[FAQ] Panzer General II

Discussing the game, editor (Suite) and the related tools.
Post Reply
User avatar
mythos
Second Lieutenant
Second Lieutenant
Posts: 784
Joined: 2019-09-30 19:37, Monday
Location: near a faerie forest in a misty vale

[FAQ] Panzer General II

Post by mythos » 2019-11-19 10:15, Tuesday

Greetings Generals and :welcome to the PG2 FAQ :howdy


This thread deals with several questions that might raise during installation and while playing the game.
Originally created by PzManiac, Whoopy-Cat, Lasse and others. Some topics are basic in nature, others are more intriguing.
I have sorted out obsolete data to the best of my knowledge, rewritten several parts and added new info.
I didn't indicate who wrote what (though i did leave 1-2 references in the texts).



Please note that while parts of this thread are relevant for People's General, it doesn't specifically deal with this game. If you have questions about People's General, refer to the PeG Forums.



Please note that i don't own a PG2 copy, so i cannot check whether everything still works as described here, and i also cannot check how PG2 plays with Herbie's updated PG2 exe.
For this reason i haven't updated the Screenshot FAQ entry yet.
If you have PG2 and could check, your help would be highly appreciated.




Table of Contents
  1. Helpful Links
  2. Installing PG2 on modern systems
  3. What are efiles
  4. Installing Maps
  5. Bugs
  6. Unit Purchase, Upgrade and Deployment
  7. Prototypes
  8. Leaders
  9. Too many units issue/problem
  10. Prestige Slider and Prestige Cap
  11. Weather
  12. Game scale
  13. Taking screenshots (work in progress)
  14. Differences of PG2 and OG
Last edited by mythos on 2019-11-21 12:11, Thursday, edited 5 times in total.
Image

User avatar
mythos
Second Lieutenant
Second Lieutenant
Posts: 784
Joined: 2019-09-30 19:37, Monday
Location: near a faerie forest in a misty vale

Helpful Links

Post by mythos » 2019-11-19 10:15, Tuesday

Helpful Links around the PG2 and OG games



Luis' site
Luis' site with downloads, tools, explanations, formulas and other useful things.

Mapfinder
Originally created by Gilestiel, the Mapfinder contains all maps made for PG2 and OG.

Abbreviations
Common terms and abbreviations.

Class and Random Leader abilities
What Leaders are available, what they do and a table of valid combinations.
Please note that some Leaders aren't available for PG2 or have a different name.

Adobe Reader
The widely used reader for pdf files, available for free from Adobe. Necessary to read many of the manuals you will find around the games.



PG2 Ressources

PG2 Manual
The PG2 game manual (in English).

5 Star Generals
Created by Narayan Sengupta, these pages hold reference material for PG2 (and other games).
Linked here is the flowchart for the original SSI PG2 campaigns - for the rest just navigate the links at the top.

Adlerkorps
Home of the Adlerkorps Equipement File. Here you can also find all campaigns and scenarios made for the Efile. They should be compatibel with OpenAK.
As of 2019 it is not updated anymore.

Steve's Panzer General II Campaign Page
Courtesy of the Polish Generals, this site originally created by Steve Brown is available again.
It isn't updated anymore, but still holds a lot of campaigns designed for PG2.

Dirk Cremer's Panzer General II Scenario Page
Created by Dirk Cremer, this site isn't updated anymore, but still holds a lot of scenarios designed for PG2.



OG Ressources

Open General.com
Main OG page with downloads, FAQs, repositories and other useful things.

OG School
5 pdf files which help understanding various game concepts.

Manuals
Several manuals.
The Open General English Manual is the OG game manual.
The Open General Basic Tutorial (suggested to be read while playing the Tutorial Campaign with either LXF or OpenAK efiles) is for beginning players.
The Tactical Manual for Open General Players is an indepth manual about general tactics, as well as purchase and upgrade of units.
The others deal with game design.
Last edited by mythos on 2019-11-21 12:27, Thursday, edited 4 times in total.
Image

User avatar
mythos
Second Lieutenant
Second Lieutenant
Posts: 784
Joined: 2019-09-30 19:37, Monday
Location: near a faerie forest in a misty vale

PG2: Installing on modern systems

Post by mythos » 2019-11-19 10:16, Tuesday

As of 2017 Panzer General 2 is largely abandonware, and many players have moved on to Open General.
Basically speaking there hasn't been a single new campaign for PG2 in 6-7 years now (as of 2019), since most designers have left for Open General which has more possibilities for scenario design.

However, you can still play older campaigns on Panzer General 2, although you're likely to have serious problems trying to use the original game CD on a modern operating system.

In order for you to play the game on a modern operating system you will either have to buy it on GOG where you will find a version that runs on the following operating systems [Windows (XP, Vista, 7, 8, 10)].
However, please be aware that there is a mismatch between the GOG version and Open General if you want to play both games on the same PC.
Written by Luis
As installer will ask for a folder to install in, you can pick same folder than PG2 (none of the PG2 files are overwritten) or a different folder, but like Panzer General 2, Open General creates and modifies files in its installation folders, therefore it is not recommended to install in the Program Files folder as is customary for Windows applications.
Be aware if you installed GOG version of PG2, you cannot install Open General in same folder, you must select a different folder.
In short, it is best to
- install PG2 and OG in their own different folders
- install to for example C:\Games (not in C:\Program Files)


It is recommended to use Herbie's PG2 exe. User-made, it includes all bug fixes and new features from older user-made PG2 exe files, and more. ALso, it is compatible with the third generation Efiles (see Efile topic for more info).
Download link
Original thread link

DE in the exe name stands for Deutschland/Germany - just like UK in older versions stood for United Kingdom. This just indicates from which base PG2 exe the new file was developped, there should be no compatibility issues.
Last edited by mythos on 2019-11-20 09:51, Wednesday, edited 4 times in total.
Image

User avatar
mythos
Second Lieutenant
Second Lieutenant
Posts: 784
Joined: 2019-09-30 19:37, Monday
Location: near a faerie forest in a misty vale

What are Efiles?

Post by mythos » 2019-11-19 10:16, Tuesday

E-file/Efile is abbreviation for Equipment File.
Efiles refer to the equipment used in the game. What kinds of units and their various statistics and abilities can be altered from the original Equipment File to create a much more realistic or a more fun game to play. The Efile is perhaps the most powerful add-on since it changes the very dynamics of how the game is played. But they are totally reliant upon the icon-makers, map-makers, scenario and campaign creators to build venues for the use of the Equipment File. So it is a rather inter-dependent circle of add-on makers that keep the game fresh for those of players who have become bored playing the stock game to death.

Basically there are four different generations of Efiles.
Their category indicates how many units are used (400/1000 Efiles) respectively can be created at most.

The first generation: 400/1000 Efiles
(SSI, Waffenkammer, Zerstorer, BP)
These Efiles can/could be used by playing with the old panzer2.exe

The second generation: 2000/2000 Efiles
Most of these have by now been expanded to third generation Efiles (Adlerkorps, Puma’s Base Efile, Puma’s BaseKorps, Bill’s Pac Efile, Leon’s Efile, Jorge’s CN2 Efile, the Oronzo Efile)
Please note that these Efiles require that you play with a user-made exe file, PG2UK1.02E or later - the most recent one being PG2 2.20

The third generation - 4000/4000 Efiles
Most of these Efiles are continuations of their 2000/2000 equivalents, see above for examples. And in consequence they are often backward compatible with an older version of the same Efile. Please note that these Efiles require that you play with a user-made exe file such as the PG2 2.00 exe or a later version – the most recent one being PG2 2.20

The fourth generation - 10000/10000 or OG Efiles
Some of these Efiles are continuations or derivatives of their 4000/4000 equivalents, some are new developments. Partially they are backward compatible with their parent Efile. These Efiles use OG features. For years the unit limit was 8000, but as of 2018 it was raised to 10000.
Please note that they are incompatible with PG2 and require the OG.exe

(PG2) The campaign read-me should state which type of Efile you are trying to use. Please note that if you try using a newer Efile with your original PG2.exe, the game will crash.



So where do I find the Efiles?

When you start up a user-made campaign you will most often find that the Efile you’re supposed to use is bundled with the campaign. Please note that Efiles are not in general compatible with one another, meaning that you cannot pick just any campaign and use the Efile of your choice. The main reason for the incompatibility of Efiles is that all Efile makers have different views on which types of units they want in their Efiles and also which type of countries they want. So basically you will have to use the Efile specified by the designer, otherwise you will end up seeing weird things - like flying bunkers and other strange stuff...

As of 2017 most links to where you can find Efiles are broken since most PG2 sites have disappeared, the easiest way to find the Efiles is by downloading campaigns at Steve's campaign page (for PG2) or the PG2 Pack - the latter containing a selected collection of PG2 Efiles and campaigns ready for play with OG. If you have problems finding an old Efile, please post in this thread.
Last edited by mythos on 2019-11-21 13:24, Thursday, edited 5 times in total.
Image

User avatar
mythos
Second Lieutenant
Second Lieutenant
Posts: 784
Joined: 2019-09-30 19:37, Monday
Location: near a faerie forest in a misty vale

Installing Custom Maps

Post by mythos » 2019-11-19 10:17, Tuesday

Most campaigns use custom maps - maps created by users which are not part of the original collection of maps that came with the game. Here is what you need to do in order to use custom maps.


1) Make sure that within the installation folder of the game there is a folder named:
MAPS
If this folder is missing, create it.

2) Make sure that within the installation folder of the game there is a file named:
Suite.exe ; if missing can get from Luis' site


3) Start Suite.exe
If Suite hasn't set folder paths, then select Tools tab and click on Settings to set the folder paths manually:
Image



4) Next, load the campaign for which you want to download maps.
Then select Campaigns tab and click on "Campaign Missing Files Report".
Image



5) The report is saved as html file in the PG2 Logs folder. Locate the report and open it. Click on "download missing maps", this will open the Mapfinder (and your browser if it was closed) and show all maps you are missing. They then need to be downloaded manually.
Last edited by mythos on 2019-11-21 13:26, Thursday, edited 4 times in total.
Image

User avatar
mythos
Second Lieutenant
Second Lieutenant
Posts: 784
Joined: 2019-09-30 19:37, Monday
Location: near a faerie forest in a misty vale

PG2: Bugs

Post by mythos » 2019-11-19 10:17, Tuesday

PG2 related bugs and issues



The game crashes when I right-click on a unit!

This seems to be a common problem if you have a faulty Efile installation, meaning that you have only copied one of the three main Efile files into the main PG2 directory.

Please note that an Efile consists of (at least) three main files (Equip97.txt file + GUI97.txt file + Equip97 file). All these need to be copied into the main PG2 folder.

In addition there might be two more files in an Efile (Names.txt + Misc.txt), so if you also find these in an Efile download, please be sure to move them to your main PG2 folder as well. However your game will probably not crash if you have forgotten to do this.



Why can't I replay a turn like it says in the manual?

Although a "VCR" button was left in the interface, for reasons unknown SSI decided not to implement this feature in the final shipping version of the game. Some of the user-made PG2 exe files make the replay feature available.



Are there any known bugs in the game

There were numerous bugs in the original PG2 game. However the number of bugs have been reduced thanks to the work done by developers like "007", "Golothin" and "Herbie" who have released updated exe versions of PG2.

The two major remaining bugs if you use the PG2 2.20 exe are:

(1) The Amphibious Invasion-Unlimited Movement Bug: Although units are not supposed to be able to move on the turn that they land on a beach, nevertheless if an armored unit overruns an adjacent enemy unit the armored unit will suddenly receive unlimited movement points (subject, of course, to enemy zones of control) that turn.

(2) The recon bug
Sometimes you can notice that an enemy recon goes haywire, capturing lots of flag hexes. (maps containing many flags like Kanev and Sedan seem particularly prone to this bug). Evidently the recon uses up all his fuel before it stops.

If you use an earlier version of the game than the PG2 2.20 exe you might come across one of the following bugs:

(3) The Vanishing Transport Bug: Anytime a unit that does not possess organic transport (i.e. infantry and towed artillery, anti-tank or air defense) receives a leader with the Recon Movement ability, the game will immediately treat the unit as having no transport at all for the rest of the scenario/campaign. If the unit is infantry, it will only be able to use its leg movement ability. If the unit is towed artillery, anti-tank or air defense, you will not be able to thereafter move the unit at all. Upgrading the unit to provide it with new or different transport will not solve the problem. The only known workaround to this bug at present is to upgrade the unit to a type with organic transport between scenarios (i.e. upgrade towed artillery, anti-tank or air defense units to self-propelled units of the same class-sorry, but you're stuck if this happens to an infantry unit since there are no infantry units with organic transport in the game to you can upgrade to.
(this bug was eliminated in the PG2 2.10 exe version)

(4) The Paratrooper Bug or the Transportation Bug: Do not use paratroopers (or units in sea transports) to capture the last victory hex in a scenario! Anytime you do that the game thereafter treats the victory hex as an ordinary one that cannot be captured by either side, and you do not get credit for capturing it initially and the game is liable to crash.
(this bug was eliminated in the PG2 1.02 H exe version)

(5) The Ocean Hex Bug
Supply hexes in ports opens up the possibility for the player to deploy any number of Paratroopers in the ocean hex adjacent to the port, despite any apparent restrictions on how the number of air tranports available in that scenario.
(this bug was eliminated in the PG2 1.02 H exe version, meaning that a designer can choose to eliminate this possibility in the scenario settings)

(6) The Deployment Cheat/Bug
On the game turn units are deployed, they can always be un-deployed, and re-deployed from a supply hex (or an adjacent hex). This means that an artillery can for instance be deployed, fire, and then be un-deployed, and re-deployed, fire again etc... This is an ‘excellent’ method of clearing all hexes near your supply hex from enemy units.
(this bug was eliminated in the PG2 1.02 H exe version)
Last edited by mythos on 2019-11-20 09:57, Wednesday, edited 4 times in total.
Image

User avatar
mythos
Second Lieutenant
Second Lieutenant
Posts: 784
Joined: 2019-09-30 19:37, Monday
Location: near a faerie forest in a misty vale

Unit Purchase, Upgrade and Deployment

Post by mythos » 2019-11-19 10:18, Tuesday

Can I buy/keep/upgrade "foreign troops" as my Core Unit?

Yes. Also note that your "foreign troops" will still display their original flag (on strategic map and when capturing cities) even after upgrading to your "normal" Core units. Your Finnish Ski Troops will still display a Finnish flag even if later upgraded to a Jaeger Infantry unit.

This is valid at least as long as you keep on playing, if you restart the game later the unit will display a German flag.



How do I upgrade units between scenarios?

On the unit screen click on the icon for the unit you wish to upgrade, and then click on the upgrade button (2 stars). This takes you to the upgrade screen. First click on the icon for the unit you wish to upgrade, then click on the icon of the unit you wish to upgrade to on the left, and then click on the little book button beneath the new equipment icons.



During upgrading can I change a unit from one type to another?

No. Units may only be upgraded with equipment of the same class.



How do I deploy my units at the beginning of a scenario?

In the Deployment Screen, left click on the unit you wish to deploy and then left click again on the Deployment Hex you want the unit to start in.
Deployment Hexes are a shade darker than normal Hexes (and sometimes it's hard to tell them apart).



Can I view the Deployment Hexes from the Strategic Map?

Yes, but it's very difficult at times to see the hexes.
Yes, they are indicated by small black arrows.



I've run out of Deployment Hexes, but I still have units left to deploy. Now what?

Once you close the Deployment Screen,
- all unused Deployment Hexes vanish
- you can only deploy further units around Supply Hexes (green and gold bordered hexes)

Once you've moved one or more units away from a Supply Hex, you can then click on the "Deploy Units" button (downward arcing arrow). This will bring up the deployment screen again and you can now place your remaining units in the vacated deployment hexes of a Supply Hex.
This also holds true for deployment of any new units you purchase during the scenario.
Please note that there are scenarios where you might get an opportunity to deploy units later after having captured a Supply Hex that is initially held by the enemy.

Please also note that in some scenarios you’re faced with limited deployment, meaning that the campaign designer does not want you to be able to deploy more than a limited number of units, so in these scenarios you cannot deploy more than a certain number of units.

Thus, it's a pretty wise idea to save your game from the Headquarter Screen just prior to deploying your forces in case you make a mistake.



Can I initially deploy my air units forward with my front line troops?

No. Air units may only be deployed at airfields. Newer Efiles have "airfield units" which also allow deployment of air units.



What if while still deploying my units I later decide that I shouldn't have deployed a particular unit in a particular hex? Do I have to redeploy all my units again?

No, as long as you haven't closed the Deployment Screen you can simply left click on the unit you want to remove from the hex. The hex will vacate, and the unit will re-appear in the list of your units for redeployment elsewhere.



I can't deploy any units...

This happens because you have exited the Deployment Screen too quickly. Go back to an earlier save and start up the scenario again and you will see that there are in fact Deployment Hexes available.
Always save your game before starting a scenario. This can save you a lot of trouble.
Last edited by mythos on 2019-11-21 13:30, Thursday, edited 3 times in total.
Image

User avatar
mythos
Second Lieutenant
Second Lieutenant
Posts: 784
Joined: 2019-09-30 19:37, Monday
Location: near a faerie forest in a misty vale

Prototypes

Post by mythos » 2019-11-19 10:19, Tuesday

How do I get a prototype unit and how many do I get?

After the first BV in a campaign you will always get a prototype (unless you’re playing with a campaign released after the PG2 1.02 UK H patch, which opened up the possibility for the campaign designer to set prototypes to 0, in these campaigns you can only get prototypes if the campaign designer wants you to get one).

When it comes to the prototype frequency there exist a number of explanations on the matter.
This is what Lasse Jensen said about prototypes a couple of years back:

The second you enter a scenario the current chance is already set for you to get a prototype for a BV. It does not change by the number of turns used for the BV, nor units destroy, hexes taken etc. The chance of a prototype starts at 20% + the chance counter, which is an internal counter that gets saved in save games.

The very first scenario in campaign gives 100% a prototype every time. This is because the game set the chance counter to 100% at start (actually its 120%, as it is 20% + counter)

If you get a BV, you get a prototype, and the chance counter is reset to zero, so you are back to 20%. For every BV you then get and DO NOT get the prototype the counter is increased by 20%, meaning for every 5th BV scenario you will definitely get a prototype, since the counter has increased 80% + the default chance of 20%.

However it’s not enough that the chance says you have to have a prototype, there must also be something available for you to get it. A prototype is assigned from equipment 11 month past the start date of the next scenario after the one you got the prototype in. Sounds weird?

Ok if you first scenario in the campaign starts say Aug41, you get the BV, and next scenario you get to because of the BV start say Dec41, you will get a prototype units that has an available date ranging from Jan42 to Nov42.

You don’t get prototype units that become available in the same month as the scenario starts. If no such equipment is available you will get no prototype even if the counter says 100%. The counter will however stay a 100%, so as soon as you get another BV and equipment is available you will get a prototype unit.



In 2005 it was confirmed that when you play with an Effile that contains more units, the chance of getting a prototype will increase. So basically you will get more prototypes when playing with a 4000/4000 Efile, compared to a 2000/2000 Efile which in return will give out more prototypes than a 1000/1000 Efile.

The issue was debated in the PG2 Test forum, and it has been concluded that the chance on a prototype rises with increasing number of units in a Efile, because there are more possible candidates for prototypes. In addition the adding of the infantry class as possible prototype units also causes the chance to increase.

Anyhow from my humble playing experience I would say that on the average I used to get a prototype after every third BV in a campaign...(and not as seldom as Lasse's tests would conclude). With the 4000/4000 Efile this average seems to have changed to a prototype after every other BV in ordinary campaign play.
Last edited by mythos on 2019-11-19 11:30, Tuesday, edited 2 times in total.
Image

User avatar
mythos
Second Lieutenant
Second Lieutenant
Posts: 784
Joined: 2019-09-30 19:37, Monday
Location: near a faerie forest in a misty vale

Leaders

Post by mythos » 2019-11-19 10:20, Tuesday

How do I get a leader?

Every time the experience bar is increased (up to 5 ) there is a random chance of getting a leader. The odds for this start at 10%. This is because the routine generates a random number between 0 and 100 and compares it with [10 + leader chance field]. If the random number is less, then you get a leader.

When you first start, leader chance is zero, and so the chance is 10%. However if you don't get a leader this time, the routine generates another random number between 0 and 10, ADDS it to the old value in "leader chance" and puts this new value in "leader chance"! So the next time you try for a leader, the odds have increased a bit in your favor. This means that if you definitely want a unit to have a leader on the next experience bar increase, put a 90 into "leader chance".
This makes the odds 90 + 10 = 100%!

In a real campaign (no preset values), the minimum chance, at the 5 bar, of getting a leader is 10% - maximum is 50% - most units will have an average end chance (5th bar) of around 30%.



How many leaders can I get?

The maximum number of leaders at any given time in normal game play is 15 (including leaders on your auxiliary units- so if you have one leader on an auxiliary unit and 14 on your core units, you will not receive a leader in that scenario, unless of course one of the leaders is killed during the scenario).



What does a particular Leader Ability mean?
and
Are all types of units eligible to receive any of the random abilities?

A specific unit class can only receive specific types of leaders (All Weather Combat leaders are for instance awarded only to aircraft, Flak and AD units).

For mote details, see the Leader table.



What are Extended Front/Forest Camouflage leaders?

These two leader types are not to be found in PG2. It is widely believed that the two leader types were dropped in a late stage before the release of the game. By using Luis Guzman’s Suite you can assign these leaders to units, but they don’t do anything.



I just got a leader on one of my units and I can't move it

Don’t panic you’ve just received a Recon Movement leader. This is one of the best leaders in the game, but it can be a nuisance if you get it on an artillery unit, since it will only move in the game turn you actually receive the leader, after that you’re pretty much stuck with it for the rest of the scenario. If you have SPADs available you could upgrade it to a SPAD when the scenario is over, since this will allow you to move first and then shoot.

If you get a Recon Movement leader on an Infantry, you have received one of the best units in the game. Upgrade the Infantry to a Paratrooper, and you have a unit that can both fly and land and fight on the same game turn.

Please note that this bug has been removed from the game as of user-made version PG2 2.10, meaning that if you play with the PG2 2.10.exe or a later version, you won't be receiving Recon Movement leaders on towed units.
Last edited by mythos on 2019-11-21 13:31, Thursday, edited 3 times in total.
Image

User avatar
mythos
Second Lieutenant
Second Lieutenant
Posts: 784
Joined: 2019-09-30 19:37, Monday
Location: near a faerie forest in a misty vale

Too many units issue/problem

Post by mythos » 2019-11-19 10:20, Tuesday

Help I'm getting a message saying "Too many units for side #"

It is not really a problem, one side just has too many units. In PG2 the upper limit for units per side is 100.
If it’s “0” it’s the player (meaning you) that has too many units, if it’s “1” it’s the AI that has too many units.

Normally if you click several times on the message, the game will continue. And if it’s the AI that had too many units, the message will most likely disappear for the next game turn, since you’ve probably eliminated a couple of enemy units in your first turn.



If it’s you that has too many units, you can try either of these two choices:

1) you can reload a previous savegame and sell some core units, until you do not get the message anymore.

2) you can downlaod Luis’ Suite and edit the scenario. Remove as many auxiliary units as you need to be below 100 units total (I mean summing up your core units with all auxiliary units). Then reload the save game and play again until end, if you have not mistaken, you shouldn't get the message.

PG2 Suite: can get here
Last edited by mythos on 2019-11-21 13:35, Thursday, edited 4 times in total.
Image

User avatar
mythos
Second Lieutenant
Second Lieutenant
Posts: 784
Joined: 2019-09-30 19:37, Monday
Location: near a faerie forest in a misty vale

Prestige Slider and Prestige Cap

Post by mythos » 2019-11-19 10:21, Tuesday

How does the Prestige Slider work?

The Prestige Slider affects the number of Prestige Points awarded for capturing Victory Hexes as well as enemy "flags", so called "Map Prestige", during the course of a scenario. It also affects Prestige given during game turns, so called "Turn Prestige". Lowering the Prestige Slider will give you less Prestige meaning that if you set the Slider to 0, you won't get any Prestige during a scenario, but you will be awarded Prestige after a scenario, so called "After Scenario Prestige" (provided that there is some to be had and that your army value doesn't exceed the Prestige Cap for the next scenario).

Generally speaking reducing or increasing the Prestige Slider will impact your ability to buy units or upgrade units or refit units during a campaign.

If you want to set the Prestige Slider lower than 50, you need to type the new setting in the box (since it doesn't automatically go any lower than 50).

Please note that the manual gives the wrong information on this issue. Lowering the prestige slider makes the game more difficult, since you will have less prestige to do upgrades, buy new units etc.



How does the Prestige Cap work?

Basically, the Prestige Cap is a factor to limit the amount of Prestige you take through a campaign.
Effectively it only limits the amount of After Scenario Prestige.
If your
- Map Prestige plus
- army value (Army Cost) plus
- Current Prestige ("liquid" Prestige you have available at the time for purchase, upgrades, etc) plus
- Turn Prestige
exceeds the Prestige Cap, then you will be awarded less After Scenario Prestige, until it reaches 0.

The relevant data looks like this:
Current scenario: Approach to Stalingrad, VH prestige is 170 , All map prestige is: 350
Army cost: 10202 , Current prestige is 196
AI stance is Defensive
if BV: +1000, Viipuri 1942 , cap 6000, 12 turns prestige: 240
if V : +1500, Viipuri 1942 , cap 6000, 18 turns prestige: 360
if TV: +1500, Winter Storm , cap 6500, 24 turns prestige: 480
if Ls: +1500, Winter Storm , cap 3500, 24 turns prestige: 480
(taken from an Open General report, in Panzer General 2 it looks differently)


Examples:

(1) taken from the above:
350 + 10202 + 196 + 240 = 10988
No matter how, 10988 is far above the cap of 6000 so you will get none of 1000 After Scenario Prestige.

(2)
Current scenario: Lillehammer, VH prestige is 120 , All map prestige is: 170
Army cost: 2616 , Current prestige is 0
AI stance is Defensive
if BV: +1500, Sedan , cap 4000, 10 turns prestige: 60
if V : +2000, Sedan , cap 4000, 13 turns prestige: 82
if TV: +1500, Thermopylae , cap 4500, 15 turns prestige: 97
Ls: Loss , turn prestige: 97
170 + 2616 + 0 + 60 = 2846
According to the cap of 4000 your army is expensive, but not too expensive, so you will get some After Scenario Prestige:
4000 - 2846 = 1154 of the possible 1500.



How is Army Cost calculated?

Army Cost is a simple cumulation of all units which are not
- starting units
- prototype units
- Overstrengthed

Starting and prototype units are usually free. Free means "not counting towards Army Cost".
There are special rules and setups which can make both types count towards Army Cost, but these are rare.

Overstrength can be done at Headquarters Screen. It spends Prestige to give a specific unit an additional Strength Point. This increases the cost of a unit accordingly (usually only the "non-free" units).
Strength Points can get destroyed and are never refited for free - a unit can only be refited up to its maximum (usually 10).

Speaking about Strength Points, some campaigns raise or lower the default (of 10). For example the campaign Second Sino Japanese War sets unit Strength to 8 - this lowers Army Cost accordingly. It also means that units are only refited for free to this new "default" of 8 (instead of the usual 10).

The above assumes that campaign units are refited/repaired for free after each scenario (actually: at the beginning of the next scenario). The majority of campaigns grant free refit.

However, in some campaigns you might also come across a setup where units are not refited for free. In these campaigns, the Army Cost is calculated based on
- units which count against Army Cost
- the current Strength Points of each unit
Example, a unit which costs 120 Prestige (12 Prestige per Strength Point) but is currently at 5 Strength lowers the Army Cost.
Last edited by mythos on 2019-11-21 13:35, Thursday, edited 4 times in total.
Image

User avatar
mythos
Second Lieutenant
Second Lieutenant
Posts: 784
Joined: 2019-09-30 19:37, Monday
Location: near a faerie forest in a misty vale

Weather effects

Post by mythos » 2019-11-19 10:21, Tuesday

Sometimes I won't be able to attack with an aircraft unit. When I fly over an enemy unit the projected combat results crosshair won't even appear.

Check the weather conditions. Except air units with All Weather Combat ability, air units may not attack enemy units when the weather conditions are snow or rain.



Why can't I attack with ground units sometimes? Are they affected by weather conditions, too?

Ground units may still attack during inclement weather (though at reduced effectiveness).
Also, check the unit's ammunition supply - if it's down to zero the unit cannot attack, and will defend at half strength.
Last edited by mythos on 2019-11-21 13:37, Thursday, edited 3 times in total.
Image

User avatar
mythos
Second Lieutenant
Second Lieutenant
Posts: 784
Joined: 2019-09-30 19:37, Monday
Location: near a faerie forest in a misty vale

What is the game's scale?

Post by mythos » 2019-11-19 10:22, Tuesday

The geographical scale appears to vary from 1.0km to 3.0km per hex, depending on the scenario being played. The majority of scenarios average about 2.0km per hex.

Although the game's designers claim that the units represent battalions, this does not always appear to be accurate. Rather, the scenarios appear more in scale with the historical battles if the units are considered to be regiments/brigades, with the exception of reconnaissance units (and perhaps some anti-aircraft units), which would remain battalions.

According to the unit designations, units appear in battalion as well as regiment sizes (or as battalions and brigades for Great Britain and the Commonwealth, a British brigade being roughly equivalent to a regiment in other armies). In most cases, regiments are used, with the addition of battalions that were directly subordinate to division HQ, such as divisional engineer battalions.

Using the SSI Dunkerque scenario, for example, on the German side there are from north to south: Two tank units designated "1/1", meaning Panzerregiment 1 (Pz.R. 1), and "2/1" Panzerregiment 2 (Pz.R. 2), an artillery unit "73/1" (Artillerieregiment 73(mot.)) These units are regiments and part of 1st Panzerdivision. Next there's a unit labeled "37/-/1", meaning Panzerpionierbataillon 37 (Armored Engineer Battalion 37/not part of a regiment/directly assigned to 1st Armored Division).

These designations aren't always consistent. For example, further to the south there's an artillery unit "29". This should be more correctly labeled as "29/29", meaning Artillerieregiment 29(mot.) of the 29th Motorized Infantry Division.

In later scanarios, regiments are sometimes split into their constituent battalions, such as 1/100/21 and 2/100/21, meaning I. and II. Abteilung (*) of Panzerregiment 100 of 21st Panzerdisvision. In these cases, the unit strenght is normally limited to 5.

(*) In the Wehrmacht, combat arms that traced their ancestry to the cavalry and artillery, such as tank, armored car, assault gun, antitank and AA units used "Abteilung" instead of "Bataillon".

The aircraft units would be viewed as squadrons.
Last edited by mythos on 2019-11-19 11:24, Tuesday, edited 1 time in total.
Image

User avatar
mythos
Second Lieutenant
Second Lieutenant
Posts: 784
Joined: 2019-09-30 19:37, Monday
Location: near a faerie forest in a misty vale

PG2: Taking screenshots

Post by mythos » 2019-11-19 10:23, Tuesday

-----------------------------------------------------------
Please note: this topic hasn't been revised yet !
-----------------------------------------------------------


Q: How do I make a screenshot and add it to a post?

A: There are 2 different ways to make screenshots, one is the "F11" key and the other is the "Print Screen" key. Let's go over both. :)

F11 Method (this only works for PG2)

*******This will not work on most computers running WinXP*******

The first thing you do is to press the “F11” key on your keyboard. This makes an image and automatically saves in your main PG2 folder. The name of the image in your folder will be “screen0.bmp”. If you make multiple images, then the most recent will be named “screen0.bmp” and all prior screenshots will automatically be renamed to a higher numeral, such as “screen1.bmp” or if you have ten images then the oldest will be named “screen9.bmp”.

The next thing you must do is to “open” the image with a paint program, such as Paint Shop Pro, Photoshop or Microsoft Paint. To open a “screenshot”, I right click on the image and choose which program to open it with.

Once it is open, you can add text, draw on the image or whatever you want to do with it. When you are satisfied with the image, save it as a .jpg and rename it to something relevant to the image.


For example, if I were to take a screenshot of the first scenario of CC#12, I might want to rename my image to CC12_Tobruk1 and then save it in .jpg format. A file saved in .jpg format requires much less web space to store than a .bmp.

Uploading

The next step is to upload your new screenshot to your web space. Since all web space providers are different, I cannot give specific instructions of how each provider handles uploading. But here are links to some free ones, if you do not have your own webspace:

http://photobucket.com/
http://about.aol.com/aolpictures_store
http://www.imageshack.us/

When you have your image uploaded all you have left is to post at the forum, type the URL for your image example (http:// your image here), then use the Image tag. The URL will vary based on if you are using your provider or one of the free ones, check the help on each specific one at their website to learn how


Using the Print Screen Method

If you run WInXP, this is probably the way you'll have to get screenshots from the game.

The first thing you need to do is download the "DirectX Control Panel" from Luis Guzman's Site.

http://luis-guzman.com/links/DirectX_CtrlPanel.zip

Unzip into your c:\windows\system32 folder

Open the "DirectX Control Panel" after your unzip it and select the DirectDraw tab and enable "PrintScreen".

Now when you are in the game and want to make a screenshot, press the "Print Screen" button on your keyboard, then press ALT + Tab to minimise PG2 and then open "Paint", "Photoshop", "PSP", (whatever photo editor you use) and paste the image into the program. Now save it as a .jpg and name it if you wish (so you can easily find it).

Follow the instructions above for "uploading" to your webspace.

Update: Try one of these programs for taking screenshots

http://www.fraps.com
http://kingkongcapture.com/



-----------------------------------------------------------
Please note: this topic hasn't been revised yet !
-----------------------------------------------------------
Last edited by mythos on 2019-11-19 11:25, Tuesday, edited 1 time in total.
Image

User avatar
mythos
Second Lieutenant
Second Lieutenant
Posts: 784
Joined: 2019-09-30 19:37, Monday
Location: near a faerie forest in a misty vale

PG2 / OG differences

Post by mythos » 2019-11-19 10:24, Tuesday

Although OpenGen is completely compatible with current stuff made for PG2, it doesn't mean it is a perfect clone, it fixes some Pg2 bugs (IMHO) and it does a few things a bit different.
Apart UI differences and those features made as optional, the main difference is the AI.


Artificial Intelligence (AI)
I never intended to emulate Pg2's AI so OpenGen AI engine is simple different, sometimes plays stronger and sometimes not, but I'd say average behavior is more fun.
From player perspective perhaps more noticeable differences are:
  • AI needs prestige to reinforce its units, same than player.
  • AI can be assigned additional prestige (apart turn prestige) at start of each scenario in campaign
  • AI can be limited to a maximum prestige (cap) at start of each scenario (pp carried + pp alloted <= cap)
  • AI can purchase planes sometimes.

Deployment
Deployment should be the same (except for Air/Naval transport management), but un-deployment is not.
OpenGen only allow to un-deploy units while deployment panel is active; any unit deployed will not be allowed to un-deploy after closing deployment panel.


Arriving Reinforces
Reinforces always arrives at start of player active turn on PBEM games.
On single scenarios and campaigns it is optional and can be defined as scenario option:
  • if will arrive at start of turn for all players.
  • if will arrive at start of each player active turn.

Leaders
  • Tanks
    PG2 allows tanks to get also Aggressive Maneuver as secondary leader attribute, OpenGen don't.
  • FlaKs
    PG2 assign main leader attribute for Flaks same as ATs (Tank Killer). OpenGen will assign a new specific Flak leader, allowing Flaks to intercept multiple planes when entering its ZOC and also giving Fire support ability.
  • Forest Camouflage
    Forest Camouflage leader was not working in PG2. OpenGen has converted this leader into Expert Camouflage, making the unit in Forest, City, Bocage, Mountain or Sand to be unspotted if no close to it. Besides first unit entering its ZOC, will be fired same as over-watch leader.
  • Recons
    PG2 allows recons to get also Skilled Reconnaissance as secondary leader attribute, OpenGen don't.

campaign's core units
OpenGen allows to define units to become core on any scenario of a campaign, not only the first one.
Also there is a new flag on campaign file to reset all core units, as if first scenario will be replayed.


Reinforcing units while embarked
While PG2 allows to reinforce units embarked regardless their position, OG will only allow on those positions the unit can re-supply, that is:
  • on ports if embarked on sea transport
  • on airfields or adjacent (if no dirt) if embarked on air transport

Undo disabled even if no new units are spotted
If unit moves close enough to an previously un-spotted flag hex, undo move is disabled even if hex was empty.


Spotting
When a hidden unit fires in support, they are not fully revealed. Unit icon is shown but not its strength and enemy cannot check their stats.
Units retreating to an-spotted position, become hidden.


Minefields
All units able to drop minefields need the new special attribute "sapper" except Destroyers which can always drop/clear sea-mines.


Air/Naval Transport
Units starting scenario deployed on air/naval transport, work the same than PG2. Once disembarked, their transport returns to (increase) the pool.
When deploying from HQ, units can use unlimited air/naval transports (not limited by the pool) but once disembarked, their transports are lost. PG2 does a bit different, returning naval transports to the pool however discarding air transports.
PG2 allows embarking units in airfield/port as far as there are enough transports in the pool, even if no transport is available at scenario date. OG won't allow if no transport matches country, F/F, weight and scenario date.


Cost to reinforce/overstrength
PG2UK2xx.exe uses a different formula for buy/upgrade/reasign units than for reinforce/overstrength.
PG2 uses:
  • A) Cost to reinforce/overstrength 1sp .... = (E + T)
  • B) Cost to purchase/upgrade/reasign 1sp. = ( 12 * (E+T) ) / 10
being:
E = Main total cost /12 (that is, the value actually stored into equipment data for main equipment)
T = Transport total cost /12 (value stored for transport, 0 if no transport)

OG uses second formula (B) for all purposes, so reassigning units would return same value than purchasing + over-strength unit, except if over-strength is done with Inflence leader.
See http://www.panzercentral.com/forum/view ... 06#p661906 to understand the reasons of this change.
Last edited by mythos on 2019-11-21 12:25, Thursday, edited 1 time in total.
Image

User avatar
mythos
Second Lieutenant
Second Lieutenant
Posts: 784
Joined: 2019-09-30 19:37, Monday
Location: near a faerie forest in a misty vale

Re: Panzer Geneneral 2 & Open Geneneral FAQ - Essential Reading

Post by mythos » 2019-11-19 12:30, Tuesday

FAQ is ready.

The only lacking topics are
- PG2: Taking screenshots (which i cannot do on my own)
- Starter: interesting FAQ entries (this is work in progress, as it overlaps with work for the FAQ repository )
Image

User avatar
mythos
Second Lieutenant
Second Lieutenant
Posts: 784
Joined: 2019-09-30 19:37, Monday
Location: near a faerie forest in a misty vale

Re: [FAQ] Panzer General 2 & Open General

Post by mythos » 2019-11-20 10:23, Wednesday

Fixed
- all :ihope typos and formatting
- wording of [PG2: Installing on modern systems] and updated the part about Herbie's exe
- wording of several posts to make them easier to understand


ToDo:
1) rephrase [How is Army Cost calculated?]
2) add [Differences of PG2 and OG]
3) Interesting FAQ entries

Will finish 1+2) later today.
3) will be done as time and FAQ permits or dropped.
Image

User avatar
lvjtn
General, VII. Upper Danubian Corps
General, VII. Upper Danubian Corps
Posts: 769
Joined: 2019-03-09 23:23, Saturday
Location: budapest / hungary
Contact:

Re: [FAQ] Panzer General 2 & Open General

Post by lvjtn » 2019-11-20 12:20, Wednesday

it was a very-very-very-very bad idea to mess the pg2 and og faq :nyet

the original request was copying the useful posts of some old forums, but there wasn't such a topic on jp :dunno the original pg2 faq + essential readings threads are (can be) useful, because the roots of pg2 and og are the same, and several basic features are also the same or very similar. however, while we don't expect activity in a pg2 thread, we ALREADY HAD an og faq thread, moreover: the goal was adding the og faq entries to our website

i have no idea how to clean this thread :thud

edit:

imo the longer og "essential reading" materials should moved to this thread where they belong (that's why it was opened), and og faq materials to the og faq thread, and this one should be dedicated to pg2, as it was on jp :2cents

edit2: maybe it wasn't clear enough: the coal is collecting all documentation into one place (what can be duplicated on og site and Luis' site), but useful posts disperesed in several threads having confusing titles will not help the beginners :2cents
»my real name is csaba (tʃɒbɒ)«
efiles:
Image Image Image Image Image

campaigns:
Image

User avatar
mythos
Second Lieutenant
Second Lieutenant
Posts: 784
Joined: 2019-09-30 19:37, Monday
Location: near a faerie forest in a misty vale

Re: [FAQ] Panzer General 2 & Open General

Post by mythos » 2019-11-20 13:36, Wednesday

lvjtn wrote:
2019-11-20 12:20, Wednesday
i have no idea how to clean this thread :thud
Don't worry: i reworked the thread, thus i know what i did and why i did it and equally i know how to clean it. I do tomorrow morning :yep
Image

User avatar
mythos
Second Lieutenant
Second Lieutenant
Posts: 784
Joined: 2019-09-30 19:37, Monday
Location: near a faerie forest in a misty vale

Re: [FAQ] Panzer General II

Post by mythos » 2019-11-21 13:41, Thursday

Fixed: thread was cleaned, except for some case-sensitive instances (i.e. the [Link Collection] and [PG2 / OG Differences.] )
Added: topic about differences between PG2 and OG
Note: 2 topics ( [Prestige Slider + Cap] and [Screenshots] ) aren't rewritten for PG2 yet

The removed OG stuff will be put into FAQ entries - or, if too long, i will somewhere (do we have a discussion thread :fused ) offer them for discussion.

:salute
Image

User avatar
lvjtn
General, VII. Upper Danubian Corps
General, VII. Upper Danubian Corps
Posts: 769
Joined: 2019-03-09 23:23, Saturday
Location: budapest / hungary
Contact:

Re: [FAQ] Panzer General II

Post by lvjtn » 2019-11-21 14:20, Thursday

mythos wrote:
2019-11-21 13:41, Thursday
if too long, i will somewhere
oh, i see, the "suggested readings" created by Luis is locked... imo ask him what to do. as i see, he already posted these "longer" posts, and imo posts about cap, classes, etc. can fit there, but if Luis sais no, just post all og material into the og faq + howto thread, after all, it's name suggests a bit longer posts can be read there too

i'd say, if something is longer than 1000/2000/5000 chars (depending on the writer, imo), we can add it to the website :2cents
»my real name is csaba (tʃɒbɒ)«
efiles:
Image Image Image Image Image

campaigns:
Image

User avatar
LuisGuzman
General, Special Forces
General, Special Forces
Posts: 637
Joined: 2019-03-10 08:35, Sunday
Location: Spain
Contact:

Re: [FAQ] Panzer General II

Post by LuisGuzman » 2019-11-21 15:23, Thursday

lvjtn wrote:
2019-11-21 14:20, Thursday
oh, i see, the "suggested readings" created by Luis is locked... imo ask him what to do. as i see, he already posted these "longer" posts, and imo posts about cap, classes, etc. can fit there, but if Luis sais no, just post all og material into the og faq + howto thread, after all, it's name suggests a bit longer posts can be read there too

i'd say, if something is longer than 1000/2000/5000 chars (depending on the writer, imo), we can add it to the website :2cents
Actually I copied the content of the JP's thread in case JP's was suddenly closed, to have this very important content copied and available to be updated later.

I opened the locked topic OpenGen* Suggested Readings to include links to the threads and/or external documents with interesting content. That is a kind of index of documentation.

I congratulate that Chris is willing to update the old JP's Campaigns: PG2 scenario&campaign design - Essential Reading to current status of OpenGEneral, removing specific references to PG2 and adapting the wording to OG.
:bow :bow :bow
After he finishes, I'll just replace the current link to JP's thread with the links to the new Chris's topic and remove the copied content.

I agree that we should avoid mixing info related to Pg2 into documents that are intended for OG, as that can confuse new players, and make a bit difficult to understand the whole idea if you are a newbie.

I see no problem on adding info related to PG2 or GOG, but I'd say it would be better to include in a different document/topic for clarity; btw: a document summarizing differences between PG2 and OG is worth to do in an specific document.

If you think that some short documents would be better allocated in the aforementioned locked "OpenGen* Suggested Readings" topic, we can unlock it to allow posting in that topic... in the end we can always move later to a new topic if necessary :evil

Regarding which subforum to use to open "DOC:" type topics (can be marked also as "[DOC]" or "#DOC"), I'd say that Designers' Corner subforum should include only content related with design and more generic topics explaining general rules or tips for players, should be opened in the Open General subforum, but this is only my opinion, any other rule is good also, as far as it is assumed.
:2cents
  Visit my website to get my latest tools.
* Click Open General banner to get more info about the game
Image

User avatar
mythos
Second Lieutenant
Second Lieutenant
Posts: 784
Joined: 2019-09-30 19:37, Monday
Location: near a faerie forest in a misty vale

Re: [FAQ] Panzer General II

Post by mythos » 2019-11-21 18:11, Thursday

LuisGuzman wrote:
2019-11-21 15:23, Thursday
I congratulate that Chris is willing to update the old JP's Campaigns: PG2 scenario&campaign design - Essential Reading to current status of OpenGEneral, removing specific references to PG2 and adapting the wording to OG.
:bow :bow :bow
After he finishes, I'll just replace the current link to JP's thread with the links to the new Chris's topic and remove the copied content.
lvjtn wrote:
2019-11-21 14:20, Thursday
:salute
However, it was not my intention to rephrase the topics so that they specifically fit to OG. The original character of the thread (afair, its been a while that i actually read the whole thing) was that of a generalized "Howto Design" thread. I.e. i also don't remember (many) PG2 specifics.
Removing PG2 connections is 1 thing, but adding the OG label everywhere just for the fun of it :dunno
I have taken a look. Basically speaking, the PG2 can be summed up as
- If you want to create a PG2 campaign ..
- If you want to create a PG2 scenario ..

Imho, the simplest way would be to just remove the term "PG2".
When reading a "Howto Design" thread on the "OG Design" forum, it should be common sense that it deals with OG design, and not with
- PeG/PG2/PG3/PGF
- Total War
- Hearts of Iron
- Age of Empires
or such.
Image

Post Reply