Post by jwsmith26 on Jun 26, 2020 11:11:43 GMT -6
Because of the way the "Aircraft types" screen works it is quite easy to be mistaken about the true nature of your naval air force. I think it is fairly common to mark any plane that is not the newest model as obsolete. This causes the plane to disappear from view and probably from memory. No one wants to think about a 5 year old plane, that thing is long gone, or should be. But is it really? In fact, many of those old planes are not actually gone, many are still present in your active squadrons.
The "Aircraft types" screen can be configured to show your aircraft in a number of different ways. However, this screen does not default to the settings that allow you to easily view all of the aircraft that are actually in use in your air force. I would like to describe a simple method that configures the "Aircraft types" screen to reveal to you the air force that you are actually operating - a configuration that shows every active aircraft in your naval air force and no planes that are not active. A lot of you might be doing this already, but the rest might find this useful.
It is easy to get the wrong impression about the nature of your naval air force depending on how you use the "Obsolete" toggle for each aircraft model and how you use the "Show obsolete types" checkbox. The best view of your entire active air force requires a bit of management but the result is a quite nice, comprehensive view of every operational aircraft in your air force. The management part requires you to mark as obsolete only those aircraft types that have zero aircraft in service. It is quite easy - here's the process:
1. Open the "Aircraft types" screen and check the "Show obsolete types" checkbox. This will reveal every aircraft type you have created since the beginning of the game.
2. Next look at the "In service" column and toggle as obsolete every aircraft type that has zero "in service" aircraft. At the same time mark as not obsolete any aircraft types that have any number of aircraft listed as "in service". (You only have to do this bulk change one time.)
3. Finally, uncheck the "Show obsolete types" checkbox. Your screen will now show every aircraft that is currently in use in a squadron in your naval air force and no planes that are not in use.
With this view you can easily see how many of your newest planes are in service and how many older planes are still hanging around waiting to be replaced. Once this is set up it is easy to maintain. Just keep an eye on the "In service" column. When you see an aircraft model's in service number drop to zero, that is when you mark it as obsolete and it will disappear from this screen that shows only your active aircraft. The game will automatically mark very old aircraft as obsolete. So you will also need to recheck those planes as not obsolete is there are planes still in service.
* There is one instance in which you may want to mark an aircraft obsolete even if it has some aircraft still in service. If you have a superior older plane (perhaps it has an exceptional range or speed) that you want to keep actively producing, then the only way to do this is to mark any newer models of the same type as obsolete. The game will never produce obsolete models and will produce only the most recent model (that is not marked as obsolete). In most cases, it is likely that you will immediately mark any inadequate newer model as obsolete, meaning it will probably have zero planes in service anyway.
I've provided some images below to illustrate how this works. The screens are from a Japanese play through. The year is 1945.
Here's a view with "Show obsolete types" checked. This view shows every plane built by Japan over just the past 12 years. There is so much data that it is difficult to extract useful information.
Below is a configuration that I suspect many players use. It shows just the most modern set of planes that are active in the Japanese naval air force. Every older model has been marked as obsolete. This view can be useful when making decisions about which plane types needs a new model proposal, but it presents a dangerously artificial view of your actual air force.
The image below shows the "Aircraft types" screen that has been configured to show every planes that is currently deployed into an active squadron in the Japanese naval air force. It shows the actual air force with all of its warts. The number of old planes still in use is discouraging but also illuminating. (As an example, note that the Japanese are still operating 141 TBs that are 11 years old.)
The "Aircraft types" screen can be configured to show your aircraft in a number of different ways. However, this screen does not default to the settings that allow you to easily view all of the aircraft that are actually in use in your air force. I would like to describe a simple method that configures the "Aircraft types" screen to reveal to you the air force that you are actually operating - a configuration that shows every active aircraft in your naval air force and no planes that are not active. A lot of you might be doing this already, but the rest might find this useful.
It is easy to get the wrong impression about the nature of your naval air force depending on how you use the "Obsolete" toggle for each aircraft model and how you use the "Show obsolete types" checkbox. The best view of your entire active air force requires a bit of management but the result is a quite nice, comprehensive view of every operational aircraft in your air force. The management part requires you to mark as obsolete only those aircraft types that have zero aircraft in service. It is quite easy - here's the process:
1. Open the "Aircraft types" screen and check the "Show obsolete types" checkbox. This will reveal every aircraft type you have created since the beginning of the game.
2. Next look at the "In service" column and toggle as obsolete every aircraft type that has zero "in service" aircraft. At the same time mark as not obsolete any aircraft types that have any number of aircraft listed as "in service". (You only have to do this bulk change one time.)
3. Finally, uncheck the "Show obsolete types" checkbox. Your screen will now show every aircraft that is currently in use in a squadron in your naval air force and no planes that are not in use.
With this view you can easily see how many of your newest planes are in service and how many older planes are still hanging around waiting to be replaced. Once this is set up it is easy to maintain. Just keep an eye on the "In service" column. When you see an aircraft model's in service number drop to zero, that is when you mark it as obsolete and it will disappear from this screen that shows only your active aircraft. The game will automatically mark very old aircraft as obsolete. So you will also need to recheck those planes as not obsolete is there are planes still in service.
* There is one instance in which you may want to mark an aircraft obsolete even if it has some aircraft still in service. If you have a superior older plane (perhaps it has an exceptional range or speed) that you want to keep actively producing, then the only way to do this is to mark any newer models of the same type as obsolete. The game will never produce obsolete models and will produce only the most recent model (that is not marked as obsolete). In most cases, it is likely that you will immediately mark any inadequate newer model as obsolete, meaning it will probably have zero planes in service anyway.
I've provided some images below to illustrate how this works. The screens are from a Japanese play through. The year is 1945.
Here's a view with "Show obsolete types" checked. This view shows every plane built by Japan over just the past 12 years. There is so much data that it is difficult to extract useful information.
Below is a configuration that I suspect many players use. It shows just the most modern set of planes that are active in the Japanese naval air force. Every older model has been marked as obsolete. This view can be useful when making decisions about which plane types needs a new model proposal, but it presents a dangerously artificial view of your actual air force.
The image below shows the "Aircraft types" screen that has been configured to show every planes that is currently deployed into an active squadron in the Japanese naval air force. It shows the actual air force with all of its warts. The number of old planes still in use is discouraging but also illuminating. (As an example, note that the Japanese are still operating 141 TBs that are 11 years old.)
