Old Style Challenge Rating
-
Being fairly new to BMS, I only just learned of the ability to revert to the ‘old style’ challenge rating, primarily desired for the effect on force ratio.
However, I’m hoping to learn more about what reverting will do. I’ve made the switch, and the new (old) force ratios are in effect. However, are there any other repercussions for doing so? How will it affect supply for example? What other changes can I expect if any in BMS campaigns?
-
I’m interested in this as well. Thanks for asking.
-
A little more info for those who may not be aware of what this is.
Traditionally, in Falcon 4, force ratios for Blue and Red were tied to challenge rating. At the lower settings, such as Recruit, Blue squadrons have more planes, and Red fewer. Through each rising incremental step in challenge rating, the force ratios change, with Blue squadrons becoming progressively smaller, while Red grow larger. So for example, in KTO Rolling Fire, using a challenge rating of recruit would see Blue air strength roughly double that of Red at the start of the campaign. Conversely, at Ace, the situation reverses, with Red roughly double that of Blue.
Forgive me, as a BMS noob I don’t know my BMS history. Somewhere along the line this was removed (4.33?). In a stock install of BMS 4.33, challenge rating has no effect on force ratio. Regardless of whether you choose Recruit or Ace, or any setting in between, force ratio (the number of planes each side has) remains the same. That means that increasing or decreasing challenge rating has little effect on err, challenge. There are surely sound reasons to do this, and that is part of what I’m hoping to learn in this thread.
To revert to the ‘old style’ add this line to your falconbms.cfg
set g_bNewChallengeRatingCode 0
I put it under the Misc section, though it appears it may not matter where in the file it is placed. Thanks also to Schnidrman for informing me of this. I had no idea it was possible, but it was something I missed from legacy versions of Falcon. BMS is awesome and amazing, but I felt that the challenge in campaigns wasn’t all it could be. This simple change completely overhauls the difficulty in BMS campaigns. And it works both ways. Higher challenge ratings make the campaigns significantly harder, but lower settings make them markedly easier. So players of all levels can more easily tailor the campaign to their liking and comfort level.
But there’s more! In addition to aircraft force ratio, it also affects ground strength as well. And since we have the option to individually set the component sliders under the challenge rating pre-sets, further customization can be achieved. Say for example you want to fly Tiger Spirit with a huge advantage on the ground, but a big disadvantage in the air, adjusting the sliders will get you there.
But I started this thread because I do not know what possible ramifications this setting will have. I’ve only just begun to use it. So quite possibly it might not work correctly under 4.33. Use at your own risk. In the little info we have found on this, it appears for example that supply may be affected, and perhaps more. But if it has little side-effect, making this change can offer a level of customization that isn’t available in a stock install. Of course challenge rating is a modifier for the points you score, altering challenge rating will have an effect on promotions and medals as well, but that is true regardless of whether you make the switch.
-
…. To revert to the ‘old style’ add this line to your falconbms.cfg
set g_bNewChallengeRatingCode 0
…
So what are the acceptable parameters for this? On/Off (0 ; 1), or a range (0 1 2 3 4 5), etc.?
-
Would hazard a guess the acceptable values are 0 and 1.
-
Agreed. I believe there are just the two possible settings. Degree of change is through the in-game challenge rating settings.
So new style is either the absence of this switch line, or a value of 1 (presumably, not tested)
Old style is with a value of 0
-
g_bNewChallengeRatingCode
means this is a bool value
-
g_bNewChallengeRatingCode
means this is a bool value
For guys like me, this means 0 or 1 (I had to look up bool).
But as for the original question, does this just revert back to challenge rating prior to 4.33U2 and go back to the previous version of the supply structure? Or are there other things? I assume it’s safe as the 4.33U2 changelog actually gives the instructions on how to revert back.
- New challenge rating code, we’ll adjust supply time instead of unit vehicle slots (for disabling add “set g_bNewChallengeRatingCode 0” to the *.cfg)
What does setting 1 do?
Thanx!
