[Rayydar]

(@ the First Sea Lord aka Developer:
No need to read the whole novelistic stuff, just the summary, please.)

Once upon a time, there was a captain called Rayydar fighting his way through the Gato solo campaign and some single battles - which brought up 'several' questions & suggestions.

Right, when enemy ships don't flee from my killer surface vessels, there is a slightly greater chance to 'ambush' them. It just requires a lot of 'patience' (a word I have to look up in my dictionary again and again whenever this funny virtue is required!).

However, if an undamaged enemy ship once has decided to leave the area, there is no chance to make it return.
If I surface outside of its gun range, the enemy doesn't seem to spot me (makes sense) and continues to steam away with 32 - 35 knots.
Surfacing within gun range, by contrast, is Kamikaze, American-style! My tiny little Gato with its minmal silhouette is always spotted even at maximum range.

This was the good news. The bad: AI gunners, often too dumb to hit a cruiser at 100 yards, are deadly for a sub (> 50% chance to hit). Once a Takao opened fire at maximum range (well, broadside) and sunk me with her first salvo! This was the point of time when I decided to buy the A-bomb!

Furthermore:
Well, a sub has no armor. It's realistic to take considerable damage when hit. However, the Gato sinks at only 50%, once even at 35% flooding. Yup, due its limited lenght it is always hit at the bow or stern. But all in all, it seems to be made of glass.

Thus, as measures of precaution, I ordered my helmsman to avoid collisions with jellyfish by all means. And appealed to the entire crew: "Guys, none of us wants our sub to be blown up by friendly fire. So would you PLEASE control the pressure of your farts!"
I hereby apply for a job on an oiler which can easily sustain 4 torpedo plus some shell hits - in the game.

And then there was a zone with Shokaku & Zuikaku. I even managed to torpedo both of them, causing significant lists and temporary flight deck fires. After these were extinguished, both vessels were still heavily listing - and both launching airstrikes nevertheless!

Gravity vs. friction. Friction (still) wins.

Honestly: Would you like to start on this flight deck??? I would go on strike for either
a) a ski-jump deck or
b) a water-tight plane with periscope and snorkel upgrades installed!

BTW: When a dived sub is being air-attacked, AA rattle can be heard. Does this correspond to my option b) above?

A sub's main weapon, however, is the torpedo. It has got five of them initially. Five? YES! Because the first is always (well, 95%) stray or dud (and of course nobody programmed this ). Once, even my first three tin fish were crappy.

Well, s*** happens, I managed to stay undetected, the enemy vessels went off as usual. 'Pursuing' them and suicide-surfacing (see above) from time to time, I hoped that my empty 3 tubes would be reloaded meanwhile, for somehow I wasn't keen on re-engaging three Jap cruisers with only 3 torpedos.

I waited for over 20 minutes - in vain! Obviously my torpedomen were on strike now. And right - they told me they were not willing to even think about any reload activity until the first set of 6 was completely expended. What the ******* is this good for? Anyway, I granted them an instant day off on the sun deck. We were at 400 feet, btw ...

When a tube is eventually reloaded - this good news is displayed after the MOVE action when I just turned away in order to stay undetected. Thus I couldn't fire - not even my non-existent (???) 4 aft torpedos. On the other hand, with the bow roughly toward the enemy, my Gato has the advanced feature of a ~ 90% targeting angle. One doesn't even need to buy this as an upgrade!

Last funny experience for today: Seabeas apparently used to blast 'tin fish tunnels' into rocks / sandbanks. Reminds me of toad tunnels under highways nowadays. Really animal-friendly, guys!




Summary:

Questions:
1. Why does the AI always spot a surfaced sub at 10 sea miles or more? This is not realistic.
2. Why does the AI's chance to hit a tiny sub seem to be much higher than to hit a surface ship?
3. Why does a sub always sink at >= 50% flooding?
3. Why is the estimated chance to hit with the first torpedo <= 5%, < 75% for the second, while subsequent attacks are > 90% successful (all at medium range with a 5-star boat)? Is this to simulate a kind of on-the-job training?

Suggestions:
1. Reduce or remove the unrealistic targeting angle of subs but:
1.1 install aft torpedo tubes if historically existing,
1.2 reload torpedo tubes ASAP, not only when the first set is completely expended,
1.2 make subs harder to detect, even when surfaced,
1.3 reduce the chance to be hit by gunfire,
1.4 remove the penalty on the first torpedo(es) (or deny there is any, and this is what you will do )
Otherwise sub warfare won't be fun in the future.

2. As a little compensation, install Hedgehogs on escorts. The depth charge targeting angle is too small in PF; little chance to get them into action.

3. Disable airstrikes if carrier listing (accumulated for all directions) is > 15 or 20%.

Glitches:
1. AA sound by a dived sub when air-attacked.
2. Torpedoes diving under rock / sandbank and reappearing on the other side.