Okay here goes.
First to address your information request:
1) Factual information- directly quoted from "Wolf Pack" by
Gordon Williamson, which draws from information provided by
many visits with Horst Bredow, founder and curator of the
U-Boot Archiv at Cuxhaven Altenbruch Germany. Horst Bredow
served on U-288. (He missed the final sailing of this boat
when he was sent to hospital for treatment of wounds...
U-288 went down with all hands.)
From page 180. (please bear with interspersed errata)
"When at sea, most of the crew operated in a rotation of
eight hours on duty, eight hours sleep, and eight hours
miscellaneous tasks, which might include a spell on lookout
duty, general maintenaince tasks, eating, and some off-duty
relaxation time. Bridge watch duty lasted four hours. On
bridge watch, one of the watch officers would be present
together with four lookouts. In heavy seas, special safety
belts were worn which clipped onto mounts on the bridge, to
prevent the lookouts being swept overboard. Engine-room
personnel worked a different rota, with a simple six hours
on and six hours off duty. This was a more exhausting
schedule, but engine-room crewmen were excused the sometimes
arduous bridge watch.
The cook (known as 'smutje') was the only man aboard not
expected to serve a watch. His task was simply to ensure
the crew was well fed. Because of the frequent changes of
shifts, men needed some hot nourishment almost constantly,
and the cook's task was certainly not a 'cushy' number. Good
cooks were highly valued by their comrades."
Regarding working day rota/ vs shift-work fatigue, I think it could be safely averaged out between 6-8 hours... (Eight ideally) Which means either a 16 or 24 hour fatigue model could be the way to go.
Rough example of 24 hour rotation for crewman "x"= Resilience bar reaches 2/3rds mark... off to bed he goes!
Something similar could be done with a 16 hour model.
...Just brain-storming at this point.
2) Personally my only concern with the "fast change" crew
mode buttons is recent conversation about CTD's caused by
use of same.
Conversely, the removal of these buttons would make changes
to the 1024 menu config ini file that can interfere with
other mods and be difficult to merge.
I think it may be best to leave as is. Clicking and dragging
is perfect for 1x time compression sea-keeping duties, but
not very useful for action orders such as "crash-dive."
(the Captain gives the order and they all rush to diving
stations) Both functions have their place in this mod.
3) I am not at all concerned with nor desire approximating a
representation of "long term psychological/battle fatigue."
On MY boat, the crew's patience with being at sea on patrol
will run out when one of the following has occurred:
A- When considerable/mission-threatening damage or
significant casualties are sustained by the boat.
B- All torpedoes have been expended.
C- There is just enough diesel to get us home.
D- For some reason BdU calls for the boat to return to
base.
E- If my computer blows up.
There are immediate effects on crew morale/fatigue based on
engagement and sea states. IMHO this makes a recuperative
compartment function necessary.
In my opinion, the above stated reasons make a long term
fatigue mod redundant...and "realism" is served by the
yardstick I chose to use.
In my opinion, none of the existing fatigue mods are
designed specifically with the 1x time compression sailor in
mind.
In addition, I happen to LIKE switching around my crewmen as
necessary while cruising... I get to know the crewmen's
names on an individual basis. I mod crews to represent
actual crews...and their boat number is modded to match.
If that isn't IMMERSION I don't know what is.
Regarding the approach to realism... sure there aren't many
of us who are willing to sail a patrol in real time, but I
think we all want the freedom to do so.
Theoretically, even when used in higher time compressions,
this fatigue mod will be of more use than the stock fatigue
model.
When I started modding historic U-boat crews, I kept
thinking... What if no-one liked it? What if everyone
crapped all over the idea? Well, my nerve-wracking first
crew mod... my very FIRST mod... has been downloaded more
than 200 times. I'm not bragging at all. I feel honored and
compelled to work even harder on further crews. Undoubtedly,
many don't use it... but there are a few who do... It has
its place, and resides in the realm of an "attempt at
realism."
...and I am just getting started.
Mr. Gould sir... ALL AHEAD FLANK!!!
