[GameRat]

Hi all,
tried to sign in with my "crewman" profile, but forgot password ... so am using a previous nickname

Got permission from Cathartes to update GJS, and together with Steiner ... version 7.0 Beta is ready.
It's packaged the same as Version 6.0, in a D switch type installer.

Plan is to have several people test it, to make sure there isn't anything obviously wrong ... and then release it.
After six months, we'll look at it one last time and make it a final version.

Here's what new ...

CCLSA GJS Version 7.0 Beta

Gold, Juno, Sword mod requires to be installed first:
-Close Combat Last Stand Arnhem
-LSA patch version: 5.60.53b

Install instructions:
Run (double click) the CCLSAModGJSv7.00.exe file.
After installation, double click the "Launch CC LSA GJS" desktop icon

Battle Groups:
-several German Armor BG's type changed to Armor/Infantry
-some Allied BG's start with more armor in Active Rosters
-Allied Armour BG's active roster now have more armour slots available
-some Allied independent Armour BG's have option to borrow infantry units from another BG when both are on same map
-three German BG's moved back one map in Grand Campaign, due to AB BG's being engaged too early.

Allied and German teams:
-Allied and German Medium Mortar selectable in all Active Roster columns
-Vickers MMG selectable in all Active Roster columns
-Allied Morale and Experience increased in some cases and balanced overall
-Piat added to Bren Section Teams
-Gammon added to Allied: Rifle Group, Platoon Cmd, and Company Cmd teams
-Cromwell 95mm added to 22/7
-Tetrarch howitzer removed, due to suspected crashes

Weapons:
-Air strikes removed, due to suspected game crashes
-Added more Artillery Support for Allies
-Guns' accuracy increased by 5% (to max of 431)
-Pz Schreck and Piat accuracy increased by 5%. Piat penetration potential increased
-Vickers accuracy increased by 5%
-MG42 accuracy decreased by 10%, and penetration potential decreased by 45%
-Hull MG's accuracy decreased by 10%
-Coax MG's accuracy decreased by 5%
-Rifles accuracy increased to max of 431, sniper variants to 476
-Rifles penetration potential increased by 50%
-Rifles PB and Close ranges increased
-Pz Schreck and Piat: PB and Close ranges increased
-17 pdr penetration potential increased by 10%
-M10's turret does not rotate, in order to help stop excessive hunting while targeting
-M10 turret AA 50cal MG rotates 360, to help stop excessive hunting while targeting
-Blast radious decreased small amount for German 10.5cm and 15cm
-Medium Mortars small decrease in effectiveness
-Tetrarch penetration decreased slightly

-larger explosion graphic for grenade and rifle grenade
-larger soldier size graphics, same as stock game

Sound:
-grenade throw
-MG42
-flame thrower
-round bouncing off armor
-280mm mortar
-added faust sound, referenced weapons.txt file

Operations:
New operation, Operation Perch

Credits:
Thanks to Cathartes (and team) for GJS - CC LSA
Tweaking GJS after version 6.0: Steiner, crewman

Recommended settings for H2H play
German - Veteran, Allies - Line

List of BG's that get reinforced:
note: reinforcement is defined by turns. First battle is 0, and next turn is counted as 1

Allied:
8/3 British, reinforced 4 times: turns 1,2,3,10  
7/3 Canadian, reinforced 7 times: turns 1,2,6,8,16,22,28  
8/3 Canadian, reinforced 6 times: turns 1,2,4,10,16,22  
9/3 Canadian, reinforced 4 times: turns 8,10,12,16  
69/50, reinforced 4 times: turns 1,2,3,8  
151/50, reinforced 2 times: turns 24,25  
231/50, reinforced 5 times: turns 1,2,3,8,18  
3rd Para/6th AB, reinforced 3 times: turns 1,2,4  
5th Para/6th AB, reinforced 4 times: turns 1,2,3,4  
6th Para/6th AB, reinforced 2 times: turns 3,4  

German:
III./26/12 SS Div, reinforced 1 times: turn 12
857/346, reinforced 1 time: turn 6
s.SS.PzAufkl.Abt 101, reinforced 1 time: turn 15
II./12/12 SS Div reinforced 3 times: turns 6,8,18
SS.Pz.Aufkl.Abt 12/12 SS reinforeced 1 time: turn 5

[stiener]

looking good bro

         

[Pete]

Glad to see this finally updated. The one thing that was missing in the previous version was battles and operations. Did you create them now for this latest beta?

[Tejszd]

Good to see this mod getting a little TLC....

[crewman]

[crewman]

forgot to mention this in readme ... Battle Groups don't recycle (return to game) after they've been disbanded. So it's a good idea to game with Morale on ... then if disbanded, a BG will retreat to friendly map (if available).

Even when Recycle BG's is enabled in the Campaign.txt ... it appears not to work.

[mooxe]

http://www.closecombatseries.net/Hosted/gamerat/CCLSAModGJSv7.00.exe

Will be adding it to the downloads section soon.

[crewman]

[Amgot]

This update looks great! If you already have GJS 6.0 installed, should you uninstall it before installing the 7.0 version?

[crewman]

[crewman]

Testing stuff ... I finished playing through Operation Perch, that is included in GJS 7.0
It took 33 battles in single player, and had zero game crashes.
I'm also 23 battles into the GC in single player, and have played some multiplayer with Steiner.
Weapons are working as I want them to, and changes made to GC seem to work also.
This is probably a final work for me on GJS. I might take another look, depending on feedback ... but not until after six months.

Thanks again Cathartes for GJS

[crewman]

I was using LSA 5.60.53b ... and didn't realize there was a newer version 5.60.53 available. Newer version has some fixes, and can be downloaded here:

http://matrixgames.com/products/386/downloads/

[Dima]

And that's called GJS 7.0?
Crazy how the community degraded.

[Pete]

[Dima]

[crewman]

Hey Dima ... how's it going? It's been a while since we worked on TLD Ground Tactics together.
Thanks for taking time to post your opinion ...

I was interested in Operation Perch and did some research to learn about it and then see if some maps and Battle Groups in LSA GJS could be used to simulate it. That takes time, but is something I enjoy.
I decided to plan and organize the Operation and then did lots of testing. Steiner joined the process with lots of good feedback and more testing.
While testing, we both noticed things that we thought diminish quality of gameplay ... like: tanks and ATG's missing targets often and rarely hitting on first shot (even at close range), MG42 to powerful, rifles not having much impact, too much heavy armor in some German BG's, etc.

After hours of edits and testing I still wasn't satisfied with the results. So I decided new methodologies were needed to progress.
First MG42 ... I concluded its high number of rounds per burst causes it to score hits that is not proportional to other weapons even with accuracy and range edited considerably. Reducing the burst by a couple of rounds helped, but was not historically accurate. I ended up lowering its penetration values ... which is the method I used to reduce its effectiveness to where I want it.

I found similar problems with rifles, so I increased their penetration values to where I saw "in game" results that I wanted. Again this requires lots of testing ... but I'm happy with the results.

Next was main guns missing ... I increased their accuracy but still seemed not right. Next was an increase in Morale and Experience. The combined effect was want I wanted ... tanks and ATG's hit more on first shot.

But still there was a problem between German and Allied units. The problem being that Germans, in some case, had much superior armor ... and if they also had higher Morale and Experience ... then they seemed indestructible.
I decided to give all tanks and ATG's 4-Morale 3-Experience ... and let the weapons data and a player's skill and strategy be the deciding factors. And balanced other units in other ways, like: all command teams 4,4
Again, lots of testing with Steiner ... but happy to have found what I think is a sweet spot.

Medium mortars also went through a trial and error test process.

Other things mentioned in the read me were done to help better the playability of the Grand Campaign, which required more thought, edits, and testing.

After doing this ... I realize even more the enormous amount of work required by Cathartes and team to put together GJS and then even more work by Cathartes to get it moved to LSA.

GJS 7.0 is just a small brush stroke on the large masterpiece of GJS ... in an attempt to make it a little better
Enjoy the time and effort Steiner and I put into version 7.0 if you want ... it's a free download. Or play version 6.0, or mod it yourself. Choice is yours

[stiener]

@ Dima.....WTH? what is the point your trying to make here? all we did was make some changes to 6.0 to try to improve the game and play. you don't like this for some reason?  8O

what would you have us call it? if that's your point?

[crewman]

hey Dima, a little more info for you :)

I don't consider myself to be experienced in CC data ... so obviously it takes me more time than an experienced person.
I also don't know all the inner workings of LSA, so I have to ask ... here is some questions at the Matrix site that Steve answered (I sign in as davidss there). Stuff like: new way reinforcement works, new point system and its relation to number of slots available and how replacement points are calculated, etc.

http://www.matrixgames.com/forums/tt.asp?forumid=836

Also, this new version was never intended to be a total rework of weapons, units, and BG's ... like you did for TRSM.
Like I said, I was initially just interested in making a Perch Operation.
Maybe that's why you make your comment, cause you think it's not a big project as what you do?... true it isn't.
I'm finding, in general, that if I'm feeling frustrated/angry/etc about someone's behavior or an event ... that it's better to calm down and then approach it from an angle of curiosity, rather than to react impulsively with negative/aggressive comments or actions.

For example: you could have asked ... how long did it take you guys to do version 7.0, and did it take much effort, and why did you call it version 7.0? And what are your goals?

I would have replied:
I started Operation Perch stuff in fall of 2013, and Steiner joined in around beginning of November, or before. I stopped working on it during last days of December that year due to real life stuff. During that time we went from version 1.0 to version 5.0 ... with a total of about 25 versions in between. I don't always use all ten decimal places between numbers, cause I use whole numbers for reaching specific goals.
Then, in August of this year (2015) I decided to restart work with the intention of updating GJS ...  by incorporating some Operation Perch edits and tackling other areas specific to GJS.
I contacted Steiner and he agreed to continue. We had 13 versions from 5.0 to 7.7
Then I did a couple more sound edits, redid the main screen with "7.0 beta" text, and it took a few attempts to get the installer to work as I wanted.
Main reason I named it version 7.0 rather than 6.1 ... is to help avoid any confusion for players. It's also the way I do version stuff ... I go to next whole number when I accomplish a specific goal.

I did this work so that I could play GJS in a way that closer aligns with how I think Close Combat should be, and to play Operation Perch.

hope that helps

[crewman]

Morale and Experience in version 7.0

Units in CC have a rating of Morale and Experience of 0-5, and can be used to differentiate between the different abilities of units within an Army and/or between opposing Armies.

From what I've heard these settings can have an impact on accuracy.
Therefore, I've used a different methodology for the use of Morale and Experience in version 7.0

First, I increased Morale/Experience (in some cases, mostly Allies) in order to get better accuracy and performance.
Next I balanced Morale and Experience based more on types of units, instead of differences in opposing sides, except in obvious cases like green units or units of low combat effectiveness.

The result is, most of the time you will fight against an opponent with similar attributes affected by Morale and Experience ... and therefore the data for the weapon and the skill/strategy of players will determine the outcome, along with the probability calculation of CC.
Having these higher values seems to help keep infantry going towards their ordered objectives.

For Allies and German
4 Morale 4 Experience - tanks, tank destroyers, ATG's, command units, and snipers
4 Morale 3 Experience - infantry units, halftracks, armored cars, mortars, MG's

Less Experience for Allied green infantry and less Morale/Experience for Osttruppen and lower German units.

note: here is a quote by Steve at Matrix about the effect of Morale/Experience, specifically regarding snipers:
The best way to increase their overall effectiveness would be to increase the sniper teams' experience and morale in the teams files. Experience will help with spotting, remaining hidden, and accuracy of firing. Morale will help them to stay steady and aim while under fire

[stiener]

anyone playing the new updated LSA GJS ?? anyone care to comment on it?