Get rid of .dt commands

[Randy1]

I don't see .dt as gamey.  Information and planning aides yes.  In real life situations repair times would be known.

-1

[Lusche]

 In real life situations repair times would be known.

Not at all. They would make (educated) guesses, but these had been spectacularly wrong at times, for all sides.

[Cthulhu]

Not at all. They would make (educated) guesses, but these had been spectacularly wrong at times, for all sides.

Admiral Nagumo... "Hey, we have plenty of time to rearm our planes for a strike on the American carriers... HANG ON, DO YOU HEAR SOMETHING???

[Cthulhu]

You know making since around here can get you shot right Cthulhu?   +1

Well, it does appear to be a rare commodity sometimes. 

[Tinkles]

Maybe we could get a fog of war effect for the DT commands? Perhaps assign the HQ an additional point of usefulness and make it so if the HQ is destroyed DT commands either don't work, or are drastically inaccurate.

I don't mind the DT commands too much, I think it wouldn't hurt if they weren't spot on - to the second - on reconstruction times though.

Perhaps I am too attuned to such a luxury to give an adequate opinion on the matter. *shrug*

[Mongoose]

  If we do make a change, I would vote to have dt commands work for friendly fields, and not for enemy fields.  But we used to be able to guess at re-spawn time based on whether the hangar was on fire, or just smoking.  If we modify dt commands, we should get the fire and smoke effects back.

  In other words, I can get an accurate read on how much longer I have to wait for a friendly hangar, or ordnance bunker, etc to re-spawn.  But for an enemy hangar, I can only estimate based on whether the first is burning hot, or spewing thick black smoke, or light smoke.

[Lusche]

If we modify dt commands, we should get the fire and smoke effects back.

They never had been changed.

[Randy1]

Not at all. They would make (educated) guesses, but these had been spectacularly wrong at times, for all sides.

Of course repair times in real life were WAG.  The dt commands in AH simulation, simulates the WAG schedule repair but the game side of AH simplifies it into down to the second.  It is a game.   Have the DT be random and often wrong and watch this board light up.

Again -1

[Lusche]

 Have the DT be random and often wrong and watch this board light up.

Again -1

I never supported the wish for randomness.

[Chilli]

They never had been changed.

Are you sure?  It seems to me that fires stop smoking long before "5 minutes" remaining time when the downtime has been extended.  I guess I could test it, but I am lazy.  I will try and take a look at a strat up close the next time I have the opportunity.

Up to the second information has been helpful in determining how much time I decide to waste on a dying effort.  A 5 minute window was all we had before, and only on burning structures.  Down times on town buildings and popping AA guns was a bonus, especially since the premise for foiled captures is based on this "game" rule.

Let's not take anymore time talking about "game" rules.  Although my opinion seems to differ from the vocal majority,  I do respect their opinion. Also note, my typing speed may have given me an unfair advantage over some 

{edit in failed attempt to look less g33kish- why doesn't my Klingon translator work here?}

[1ijac]

I think the .dt commands are good for the countries.  It seems like there is far more involvement in trying to repair a town or bring ords back up at a base.  Those times vary so much depending on the strat damage and it allows players of the affected country to contribute to the war cause.  It gives the plummeted country (many times knights) a better chance of coming back into the battle, rather than giving up.  The commands allow a country to more effectively distribute it's resources.  Every player has the ability to use them, so there is no advantage one country has over the others.  I find that many players are too lazy or are unaware of the .dt commands.  I'm constantly asked: "how long is this or that down for?".  I use them a lot for my sorties to plan hitting strats, taking out ords, hangers, troops, etc. and even planning a base capture by looking at the gun and town building downtimes.  It adds more strategic planning possibilities.  Again, there is no advantage one player or country has over the others.  In war times, countries plan.

[Lusche]

Are you sure?  It seems to me that fires stop smoking long before "5 minutes" remaining time when the downtime has been extended. 

They misinterpreted the mechanism - the smoke was showing (and still is) for a fixed duration , but the downtimes for things like ords or radar were fix as well (unless manually resupplied).
Now we have variable downtimes for the objects because of the factories (sometimes up to 150 minutes), but the "smoking time" is still the same.

[Mister Fork]

As a former admin, I used the dt commands exclusively to help setup bases and tweak the setup.  I couldn't imagine doing a setup without them... just saying... 

[Tinkles]

As a former admin, I used the dt commands exclusively to help setup bases and tweak the setup.  I couldn't imagine doing a setup without them... just saying... 

Perhaps they could be admin controls only?

[Chilli]

They misinterpreted the mechanism - the smoke was showing (and still is) for a fixed duration , but the downtimes for things like ords or radar were fix as well (unless manually resupplied).
Now we have variable downtimes for the objects because of the factories (sometimes up to 150 minutes), but the "smoking time" is still the same.

I believe this is what Mongose meant when he said "get back" the effect.  Actually, meaning to say get back the ability to effectively time repairs when an object stops smoking.

However, I never remember any difference in the color or thickness in smoke, other than when viewed from different distances.  This is where I believe he is mistaken (and you are correct "no change there").