making SH4 more realistic and challenging pt 1: deck gun kills

[jhelix70]

I wanted to put down some thoughts on how to make SH4 more realistic and challenging. There are already some mods and mega-mod packages that aim toward realism so I'll try to avoid talking about things that are already implemented. If I repeat what's already been done or state something factually in error, please let me know. Comments and ideas from others are welcome, of course.

Thought number 1: the easy deck gun kill

We've all done it. We detect a lone merchant at night, don't want to waste torpedoes, and know that (armed or not), the merchant wont detect us as long as we keep to med/long ranges. Like shooting fish in a barrel.

Its so easy because the AI helps us. In vanilla SH4 (1.2), ships don't try to run. As soon as the shells start raining in, they should go to max speed and turn away from us. Instead they maintain speed and at most just do "S" patterns in their course.

Now, maybe they don't see us. But they should see the gun flash. Firing the deck gun should at least double the detection range. At the very least, they can see where their ship is being damaged, deduce about where the shells are coming from and turn to present a minimum profile to us.

Its also too easy to hit, especially with stabilization on. Even if you let the crew fire, it seems they hit too often. Wind should introduce a random deviation to the shell flight.

Now, finishing off a merchant that's stationary and crippled is all fine and good with me. That should be easy. But not if its undamaged. The enemy crew should behave like their lives depended on it.

[Ducimus]

Player deck gun power and effectivness can be diminished by increasing the reload time, lowering the min/max damge on shells. (and even increasing the error angle if you dont mind the side effects)

Getting enemy ships that are being shelled to shoot back is a matter of visual detection, which since patch 1.2, seems to be worse then it was before.

[jhelix70]

Player deck gun power and effectivness can be diminished by increasing the reload time, lowering the min/max damge on shells.

I thought this was already in RFB so I didn't mention it, but you are right that definitely makes it better.

Getting enemy ships that are being shelled to shoot back is a matter of visual detection, which since patch 1.2, seems to be worse then it was before.

I don't think the AI is getting the proper detection bonus when I am firing the gun. The muzzle flash should be visible from a great distance.

I'm very dissatisfied with the AI in responding to attacks also. I shelled a huge passanger liner with a S-boat. The liner could easily have outrun me but instead chose to maintain its original speed (and course!) and aquiesced to being sunk. I don't think this sort of thing has been addressed in a mod yet.