YES!!!!!! This will make for some great videos.

I agree with RR and Webster. Using RSRDC to ambush TF's is a massive cheat, but many prefer to fight/witness battles, and that's how they like to use it. I don't really understand doing this. It seems that this kind of play would make more sense in a surface combat game.

I've never "peeked" inside RSRDC because I want to have the surprise factor in the game. If I get to the point I know the campaign too well, I'll probably try to change it to a random type.

It's too bad the game doesn't have a well-crafted random campaign. Based on what others have said, the stock campaign is too irrational to be usable; convoys spawning/despawning in illogical places, traffic volume too large, etc. For me, RSRDC makes more sense than a badly done stock campaign, eventhough I have little interest in chasing after enemy TF's.

As Webster said, we can all have (within limits) what we want.

I guess my point is that not having the battles correct doesn't "suck." Not one sailor in the war had the battles right. War is chaos and RSRD is order. Then it pretends to be "authentic." Well, it is nothing of the sort.

Now if you're playing the game to participate in a historical battle as kind of a mission exercise, then RSRD is appropriate. But you have to keep in mind the severe restrictions the game architecture puts on realistic encounters. You're going to see a charicature, a reenactment by the Keystone Cops. Nonetheless, it's a legitimate pursuit. Also keep in mind that since RSRD demands historical evidence for something to exist, the majority of things that existed are not in RSRD. That's why the open oceans in 1941 and 1942. Believe me, they weren't open. They were full of undocumented traffic. The premise of RSRD does not allow for the unknown.

If you're playing the game as a simulation, wanting to reproduce the actions and state of mind of the participants, then RSRD is the exact opposite of what you want. The stock TMO (at least from ver 1.9 anyway) was pretty darned good at unpredictable encounters with unpredictable strength adversaries. I really don't know about 2.5.

The cool thing is that we can have our cake and eat it too. Unfortunately RSRD was a monster that sucked all the oxygen out of the air, completely paralyzing any alternatives, much as GWX did for a long time in SH3. Because RSRD was so accepted, everyone with alternative ideas about reality (Ducimus especially) just shut up and quit working, so the random encounter aspect of the game is not as refined as it could be. But it does not "suck." That attitude is what caused the demise of realistic gameplay to begin with.

I agree and disagree. I really don't care if traffic is random or generated. Sure, if you know RSRD you can sit and wait for it to come, if you use another mod, traffic may not come, so you go looking elsewhere. For most, the opposite effect happens, they can't find shipping with RSRD and prefer stock or TMO traffic, where they can usually find traffic due to high spawn rates.

RR, I don't see any traffic mod or not causing the chaos of war regarding your lone sub. Regardless if the battle is scripted or not, all that is created are the same ships. In reality, this is an arcade game, doesn't matter if the group is scripted or not, it will react the same regarding you.
The only thing random traffic does is the fact you may miss something.

I played RSRD for a year before I peeked into the traffic. Yep, I knew the battles, but you're not going to learn 1000 plus convoys. The majority of players don't ever figure RSRD out. If a mod sucks the life out of everything, that usually means the mod was a success. The problem with RSRD is based on how long you play it. I later found it boring to do the same crap over an over, so like many, I tweaked the hell out of it to my liking.

I think Duci had the better idea as far as gameplay, just didn't take it to the needed level, I'm sure due to the time it would take. I played it for awhile, I enjoyed the zig patterns, trying to figure a base course, higher speeds, being left out in left field numerous time. The biggest failure of RSRD is no zigging.

However, even being an old game, all the tools are there if someone wants to make a new campaign mod, not hard, but would take 100's of hours. I don't think anyone cares to spend the time needed on this old game.

Arm basically said what I was going to reply with here.RSRD's major failure with convoys is they do not like, well not like TMO, that made TMO much more difficult.Never could find out what program Ducimus used to wright the traffic patterns for TMO, if I had it, I would prob go ahead and just do some convoys for my mod. Having historical convoy traffic is great and honestly who is going to learn 1000+ convoys? I did take issue of if a convoy wasnt on the books in the source used, it wasnt included.Some important convoys were left out such as Take Ichi and HI-81, I went back and added them.Take Ichi zigs as it did in real life, with the 13 escorts, zigs and 12 knots, it's a tough target(as it was for USS Jack) .

I think a major concern is we need more merchants, somehow more merchants for SH 4 got left behind.Shooting the same old ships can get old.

For me, RSRD is an essential part of this sim.Sure, few things I dont like and I've adjusted many of them but game seems to lack something when I dont use it.I think I would be happy with a mod that brought in the historical movements of the warships/TF in RSRD and mostly random convoys from TMO that zig, with a few key ones such as Take Ichi inserted to spawn once at proper time and place.

[QUOTE=Bubblehead1980;2112614] .

Shooting the same old ships can get old.

True subsimmer wisdom! I like exciting new ships with more zig than zag!:arrgh!:

Sounds like a great way to go. Wish I could do it but I just don't have the ability for that one.

try this (remember im not a campaign modder so im guessing here) the campaign files seam to be broken into convoy and task force sections so take the TMO convoy files and use them to replace the RSRDC convoys then you should have RSRDC task forces acting as they should and the convoys should act as they do in TMO.

one caution, if you move and copy over text files sometimes both files are merged together so it doesn't always replace the whole file and it may leave "remnants" of text behind so I always deleted or removed old files before moving the new files there just to be safe.

or maybe im wrong and you should add the RSRDC task forces files into TMO :hmmm: but its worth trying out

That works fine, did it long ago, simply replace several of the convoy files in RSRD with TMO's. TMO also has better subhunter files, so replace those as well. Then add your own mis files with your additions and you have a decent game of randomness and reality.

One thing that is fun, rework the subhunter files and keep a lot of groups patrolling the shipping lanes, TMO's are rather random. I highly increase contact ranges, so often when I attack a convoy, not only do I have to fight the groups escorts, a few hours later one of my elite subhunter groups will come join the search. One of my last attacks in Formosa was fun, I had two convoys on radar, attacked one. Wasn't long I had escorts from both groups searching, then comes one of my subhunter groups with two elite TypeC's. I had several planes hunting as well. I was kept down all day into the night.

how do you increase contact ranges?

I like what I'm hearing!