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Old 07-17-16, 03:09 AM   #20
THE_MASK
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Crew Automation
Why make hundreds of crew animations when I can make them while playing the game .
Don't even know if this is possible in a pc game .
What if I can click some sort of teaching mode .
The game records what I do in first person mode and then I can give that exact sequence to an AI crew member .
This is all done in game while playing the campaign .
The game logs what actions I do in the teaching mode and then I can give those actions in that time frame to a crew member . The crew member will do exactly what I just did in the teaching mode .
I am not sure how the hands on actions of the crew would work . If crew are using the rudder wheel and I wanted to use it would I just click on it . (this part is a bit dodgy)
This is how it should work .
Click on a crew member I would like to train .
Name the crew action such as (Raise dive planes) .
Start the training sequence .
I would do all the actions .
Stop the training sequence .
Those actions are given to the crew member that I choose .
The crew member would then just repeat everything I just did when I was in teaching mode when I give the order .
Obviously the dials/levers/switches movement are included in the training sequence if they are used .
Obviously the trained crew member would walk or run to the spot I went to depending on weather I walk or run in training mode .
While in training mode , wherever the curser point is would be where the crew hand is (only when in hand pointer mode) .
I could assign different actions to crew by dragging action names that I type into a box to the crew member .
I could click on first officer and there would be a list of actions that he has .
Silent running for example . The silent running is linked to other orders which in turn are linked to other crew members which do there sequence for silent running .
I would need to be able to link and unlink actions while playing the game .
Basically at the start of a campaign the crew is idle at a station / bunk etc .
Just say I order emergency dive . I click on the first officer and from a list of orders that I have made by giving him , I then click on emergency dive and he runs to a certain spot . Because I have linked other crew to this action they also do there actions . Just like SH5 crew animations except I can generate the crew actions in teaching mode while playing the game .
The game could ship with a basic crew ability for novices or you could start with a crew that is not trained at all . I would have complete control of my crew and what they do because I have shown them exactly what to do in training mode .
Surfacing the boat for example . I click on the Chief to surface the boat . I have trained the navigator to do a depth check because I did it myself in training mode using the fully functional depth thingy . Watch crew are trained to climb up the ladder and go to the watch position because I went there earlier in the training mode . Earlier I trained the crew by linking the watch crew to the Chief and the surface order . I clicked on the crew member earlier and linked the order WATCH to that crew member . The crew could spot something on the horizon and start off with (something spotted on the horizon) (text to speech software) and then I could look at it myself and type ship so that next time he spots something similar he calls out ship . When it gets closer and I can recognise the ship I can type in what type and next time he can call out destroyer spotted . Same for friendly or enemy etc . If I havnt recognised what type of plane or ship or enemy or friendly at the beginning of the campaign then crew cannot recognise what type either . Alternatively you could have a fully trained crew package at the start of the campaign or anything in between .
Lets say I have trained the watch crew to spot enemy aircraft . When the watch crew says enemy aircraft spotted I could have other crew get the sub ready for a crash dive manoeuvre , depth sounding , engine control , crew movements etc etc .
Alternatively you could have a fully trained crew or anything in between at the start . You could have different routines for different parts of the campaign . A plane appears and because I have linked ALARM order to the watch officer , when I click on the watch officer ALARM order the men run down the ladder and assume there positions that I trained them to do earlier . There could be certain routines shipped with the game (ALARM) routine for example . I know the sub will dive because the dive manoeuvre i also trained the dive manoeuvre to the appropriate crew and linked it to the watch officer ALARM order while in training mode . The sub shouldn't dive while crew or myself on deck .
Lets say I enter an area with heavy plane cover . I could increse the number of crew who are WATCH PLANES by clicking on the watch officer and clicking on WATCH PLANES order . This would bring more crew up to the conning tower . I would have to be careful while training that I have included them in the ALARM order so they don't get left on the deck and drown .
I could have different crew routines by clicking on lets say the navigator . While leaving a friendly port I could have the radio operator listen and report incoming messages or play the gramophone or use the radio etc . While in battle stations I have trained all the crew or just some of the crew to do certain tasks etc etc etc .

Each player could have there own Crew Animation package and upload it as a steam workshop content . EG: Sobers early war Type II crew (Mostly clowning around but getting the job done in the end) . Someone might think of a better way to utilise crew in different scenarios . Infinite number of crew combinations and actions . Crews easily setup to be used in multiplayer/single player modes . Individual player crews setup for there playing style . Variable number of crew from none to how ever many you want .
Can it be done and would people want it ?

Last edited by THE_MASK; 07-18-16 at 01:02 AM.
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