New public release (Build 469) – The countdown to v1.02 begins

November 29, 2013 · Posted in Command · Comment

A new public build of Command is now available, Build 469. This is probably the last public release before we start the release-candidate process for the official v1.02 update. As with previous releases, this build addresses the most immediate issues voiced by the Command user community while also generally improving the quality & functionality of the game.

Download the new build HERE: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B205vpZC1pGmTTYtMVZvSzV1ZUE/edit?usp=sharing

How to use: Unzip the contents of the file to your Command installation directory (the default is "C:\Matrix Games\Command Modern Air Naval Operations"). Answer "yes" to any overwrite questions.

This update is cumulative; it includes the work of all previous beta & public releases from v1.01 until today (incl. builds 446, 451 and 460, the previous public builds). Please ensure you have a working v1.01 installation before applying this update. We recommend you backup your current Command.exe file as a failsafe – just in case the new build for any reason presents problems on your setup.

Release Notes
(changes since Build 460)

Resolved:
– 0005572: BVR-configured fighter not RTBing after expending all BVR missiles
– 0005932: UI Scoring Module isn’t evaluating Victory..stays at minor defeat
– 0005895: Tank kills are being calculated incorrectly in the losses and expenditures log
– 0005313: Not able to add speed and alt order at a plot waypoint
– 0005094: SARH missiles are overshooting a lot
– 0005864: Wake Homer seeker too weak?
– 0005002: Path for wire guided torps is not updated when target changes speed/heading
– 0005820: [442] 53-65K WH Wake Homing Torpedoes
– FIXED: Unit Status text formatting
– FIXED: SAMs engaging strangely
– FIXED: Torpedo passive seeker error
– FIXED: Torpedo warhead effectiveness
– FIXED: Deactivate speed/alt presets via unit status
– 0005427: 0% PH against Russian Warship
– 0005489: AI should fire torpedoes with Full speed throttle setting when possible
– 0005634: Torps with 0 % Chance of hitting
– 0006030: DLZ Calculations Goofed missiles won’t fire
– 0006029: Quickjump Error: Quickjump losing track of assignments and skipping units
– 0006028: Quick Jump Error: Reassigning a key throws an exception
– 0004794: Antisubmarine Torpedo attacking surface ship
– 0005547: [430] Mk. 46 being launched against a surface vessel
– 0005376: Wire-guided torpedoes with an old target should start search pattern, not attack uncertainty region
– 0004789: Tu-142 launches ASW torpedo at ships
– 0005710: Torpedoes chase old contacts, circling around and around when they reach them
– 0005855: [443] White Burnout after torpedo hit
– 0006020: [461] Group Waypoint orders and Mission issues.
– 0005558: [427] Throttle&altitude setting logic
– 0005996: Refuelling Doctrine is not being saved
– 0005965: [bug] quick save resets mission refuel settings
– 0006065: Air Ops window: when opening the Ready Aircraft window the currently used loadout should be selected
– 0006066: It should be possible to double-click to select a loadout
– 0006068: Game freezes a few seconds after dropping a sonobouy
– 0006031: Can somebody check VDS sonars
– 0006063: ESSMs are not illuminating at impact point
– 0006062: [463] SARH SAMs going blind too easily
– 0006050: Weapons window opens DB entry of weapon when i click on checkbox
– 0005587: MiG-29 launches AAM at outdated contact
– 0001531: ‘Dead’ anti-air missiles should fly in a straight line
– 0005915: De-select manual speed&course settings problem
– 0004879: Function keys also close windows
– 0001264: Desired speed label doesn’t change with altitude
– 0002780: General program infrastructure] Speed settings labels
– 0004784: Re-directed ESSMs go after targets far off-line
– 0004811: Current loadout should be highlighted in loadout selection window
– 0005234: [413] Non friendly air units over water show AGL above seabed, not sealevel
– 0002855: AMRAAMs fly in strange directions
– 0005300: Make unavailable loadouts be printed in a different colour than the available ones.
– 0005319: Release and document KML-to-INST tool (Flanker)
– 0005409: Aircraft descent rates are too high
– 0006042: Ready Aircraft Dialog: Text issue
– 0006021: [461] Climb Rates or aircraft
– 0006013: [461] AS-14 Kedge [Kh-29L] running blind
– 0005670: Operating Radius displayed in ready ac dialog
– 0005566: Altitude still reports meters in some windows…
– 0005509: Hotkeys that open windows should also close those windows
– 0006076: [464] Edit AC Ready Immediately crash
– 0005767: User not able to destroy a hardened shelter with SDB- Check these out
– 0005480: [422] Tanker retains Offloading fuel status when I rtb the aircraft that was supposed to tank
– 0005668: Interrupting air-to-air refuelling will still show "refueling in progress" on the tanker
– 0005679: Su-25 cannot illuminate ship targets for AS-14s
– FIXED: Missile impact problems on coarse (1-sec pulse) time mode.
– 0006026: Clicking on Reload Priority opens database viewer. Not intended?
– 0006079: DBViewer crashes always
– 0005994: Yak-9 guns
– 0005971: Air-to-air nukes rarely hit anything
– 0005961: AO’s seem to have an issue with fuel. Could you check these
– 0002645: DB3K: Add Russian Buyan/Astrakhan class corvettes
– 0005585: SET-40U
– 0006022: DB3k Update; Spanish Sea King AEW missing air search capability?
– 0006110: Antishipping Missiles Twirling when they reach their sensor activation point
– 0006122: Nothing happens after CBU-105 hits target
– 0006118: Missions: Implement Sea Control Mission
– 0006123: All-Sonobuoy loadout causes plane status to become WINCHESTER
– 0006136: [466] Mission Editor Dialog too tall for my screen
– 0005648: Helicopters use dipping sonar over land
– 0005256: Dipping sonar not working
– 0005778: Need to add Manual dipping for helo’s with dipping sonar
– 0006106: [465] Game freeze after launch torpedo BOL.
– 0006036: [462] ASW Mission Logic: Surface Units on ASW missions will not engage hostile ships that fire on them
– 0005111: Ships on AAW patrol should still engage surface contacts with guns

Major UI additions/tweaks:
* Major new feature: You can set speed, altitude and sensor commands per waypoint.
There are currently two ways to do this: Select the waypoint and either right-click on it to show available command, or press F2 and/or F9 to bring up the alt/speed and sensor windows respectively.
Waypoint-specific command are applied to the unit once the unit reaches said waypoint.

* New: Quick-jump slots. This allows the player to quickly & easily jump between locations/views of the battlefield without map zoom/pan delays.
How they work:
a) To store a slot: Select a unit/contact. Press Ctrl+[num], where [num] = 1…0 . The unit selection & camera altitude are now stored on slot No.[num] (and persisted per-side).
b) To jump to a saved slot: Simply press [num]. If a slot with that index exists, the camera will move to the marked unit location & altitude.
If you are using tracking-camera when saving a slot, this setting is also saved and enforced the next time you jump to this slot.

* New: Mouse preview mode. When hovering over a non-selected unit/contact, the selection & datablock information for that unit is displayed slightly ghosted. This is useful for quick-look info (without having to display datablocks for all units) and particularly handy when targeting contacts.

* Secondary windows can now be closed by pressing Esc, or their assigned F-key if any.

* Secondary windows now remember their last position and size (these are saved on the Command.ini file so they can be tweaked offline). So you can set up your desired "working environment" once and the windows will retain the customizations accross scenarios and game sessions. To reset the locations & sizes to their default values, click on the button "Reset positions of secondary windows" on the Game Options window.

* Secondary windows now correctly minimize/maximize together with the main game window, and they no longer visually block other program windows.

* You can now manually order a helicopter to hover and use its dipping sonar if it has one. The key combination is Shift+D.

* Sound effects are now played on a single channel (HC97-style) instead of multiple parallel channels. This fixes the distortion & crackle problems when too many effects were played concurrently.

* Background music is now available. This can be enabled/disabled through Game -> Game Options -> Sounds/Music. Players can add more soundtrack files (MP3) to be played randomly, by placing them on the \Sound\Music folder. The included track is the "official" Command soundtrack (the one from the promo trailer).

* New and improved sound effects for various gun calibers (incl. lasers), aircraft & helicopter take-offs, new contacts, alert (weapon contacts) etc.

AI / Mission / Doctrine etc.:
* OODA values are now affected by proficiency levels. Novice crews take twice the nominal time to react while ace crews beat even the by-the-book value (all other levels lie in-between).

* New doctrine option: Engage targets of opportunity (default is NO). When enabled, a unit will target and engage any contact for which it has suitable weaponry (at range up to 1.5 of max suitable weapon range), regardless of its mission tasking.

* New event trigger: Unit Detected. Fires when a unit (flexibly filtered from side-wide down to specific unit) is detected by the specified side.

* New patrol type: Sea Control. This type effectively combines the targeting criteria of the ASuW-Naval and ASW patrol. Units assigned to this patrol type will target anything on the sea surface and below it.

* Various aircraft AI improvements requested by scen authors. Group members now always stick with the leader on a manual plotted course even if they have strike targets assigned.

Data:
* Includes the v400 versions of the DB3000 & CWDB.

The CWDB has received some major additions:

Added and amended the A-1 Series of Skyraiders

AD-1 Skyraider — United States (Marine Corps), 1946-1950
AD-1 Skyraider — United States (Navy), 1946-1950
AD-1Q Skyraider — United States (Navy), 1946-1950
AD-2B Skyraider — United States (Marine Corps), 1948
AD-2B Skyraider — United States (Navy), 1948
AD-2Q Skyraider — United States (Navy)
AD-2Q Skyraider — United States (Navy), 1951
AD-3C Skyraider — United States (Marine Corps), 1950
AD-3C Skyraider — United States (Navy), 1950
AD-3N Skyraider — United States (Navy), 1950
AD-3Q Skyraider — United States (Navy), 1950
AD-3W Skyraider — United States (Navy), 1951
AD-4B Skyraider — United States (Marine Corps), 1950-1962
AD-4B Skyraider — United States (Navy), 1950-1962
AD-4N Skyraider — France (Navy), 1959-1973, [Night attack version]
AD-4N Skyraider — United States (Marine Corps), 1950-1962, [Night attack version]
AD-4N Skyraider — United States (Navy), 1950-1962, [Night attack version]
AD-4NA Skyraider — France (Air Force), 1958-1973, A-1D
AD-4NA Skyraider — United States (Marine Corps), 1950-1962, A-1D
AD-4NA Skyraider — United States (Navy), 1950-1962, A-1D
AD-4NL Skyraider — United States (Marine Corps), 1950-1962, [Night attack version]
AD-4NL Skyraider — United States (Navy), 1950-1962, [Night attack version]
AD-4Q Skyraider — United States (Navy), 1958-1962, EA-1F
AD-4W Skyraider — Sweden (Air Force), 1962, EA-1E
AD-4W Skyraider — United States (Navy), 1951, EA-1E
AD-4W Skyraider AEW.1 — United Kingdom (Royal Navy), 1951-1960
AD-5 Skyraider — South Vietnam [-1975] (Air Force), 1961-1975, A-1E
AD-5 Skyraider — United States (Air Force), 1964-1975, A-1E [1st Air Commando Sqn]
AD-5 Skyraider — United States (Marine Corps), 1953-1960, A-1E
AD-5 Skyraider — United States (Navy), 1963-1964, A-1E
AD-5N Skyraider — South Vietnam [-1975] (Air Force), 1966-1975, A-1G [Night attack version]
AD-5N Skyraider — United States (Marine Corps), 1966-1975, A-1G [Night attack version]
AD-5N Skyraider — United States (Navy), 1969-1972, A-1G [Night attack version]
AD-5Q Skyraider — United States (Navy), 1963-1970, EA-1F
AD-5W Skyraider — United States (Navy), 1950-1962, EA-1E
AD-5W Skyraider — United States (Navy), 1953-1962, EA-1E
AD-6 Skyraider — South Vietnam [-1975] (Air Force), 1960-1975, A-1H
AD-6 Skyraider — United States (Air Force), 1965-1975, A-1H [1st Air Commando Sqn]
AD-6 Skyraider — United States (Marine Corps), 1953-1962, A-1H
AD-6 Skyraider — United States (Marine Corps), 1963-1968, A-1H
AD-6 Skyraider — United States (Navy), 1953-1962, A-1H
AD-6 Skyraider — United States (Navy), 1963-1968, A-1H
AD-7 Skyraider — South Vietnam [-1975] (Air Force), 1971-1975, A-1J
AD-7 Skyraider — United States (Marine Corps), 1960-1962, A-1J
AD-7 Skyraider — United States (Marine Corps), 1963-1975, A-1J
AD-7 Skyraider — United States (Navy), 1960-1962, A-1J
AD-7 Skyraider — United States (Navy), 1963-1970, A-1J

Added and Amended the following Spitfire Variants

Spitfire F. Mk IX — Egypt (Royal Air Force), 1945
Spitfire F. Mk IX — Israel (Royal Air Force), 1945
Spitfire F. Mk IX — United Kingdom (Royal Air Force), 1945
Spitfire F. Mk Vc — Turkey (Royal Air Force), 1942
Spitfire F. Mk Vc — Portugal (Royal Air Force), 1942
Spitfire F. Mk Vc — United Kingdom (Royal Air Force), 1942
Spitfire F. Mk XXIV — Egypt (Air Force), 1946-1955
Spitfire F. Mk XXIV — Greece (Air Force), 1947-1953
Spitfire F. Mk XXIV — India (Air Force), 1946-1955
Spitfire F. Mk XXIV — Israel (Air Force), 1948-1955
Spitfire F. Mk XXIV — Netherlands (Air Force), 1945-1954
Spitfire F. Mk XXIV — Sweden (Air Force), 1948-1955
Spitfire F. Mk XXIV — United Kingdom (Royal Air Force), 1945
Spitfire F. Mk. XIV — United Kingdom (Royal Air Force), 1944
Spitfire F. Mk. XVI — United Kingdom (Royal Air Force), 1942
Spitfire F. Mk. XVIII — United Kingdom (Royal Air Force), 1946
Spitfire PR. Mk. Mk XIX — United Kingdom (Royal Air Force), 1944-1954
Spitfire PR. Mk. XVIII — United Kingdom (Royal Air Force), 1946
Spitfire PR. Mk.X — Greece (Air Force), 1947-1953
Spitfire PR. Mk.X — India (Air Force), 1947-1955
Spitfire PR. Mk.X — Israel (Air Force), 1948-1955
Spitfire PR. Mk.X — Netherlands (Air Force), 1946-1954
Spitfire PR. Mk.X — United Kingdom (Royal Air Force), 1945

Avenger TBM-3S added AN/APR-1 and amended 12.7mm guns
Avenger TBM-3W-2 added AN/APR-1, AN/APS-4 and Search Light
Amended Minesweepers Habicht and Krake to conventional steel boats.
Amended F-106 Delta Dart both the Air Defense Command and ANG versions cannon was added in "Project Six Shooter" in 1972 and replaced the Genie in the bomb bay. The original F-106 had none.
Amended C 551 Garibaldi Polaris loadout to 4 Missiles only.
Narval class SSK in service date amended
Me 109s and He 111s for Spain have now got there there Spanish designations and names
Added R 21 Kotor (ex HMS Kempenfelt, 1956-1973) Yugoslavia
Added R22 Pula (ex HMS Wager 1956-1971) Yugoslavia
Soviet WW2 and pre WW2 Submarines now have correct Class names and torpedo loadouts
Soviet WW2 and pre WW2 and early post war Destroyers have correct torpedo loadouts
Added Soviet MO4 class guard ship

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Command reviewed at HistoriaGames

November 20, 2013 · Posted in Command · Comment

Command was tested by HistoriaGames and received another favorable review:

8.5/10: Command: Modern Air / Naval Operations is a very good game, boasting attention to detail and realism pushed very high. This precision can be detrimental to players with no knowledge of modern war at sea, in the air and especially underwater, but for experienced users of this type of simulation (like Harpoon in particular or in another aspect, more focused on pure simulations like Dangerous Waters or Sub Command ), both the game and its database, make this a software title that is worth seeing.

Read the full review (in French) here.

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Command reviewed at Armchair General

November 15, 2013 · Posted in Command · Comment

Command was reviewed at Armchair General and received a very favorable grade (95%!):

To sum up: Although the price tag might seem a bit much, this game is well worth every cent of it. If you have even a passing interest in the subject matter. then this game is for you. Command: Modern Air/Naval Operations is, without a doubt, a seriously fun, intense, involving simulation of modern naval combat with nearly infinite replay value. It is a more than worthy successor to Harpoon.

Read the full review at the ACG site.

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New Command public release

November 10, 2013 · Posted in Command · Comment

WarfareSims has just released Command Build 460, the next public release available to both new and existing Command users. B460 is a massive update and consolidates a long line of private beta releases with tons of fixes, improvements and brand-new additions.

Release notes summary:

New major feature: Proficiency levels. You can now better recreate situations where large differences in skill were/are a deciding factor (most ME clashes, Desert Storm, air combat in general etc.)
Resuming from autosave after a crash is now literally a two-click job (and the first click is to restart the program).
Added new realism option: Unlimited aircraft weapon loadouts. (Test weapons & tactics quickly without bothering with logistics)
More speed & altitude options.
DB-hyperlinks for weapons added on the “Unit Weapons” window (you can explore your unit’s weapons with a single click)
Massive performance increase, both for UI and sim-engine.
Faster start-up.
Tons of bug fixes.
Lots of new DB additions.

Build 460 is a highly-recommended upgrade for all players of Command. Go to the announcement on the Matrix forum to read the download and usage details, as well as the full release notes.

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