DoubleTap

Chris, Bear with me as I work through this, and please excuse what is probably going to be an unholy substitution of technical terms for my own jargon. If I set the server speed tp 28.8k, does everyone have to set it to that speed as well? I remember a conversation between you and Roger regarding the fact that if players have different connections speeds, it will tend to favor some clients over others and contribute to lag. Let me propose an normal set-up. I think 20 clients is a good figure to always base it on because the DF campaigns shoot for players around that total. So, I set the server speed to 28.8k, or 3000b/s in the server config file. ALL skin downloading is turned off. All players set their network connections to 28.8k. With that setup, the server will attend to all clients more or less with the same rate of transmission? And by doing so, it will both keep some players from lagging behind in updates and keep the server from sputtering by keeping data bursts/packets small? Chris, Its not a bad idea, but I think the logisitics of it gets tricky. For one, players would have to switch to another IP for the DF server, although that's not really so troublesome. Second is, besides a time limit which we always have, in what ways are the next (the DF mission) started/triggered? Sinking 1 carrier is an obvious one, but what if one team finds the enemy fleet first, and attacks it, but are wiped out. Would the other group get to continue to fly until they are done? If they do, the other team could be forced to sit and watch for quite a while. I hesitate over the possibility of something like this, because it kind of defeats the DF principle which allows you to get back into the air. While Coops are popular, one common complaint is that you fly for 8, 10, 12 minutes of longer, only to get whacked early (sometimes for no fault of your own) and sit out for rest of the match. Hell, you could have a bad takeoff and sit on the run way the whole time. I'll think on it, but I think that doing something like this is better done with DCG or with the Scorched Earth set-up Roger posted about.

Regarding skin downloads, I have always shut them off for the servers we have played. I assume that means that no skin transfers occur at all. However, is it possible that they might still somehow occur is certain players leave it on?

Honestly Painless, I took it all in stride, M8, because I could tell as things played out that things were seriously outbalanced. Going INTO this week, I began to feel some doubts at the back of my mind regarding the number of Zeros, but where I really goofed was completely underestimating the effect of the bombers. I think the basic campaihn design is a good one if I do say so myself, but the plane sets completely skewed it, and I have no trouble admitting it. Basically, this first try was a play-testing session. The real campaign will be played next time. :wink: Like I said, BTW, you guys on the blue were sports about it and I appreciate it. As far as the lag, it was particularly bad this session. It could have been any number of reasons including the bad weather I had here when we were flying. In addition to the weather itself, it might have sent many people in my area getting online rather than outdoors. In any event, we'll look into it. BBloke had some suggestions for stream-lining it. When I can get the time this week, I am going to go all through all my settings and then perhaps we can have a test night.

I am very much interested in it. How difficult does it sound to set up?

I'm inspired. I just have to post this. So, here I am taking off for a solitary run on the Japanese fleet. I wander for a while before I spot an enemy carrier. Aha! I proceed to stalk the beast like a seasoned pro...Until... I choose to dive on it straight through a cloud. DOH! I come out of the cloud WAY off and out of position, and to make matters worse, there's a zero behind me. I figure I better drop these eggs and quick, but wait! What is that?! Why...there's someone ON THE CARRIER! Who could it be? Well, his name is mud now! For all you non-American types, this is known as "In Your Face!" Well, my Lord! It seems that was Psycho on the deck! Sorry, Jim. Couldn't resist!

Great screenshots and narration! For anyone who did not record a track, I posted mine from HD in the file vault. Oh, and while I cannot attest to Jim's Britishness, he is most certainly evil.

I would think that would be up to the mission commander to decide, as opposed to the mission designer. Wouldn't it? Except for the seaplanes, (at least on blue) I think all carriers could spawn all planes. Though I could be wrong. So, maybe in a similar scenario in the future, the mission commander could simply say, "fighters spawn at carrier X and Bombers at carriers Y & Z". If the misssion was designed with one carrier, one plane and say, the carrier that spawned fighters got sunk, it could mean a bad situation for that team. Cheers, Well, while all the carriers could spawn B5N2's, only the southernmost was designed for it. It was a longer one, with those invisible runways to assist in front. You make a good point that if there is dedicated carrier for a particular plane, then killing it would destroy access to those planes. So, I will have to make install those runway helpers on at least another one of the carriers, if not all.

Von Tonar, put away your Seppuku blades. The gods of campaign design may have dealt you an unwinnable hand. See Hell-Divers! after action report for details. We are going to play this one again at some point, and the honorable Von Tonar shall lead the yellow menace once again. Hai!

Gents, Well, Hell-Divers! kind of turned into Hell-Night with a swarm of technical glitches plaguing us early on before we even started. From Roger's internet woes to the server deciding Von Tonar and Mobius were personas non grata for some damn reason, to the rain and thunderstorm over my head as we flew it seemed as if the wrath of God was upon us. Many thanks to you for the kind words in the forum regarding Hell-Divers! You guys are a great lot and good sports. I have to say, however, that some of you may be too kind. I have to say that I was a little disappointed in how it turned out in that I badly misjudged the balance of the set-up. That was becoming evident to me on my second B-17 run on the Japanese fleet when I suffered barely a scratch on my way in, even when a Zero came by and strafed me. When the second mission finished around 7pm, I think it was confirmed that something was amiss. Many of you stayed on TS after the match to review the campaign, and we had a good discussion as to the issues in the campaign. I also spoke with Psycho in person later that night and got his take. I have to say that I am inclined to adopt most, if not all, of what we discussed because they are dead-on. They include: 1) Removal of the A-20's 2) Removal or heavy reduction of the B-17's 3) Reduce the number of B5N2's 4) Increase number of Zeros and D3A's 5) Require the US to sink all 4 Japanese carriers 6) Reduction of the amount of AAA for the fleets 7) Breaking the campaign into the more "traditional" 3 60m missions The bombers, which historically did not accomplish much, ended up being the decisive factor. The A-20's proved much quicker than the Zeros and both bombers are tough cookies to take down. More than one Japanese pilot reported emptying their magazines on the B-17's who proceeded on their merry way to bomb the carriers. Psycho reported unloading much of his ammo into the head of a B-17 to no apparent effect. I myself began to feel like I was flying a tank, and the only reason I died was because I had left my bomb fuses at 1 second. Add to that the defensive guns and the Zeroes were looking a little enemic. The bomb load of the B-17's (8x1000lbs) also meant than any successful run would hurt even if only a quarter of the bombs hit, and a good run could easily sink a carrier in one shot. None of these two factors would keep the bombers out if the AAA could be increased. I HAD expected the AAA to absolutely pummel bombers on the way in, but the flak seemed inconsequential. If the AAA acted anywhere near where it would have historically, neither bomber could have attempted the extremely low bomb runs they did, or they at least would have paid a heavy price. Since many players thought the AAA was already too intense, both for gameplay AND frame-rate, upping the AAA is not an option. Thus, the bombers have to go. The A-20 was anachronistic anyway, and meant to stand in for B-26s. I REALLY like the Flying Fortresses in the missions, so I am going to try find a way to balance them while keeping them in if I can. If the B-17 does stay, I am thinking of a max of two per mission, downgrading it to the D-model and reducing/altering its bomb-load. If anyone knows what the historical bomb loads on the B-17 were at Midway, let me know. Also, I will look to see if there is anyway to downgrade the skill ratings of the gunners in a DF mission, although I have my doubts. While I like and will keep both types of torpedo planes in the missions, reducing the number of B5N2's and increasing the number of the other IJN planes seems necessary. As it currently stands, the Japanese side is forced to rely on AI (and those exterior flown) planes for good portion of their aircraft reserves; almost a third. This is already a burden and when you add in that for most of the pilots the B5 was a pain to take off in, its too much of liability to be forced to rely on it. I was trying to keep the ratios of planes used very historical but neglected to look at their viability in the sim. Someone suggested, and I cannot remember who now, that requiring the Americans to sink all 4 Japanese carriers would be a fair trade-off for some of the Japanese liabilities, and that seemed like a great idea. I don't know if I will absolutely put it in, but it seems like a very good balancing option. The 3 mission set-up was suggested by BG, and I believe seconded by at least 2 others. The reason I had wanted the 2 hour second mission was to allow time to sink 3 carriers under fire, but thinking about it, there is no reason why it can't be broken into two pieces anyway. It allow for the plane-sets to reset 1 more time, and give teams another chance to discuss strategy for the campaign. Also, we had a considerable amount of lag which could have been due to any number of factors. One thing we need to do for all campaigns is set connection speed to 56k to hopefully get the smoothest gameplay. I will make sure to make a note of than in future manuals. Anyway, I must say that overall I do like the general set-up of the campaign, so don't get me wrong, I won't discard it. I got some of the kind of action I wanted happen (catching Psycho on the deck in my SBD made my night). However, I do feel the set-up was a considerably unfair one for the Blue team and that I regret. I appreciate everyone's good humor about it, and especially appreciate the feedback. It really helps improve the missions for everyone's enjoyment. I posted 3 tracks of Friday night to our file vault (HD_Mission1, HD_Mission2a, HD_Mission2b). http://www.dangerdogz.com/files/tracks/HD_Mission1.ntrk http://www.dangerdogz.com/files/tracks/HD_Mission2a.ntrk http://www.dangerdogz.com/files/tracks/HD_Mission2b.ntrk I have only looked a bit at mission 1 so far, although I plan to review them all again over the week. One thing that is very evident is the kind of lag we were suffering. One thing I am wondering based on reports is whether the American flak was for some reason heavier than the Japanese. If it was, I need to find out why. Edited links: B16Enk

Gents, For some reason audio does not work in the sub-rooms in Shadow's TS server, so we are jumping to Quazi's. Pass the word if you can. ****Shadow got the bugs fixed. Go to Shadow's!!!!*****

Great! Would love to see ya fly. Can't promise you red, but I suspect we most likely won't have a problem fitting you in there.

Good Point. Check out FINAL MISSION BRIEFING - Hell Divers! Announcement in its own thread...I'll post it in a few minutes *in the Joint Ops Section*.

How DARE you insult the Buffalo! The greatest piece of aerial machinery of WWII! Bow before the Buffalo!

Shadow, you will be very much missed if you can't make it today, but don't push yourself. We'd rather have your fit for flying for the long term.

Did anyone ever hear back from Goorfit?

I am hesitant to do so at the moment, because with Dazza out, we have only 3 (including me) to balance with. While the teams are currently even with BBloke joining the IJN, we can't be sure everyone listed will be able to be there at the start.

BBloke is certainly welcome to Join the IJN.

A couple more bits of info for Hell-Divers!: For both sides: Use of the " With the chat line, remember you can (and will NEED to) click on it while in Chat mode to scroll through all the info. For instance, the plane reserves info will need several clicks to see all of it, particularly for the Americans. For the Japanese: In Mission One, remember you need to hit BOTH islands to take out Midway. The heavier damage needs to be done to Eastern Island, which contains the airfield (36-40 units, structures, planes, ships destroyed). Sand Island will require around 25-27 units destroyed. Also remember; if the Japanese manage to take out a carrier in Mission One, the server will acknowledge and announce you have achieved an objective. However, you need to make sure I know it was a carrier hit as that particular scenario of Mission Two needs to be loaded manually. All other scenarios will load automatically. For the Americans I ran into one issue with the PBY spawn. For the time being, the PBY may have to have a ground, or ocean, start. Should this be the case, use the left engine only to turn the plane sufficiently away from the sand bar. Rudder alone will not do it. If you hit the end of the sand bar, don't worry. Deploy both engines, max thrust and you should be able to make your way over it. Remember that destruction of your stationary aircraft on the ground at Midway impacts your plane reserves. Check back for possibly more info later...

Having been fed up with the "quirks" of the snack vending machine in my workspace, I posted the following on it. I intend to keep posting until they replace the #&%(* thing, or I am ordered by my boss to stop: OPERATING NOTES FOR VENDING MACHINE This snack machine may look very similar to ones you have used before, but there are several important differences of which you should be aware. 1) The prices listed do not necessarily reflect what you will be charged. This is due to unexpected fluctuations on the International Snack Food Commodities Market, which is pretty volatile. While it might SAY $.75 for that candy bar, the machine might actually charge $.85. On the other hand, it might say $.95 but you will only be charged $.85. While the latter is far less likely than the former, it is hoped that the excitement of not knowing makes it a pleasurable experience nonetheless. 2) The term ‘freshness’ is subjective. While the dates on the packages might seem within the expiration period, those cookies you bought (oh, say, just for an example, those Famous Amos down there on the bottom row) might be a little soft side. Just think of them of those tasty chewy style cookies those elves make. Delicious! 3) This machine reserves the right to keep money fed into it as a “Service Feeâ€

actually it kinda goes: "hand me a beer. That's some imagery I coulda done without. Hand me another beer". I have another version, sorta. Man named Fred is new to a lumber camp deep in the woods, away from most everything. A gent named Jack shows him around the camp, which basically consists of barracks, a mess hall and a warehouse for the lumber, and nothing else. "Wow, doesn't seem like much to do here when you're not working. What do you guys do for fun?" "I'll show you," says Jack, leading Fred to a small shack nestled in the corner of the camp. Showing Fred inside, the only things there are a flickering oil lantern, a shelf with a jar of bacon grease and a large barrel nailed to a couple of sawhorses. Seeing Fred's puzzlement, Jack leads him to one end of the barrel which has a punched out knot hole covered in grease. "Tuesday through Sunday, when you get the urge, you can come in here and 'go to town' as it were," says Jack, with a wink. "It's easy and convenient and it won't cost you a penny." "You are joking," says Fred, incredulous. "That can't possibly-" "Don't knock it until you tried it," says Jack, grabbing the jar of bacon grease and handing it to Fred. "I'll be back in 15 minutes." Jack then proceeds to walk out of the shed and close the door. After some initial hesitation, Fred's curiousity gets the better of him and he decides he should at least TRY it, which he does. To his shock and amazement, the experience is quite pleasurable. Enough so that he has a second go. Just as he is buckling his belt, there is a knock at the door and Jack walks in. "Well?" "I must say, I thought you were having me on, but as incredible as it seemed, it was quite good." "Well, glad you liked it. Like I said, Tuesday through Sunday, its all yours." "Great. But, what about Monday?" asks Fred. "Monday's your turn," says a muffled voice from the barrel.

Thanks, Dave. I uploaded tips on flying the Buffalo. Basically, it simply consists of 1) Select Buffalo 2) Find Enemy 3) While he's busy laughing at you, blow his ass away...

BAAAHHHHH! Look out, its BBBB-BLOKE!!!

"We will very soon have a comprehensive mission building guide." Jeez, you sure know how to put pressure on a guy...

Roger, add a mission building section, if you could. I will write a from the ground up manual on building missions and update it with more advanced techniques and tricks over time. I am sure others will be able to add to it. I should have the beginnings of one by today.

Roger, I will volunteer. It will keep me busy at work. Heh. Glenn