[RFE] Deduct maintenance time only before a Maintenance Check

[Saklad5]

Prerequisites and Pre-Issue Checklist

• [X] I'm reporting the RFE to the correct repository:

• MegaMek

• MegaMekLab

• MekHQ

• [X] Does this conform with our Content Policy linked above?

• [X] I've searched the GitHub tracker and haven't found a similar feature request listed

RFE Details *

This is a request to implement Errata

Brief Description *

A recent forum ruling has confirmed that MekHQ's current approach to maintenance time, where it is deducted every day, is incorrect. Instead, that time should be deducted immediately preceding a Maintenance Check.

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This would best be implemented as a full rewrite of the current system, which is unnecessarily complicated. Here is a summary of how the revised system should work:

• Each unit may have one, two, or three[^1] Technical Teams assigned to conduct maintenance. The second and third team must have either the same Skill Rating as the first or one step lower.

• When a Technical Team is instructed to perform a task, a warning should be displayed if doing so would not leave enough time to perform maintenance for one of their assigned units.

  As an example, if a DropShip is set to be maintained with Extra Time x 4, and thus needs 720 minutes to complete maintenance, then the day before the check is due a warning should be displayed if the crew are instructed to perform a task that would leave them with less than 240 minutes of time. This is because they need those 240 minutes, plus the 480 minutes of the next day, to perform the Maintenance Check.

• When a day is advanced, each Technical Team should check assigned units to see if they need to start a Maintenance Check in order to finish by the day it is due. This should incorporate any time left in the current day. If they are unable to start a Maintenance Check due to already being busy, whether that is due to maintaining another unit or having the aforementioned warning prompt overruled and being committed to another task, the player should be warned that the unit will not be maintained.

[^1]: Assigning two or three Technical Teams to maintain the same unit applies a -1 or -2 target modifier, respectively. This is currently unimplemented, but as these changes require an overhaul of the maintenance code anyway, it is a good time to rectify that.

MekHQ Suite Version *

v0.50.0

Attach Files

No response

Final Checklist

• [X] I've checked to make sure that this RFE has not already been filed
• [X] I am requesting implementation of only one relevant set of features in this ticket for clarity and focus

[Saklad5]

Alternatively, Maintenance Checks could preempt other kinds of task. Under that approach, a long-running task would be put on hold in favor of a required Maintenance Check, and resume once that check is completed. In the DropShip example above, that could be conveyed by stating that a Technical Team has 240 minutes left plus 240 minutes for scheduled maintenance.

Note that the time shouldn't be removed at that stage, as the player could adjust how much time to spend on maintenance, thereby freeing up more time on that day. For units that aren't self-maintained, a different Technical Team could also be assigned that task instead to let that technician work on something else.

This approach would also allow tasks that take more than a working week, such as DropShip engine replacements, to be scheduled without forcing maintenance to be left undone.

Once a Maintenance Check starts, though, it should be seen through to the end. Maintenance Checks shouldn't be preemptable by other Maintenance Checks either.