winSP updates 02APR19

[shorttape]

FWD from https://forum.shrapnelgames.com/showthread.php?t=52210
by Tim Brooks

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This is No Charlie Foxtrot! The 2019 winSPWW2 and winSPMBT Upgrade Patches are Here!
Impressive Additions to Impressive Games!


Wilmington, NC, 02 April 2019


Another year of Upgrades, Fixes and Additions have arrived.

As always, announcemets first. DO NOT apply the upgrade patches while in the midst of a secure PBEM game as the game will fail. The 2019 winSPWW2 patch will upgrade v. 9.0 or above to v. 12.0 and the 2019 winSPMBT patch will upgrade v. 10.0 and up to v.13.0.

Available for immediate download, these two patches are loaded with much more of what you want. So, let's take a look at some of what the great guys at Camo Workshop has added...

winSPMBT, upgraded to version 13.0 includes:
• 100 New Scenarios
• 15 Revised Scenarios
• 2 Campaigns resurrected from old archives
• 2 Revised Campaigns
• 9 New or Revised Map files
• 76 New or Revised OOB Photos
• 1 New or Revised Game Interface Photos
• 280 New or Revised vehicle/aircraft Icons
• 93 Updated OOB Files
• 35 New or Revised Icon files
• 6 New or Revised Text files
• 109 Revised picklist files
• 2 New or Revised Game Guide Photos / Graphics

83 scenarios that Don Lazov resurrected from old archives have been added and updated.

And winSPWW2, upgraded to version 12.0 has:
• 255 New Scenarios
• 116 Revised Scenarios
• 8 New Campaigns
• 8 Revised Campaigns
• 20 New or Revised maps
• 401 New or Revised OOB Photos
• 36 Updated OOB files
• 935 Vehicle/aircraft Icons
• 304 New or Revised Encyclopaedia Text file
• 1 revised sound file

Vehicles will now show drop shadow on paved road. They didn't for years. Now they do.

14 scenarios that Don Lazov resurrected from old archives have been added and updated.

The AI will now occasionally select the twin-engine ground attack aircraft in the USA and USMC OOB that are set up in unitclass 243 Ground Attack when it picks aircraft for the P2 Computer playing as USA or USMC . Those are the A-26, B-26, P-38 etc aircraft.

Bicycle infantry units ( winSPWW2 only--- this function was not added to winSPMBT ) are now handled differently. Bicycles and riders are now two units instead of one blended one. When riders dismount they change to normal infantry Icons and their bicycles are shown laying on the ground immobilized so bicycle riding units can get the same road speed bonus they used to get but without the unit size penalty they used to have. When they dismount, they can then fight as normal infantry with the same Movement as non-bicycle infantry and when combat is done they can remount their bicycles once again and continue on until the next combat, Abandoned Bicycles can be used by any infantry Unit class in the same way as dedicated Bicycle troops do.

CD owners Only. ( winSPWW2 only--- this function was not added to winSPMBT ) There is a new feature that allows CD owners / scenario designers primarily, the ability to change the ID tags and Victory Hex Flags to either an existing OOB or from a set of tags and flags that have been added to the SHP files for nations not covered by a full OOB which allows scenario designers the ability to customize scenarios and simulate nations not covered by the normal game OOB's. That procedure is detailed in the CD section of the game guide.

And for both games:

Campaign games - If your core force is extremely large, then the only way the AI will be able to have sufficient points is to be the delayer or defender. Therefore the human player will see more assault and advance missions in this case.

Planes which crash off map should now show the entire points value for the aircraft, not the damage at the point it was shot down.

Random games will generate fewer low visibility conditions than before.

UnitClass Commandos now have the same parachute ability level as Paratroops so they suffer fewer casualties when landing.

Aircraft will no longer strafe at extreme angles though they may still fire one or two hexes off the flight path

Maps will now save crater damage again.

Ammo containers can be loaded onto trucks.

Fewer objective flags will be auto placed on mud hexes in generated battles.

There is now a slightly higher chance of flaming wrecks blocking LOS.

(CD owners Only) As the result of code changes to the way the game displays terrain graphics, there are now 8 game display levels. Three more than previous, each of those allow you to zoom in closer to units on the map. The base zoom level, the one you see when you first start up the game is Z4 and previous versions of the game also allowed you to zoom in 1.5X closer than Z4 using Z5 but the new zoom-ins allow 2X closer than Z4 using Z6 and 3X closer than Z4 using Z7 and 4x closer than Z4 using Z8. How this will look to each gamer depends on what size your monitor screen is and what resolution it uses so in some cases with older, smaller monitors the greater zoom-ins may not be as useful to you as they would someone with a large monitor that displays at very High resolutions.

(CD owners Only) You can now flood fill areas of zero elevation with deep water using the " key in both the in-game map editor and the extended map editor. This was primarily added to be a map making support tool for use with the Venhola map contours generator but it can be used for hand made maps as well. For shoreline maps it saves a great deal of time but be aware that sometimes beach areas are recorded by Venhola as the same level as the water so those areas and any areas of shallow water you may want troops to wade through will need to be added manually.

(CD owners Only) There is a new "find text" function in the Scenhack utility that allows players to search through all scenario description text files to find specific text references. Once the search is run this new feature will provide a list of the scenarios in order, that match the search inquiry. For example, perhaps Israel or Warsaw pact or WW3 is entered and all the scenario with that word or phrase used in the scenario description file will be listed, You can then click on the one that interests you and you will be taken to the "Scenario Fixer" tab and read the scenario description by clicking on the Scenario button. It can also be very handy for finding a scenario created by a specific designer. Simply enter the name and it will provide a list of any scenario that has that designers name on it. As well, scenhack now allows SQL's database queries to be saved and loaded from a new folder placed in the game named 'SQL". The usage of these functions is explained on the CD features /Scenhack section at the end of the game guide.

(CD owners Only) There is now a Delete button for the scenarios page like the one for saved games.

(CD owners Only) Pressing (the # HotKey) during your turn will turn your bombardment markers on and off so you can see where they are and if you are advancing into your own barrage. It will also show which guns are targeting the hex .

And there's much, much more! Please check out the complete list of changes (and their graphic examples!) by visiting the respective forums:

2019 SPMBT Upgrade Patch: http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/showthread.php?t=52197

2019 SPWW2 Upgrade Patch: http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/showthread.php?t=52196

But, think about it. Don't read, just go ahead and download!

winSPMBT Version 13.0 Upgrade Download Link: http://www.shrapnelgames.com/Camo_Wo.../MBT_page.html

winSPWW2 Version 12.0 Upgrade Download Link: http://www.shrapnelgames.com/Camo_Wo.../WW2_page.html

Both winSPWW2 and winSPMBT are available as fully featured FREE downloads. But the Enhanced Editions (CD or Download) are not different in the core gameplay, but provide a lot of extra bells and whistles for the Steel Panthers enthusiast. Both games work with even the latest version of Windows.

Be sure to visit www.shrapnelgames.com for more great games!