Release Notes for the Close Combat IV Version 4.02
CONTENTS
I. INTRODUCTION
II. OVERVIEW
III. DOWNLOADING AND INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS
IV. GETTING HELP FROM TECHNICAL SUPPORT
I. INTRODUCTION
Well it's been a busy six weeks here at Atomic Games, and a big "Thank You" goes out to all of our customers who have stuck it out with us. We have been burning the midnight oil to deliver a comprehensive and quality patch. A lot of work went into keeping our ear to the ground, whether it was paying close attention to what was being said in the Close Combat forums or tracking suggestions submitted via email. While we weren't able to address every issue, we put a lot of effort into making Close Combat IV the best it could be. There have been a lot of changes in the 4.02 patch, some of which you may not even notice, but our two main focuses have been on campaign crashes and vehicle pathing. With that in mind, let's move onto the list of changes in 4.02 patch.
Mathew 'JP4' Herman
QA Manager
Atomic Games
II. Overview
A. Game System/TAI
* The bug that kept the American Calliope Rocket Tank from firing its 75mm L/40 cannon, after all of its rocket ammo was used has been fixed.
* Command crews no longer ignore orders after they bail out of their command vehicles.
* A bug was reported that SAI controlled units were turning around backwards when given a defend command, commonly referred to as the "bee dance". This has been fixed.
* The number of wrecks allowed on a map has been reduced to fifteen. The previous maximum was thirty, but these large numbers were causing all kinds of problems.
* Tank hulls will no longer rotate while the gunner is reloading. This will keep tanks from doing "the scissors" and having to waste precious seconds realigning the main gun. While this isn't a perfect solution it's the lesser of two evils.
* Missing guns and vehicles. A bug was fixed where guns and vehicles that couldn't be placed in one battle in an operation/campaign were never returning to later battles even though they were present in the Battle Group screen.
* There was a bug where an operation/campaign would crash when loading a map that sustained more than the maximum allowed map damage. This has been fixed. This was also the most common reason for a campaign/operation to crash. You now can even load these previously "trashed" games.
* A bug that caused vehicles to "shuffle" back and forth when too close to other vehicles has been fixed.
* The version number now appears on the Main screen.
* Tanks will now engage AT guns with their auxiliary weapons even if the main gun becomes disabled.
B. Net
* We fixed the incompatible versions between the U.S., International, and French versions.
* The bug that caused the game to crash when the client would flee a truce has been fixed.
* There was a major bug that was getting the host and client out of sync in campaigns/operations when one side disbanded their troops. This has been fixed.
C. SAI
* Erratic vehicle paths. The bug that was causing vehicles to take the "scenic" route has been fixed. They should generally now take the quickest and easiest path to their destination.
* The special handling for pathing near bridges has been removed. This fixes the problem with tanks "stalling" in the middle of a bridge.
* The crash bug that was caused by orders between the TAI/SAI getting out of synch has been fixed.
* SAI is now substantially more aggressive.
* Probing units will now return enemy fire. This fixes the "crawl of death" condition and provides platoons with some over-watch capabilities.
* Support units, such as AT guns and mortars, no longer wander about the battlefield. Machine-gun teams will still be cleared for movement if certain conditions are met.
* Default deployment of units will now face the enemy.
* A bug was fixed where pathing calculations were not taking other vehicles into account.
D. SLAI
* Overall increased aggressiveness.
* Battlegroups now tend to clear their supply depots on the 4pm turn, allowing new BGs to enter play.
* Unit Stagnation - There were some rare cases where the SLAI would ignore vacant enemy controlled maps.
* There was a minor tweak in the way reinforcement requests were handled on the last day of a campaign/operation.
E. Art
* By the request of many, the Jadgpanther and Jagdtiger have been scaled down to their appropriate sizes.
* The German 1st and 2nd class Iron Crosses were reordered on the Soldier screen.
* Rank insignia are now consistent on all screens.
* The graphics for the SdKfz 234/1 and SdKfz 234/2 on the Battlegroup screen are now correct.
F. Data
* The armor value for the gun shield on the American 57mm AT gun was increased. It is now able to withstand rifle fire without blowing up.
* The Panzer IVG was changed to a Panzer IVH.
* Terrain data was changed to greatly increase the cover value in the middle of buildings.
* Data for the armor values of the Jumbo Sherman was changed.
* Data for the armor values of the Tiger I was changed.
* Medium range for the American 37mm gun was changed to 500 meters.
* The force pool for the 1st SS was changed. The Hetzer was taken out and the Jagdpanzer IV and Tiger I were added.
* The force pool for FBB removed the Hetzer and added the StuG G.
* The force pool for the 15th PG was altered to give it the Jagdpanzer IV.
* Bazooka maximum range has been increased to 300 meters.
* Bazooka teams now have an additional round of HT.
* Various spelling changes were made in German units to make them more grammatically correct.
* A minimum range of 100 meters has been imposed on the U.S. Calliope Rocket Tank.
* Panzerschreck maximum range was increased to 230 meters.
G. Windows 2000
* We recommend that installation of CCIV take place logged in as the administrator.
* Windows 2000 will bring up the following dialog box upon installation: "Close Combat IV requires DirectX 6.1 and will not operate under Windows NT 4.0. Do you wish to install anyway?" Click "Yes."
* We do not recommend that you alt-tab out of the game. There have been reports that Windows 2000 that indicates that it can't create any more device contacts.
* The most common complaint from Windows 2000 users is a "hiss" when sounds are played, and gets progressively worse as the number of sounds increases. This is a problem with the way sounds are handled within Windows 2000.
* Pre-release patch installers had errors related to the system registry. These have been fixed.
III. DOWNLOADING AND INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS
Recommended for Windows 95 or Windows 98.
The patch for the US version can be downloaded from:
ENTER LINK HERE
The Patch for the UK/International English version can be downloaded from:
ENTER LINK HERE
The Patch for the French version can be downloaded from:
ENTER LINK HERE
After you have downloaded the patch, double click on the installer icon.
For the latest information and updates go to http://www.closecombat.com.
IV. GETTING HELP FROM TECHNICAL SUPPORT
For disk or system help contact us through one of the following methods.
Telephone: (423) 670-2020 between 9:00am and 9:00pm, Eastern Standard Time, Monday through Friday, holidays excluded.
Fax: (423) 670-2021 Attn: Technical Support.
Automated services: (423) 670-2022.
E-mail: support@learningco.com (please list the game's name as the messages subject).
On-line support form : http:://store.learningco.com/dev/support_form.asp
Write to us at: The Learning Company, ATTN: Technical Support, 9715 Parkside Drive, Knoxville, TN 37922
(include a self-addressed, stamped envelope for reply).
