Cold waters Harder difficulty mod

[PANCAKEOFDOOMS]

From playing this game for 30 hours iv noticed that there is serious flaws with the AI in the 84 campaign. this is due to major nerfing of the AI's sonar at launch due to sever negative feed as people felt they where being detected to easily. this response by the Dev's is understandable as the vast majority of people wanted a easy to pick up casual game.

how ever after 30 hours of what i can only describe as clubbing baby seals i grown quite bored with this game and decided to fix it.

this mod is quite simply buffing the soviets sonar. giving it similar capabilities to the newer usn sonar the usn_an_bqq_5. i even gave the udaloe a slight buff.

i have found this to be a great success as now the AI is now a lot more cautious and are now actively searching. how ever i have tweaked it so the AI is not all knowing . Active sonar is now often required to get general bearing on hidden foes.

if some one whats to play with this mod id be happy to upload it if i have permission. it is simply modding a note book file known as sensor in the streaming default folder. the document totally modifiable.

[1mPHUNit0]

i dont play this game...but great shot sure

[Delgard]

I like the Ultimate level. The only thing I really notice is that enemy groups seem to run in my direction on the strategic map if a satellite of patrol plane notices me. It causes me to use weapons quicker and getting back to Holy Loch is not the easiest.

I would like to see more ship helos in the air during a surface encounter. As a ship CDR I would immediately launch my helo, thereby, a surface group would have 3-5 helos in the air. Would raise the challenge.

[CaptainCruise]

I like the Ultimate level. The only thing I really notice is that enemy groups seem to run in my direction on the strategic map if a satellite of patrol plane notices me. It causes me to use weapons quicker and getting back to Holy Loch is not the easiest.

I would like to see more ship helos in the air during a surface encounter. As a ship CDR I would immediately launch my helo, thereby, a surface group would have 3-5 helos in the air. Would raise the challenge.

That is exactly what is suppose to happen when a satellite or patrol plane spots you. The word goes out and any ASW group in the area will steam to your position to attack.

I've seen up to 4 helo's and 1 or 2 fixed wing aircraft in the air around me at the same time on several occasions. It depends on the mission and what type of group you are up against. If it's a carrier group, you'll see more helo's. If it's a missile strike against a land target, you'll have helo's from the surface ships and land based ASW aircraft joining the party hunting you down. The smaller vanilla missions with only 2 or 3 ships won't have as many helo's in the air at once. They'll have one ready aircraft in the air and a 2nd helo usually at +5 or +30 on standby to launch when the 1st helo lands. I don't think it was common practice to have both up at the same time because when they both have to land they'll have a down period when no helo's are in the air at all. They would probably make sure they had constant coverage.

[Delgard]

Nope, ain't seeing it. BUT, I do get to yell at the OOD for not detecting them.

Is there a spot to increase the amount of reactory aircraft? Did my settings get nerfed?

I do have to say that I spend a lot of time at 1000ft. Maybe I need to send up a beacon buoy?

Thanks!

[PANCAKEOFDOOMS]

That is exactly what is suppose to happen when a satellite or patrol plane spots you. The word goes out and any ASW group in the area will steam to your position to attack.

I've seen up to 4 helo's and 1 or 2 fixed wing aircraft in the air around me at the same time on several occasions. It depends on the mission and what type of group you are up against. If it's a carrier group, you'll see more helo's. If it's a missile strike against a land target, you'll have helo's from the surface ships and land based ASW aircraft joining the party hunting you down. The smaller vanilla missions with only 2 or 3 ships won't have as many helo's in the air at once. They'll have one ready aircraft in the air and a 2nd helo usually at +5 or +30 on standby to launch when the 1st helo lands. I don't think it was common practice to have both up at the same time because when they both have to land they'll have a down period when no helo's are in the air at all. They would probably make sure they had constant coverage.

Never had a carrier group mission i know there in the files but i just never get them.

[CaptainCruise]

Never had a carrier group mission i know there in the files but i just never get them.


You will......

Be careful what you wish for.
:arrgh!:

[CaptainCruise]

Nope, ain't seeing it. BUT, I do get to yell at the OOD for not detecting them.

**That happens with me also, especially with the realism mod. It's annoying sometimes but does add a degree of authenticity to the whole thing. Sometimes your guys will just miss something and **boom**.

Is there a spot to increase the amount of reactory aircraft? Did my settings get nerfed?

**I'm not sure if your settings got boshed, but I'm pretty sure you can go into the mission or campaign settings and adjust the amount of helos and/or fixed wing ASW aircraft that may spawn during the mission. I think its a min/max setting. Pretty sure it takes into account your difficulty settings too.

I do have to say that I spend a lot of time at 1000ft. Maybe I need to send up a beacon buoy?

**If they modeled one in the game, no one knows about it. Besides, the enemy can home in and find you and your buoy just as easily as your guys can.
1000ft should help keep you out of MAD range from a overflying ASW bird. That and a nice strong thermocline. Stay deep and use the silent running feature. If you watch the sonar comparison screen, the numbers showing how the enemy hears you will change when you activate silent running. They'll lose you a bit as your noise ratio drops and it may be enough for you to disappear.
Also, for what its worth when you're dodging torps just keep popping up and down above and below the thermocline at flank speed, releasing a noisemaker and/or form a knuckle as you do can really help confuse and lose a homing torp. If there is no thermocline for that particular mission, keep changing depth radically anyway. If I understand the file settings correctly I believe the vertical seeker is not as wide as the horizontal seeker and should help give you more leeway to evade.

Thanks!

:subsim:

[Delgard]

I saw the mass response. :o It was not aircraft, but a tactical ship formation. I did not survive...

[XenonSurf]

There is AFAIK 1 helicopter per bigger warship. I can see multiple helicopters when hitting F4, but they do not all overfly me, but go to a stationary place and put a dipping sonar in the water.
I think if there are 3 warships in your mission you will get 3 helicopters to deal with. And once they spot you they are not piece of cake...
It's actually difficult in Casual and Realistic, but I think your torpedos should be a bit tweaked down so 1 shot is not 1 kill in all cases.

[Delgard]

Capt C, I was kidding about sending up a buoy to signal the enemy helos where I was.

I have been all through the files looking for ways to increase reaction and just not finding what I am looking for. It is not that I want more air assets, I just want them to use what they have. I sink many a ship with a helos on its deck. I know the ships are detecting me, maybe only at a 40% strength but a helos should be dipping along the bearing.

That surface group that I ran into launched about 6-7 missile torpedoes. I respected that.