Local ability? What's that about?

[Sailor Steve]

I hate to quote myself (well, no, actually I love to quote myself, but that's a personal problem). Anyway, I'll quote myself from one of the 'GWX' threads and tell you exactly when it will be released:
http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/show...8&postcount=23

[LukeFF]

Adapted from the SpecialLocalAbilities.upc file. Make of it what you will:

-Torpedo Crew Leader: ReduceTorpedoLoading

-Torpedo Detonators Specialist: ReduceTorpedoMalfunctions

-Torpedo Engine Specialist: IncreaseTorpedoSpeed

-Torpedo Warhead Specialist: IncreaseTorpedoDamage

-Surface Propulsion Specialist: IncreaseSurfaceSpeed

-Underwater Propulsion Specialist: IncreaseSubmergedSpeed

-Propulsion Specialist: IncreaseOverallSpeed

Under each heading is an AbilityValue which ranges from 20% upwards. Bascially, I think this means the efficiency of the respective compartment is increased by that percentage when the skill modifier is present.

[Fearless]

Yep, I know it will be ready SOON. Do you know how I know this!!!! I was there and heard everything :rotfl:

[AkbarGulag]

Originally Posted by Excalibur Bane

I was looking over my crew after a patrol last night and noticed a third proficiency symbol, in a dark red. Curious as to what it was, I hovered over it. The pop-up was "Local ability - Increased torpedo damage". Huh? Is that so? So I looked over my entire crew and found a few more, increased surface speed, reduced chance of breakdown, faster speed submerged and so on. So I guess my question is thus, are these bonuses working or bugged? And what moron came up with this brilliant idea of giving magical bonuses to make your sub go faster and torpedoes hit harder?

Don't panic Excalibur, I found your flipant comments amusing

I like the idea of global bonuses myself, a little more crew depth should be encouraged

[nomdeplume]

Originally Posted by Excalibur Bane

I was referring to the bonus "Increased torpedo damage" not anything about reliability. It's not a big deal in any event, nothing here will change my opinion and I simply don't have the time or the inclination to be bothered researching this. I play the game for fun, not historical realism or accuracy. My question has been answered.

I don't think it's unreasonable to think that particularly skilled torpedomen would be able to tweak the standard detonator settings to make them more effective: better influence detection, better depth-keeping, a more (or less) sensitive contact detonator which causes it to blow at just the right time to inflict maximum damage.

It's not as if the torpedos issued to the submariners couldn't be improved upon in any way, and there's a lot more to torpedo damage than merely the size of the warhead. (It's how you use it that counts.)

[Frederf]

Can anyone confirm that the local ability / global ability has to be in the leadership slot to take effect?

[orangenee]

1.3 will be released when the world ends.

[SteamWake]

Originally Posted by orangenee

1.3 will be released when the world ends.

Uhhh....

(Lots of necro posts today :hmm: )

[Frederf]

That's what you get with the search feature?

[Wim Libaers]

And now I have one officer with a global ability: "Increase fanatical chance". :hmm:

[-Pv-]

I wonder why the devs chose a RED icon to indicate this "fanatical chance"?
It seems oddly worded compare to the other global abilities. Having observed this crew member in the leadership position in the sensors compartment for an entire patrol, the influence of the characteristic is not readily apparent to me. If this were a positive characteristic, why not use the wording "increased efficiency" if this is what it does?
Just based on the wording, it seems like a more ominous tone like "increased chance the crew will panic under his leadership when under stress."
-Pv-

[disco]

Originally Posted by -Pv-

Just based on the wording, it seems like a more ominous tone like "increased chance the crew will panic under his leadership when under stress."
-Pv-

why negative attitude for such positive word? :hmm:
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/fanatical

[Theraven]

Originally Posted by Frederf

Can anyone confirm that the local ability / global ability has to be in the leadership slot to take effect?

This is actually NOT true. I had a crewman who had the local ability to make torpedo loading faster and he was not in the leader slot but my torpedoes still loaded faster. As far as global abilities, or even other local abilities, I have no idea. This ability only worked for the forward torpedo room, since that's where he was located. The Aft torpedo room still loaded as slowly as ever. It did appear that the torpedo loading speed carried over even when he was not active (ie: he was sleeping or on watch or whatever) but I can't really confirm that either since I didn't actually keep track. I just never noticed the front torpedoes loading at their normal, slower speed and I know he wasn't always active because I often forget to go to battle stations.

[SteamWake]

Originally Posted by -Pv-

It seems oddly worded compare to the other global abilities. -Pv-

As long as were necroposting...

Oddly worded is a good way to put it. Its along the lines of "Abandon Carrier" when leaving the office :p

Some things get lost in their translation.

[-Pv-]

"Necroposting" might be true. I expect this (among other attributes) will be one we're trying to figure out for years. I still have this one officer who has retained this "fanatical" attribute for 2 patrols now with no clear affect.
Fanatic:
Unreasonably enthusiastic, overly zealous. Cooks pop corn during silent running.

-Pv-