Has anybody ever tried a ETO MA?

[JimmyD3]

I believe we  have the layout pretty much set now. On to completing the elevations for each base, the spawn points, and the terrain. I also have to finalize the Cloud setup. I will upload in the not to distant future for everyone to fly and give feedback. When done, I will change the map name to "ETOMA".

[oboe]

 

Don't forget the "White Cliffs" of Dover, and the Rock of Gilbraltar!

Also - CraterMA has been back up in the MA, and I specifically choose to spawn at the Huge AFs.  I did not notice a drop in frame rate; it stayed steady at 90fps (my VR refresh rate).    So I'm not sure what the problem is, but it is tempting to ask for at least one Huge AF for each country.   I like the layout of these fields and their associated towns, and they throw up a god amount of ack ack against bomber formations...

[Devil 505]

Also - CraterMA has been back up in the MA, and I specifically choose to spawn at the Huge AFs.  I did not notice a drop in frame rate; it stayed steady at 90fps (my VR refresh rate).    So I'm not sure what the problem is, but it is tempting to ask for at least one Huge AF for each country.   I like the layout of these fields and their associated towns, and they throw up a god amount of ack ack against bomber formations...

It's mainly when the ack starts firing. Go to one when it's being attacked.

[JimmyD3]

Those are no problem Oboe, IF we decide we want 1 super base per country we'll just replace the Large airfield at each City strat. As to the Cliffs of Dover and the Rock of Gibraltar those are just elevation and terrain issues. The main issue at this point is setting the bases and not changing them, every time we move a base it requires a total  redo of the local elevations, terrain and spawns. With a 132 different locations, it can get tedious real quick. I do have a checklist I go by to insure I review every base, every spawn, and the access ability of the base and town from every spawn, ie no steep hills to prevent gv access. I also check every base with bombers to insure they can get off the ground and don't run into a mountain on their climb out from at least 1 runway. As of today, I have reviewed from Base #1 all the way to #20, again confirming the checklist items. 

[JimmyD3]

Changed Map name and re-sequenced base numbers....

[JimmyD3]

Still progressing along, we are in the tedious part of map building now. All of the Red, and Green bases have been individually checked for each functional gv spawn, fighter and bombers launches, Shore Battery scan ranges. Now moving on the Blue bases.

[The Fugitive]

Still progressing along, we are in the tedious part of map building now. All of the Red, and Green bases have been individually checked for each functional gv spawn, fighter and bombers launches, Shore Battery scan ranges. Now moving on the Blue bases.

Have you sent Hitech an email with the question of "would this work as a MA map?" and give him the link to the thread? I think your having fun at building this, but if you plan to submit it you should get his input on it and I think an email is the best way, short of a phone call to make sure he sees it.

[JimmyD3]

Have you sent Hitech an email with the question of "would this work as a MA map?" and give him the link to the thread? I think your having fun at building this, but if you plan to submit it you should get his input on it and I think an email is the best way, short of a phone call to make sure he sees it.

Good idea, I will do that today. The sooner we have his input the better. 

[JimmyD3]

Latest changes, based on some feedback, new vbases to come.......

[JimmyD3]

Added back in 8 new Vbases....

[oboe]

I only see the 3 VBases in the center...

My thoughts:

- central Sweden looks a little barren - I think that area could support another field, around 11.15.1, you might shift A54 and 55 SW a little more to make room.   

- Northern Italy has only 1 field (A92).  I think a small field could fit somewhere SW of V81.

- To maintain field numbers balance, Red might squeeze another field in along England's North Sea coast.  Might have to shift A28 location a bit to fit.   But it looks to me like 2 fields could fit here instead of 1.

Getting very exciting to hear you got feedback from Hitech about this map.  I think there are a fair number of players looking foirward to this one!

[JimmyD3]

My bad, I posted a older map, here is the correct one, with the additional V-bases.

[oboe]

Here's a map showing optimum base distances.  The rings are 1/2 sector wide, situated a minimum of 1/2 sector from the fields.  I left off GVBases and small airfields, as it was getting too busy.  But even this display might be helpful in IDing bare spots.




Norway-Sweden-Denmark area, for example.   And the SE corner of the terrain looks pretty empty.    Also, I think it appears that the Green and Blue strats are further apart from each other (as a group) than the Red-Blue or Red-Green strats?   Maybe a blue strat shoudl be moved further east in N Afrtrica, or placed on Crete?

I'll try to do a distance analysis today of the avergae distance to opposing strat targets from the each of the countries' most forward airfields.

[oboe]

EDIT:  Fixed the RED to GREEN Strat paths to originate at A16, the closest base to green enemy strats.

Here is a brief analysis of distances to Strat targets - as you can see, Team RED is at a disadvantage.    Distances are in pixels, scale is about 5.5 px = 1 mile.  I drew lines from the closest large/medium field to the enemy strats, though maybe I erred and should have gone from Red A19 or A16 to Green strats rather than starting from A1.   

I *think* you might want to address this, maybe by making the Green and Blue strats closer to each other?  Not sure much can be done about Red's strat locations, except if you bring in Iceland in the far NW corner of the map...





The most concerning discrepancy to me is the advantage BLUE has over attacking Green's Strats. 

ALSO: Is there a way to disable heavy 4-engine bombers from small fields?

[JimmyD3]

We can work these issues, I believe. While it will never be perfectly balanced it can be improved on.

As a point of reference, the City for each country is represented in a geographical location. The Red City is located generally where London would be, the Green City is located generally where Berlin would be, and the Blue City is located generally where Rome would be. I believe these need to stay as they are.

The other Strat facilities can be moved as needed to balance the accessibility.

I think one of the strong points of this map, is the uniqueness of each country. No two are the exactly the same. Each has strong points and weak points, very much like the ETO was in WW2.