ImprovedConvoys Beta and UnRealUBoat - Udated: 03-25

[sdcruz]

Jason

I have the mod installed previous to the one you just released and man those escorts have become a nightmare - please see my other post titled "Unreal or What??" in the main forums

Did you jack up their skill or something in that mod?

They have become incredible to shake off and their depth charge accuracy is too good.

Regards
Shelton.

[jasonb885]

Originally Posted by sdcruz

Jason

I have the mod installed previous to the one you just released and man those escorts have become a nightmare - please see my other post titled "Unreal or What??" in the main forums

Did you jack up their skill or something in that mod?

They have become incredible to shake off and their depth charge accuracy is too good.

Regards
Shelton.

Oops.

I felt it was ridiculously easy. Wulfmann thought it was too easy as well. Judging from the reports, it is a bit too easy.

I went through and readjusted the convoys escorts. Only in '39 are there any novice. In '40 and beyond you'll find competent and veteran. By '42 most are veteran, if not all. In late '44 or '45 you'll find a few Elite.

I haven't had time to playtest it myself of late, so I don't know how they respond. I do know you ought to be kept down long enough that you can't make these glory runs on convoys where you make three or four runs on them. That's just silly. Take your prize, if you manage to get any torpedos off, go under, evade, and count yourself lucky if you survive. Go after the next one, if a contact report happens to come your way.

[aquasal]

yea no more reloading in convoy to sink them all , add in rub 1.42 damage and ect and it all good. u will die! lol
pretty good so far, also ive seem them go silent and let another pound ya while they track.

[CCIP]

I think the escorts are about right as far as skill goes right now. Haven't had any more trouble with them than usual. So long as you have RUb's DC and Sonar Fix, you've got your fair chance to survive even with elite DD's.

Got the latest version... just when I switched mostly to the North Atlantic convoys, so I can't tell more about the Gibraltar ones.

Looks good. The escorts are generally in the area of 5, the ship numbers about 25. Good deal of variety. With the Merchant Variety Pack, convoys just look damn impressive now. What a big improvement from the bland and predictable ones of the original game

[Wulfmann]

I just installed some of this new DL to my RND. The reason only parts is; I did the rest of the RND groups so instead of 20/20 it is more like 40/30 for the single ships and I believe I found a good balance in that. I don't want to throw all that work away
The escorts in SH3 are 0,1,2,3 and 4 for crew rating. Most are 1 at the beginning and by 1944 all are 4 or elite. I don't believe all allied escorts were elite so have cut that to about 1/3 elite. But, I also do not believe there were any poor crews in the RN at the beginning.
So, nearly all my escorts are 3 (veterans) from day one, very few 2 and none are 0 or 1. The fact as the war progresses there are more escorts per convoy means the windows to sneak in get smaller to none and that is what increases the difficulty for my RND file.
Simply put, I must correctly attack a convoy or become the hunted. No waltzing in and shooting'em up reloading while I go. My attack is with 5 torpedoes only on silent. Remember, a Kaleuns first responsibility is to his men and boat's safety. Attacking the enemy is next. We are not on a Jihad, we are not suicide or Kamakazi seamen. Imagine how you would go about this if you would actually drop dead by dying in the game. Might be a little less gun ho?????

Ok, now for a little trick to help you survive (some likely know this already) Do not ever put your periscope up all the way. Just enough to see even if half the time it is under water. I have attacked convoys and never been deteacted while escorts were searching for me. Once a merchant sees your peri and reports you, all the escorts come a runnin!! No detection is a big key to gettin in and gettin out while the gettin is good!!! LOL
Don't be greedy. Sneak in, take out two fat ones and rejoice to fight another day. get out and circle around for another attack even a day or two later. Fight only when the terms are right for you. In other words, act like a real CO of any warship.
Once you have all 3 and 4 escorts to worry about you will get very keen on avoiding confrontation. We are not warships meant to duel with escorts. We are assasins, snipers,, we slither in, strike and if we do it right, they don't know where we came from or where we went.
Jason is really improving the convoys with this mod and the RND is basiclly the hub that this sim revolves around.

Wulfmann

[jasonb885]

Originally Posted by CCIP

...
Looks good. The escorts are generally in the area of 5, the ship numbers about 25. Good deal of variety. With the Merchant Variety Pack, convoys just look damn impressive now. What a big improvement from the bland and predictable ones of the original game

Which convoys were having 5? I don't think that's likely until around '42 or '41 for some convoys. Should be around 5 with a possibility of six by the end of the war.

It's been suggested that some of the convoys should be even larger in later years than they are now. Convoy size is next up for evaluation.

[jasonb885]

Originally Posted by Wulfmann

I just installed some of this new DL to my RND. The reason only parts is; I did the rest of the RND groups so instead of 20/20 it is more like 40/30 for the single ships and I believe I found a good balance in that.

I'll probably reevaluate single ship contacts once I actually have time to play in '41+. In my last few '41 patrols it seemed okay for me personally.

[CCIP]

I'm in 1943 now, so I guess that's why...

[jasonb885]

Originally Posted by CCIP

I'm in 1943 now, so I guess that's why...

Keep your head down.

[sdcruz]

Jason:

do know you ought to be kept down long enough that you can't make these glory runs on convoys where you make three or four runs on them. That's just silly.

Ok thanks - I get the picture!

Regards
Shelton.

[Wulfmann]

Speaking of 1943, can anyone start a career for Bergen in 43 and see if it runs OK?

I started one and it CTD with my RND (with Jason's convoys, reworked) after two days.
I put in Jason's RND file and it CTD as I cleared the channel for sea.
I put in RUBs' 20/20 and it CTD right outside of the harbor.
And, I put a completely stock RND in and it CTD while I was arranging the crew before the mission.

I put my RND back in and stated in France with no problems. All 1943

Wulfmann

[jasonb885]

I don't know. I don't seem to have time to play for the forseeable future. I'll keep working on the RND layer as I find time, though.

I still have a few convoys to finish off.

[Beery]

Originally Posted by sdcruz

Jason

I have the mod installed previous to the one you just released and man those escorts have become a nightmare - please see my other post titled "Unreal or What??" in the main forums

Did you jack up their skill or something in that mod?

They have become incredible to shake off and their depth charge accuracy is too good.

Regards
Shelton.

Pentallion's 40/20 mod removed a lot of the elite escorts because they were bugged after SH3 1.3. If IC is using the stock AI crews, then this is probably the biggest reason for AI uber accuracy and tenacity. The elite AI are still bugged in SH3 1.4.

[jasonb885]

Originally Posted by Beery

...

Pentallion's 40/20 mod removed a lot of the elite escorts because they were bugged after SH3 1.3. If IC is using the stock AI crews, then this is probably the biggest reason for AI uber accuracy and tenacity. The elite AI are still bugged in SH3 1.4.

I guess it's time to add a Recommends: and Strongly Suggests: to the README for the next release of IC for RealDC and AI Sonar, if those are indeed the 'fixes' for the uber sonar.

[CCIP]

Another explaination would certainly be the bug in RealDC sonar which Jungman just posted a fix for!

But you don't have elites all over the place, do you jason?
I was under the impression most were veterans in the late war - which is only fair.