NYGM Feature revisited #5

Der Teddy Bar · 09-08-06, 10:26 PM

The principle behind the NYGM Feature Revisited is as we near the release of the NYGM TW 2.2, is to highlight important technical and game play aspects of the NYGM Tonnage War Mod that many new comers may not have seen or that the old salts missed during the busy hey days or have forgotten/take for granted since they have been there for so long.

The feature in the spotlight today is the NYGM Ship Damage Mod

“One of the stupidest things in game design is the lack of uncertainty given to the player”

The NYGM Ship Damage Mod gives you ships that sink by flooding!

The overall aim of the NYGM Ship Damage Mod was to make ships ‘sink’ and not just run out of Hit Points then explode. In attaining this goal, the NYGM Ship Damage Mod has achieved a level of uncertainty never before seen in a u-boat/submarine simulation.

The NYGM Ship Damage Mod does not aim nor intend to make it harder to sink ships than it was historically. It cannot be denied that the NYGM Ship Damage Mod does make it more challenging to sink ships than it was in the stock game.

While I have not been able to remove the ‘Enemy Ship Sunk’ message, as a result of the NYGM Ship Damage Mod, the ‘Enemy Ship Sunk’ message almost only occurring as a ship slips under the water.

As an example, it is 10am and we have torpedoed a merchant ship. As a result, the merchant ship is guaranteed to sink as a result of flooding, however, in this instance, it will be 45 minutes before the flooding reaches a point where it is greater than the remaining buoyancy. With the NYGM Ship Damage Mod, the ‘Enemy Ship Sunk’ message will not come until 10.45am.

What are realistic sinking times anyway? This is a tough question with no definitive answer, it is more of a feeling for what seems right. Ships were often reported to have sank almost instantly to taking hours, in some cases, the hulk was sank week/s later.

In Silent Hunter III the instant sinking’s represented by the Critical Chance occurrence. The taking hours to sink are achieved through the complex mechanics behind the scenes using the numbers from the zones.cfg.

Again, this has been a process of give and take in an effort to attain something that works for all the ships of a group.

How long will a ship take to sink? Ships may sink quickly in as little as 5 minutes to as long as an hour or more. The ‘duh’ statement of the moment is ‘the more damage you do the quicker it will sink’. I say this as you may be able to sink a ship with 1 torpedo and 10 shells and it will sink in say 45 minutes. Use 20 shells and it may sink in 30 minutes.

I quote a good friend of mine “One of the stupidest things in game design is the lack of uncertainty given to the player”

The ‘lack of uncertainty’ was something that the standard Silent Hunter III has in abundance. From exactly how many torpedos and/or shells, to how fast a ship was destroyed to the exact moment that is was, even though the ship looked seaworthy. I will add that I feel that this was not the intention of the Dev Team, but came about due to time constraints.

The Not Your Grand Mothers Ship Damage Mod has achieved a level of uncertainty never before seen in a u-boat/submarine simulation. While I have not been able to remove the ‘Enemy Ship Sunk’ message, I have been able to make it so that it will only occur as the ship sinks below the water and not before. The exception as noted previously is the Critical Chance occurrences.

While there will be a general rule of thumb (no, not Tom) to how many torpedos are required to sink a certain class of ship, this will be only a general rule. Many factors come into play to determine if and how much a compartments are damaged. The variables come from, but not exclusive to, how much HP damage the torpedo has (120 to 180 HP’s) to the blast area (3 to 7 metres) to the armour level of that compartment.

If you hit the centre of a compartment it will, in nearly all cases, be damaged. Hit the bulkhead between compartments and the two compartments may be partially or fully damaged, or maybe only one will be damaged, again, partially or fully.

As can be seen, while I have specified how much damage will occur before flooding happens and how quickly the flooding is to occur, the results of your torpedo hit are very random. One day luck will appear to be on your side and on another it will be against you.

The water level does matter. So if you torpedo a target at a depth of 1 metre and as a result of other torpedo/s the first area is raised out of the water it will not flood any further. This is especially important to remember when using the deck gun.

09-08-06, 10:26 PM	#1
Der Teddy Bar Blade Master Join Date: Jan 2002 Posts: 1,388 Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	NYGM Feature revisited #5 The principle behind the NYGM Feature Revisited is as we near the release of the NYGM TW 2.2, is to highlight important technical and game play aspects of the NYGM Tonnage War Mod that many new comers may not have seen or that the old salts missed during the busy hey days or have forgotten/take for granted since they have been there for so long. The feature in the spotlight today is the NYGM Ship Damage Mod “One of the stupidest things in game design is the lack of uncertainty given to the player” The NYGM Ship Damage Mod gives you ships that sink by flooding! The overall aim of the NYGM Ship Damage Mod was to make ships ‘sink’ and not just run out of Hit Points then explode. In attaining this goal, the NYGM Ship Damage Mod has achieved a level of uncertainty never before seen in a u-boat/submarine simulation. The NYGM Ship Damage Mod does not aim nor intend to make it harder to sink ships than it was historically. It cannot be denied that the NYGM Ship Damage Mod does make it more challenging to sink ships than it was in the stock game. While I have not been able to remove the ‘Enemy Ship Sunk’ message, as a result of the NYGM Ship Damage Mod, the ‘Enemy Ship Sunk’ message almost only occurring as a ship slips under the water. As an example, it is 10am and we have torpedoed a merchant ship. As a result, the merchant ship is guaranteed to sink as a result of flooding, however, in this instance, it will be 45 minutes before the flooding reaches a point where it is greater than the remaining buoyancy. With the NYGM Ship Damage Mod, the ‘Enemy Ship Sunk’ message will not come until 10.45am. What are realistic sinking times anyway? This is a tough question with no definitive answer, it is more of a feeling for what seems right. Ships were often reported to have sank almost instantly to taking hours, in some cases, the hulk was sank week/s later. In Silent Hunter III the instant sinking’s represented by the Critical Chance occurrence. The taking hours to sink are achieved through the complex mechanics behind the scenes using the numbers from the zones.cfg. Again, this has been a process of give and take in an effort to attain something that works for all the ships of a group. How long will a ship take to sink? Ships may sink quickly in as little as 5 minutes to as long as an hour or more. The ‘duh’ statement of the moment is ‘the more damage you do the quicker it will sink’. I say this as you may be able to sink a ship with 1 torpedo and 10 shells and it will sink in say 45 minutes. Use 20 shells and it may sink in 30 minutes. I quote a good friend of mine “One of the stupidest things in game design is the lack of uncertainty given to the player” The ‘lack of uncertainty’ was something that the standard Silent Hunter III has in abundance. From exactly how many torpedos and/or shells, to how fast a ship was destroyed to the exact moment that is was, even though the ship looked seaworthy. I will add that I feel that this was not the intention of the Dev Team, but came about due to time constraints. The Not Your Grand Mothers Ship Damage Mod has achieved a level of uncertainty never before seen in a u-boat/submarine simulation. While I have not been able to remove the ‘Enemy Ship Sunk’ message, I have been able to make it so that it will only occur as the ship sinks below the water and not before. The exception as noted previously is the Critical Chance occurrences. While there will be a general rule of thumb (no, not Tom) to how many torpedos are required to sink a certain class of ship, this will be only a general rule. Many factors come into play to determine if and how much a compartments are damaged. The variables come from, but not exclusive to, how much HP damage the torpedo has (120 to 180 HP’s) to the blast area (3 to 7 metres) to the armour level of that compartment. If you hit the centre of a compartment it will, in nearly all cases, be damaged. Hit the bulkhead between compartments and the two compartments may be partially or fully damaged, or maybe only one will be damaged, again, partially or fully. As can be seen, while I have specified how much damage will occur before flooding happens and how quickly the flooding is to occur, the results of your torpedo hit are very random. One day luck will appear to be on your side and on another it will be against you. The water level does matter. So if you torpedo a target at a depth of 1 metre and as a result of other torpedo/s the first area is raised out of the water it will not flood any further. This is especially important to remember when using the deck gun.