[WIP] Adriatic Campaign in development

[Zel]

After seeing the great work done by the Baltic mod team, I was inspired to create a new campaign. I wanted to create a small theater, suitable for PT boats. Thanks to the Baltic mod team for giving me the inspiration!

This campaign will cover the naval operations in the Adriatic conducted by the partisan navy with the aid of the Royal navy against German shipping, covering the period from November 1943 to May 1945.

No battleships or liners here, mostly smaller vessels. Historically, PT boats, destroyers and even some cruisers were used by both sides in the Adriatic.

Learn more about the historic adriatic campaign in WW2 here:
http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Adriatic_Campaign_of_World_War_II

http://www.vojska.net/eng/world-war-2/battles-and-operations/

http://www.bbc.co.uk/ww2peopleswar/stories/97/a2449497.shtml

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlas_of_the_World_Battle_Fronts

Features:
-very small theater, short patrol times (some patrols can be finished in less than 12 hours game time)
-37 ports, from Trieste to Dubrovnik
-Vis Island is the HQ for the allied forces
-ships are spawned in their home port, and after their task is completed, they will return home - no spawning in the middle of the sea
-the small theater size will allow for minimal use of time compression, and even manual navigation using dead reckoning (will include an optional mod to disable the sub marker)

Planned playable units:
Elco PT Boat (with torps, optional mod to include deck gun)
Armed Trawler (depth charges)
Tribal Destroyer (depth charges)
S class sub
Porpoise sub (modified for mine laying)

Even though submarines were not historically used in this area (except perhaps midget subs), i'll include playable subs -SH4 is a sub sim, after all!

Laying Mines:
A very slow moving torpedo is used to simulate a mine. A magnetic detonator can be used as a trigger. Did not do extended testing, but it looks promising. If it's implemented, it will be loads of fun. There are lots of choke points in the Adriatic.

Depth Charges:
I've created these by using a rapid firing torpedo launcher to simulate it. The torpedo is spawned high in the air, and by the time it touches the water it's angle is close to vertical. The falling speed is much faster than a real depth charge, unfortunately. This is the closest i could make it to the real thing. You will get a recorded kill if you sink a submerged AI sub with it.

I haven't yet decided on submerged AI subs. If they will be implemented, i will include an optional mod to disable them. And if they are armed, there will be an optional mod to unarm them. In 2009 i was working on an ASW project with "submerged" AI subs - however the game treats them as surface ships. I found it's nearly impossible to balance sensors to make realistic interaction between AI subs and AI surface ships. After a ton of frustration, i abandoned the project. However, it was possible for the player to find and sink AI subs, and it was fun to me, so i might include this in the mod.

I'm using v1.4, so only the American side is playable. So instead of the British, the allied side will be US. Also, stock Sh4 does not contain a German navy or air force. I don't have the knowledge or experience to create ships or planes, so i'm using Japanese units (in the German roster).

I'm currently in the process of creating the campaign layers. If you would like to be involved in this project, please contact me. It's too early to say when it will be complete.


Sorry for the lengthy post. I'd like to hear your thoughts on this!

[Bubblehead1980]

very cool idea:salute: always nice to explore other parts of the war, esp those not previously addressed. Look forward to watching the development and trying it out one day.

[sergei]

WOW.
An impressive and ambitious undertaking.
I wish you all the best with this.

Poul has made a minelaying sub with functioning mines for his Battle of the Baltic mod.
Maybe you could have a look at that if you run into difficulties with this part of your mod.
Just a friendly suggestion.
Best of luck :salute:

[keltos01]

Darkfish made us a Type 93 mine mod for my IJN Kaidai 3b submarine, they are contact mines though, not magnetic but work perfectly.

I am interrested in magnetic mines !


keltos

[trynnallen]

I know it wasn't used much in WWII but any chance we could get a "historical" mission involving it?

[Zel]

I know it wasn't used much in WWII but any chance we could get a "historical" mission involving it?


If you mean mine laying missions, yes i intend to include these in the campaign, but they will be fictional.

As for historical operations in the adriatic, i plan to include missions like the German landings (op. Herbstgewitter, Morgenwind, Walzertraum), and also Allied raids (op. Detained, Endowment, Flounced and others).


I already discovered a major bug, which is that AI units can see through landmass - they try to shoot through it, as well. This means no hiding behind islands, which is very unrealistic. If the player is using a surface vessel, darkness will be his only cover.

[Karle94]

Darkness doesn`t really help much either.

[Zel]

Darkness doesn`t really help much either.

There are lots of variables that can be tweaked in sim.cfg and ai_sensors.dat. In sim.cfg there is a variable "light factor" under Visual. I haven't experimented with that one yet, but i know that "enemy surface factor" has a big impact on ai visual sensors. A large value would mean that only large objects can be detected at a certain distance.


With my current settings, i did a test run with a PT boat at night, a trawler with "M_Visual" detected me at about 400 meters, and a subchaser with "AI_Visual" detected me at about 900 m. A coastal battery detected me from far away. PT boats are small, a Destroyer or Cruiser would be detected at a greater distance.

I'll be spending more time with the sensors after the campaign layers are completed.