Fix Bomber pathing

[fivre]

There's a wonderful little bug where if you launch two (or ten) bombers from nearby airbases, each bomber will return to the closest airbase.

This is incredibly annoying, particularly when mass amounts of bombers are launched somewhere, and one ends up with 20 bombers in one base.
There's a similar problem with carriers where the bomber tends to return to a ship with no nukes left.

The simple solution to this is to just have bombers return to the closest airbase/ship in range that still has nukes, giving preference to whichever type of installation it was launched from. If no nukes exist in range, the bomber just goes wherever.

[xander]

Why is this a bug, again?

xander

[PsychicKid]

Just set it to real time and manually select which base or carrier to send them back to.

[fivre]

Why is this a bug, again?

xander

Because it makes absolutely no sense.
"Oh, I launched from that base near Moscow, I think I'll return to the one at Leningrad!"

Unless, of course, there is some sort of giant party in Leningrad for bomber pilots, which makes no sense either.

At the very least, bombers should try to return to the base or ship (not so much a problem with ships as they can only hold two) they originally launched from unless that base/ship is out of range.

[Montyphy]

Because it makes absolutely no sense.

Yes, it makes no sense other than that it conserves fuel, and as we all know, fuel never becomes a valuable resource during a war.

[Spacemonkey]

At the very least, bombers should try to return to the base or ship (not so much a problem with ships as they can only hold two) they originally launched from unless that base/ship is out of range.

No, that would be stupid, how are you supposed to transfer bombers between carriers and airfield if they keep going back to the one they came from?

[MoonHill]

In a situation where AA fire can reach several thousand miles, fighters fly at around mach 12, and everyone is doing their damndest to knock down as many bombers as possible, I know that were I a bomber pilot, I'd get my ass out of the sky after completing the letter of my orders as fast as humanly possible.

"There, nuke released, Pilot. Now just a 12,000 kilometer journey back to our home base. Oh, and there's about twelve enemy supersonic fighters heading for us."

"Uhm, okay. Is that base right over there friendly?"

"Yes, sir, but shouldn't we head back to our starting point?"

"Fuck that. As far as I'm concerned, we're already on final approach!"

[Gatedialer]

This isn't so much as a bug then the bug where Fighters take 1000 mile turns and refuse orders.

[xander]

This isn't a bug at all. A bug is when the game behaves in a manner that was not intended by the programmer. It is an error in the logical code of the game. Bombers behave in the manner in which they are supposed to behave. It may not be the way that you would make them behave if it were your game, but it is the manner in which they are supposed to behave.

xander

[GhostNation]

sorry dad....

[fivre]

No, that would be stupid, how are you supposed to transfer bombers between carriers and airfield if they keep going back to the one they came from?

The same way one normally does. Launch a bomber with the ship as target.
However, it's easier to send the occasional bomber to a carrier (a deliberate act) than it is to correct the flight paths of 15 returning bombers.

Because it makes absolutely no sense.

Yes, it makes no sense other than that it conserves fuel, and as we all know, fuel never becomes a valuable resource during a war.

Which would make perfect sense in a realistic game. However, in a world where the Bering strait is impassable (without difficulty,) Africa has nukes, Greenland is the same size as Australia, and missiles fly in illogical arcs, I'd say fuel conservation isn't really an issue. It just gets refilled by the same folk who give airbases new fighters on occasion.

@xander: Ok, fine, it's just not the greatest of gameplay features. Do you like it when all or most of your bombers from a big launch converge on a single base?

[KingAl]

However, in a world where the Bering strait is impassable (without difficulty,) Africa has nukes, Greenland is the same size as Australia, and missiles fly in illogical arcs, I'd say fuel conservation isn't really an issue. It just gets refilled by the same folk who give airbases new fighters on occasion.

Hmmm, let me think. Perhaps fuel conservation is an important game mechanic? Yes, in other cases real world features are foregone in the interests of gameplay, and the use of such mechanisms to ensure fuel conservation is also in the interests of gameplay.

If IV had implemented the bomber return the way you suggest, many more people would probably be complaining that it wasted fuel!

[PsychicKid]

Actually the Bering Straight is easy to pass, even with a six ship fleet. All you have to do is line it up correctly and it will go through everytime.

I've also snuck subs into the Gulf of Mexico

[xander]

@xander: Ok, fine, it's just not the greatest of gameplay features. Do you like it when all or most of your bombers from a big launch converge on a single base?

It works perfectly well for me. On the other hand, I tend to micromanage a lot. I don't mind directing bombers to go to different bases, because when I see a swarm of bombers all returning, I know where they are all going. I can pick 5, and send them to another base, and be confident that those are the only five that will go to that base.

Let me posit this scenerio -- as you wish, bombers all try to return to their base of origin. You execute a bombing run of 20 bombers (flush your bases). 15 of them survive. Which bases are they going to return to? Will they all go to three bases? Will you have one empty base, and three full ones? Will you get four per base? How do you know? As I see it, I still have to micro those bombers, because I don't know were they are going, and I know where I want them to go. As it is no, I know that all 15 are going to make for the same base, and I can pick 10 or 12 to go to another base. Under your scheme, I have to check up on all 15 bombers.

I like the current system better.

xander

[mehoo462]

a bigger problem is specifically launching bombers that don't have nukes in them.

Say I land 10 bombers at an airbase... five get loaded with nukes, five don't... I have another airbase with 5 nukes and no bombers.... I want to launch the five without nukes and tell them to fly to the airbase with the spare nukes.

There's no way to do this without first launhcing the other bombers and having them fly in circles with their valuable payload first.

WTF.