Hero Abilities Question?

[CapnBlood]

Just started playing v1.5 and its definetly different than 1.4. Anyway i have about 8 green passives on my boat and 4 yellows 2 are torp upgrades 1 for repair and 1 is stalker ability. The prob I am having seems the passives move my yellow abilietys over to the right where i can not click on them. So is there a max # of abilitys u can have or is there a way to slide that bar over b/c the speed scale covers 1 up. Or is there another screen to access these abilities. Any help would be appreciated.:damn:

[Seminole]

Hey ..welcome aboard and enjoy your tour of duty here .

I never encountered your problem of having too many abilities so I don't have a solution for what to do about it. Sorry.

I could suggest,however, that maybe you could move the crewmwn with the ability you need to employ to a different compartment where the abilty could still be used and is also accessible. Does that make sense?

For example: I have a crew member with perfect pitch but he isn't in the sensor compartment. When I need him, I have to move him there and then back to his regular job after the action is over.

Possibly someone else will come along and add to this.

Good luck.

[aanker]

I have been curious about this too 'CapnBlood' but haven't experienced it yet.

All of my crewmen with special abilities have passive abilities and I do what 'Seminole' does. My best gunner is a radio specialist for example so I just temporarily move him for comms when needed.

I understand that there are active abilities a crewman can get that only last a short period of time however I don't have any of those so I don't know what you do to activate them. My row of crew abilities icons also extends past the fuel gauge since it is Mar 45 now.

Does he trigger if you move him to the active watch in the correct compartment... or do you need to actually click on the button to activate him? <--- (edit) - just found out they need to be 'clicked' to activate.

I'm thinking if that's the case I would dismiss 2 of my 3 propulsion experts and 2 of my 3 watch experts etc to make room to click on one of the active crewmen?? Don't know.

I did a Google forum search on this with 5 pages of results without a whole lot of luck... lol

Happy Hunting!

Art

[CapnBlood]

Basicaly i've been playing with it all day and i figured this out i think. Passives fill your list up first and as far as i can tell you can only have 9 abilities on screen at a time so if you want to use activate only hero abilities you must keep your passives down to a resonable level. If you keep 6 passives up in base you can use 3 other abilities. But also in patrol u can recieve abilities and mess that system up. I'm going to finish playing through this career for fun it's july of 43 but it takes away the sim part so i think i'm just going to keep rotating them out of my crew next career if it doesn't kill my crew stats to much. P.S I tried the search also and couldn't dig up any answers.

[Seminole]

I have never assigned much priority to advancing the crew. Mine seems to function just as well when they are beginners as they do when they become experienced old hands. :shifty:

So if I had reason to kick one off the boat to make room for a needed special ability I would not hesitate for an instant. :nope:

[SteamWake]

Hes absolutly right, if you have too many passive skilled sailors they will extend past the interface buttons where you cannot access the active ones.

Only way to deal with it that Im aware of is to 'retire' some of those passive. Why one would have a dozen diving specilists aboard at one time is beyond me. :|\\

Anyhow while in port swap them out for untrained or trained in other skills.

Now if someone could mod the UI so that the actives are listed first the problem kind of goes away. :rock:

[Orion2012]

I wonder if the way the are assigned could be modded, perhaps, allowing you to choose what was learned, like giving medals.

[banjo]

As an addendum to the above, my main gripe with 1.5 is that it limits the number of officers and CPO's on board. I can never add any valuable rated ppl because it always says I have 'too many'. Completely negates my ability to upgrade my crew. Or is there a way around this I haven't discovered--other than dismissing my crew members to add new ones I mean.

[SteamWake]

As an addendum to the above, my main gripe with 1.5 is that it limits the number of officers and CPO's on board. I can never add any valuable rated ppl because it always says I have 'too many'. Completely negates my ability to upgrade my crew. Or is there a way around this I haven't discovered--other than dismissing my crew members to add new ones I mean.

Dissmiss one of the CPO's with a redundant 'skill' then you can 'hire' one with the skils you desire.

[CapnBlood]

Don't need 9 diving specialist but if you have 6 engine specialist and stalker activated you can hit 28+ knots and out run destroyers what a joke

[Brenjen]

The crew & crew management has always been my #1 gripe about SH4 & it seems that it's gotten worse instead of better in v. 1.5

I'll freely admit I don't understand it at all; I was just grasping the "crew management" job v.1.4 & now in v.1.5, the number of crewman in the pool to choose from is a lot fewer, their skills & abilities aren't as good as what's already on my boat ( I found one guy on the first patrol in the pool that was a better choice ), the new abilities that some crewmen are suddenly shown as having are confusing me all to hades & back!

Ubisoft needs to do a major rework of the crew management system & write a decent explanation of how it's implemented imo........or some of these talented modders could whip something up maybe :hmm: ......if someone ( someone who really does understand crew management) could just do a detailed write up w/screen shots of how to efficiently manage the crew as it is now, that would help a lot of people out I think. I'm about ready to make my entire crew walk the plank & I'm only in summer of '43 :damn:

[SteamWake]

Well start with the fact that they let you cram more sailors on board than you would be able to do in real life, have them 'aquire' magical skills while at sea and the basic premise is fubar.

But its a game.

Its up to you the player to fill every single slot (a dedicated damage control team :huh: ) if you want.

Its a game.

Throw all the CPO's off the boat and start with scrubs for the lot.

Its a game.

So its up to you the player to 'control' the crew makeup and quantitys, play it arcade, play it 'realistic' its up to you.

[Brenjen]

That's just it; I don't think there is a way to play it realistically the way the crew management/placement/ability system is set up. I think the way Ubi wrote the basic structure is fubar'd. Of course that's my opinion, but I feel the crew part of the game is the worst modeled part & garners the least attention from all the modders. Granted, I like the realistic medals modded into RFB (& maybe others) & I understand why Ubi couldn't do it themselves because of the copyright issues or whatever it was but that's not the basic layout I'm talking about, that's more immersion eye candy stuff.

For instance I have maybe 20 men to choose from in the "pool" & only one of those had better abilities than someone on my crew. After several cruises I have a boat full of dive specialists (yeah, like everyone else lol) & I go to the pool & I see exactly the same guys still there after two years! And not one of them has gone back to school or shipped out on a hurtin' boat. The stooge swabbies are still sitting there with skill #'s of 4 - 6 & the officers are just sitting sippin' joe & looking at posters of Betty Grable waiting for some of my crew to sleep with the fishes.

[SteamWake]

Well trying to cram in a role playing aspect into a simulation at the last minute and this is what you get.

In some ways its 'better than nothing' in other ways nothing might be better.

I have mixed emotions about the whole crew thing. But having the 'active' ability crews scrolled off the board is a real SNAFU. :doh:

[CapnBlood]

Just dump some of your crew and load up on seamen and after a couple of patrols they'll have thier stats up and might even get u some usefull abilities.

This system of dumping crew after every patrol is working for me at this point so you can load up on engine specialist and cruise around at 30+ knots or if you can get your hands on 2 rhinestone torp specialist and 3 fast torp loaders with increased torp speed you can have torps that are as fast as an "exocet" ,hit like an H-bomb, and reload faster than u can shoot em. :o

After this tour of duty I'm going to collect/recruit nothing but useless passives like 20 medics and just play the game. :rock:

[CapnBlood]

Well trying to cram in a role playing aspect into a simulation at the last minute and this is what you get.

In some ways its 'better than nothing' in other ways nothing might be better.

I have mixed emotions about the whole crew thing. But having the 'active' ability crews scrolled off the board is a real SNAFU. :doh:

Actives b4 passives would of made more sense:damn:

[aanker]

I finally experienced what was mentioned above. My "Active" crew special abilities have scrolled beyond the fuel gauge.

Looking at Ordersbar.cfg - has anyone tried changing the button order to put the Active's before the Passive Abilities? The upc file lists them in the same order as Ordersbar.cfg does however and probably for a reason - so that may conflict. Arrgh! .... lol

Maybe I'll just have to prioritize and let some crew go so the Active ability shows up. It may sound silly but who can't resist a crewman with a 'little' extra torpedo knowledge ;-)

Art

Editing Ordersbar.cfg does not work. I just tried at sea and in port with no effect.

[Capt_Bergen]

Ok, call me newbie all that good stuff, I see where you are talking about "abilities", but I have absolutely no idea where you are talking about seeing them lined up, being able to click on them etc.... I searched around.... care to share a little more maybe? Would be greatly appreciated! Thanks :)

[Rilder]

Ok, call me newbie all that good stuff, I see where you are talking about "abilities", but I have absolutely no idea where you are talking about seeing them lined up, being able to click on them etc.... I searched around.... care to share a little more maybe? Would be greatly appreciated! Thanks :)

In u-boat missions they added RPG style abilites, some are passive some are active, for example you can get an engineer with an ability to overtune your engines so instead of having a 20 Knot max speed you go like 24.

[donut]

OK, call me newbie all that good stuff, I see where you are talking about "abilities", but I have absolutely no idea where you are talking about seeing them lined up, being able to click on them etc.... I searched around.... care to share a little more maybe? Would be greatly appreciated! Thanks :)

On the interface right next to the camera,there is a flat-hat. Just like your avatar:hmm:
click on that. Hope this cares to share a little more maybe? Is this of which you speak ?"talking about seeing them lined up."

[banjo]

When you are in the game, at the bottom of the screen is a row of special abilities (when you get them). From left to right they are first green (I think--haven't been in the game for a while) then yellow. The green ones (or whatever color they are) are passive and always in effect. The yellow ones you click on. These abilities have a time limit. An icon appears in the upper right of your screen showing a count down clock which gives you a visual of how much time is left for that ability. Once you try it your will understand--fairly simple.

[Capt_Bergen]

Oh I believe you that once I try it I will understand, but I swear, it isn't there. If I go into crew management and list the abilities, they are there, I have several crew that have them, but I see nothing of the green, yellow, red colored icons, and nothing in the interface accesses it. Is this part of a mod? I wouldn't think so if it is listed stock but at the same time, I am curious how in the world I am completely missing this. I completely believe it is in front of my face.
Not to sound like a 2 year old, anyone got a screen shot maybe?
I hate the be the "show me show me" annoying person, sorry bout that. Thank you, though, for all your help :)

[doulos05]

Wow, I haven't bought 1.5 yet, but I hope there's a way to disable this particular "feature". That would really be an immersion killer, firing mk14 exocets at 2 torps a minute.

[SteamWake]

Wow, I haven't bought 1.5 yet, but I hope there's a way to disable this particular "feature". That would really be an immersion killer, firing mk14 exocets at 2 torps a minute.

LOL they dont make that big of a difference.

If you wish you can ignore them altogether and never even notice.

http://i259.photobucket.com/albums/hh312/UlteriorModem/Icon.jpg

The icon of the guy with a hat, just to the right of the 'camera' button. This button takes you to the abilities screen, which I dont have a screenie of.

If you dont have this button you dont have Ver. 1.5

[Capt_Bergen]

I knew the answer was in front of my face, I don't have 1.5 yet. Guess I missed that being needed.... ok, no worries :) Thank you for humoring me though :)
Side note: your interface looks awesome! Does that come with 1.5 or is that a mod?

[SteamWake]

I knew the answer was in front of my face, I don't have 1.5 yet. Guess I missed that being needed.... ok, no worries :) Thank you for humoring me though :)
Side note: your interface looks awesome! Does that come with 1.5 or is that a mod?

1.5 + RFB + RSRD (although RSRD does not alter the GUI)

[donut]

http://img388.imageshack.us/img388/4063/sh4img20081009131847156sg6.png (http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/)
Capt.Steamy,shares.http://img213.imageshack.us/img213/5940/thanks31jr6.gif (http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/)

[aanker]

Wow, I haven't bought 1.5 yet, but I hope there's a way to disable this particular "feature". That would really be an immersion killer, firing mk14 exocets at 2 torps a minute.
LOL they dont make that big of a difference.

If you wish you can ignore them altogether and never even notice.
......

They are easily disabled if you don't like them "doulos05". Just remove them from your boat the next time you're in port and exchange for new crewmen.

I don't mind getting them - especially those like the Expert Radarman, Sonarman, and Watchman (with the well trained eye for Deck Watch) abilities. They're not that bad and I think they help. Also, every boat needs a "highly educated" - Theoretician don't you think? ...... lol

Happy Hunting!

Art

[Lexandro]

If you have to many skills then to have to many officers. Your naturally limited to a set number of officers so the skills tab is tied to it. Using a boat full of officers is not what your supposed to do.

[ancient46]

It is getting better all the time as more information is found and implemented by modders. LukeFF's work for RFB has improved it greatly. We are now getting a better picture of exactly how a boat was manned and how the crew changed for every patrol.

Right now I am building a profile for Gato/Balao boats. Early results indicate 7 officers, 7 chiefs, 14 first class PO, 19 second class PO, 18 third class PO, 14 Seamen/Fireman firsts, and 2 Seaman/Fireman second. Only one boat had a Seaman on its first voyage third giving a 0.05 average for Seaman third. If you are looking for realism this crew make up will get you close.

Unfortunately the game is not setup to allow you to do this correctly but some enterprising folks are working on some promising solutions.

"Patience young Sewer Pipe Captains!" Admiral Yoda CINCPAC far, far, away