[REL] RFB/Real Fleet Boat for 1.5

[tedhealy]

How's the beta going? Any estimates on ETA for 1.5?

[swdw]

Going good. But we caught a couple of wrinkles that we need to check out.

[M. Sarsfield]

Okay. We'll nag you next Wednesday for another update.

[swdw]

Here's an example of what takes a while. Luke and I had conflicting thoughts on how the angles for calculating dud chances were used by the game engine. We needed to be sure how it's used in game, so this needed to be tested in order to come up with an accurate torpedo file.

Since I had a 16 hour day yesterday, I get today off. So I did the torpedo testing and . . . drum roll please . . . . . . . .

HOLY COW!!!!! did the devs ever come up with a slick torpedo system.

Testing procedure-
Custom mission with no wind, dead calm sea.

3 large tankers docked in a line so they couldn't move

Torpedoes set to allow for a 1 degree turn (after missing several head on shots with 0 degree turn)

Event camera turned on to watch impact.

Modified Mk10 torpedo file (quickest to change) and S-boat

During the test the dud chance of 100 was moved from one set of angles to another and the result tracked. Final test was with 100 percent chance at 0 to 30 and 60 to 90 to check a couple of things.

Shots were taken with boat at a complete stop. Targeting not used for side shots. Maneuvered the boat to the desired angle for impact and fired straight shots .

Ok first findings.
1. The angle listed for a chance of a dud is how many degrees from the perpendicular the torpedo strikes a surface.

2. second finding- Here is the slick part of it. This angle is a complex angle including any angle on the x, y, or z axis which takes into account the 3D geometry of the hull and any associated list in the target!

I got what appeared to be conflicting results at first. Had a dud chance of 100 at 0 to 30 degrees and 0 at 30 to 90. The torpedoes were duds fired at the side of the hull with a depth of 6 ft. I moved to the stern for an "up the skirt" shot, and had 100% detonation and went HUH???

So a light bulb went on and I thought -wait a minute- the hull slopes at the stern.

Reloaded the test, and started walking the torpedoes down the side of the hull using the same dud angle and percentages. As soon as I got to the significantly curved part of the hull, the torpedoes started going off. Walked them up the hull (after reloading- s-boats don't carry a lot of fish) and until the tanker started to list significantly, had detonations at the curve and duds when hitting the hull where the surface was vertical. If the ship develops a significant list to give a big enough change in angle, you get detonations again.

3. Couldn't verify, but there may be a conflict if the 0 to x and x to 90 angles have the exact same dud chance. Results were inconsistent. But when i varied the chance by 0.1 percent (ex. 99.9 and 100), no longer saw any weird results.

4. Earlier test showed engine seems to have a hiccup and read a percent chance of 1, written as a whole number, to be 100 percent- but not all the time. Would recommend using 0.99 or 1.01 instead of 1 on any percentage values used in any file

So there you go. Now we know how the devs use angle entries for dud chances, and the possible gotchas. Based on this, I think any pitching and rolling the target does will also affect the impact angle.

What we're trying to do when we need to know how the game uses settings, is to determine it by experimentation rather than "guessing" at it. It's the only way to be certain we're giving RFB a chance to live up to the "real" in it.

(BTW, over 6 hours of testing in these tests- see why things can be delayed when we hit a "wrinkle")

[M. Sarsfield]

That is pretty cool. Glad to see some complex math and geometry is at work in the game, rather than the computer rolling the random generator dice.

[swdw]

Testers- patch for 1.5 beta posted! Filefront and ftp site

For everyone else. Ome of the reasons we are taking our time, is this is the foundation and framework for additional changes in the future. Like any house, you need a solid foundation and framing before building the rest of the house

[M. Sarsfield]

Alright, testers. Time for all of you to call in sick and play the hell out of this thing. Remember to hold your nose when you call in to work to sound congested. Sticking your finger down your throat will help, too. Or take a cue from Ferris Bueller and have it all recorded ahead of time.

[fireship4]

Yes the 3D geometry being taken into account is cool - may have had something to do with what happened to me last night...

I was testing different depths of torpedo against a destroyer and was watching the torpedos hit the side with the camera. One was coming in really low and hit the "bilge keel" (I think thats what the ribs on the outside of the hull are, facing down and sideways) high up on the torpedo head. Instead of blowing it banged off and went to the bottom!

[tater]

Will reducing the effectiveness of AA guns have a negative effect on surface combat?

I do not mean the sub's effectiveness vs other units, but the converse. I tried for quite a while to make the deck watch vulnerable, but never managed it without making the sub tissue paper. In reality, however, having your decks swept with even rifle caliber MG fire should be brutal.

tater

[M. Sarsfield]

Richochets would be nice. If a torpedo can glance off a hull, why not bullets? Anything that doesn't punch through the superstructures would bounce off or even inside the bridge area. This would cut a bridge crew down very quickly.

Dear RFB team..

Would you be so very kind to consider to include the new SUPER GREAT sliderule mod in RFB 1.5 ?

It's one of the best mods that has come up in some time (not deminishing others) and add's greatly to the realism.

[tater]

The problem with the bridge crew would not be fixed by that. They are considered INSIDE their hull section. That section (regardless of angle it's attacked from) must be penetrated to hurt them.

The problem is that it is a section of the boat like any other, and all the guys INSIDE the boat in that area get hit, too. So, if you make them vulnerable to small arms and even 20mm, the boat will be sunk by the first DC that goes off nearby. Also, the guys below get killed, too.

tater

[M. Sarsfield]

Interesting how they devs built the bridge to resemble a compartment like that.

[caspofungin]

is rfb 1.5 going to include the multiple ship fix someone (can't recall) was working on? fixing acceleration and turn rates etc.

[AVGWarhawk]

That was what Swdw was working on for RFB. This has not been addressed as yet but on the burner if I'm not mistaken. This is the new addition of RFB that is compatable with 1.5. There will be more to come. Rest assured there is a laundry list of things to add in the next installment.