if that helps any. (edit) e.g.

 

[apbills]

I have never seen a problem before as well. In this case, if you wanted to add the function, it would be to add the trait to the normal "?" counter with a simple toggle on/off command that makes it a dummy. That would just entail adding whatever layer information you wanted on that counter, with it only visible to the owner.

In addition, if you go the route of using a HIP blank counter you might try one of the "Notes" counters in my DYO Campaign extension. These do not go as transparent, have multiple colored fonts, and are bold. they will stand out more. The left is the standard blank counter, the right uses the red note from the extension.

 

[Robin Reeve]

Hi,
I just launched the module, and I get the following message when I want to select a board (I click on OK and I can select the board normally):

I translate (I use the French language interface):
File not found
VASSAL doesn't fin the file D:\Dropbox\VASL\boards v6\bdSélectionner

D:\Dropbox\VASL\boards v6 is my boards folder.
I created a bdSélectionner subfolder, but the error message still appears...

In the Chart window I have the message : "Board missing. Auto-synching of boards requires board directory in board picker matches the board directory set in preferences. Close this game and start new game".

So I would think that I already had those boards in my folder, and that they were used even though I could not uploade them...

 

[zgrose]

Auto-synching of boards requires board directory in board picker matches the board directory set in preferences.

Did you check if those two locations match?

Place one and two imaged below:

 

[geezer]

Hi,
I just launched the module, and I get the following message when I want to select a board (I click on OK and I can select the board normally):
View attachment 30609
I translate (I use the French language interface):
File not found
VASSAL doesn't fin the file D:\Dropbox\VASL\boards v6\bdSélectionner

D:\Dropbox\VASL\boards v6 is my boards folder.
I created a bdSélectionner subfolder, but the error message still appears...

In the Chart window I have the message : "Board missing. Auto-synching of boards requires board directory in board picker matches the board directory set in preferences. Close this game and start new game".

So I would think that I already had those boards in my folder, and that they were used even though I could not uploade them...

This is actually a bug that was introduced by the new board selection feature and will happen to anyone running vassal in a language other than english. I’ve fixed it for the next release.

 

[Robin Reeve]

Thanks !

 

[DougRim]

The new transparent concealment counter on non dummy stacks works well. BUT the transparent concealment counter has the same appearance as a HIP concealment counter. That is, as the owner I cannot tell the difference between and concealed squad and SW under a ? counter or under a HIP ? counter.

View attachment 30598

On the left is a stack with a HIP ? counter, on the right is the same stack with a non HIP ? counter.

This cropped up in a cave game today where I was moving concealed stacks from caves into complexes. I would simply HIP the stack when I moved it into the complex but then it was impossible for me to know which was HIP and which was just "new feature transparent".

This was a problem because when I bought my units back into caves my opponent was sometimes seeing one too few concealment counters.

TLDR - the new transparent concealment counters should be different to a HIP concealment counter.

I don’t think you are HIPing properly. Or at least you are not doing it the same I do it - which may not be the same thing. LOL!

HIPing the top counter of a stack does not HIP the counters below it. Unlike concealment, you must select ALL the counters that you want to hip and then apply HIP. That is what I have always done, do now, and will do forevermore.

so your counters on the left, only the top one is hipped I think.

Does this work differently for others?

 

[EJ1]

Hi, all.

I use the red circle feature to spot broken things, and now I’m seeing that the circle disappears when the broken equipment is concealed. This doesn’t happen to personnel. A bug?

Cheers,

 

[geezer]

Hi, all.

I use the red circle feature to spot broken things, and now I’m seeing that the circle disappears when the broken equipment is concealed. This doesn’t happen to personnel. A bug?

Cheers,

Not a bug in the sense that it is behaving as intended, but perhaps the intention is wrong?

I imagine at some point, someone complained about the old feature giving away information to your opponent about concealed counters. It really is true what they say about pleasing everyone ...

 

[DougRim]

I imagine at some point, someone complained about the old feature giving away information to your opponent about concealed counters. It really is true what they say about pleasing everyone ...

Yes, somebody asked for this exact change for the reasons @geezer describes.

We will see what kind of reaction we get from beta testing. Keep those cards and letters coming!

 

[PresterJohn]

I was just thinking about if there was a way to only see your unpossessed/malfed/broken items marked by that button? Captured equipment wouldn't be included.
I suspect this is complex and might require nex-gen VASL to allow counter ownership.

 

[ibncalb]

Having broken weapons not show up under a red circle is an inconvenience.

I understand why someone might want it that way but, is the fog of war not wasted when I point to a concealed stack and say 'this stack attempts repair'.

How many games will be lost because someone knows where your broken MG is?