Destiny of the World News

*** Note: Because of new features, this version is NOT compatible with saves from Release #10 ***

Leaders

The main new feature in this update is the addition of named leaders. There are two types of Leaders: Generals and Admirals. Generals are assigned to individual armies, and Admirals are assigned to fleets. You have a limited number of leaders that can be assigned, so you should assign them where they can do the most impact.

Leaders have two tactical ratings (Attack/Defense) and one theater-wide rating (Strategy). The Attack/Defense bonus is applied whenever their assigned Army/Fleet is involved in combat.

The Strategy Rating is applied to all Armies/Fleets in a theater. The Admiral and General with the highest Strategy rating will always be used as the Theater Commander. (Note: The Theater Commander's Army/Fleet will also get their Attack/Defense bonuses when in combat)

During World War II, leaders were often assigned or dismissed from posts based on their success or failure in battle. A leader's ratings will increase, or decrease based on their performance in battle. So, take care where you assign your leaders. Giving them hopeless tasks where they are doomed to being defeated over and over will destroy their reputation (and ratings). But ratings can be slowly regained through continued success in battle.

You can read the full details in Chapter 24 of the latest Game Manual.


New Functionality:

• Added Delete Button to Save Game Screen
  
• Added Delete Button to Load Game Screen
  
• Updated Strategic Bombing animation to make it clearer which region is being bombed
  
• Updated Shore Bombardment animation to make it clearer which region is being bombed
  
• Added Leader Screen. This can be accessed from the Organization Screen to add or change leaders assigned to armies/fleets. It also shows which of your theaters need leaders and have leaders.
  
• Battle Screen updated to show the leader bonuses for the battle. This number shows the total bonus per faction based on the theater Leader Strategy Bonus and the average of the Leader Attack or Defense Bonuses (whichever is applicable. The Attack bonus is used when you are attacking a region. The Defense bonus is used when you are defending a region.
  
• Main Map tooltips updated to show leaders assigned to Armies/Fleets
  
• Information Panel tooltips updated to show leaders assigned to Armies/Fleets
  
• Organization Screen updated to show current leader (if any). Also added a "Leader" button which will allow you to change the leader.
  
• Updated AI to manage their country's leaders
  
• Updated battle logic to incorporate leader bonuses
  
• Add messages when convoys or transports are produced, in messages window
  

Bug Fixes:

• German aircraft were unintentionally twice as strong as other countries due to a data error in the unit specifications. Data error has been corrected, and German aircraft now have their intended strength.
  
• Fixed bug where battle screen showed for air battle where no battle occurs due to lack of fighters present.
  
• Cleaned up number formatting in message panel on main screen.
  
• Fixed bug where armies could be flagged as airdrop capable in some circumstances when reorganizing armies
  
• Fixed bug where move messages for armies were repeated in Message Window
  
• Fix bug with mouse drag, where drag was being released when mouse pointer left screen area. The mouse should be captured by the drag event once initiated and should continue until the mouse button is released. This should be fixed now.
  
• Fixed bug where newly saved game file does not appear in game load screen.
  
• Fixed bug where production notification flag was not displayed on map, when completed item was not requeued for production
  

Tuning:

• Air Combat was bloodier than intended. Air combat casualties should be more realistic now. More tuning is likely to follow.
  
• Larger fleets were being given too much convoy detection based on the number of ships. Since fleet ships are in relatively close proximity their search radius was being far too generous.
  

Changes

• Removed sound effect for sunk ships from battle. It was too dominant in the sound mix. Investigating alternatives.
  
• Increased volume of ship move sound effect. It was lower in volume than other effects
  
• Adjusted torpedo impact sound effect
  
• Adjusted depth charge sound effect
  

This is a small update that fixes a couple of supply problems.

Bug Fixes:

• Supply Button was not being enabled for your units in allied territories
  
• Supply Depot was not created in theaters with no regions owned by your country even if you had troops present. This resulted in supply not being sent to your units in allied countries in this situation
  

Bug Fixes:

The new Battle Report caused a problem with old saved game files. This fix will allow you to used saved game files created prior to Early Access Release #9.

Leaders

One feature that's been requested is having Leaders in the game. So I wanted to announce that I have begun adding this feature to the game. The feature is still being designed, so bear in mind that all details described here are subject to change. I also welcome any feedback you might have regarding what you would like to see with Leaders in the game.

The number of active leaders will be limited for each country. The active leaders can be selected and swapped out during the game. There will be two types of leaders: Generals and Admirals. Generals will be assigned to Armies, and Admirals will be assigned to Fleets.

In addition to providing bonuses to their assigned Army or Fleet, having an Admiral or General in a Theater is needed to ensure full performance of a country's forces in that theater. If no leaders are present in a theater, their units will suffer some combat penalties.

The level of the leaders is roughly considered to be at the Army Group level. So, think of Army Group North, Center, and South for the Germans on the Eastern Front, for example. However, you can arrange your leaders as you wish, with the caveat, that you must maintain at least one per theater, to avoid operational penalties. This theater requirement is to provide a penalty if a player decides to concentrate all leaders on a single theater.

Each country will have enough active leaders to maintain at least one leader per theater of war. Some countries will be able to maintain multiple leaders on some fronts, since these occurred historically.

Theaters without a leader will suffer a performance penalty in combat. The amount of the penalty is still being determined.

For the Army or Fleet that a leader is assigned to, there will also be an impact to that Army or Fleet in battle. This will include bonuses or penalties to Morale, Organization, or Experience in battle, depending on the traits of the individual leaders.

I think this will add an exciting extra element when planning battles and your army organizations. I'll provide more updates as the feature becomes more finalized.

Most of the effort in this version has been spent on improving the AI in the Pacific, mostly for Japan. The AI was also supposed to prevent conflict between UK and Japan before Pearl Harbor, which wasn't being enforced properly. Also, there was nothing preventing a human playing as UK or Japan from attacking the other before Pearl Harbor, and the AI would not fully react. The game has been updated so that if either the UK or Japan attacks the other, the AI restrictions on attacking will be immediately lifted.

There is still a lot of work planned on AI and economy tuning, so you can expect more changes to come in these areas in future versions. I welcome any feedback on AI deficiencies or things that seem off in the economy.

New Functionality:

• New Battle Summary Report - view any previous week's battle outcomes from the game.
  
• When searching for a region, the searched region will flash briefly on the map to make it easier to identify
  
• Units Report--when clicking on a unit in the report, the region containing the unit will flash briefly, to make it easier to identify
  
• Resource Report--when clicking on a region in the report, the region will flash briefly on the map, to make it easier to identify
  
• Added short cut keys for all of the reports
  

Bug Fixes:

• Japan/UK were fighting before Pearl Harbor.
  
• Experience was not always rewarded following a battle.
  
• Japanese/UK convoys were being intercepted before Pearl Harbor in the Pacific.
  
• Fixed bug where neutral territory could be targeted for AI strategic bombing.
  
• Fixed bug where readiness was not recovering properly for AI Militia and Cavalry units.
  

Tuning:

• USA AI Added logic to also target Japanese targets in Asia. Previously, the USA would ignore Asia and concentrate solely on Oceana in the Pacific. Much more work for USA to follow.
  
• Japan AI Improved invasion planning logic. Much of the Japanese strategy involved capturing remote islands via invasions. The AI was getting stalled at numerous points. The new AI should be much improved at handling this.
  
• Reduced Sea interception probability.
  Improved initial USSR force deployment so that the AI can better defend against Germany. The USSR was leaving too many forces in the east against small Japanese forces.
  
• AI was treating armored units as stronger than warranted when planning. This caused the AI to misallocate forces, and this decreased AI effectiveness
  Increased USA focus on Europe and the Mediterranean for the earlier phases of the war.
  
• Shifted UK AI focus slightly more to Europe and the Mediterranean earlier in the war.