The mysteries of the campaign editor

[vonfriedman]

Suppose you start a new campaign from scratch through the campaign editor.
In the "edit scenario data" menu, extended to the case of campaigns, it is necessary to indicate their size (small, medium, large). Once this data is entered and the campaign is saved, when you log in again through the campaign editor, this data has disappeared: the box is white. This does not happen in the case of campaigns created by NWS
.
Another mystery: what exactly does "additional force" mean, which can be indicated or left blank, in the "edit force" menu? It is used for Hochseeflotte in the Baltic campaign.

Little less obscure is "reaction allowed", which is indicated, as far as I know, for all the forces of the existing campaigns.

[vonfriedman]

If you wish to create a new campaign, you must write the .crf file.
It is a long list where you indicate the number of the turn, the date and the operational points to be assigned in that turn.
You can add descriptions of individual events (E), prescribe the withdrawal (W) or return (R) of individual ships, ask the player if he intends, by pressing a button (P), to spend VPs in order to build a new ship: all this has been explained to all of us by randomizer in another thread.

However, I noticed that in the .crf file of the North Sea campaign the following mysterious indications appear irregularly: A1=10 (or =20, or =30), A0=10, B1 = 50 (or =70). I understand that 1 stands for British and 0 stands for German, but I don't know what A, B and their values mean.

Moreover: - What does "PFStartpoint" mean in the "Campaign side values" menu?

Can anyone answer me?

PS If, after creating your campaign, you open the .cam file with a text editor, you will find that it ends with several lines of [LandCamp] whose data are all set to zero. This apparently causes an error signal "division by zero" and the game stops at the first turn.
I am trying to overcome this inconvenience by copying the [LandCamp] data of the RJW campaign.
Perhaps someone could give more clarification in this regard

[vonfriedman]

Lessons learned and addenda to the campaign editor manual - 1st part

Turn durations. The duration of each single turn is substantially longer if you choose to play with 4-week time intervals, shortening it of about 10-15% if  2 or 1 week intervals are chosen.
Patrols - It is preferable to assign local patrol duties to MSs or TBs (e.g. as happens for the Germans in the North Sea Campaign). In this case, if any ships are sunk, they are automatically replaced without affecting the OOB.
Reaction allowed and "Force" objectives - The AI ships of a "Force" (e.g. the Grand Fleet) for which "reaction allowed" is specified (equivalent to the "emergency activation" available for the human player) proceed directly towards the objective set for the "Force" to which they belong, moving from the port in which they are based, NOT form the "Start Point". After having reached the objective by the shortest route, the AI ships proceed towards the waypoint adjacent to the objective and then towards the next waypoints.
Start point and campaign objectives - The AI ships move from the "Start point" when the AI pursues one of the "objectives" specified for that campaign, which must be in adequate numbers and of different types (see North Sea campaigns or Russo Japanese War (RJW)). When specifying these objectives, check that the "Force" to which they are assigned is active or - vice versa - postpone the start date of the objective so that this "Force" has the ships necessary to accomplish it.
Coastal outlines - To prevent some ships from being trapped in bays or fjords of the coast during the movement operated by the AI, it is advisable to "round" all the coast lines by means of minefields with a value of 0 for both sides. Alternatively (not tested here !) use "mine free" zones.
Attraction exerted by friendly bases - When the AI makes some ships pass near a friendly base, these ships are "sucked" into that base as soon as they are within the distance specified for returning to port. For example, in a Mediterranean campaign it is impossible for the ships of the "Italian" or "Triple alliance" side - when managed by the AI - to cross the strait between Sardinia and Corsica, if there is the Italian base of La Maddalena, which tends to "suck in" any friendly ship nearby.
.cam, .crf, .msn files - When working on these files using a text editor, always make sure to open and save them in the mode: "all files". Also you should NEVER use "save as" but simply "save".
.cam file - The campaign editor does not allow completing the .cam file with that part which is entitled: [LandCamp]. To avoid a fatal ”divide by zero” error you have to add manually this part of the .cam file, copying and modifing it, for example, from RJW campaign.
.crf file - The .crf file lists the game turns by their number, the relative date, the operating points (OPs) to be assigned to the sides 0 and 1. In order to write this file, an existing one can be copied and then modified. More details in the 2nd part.
.msn file - It includes the names of merchant ships of both sides, to be assigned as desired. These names will be randomly assigned, when single TR sinks. Insights can be drawn from similar files from the North Sea or RJW campaigns. We will return to this in Part 3.
Operation Points - From the standard campaign files (e.g. North Sea campaigns) it is possible to calculate - in relation to an OOB of a given composition - the number of OPs to be assigned to each turn and to each side. A too generous OP assignment tends to favor the human player, who can always set sail with all his ships, while the AI is bound by what is specified by the Objectives (e.g.: reach the objective X with 4 BBs).

[vonfriedman]

Lessons learned and addenda to the campaign editor manual - 2nd part

Special instructions of the .crf file

Events - for example, in a given turn, it may be indicated:
E=1;1;Revolutionary activity is undermining the morale of the fleet;30;
we understand that Player 1 will see the above message but it is NOT clear what the number 30 means. May be: this event appears with 30% probability for each weekly turn? Or: the training level of side 1 is reduced... (slightly/strongly?)
Winter event: in the Baltic campaign, all operations, including training, will stop during the winter turns (from 1 January to 1 March), when the sea is frozen. The related instruction appears in the .crf file as:
E=2;0;This is the last turn before winter stops operations;0;
This warning will appear both to 1 side and 0 side.
In the following turn this special intruction must be added:
WINTER=1
For the optional addition of a new ship the .crf file must contain the instruction indicated by the following example
P=BC Izmail;Do you want to press for rapid finishing of the BC Izmail;380;30000;10
If the Russian player presses the "enter" key, the indicated BC will be built in 380 days at a cost of 30000 victory points (VP) and with a 10% probability that it will be available in the OOB for each week that passes, starting from the expected date
Withdrawal (Withdrawal = W) and possible return (Return = R) of ships, for example:
W=CA Prince Heinrich
Transform ships to an improved version (Upgrade) already defined in the "Designs" or "Custom files" folders, for example
U=Bogatyr;Bogatyr16;1
A certain ship, for which withdrawal is foreseen, can remain in the game, at a certain cost of victory points and with a given probability, if in the .crf file it is indicated, for example
V=CA Blucher;40000;10
The change of base of a division or flotilla. For example, in RJW the 14th Japanese DD flotilla (side 0) moves automatically from its original base to that of Chinampo in a certain turn. The .crf file indicates:
RB=14th Torpedo Boat Division;Chinampo;0

[vonfriedman]

Lessons learned and addenda to the campaign editor manual - 3rd part

Aspects still to be clarified

Delayed intervention of a "Force" - Sometimes you may want a "Force" to come into play after the campaign start date. According to my experience with it if you indicate a start date for that "Force" after the campaign start date the AI - apparently - tends to never consider that "Force" in play, invalidating the campaign.
To keep it simple, make sure that no "Force" has a start date after the campaign start date. You can allocate a few ships to that "Force", initially, and then strengthen it later.
Additional force - It seems that a certain naval "Force" can be used only occasionally, such as the German High Sea Fleet in Baltic Campaign, but the campaign manual does not explain how to do this.
PSF Startpoint - the meaning is not known but apparently it does not affect the functioning.
Training risk - The meaning is not known. In North Sea etc. campaigns it is = 3. Smaller values seem to permanently result in low training.
.cam file - There is no information on how to compile the [LandCam] part of the .cam file and little can be understood from the Russo Japanese War .cam file. 
The meaning of some instructions present in the .crf files of North Sea etc. campaigns, such as: A1=10, A1=20 etc, is not known.
An instruction like: HVU0=50 presumably means "the divisions indicated as High Value Units of side 0 are worth 50" but it is not known what 50 means or why the indication HVU √ disappears when the campaign editor is reopened.