CMANO official updates

Since its initial release, Command has enjoyed a series of significant free updates provided by the WarfareSims development team. In order of release these are :

v1.01, released on October 9, 2013, was a quick-fix update to resolve issues discovered during late beta or just after the v1.00 release, and incorporate early customer feedback. Its main new features were:

  • Significant performance increase, both for UI (map zoom/pan) and sim-core execution (which in turn means even better scalability). Also the high-fidelity mode (0.1 sec pulse in realtime) is now optional instead of mandatory so Command runs great even on low-spec machines – and screams on capable rigs.
  • UI enhancements: Option to zoom at mouse location, option to ghost/hide sonobuoys, ability to quickly de-select all reference points, ability to abort aircraft launches, ability to order hold-fire on multiple selected units/groups.
  • DB viewer enhancements: Dedicated weapon page, various improvements on existing pages.
  • Scen Editor improvements, e.g. the “Add Unit” window remembers its last used filters (much fewer clicks needed).
  • Simulation mechanics improvements (refined dive rates, helmet-mounted sights, semi-active SAMs in anti-surface mode etc.)
  • Four scenarios previously available separately (community downloads) were integrated on the standard release: Brother against Brother, Canary’s Cage, Choking Halifax and Fighter Weapons School – GAT 5&6.

v1.02, released on December 19, 2013, was the first comprehensive update. Its main features were:

  • Significant improvements on performance, scalability and stability.
  • Improved user interface (UI) with lots of new features, fixes & changes in every aspect (map, unit control, DB viewer etc.) straight from user feedback
  • Improvements to the scenario editor & mission editor
  • More configurable realism options (e.g. unlimited aircraft weapons at bases) for users who want to quickly experiment
  • Improved simulation realism with new features like variable crew proficiency (side-level only), improved sonar modeling, more AI & doctrine options and other additions & fixes
  • Improved multimedia experience with new sound effects & optional background music.

v1.03, released on March 21, 2014, focused on further improving performance and stability:

  • Greatly improved game speed with the new no-pulse (aka “Turbo mode”) time mode.
  • Improved stability with hundreds of crash/bug/logic-flaw fixes.
  • Further realism features like realistic loadout drag & weight effect on fuel consumption (“Christmas tree” loadouts now have a price), enhanced weather effects and refined air-ops AI options.
  • Countless database & installation additions –  from WW2-era IJN aircraft and hypothetical Cold War units & weapons like the Yak-141, Ulyanovsk CVN, F-23 ATF, A-12 Avenger II, Super Tomcat 21 and “son of Phoenix” AIM-152 AAAM all the way to ultra-modern hardware like the MOP super bunker-buster, Club-K container-launched cruise missile, the UK’s Type-26 frigate, Russian Vityaz and Morfey SAMs and Chinese burgeoning air and naval forces.

v1.04, released on July 9, 2014, further emphasized air operations by introducing the “strike auto-planner”, effectively a “light” version of the comprehensive strike planner currently under development which automatically plots sensible ingress & egress profiles for strike missions, thus providing a ready-to-modify template to the player. Other changes and additions were:

  • An extensive array of UI enhancements such as wireframe-only map view, selection-only range symbols, new hotkeys, menu list for quick-jump slots, additional information on the database viewer, configurable ghosted-unit visibility, configurable plotted course visibility, one-click jump to unit mission, single-icon enemy groups and more.
  • AI and mission editor additions such as configurable sprint-and-drift, optional prosecution areas for patrols (which significantly improved the AI’s ability to avoid hopeless long-range shots or fall victim to player draw-out ambushes), new doctrine options and more.
  • Improved simulation mechanics such as multiple cloud conditions, refined offboard-sonar modelling, ABM/ASAT guidance refinements, realism improvements for anti-missile engagements, longer-range AI torpedo shots and more.
  • Further performance & stability improvements.

v1.05, also known as “Wargame Of The Year” edition, was released on September 26, 2014 concurrently on Steam and the MatrixGames site. It boasted improved simulation performance, a massive overhaul of air refuelling AI and mechanics, BVR cranking, Non-Cooperative Target Recongition (NCTR) functionality and improved damage & repair modelling, as well as a host of issue fixes and database additions.


v1.06 was released on December 17, 2014. It features significant improvements to modeling “surge” air operations, unit-level proficiency settings, and most importantly incorporates the Lua scripting language to its scenario editor, offering unprecedented scripting abilities. It also boasts numerous other tweaks and additions.

 

v1.07 was released on March 9, 2015. It includes three flagship new features and numerous minor additions:

  • Weapon Release Authorization, which allows precise tailoring of weapon allocation and engagement doctrine (how many weapons per target, shoot early or conservatively etc.) according to individual weapons and target types.

  • Mission Editor 2.0    , a thoroughly revamped mission editor with lots of new options for tailoring of both friendly and enemy AI behavior depending on asset tasking.
  • Scenario Attachments (aka auto-bundling), which allows scenario authors to include various attachment objects (map overlays, Lua scripts etc.) to a scenario and have them executed automatically on scenario startup without manual player action.
    • Other features & improvements included:
  • Tons of UI enhancements such as discrete range rings for anti-ship and land-attack weapons, even more hotkeys, redesigned manual weapon allocation window, contact filter-out (even more map declutter) and much more.
  • Lots and lots of additional Lua scripts.
  • Better performance on scenarios that use zones (ie. most scens out there).
  • Massive overhaul of AAW missile endgame logic; target speed matters more, and the evasion bonus must now be earned instead of automatically granted.
  • Bigger effect of crew proficiency on damage control & underway repairs.
  • Improvements to submarine battery recharge rates.


v1.08 was released on July 14, 2015. It includes:

  • New simulated weapon systems such as anti-torpedo torpedoes and related torpedo-warning sensors, new warhead types such as enhanced fragmentation (“superfrags”), new weapon types such as “Contact explosive” (for modelling sabotage or suicide bombs), a new ship type (Mobile Offshore Base (aka “Battle Island”)) etc.
  • A number of user interface enhancements: Players can now observe the engagement arcs of a unit mount, permission-dependent color of targeting vectors, coastline/border fade-out on zoom (as in GE), the manual weapon allocation window can present to the player the “soft” restrictions (WRA/WCS/other doctrine settings), various tweaks to mission editor UI. etc.
  • Simulation improvements: Major speed boost on large scenarios, more accurate uncertainty areas for long-range passive detections (SOSUS, ESM etc.), more reliable sub battery recharge, improved sub-captain AI on chasing after unreachable targets, snap-up/down limits for AAW guided weapons, side-firing gunships (e.g. AC-130) now maneuvering properly, more realistic UNREP transfer rates, speed-dependent aircraft IR signatures (e.g. supercruising aircraft can be picked up on IR sensors at longer ranges), tweaks to damage modelling related to light-caliber automatic weapons, realistic “no scan while painting” limitation on older mechanical radars etc.
  • Various scenario editor improvements such as the “Can Auto-track civilians” side-level ability, Lua speed enhancements etc.


v1.09 was released on October 22, 2015. Its flagship new feature was of course the included “Northern Inferno” standalone DLC, a 15-scenario campaign forming a storyline set on 1975 in the North Atlantic.

Other features of this release included:

  • The ability to construct campaigns just like Northern Inferno through the integrated scenario editor.
  • Nuclear EMP: Nuclear detonations now generate a proper electromagnetic pulse which can really fry sensors in the vicinity – or really far away. The magnitude and radius of the effect vary with detonation altitude and realistically affect different sensor tech generations (wonder why the Russians still like vacuum tubes?).
  • New UI/Map features like optional map placenames and the ability to display either all detected contact emissions or only those that are fire control-related.
  • Massive speed improvements on large, complex scenarios.
  • New Lua scripting functions like “Add Explosion” and “Change Unit Side”.
  • Three new tutorial scenarios, from Mark Gellis’ popular “Uncle Mark’s Tutorials” series.

v1.10 was released on February 26, 2016. It was the first version to make use of the Steam Workshop functionality, enabling Steam users to easily upload new scenarios. Other features included:

F111v1.11 was released on May 9, 2016. One of its marquee features is vastly expanded pier operations (ships can now rearm, refuel and repair at docks) which adds an operational/strategic layer to Command’s scope. Other new features include:

v1.12 was released on May 18, 2017, and was the companion update to the Chains Of War DLC. It introduced a number of groundbreaking features, such as:

v1.13 was released on October 9, 2017, as the companion update to the Shifting Sands DLC. Some of its new features include:

  • Massive increase in simulation performance.
  • Significant improvement on map pan/zoom speed & responsiveness.
  • Tactical chaff laying is now available, allowing players to create chaff corridors to protect their offensive packages as in historical raids in WW2, the Middle East, Vietnam etc. The advantages as well as limitations of chaff corridors (and the technological reasons that gradually led to their obsolescence from the late 1970s) are faithfully modelled.
  • Sprint & drift behavior is now also available for single, non-grouped units.
  • AAW & ABM engagement mechanics have received a major overhaul. Various nuances have been added to the aircraft damage model, generally increasing lethality against large aircraft, conferring significant lethality bonuses to late-generation weapons (here is an example of how modern AAW weapons are scarily smart about optimizing their destructive effects), and properly rewarding hit-to-kill warheads. Numerous AAW/ABM weapons have had their max-target speed values adjusted so that they are realistically less capable at rising-speed targets (e.g. RVs), and the intercept aspect angle is also taken into account (a fully “crossing shot” can reduce the nominal PH by up to 50%).
  • An all-new Lua console is introduced, offering a substantially better editing experience and functionality. The Lua API has also received myriads of improvements, additions and fixes (as always, the online reference is the best resource).

v1.14 was released on February 19, 2018, as the companion update to The Silent Service DLC. Among its new features are:

  • Substantial performance boost on both user interface and simulation-core execution.
  • New UI feature: Recent contact detections
  • New UI feature: Mark contact position
  • New UI/AI feature: “Do Not Cavitate” option
  • New UI feature: Define circle areas
  • New simulation feature: Weapon re-attacks
  • New simulation feature: Torpedo wire breakage
  • New simulation feature: Cargo pickup
  • New simulation feature: Flaming datum
  • Improvements in submarine damage model
  • Ferry mission is now also available for ships & submarines
  • New ScenEdit feature: “Chance of appearance”
  • When exporting facilities using .inst files, boats berthed in these facilities are retained
  • Min/Max target range for ships/subs/facilities/land-units on strike mission (e.g. “intercept and engage only targets within 200nm of your position”)
  • The mission editor can now define how many aircraft in a patrol will investigate & engage contacts, as well as wingmen behavior. This helps the AI to deal more intelligently with probes, feints, decoy attacks etc., and avoid over-allocating assets on a few targets at the expense of others.

v1.15 was released on March 19, 2019, and was the companion update to the Desert Storm DLC. Among its new features are:

  • Personal persistent map profile
  • Dynamic ORBAT window
  • The “Magazines” and “Weapons” window received massive speed optimizations
  • Visual and IR sensors are no longer precise insta-spotters
  • No more “blind AMRAAM shots”
  • New doctrine setting specifically for BVR engagement behavior:
  • Updated terrain data for Spratlys and other areas
  • The submarine snorkelling noise penalty is now gradual
  • Serious sim-performance improvements
  • Numerous new Lua methods
  • Content updates & additions a-plenty

In addition, each released update contains numerous bug fixes and additions to the sim databases based on user feedback.

As the documentation for the new features has not yet been merged on the original user manual, it is available separately in the form of a “Manual Addendum”.