Modern Units Database – Version 0.0.4a Update

The updated version of the Modern Units Database has been posted for play testing.  You can download it at the bottom of this post or on EDIBLE.  With over 200 hours logged, this is the largest update I have posted for any mod since I originally released MUD or the last update I made to it a year ago.  Read the full post if you want a complete listing of the changes.  There is still a lot more to do before I get this into a spot where it can work the way I intended, but I wanted to get this out in its current state in case others find issues I am not already tracking.

This set represents a major change in how data is used to generate this set.  I am no longer manually inputting the values of this set.  Instead, I am using a basic machine intelligence script that creates the values for every unit based on data collected from various private and public data sources including NATO, US DoD, and Russian MoD.  At present, this only reflects defensive, offensive, and logistics information but I plan to expand it further.

Here is an extensive list of all the changes I made, as well as the known issues I’m already tracking.  As usual, you can download the latest version using the link at the bottom of this post, or visit EDIBLE and sort by release date.  I will also be posting the link on the Steam forum sometime tomorrow.

Change Log:

• General Updates
  • Several minor typos with unit names and descriptions. No material changes to the descriptions were included in this update.
  • Fixed an issue where some structures could not be placed.
  • Fixed an issue where air bases required action every turn.
  • Minor tweaks for better AI handling. It doesn’t do anything, but allows for some future updates to the AI scripts related to this unit set.
  • Some unit changes were optimized to allow better AI performance on default map scripts.  Know that the set prefers maps that are larger than 100 x 100 in size.
  • Air units can morph/change loadouts in cities, airbases, and aircraft carriers.
  • Removed cities ability to build all morph types. Build options only include the base unit types.  Players can morph them to the correct units while hosted in cities.
  • Direct attack values adjusted to assume unit will remain committed to fight until ammunition is exhausted.
  • Weapon systems that cannot target units within 100m have attack values removed and are supporting fire only.
  • Weapons systems that are defensive only cannot perform supporting fire, even if their hardware allows it.
  • Fixed a bug where VTOL aircraft were not able to perform ranged fire, despite appearing to allow it.
  • Attempted to address an issue where pathfinding (i.e. “Move To”) for naval units caused an error.  This is a work in progress.
  • Added Civilian Improvements to the improvement types (used in calculations behind the code).  Improvements can now include Town, Village, and Rural modifier types when considering attack/defense values. This list may expand in the future.
  • Civilian Improvements made by Army Corps Engineers provide supplies according to their designation, along with their existing bonuses.
• Unit Specific Updates
  • General performs as a Commando unit.
  • Sappers can now perform actions similar to the Army Corps of Engineers to offset reductions in overall combat value. Improvements done under this umbrella receive Civilian Improvement status.  This is a work in progress.
  • Inflatable Boats movement on sea tiles reduced to 1.  Shallows movement remains unchanged.
• Major Update
  • Complete overhaul of combat offensive and defensive values. Here is a quick overview by unit type.
    • Infantry: Specialized attack against various units. Weakest attackers of all land categories.
    • Vehicles: Defense values of units are greatly reduced overall. Units without offensive weapons have their attack capability removed as well.
    • Armor: Vehicles with specialized weaponry have greatly increased attack values dependent on their weapon systems. Defensive capabilities are reduced across all vehicles.
    • Tanks: Defensive systems match their real-life ratings (much stronger). REA armor factored in for heaviest vehicles in the category only.
    • Support: AA values adjusted for effectiveness at each altitude level. Artillery that lacks short-range targeting cannot directly engage units and must rely on ranged fire only.
    • Helicopters: Attack values adjusted based on weapon systems used. Helicopter defense values take the best values between skimming and low altitude flying.
    • Aviation: Defensive values reduced significantly, based on performance against all air attack weapon systems modeled.
    • Strategic Air: Air units without weapon systems can no longer attack (and lose) combat. Stronger evasion against non-fighter threats.
    • Fighters: Weapon systems include ground attack capabilities in their standard loadout.
    • Bombers: Two types of bombers. Direct assault bombers get bonuses to committed attacks.  Strategic bombers cannot directly attack but can carry larger payloads.
    • Brown Water: Attack and Defense values reduced across all units in the category.
    • Green Water: Some units can no longer directly attack despite the capability to do so. Their weapons are designated as defensive systems only.
    • Blue Water: Anti-sea and anti-air capabilities greatly improved across the category. Ships generally receive bonuses for first strike.
    • Capital Ships: Use real-world versions of these ships. As a result, some lack anti-air and anti-submarine capability despite their size and potential to add it in the real world.
    • Carrier: Use real-world weapon systems, reducing some of the unique attack values of the various types, but making it more realistic.
    • Submarines: Depth variation greatly increased. Ships running deep are at a significant advantage against surface level threats.
    • Missiles: Values based on the largest/most potent variants of each class of missile. Significantly improved hit chance against their preferred target types.

Known issues:

• Air units range/speed values do not align with the adjusted weapons values in the new set.
• Air units supporting fire values are not hooked into the script.
• Some weapons incorrectly target submarines, causing some attack value discrepancies.
• Satellite values are not updating properly
• AI compatibility has not been tested and the set is not optimized for AI in present state
• Helicopters experience pathing errors and may crash as a result.
• AI has trouble building and using aircraft units properly.
• Some supporting fire weapons can target but not damage some vehicle types. This requires changes to morphing to fix.
• Some unit abbreviations are incorrect and may cause confusion.  For the time being, rely on the actual icons which should be correct in all cases.