129. Adjustment to AI gunnery accuracy, and to 3rd party sounds of incoming shells. - and alarm-bells and abandon-ship/death!
I think AI gunnery accuracy needs to be toned down somewhat, so that there are a few close misses/waterspouts/audible incoming shell, and detonation on the water sounds before hits occur. (unless the range is minimal)
Broadly speaking, the ability to land hits should be roughly equal between players firing at a given range with the deck-gun, and that of fire from escorts. One could make a case that fire from armed merchantmen would likely be less accurate, however, as they also provide much more stable gun-platforms, for accurate shooting, relative to firing from a pitching/rolling/yawing u-boat, or a smaller escort, I think a case could be made to keep their AI fire roughly on a par with escorts. In all situations, AI gunfire needs to be more accurate than that achievable by a player at a given range, but not to the current degree?
In order for the crew to be able to react quickly enough, all crew areas need to have the ability to hear alarm bells, which were historically fitted to every compartment in a u-boat excepting the lavatories and possibly the radio/rooms. (Decaf has source material). So, the first order of business is to add alarm-bells (not the switches?) to near the diesel station, and in the e-motor room and forward torpedo room.
The second change could be either reducing the rate of fire, or, preferably, the AI's currently un-erring accuracy, so there's a reasonable chance that a u-boat under shell-fire can at least get under before the 3rd lethal hit, properly handled. It stands to reason that a boat that's been hit is going to take on water, at a pretty considerable rate, but with damage-control (wooden plugs) and suitable bracing, it's reasonable to suppose a u-boat might be able to submerge to very modest depths - circa 20m max - with damage-control, subject to whether the struck area is accessible. IE a hit in the tower would be fairly straight-forwards to stop a leak by penetrating shot, one behind a diesel would be very much less so.
It is right, and proper, I think, that a u-boat detected within 8000 yards or so of an escort should come under fire, and thence very likely asdic search and at least one round of DC's, if not many more. There also needs to be the chance of an unfixable damage being inflicted that results - after a suitable struggle - in the loss of the boat. What I'm questioning here is if the AI is correctly and reasonably configured in shell-fire accuracy.
Which brings me onto what happens when lethal hits/a sinking boat arise. Personally I would like to see the ability for the player (or some of them) to "abandon-ship" if the order is given, and be able to leap off the boat to bob around in the sea for a bit before the end-screen. Those who do not get out having the water level rising within a given compartment before being forced through water-tight doors into neighbouring compartments with losses of lighting etc and rising water. Ideally the u-boat would take on a steep angle commensurate with the flooding, and sink as the physics warrants. Consideration could be given to the inrush of water as the top-hatch submerges preventing players getting up the ladder? All this would make for much more dramatic - and yet still believable - content in the event the u-boat is either damaged, or damaged to the point of sinking. A rather better result than the current "BANG! BANG! BANG!" - endscreen?
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