[REL] Dark Waters

[Kapitän]

Originally Posted by Bubblehead1980

I am still looking into the Dark Waters airplane situation.


I used my airstrike.cfg from TMO Update V.20 mod I made. I'm not at home or would just post the file here.

Thus far I have had more planes but still too few. I am waiting to see how things perform as war goes on. There may be issues with airbase placement (Propbeanie mentioned the land mass issue) as well as the airbase rosters. If numbers are too few to cover their patrol radius defined in the airstrike.cfg, will not see many, if any planes.

I have not had a chance but also possible they are set to competent or worse and not veteran or elite, that can play into things.


The factors below are rather low also.

Default Air Strike Probability=30>>>I increased it to 90 I believe


Enemy Air Strike Probability Increase on Player Detection=50>>>changed this to 95 I believe.

Thanks! I will give these two settings a try. Can I do that with a current game save, i.e., make the change and restart the game and load a current game save, or do I need to start a new patrol?

[Kapitän]

Originally Posted by Mad Mardigan

To answer your "quick clarification questions" :

- When you say 'Stock Game', you mean Sh4 Pacific Wolves, yes?

Silent Hunter IV: Wolves of the Pacific: Uboat Missions v1.5, Yes...

- What does 'FotRSU' stand for?

Fall of the Rising Sun - Ultimate

- When you say, 'We set all airplanes and airbases to "Elite', who is meant with 'We'?

The "we" in this instance, would be propbeanie, s7rikeback & others who work to update & upgrade FotRS-U, which at last check was in v1.7x (x being whatever # in use after the 7 here... ) & from what I've read, the team is looking to release a newer version, what the version #'ing will be, has yet to be fully announced I do believe...


As for... the last 2 points, I shall defer to another to answer on them... who is... better equipped to do so...




Hope this helps... clarify things, for you there... Kapitän








M. M.

Thanks, as always !!!

[Kapitän]

Originally Posted by propbeanie

The AirBase Modifiers up top are rather high, so when you do get a response, it will be quick, it will be often, it might then also be continuous, and most likely deadly. The original Fall of the Rising Sun mod team had airstrikes set more frequently, and especially around the upper Solomon Islands into the Bismarck Sea, around Formosa, and off Kyushu to Honshu, you might encounter so many planes that you could not charge your batteries. Some of that was probably from the fact that the mod was origininally in SH4 v1.4, and we converted it to SH4 v1.5, which might have affected sensors.

Anyway, I would probably start with turning down the AirBase Modifiers a bit, and then increase what Bubblehead1980 mentions, but I don't think I would go very much higher than what the mod already has. You are liable to be blanketed with airplanes once you are sighted. I would probably then decrease the Logic Steps down to maybe 35 for an experiment, and see if that does the trick.

Early in the war, there are not enough airplanes for the Allies, and not many that could do the long haul of an ocean search. Once Lend/Lease kicks in, then the airplane traffic should increase, and once you get to mid to late 1942, you should find it rather difficult to get across the Bay of Biscay without being spotted at least once, and having to deal with "hiding" for a while by direction and speed changes submerged, causing you to take at least twice as long to get out of the air coverage there. When the H/K CVE groups start to roam about the place, and radar improves, you would expect to be Leigh-lighted a time or two at night, and you never having seen any indication of inbound radar beams...

In SH3, the only time I made it past Spring of 1943 was when I started the game then... - I have not played enough KSD or DW or OM to get a handle on how they are when the Happy Times are over and Black May approaches... But "experimentation" and "one setting at a time" are the catch phrases when trying to adjust the AirStrike cfg file. Also, you might open the Mission Editor and then the respective "... AirCover.mis" files to see where the Land AirBases are, and what their CrewRating is set to. The "default" in the game for them is "Competent", and a "Competent" plane cannot do a dive bombing and survive... they'll crash into the ocean, or "stall" when pulling out of the dive. Even at "Elite", they do stupid stuff, like flying into mountains, but at least they can manage to get a couple of strafing runs in on you... usually. But then of course, at Elite, they have a better chance of dropping a 500kg bomb right down the conn hatch...

Okay, thanks for that!

For now, I would like to see my first enemy A/C period and set the following acc. to what Bubblehead1980 said:

- "Default Air Strike Probability=30>>>I increased it to 90 I believe"
- Enemy Air Strike Probability Increase on Player Detection=50>>>changed this to 95 I believe"

Depending on what happens after that, I might adhust the other parameters.

Can I do the changes on a current patrol/game save or do I need to start new patrol?

[Bubblehead1980]

Originally Posted by Kapitän

Thanks! I will give these two settings a try. Can I do that with a current game save, i.e., make the change and restart the game and load a current game save, or do I need to start a new patrol?

Yes, will need to be "in port" when enable the mod and changes, make a new save file for current career and start a patrol. Changes should never be made when at sea.

[KaleunMarco]

Originally Posted by propbeanie

I forget how we arrived at our figures in FotRSU - but I do remember is was NOT scientific by any stretch of the imagination... We considerably shortened the "Maximum Aircraft Range" to less than 1000km - Stock is 2000km - made a "world" of difference... sorry for the pun... - Check this out:

https://cimsec.org/close-the-gaps-ai...-and-tomorrow/

There is "historical" info there, along with a little map.

pb, my comments were not a criticism but a statement of facts of the game: the conditions available within the game are NOT the same as in real life and we only have the game conditions to work with.

as you are well aware, we can only work with airfield geography and aircraft specs.
in real life there are these items that limit a/c performance and create "gaps":

• parts and maintenance issue
• personnel staffing numbers for both pilots and ground crew (which is the greater number of heads)
• training of ground crew and flight crews
• attitude of ground crew and flight crews (who do you think had higher morale: the guys in Adak or the guys 35 minutes from London?)
• weather. i list it here because in the game will send a plane out no matter what the weather is and if it crashes, who cares. humans don't make the same decision.

i'm going to stop here.

Originally Posted by Bubblehead1980

Hmmm just had a aircraft spotted at 11 KM (Clear Sunny day) in Grid AL 58.

That is 1033 KM south of Iceland and 1391 KM West of Ireland. I easily submerged and do not believe he spotted me, so obviously not running ASV yet. However, should have contacts this far out in July 1941? This is the air gap no?

i recommend modifying the parameters we have available such that you can actually get from your base to the frickin North Atlantic and sink some ships.

[Bubblehead1980]

Originally Posted by KaleunMarco

maybe in real life there was an air coverage gap, but clearly there is no gap within the air squadrons and search patterns and Airstrike parms for this submarine simulator.

some of that you may be able to mod but some you will probably be stuck with.

Well I given Lurkers penchant for historical accuracy and that the air gap is mentioned in the intel miles etc I assumed the mid atlantic air gap, the black pit, was scripted into the sim. May be, looking at some things I may have been just at the end of a airbase in iceland's limit for time period.

I'll gain more knowledge of it as go on and will make changes as required. I'm into August 1941 now and planes are still not that much of a problem but I know its coming. I'm working on getting the leigh lights into the sim.

[KaleunMarco]

Originally Posted by Bubblehead1980

Well I given Lurkers penchant for historical accuracy and that the air gap is mentioned in the intel miles etc I assumed the mid atlantic air gap, the black pit, was scripted into the sim. May be, looking at some things I may have been just at the end of a airbase in iceland's limit for time period.

I'll gain more knowledge of it as go on and will make changes as required. I'm into August 1941 now and planes are still not that much of a problem but I know its coming. I'm working on getting the leigh lights into the sim.

yeah, well, there were many performance issues in conjunction with the gap and we cannot simulate every thing in SH4.

with regard to leigh lights, are you using the same device as the spot lights that are shipborne or a different device?

[Bubblehead1980]

Originally Posted by KaleunMarco

yeah, well, there were many performance issues in conjunction with the gap and we cannot simulate every thing in SH4.

with regard to leigh lights, are you using the same device as the spot lights that are shipborne or a different device?

True, but pretty sure air gap can be simulated properly via proper placement of airbases and limitation of ranges. I'll look into it more when back home. Have not looked in depth but based on what read thus far I may have been at the end of their range. Like anything in modding its about finding the balance between historical accuracy and playability.

Before I make any major changes (aside from the airstrike.cfg and the dakr nights with some minor sim.cfg tweaks so can pull off night surface attacks) file to campaign I am playing through all years to have a feel for how things are by default. Thus far I am happy as not much needs changed. AI is a little easy in 39-41 when submerged and evading, mostly because the escorts are nearly all set to "competent" which should be in most cases "incompetent"
lol. I am sure it will get tougher though.



For leigh light I am working with a light Ref_light_02(think thats what it called) which is a search light . Do not have file in front of me. According to someone helping me out, looks like the the node is present on the PBY and in the library as well in DW, just has to add to .eqp file which has been done. I have not been able to test it because could not get the test mission to show up yet. When I get a chance will try to perfect it and test out. Hopefully that simple, if not it will be a process. Of course will have to add it to other planes I am sure.

[Bubblehead1980]

How do we reduce the number of full moons? Seem to get a absurd number of full moons in this mod. I assume its the environmental. Makes night surface attacks impossible many times, more than it should. Especially in summer months in North Atlantic.

[Fifi]

I don’t think you can reduce full moon numbers of what I know … to me it might be hardcoded.
Anyway from memory this environment is based on FORTSU one, so both have exact same number of full moon!… and probably all sh4 mods…

[Kapitän]

Originally Posted by Bubblehead1980

Yes, will need to be "in port" when enable the mod and changes, make a new save file for current career and start a patrol. Changes should never be made when at sea.

Thanks! Not questioning just trying to understand:

Should changes only be done "in port", because if done "at sea", it could lead to CTDs and/or the changes won't even take effect, unless they are done "in port "?

[Bubblehead1980]

Originally Posted by Kapitän

Thanks! Not questioning just trying to understand:

Should changes only be done "in port", because if done "at sea", it could lead to CTDs and/or the changes won't even take effect, unless they are done "in port "?

Yes, can lead to corrupt files and CTD/failure to load save game etc. SOme mods may no activate when "at sea" either

[Bubblehead1980]

March 6 1943.


For first time in the mod, underwent a competent and effective depth charge attack. Without the L1 or L2 mod, wanted to see how default AI did on in 1943.



Love the damage model in this mod other than I took two hedgehog hits at 210 meters and 230 meters and barely did any damage. No hull damage indicated, no flooding etc.

[Bubblehead1980]

https://www.subsim.com/radioroom/sho...72#post2815872

[KaleunMarco]

Originally Posted by Bubblehead1980

https://www.subsim.com/radioroom/sho...72#post2815872

why didn't you get out of her way?