[Squashman]

Originally Posted by Squashman
Hi to the FOTRS development team
I would first like to thank you all for this magnificent work - the sheer scope of the submarine, surface and air components is nothing short of outstanding.
I am particularly interested in producing missions that depict historically accurate naval actions. Now with the large range of warships available in FOTRS, this has become so much easier.
Currently I am trying to make the Naval Battles of the Guadalcanal Campaign:-
The Battle of Savo Island
The Battle of Cape Esperance
The First Naval Battle of Guadalcanal
The Second naval Battle of Guadalcanal
The Battle of Tassafaronga

The game AI actually copes quite well with the demands of the surface ship tracks as they manoeuver within the historical requirements for the tactics of the battles.
One thing, however, is currently hard to incorporate and that is the range at which Japanese torpedoes are fired.
As you are no doubt aware, it was the long range salvoes of Japanese Long Lances that was most often so devastating for the US cruisers.

Would it therefore be possible to produce a mod that could variably increase the maximum firing range of Japanese (or all) AI from its current 1,400 yds up to say 4,000 to 6,000 yds. Alternatively is there a way a player can do this themselves, by altering the files of individual AI units?
Very best wishes to all

The info is not at my fingertips, but it is discussed several (dozen??) pages back in this thread about how it was done for v0.71. You can also look at the "guns" used on the ships and as to the "why". The problem with the torps is the lack of any semblence of accuracy with them. When the torpedoes are shot, they are aiming for where the target is, ~not~ where it will be. Therefore, FotRSU has the range moved in much closer. There are all sorts of discussions on the actual "effectiveness" of the Long Lance, and from all indications, the Guadalcanal area was "special" in that regard, due to the general lack of maneuverability among the islands (one reason carriers weren't in there too often). In other areas, the "hit" percentage was quite low for the Long Lance - in fact, inflicting damage on their fellow sailors at a higher percentage than the enemy at times. While they definitely influenced the outcome of most of the major battles in the Guadalcanal area, it is extremely difficult to get the AI and the torpedoes in the game to co-operate with you. I would imagine that this could be one reason the devs seemed to have made some of the Japanese ships "stronger" than they actually were, and the USN ships weaker, so that the battle outcomes would "balance out" overall... I'll say this (again), if you can get the torpedoes to "lead" a target, like a torpedoman had actually "aimed" it and then shot it, you would be a most famous modder, known the world over...

Edit: OK, found the release notes, back before P400 ( ) http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/show...85#post2554685

I was thinking that CapnScurvy had an excellent write-up on the torps just before that, but I haven't found it yet...

2nd Edit: OK, much further back than I thought: http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/show...39#post2526839 post 5463 for the AI subs and torpedoes, and the further down on that page is Post 5475 with the ships. The pictures are missing, so that might be why I can't find the other one with the gun discussion, along with the change in range used... If there aren't pictures, I kinda get glassy-eyed and doze... Somewhere between those points is the post I'm thinking of (I think - therefore I am, I think)...

Thanks, I very much appreciate the reply - Sorry, I'm somewhat of a noobe, albeit an aging one and have only really got into combat sims since retiring. I have practically no modding skills apart from some mapmaking in IL2, but am always willing to try and learn something. I really enjoy mission building and hope to release the Guadalcanal series, before long.

By the way - what has been achieved already with the AI ship torpedoes is absolutely marvellous - It's fascinating to watch the salvos speeding towards their targets with the free camera - and actually the hit rate can be surprising good.
I'll try investigating and tinkering with the "guns" files and do some testing.
Thanks again