War on the Sea News

13 Apr 2021

GENERAL
Clicking on Action Report ship icons no longer displays a white sprite over the icon

CAMPAIGN
Dive bomber start altitude no longer lowered in encounters involving no opposing ships (or submarines only); they should now always dive
AI scouts now report player position and leave the area
Removed date threshold check for victory/loss condition as not communicated to player
Campaign setup.txt files removed variable; "dateThreshold":[1,9,1942]
Reworked campaign victory/defeat to check for neutral locations and detect correct ending of campaigns
Campaign victory/defeat check moved from daily to hourly

AUTOMATIC SCOUTING
Launch Scout button only appears on campaign Sea Group panel after ships recruited
AutoScout path updates relative to ship position at every waypoint reached
Search Range Slider added; use to set distance of scout waypoints from task force (removed inner ring of waypoint buttons)
Circular search toggle (clockwise and anti-clockwise) added to Air Group Panel, plots circular path based on search range slider, direction based on toggle
References added to UI image folder and styles.txt along with new image files for:
ScoutClock
ScoutAntiClock

config.txt modified variables;
Deleted: campAutoScoutPointRange:60
Added: "campAutoScoutPointRanges":[15,30,60,90,120,150,180,240,300] to set Scout Range Slider values

Scout aircraft can now be launched from ships and assigned a path to follow. Aircraft continuously follow the specified path, returning to their ship to refuel.

Once set up, a scouting path does not need to be managed unless;
- scout is shot down
- ship launching it is sunk or released from command
- the path requires editing or a manual course is desired

Scouts continue to fly at night so as not to require setting up all scouts the following morning.

Any Air Group with 1 member gains access to the scouting UI making it possible to launch any aircraft desired, with or without a payload, and set it up as a scout.
Carrying a payload will reduce the maximum range a scout can fly before having to refuel.


To use automated scouting:

1) Select a ship with aircraft and click the Scout button.



A single aircraft of the first valid type on that ship is launched.
- Cannot launch if ship is currently on Air Op cool down
- Cannot launch if outside Air Op hours (however once launched will repeat path, even after Air Op hours)


2) Map out a path using the waypoint buttons.



Clicking the centre button (ship) will clear the path.


3) Aircraft will continuously follow the specified path.



To opt into the beta:

1) Right click War on the Sea in your Steam library, go to properties/betas and you should have new tabs listing other available versions.

2) Password to access the beta is: warontheseabeta
Use the pulldown to select the beta version.
It should then begin to download.

3) When you run the game the version number should read 1.08d3.

8 Apr 2021 (BETA)

GENERAL
Edited amphion_data.txt to allow Perth class light cruisers to carry troops
config.txt added new variables;
shipTacticalRetreatAtDamage:0.15 to set % compartments damaged to trigger retreat (0.15 = MODERATE damage)

CAMPAIGN
Campaign setup.txt files added new variables (Destroyed = destroyed compartments / # compartments in hull);
taskForceRetreatCapitalDestroyed:0.15
taskForceRetreatHighestDestroyed:0.2
taskForceRetreatAverageDestroyed:0.1

AUTOMATIC SCOUTING
"Launch Scout" button added to Sea Group panel (launches a single aircraft of first valid type from selected ship with no playload)
References added to UI image folder and styles.txt along with new image files for:
ScoutLaunch
ScoutClear
ScoutPoint

Air Group Panel: Added scout waypoint UI; available when number in Air Group = 1
Aircraft will follow scout points specified, return to ship, then repeat continuously (even outside Air Op hours), if parent ship sunk or released, scout is lost on attempting to return

config.txt added new variables;
campAutoScoutPointRange:120 to set scouting point range at 120km from origin (50% distance for inner points)

8 Apr 2021

GENERAL
AI Dive bombers continue straight post bombing, accelerate to max speed and climb to higher altitude
AI ships attempt to disengage when reaching Damage Status "Moderate", rather than based on loss of speed
Ensured all retreating ships correctly get their AI flagged as such

CAMPAIGN
Player submarine groups using IGNORE no longer re-engage ignored enemy Sea groups
AI Task Forces get assigned HOME mission if < 50% of ships remain (based on mission data, not ships in combat)
AI Task Forces get assigned HOME mission calculated on # compartments destroyed / # hull compartments (capital ships (15%), any single ship (20%), average of group (10%))



1 Apr 2021

GENERAL
Submarines preparing to dive no longer fire AAA

CAMPAIGN
Submarines moved into ambush positions ONLY if undetected on the strategic map at the time encounter is generated
Player submarine only Sea groups can IGNORE enemy ship contacts
Dive Bombers placed into combat above dive bomb altitude
Dive bombers continue straight post bombing, accelerate to max speed and climb to higher altitude
New variable "endurance":[0.67,0.82,1] (example) added to all language/unit/air/unitname.txt files to specify aircraft endurance based on individual payloads, (default to 0.67 if no data is available for a payload, last value should always be 1 for no load)
language/dictionary/campaign_message.txt added new message: "AirOpsStart=Air Operations now available" to be displayed when air ops become available on any given day (continuing an existing save game may erroneously display this the very first time only)

config.txt added new variables;
- campaignPauseAtAirOpsStartHour:true to pause campaign at first hour of Air Ops available
- campaignPauseCarrierAirReady:true to pause campaign when a player carrier Air Ops cooldown is over
- campaignPauseAirfieldReady:false to pause campaign when a player airfield cooldown is over

Campaign setup.txt files added new variables;
- airGroupCruiseSpeed:0.75 - defines cruise speed of Air groups (% max speed)
- taskForceCruiseSpeed:0.75 - defines cruise speed of Sea groups (% max speed)
- taskForceHomeSpeed:0.9 - defines speed of AI Sea groups assigned the return to HOME mission (% max speed)

GENERAL
AI Dive bombers continue straight post bombing, accelerate to max speed and climb to higher altitude
AI ships attempt to disengage when reaching Damage Status "Moderate", rather than based on loss of speed
Ensured all retreating ships correctly get their AI flagged as such

CAMPAIGN
Player submarine groups using IGNORE no longer re-engage ignored enemy Sea groups
AI Task Forces get assigned HOME mission if < 50% of ships remain (based on mission data, not ships in combat)
AI Task Forces get assigned HOME mission calculated on # compartments destroyed / # hull compartments (capital ships (15%), any single ship (20%), average of group (10%))