When do I get a new conning tower?

[nikimcbee]

I'm in the USS Drum and it's aug 1943. I'm still in the old style of conning tower. When do I get a new, sexy tower? On of my last patrols in the seawolf, I got the reduced tower before I transfered to the Drum.

[Rockin Robbins]

Here's the deal. In your home port, the game keeps a blind chimpanze on a swivel stool. Taped to the wall ten feet away are 4" square targets representing upgrades. These are put on the wall according to a schedule. But the chimp is going to determine when you actually receive them.

When you arrive back at port at the end of a cruise, the chimp is given five darts and spun ten times at 2 revolutions per second. He then throws those darts wherever suits his fancy. If a dart pierces the new conning tower, you get it. If not, you don't. It is entirely possible, but not too likely, that you could go to the end of the war with your old conning tower, as many boats really did in the war.

But one thing is for sure. If you're a skipper that loves to resupply and go back out without ending a cruise, you've given up your chances for that conning tower. You need to make cruises take the shortest amount of time you can while meeting your objective and using up your ordinance load. Then get back to port promptly and end it so you have the most chances to get your upgrades.

[nikimcbee]

Can I pay the chimp more bananas to expedite this? And what is the renown to banana conversion rate?

[Rockin Robbins]

No, that's why they used a BLIND chimp!

[Admiral8Q]

Originally Posted by nikimcbee

I'm in the USS Drum and it's aug 1943. I'm still in the old style of conning tower. When do I get a new, sexy tower? On of my last patrols in the seawolf, I got the reduced tower before I transfered to the Drum.

Seawolf to Drum, good upgrade. I guess you'll just have to wait for them to give you the new conning tower.

[DaveyJ576]

Originally Posted by Rockin Robbins

...you could go to the end of the war with your old conning tower, as many boats really did in the war.

If this is happening in the game, then it is modeled incorrectly and is historically inaccurate. I can say, with a very high degree of confidence, that all of the fleet boats that started the war with the original conning tower fairwater configuration (with the possible exception of Dolphin) had at least some changes made to the fairwaters during the war. Some had more extensive modifications than others, but all received at least something.

See these links: http://www.navsource.org/archives/08/10idx.htm

The Mod 2 configuration (cigarette deck cut down, nav bridge still in place) started showing up in the early spring of '42 (it was officially authorized by the Navy on 9 March 42!). The Mod 3 (both ends of the fairwater cut down, high bridge) started showing up in late '42 and early '43. New construction boats began to roll off the ways with Mod 3's in early '43. The Mod 4 (same as Mod 3 but with a low bridge) started to appear in early '44.

In real life, the process was not random. These modifications were officially approved and performed during the boat's first stateside overhauls, but some were done by tender crews at forward bases between patrols. Boat CO's quickly realized that the huge bulk of the fairwater was a visual liability and were very anxious to get rid of it as soon as was possible. I have yet to find a single instance where a boat carried the original configuration (Mod 1) on patrol into 1943. The boats that were launched with a Mod 1 after the start of the war usually had the fairwater cut down before the boat even left the builder's yard, and certainly before it went on it's first patrol.

[Rockin Robbins]

So the game, trying to mod the variability from boat to boat, really went too far. Wouldn't it have been great to get a randomly selected real boat, with that boat getting the upgrades when the real one did? Of course for boats that were sunk, there would have to be some arbitrary assignment, but it would have been much better than the blind chimp model.

Sub simulations have a long way to go. I wonder if they can make any real progress so long as they are designed by computer geeks who use people with historical knowledge as mere hired consultants.

The control should be with the sub people and the geeks should be the hired help. Then we'd see sub simulations become what they really can be. Another aspect controlling the state of state of sub sims is our hardware, which is pushed pretty hard by the state of the art now. Once we increase speed by a factor of ten and RAM up to about 10 gig we can expect to see some things become possible that just aren't now without taking down the whole game.

Since all the operations relating to the database of all boats and when they were upgraded would execute in port and with nothing else going on at the time there is absolutely no reason SH4 couldn't have incorporated the feature and they could have fired the blind chimpanze. I would feel sorry for the poor chimp though...

[Theo123]

If you became a new tower, maybe it is able to become your old one, because i lost my tower. After they give me a new GATO, i missed my tower.

PLEASE HELP !!

[Dogfish40]

I too, am on the Drum and apart from hoping to get the cut down tower I was hoping that it was time to be able to do some other upgrades like Suface Radar and I would kinda' feel better with a front deck gun or at least one more AA gun for comfort.
I couldn't/didn't get nuthin' but a Medal which is nice and all but I really wanted some more firepower and Radar.
When did the Radar upgrades come out? I thought it was mid '42...
D40/ Goin back to Japan... (with some special ammo)

[Dogfish40]

Originally Posted by nikimcbee

I'm in the USS Drum and it's aug 1943. I'm still in the old style of conning tower. When do I get a new, sexy tower? On of my last patrols in the seawolf, I got the reduced tower before I transfered to the Drum.

Somewhere in the downloads section, there is a mod to fix the conning tower (I downloaded it). It's called 'MidwarAATowers1_0'. I haven't installed it yet but it might be what you're looking for, I know that it fixes that annoying position when you aim and the tower actually gets placed between you and the gunsight (an impossibility). Since I haven't tried it yet, I can't say if it cuts down the cigarette deck at all, but it appears that way because of the way the Mod is described. It's somewhere in that downloads section and if I can find it again, I'll give you the exact page.
D40

[HowFar]

I tried the mid-war conning tower 1.0 and it doesn't seem to work for me. I installed it with into my MODS folder with JSGME yet nothing has changed. I'm into June 1944 with the USS Tambor and May 1944 with the USS Gato and I'm still riding that bleeping tub. What the Hell! I'll try not to rant, but if it weren't for you folks in the Subsim community I would have S**t canned this thing years ago. UBISoft put out a piece of crap and you all salvaged it. I don't understand how something so simple as standard historical upgrades can be botched. I'm sure you can tell that it annoys me to no end. This issue is taking the fun out of this for me. I've seen the monkey throwing darts explanation, which does not excuse the apparent ineptitued of the programmers from UBI. These guys have botched everything they've put out on the market relative to sub simulations. Am I missing something or is it just plain lazy careless programming.

In the meantime, thank all of you in the community for saving this game for me and others like me with your incredible mods. I will not buy SH5 as a matter of principle. If anyone can address this issue please, please do so.

-T-

[TorpX]

I agree with you. Ubisoft took what could have been an extraordinary sim and bashed it into something, that is playable only if modded. I can only hope that they or someone else will draw the appropriate lessons from this in the future.

What bothers me the most is all the ways the game physics is goofed up. It's one thing if an upgrade is delayed or occurs at the wrong date, but what can be done when radar/ sonar/ sighting/ damadge aspects are balled up and nonsensical?

[TorpX]

Originally Posted by Rockin Robbins

Here's the deal. In your home port, the game keeps a blind chimpanze on a swivel stool. Taped to the wall ten feet away are 4" square targets representing upgrades. These are put on the wall according to a schedule. But the chimp is going to determine when you actually receive them.

Now is that any way to talk about the Admiral's chief of staff?

[HowFar]

I tested the chimp theory and it doesn't work. I saved just before docking and reloaded that son of a... twenty times! Nothing! No kidding, I sat in front of that thing for twenty reloads. I finally gave in and gave up the Tambor for a Gato. Another AA tub. Then in disgust went to my Gato and tried the same thing, although I only tested the chimp theory fifteen times before giving in and receiving the Balao. Not too bad at first with "The BeastBelow" skin, but alas, my first engagement with Jap destroyers through the fog darned near got me killed because of slow loading gun. After going deep I looked over the health of my gun crew and found that there was none. This thing is just full of suprises.

Does anyone know of any fix for the absent deck gun crew?

By the way, I never did like chimps.

[Hylander_1314]

Check out this thread by Ducimus, on getting more regular refits.

http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/show...+tower+upgrade