Ok, i
think I've figured out some things regarding refits, new commands, and retirements.
I've ahh.. been "patrolling" around Pearl Harbor a lot lately.
Just testing things out, seeing how the game behaves. A couple days and a case of beer later, i think i've figured it out. Before i continue, there is one thing about the games logic that i think is happening, and is a vital observation:
Refit and new command do not seem to be mutually exclusive. The criteria to get either is the same. So if you meet this criteria, the game offers you the choice of a New command,
OR a refit. Naturally, (and unfortunately), the game seems to want to default to new command. So if your determined to see a single boat through the entire war, this poses a bit of a problem since the game just offered you a new command
in place of a refit. This is why some people end up in 1944, with a prewar conning tower, and narry a refit in site. Every new command you decline, was where you would have gotten a refit, if it weren't for the game wanting to offer you a new command first if available.
Only when a new command is NOT available, will the game reliably offer you a refit.
The rest, is all about patrol ratings. I'll just paste this here, and explain what i tried:
With how refits and new commands work in mind, for the following experiments, i modified my local game so ONLY the Tambor class was available throughout the war. Each experiment was done with creating a new career game in 1941.
Experiment #1:
Made the above mission pictured test worth 601 renown. Which would put each completion as a "Good" rating. I then ran simulated patrols where every other patrol, i deliberatly did not complete the reach area objective. This way, i would have good patrols, mixed with Poor patrols equally. In this scenario:
- I was offered to retire to Anapolis as an instructor
- it cost me renown to stay at sea.
- I recieved the first refit without problem. The second refit (much to my amazement) bugged the boats configuration.
Experiment #2:
In this run, i completed EVERY simulated patrol with a "good" rating. In this scenario.
- I was never offered a retirement
- It cost me no renown to stay at sea
- Recieved 2nd and 3rd refits, without any problem. (also, much to my amazement after the first experiment)
To make sure i was seeing what i was seeing here:
Experiment #3:
I lowered the renown requirements on what was classified as a "good patrol". to 250 renown instead of 600. I also lowered the renown awarded per test run to 300. The main reason for this, is because i wanted to make sure it was the patrol rating and not the cumulative renown earned that was the cause. I then ran every patrol to complete the objective and earn 300 renown for the "good" rating. Results were identical to test run number 2.
- I was never offered a retirement
- It cost me no renown to stay at sea
- Recieved 2nd and 3rd refits, without any problem.
After this, i took a closer look at the patrol rating formula, and starting hashing out some numbers.
New Campaign Rating = Old campaign rating + last patrol rating / 2
So lets say you start with 0 patrol rating. And go on your first patrol and score 620 renown. This places the patrol as "good". Which gives it a value of 1.
Old campaign rating of 0 + last patrol rating of 1 divided by 2 = 0.5
(0 + 1) / 2 = 0.5
So then i thought, well, ok, what happens if you don't get a "good" rating, but an "average" rating. How would that work out? In the above chart, an average rating is a renown score of 101 to 600, and it gives a patrol rating of 0.
So what happens if i apply an "average" patrol against my previous "good" patrol?
Old campaign rating of 0.5 + last patrol rating of 0 divided by 2 = 0.25
(0.5 + 0) / 2 =0.25
At this i realized, that an "average" patrol actually lowers your overall score. Halved it in fact. At this i developed a theory. It was my thought that if this number crunching was accurate, then if a made another test run with "average" patrols, then the results i should see, would be just like experiment number 1.
Experiment #4:
I modified the mission script to award 610 renown. To this end, i completed ONE patrol thereby effecting one "good" patrol rating. I then exited the game, and changed the test mission renown award to 250. Seemed like a nice number. Higher then 100, lower then 600. Definatly falls in to the "average" category. I then ran subsequent simulated patrols, deliberatly achieving an "average" patrol. Going by the numbers, my career score should drop each patrol, despite having earned 250 renown. That being the case, i should see what i saw in experiment number 1. Which i did:
- I was offered to retire to Anapolis as an instructor
- it cost me renown to stay at sea.
- I recieved the first refit without problem. The second refit bugged the boats configuration.
My conclusion is, that you MUST make a good patrol rating every patrol. An average rating won't do. It will pretty much cut your score in half. It's also my thought that the design behind how refits, new commands and retirements is supposed to work is flawed. Not to mention bugging the boats crew configuration.
An easy fix for refits not bugging out, and never being retired?
A.)Earn a crap load of renown (more then 600 if playing TMO)
or
b.) simply lower the value required to earn a "good" patrol rating
edit in data/cfg/UPC.cfg file:
Quote:
|
RenownValuesUS=-200,-100,100,600,1300,2000
|
I'd suggest 250, as thats what most missions reward. That way you get a good rating, just for showing up. (kinda like modern education eh?
)
An easy fix to get refits instead of new commands, or at least get them reliably?
There's no easy fix for this that i can think of, other then isolating what boats are available, so the game has no boat to send you to as an upgrade. This means either
a.) removing all other boats from play (ive tested this, and it works)
or
b.) changing the "UpgradeClass="variable in EVERY submarine.upc file to be the same number, so no boat is considered an upgrade (This is untested )
Ok, clear as mud?