TacOps Changes since first commercial release in August 1994.
TacOps 0.1.5 Update
(1) Fixed game play bug. If the first slot in the artillery dialog was a US MLRS unit or an OPFOR MRL unit and if that unit had just fired a salvo and was reloading, clicking on the Mark Target button would wrongly cancel the reloading period and make the unit immediately ready to fire.
(2) Fixed game setup bug. In solitaire games, certain onmap OPFOR units could not be optionally deleted
(3) Fixed cosmetic bug. Selecting the Review Scenarios button from the game startup window caused wrong characters to later appear in the scenario version number line in the game startup window.
(4) Internal improvement. Improved routines in play by mail segment and in the network segment that test if both players are using the same version of application, scenario, and map.
TacOps 0.1.4 Update
(1) Fixed game play bug. Units added to the game using the "Add One unit" menu item were being placed on the map at elevation 1 even if the placement point was at elevation 0.
TacOps 0.1.3 Update
(1) User requested enhancement. Added user preference item to allow user to exclude enemy information and attrition points in OOB reports.
(2) User requested enhancement. Added BTR90 to unit data base. Unit may be exchanged for BTR80 in most scenarios.
(3) User requested enhancement. Added M977 HEMTT cargo truck and M978 HEMTT fuel truck to unit data base. These units currently have no special game capabilities.
(4) User requested enhancement. Enabled BTRs to be exchanged for BMD and BMPs and vice versa.
(5) User requested enhancement. The combat message display speed is now saved as a preference from game to game. Use the Change Combat Speed menu item to reset this preference.
(6) User requested change. Gave thermal sight to Canadian Eryx ATGM.
(7) User requested change. Increased the useful range and effectiveness of all vehicle coaxially mounted machine guns . Decreased the useful range and effectiveness of all vehicle pintle mounted machine guns.
(8) User requested change. The average time between adjusting rounds for most artillery units has been lengthened by about 30 seconds.
(9) Added pictures for Canadian Chimera, Leopard C1, and Leopard 2 to Photo File Color.
Note: Most of the bugs mentioned below first appeared in the 0.1.2 update. Sorry.
(10) Fixed cosmetic bug. Increased the width of some number boxes in the resupply dialog. Users creating very large scenarios were generating larger numbers than the dialog could display properly.
(11) Fixed cosmetic bug. Fixed the sniper free setup problem that was introduced in the 0.1.2 update.
(12) Fixed cosmetic bug. Some advisory alerts were displaying garbled text during use of the Change Units menu item.
(13) Fixed cosmetic bug. When using the memory aide marker symbols during the orders phase, the "O" symbols now shows up immediately on a unit marker when a first order is given to a unit and when orders are pasted into a unit.
(14) Fixed cosmetic bug. During the setup turn, clicks in the upper left corner of the battle map would sometimes select units that were actually in an equivalent position in the setup/deployment window and would place them on the map.
(15) Fixed cosmetic bug. Changed Canadian ADATs crew from 4 to 3.
(16) Fixed cosmetic bug. Changed MILAN 2 team personnel from 2 to 3
(17) Fixed cosmetic bug. When splitting a marker only the first marker would retain the proper visibility level. The split out markers would often be given a lower visibility level.
(18) Fixed cosmetic bug. Changed the ammo count for Canadian tank coaxial 7.62 machine guns from 1000 rounds to 5060 and the ammo for the pintle mounted 7.62 machine gun from 5060 rounds to 1000.
(19) Fixed cosmetic bug. Updated Map01 to version 0.0.1. Removed an unmarked bit of woods that was wrongly located at UTM 095026 from the terrain data base. The terrain data base now matches the map graphic in that area.
(20) Fixed game play bug. OPFOR MRLS artillery when firing adjusting fire was experiencing seven minute delays between adjusting rounds.
(21) Fixed game play bug. Added code to insure that no more than one smoke volley will impact in the same turn from the same firing unit.
(22) Fixed game play bug. Made following changes to Canadian Leopard C1 tank - removed thermal sights, changed main gun to105mm L7M68 gun, changed lethality value to 70.
(23) Fixed game play bug. Made following changes to Canadian Leopard C1A1 tank - added thermal sights, changed main gun to105mm Royal Ordnance High Pressure gun, changed lethality value to 75.
(24) Fixed game play bug. Redid Arty and Air target symbol drawing routines to work faster on PowerMacs.
(25) Fixed game play bug. The optional user preference for anti thermal arty smoke was not always effective.
(26) Fixed game play bug. The program would sometimes fail to award US victory in very large scenarios having OPFOR exit requirements.
(27) Fixed game play bug. Some scenarios with multi step victory conditions were ending prematurely when a side with an exit victory condition fell below the force needed to achieve the exit goal. The game would then end, potentially before the other side had sufficient opportunity to prove that it could accomplish its multi step mission.
(28) Fixed game crash bug. Added scroll bars to the OOB report so that it would never be larger than the user's screen. This fixed a game hang that would occur on some Macs when users created very large scenarios with enough unit types to cause the OOB report to extend past the top and or bottom of the user's screen.
(29) Fixed game crash bug. The program would often crash if the addition of optional units was immediately followed by the deletion of a unit that was still in the deployment window.
TacOps 0.1.2 Update
(1) User requested enhancement. Changed the "Copy Orders" button in the unit orders window to "Get Add Orders". Clicking on this button will hide the orders dialog and will display a cross hair cursor. If the cursor is then clicked on anther unit, that unit's orders will be appended to the end of the orders of the unit whose orders window is open. A number of users felt that this would be a more efficient way to organize a number of units into a column formation than using the normal Copy/Paste Orders menu items.
(2) User requested enhancement. Fifteen characters of text may now be placed in each unit marker. Provided to allow users to name units and primarily to support users who are employing TacOps in conjunction with military training. To place text in a unit marker - open a unit orders window, zoom the window to wide format, click in the white box under the Supply Unit button, and enter the desired text.
(3) User requested enhancement. Added "Add One unit" menu item to the Options menu. When selected, this menu item will lead to a dialog that allows any unit in the data base to be created and placed anywhere on the map. Provided primarily to better support the use of the Custom Scenario templates to create custom two player games. The feature may be used in any mode of play during the startup turn. However, use of this option in solitaire games to add OPFOR units may cause undesired behavior in the computer opponent.
(4) User requested enhancement. User may now use the Preferences window to assign a force name different from "US" to the green force. The effect is only cosmetic. For example changing the force name from "US" to "Canada" will not change any units or weapons or any aspect of game play.
(5) User requested enhancement. Enabled user to change the entry times of US and OPFOR units that enter the game from off map. To use this option select the "Change US Entry time" or the "Change OPFOR Entry time" menu items in the Options menu during the startup turn.
(6) User requested enhancement. Enabled the user to optionally specify a SOP reverse distance. The default distance is 200 meters.
(7) User requested enhancement. When a unit begins a SOP directed reverse movement, an order is also automatically given to enter defilade mode at the end of the movement.
(8) User requested enhancement. Added the following OPFOR units to the unit data base: BMD1 IFV, UAZ469 light truck, GAZ66 light truck, Command and Command (-) units, Mi8/17 Hip helicopter, Mi26 Halo helicopter.
(9) User requested enhancement. Added the following units to the unit data base: Canadian Leopard tanks, Canadian M113 with Milan2 ATGM, Canadian Eryx ATGM Team, Canadian Javelin S-15 SAM, and Canadian Infantry Section.
(10) User requested enhancement. Added the following units to the unit data base: M577 Command Post, Command Element, and Command Element (minus). These units currently have no special game abilities. Added to support users who are employing TacOps in conjunction with military training.
(11) User requested enhancement. Added the following units to the unit data base: M113 Ambulance, Medical Section, Medic, and Corpsman. These units have no combat power and currently have no special game abilities. Added primarily to support users who are employing TacOps in conjunction with military training.
(12) User requested enhancement. Added M113 with PPS5 Ground Surveillance Radar to the unit data base. The PPS5 can see through smoke. Added to support users who are employing TacOps in conjunction with military training.
(13) User requested enhancement. Added M113 with FISTV to the unit data base. Gave a special capability to M113 with FISTV. If a FISTV unit observes the impact of friendly artillery, the chance of impact deviation will be significantly reduced and the accuracy of the next salvo on the same target point from that artillery unit will be increased two levels. Added primarily to support users who are employing TacOps in conjunction with military training.
(14) User requested enhancement. Added the following units to the unit data base: M548 Ammo/Load Carrier, M578 Armored Recovery Vehicle, and M88 Armored Recovery Vehicle. These units currently have no special game abilities. Added primarily to support users who are employing TacOps in conjunction with military training.
(15) User requested enhancement. Added the US XM8 Armored Gun System to the unit data base. Three variants were provided to represent the AGS's three different armor configurations. L1 is the basic vehicle. L2 is the basic vehicle plus about 4,000 lbs of add on armor. L3 is the basic vehicle plus about 12,000 lbs of add on armor. The mm ratings for the AGS's armor packages are very rough approximations. However they are believed to be accurate enough for game purposes in that they produce the following results. In TacOps, the AGS L1 frontal armor resists 14.5mm guns. Its side and rear armor resists 7.62mm guns. AGS L2 frontal armor resists 30mm guns and small hand held HEAT weapons (RPGs/LAAW). Its side and rear armor resists 14.5mm guns. AGS L3 front and side armor resists 30mm guns and RPGs/LAAW. Its rear armor resists 14.5mm guns and all RPGs/LAAW.
(16) User requested enhancement. Added the following unit to the unit data base: Canadian Milan2 ATGM team.
(17) User requested enhancement. Added the Canadian M113 w ADATS to the unit data base. ADATS stands for Air Defense Anti Tank System. The ADATS missile is a dual purpose round that can be used against air targets or against armored ground targets.
(18) User requested enhancement. Added the Canadian Chimera Tank Destroyer to the unit data base. The Chimera is a future weapon that has not yet been fielded. It has no turret and has super heavy frontal armor but weak side and rear armor. Its 120mm gun can only engage targets within the vehicle's frontal 30 degree arc and it can not be fired on the move.
(19) User requested enhancement. Revised 20 range of OPFOR AT-5 Spandrel from 5000 meters to 4000 meters.
(21) User requested enhancement. Revised and simplified "Change Weapons" menu item.
(22) User requested enhancement. AT-4 LAAW can now be transformed into M72 LAAW during the setup turn. Continuation of effort to support users wanting to convert scenarios to late 60s and early 70s equipment. Also useful for simulating current Canadian forces.
(23) User requested enhancement. Increased the realism fidelity of SAM fire versus airstrikes and helicopters.
(24) User requested enhancement. Man portable SAMs that are being carried in or on vehicles are now limited to one target acquisition attempt per vehicle per fifteen second fire pulse. Several users objected to the game allowing multiple SAM gunners to stand on top of one APC and launch multiple missiles.
(25) User requested enhancement. The keystroke sequence of "Cmd key, Option key and V" will now append any orders in memory onto the end of a selected unit's existing list of orders. This will also work for a unit whose orders window is open.
(26) User requested enhancement. Reduced greatly the accuracy, range, and penetration of door and window mounted machine guns on transport helicopters. Done to better reflect the difficulty of accurately firing such weapons and to reflect the low armor penetrating ammo that is usually used. A major effect of this change will likely be a significant reduction in the unrealistic game practice of using empty transport helicopters to hunt enemy APCs.
(27) User requested enhancement. Added more unit and or weapon swaps to the Change Weapons menu item. Units unique to Canada are marked with a '•'. Added routines to the swap weapon and unit procedures to allow the user to influence how the program deals with problems involved in changing certain units to others.
(28) Changed OPFOR 152mm Howitzer anti armor effect from frag/kinetic energy to HEAT/chemical energy. Increased penetration of OPFOR 152mm Howitzer from 130mm to 500mm. Decreased HEAT penetration of OPFOR 122mm Howitzer from 580mm to 500mm. Decreased HEAT penetration of US 152mm Howitzer from 600mm to 500mm.
(29) Added Cmd ';' keystroke to select the Check Thermal Line of Sight menu item - works in addition to Cmd Shift L. The ';' character will appear in the menu list, whereas the shift combination does not - for those folks who never read the manual.
(30) User requested enhancement. When a unit orders window is open and the user decides to join units or to load units, the orders window will collapse so as to be out of the way until the map selections are finished.
(31) User requested enhancement. You can now place artillery adjusting fire on friendly units without having to first check "allow fire support..." in their SOPs. Artillery fire for effect will still verify the "allow fire support..." unit SOP setting.
(32) User requested enhancement. An absent minded user asked for a lasting mark to be made on his screen during network games to remind him that his opponent had finished his orders. If your opponent has finished his orders, a red dot will now be drawn on the "hand" icon in the lower left corner of the screen.
(33) Added a compatibility check when reading play by mail orders files to insure that both players are using the same map and scenario versions.
(34) If an off map arty unit runs out of smoke the program will now switch to adjusting fire rather than fire for effect HE or ICM. Reduces chance that someone will inadvertently shell their own troops with ICM.
(35) User requested enhancement. Added "Force Lethality Ratio, Now" line to Game Status Report.
(36) User requested enhancement. Added "Ignore Unit Setup Limits" menu item to the Options menu. When this menu item is checked, units may be setup anywhere on the map. In network and play by mail games your opponent will be notified if you use this menu item to place your units outside normal setup areas.
(37) User requested enhancement. When APCs and Helos are instantly unloaded during the orders phase, any pending orders are now canceled for that unit. Done to eliminate a common user orders entry mistake that was causing helos to appear to unload units before moving off on new missions.
(38) User requested enhancement. Placed unit text name and UTM coordinates in the title line of the Unit Info Window.
(39) User requested enhancement. When reviewing scenarios at game startup, the user is no longer kicked back to the startup screen after looking at each scenario. User can now review as many scenarios as he likes.
(40) User requested enhancement. Modified the following unit lethality values.
(-) 2S 120mm SP Mortar 150 to 85
(+) T152mm SP Hwtzr 80 to 225
(+) AT7 ATGM Saxhorn 30 to 36
(-) BMP2 IFV 62 to 55
(-) Mi28 Havoc Helo 400 to 350
(-) SPG9 Team 29 to 25
(-) T72M Tank 75 to 80
(+) T80U Tank ATGM 85 to 90
(-) XM8 AGS L3 80 to 75
(-) ZSU-23-4 AAA 47 to 40
(41) Fixed bug. Program was not announcing the awarding of additional artillery ammo or additional airstrikes in play by mail games.
(42) Fixed bug. Often only one or two portable SAMs would fire at an airstrike even though more than that had acquired the target. All /any SAMs are still not guaranteed to fire, however any that don't fire are not now being influenced by a bug.
(43) Fixed bug. Fixed AppleTalk error that caused program to intermittently lock up at the beginning of a network orders exchange.
(44) Fixed bug. If user set volume to zero and played a game to completion the program would hang when "New Game" was selected.
(45) Fixed bug. In two player games, if a US unit accidentally entered one of its own US minefields, that minefield would be revealed to the OPFOR player (i.e. would be drawn on the OPFOR screen) and vice versa.
(46) Fixed bug. When the program displayed the UTM grid coordinates of a map point, the Easting grid coordinate was stated to be 100 meters West of its true position.
(47) Fixed bug. Fixed Type 1 error bug reported by pbrewer@prairienet.org (Philip Brewer) related to OPFOR units exiting the map along the exact south edge of the map.
(48) Fixed cosmetic bug. Map was not auto scrolling to the map edge while using the manual line of sight tool.
(49) Fixed bug. Fixed bug as result of saved game files provided by benson@slip.net (Benson Toy). The program told him that he had lost the game even though it seemed that he had exited an adequate number of units. I discovered the following. If a user restarted a game by loading the √AutoSave file for the setup turn, the force lethality values would be doubled for both the US and the OPFOR. Thus if the game victory conditions involved the exiting or survival of a certain percentage of a side's starting force, that force would have greatly increased difficulty winning because its surviving/exiting units would be calculated against a starting force value that was twice what it should be. Note that this condition could only be caused by loading the √AutoSave file for the very first turn. Loading a normal saved game for any turn including turn one or loading any √AutoSave file for turns after the first turn did not cause a problem.
(50) Fixed following bug. If a user set a range limit for an APC and then loaded or unloaded a SAM team the APC's range limit would change to max range.
(51) Fixed bug. The "Load" menu item's purpose is to load units into or onto vehicles. A new user inadvertently tried to use the "Load" menu item during the setup turn to load infantry units into entrenchments - unfortunately it worked and the units were instantly vaporized.
(52) Fixed bug. In scenarios requiring units to exit the east edge of the map for victory credit, if at the end of a combat phase a US unit was centered on the first pixel (first pixel only) of the eastern border of the map, the unit would exit the map but it would not get exit credit. This is undoubtedly the bug that caused reports of Team Hall intermittently wrongly awarding victory to OPFOR - I have hunted this bug off and on for seven months.
(53) Fixed cosmetic bug. After stopping a Game Run Out , the artillery response times in the US Artillery Support Window would often show negative numbers for minutes or seconds.
(54) Fixed following cosmetic bug. When using the Hide Units With Orders option and then drag-selecting units which are then given pasted orders, said units did not hide until after deselecting and then reselecting the Hide Units With Orders menu item.
(55) Fixed following cosmetic bug. If you pulled up the "Change game length" option at the start of a game, did not fill in a number and hit OK, the warning dialog came up telling you that a game must be between 5 & 600 minutes. If you then hit 'OK' the first dialog would come back up saying that "Current game length is Game length".
(56) Fixed bug. In solitaire games only, if OPFOR arty was shelling a spotted unit and if the unit went unspotted or was eliminated, and if the AI decided during its orders phase to try to shift the ongoing arty mission to another spotted unit, and if the other spotted unit was an infantry ATGM, and if the next unit in memory following the memory location of the spotted unit was inside an APC, the AI would wrongly target the unit inside the APC (at map pixel coordinates -3000,50). The result would be that on the next turn, one or more arty missions would impact off the map and every US and OPFOR unit in the game would experience an arty impact result check. If the unit being shifted to (but not the one inside an APC) happened to be the last unit in the US unit list, the program might infrequently hang or crash.
(57) Fixed bug. OPFOR units would sometimes be hidden from the OPFOR player in network games that were reloaded from a saved game file or an auto save file in response to using the New Game menu item.
(58) Fixed bug. Updated scenario files Team O'Hara and Team Ostle to versions 0.0.2. Both scenarios wrongly provided ICM ammo to OPFOR 122mm Howitzers.
(59) Fixed bugs. Updated TF Hoeft scenarios, variants one through eight. In variants two through four, BMPs were being used instead of BTRs. Several of the variants incorrectly had identical or nearly identical OPFOR battle plans which did not provide the correct march order as set forth in the About Scenario text.
(60) Fixed cosmetic bug. Corrected decimal rounding error in force ratio lines in Game Status Report.
Version 0.1.1 Update
(1) User requested enhancement. Unit orders window is now temporarily hidden while setting a priority target unit, a priority target type, or a priority target reference point.
(2) User requested enhancement. Stinger SAMs, and SA16 SAMS can now spot and shoot at air targets from, into, and or through smoke. The ZSU-24-4 can now spot and shoot at air targets from, into, and or through smoke. Although the Stinger, SA16 , and ZSU-24-4 are now rated as having thermal and or radar sights, they can not use this special capability from, into, and or through smoke to spot or fire at ground targets or to adjust artillery fire.
(3) User requested enhancement. US Army is replacing M901 ITVs with M3 Bradleys. M901 ITVs in a scenarios can now be transformed into M3 Bradley IFVs during the setup turn and vice versa. Note that transforming M3 Bradley IFVs into M901 ITVs will delete any infantry unit that might be embarked in the M3.
(4) Fixed bug. A bug was introduced in version 0.0.3 that would sometimes crash the program immediately before the appearance of an artillery impact if either the US or the OPFOR player were using an optional Unmanned Aerial Vehicle. This bug only occured when all of the following conditions were met: an optional Unmanned Aerial Vehicle was placed in play, and the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle could not see an incoming arty impact, and the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle was the last unit in a given side's order of battle list.
Version 0.1.0 Update
(1) User requested enhancement. Enabled dragable windows and dialogs to be dragged across mulitple monitors.
(2) User requested enhancement. Added line of sight checked pinned to a selected unit. To use, shift select or lasso a unit, then select the Line of Sight menu item. Move the mouse to check line of sight but do not press the mouse button until ready to turn off the pinned line of sight check. If the selected unit has thermal sights the routine will automatically show the unit's thermal line of sight.
(3) User requested enhancement. The line of sight cursor now turns gray if there is a clear line of sight to a target point but the point is beyond the scenario's maximum visibility limit.
(4) User requested enhancement. New command key shortcut - if the command key is held down while clicking on a unit, the unit's information window will now be displayed. As before, if the option key is held down while clicking on a unit, a photo of the unit will be displayed.
(5) User requested enhancement. In play by mail games, if the program finds that the combat relevant user preferences of the two players do not agree during the first orders exchange, the OPFOR preferences and the OPFOR orders will be automatically changed to match the US preferences.
(6) User requested enhancement. User may now set the maximum normal and thermal visibility limits for a scenario during the setup turn. Selection is made by setting game preference items nine and ten. The normal and thermal visibility limits may be different but the thermal limit may never be less than the normal limit. Normal and thermal visibility can not be set below 150 meters and they can not be set above 4000 meters. Please note that this is an interim or experimental implementation of user controlled limited visibility. This feature has not been thoroughly tested and may not provide uniformly realistic results.
(7) User requested enhancement. Limted the SOP functions in the Unit Orders window so that global changes are limited to the same air or ground class as the selected unit. The global set SOP button is now labeld "Set All Helo Units" or "Set All Ground Units" as appropriate.
(8) User requested enhancement. Added two new menu items to the Map menu: Plot Wrecks and Clear Wrecks. The Plot Wrecks menu item can be checked on or off to control whether wrecks are drawn on the map. The Clear Wrecks menu item will permanently delete all existing wreck records.
(9) User requested enhancement. M2 and M3 Bradley IFVs in a scenarios can now be transformed into M113 APCs during the setup turn. And M1 and M60A3 tanks can now be transformed into a 1970s and early 80s M60 tank with a tungsten penetrator. It should be noted that the M3 Bradley can not hold as many troops as the M2 and M113 can. Changing loaded M2s and M113s into M3 Bradleys may result in the M3 being grossly overloaded. Once a newly converted M3 is unloaded, you may not be able to fit all the infantry back into it. With these additions, users can now convert most of the contemporary TacOps scenarios into 70's and 80's "what if" scenarios by changing M2s and M3s into M113s, changing JAVELIN ATGMs into Dragons, changing M1 tanks into the early M60, changing all OPFOR tanks into the Iraqi T72, changing BMP2s into BMP1s, not giving improved penetrators to OPFOR ATGMs, and by not giving thermal sights to OPFOR tanks.
(10) User requested enhancement. New command key shortcut - if the command key is held down while clicking on a unit, the unit's information window will now be displayed. As before, if the option key is held down while clicking on a unit, a photo of the unit will be displayed.
(11) User requested enhancement. The unit selection rectangle no longer highlights units that have been hidden with the various Hide Unit menu items.
(12) User requested enhancement. The Plot Minefield Lanes menu item is now a semi permanent setting the same as Plot Fire Support and Plot TRPs.
(13) Fixed bug that failed to clear hard priority target unit orders when the target unit was eliminated.
(14) Fixed bug that introduced garbage into the version number item in the startup window after user returned from reviewing a scenario description.
(15) Fixed bug that caused crash sometimes during setup turn when user tried to load an infantry unit on the map into an APC unit that was still in the setup window and vice versa.
(16) Fixed bug that wrongly allowed the AI to know that it had killed unobserved infantry with a purely speculative artillery salvo.
Version 0.0.3 Update
(1) Changed orders window so that most delayed orders buttons remain active even for units with a speed of zero or with mobility damage. Was started by the need to let ZU23 do facing changes, then just decided to let everyone do it.
(2) Fixed bug introduced in 0.0.2 that enabled both red and blue orders menuitems after looking at a unit orders window and other windows in a two on one computer game.
(3) Added a user requested enhancement. Enabled qualifying helicopters to transport qualifying vehicles using an external sling. UH60 Blackhawk, CH46, CH47, and CH54 helicopters can now carry externally one HMMWV per aircraft in addition to their normal troop load. CH54 helicopter can now carry externally one LAV per helicopter in addition to its normal troop load.
(4) Added a user requested enhancement. Added a nine man US Army light infantry/airborne/air assault squad and a US two man M60 mg team to the unit data base for light infantry scenarios.
(5) Made setup turn unit repostion routines smarter. Added code so that user does not have to release shift key to resposition a unit if the point clicked on the map has no unit in it.
(6) Changed troop carrying capacity of cargo HMMWVs from 6 to 8 so that a US Army light infantry squad could be squeezed into one HMMWV.
(7) Reduced overkill of single targets again - what remains is intentional.
(8) Fixed cosmetic bug. The Options Menu Item, Change Artillery Support, displayed the US chance of receiving additional artillery ammo in both the US and OPFOR static text boxes.
(9) Fixed cosmetic bug. UTM grid coordinates were being displayed with padding zeros after the first Northing and Easting digits. Nine is the largest possible number after the 1st Northing digit and after the first Easting digit so there was no need for padding zeros.
(10) Added a user requested enhancement. Ammo reports are now dragable and the map can be scrolled behind them.
(11) Fixed bug introduced in 0.0.2 that was causing on map mortar units to fire each tube in the marker when doing direct area fire instead of all tubes at once.
(12) Added a user requested enhancement. Added OPFOR BMP1 with 73mm Gun and Sagger ATGM to the unit data base. The user can replace BMP2s and BMP3s with BMP1s by using the Change Weapons menu item in the Options Menu.
(13) Added a user requested enhancement. Added capability for limited eye and thermal visibility due to inclement weather. Currently this is controlled by the scenario. This will be user controlled after the next update.
(14) Added user requested enhancement. The entry point selection window for off map units that enter the map after turn one now shows the entry hour and minute for each unit in the window.
(15) Added user requested enhancement. When the artillery dialog is open and the user clicks the "Shift to TRP" button, the dialog is now temporarily hidden in the same manner as when marking a target. Also did this for the on map artillery orders window.
(16) Fixed the program so that when one uses the "Apply to all Units" button in the SOP window an infantry unit will not change/clear a helo unit's "evasive action setting".
Version 0.0.2 Update
(1) User requested enhancement. Users may now edit supply points.
(2) User requested enhancement. Users may now edit the percentage chance of receiving unplanned air support.
(3) User requested enhancement. Users may now edit the percentage chance of receiving additional artillery ammunition.
(4) User requested enhancement. Added "Hide All Units" menu item to the Map menu. When selected, this menu item will remove all unit markers from the map. When selected a second time all unit markers will be returned to the map. Several users requested this feature so that they could view more clearly the terrain underneath a unit marker.
(5) User requested enhancement. Selecting the "View Terrain" menu item now also removes all unit markers from the map in addition to all smoke and wreck markers. Selecting the "View Terrain" menu item a second time returns all unit, smoke, and wreck markers to the map. Several users requested this feature so that they could view more clearly the terrain underneath a unit marker.
(6) User requested enhancement. A user pointed out that when one selected the "Change Unit Symbols" menu item, one would be shown the orders status of enemy units as well as friendly units. This provided unjustified intelligence about enemy unit intentions. The program now displays blank orders status markers for enemy units in this situation.
(7) User requested enhancement. Pressing the "X' key when a Unit Orders Window is open will now delete all orders for that unit. Pressing the "-' key when a Unit Orders Window is open will now delete the last order for that unit.
(8) User requested enhancement. Program now checks when play by mail orders are read to insure that both players are using the same version of TacOps. If one player is using an older or a newer version than the other, an alert will be displayed.
(9) User requested enhancement. Increased the optional orders phase time limit from five minutes to ten minutes for the "Change Orders Time Limit" menu item.
(10) User requested enhancement. The program now also assess suppression to any like unit located within 30 meters (3 pixels) of the center point of a newly suppressed unit. Several users pointed out that they were being pressured by the game engine to break units down to individual squads/vehicles because of an oddity they had noticed with direct fire suppression. If a platoon or company sized marker took a direct fire casualty all the subunits represented by that marker would be suppressed. However if they split a unit down to individual markers and then moved the resultant stack of several markers, direct fire casualties would not result in the whole stack being suppressed even though all of the markers had the same exact center point as a single larger marker would have had.
(11) User requested enhancement. Program now temporarily hides all fire support mission markers when marking or shifting "on map" artillery or mortar targets. If the user does not want the markers to be temporarily hidden, this feature may be disabled by holding down the option key as the Mark or Shift Target menu items are selected.
(12) User requested enhancement. Command W now dismisses the Unit Setup Window, if the window is empty. Also now dismisses Unit Info Window and Weapon Info Window.
(13) User requested enhancement. Attack helos will now check for friendly units within 200 meters of rocket attack targets. Unless friendly units within 200 meters have their SOPs set for fire support on their own position the rockets will not be fired.
(14) User requested enhancement. Implemented a new indirect fire control interface for air support, off map artillery, and on map artillery. The new interface eliminates frequently used pop menus which were particulary unpopular with PowerBook owners.
(15) User requested enhancement. Changed the method for setting unit SOP from a popup menu to a window. Many users did not like the popup menu approach given the larger number of items in the menu, especially PowerBook owners.
(16) User requested enhancement. Added two new SOP settings for vehicles that can carry troops - "Unload If Fired On" and "Unload After Firing". These settings may be combined with the other "If Fired On" and "After Firing" SOP settings.
(17) User requested enhancement. Added menu items allowing the copying and pasting of unit SOP settings in the same manner as orders.
(18) User requested enhancement. On map artillery and mortar units can now set and use artillery target reference points (indirect fire TRPs). However on map units can not use TRPs set by off map units and vice versa.
(19) User requested enhancement. When an off map or an on map artillery/mortar unit has fired enough adjusting rounds for its accuracy level to reach level 5, additional adjusting impacts will not be displayed on the map. A number of users felt this looked more realistic, would speed play, and would reduce distracting sounds.
(20) User requested enhancement. Increased the flexibility and number of optional weapons and unit changes available at game startup. This required that pop up menus be used in the change window to accomodate the larger number of choices. M2 Bradley IFVs may now be exchanged with M113 APCs.
(21) User requested enhancement. The Change Weapons menu item can now be used to change less than all units of a like type. For example a user can now choose to just change some of his tanks to a different model.
(22) User requested enhancement. Changed the implementation of copying orders between units to more closely follow the usual Mac convention of select, copy, then paste. In general selections can now be done by clicking or by dragging a selection rectangle. Orders copying and pasting can now be done from the map or from the unit orders window using the customary command C and command V keystrokes. In general selections may now be added to or subtracted from by using the shift key.
(23) User requested enhancement. Added dismounted US 81mm mortar team.
(24) User requested enhancement. Added a model of T72M tank appropriate to 1991 Iraq. Main difference from the current T72M is a tungsten penetrator.
(25) User requested enhancement. Added an OPFOR 125mm tank gun firing a steel penetrator and an OPFOR 125mm tank gun firing a tungsten penetrator to the weapon data base. User can now use the "Change Weapons" menu item to change the advanced penetrator of the T72 and T80 tank to one made of steel or tungsten. This will greatly reduce the T72's and T80's capability versus the US M1 tank.
(26) User requested enhancement. Added special capability recon and sniper teams to the unit and weapons data bases. However, the new units and weapons will not be available until new scenarios are done (soon) and or some of the original scenarios are updated.
(27) User requested enhancement. To make slight changes in the position of a unit during the setup turn, open the unit's orders window and hold down the shift key while pressing an arrow key. The unit will shift one pixel in the direction of the arrow key.
(28) User requested enhancement. Added text display of game version number to the startup "Game Selection" dialog and the "About" dialog.
(29) Tweaked unit data base. Increased the water speed of the USMC AAV to about 8MPH/13KmPH.
(30) Tweaked unit data base. Gave thermal imaging capability to US OH-58 helicopters.
(31) Tweaked unit data base. Reduced ammo available for on map HMMWV 81 mortar teams from 94 to 72 rounds.
(32) Tweaked game play. Decreased the probablity of hitting entrenched units with direct fire.
(33) Tweaked game play. Reduced the salvo radius of helicopter fired rocket pods to a standard 75 meters.
(34) Tweaked game play. Increased the likelihood of a helo successfully executing a popup fire maneuver.
(35) Tweaked game play. Adjusting fire now costs on map artillery and mortars one round per impact.
(36) Tweaked game play. Antithermal smoke used to permit thermal devices to penetrate the first 100 meters of such smoke. Antithermal smoke in the game now stops even thermal sights at the first meter of smoke - unless the opposing units are at near point blank range.
(37) Tweaked weapon effects. Reduced the frequency of units firing at already dead targets.
(38) Fixed cosmetic item. When looking at the wide form of the orders window, clicking at the place where the zoom box would be if one were looking at the narrow form would sometimes wrongfully change the window from wide to narrow.
(39) Fixed cosmetic item. The Goto Unit dialog did not properly erase and redraw open desktop/finder windows underneath its old position when dismissed.
(40) Fixed cosmetic item. The Set DFTRP distance dialog did not properly erase and redraw any open desktop/finder windows underneath its old position when dismissed.
(41) Fixed cosmetic item. When the Plot Fire Support menu item was active, using the option key + mouse click on a unit did not display the unit's photo.
(42) Fixed cosmetic item. When more than two HIND helicopters were joined, their unit marker turned blank.
(43) Fixed game info item. If a unit marked an enemy unit as a priority target using the set target button and if the enemy unit later became hidden/unspotted and if the user then clicked on the set target button indicator light, the hidden position of the enemy unit would be wrongfully revealed by a flashing square.
(44) Fixed minor bug. On some Macs, the program did not properly reset system volume to the user's pregame setting on program exit.
(45) Fixed minor bug. If a user split a suppressed unit, the split off subunit would not be suppressed.
(46) Fixed minor bug. When user opened the Off Map Artillery Support window, marked a target (thus setting "Adjusting Fire"), selected smoke ammo, and then immediately changed the ammo selection to HE or ICM, the fire mission would wrongfully change from "Adjusting Fire" to "Fire For Effect".
(47) Fixed minor bug. User could land a helicopter in forbidden woods or nonroad town terrain by issuing delayed helo down orders.
(48) Fixed minor bug. If a unit were entrenched and if that unit had one of the following SOP settings "Stop If Fired On", "Pop Smoke & Stop If Fired On", "Stop After Firing", "Pop Smoke & Stop After Firing" and if that unit fired or was fired upon, the program would wrongfully change the unit's disposition to defilade.
(49) Fixed game play bug. Small portable SAMs were not firing when they were the specific target of enemy fixed wing. The minimum range of 150 meters for these two weapons did not mesh properly with the program's simplified ground fire versus fixed wing airstrike routines. The program now ignores minimum range for Stinger and SA16 SAMs versus incoming fixed wing air strikes.
(50) Fixed game play bug. Identical units had a higher effective ground speed when moving diagonally than when moving horizontally or vertically.
(51) Fixed game play bug. If a multi unit helicopter marker was in the air, and if infantry were being carried onboard the helicopters, and if the helicopter marker lost all of its subelements in one combat pulse, one helicopter's worth of infantry cargo would survive. The correct result should have been no survivors.
(52) Fixed game crash bug. If two delayed impact ATGMs were both going after the same target, and if the target was at extreme range, and if the first ATGM to hit killed the target, and if the target was a unit with only one vehicle in it, the program would sometimes crash.
(53) Fixed bug that caused older Macs running System 6 to sometimes lock up when the "New Game" menu item was selected or when the "Large Symbols" menu item was selected.
Version 0.0.1 Update
(1) OPFOR Unmanned Aerial Vehicle was showing the green symbol of a US Kiowa helicopter.
(2) The "Set DF TRP" button in the Unit Orders Window did not dim when user opened the window for an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle.
(3) Unmanned Aerial Vehicle was showing strange numbers (to include very large negative numbers) in the max range box under the range scroll bar in the Unit Orders Window - should have been showing 0 for a max range since it has no weapons.
(4) Fixed following cosmetic bug: "Select the Options menu: Change Artillery Support menu item, if you "UNUSE" the second howitzer (SLOT 2) and use instead an MLRS (SLOT 3) the MLRS won't appear on the artillery support menu in the game." Problem was caused by user leaving empty slots between arty units. Added code to check for this condition and if found to close up the new arty list so as to skip any empty slots.
(5) Fixed following cosmetic bug: "Select the Options menu: Change Artillery Support menu item, if one changes the 2nd howitzer (SLOT 2) into an MLRS and back again [into a howitzer] (the howitzer can then only fire 7 ICM's and no HE or smoke). User does not have access to the data entry blocks for HE or SMOKE for that slot anymore unless he closes and reopens the change dialog."
(6) A number of users complained about the Game Status Report being automatically shown after they had selected Quit or New Game. They felt that once a user had indicated that he wanted to quit a game then the program ought to just quit. I removed the offending feature.
(7) The firing info message incorrectly substituted the word "entrenchment" for the type of unit being fired on during direct fire at units inside entrenchments even though the target units were plainly visible to the user.
(8) The top turret machine gun on M1 tanks, LAVs, and probably some other vehicles was incorrectly identified as an "M60" machine gun - they are now more often M240s. The US infantry machine gun was also identified as an M60 and the USMC is about to change to a different weapon. To eliminate these inaccuracies, we changed the names to "7.62mm machine gun". The combat resolution tables were not changed so there is no impact on game logic/play.
(9) The "Go To Unit" menu item would wrongfully open the orders window of off map APCs carrying infantry.
(10) The Ammo Reports were not disabling conflicting command key sequences.
(11) The Ammo Reports should have only been reporting the ammo status of on map units.
(12) Made the appearance and functioning of the reports accessed through the Reports menu more consistent with one another.
(13) For user convenience, increased the use of Command W keystroke for dismissing windows and added it as a menu item in the file menu.
(14) A number of the reports in the Reports menu were failing to disable conflicting command key sequences before drawing to the screen.
(15) Fixed bug in game play. Smoke on high ground was not consistently blocking ordinary line of sight. The bug was largely insignificant in games in which both sides possessed thermal sights. Bug was introduced by the compiler global optimizer. When the optimizer was disabled in the function that builds the line of sight block bitmaps, the bug disappeared.
(16) The entrenchment delayed orders button was being shown in the unit orders window even when the unit was not over an entrenchment symbol. This wrongly suggested that units could entrench anywhere. This button is now hidden when a unit can not in fact entrench.
