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E.Dahlbeck · 03-08-10, 03:59 AM

Now, I haven't been experimenting much so this is experience from "immersive" gameplay by a WWII sub noob (now where's my 688i?) but anyway...

The first time I passed through the English channel in order to get to the "British supplies" mission area, I encountered a flotilla of four DD:s headed for Calais in the dusk.

Somewhat excited by my first close encounter with British warships, I decided to attack and set up for a long range torpedo shot at the trailing DD. Big mistake. Before the "eel" was anywhere close to the DDs, they all began maneuvering, first evading the eel and then turned around heading towards me in line abreast formation. I hit "crash dive" only to realise I had a shallow bottom with lots of big rocks. Stabilising at periscope depth I watched with simulated "horror" as the DDs approached, started pinging and dropping DCs all over the place.

Now, did they kill me? No, although they did ram my scope on one or two occasions. Having spent half of my torpedoes and dodging them for about 20 mins or so I decided to reload a previous save and let them be. Given how bad their DC aim was I may have been able to slip away but.

As for the AI otherwise, it is my experience that they sure do give me headaches as soon as they are aware that I'm around. Last night I encountered a bizarre convoy with at least 20-25 (maybe even 5x6?) merchants escorted by a single DD

So I sunk the DD. Immediately the whole convoy turned into a bunch of snakes, increasing speed and zig-zagging to mess with my firing solutions. Not that it helped them much as I ended up in the middle of the formation hitting with most of my eels from 300-700 meters away.

EDIT: I've also had the "stalker DD" problem. The idea of trying to "beach" him did cross my mind but it would've messed with my patrol plan so...

The problem went away when I got closer to a merchant. However, within minutes of me stupidly showing myself on the surface (due to the merchants detection range somehow increasing when I reloaded the game and morale was lost, now that's weird...), a DD, presumably that same "stalker" came steaming into the area at 30+ knots trying to save the now frantically evasive-maneuvering merchant. I dived, torpedoed the poor steamer and snuck away from the DD but it was still cool to see the AI try.

Are you guys who experience non-responsive AI sure the difficulty setting doesn't affect AI performance? Or weather conditions? Of course they can't see the torps when the waves are high as the Big Ben...

03-08-10, 03:59 AM	#14
E.Dahlbeck Swabbie Join Date: Mar 2010 Posts: 13 Downloads: 2 Uploads: 0	Now, I haven't been experimenting much so this is experience from "immersive" gameplay by a WWII sub noob (now where's my 688i?) but anyway... The first time I passed through the English channel in order to get to the "British supplies" mission area, I encountered a flotilla of four DD:s headed for Calais in the dusk. Somewhat excited by my first close encounter with British warships, I decided to attack and set up for a long range torpedo shot at the trailing DD. Big mistake. Before the "eel" was anywhere close to the DDs, they all began maneuvering, first evading the eel and then turned around heading towards me in line abreast formation. I hit "crash dive" only to realise I had a shallow bottom with lots of big rocks. Stabilising at periscope depth I watched with simulated "horror" as the DDs approached, started pinging and dropping DCs all over the place. Now, did they kill me? No, although they did ram my scope on one or two occasions. Having spent half of my torpedoes and dodging them for about 20 mins or so I decided to reload a previous save and let them be. Given how bad their DC aim was I may have been able to slip away but. As for the AI otherwise, it is my experience that they sure do give me headaches as soon as they are aware that I'm around. Last night I encountered a bizarre convoy with at least 20-25 (maybe even 5x6?) merchants escorted by a single DD So I sunk the DD. Immediately the whole convoy turned into a bunch of snakes, increasing speed and zig-zagging to mess with my firing solutions. Not that it helped them much as I ended up in the middle of the formation hitting with most of my eels from 300-700 meters away. EDIT: I've also had the "stalker DD" problem. The idea of trying to "beach" him did cross my mind but it would've messed with my patrol plan so... The problem went away when I got closer to a merchant. However, within minutes of me stupidly showing myself on the surface (due to the merchants detection range somehow increasing when I reloaded the game and morale was lost, now that's weird...), a DD, presumably that same "stalker" came steaming into the area at 30+ knots trying to save the now frantically evasive-maneuvering merchant. I dived, torpedoed the poor steamer and snuck away from the DD but it was still cool to see the AI try. Are you guys who experience non-responsive AI sure the difficulty setting doesn't affect AI performance? Or weather conditions? Of course they can't see the torps when the waves are high as the Big Ben... Last edited by E.Dahlbeck; 03-08-10 at 04:10 AM.