Revision of NYGM Ship Damage Mod on the way

Der Teddy Bar · 09-12-06, 09:03 PM

For NYGM TW 2.2 we have been doing a mojor revision of the NYGM Ship Damage Mod.

Key points of this revision
1. Keel zone re-established to enable single magnetic sinking of ships
2. We have enlisted 'sink' zones to ensure that when certain areas of the ship are submerged that they will ensure that the ship sinks
3. We have redone all the new ships that were sinkable just by angerily looking in their direction.

It has been a very long time since I have revisted the Ship Damage Mod mainly due to how mind numbing the process is and other new features such as the new depth charges (5mps etc) depth charge racks for different total of charges held, the random/dynamic escorts, depth charged on the elco and the first phase of the Coastal Command were considered more important for game play.

Enough of the why, lets talk about what is...

As you may or may not be aware the first NYGM Ship Damage Mod was done through trial and error and I had no access to the ship zone files. As such I had to guess what zone was where and of course not being able to change it meant that the compromises made when upwards of 10 ships shared the same zones was enormous.

I now have access to the zones and can now manipulate them etc We however still have to work within the SHIII damage model which as great as it is still has some cumbersome flaws, the keel zones were one of them.

The previously uber keel damage zone was originally removed (via the zones.cfg) because at that time we could not edite them and thus could not resize or remove the keel them and when coupled with the 'perfect' torpedo excessive tonnage followed.

With this revision of the NYGM Ship Damage Mod we have now re-established the Keel zones and they will result in a quick sinking from a magnetic detonated torpedo.

But... The keel zones are now small and while placed intelligently they are not consistent. So if for example you worked out that the Auxilery Cruiser keel zone was under a certain mast, the Transport ship based upon the Auxilery Cruiser may or may not have the keel zone in the same place.

As I say, "One of the stupidest things in game design is the lack of uncertainty given to the player"

The silly and annoying situation of ships that should sink because the bow is 5 metres under that water has also been addressed. So that ship will now sink!

These new sink zones will increase the chances that a damaged ship will sink in heavy seas when it's bow is bobing heaverly in and out of the water.

A lot of the new ships that would sink just by an angry look will now have to be sunk like a normal ship.

I will say up front, no amount of testing can make up for in game testing by thousands of users, as such, don't expect this to be perfect. However NYGM DO listen, and while we may not always agree, we do listen and respect your input. With realistic expectations and your feedback we will continue to improve the Ship Damage Mod.

I expect to release this as a stand alone item after the TW 2.2 release though I cannot say how close after.

09-12-06, 09:03 PM	#1
Der Teddy Bar Blade Master Join Date: Jan 2002 Posts: 1,388 Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	Revision of NYGM Ship Damage Mod on the way For NYGM TW 2.2 we have been doing a mojor revision of the NYGM Ship Damage Mod. Key points of this revision 1. Keel zone re-established to enable single magnetic sinking of ships 2. We have enlisted 'sink' zones to ensure that when certain areas of the ship are submerged that they will ensure that the ship sinks 3. We have redone all the new ships that were sinkable just by angerily looking in their direction. It has been a very long time since I have revisted the Ship Damage Mod mainly due to how mind numbing the process is and other new features such as the new depth charges (5mps etc) depth charge racks for different total of charges held, the random/dynamic escorts, depth charged on the elco and the first phase of the Coastal Command were considered more important for game play. Enough of the why, lets talk about what is... As you may or may not be aware the first NYGM Ship Damage Mod was done through trial and error and I had no access to the ship zone files. As such I had to guess what zone was where and of course not being able to change it meant that the compromises made when upwards of 10 ships shared the same zones was enormous. I now have access to the zones and can now manipulate them etc We however still have to work within the SHIII damage model which as great as it is still has some cumbersome flaws, the keel zones were one of them. The previously uber keel damage zone was originally removed (via the zones.cfg) because at that time we could not edite them and thus could not resize or remove the keel them and when coupled with the 'perfect' torpedo excessive tonnage followed. With this revision of the NYGM Ship Damage Mod we have now re-established the Keel zones and they will result in a quick sinking from a magnetic detonated torpedo. But... The keel zones are now small and while placed intelligently they are not consistent. So if for example you worked out that the Auxilery Cruiser keel zone was under a certain mast, the Transport ship based upon the Auxilery Cruiser may or may not have the keel zone in the same place. As I say, "One of the stupidest things in game design is the lack of uncertainty given to the player" The silly and annoying situation of ships that should sink because the bow is 5 metres under that water has also been addressed. So that ship will now sink! These new sink zones will increase the chances that a damaged ship will sink in heavy seas when it's bow is bobing heaverly in and out of the water. A lot of the new ships that would sink just by an angry look will now have to be sunk like a normal ship. I will say up front, no amount of testing can make up for in game testing by thousands of users, as such, don't expect this to be perfect. However NYGM DO listen, and while we may not always agree, we do listen and respect your input. With realistic expectations and your feedback we will continue to improve the Ship Damage Mod. I expect to release this as a stand alone item after the TW 2.2 release though I cannot say how close after.