Hi guys,

I used to play EAW about 15 years ago, and I really enjoyed the extra campaigns that some of you built. But, as you can probably guess by the title I've encountered a problem that I just didn't have before.

I'm using 1.60, with fairly (very?) easy settings to reacquaint myself with the game. But my Spitfire I can't even do any visible damage to a Stuka. Attacking from astern, at ranges varying from 800ft to 'he's parked on my lap' (not as one burst - usually only 1-2 second bursts) raking from wingtip to wingtip. I've emptied my entire magazine into the one plane, and he's not phased at all. Absolutely no sign of damage whatsoever. I can see the bullets hitting, but they are doing nothing. Admittedly my gunnery is quite shockingly bad, but I do get some hits.

I took up a Tempest against the same Srukas, just to see if it was my gunnery...managed to kill them quite handily with cannon. I know MG's don't have the same stopping power as cannon, but the Spitfire 1 is completely ineffective.

I also find with the Spitfire 1 that the instant I pull the trigger, a gun jams....almost without fail. I attacked one plane 2-3 times, and by the end of the last run I had 5 gun jams. This happens as soon as I pull the trigger, not after a second or two, so it isn't burst length.

Am I doing something wrong. I simply never had these sort of issues in 1.2 (with or without extra campaigns installed).

Cheers


Bruce

Bruce, have you tried to adjust the gun convergence?

Somewhere around here there are instructions, possibly on MarkEAW;s site. If you can't find them let us know and we'll see if you can't get you straightened out.

Meanwhile, I'll take a look at the Ju87 damage models and the Spit gun characteristics to see if there's something out of wack.

To help me would you mind running an intercept of Ju87's with the Hurricane, since it has the same gun set and then run an intercept of level bombers with both the Spit and the Hurri and give me your feedback?

When you report a problem please indicate which exe, theatre, and planeset you are using. This helps us to check out the problem with similar settings
Comparing with 1.2 we have had gun convergence since the first 1.28 issue. Because of that the hit bubbles in some planes were reduced to avoid a "turkey shoot"

FWIW, I checked the Ju87 damage data and the Spit 1 gun data and everything looks OK.

If you would post the info Jel requested plus run those intercept missions we'll have a better idea what's going on.

So I did those missions. v1.60, no changes in plane set or maps etc, completely fresh install. Spit or Hurricane makes no difference, I just can't kill anything at any range. Switch to cannon armed, works fine.

Out of curiosity, tried 1.26. Was as different as night and day.

Maybe 1.60 is just not for me.

Cheers


Bruce

Bruce, the advantage of 1.6 are numerous, don't give up yet.

The more input we get the better we can make the game and we are very willing to work with anyone who would like to help us with that.

Remember, we aren't perfect. It is possible that we've tweaked the guns too far down.

If you'd like to take this further we can converse by e-mail which would also give me the opportunity to send you some replacement files to try out.

What was the fresh install?
When you run 160 you are supposed to choose an exe, a theatre and a planeset. You did not answer my questions, so I do not have a clue what you were using, and I cannot begin to help

Jel

Fair enough. Sent Rotton50 a PM.

Game was a fresh install. Left the theatre etc. as set by default. Didn't even start PlaneSetExeTheatreSwitchV2.exe.

Don’t worry Bruce. There are very talented people here. It may take a couple tries, but they will get it sorted out for you.

Welcome back.

We really want to help, so please tell us what did you download and install?

It is a two way system. If people report a problem, and give us the details we can try to replicate it.
The problem could be caused by a bug in the exe, or in a file that is being used, and that allows us to find it and fix it

How often do I have to repeat it? EAW v1.60. As found in the 1st post here

Bruce, there are a bunch of 1.6 execs. All Jel wants to know is which one you are using. If you look at the bottom left of the main screen it will tell you what version you are using.

Guys, I'm in direct communication with Bruce via e-mail.

We'll sort this out and report back when it's solved.

I just installed the UAW160 installer (with the link in the sticky) system test file. It created the UAW160 folder for the test with default files, but I did not install part two.

I ran the exe, setting up a Spit 1a intercept of Stukas















I had deliberately made it simple with no other AI planes, and shot down four before I ran out of ammo.
Some of the pics may give you an idea of the distances involved.

I know for sure that these planes are from Ralf's ETO planes, and that the hit bubbles are reduced to compensate for gun convergence.

The hit bubbles where reduced because of programming in convergence?
Doesn't that defeat the purpose?

I remember in UAW v1.40 I tried colliding with an enemy bombers wings and I never could get an impact, is this why?
(I think I asked this before but never got a straight answer.)

Personally, I find the 'killability' of the planes in 1.60 to resemble what I would imagine their vulnerability to be like in reality. Of course, what I imagine to be real life might be completely wrong. However, I recently deleted a 1.26 version of the game in which I thought it much too easy to shoot down opposing planes and I'm no ace, that's a certainty.

I think we have Bruce straightened out.

I coached him on adjusting the gun convergence and getting closer before firing and he communicated that he's doing better.

I'm relieved because I didn't want to lose a 1.6 convert.

No. With 1.2 versions the bullets fired from wing guns effectively fly parallel and are well spaced when they reached the target. Convergence was the first public request when we got the source code, so it has been in the 1.28 series from the beginning. It allows several bullets to hit the same point, creating much more damage than a single one. The original hit bubbles were large, giving the chance of more than one of the parallel moving bullets to hit. With convergence they allowed even more bullets to hit, and the game became a turkey shoot. That is why the sizes of the hit bubbles were reduced.

Okay. Thanks.

Thanks to Rotton50 for helping me out. I can at least shoot down a stuka with reasonable regularity. Heinkels are still an issue, but at least I can see that I'm having an effect now.

Cheers


Bruce

Bruce, with the twin engine bombers aim at one engine, do not "spray" your bullets across the whole plane.

Also, look for damaged planes that fall out of formation, usually one engine will be smoking. Aim at that engine. Sometime you can pick up a score a little bit easier that way.