Quote:
Originally Posted by Eesocks
Hi, recently returned to SH4 after a long break(almost 5 years)and was wondering if there are any mods to make the enemy AI more realistic. I.ve tried the latest TMO and RFB and both seem to be to have flawed Enemy AI.
For example in Jan 43 after attacking a convoy I went to 400ft passing a thermal layer at 150ft and I still got pinged!-and then sunk! This was using TMO.
On another occasion, this time with RFB, I spent an hour with 3 destroyers running rings around me while I was at depths between 80' and periscope depth and took no damage at all. Eventually after sinking 2 of them and crippling the 3rd I headed for the open sea(I was on photo recon in Manilla bay)picking up 2 more escorts on the way. It wasn't until I dived to around 250'ft that the depth charging started. This was also in Jan 43.
Prior to June 43 when, I think, it was congressman Andrew May who made it public knowledge that US subs could dive deeper than people thought the Japanese would only set their depth charges to around 100ft after this they would mostly set them no deeper than 250ft.
Also all the best boats and crews were attached to the surface fleet.
To sum up on the 1st occasion there is no way I would have been sunk. On the 2nd occasion there's no way I would have escaped!
I'm sorry if this sounds like a rant, it's not really I just want to play as realistic as possible.
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Well I think you miss the point of TMO.Stock AI and AI in many other mods is weak.TMO is meant to be tougher to make the player operate in a more realistic manner, thus adding a challenge.Tough AI or not, a thermal layer was not in real life nor is it in TMO a magic blanket.Yes, it causes the sonar signal to be diminished so they cant such a great fix on you but does not hide you magically, especially if they already had a good fix on you before you made it below the thermal layer.TMO's sensors esp in later war enable the sonar beam to go down to 800 feet or so I believe, so you never really get under the beam even in the deepest diving sub. There many other variables as well such as seas state and wind. Rougher seas, more difficult it is for them to get a good fix on you.Deeper does not always mean you will get away.January 1943 the AI in TMO is still pretty easy, guessing you don't have a lot of patrols in with TMO yet, ran into an unusually skilled escort in ideal sonar conditions, or he got lucky with the charges.Perhaps a combo of both.
That is one thing I sought to correct with my depth charge mod for TMO and RSRD.Unfortunately, in SH 4 they have depth charges set unrealistically and cant alter the main thing, which is depth which they will explode. Real life, early war IJN charges could only be set to explode at 50, 100, 200 feet and had a relatively small amount of explosives. Since most early war boats test depth was 250 feet, where they went when evading(if not in shallow waters) and the small amount of explosives, most took some damage but never or rarely the killing blows.Then came the idiot congressman may who revealed japanese charges were not set deep enough nor had enough punch.Then they developed the charges that had large amount of explosives and could be set to detonate at 50, 100, 200, 300, 400, or 500 feet, these charges were sub killers.
Unfortunately, the devs of SH 4 did not make depth charges explode this way, they explode where the AI sets them.The depth precision setting also effects.Basically, if sub is at 100 feet, DD drops 4 charges, depth precision is set to 5 meters(stock), charges will explode at 100 feet and within 5 meters above or below 100 feet.TM0 depth precision is by default set to 7 meters. Now, problem with this is while realistic in sense japanese dropped a pattern on a sub they thought was at 300 feet, they would set some for 300, some for 400, some for 200, that way the sub was bracketed/Problem in game is you can be at 350 feet, they might some charges for 350 feet and some for 340 feet. TMO takes you out with killing blows instead of residual damage building up like in real life.
My depth charge mod makes the early war depth charges have less of a punch and limits their depth precision.The later war charges carry a bigger punch and more depth precision but it stops for the killing blows that cause instant depth unless one gets lucky and lands right on the sub.I am further tweaking the mod and new version will be out.Check out download section.
RFB is a great mod but it runs stock AI and even if use it with RSRD as it was meant to be(since RFB handles boat only, not the campaign and stock campaign if awful) you may see some AI improved but it still lacks. Much hard work has been put in but can only do so much within limitations of the game.
Did you try RSRD with TMO? RSRD does adjust TMO's AI some, so it wont always be as difficult but it is still pretty toug