If I may make a suggestion, after the regular campaign, why not a 'what if' campaign scenario had Germany not made certain errors/mistakes (other than starting World War II).

It's predicated on:


The U.S. did not research the atomic bomb, and has invaded Japan.



Germany did not attempt to attack the Russians, and their non-aggression pact is still good.



June, 1946


We still have a shaky peace with the Russians, allowing us to concentrate our forces in the Western Front. The U.S. Military has invaded Japan, and it is costing them dearly. Allies are fighting fiercely, and though we have improved boats, they have improved as well. The fight in the Atlantic is a desperate one.


I've never seen something like that in a U-Boat campaign.


Maybe that's crazy, but whatever.

Scapa Flow Mission
 

In order to get the game out the door and off to a good start the initial focus was on open ocean convoy battles--the quintessential U-boat scenario. We plan to come back to open ocean battles with improvements later but now with bots added to the game, the direction switches to the Scapa Flow mission. This will add another level of tension and stress to the players because there are a lot of things to deal with in a harbor penetration and we want to include all the elements:

• nets
• mines
• blockships
• coastal batteries
• patrols
• Fishing boats
• Northern lights
• lookouts
• Rip tides and tidal factors
• Enigma messages
• Time factors

A successful Scapa Flow mission will be a challenge. I'm sure there are a lot of players here who can add suggestions and ideas to make the scenario realistic and enjoyable.

I'm proposing a historical version of Scapa Flow, where the elements are faithful to the 1939 situation and also a Scapa Flow II where the elements are more randomized so the players will not have a formula and roadmap to success. Sometimes the blockships will be in different locations, sometimes there will be unexpected patrols, other times additional nets. I also would like to see the occasional Enigma message received that, when properly encoded, will supply the players with crucial intel such as location of minefields and tidal flows.

https://www.subsim.com/radioroom/pic...ictureid=10602

Precise navigation without GPS on the map will also be a fascinating gameplay element in this mission.

Wow !
This is going to be brutal...
Love the idea of having historical settings and the option for a more random mission.

Cheers,
Lost

This image prompted me to read about the real Scapa Flow mission.

Yes, I call myself a submarine buff but I'm not educated on the history :(

Anyway, found this website with a detailed account of the sortie. Riveting read :) I'm sure folks here know the story, possibly the website too, but just in case

The randomizations sounds very good for me. It would be interesting for a future campaign (Only if you plan it) being able to adding randomization to other ports.

I'd love to have for this mission some torpedo fail rate. Like dub, or those configured as impact that miss because their angle of impact is far from 90º. Magnetic/speed for vapor ones, would be nice too. In the 39 they should fail a lot, in the 42 they should be better (I hope see later dates! like 43 or 44 for those of us that like difficult games!).

Because if the torpedo is perfect you can fire it safely and in an accurate way (0 knots..., just aim the scope) at 4-5Km. And if one hit mean one ship, you may do your own "Pearl Harbor" with just your five preloaded shots.

Another idea would be adding more chaos once a torpedo hit or you get detected, like cars moving, people running to destroyers, SOS calls, (lifeboats in case of regular convoy games) - but I think it's too much work. Also, a good retreat if mandatory.

If you are able to surface the boat without being seen for some time + reach deep waters + sink at least one capital ship, then it should be a Victory. It should be pretty fun to see mad destroyers looking for you, and maybe randomnly deep charging to express their anger. Also planes in a future, looking for revenge.

What about an option to start 200 kilometers away so the nutters can have a chance to play multiplayer for 2 days straight in real time . The mission finishes when you reach 10 klm radius from the random starting point . Organize realtime sleeping eating playing arrangments etc . Random ships and planes would have to be at least 200 klm radius from Scapa .

And I thought sim racers demanding 24hours endurance racings in real time were crazy people! :03:

More player options is a good thing .

@Neal
Close-to-shore navigation without GPS position would definitely be a real challenge! Interesting!

Been following the developement on the sideline since Marulken (as much as real life allows anyway) and after reading how the radio direction finder was used for navigation purposes while thinking about how to give the radio man some more game things to play around with (mind you, I don't have the game yet):
Would it be an idea to have any player or all disable and enable in the game setup, the map update on the boat's location while surfaced, so that the radio man can co-work with the nav officer to pinpoint the boat's location on the map? I believe the dir.finder is currently inactive ingame but in the future that could very well change. Anyway, just a thought for added gameplay and co-op between players. Add a few landbased radio stations to tune in to, have the radio operator find the bearings to these stations and give the nav officer what he/she needs to plot their position. Just don't tell Döntiz his men are listening to BBC radio :D

@Usurpator: wrong thread?

Yes, I just reposted it in the updates thread :up:

I recently bought this game, I would also like to see a dynamic campaign in the future