What happens to cripples?
 

I've always wondered what happens to the cripples that for one reason or another, I can't finish off. Like if I wound a ship, but get chased down by escports and have to leave the area.

Do ships that have taken torp damage continue to acrue damage over time, or is there some rule that if the ship survives for X amount of time, it becomes repaired?

In other words, is it possible for a ship to sink hours or days later and get credit for it, even if you and your sub are long gone?

Welcome to Subsim, Slick Willy (sorry, couldn't resist:lol: ). If I'm not mistaken, you have to be within rendering distance (sorry, don't remember how far that is at the moment) when the ship sinks or you don't get credit for it. I don't think it becomes repaired, so if you stay close and can catch up to it later on, it should still be damaged and closer to sinking.

I've seen them repair over time and get back up to 9kts (or faster to regroup with the convoy.)

I've also seen them lose their engines/props and stay put until the DD gives up on me. At which point I salute them with my deck gun for being so courteous. :arrgh!:

I had a recent experience where I attacked a convoy, hit a Medium European Composite Freighter but didn't sink it, evaded the escorts, and made an end-around to engage it again. The damaged freighter limped along on the route of the convoy at the best speed it could make, which resulted in it lagging about 8 nautical miles behind at the point where I overtook the convoy again. Now, I was using the NSM4 mod, which might have something to do with it, but that's how it worked there.

Once, back in SH3, I hit a ship and immobilized it. I waited with it for 4 hours in the hopes that it would sink and I'd get credit, but it never did. When I picked up another ship on hydrophones, I raced off to intercept that one, only to find that the first had vanished when I returned. I have no idea if it sank after I left without even leaving a grey icon to show for it, repaired enough to get back under way and head on to port, or just vanished from the map.

I have had "injured" ships "get better" over time and speed up. I've also received a sinking notice afterward when I couldn't see the ship (although I'm sure it had to be nearby).

Eugene Fluckey once suggested that subs in WWII should just damage all ships they attacked instead of sinking them. He said it would overflow the Japanese repair ports with damaged ships and save the USA precious torpedoes. :)

cripples get "refreshed".

The game only renders objects within... i think 30KM of the player? (i think thats the number) The object can exist beyond that as a data variable, but it isn't RENDERED unless its within a distance from the player.

When an object is rendred, the game checks its resources and says, "ok this object , has this many hps, this much armor, has this for guns, and this for equipment..ok.. up you go for everyone to see!"

When you get so far away from this object, the game doesnt render it anymore, the only thing it keeps track of is what kind of object it is, its disposition to the surface of the water, what direction its heading, and how fast its going. The rest, the game doesnt keep track of until its time to render it again. When the game does render it again, it doesnt keep track of what you did to it, it just says, "Ok.. up you go for everyone to see!"

Having said that, chasing cripples isnt something you can't do, but at a certain point they are refreshed when rendered again. This is easy to see in action, script yourself a single mission where a ship goes around in a BIG circle. (more then 30K from you) Shoot one torpedo into it, advanced the TC, and when it comes back around to where your at again, it will be undamaged, for reasons ive just described.

i just had one "hang" 3/4 of the way sunk almost vertical for a good 30min before i gunned it down....

Hi Slick, I found another thing you won't get credit for. If the ship doesn't actually sink. This destroyer went up in massive fireball. the message box said "Enemy unit destroyed" But it was apparently programmed to sink by the stern but it was too shallow, so when the stern hit bottom it stayed just like the pic. I took the deck gun and made swiss cheese out of it and it would not go down. This was Photo recon of Singapore Harbor and from there I went out into South China Sea, a new destroyer spawned at the harbor, I shot that one and it did exactly the same thing, and I didn't get credit for either one. So I shot a float plane with a torpedo, just so I could say, "I shot a plane with a torpedo":lol: And a couple of docked Merchant ships and a Tanker.
I even went underwater with the camera and there was nothing holding it up, it just wouldn't sink
Peabody

http://home.roadrunner.com/%7Epeabod...destnosink.jpg

http://home.roadrunner.com/%7Epeabod...estnosink2.jpg

I believe rendering was moved out to 20km with the add-on :yep:

SH3 anecdote, but I shot the prop off of one merchant, who then later (as I was trailing the convoy, out of torps and in a big storm) I observed as a contact report following 100 km or so behind the convoy. When the wind died down I went in and sunk him for good with my guns-yep was the exact same ship that I had damaged earlier. IOW what Ducimus said.

I just ran across a group of Battleships in the rain and heavy seas east of Luzon. I sunk 3 of them and wounded the fourth severly, but it wouldn't sink. It sat there in the night, listing heavily to starboard with the deck on fire for hours.

I hung around the wounded BB since I figured the rain and high waves would limit the destroyers a bit. I parked my sub underneath her to avoid the escorts and waited. 5 hours after the attack, the escorts had moved off a bit and I was considering surfacing in the rain and darkness to finish her off with the deck gun (big gamble with a Battleship) when suddenly ! heard a big explosion from above.

She rolled over completely and started sinking. I hit flank speed and although I was at 200 feet, I barely missed her as she came crashing down from above. I don't know what prompted her to suddenly explode and sink. I didn't think damaged progressed. But I'm glad she did!

maybe the flame hit the power mags.