Version 5.0 for Windows is finished!

Post by **Sean OConnor** » Fri Apr 30, 2010 2:04 pm

If you've downloaded an update in the last couple of years this new version will be available from that same link you used with the same password. Otherwise, if you've bought a copy in the past send me an email (please let me know the email you would have bought the game under so I can look it up in the orders database - or better still send a copy of the order email receipt).

The major improvements are:

- Whole new set of graphics
- Marshes added
- Hold down the Spacebar to highlight all of your troops at once
- American Marines added as a separate nationality
- New scenarios "Burma" and "Malaya" added
- Option to automatically center a unit when you click on it

I've also done some tweaking:

- Fixed the bug that stopped you seeing firing ranges when setting up in defence by pressing the 'F' key
- Mortars are a bit more effective, small arms a bit less
- Shows the setup area red line marker on the map too
- The game is more efficient with memory so should be fewer problems on older machines
- Clicking on a squad on the screen makes the list of units on the control panel scroll to show it

Let me know what you think, especially if you spot any problems!

the space predator · Post by **the space predator** » Fri Apr 30, 2010 5:30 pm

look great! I will e-mail you to get the download link

the space predator · Post by **the space predator** » Sat May 01, 2010 6:23 pm

Ok, I have test it whit the Demo version:

1: The new graphic are cool, it's amazing
2: I am very happy to see that we have now bunker and crashed plane
3: It's very uneasy to see our own infantry sqad. It's realistic that there uniform help them to hide, but in v 4.0, we can see where are our guy whit precision, fastly. Now we have to look carefully to see if we have unit there.

Edit: I have read your post Andy, I have test it, it's useful. I still prefer the v4.0 infantry, but it's my personnal opinion.

4: It's good to see that we have an Pacific campain and a europe campain
5: It's useful to see the red lines on the map.
6: I don't like the new flamethrower flames
7: the dead are pink

Edit: 8: The game is slower to start ( aproximaly 10 second more )
9: the house in the "dry" terrain are to much similar to the house in "village" and "lowland" terrain. When you play the chinese campain, it's not very realistic.
10: the square of the "immobilized" unit is looking prety much like the square of the "wounded" unit

hoping that my comment wil,help you sean.

Have a good day

Andy Brown · Post by **Andy Brown** » Sun May 02, 2010 7:56 am

Predator,

Troops are harder to see but see Sean's third "major improvement" above

(ie - Hold down the Spacebar to highlight all of your troops at once)

I agree the dead blood colour looks like my wife's pink lipstick. Can we go back to red, please?

Haven't checked out the flamethrowers yet.

Andy

the space predator · Post by **the space predator** » Fri May 07, 2010 10:05 pm

I have notice something

in firefigth/data/surname

there is a "polish.txt" files. What is it for?

Post by **Sean OConnor** » Mon May 10, 2010 9:44 am

Someone sent me a list of Polish surnames so I included that in the build files. It's not actually used anywhere in the game but I'm keeping it in case I can get hold of all the other data I'd need to create a Polish nationality for the future.

Mischief Maker · Post by **Mischief Maker** » Tue May 18, 2010 8:13 am

Just wanted to say the RAM error has been eliminated on my laptop. Great Job!

Post by **Sean OConnor** » Wed May 19, 2010 2:47 pm

Great! Thanks for letting me know that. I've put quite a lot of work into minimizing the amount of memory needed by the game so it's good to hear that it's had an effect!

Wulf Corbett · Post by **Wulf Corbett** » Wed May 19, 2010 10:34 pm

It may be just me, but when I started an Aussie campaign in North Africa, the force was mainly composed of Papuan Guerrillas (with the note they were only available in New Guinea)...

I edited the force & carried on, but was that intended?

Post by **Sean OConnor** » Thu May 20, 2010 9:25 am

The game doesn't know that those squads aren't meant to be used in the desert - there's just a note on the description text from the guy who sent me that data. If you don't like those squads you can go into the folder Firefight\Data\Infantry and delete the file Australians-Papuans.txt and they won't appear again.

I had this problem with the US forces in the West and in the Pacific having different squads and equipment. To solve that I created a whole new "US Marines" nationality to separate out the differences between them. I could create new nationalities like Brits/Australians in the Pacific and even Germans on the East and West fronts (you never got Elefant tanks in the West for example). It could start to get a bit fiddly though so it might not be worth it!

Wulf Corbett · Post by **Wulf Corbett** » Thu May 20, 2010 7:30 pm

I figured it might be that, just thought I'd check.

Andy Brown · Post by **Andy Brown** » Fri May 21, 2010 1:22 am

Sean O'Connor wrote:I could create new nationalities like Brits/Australians in the Pacific and even Germans on the East and West fronts (you never got Elefant tanks in the West for example). It could start to get a bit fiddly though so it might not be worth it!

Could you maybe create a couple of generic nationalities with only placeholder squads, guns and vehicles that players could customise as they see fit?

Andy Brown

the space predator · Post by **the space predator** » Fri May 21, 2010 4:32 pm

then (for exemple) if I want to play a west front german campain, I modify the generic nation, I give it the german flag, I give it only the unit, and I modify the campain. Maybe a litle bit too long?

Andy Brown · Post by **Andy Brown** » Sat May 22, 2010 2:25 am

Predator,

I figured that if Sean makes the nationalities too specific, there will always be people who aren't totally happy with what he's done.

It would take a bit of work to turn a generic nationality into exactly what the player wants but at least then players could get exactly what they do want.

The nationalities that Sean has already provided give player-modders enough basic material to start with.

I'd expect that most of the work modding a generic nationality would involve simply copying and pasting from one of the historical nationalities included in the game. Minor additions and deletions would then be made to achieve the specific historical force and campaign that the player wants.

Note that the generic nationalities (and maybe generic locations as well?) would also need files created for soldier names, village names etc. Once again, I'd expect players to fill these if they couldn't use anything that comes with the game.

Andy Brown

Andy Brown · Post by **Andy Brown** » Sun May 23, 2010 4:55 am

Andy Brown wrote: I agree the dead blood colour looks like my wife's pink lipstick. Can we go back to red, please?

OK, I see the on-map dead crosses seem to have different shades of red for different nationalities. That's good - it makes it easier to tell the difference between friendly and enemy dead. However, the pinkish (purplish?) shade that seems to come with the Germans is still a bit girley.

Andy