Quote:
Originally Posted by BritTorrent
That's a shame to hear dude, sorry about that. Must have been a kick in the teeth to lose everything!
Would you say your new TMO mod is roughly parallel with RSRDC then? In terms of convoys/task forces etc?
Where did you get the data to add the new convoys in for your previous mod? Is it available for me to add in myself?
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Yes, it was a bit disheartening to say the least lol but it happens.
Yes, the TMO traffic is in many ways RSRD "inspired", especially as pertains to warships. One thing is I added many merchant and warshships, so not such a limited roast. I rewrote the task force layers in TMO, no random allied style IJN task forces roaming the seas just waiting to be ambushed. Using tabular record of movements (which Lurker used for RSRD I believe) looking at RSRD task force layers, many major warships such as Yamato, and fleet carriers for example appear at historical time and place, only spawn once then end their journey. A lot of the back and forth movements Yamato and Musashi did 42-44 from home islands to Truk are there. Then they are at Singapore (Linga Roads anchorage. Which btw is challenging to attempt to infiltrate, since have placed mines on the surface in the unguarded areas and guard vessels/patrols in the area) and then they move to Tawi Tawi per history. I did this with many of the CA and CL's as well, especially those sunk by submarines. Example: Feb 15 1944 Agano left Truk escorted by DD Oite and was torpedoed by Skate 150 NM NW of Truk, went dead in water and sunk later that day. I added the Agano and its DD, they leave port and are at historic time and place when Skate made contact, so player can attack. A few random appearances by some of the lesser warships to keep it fresh as well but the groups were changed.
One example was my last patrol in April 1944 in Luzon Straits. I was down to three torpedoes in aft room when SD made contact. Plane was heading our way so dove to 100 feet. While down there my sonar sweep, heard heavy screws in distance, set intercept course. Surfaced after a few and headed that direction at flank speed. SJ made contact...two pips in center with three escorts and RWR was showing radar emissions from that bearing. . At 10 NM could see had two warships with three DD type escorts. While trying to get ahead, pesky plane kept coming in, it was obviously escorting them. Pulled the plug ended up having to fire from 7100 yards, two out of three hit the the heavy cruiser (Takao Class). I believe this was a random group added but if recall it had a small chance of spawning. The whole point is to make it where it's skill and luck (as in real life) if end up in position. I have also added ULTRA messages alerting player where to look for certain ships and enemy submarines. Still can't get enemy submarines to show up on SJ radar but I did add radar to the AI sub at proper date and time so can detect their emissions such as how Batfish sunk three subs in Feb 1945. Next step is to add AI torpedo firing submarines.
I also recreated the battles within the sim.... Coral Sea, Midway, Eastern Solomons, Santa Cruz, Naval Battles of Guadalcanal Philippine Sea, Leyte Gulf are all there. Other suchare present as well such as various surface engagements in solomons....vella gulf, cape st george, cape Esperance, Empress August Bay, as in RSRD. Fun story when was testing in the Coral Sea, looking for IJN carrier force, it was dark and of course no radar. I thought for sure managed to work myself into position on Shokaku or Zuikaku and would torpedo them just as the sun was rising on May 8th, but as was closing in to fire and raised scope at 2800 yards, tubes flooded,....I had Lexington in my sights. lol but I like that experience is there, the fog so to speak.
Merchant traffic wise...
Singles disappear except for rare local runs in September 44 and they hug the coast. One exception is the Yellow Sea, where during Tangs patrol in June July 44 most were running unescorted, felt safe due to shallows and most were close to the coast.
I added traffic in areas that were void but should have traffic. One example The Palau-Japan routes in the philippine sea for example were very busy sea lanes until US invaded Marianas in June. Also fun is this is as close to open ocean i.e. Atlantic style submarine warfare player can get.
I did major reworking of convoys as well, RSRD inspired. First I altered the composition. TMO had a basic formula of early war convoys were 2-4 ships with 2-3 escorts, usually 3. While most convoys are random in the type of ships, their composition was changed to reflect the stage of war. So early war, there are convoys, but not as many since many single still running around and japanese had not instituted a real convoy system, it was very localized and dependent on the value assigned. Most convoys in early war will be 2-3, sometimes 4 ships, with one escort, sometimes 2, rarely three.
Mid war you seem improvement with most having two escorts. Around September 43 you see a more uniform (reflecting when Japan started an actual escort command) and larger convoys. Once June 44 comes around, larger convoys more escorts, with peaking around Aug-November 44. In October, per history, the Singapore-Japan N/S convoy routes due shift to the Indochina/China coast, which means patrolling in the shallows. Luckily with the dark nights mod now available, night surface attacks are possible. In 1945 you will notice a high escort to merchant ratio, since they were short on merchants by this point.
While most convoy traffic is random, there are numerous specific convoys that spawn once. One that comes to mind is the Tang...the convoy she attacked in October 44 and was lost to when firing her final torpedo, it is there, as is the 12 escort 6 ship convoy attacked on June 24/25 1944 when slipped inside the screen. I added it and with dark nights mod, it is possible. All of this in shallow coastal wars of course.
I could go on and on and frankly off top of head don't remember all of my changes, I made a change log which will include with the release.
I got the data from various sources....O Kane, Fluckey etc's memoirs, some of RSRD's documentation, combinedfleet.net, war patrol reports of various boats etc.