How to increase bulkhead strength?

[Bubblehead1980]

Asked this long time ago, never seemed to get an answer or don't remember.I created a mod that upped hull strength, so no more(well rarely, unless its a direct hit from a depth charge) "instadeath" blows from one charge, but a more realistic sub death attributed to damage taken throughout an attack.However, problem is the bulkheads are still way too vulnerable.US fleetboats were tough, but the bulkheads are weak in game.Anyone know how to fix this? Which files etc? Just lost my first career back thanks to the unrealistic weak bulkheads.Thanks in advance.

[ETR3(SS)]

Zones.cfg i think is what you're looking for. Use that file in conjunction with the vessels zon file to determine what to look for specifically. For example forward torpedo room is a 201 or something like that.

[Webster]

yep, zones.cfg is where that stuff is and its a huge file so be patient and search by key words to find what you are looking for

[TorpX]

This may be a silly question, but why are there "bulkheads" to begin with?

I mean, there are already defined hit points and armor values for the hull, and for the individual compartments, so what is gained by having bulkheads?

[Admiral Halsey]

This may be a silly question, but why are there "bulkheads" to begin with?

I mean, there are already defined hit points and armor values for the hull, and for the individual compartments, so what is gained by having bulkheads?


I think it has to do with flooding control. From the way it seems to me if you loose a bulkhead in game the water starts to flood the next compartment. Least it seems that way to me when ever I loose them in game.

[ETR3(SS)]

This may be a silly question, but why are there "bulkheads" to begin with?

I mean, there are already defined hit points and armor values for the hull, and for the individual compartments, so what is gained by having bulkheads?
What's even sillier is bulkhead is naval jargon for a wall. As in the the vertical pieces of steel that separate the boat into different compartments. If one bulkhead gets destroyed and there is flooding in one compartment, then there is now flooding in two compartments. But it doesn't work like that in game.

[Bubblehead1980]

What's even sillier is bulkhead is naval jargon for a wall. As in the the vertical pieces of steel that separate the boat into different compartments. If one bulkhead gets destroyed and there is flooding in one compartment, then there is now flooding in two compartments. But it doesn't work like that in game.


I agree.Really, if SH 4 had been designed properly, would have control over pumps, safety tank, ballast, etc to counter flooding etc.Also, if actual bulkhead in a sub was breached, pretty sure it was over.The game is definitely off in how vulnerable they are, which allows fast and heavy flooding with no real means to counter it.I managed to eliminate the "death blows" which were far too common and for most part, sub takes a beating over time, knocking out various vital systems and equipment, leading to a failure.Problem is, the bulkheads are far too vulnerable, when fleet boats were very well built, tough submarines with tough "bulkheads". Irritating that every time a charge gets close, it causes the bulkhead to collapse or nearly collapse.Then it floods, no way to counter flood and 3 out of 5 times, they depth charge you , flooding over overwhelms your ridiculously infeffective pumps and game over.I enjoy a tough patrol, I purposely set skill level of escorts higher than default in RSRD because were too easy, but want a chance, esp with all the time invested in a patrol or career.

[TorpX]

What's even sillier is bulkhead is naval jargon for a wall. As in the the vertical pieces of steel that separate the boat into different compartments. If one bulkhead gets destroyed and there is flooding in one compartment, then there is now flooding in two compartments. But it doesn't work like that in game.


That was my understanding of bulkhead, but AFAIK, there are no 'bulkheads' for the ships in the game. So why did the devs put them in? I suppose they had a reason, and it would be nice to know what it was.

[Bilge_Rat]

From an old post by Dan Elanaiba, but still useful:





Ok, now about the zones.cfg entry:

[NSKeel] - this is the name of the zone. I guess you can use it to find the zone index at the start of the zones.cfg file, then search for that index inside a .zon file. What good would that be? Dunno...

Category=Keel - if this zone is part of a "targetable" category in the recoginition manual, then this would be set here.

Multiplier=5.0 - the torpedo's explosion is amplified this number of times when a critical effect is achieved. This can be done by a (selecting a critical location in the recognition manual and actually hitting it; pure luck - see below)

Flotability=50.0 - How much of a "ship's" flotability is lost when a compartment of this type is completely flooded.... Out of 100%. Keep in mind though that a ships has a buoyancy reserve above water

HitPoints=120

Destructible=No - when this "compartment" is destroyed (HP = 0) the parent is destroyed or not. Yes = Good for masts, cargo, breakable things.

Armor Level=20 - How tough is the skin of this thingie... See comments below

Critic Flotation=0.99 - Defines how much damage this compartment must receive before starting to take flood. Out of 1 - In this case the compartment must be completely destroyed - it's not set to 1 cause there's a bug with that. Don't use 1 either in your experiments.

Critical=Yes - Do we really want this to be a critical compartment?

Critical Chance=1.0 - Chance that when this compartment is hit is destroyed with a torpedo, without using the manual, a critical effect is achieved. Out of 1 (this is the keel wich explains the 1 out of 1)

FloodingTime=120 - How much time in seconds it takes for this compartment to fill with water - WHEN IT IS COMPLETELY DESTROYED. When damage is lower, time increases

CargoType=None - Does this compartment carry special cargo? None/Ammo/Fuel/ Custom <- Set by mission editor.


Now, a little discussion about armor.

You often see the "-1" value. What it means? It means it's taken from the "parent". So if a compartment set on the ship has armor = -1, then it assumes the Armor value set for the compartment type.

If the type (as defined in zones.cfg) has Armor = -1, then it takes the armor value of the "ship hull". So a turret with Armor = -1 on a ship with armor = 30, will, in fact have 30 armor, not infinite. The same goes for the sub compartments. Their taking armor values from the hull.

How does armor work?

If a projectile has lower Armor Piercing value than a compartment, technically it won't penetrate. There's no variation of AP with velocity. But AP values are not set in stone, in fact there's a 20% random variation (see Penetration Threshold=0.2 value).

Explosion's of projectiles that do not penetrate (DCs are an example but not the only one) need to compare their total HP with the armor to be defeated. In fact, the explosion needs to reach the armor wall with a force (in HP) 4 times greater than the armour value.

In other words, HP > 4 * A or you're bust. If it is, the explosion breaks the wall and damages the compartment.

Now, to discuss the Armor = 15 problem - it's obvious that you'll get beaten much easier on the surface. But you will also get beaten from much farther UNDER the water. Since explosion force (HP) decreases with distance, you need to be close to a DC in order to take flood damage from it (walls broken).

With a 10 points or so decrease in Armor, you get a few meters extra DC damage radius. And this will hurt. Make sure you know what you're doing. http://www.subsim.com/phpBB_archive1/images/smiles/icon_smile.gif


Hope this helps,

Dan




http://www.subsim.com/phpBB_archive1/viewtopic.php?p=303470&highlight=#303470

Based on that, not sure to what extent the bulkheads have an impact in game.