Good points Woof1701.
One of my main hopes for merchant modding in SHV is for there to be a much more complex damage model for shipping. It should take into account many different factors, instead of the "X hitpoints and you're dead" approach:
-Structural failures. These could occur either because the torpedo explosion stressed the ship, or because the ship can't bear tilting at an extreme angle. It would be ideal if the ship could break into several pieces, instead of at the same point all the time.
-Progressive fire damage. "Call of Juarez" is an FPS with an excellent progressive fire damage model for wooden buildings. Shoot at an oil lamp and a fire starts, spreads as it touches other wooden objects, and may eventually consume an entire structure. There's no reason why a similar system can't be adopted for the SH series.
-Weight and density of cargo. An iron ore carrier should behave differently from a ship with a load of timber; there are accounts of some ore freighters sinking 30 seconds after being torpedoed. More cargo types would also make things visually interesting, with freight spilling into the sea as a merchant broke apart. Just like oil, bulk cargoes would often stain the seas for miles around. I recall an account of a Liberty loaded with powdered milk that literally turned the ocean white.
-Crew behavior & damage control. I'm not asking for "The Sims" here - maybe just a few canned animations of men using fire hoses, jettisoning cargo, etc. Premature abandonment would be another interesting feature; some ships were abandoned and drifted for days before being sunk/salvaged.
-For the record I'm not bashing the developers, and I am thankful they gave us a damage model so much better than AOD's or SH2's. I just believe there's always room for improvement.
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