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BOBII BDG_2.09 Update Released 28th January 2009
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Battle of Britain IIBDG_2.09Release now available.
This update has been brought to you by the freeware BDG (BoB Developers Group) team. We hope you enjoy the continued enhancements for what has been a real labour of love over a number of years now.
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*This update comes in two parts
*HERE->(190M)<-HERE(English Language Version) OR
*HERE->(203M)<-HERE(International Languages Version, includes English too)
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*AND for users with a 256M (or better) video card we also have MULTISKIN:
*HERE->(106M)<-HERE(works with English or International Versions)
*(Note: Multiskin goeson top ofthe base 2.09 English or International patch)
*(NOTE: Multiskin is unchanged from Version 2.08 so please just use the 2.08 Multiskin)It will warn that you are not installing over 2.08 (which you aren't). Just ignore this.
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Note1: this update will bring *any* previous version up to 2.09. You do not need any previous patches at all.
Note2: You will need the latest DirectX to run 2.09.
You will get a missing .dll error if you do not. When you run the 2.09 self-installer it will point you to the Microsoft DirectX update page. Update to DirectX9.0c (June version). Unfortunately, there are multiple versions of 9.0c so if in any doubt, update.
Note3: The MultiSkinpatch should goON TOP OFBattle of Britain 2: Wings of Victoryv2.09 Patch (English)OR Battle of Britain 2: Wings of Victoryv2.09 Patch (International)
You should have a 256M gfx card to be sure to run without issues.
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What's included?
Quite a lot
1)More Aggressive AAA
2)3.5" Flak that can Kill
3)Bullet Dispersion re-design
4)Single Character Labels
5)Rework of air-to-air and ground collisions
6)Improved counts for Kills, friendly A/C losses, and friendly pilot losses
7)Implemented exact same control surface reduction code for the AI A/C as the player(subjectively, this is a *big* one!)
8 )New Ground Objects (over 250 in total now!)Airfield buildings, houses, ships, rural features (look out for the Oast houses).
9)Further Landscape improvements (updated textures for this release, reworked areas eg Boscombe Down)
10)New Auto Gen for Trees and other objects (Work in Progress)
11)New Flight Model (FM) and Spin characteristics
12)Over 40 CTD and other fixes and features implemented.
13)New Blenheim and Ju52 models, static Tiger Moth
Known Issues:
1- When selecting the Blenheim in the 'End of Defiant' Historical Instant Action Mission (you can add it in place of the Defiant), you *must* select an RAF or Luftwaffe fighter after making the change to enable the Blenheim. If you do not, you will get a crash.
2- Sorry, the Tiger Moth didn't make it as a flyable aircraft, it's static only. Maybe 2.10...
2.09 code (exe) Changes(Buddye)
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1.Fixed a CTD in AirCombat caused by a SAG flight.
2.Fixed a CTD in Overlay.cpp caused by using ai.unfriendly pointer with a AUTO_BOMB movecode (the ai.unfriendly movecode is not valid).
3.Fixed the Bomber Stragglers so that they break out of formation and drop back away from the other bombers. I needed to decrease Straggler’s speed by about 5% so they drop back slowly. They will then head home (at the correct WP) or continue to the target to try and drop their bombs (based on random numbers as always). Thanks to Chumleigh for this one.
4.I added the skill level for our Bomber gunners and the rear gunners on the 110, JU87, and the RAF Defiant (higher skills shoot more accurately). I also reduced the accuracy of the Bomber gunners and the rear gunners on the 110, JU87, and the RAF Defiant. I implemented the change so that I can “tune” the rear gunner’s accuracy in the 110, Defiant, and JU87 as well as the Bomber gunners accuracy (both player and AI). Thanks to Alex for pointing this one out to me.
5.Implemented new bullet dispersion for BOBII
Here is some information I used for the design and implementation of the Dispersion code so you can review the text and get an idea what we are trying to accomplish. .
SIMHQ data - Dispersion. A target shooter will fire his rifle a number of times to establish a ‘group.’ The smaller the group, the more accurate the shooter is.
A modern aircraft gun has a similar characteristic. Technicians will fire the gun at a target and then count the projectile impacts and measure their pattern from the center aim point. Typically, this calculation will be expressed as a percentage of rounds fired within a certain area, usually a circle with the aim point at its center, and is called the gun dispersion.
A typical modern gun dispersion results in about 80% of the rounds being grouped in a five foot (1.52 meter) diameter circle at a range of 1000 feet (304 meters).
Osram data - Bullet dispersion is 1 meter per 100 meter travel in both RL (back then) and BoBII.
I am using Osram’s data for the BOBII implementation as it is not for only modern guns. The dispersion for a BOBII gun was a circle at 300 meters with a radius of 1.5 meters (150 cm).
I also added the following 11 Bdg.txt Dispersion parameters. The Dispersion was the “core” of these changes (except for the skill levels) and it was completely re-code with bugs fixed. The old Dispersion was done a very inexperienced coder named Buddye back in 2003 for BOBI. BobII had totally outgrown that approach and implementation. The following Bdg.txt parameters were added so that customer can change the bullet dispersion to his personal taste. I do recommend you carefully try/use the defaults as 100’s of hours of test and analysis time was required for the determination of the defaults by the BDG. As always, I need to recognize and give my thanks to Bader for his leadership, testing and support.
Dispersion_Bomber_Gunner_Player = 450
Dispersion_Bommer_Gunner_AI = 200
Dispersion_Flyable_Planes_Player = 100
Dispersion_Front_Cannons_AI = 100
Dispersion_Def_JU87_Front_Guns_AI = 100
Dispersion_Heavy_Fighters_Front_Guns_AI = 100
Dispersion_Def_Rear_Gunner_AI = 150
Dispersion_JU87_Rear_Gunner_AI = 200
Dispersion_ME110_Rear_Gunner_AI = 200
Dispersion_Veteran_Regular_Skill_Increment = 10
Dispersion_Poor_Novice_Skill_Increment = 10
6.A very long shot but I added defensive code to protect against a “NULL” pointer in AutoShoot that caused a CTD. Thanks to reflected for reporting this one. It will do no harm but may not fix anything.
7.Fix a bug where when a Bomber dropped his bombs the fighter targeting him is set to ai.unfriendly = NULL which puts the fighter in a disengage movecode. I have been looking for this bug for a year. I called it the ai.unfriendly bug (bugs get names when they go unsolved for a long time).
8.Fixed a bug to prevent jet action after death if the previous maneuver was the MANOEUVRE_SPINOUT (after death only fix).
9.While I was fixing a bug (thanks to Uriah) where short labels did not work, I added the following feature for labels called “Single_Chararacter_Labels”.
To get Aircraft Names (Labels) to be displayed, you must set in the BOBII GUI in Options->Sim->Game Aircraft Names = ON. You then use the “T” key to toggle labels ON/OFF.
In addition to the GUI setting above, for 2.09, you *must* also select only *one* of the following Labels options in the Bdg.txt as “ON”:
Single_Chararacter_Labels # the default is a single character [w] for wingmen (friendly) and an [e] for enemy (target)
SHORTENED_LABELS # short Label example – ME109
Show_MoveCodes # For testing AI maneuvers
The default for all 3 of the above Bdg.txt parameters is “OFF”. If all are “OFF” then you will get the long label (example – BF109E4).
You also have the option of choosing a single character if you are selecting the Single_Chararacter_Labels = ON by using:
Single_Character_Label_Enemy= # Input a single character of your choice for your label
Single_Character_Label_Friendly= # Input a single character of your choice for your label
So if you are interested in trying thenew single character feature, open the bdg.txt file and edit the following settings. (Note- onlyonecan be set = ON at a time, or you'll get nothing at all.)
Single_Chararacter_Labels = ON
SHORTENED_LABELS = OFF
Show_MoveCodess = OFF
and then find and set the following two Bdg.txt parameters like this:
Single_Character_Label_Enemy= +
Single_Character_Label_Friendly= O
You can choose your personal single characters, of course. Dots work too.. whatever you prefer.
10.I added a Plus or Minus random “Error” by skill level (higher skill level has a smaller error) for the Bomber Gunners and the A/C Rear Gunners.
11.Fixed a CTD in USERMSG.cpp thanks to Ric. This was a very old problem dealing with the SAG. It seems that no one runs BOBII like Ric.
12.I have given the AAA code a makeover. I focused fixing the bugs that prevented the AAA from performing and I also looked at improving the AAA it accuracy. The AAA to me consists of (1) bullets and (2) flak (shells that explode or burst). The AAA bullet types work about the same as A/C bullets. The flak works a bit different.
The code looks for a flak burst overlapping an A/C to determine a hit. If you have a hit then damaged is forced on the A/C. You must force damage because the BOBII damage engine does not take care of flak damage like it does for bullet damage.
Here are the AAA and Flak Bdg.txt parameters options that you may want to consider for change or leave as default:.
a.Do_You_Want_Flak_Over_France=OFF# ON = Player Gets Flak Over France or OFF = Player Gets No Flak Over France
The default is OFF as that is the current implementation.
b.Increase_Flak_and_AAA_Rate_Of_Fire=OFF# ON = increase the Ground Flak and AAA rate of Fire or OFF = Stay with the same Flak and AAA rate of fire as in the BOBII Gun specs
The default is OFF which is the current way the game is set up and operates, but if you have the Processing power and enjoys some AAA and Flak tension give it a try.
c.Flak_Size_In_Meters = 11.0#The flak size is used to force major damage to an A/C when the flak overlaps the A/C. Used to Simulate a A/C significant flak hit.
The default is 11.0 meters (flak is about 10 meters and a Spitfire wing is about 12 meters, so 5 meters radius for flak and 6 meters for the Spitfire = 11 meters). If you fly mostly against bombers you may want to increase the Flak Size Parameter.
You will know when it is a flak hit as the left or right wing will rip off very suddenly, or both tail fins will rip off, and the pilot will bail out..
This parameter is for Stickman who says that the odds of getting hit by flak in 1940 were about the same as drawing a Royal Flush in poker.
For those interested in getting flak hits at a very low but they will happen sometimes (or to test the feature), my testing has shown a Flak_Size_In_Meters=25 will get infrequent but possible flak hits.
d.Do_You_Want_Flak_And_AAA_Fire=ON# ON = Player 'Gets' Flak and AAA fire or OFF = Player Gets 'No' Flak and AAA fire. For saving processor resources.
The default is ON as that is the way it is now but Beta Testers have noticed increased processing (as the bugs fixed permits additional fire) when the Flak and AAA is in full fire mode. Also may help customers with weaker PC’s to save some processing.
e.Do_You_Want_Flak_And_AAA_Fire_if_Friendly_within_1000_Meters= ON# ON = Flak and AAA when friendly is within 1000 meters or OFF = No Flak and AAA fire when friendly is within 1000 meters
The default is ON as that the way it is now (all AAA and flak fire at enemy target). Many players will want AAA and flak off to prevent friendly A/C form being hit. In addition, large dog fights take significant processing power so limiting the flak and AAA will be a help for some. On the other hand it is fun to dog fight around flak and AAA as it just adds to the stress level if you have the processor grunt.
13.After an Air-to-Air collision both the Target A/C and the Hitter A/C pilots bail out or crash as the damage is too serious to continue. In the old code method only the player’s A/C took damage from an air-to-air collision which seems very wrong.
14.After working on the AAA and Flak code, I discovered that Rowan had made some interesting decisions with respect to the hand held guns..
The Rowan guys limited the fire from the hand held guns (110, JU87, def, and bomber gunners) by setting all of them to reload at 500 (that is 5 sec or 500 csec). This sets these guns to fire (four bullets) only every five sec if they can target an enemy.
Rowan did this I think because they did not have good control over the accuracy of the gunners as we just discovered. Now that we have the Dispersion parameters and some experience I think we can turn these guns loose, if we want. The bomber gunners had 900 bullets. I am not sure how many bullets the 110, Def, and Ju87 gunners had but the software checks for out of stores.
The game play would be enhanced (more exciting against the gunners) if we could turn these gunners loose and let them shoot when they can target (I do not think they can target all that often). You may have to re-tune the dispersion parameters (or not) depending on the your results and personal taste.
I implemented the following Bdg.txt parameter so the customer can have a option:
Do_You_Want_Increase_Firing_Rate_Of_Hand_Held_Gunners=OFF# ON = Increased Firing rate to Historic for hand held guns OFF = Leave the firing rate as implemented currently
As is my policy (mostly) the default is OFF as that is the way the current code works.
15.During Beta Testing, a few of the Beta Testers commented that the 40 MM Bofors AA guns were too strong and accurate. I implemented a new Bdg.txt parameter for changing the reload time for the 40 MM Bofors. This parameter can be used to either in crease or decrease the firing rate of the guns. I also introduced a random error for the Bofors to tame them down a bit.
LT_BRIT_BOFORS_Reloadtime = 100 #the reload time in cseconds (cs / 100 = seconds) for the LT_BRIT_BOFORS 40 MM AA Gun. Just increase this parameter to reduce the BOFOR rate of fire.
The default is 100 CS or ONE Second (a CS is 1/100 of a second or seconds = CS/100). If you want to reduce the Bofor’s rate of fire (example) just set the parameter to the following:
LT_BRIT_BOFORS_Reloadtime = 1000 (10 seconds) so you will get about 1/10 the rate of fire from the Bofors then with 100.t
16.When you get a “red” tint over the screen then BOBII is trying to tell you that your canopy has been damaged badly and you are dead. I added the code to ensure that you crash when this occurs. Thanks to Borton for this catch.
17.When one elevator and one horizontal stabilizer is damaged and missing (= BS_DEAD in the program). The player will be crashed as his plane is really not flyable anymore. Thanks to Marine for this catch and post.
18.Fix a small bug when Max_Number_AI_Targeting_AI = 1 as the old code would permit 2 subject AI to attack the target AI.. Thanks to Borton for this catch.
19.Another attempt to improve the Bomber/Fighter fire problem (where it burns forever rather than crashing). I also ask Scott to review his code in the damage engine which is separate from the C++ BOBII engine. Maybe I made it better this time or I fixed it.
20.Spent 3 weeks improving the Combat Reports and Diary Report counts for Kills, friendly A/C losses, and friendly pilot losses. I think we were able to take a big step forward but we still have a few report problems in the campaign to be fixed.
This change will result in a change to your game play.
WARNING: TO ENSURE THAT YOUR COUNTS ARE CORRECT FOR ENEMY KILLS AND FRIENDLY LOSSES, YOU MUST WAIT UNTIL THE A/C HITS THE GROUND BEFORE ALT-X IS HIT. THIS IS ALSO TRUE FOR EXPLOSIONS FROM COLLISIONS AND BULLET HIT AS AN INVISIABLE A/C WILL STILL HIT THE GROUND. IT CAN TAKE A MINUTE OR MORE TO REACH THE GROUND FROM ALTITUDE.
21.I added a transition to smooth out the after death maneuver. If the A/C is in a spin, spinout, or a violent maneuver that left his pitch and roll in a strange position then the after death maneuver had a very hard time completing a correct death maneuver.
22.During Beta Testing of the counts change (trying to accurately count the losses and kills), it was noted that LUF “Bomber Stragglers” are not target by RAF fighters. After some testing and experimenting a LUF Bomber Straggler fix was designed, coded , and tested.
The way the code worked before I coded the straggler attack fix was that stragglers could not be attack/engaged as they could not be found by running the bomber loop. Once a bomber became a straggler he was not targeted unless he was already targeted before he became a straggler.
Bombers are always targeted and retargeted as the fighters become disengaged and engaged (this is the normal process so the software can try and keep track of the fighters attacking the bombers). The player is not given any special preference which is by design. In fact, the fighters will give preference to targeting the back row of bombers trying to avoid some of the bombers guns.
The new code does in fact limit the targeting of stragglers to only one attacker at a time (unless a RAF fighter was already targeting the straggler before) as I did not want to shoot down all the stragglers each mission.
23.I implemented theMANOEUVRE_LUFBERRYfor the ME110. It is not perfect but it is a fair simulation, I think.
In very simple terms it was a special LUF defensive maneuver that a group of ME110 tried where they formed a circle and tried to defend against the RAF fighters so that their front and rear guns could form a good defense against the RAF fighters. I do not think it was a big success in RL after the RAF fighter figured out what they were doing.
The best way to see a MANOEUVRE_LUFBERRY is to select Dog Fight Random advantage and select the ME110 for the LUF. It is coded to be random with about a 2% chance of the ME110 group using the defensive maneuver. Of course it can be used by the LUF in any IA or campaign mission that meets the requirements (squad <= 10 but >= 6, sort of loosing the fight and outnumbered, is a 110 squad, and meets the random number).
The Lufberry was requested by several players some months ago.
24.Extend the maneuver time for the ME110. The ME110 has a slower roll rate that was causing the maneuvers to terminate too soon.
25.Thanks to Alex, fixed a CTD in AutoFollowWP caused by a bad pointer. Alex was able to test and verify the fix.
26.Bader (the BDG’s senior member/tester and a very smart man who happens to be one of the best testers of the AI I have worked with) made a post on the Beta Forum about the AI being able to “roll” faster than the player.
After careful analysis and thought, we decided to try to implement the exact same surface reduction code for the AI A/C that implemented for the player’s A/C.
The fix was actually easy and without much risk but required significant testing to ensure the AI could still perform all their maneuvers. We did find and fix a problem with the AI making power dives at very high speeds. We really saw no AI problems with the change as yet except for the power dive problem (AI hitting the ground with a crash).
The unexpected results was that all the Beta Testers saw a big improvement in the AI behavior with smoother, more natural, and more realistic AI behavior. This was a bit of a surprise to me but I will take it.
I did implement two new Bdg.txt parameters to support the change as follows:
PLAYER_REDUCE_SURFACE_DEFLECTION=ON# the Rudder, Ailerons, and Elevators surface deflections are realistically reduced based on the Player A/C's Speed, Altitude, and Dynamic Pressure
AI_REDUCE_SURFACE_DEFLECTION=ON# the Rudder, Ailerons, and Elevators surface deflections are realistically reduced based on the AI A/C's Speed, Altitude, and Dynamic Pressure
I deleted the old Bdg.txt parameter, REDUCE_SURFACE_DEFLECTION.
The defaults are both set to “ON” as the old one was “ON” as well (which is our policy on defaults).
27.Fixed a rather annoying problem found by Trumper on the Beta Forum where the AI in the Instant Action Dog Fight 1-ON-1 would not always engage on skill levels other than Veteran.
28.Fixed a CTD when a A/C collides with a ground object that is movable but smaller than an A/C. I would like to thank VF-2 John Banks who took the time to post this problem at SIMHQ and then assist me with follow-up data.
Anyway I needed to recode BashHitter to take care of all the cases (hitting other A/C both in the air and on the ground, hitting moving trucks/objects on the ground, and hitting non-moving object like an AAA gun, pen,etc.).
29.Set default TARGET SIZE to LOW. This allows more realistic gunnery and improves visual damage effects. Note1: You have to edit this in the game GUI if you import old settings from a previous install. Note2: If you have a savegame file and you run with Medium you will see no change here unless you re-install.
30.Fixed a CTD in Replay (rather complex procedure) that has been there forever. I want to extend a big thanks to our new BDG’er Rob for finding, reporting, and testing this one.
31.I added a “death” transition type maneuver to try and smooth out the death moves.