Okay great graphics/sound - but sad AI :(

[MarkShot]

SH3 1.4b + GWX 1.03

I decided as an experiment to see how the AI would dispatch and destroy me.

So, it is daylight, clear, and calm (04/41) and I am in the middle of a convoy running silent at 1kts at PD. Then, I put my scope up high to say here I am. The convoy had 4-5 escorts and it took them about 30 minutes to dispatch me ... ultimately by ramming me three times.

But here is the really sad part, at least, 4-5 Allied ships were obliterated in the effort to sink me. Well, at least, it was better than SH2 as not a single Allied ship collided. In SH2, they would just ram into each other.

So, what happened?

Well, two things really:

(1) First, everyone opens up with their guns at my scope. No one seems to worry that they might shoot long. In fact, many shots were long and blasted up other ships. (Indeed, I am going to suggest Doenitz that the most effective way to destroy Allied convoys might be with dummy U-boats ... a barrel with a pipe sticking out of the water. These could be discharged safely by a deep U-boat while the Allies shoot the cr*p out of each other.)

(2) Second, the handling of wasserbomben wasn't all that careful. It looked like, at least, two escorts blew their own sterns off. Oops.

Has anyone sat back and watched such comedy on the high seas? Here I am trying to master the tough full realism SH3/GWX, and the AI takes 30 minutes to kill me (note I was not maneuvering ... just had my scope up and watching from the external view). While dispatching me exceedingly slowly, they sink five of their own.

Amazing!

[MarkShot]

Well, one other improvement over SH2 is that despite all these extraneous sinkings, your u-boat is not credited with the kills. In SH2, you would credited with anything that sunk.

[Crimguy]

OK, so, outside of it responding poorly when you tooled around like an idiot, how did it do?

[Jimbuna]

Like you said..."amazing" :yep:
Pleased your enjoying the GWXperience :up:

[Dowly]

I think the both 1 & 2 are stock problems with the AI. For example, the DD blasting his own butt off I have encountered in SHIV too. The AI's behaviour in convoys has been a problem always with SHIII AFAIK. That's why I dont attack convoys from distance, but sneak inside it and start the fireworks. Like a turkey shoot. ;)

[MarkShot]

Well, of course, I am NOT criticizing the fine work of the GWX Team. However, I did expect better out of the SH3 AI in terms of gameplay either due to meticuously handling of the sub hunt coding or simple quick fixes like making friendly ships impervious to damage from their own side. I think it was coded in SH1 that friendly ships could pass through each other without collisions.

It was sad for me to see this especially, since the SH2 Pacific Aces mod was just as brilliant a piece of work as GWX. In some respects, the PA Team started with less and pulled out some even bigger tricks from the hat. For example, they took a game with a basic linear campaign and turned it into a random campaign experience. But in the end, for me, their fine work was sunk by issues in SH2 which they could do nothing about. Some of the most offensive being that patrols could not be saved/reloaded, the tendency of the AI to collide frequently, lack of coordination of escorts when a sub was reported, ...

Hopefully, this was simply an abberation and when I take the AI more seriously, it will in turn take itself more seriously. :)

[Crimguy]

Mark - all I can tell you is that, overall, the AI does a good job, if not a realistic one per se.

I'm only in 1940 with GWX, and the escorts are still a bit on the dumb side. They spot you fast, either on the surface or submerged. They are not too good at dropping the cans on you though. ASDIC seems a rarity still, which is appropriate I think.

I think the stock SHIII AI's biggest problem is that, using just passive equipment, it is able to spot subs at great lengths. Surprise is only possible it seems if you position yourself at a standstill some distance to the side of a convoy, or if you have terrible weather.

I uninstalled SHIII last year without ever getting later in the war (I think 1941-42 was as far as I got), because of Starforce. Later in the war, say post mid-42, I should historically have one chance in 5 of surviving a depth charge attack with multiple DD's. Now the odds seem to be well in my favor unless I'm caught in shallow water.

[Crimguy]

Incidentally, although very rare, a few DD's have been damaged by their own depth charges.

[Telgriff]

Incidentally, although very rare, a few DD's have been damaged by their own depth charges.

I've seen one sink itself using its own depth charges.

[robj250]

SH3 1.4b + GWX 1.03

I decided as an experiment to see how the AI would dispatch and destroy me.

So, it is daylight, clear, and calm (04/41) and I am in the middle of a convoy running silent at 1kts at PD. Then, I put my scope up high to say here I am. The convoy had 4-5 escorts and it took them about 30 minutes to dispatch me ... ultimately by ramming me three times.

But here is the really sad part, at least, 4-5 Allied ships were obliterated in the effort to sink me. Well, at least, it was better than SH2 as not a single Allied ship collided. In SH2, they would just ram into each other.

So, what happened?

Well, two things really:

(1) First, everyone opens up with their guns at my scope. No one seems to worry that they might shoot long. In fact, many shots were long and blasted up other ships. (Indeed, I am going to suggest Doenitz that the most effective way to destroy Allied convoys might be with dummy U-boats ... a barrel with a pipe sticking out of the water. These could be discharged safely by a deep U-boat while the Allies shoot the cr*p out of each other.)

(2) Second, the handling of wasserbomben wasn't all that careful. It looked like, at least, two escorts blew their own sterns off. Oops.

Has anyone sat back and watched such comedy on the high seas? Here I am trying to master the tough full realism SH3/GWX, and the AI takes 30 minutes to kill me (note I was not maneuvering ... just had my scope up and watching from the external view). While dispatching me exceedingly slowly, they sink five of their own.

Amazing!

I think that would be cool MarkShot, the dummy U-boat would be a blast :arrgh!: