[REQ]Q-Ships Mod

[V13dweller]

You mean those heavily armed warships in merchants clothing?
I know Q-ships were armed with Depth Charge racks and large guns, but hiding them in SH5 would be difficult, I myself, do not know how to hide ships weapons.

But maybe other modders might have more input.

It is a good idea though.
I could add DC racks to a Merchant ship, but he will have difficulty find anyone without a sonar, but I could add a sonar.

[Stoli151]

Originally Posted by V13dweller

You mean those heavily armed warships in merchants clothing?
I know Q-ships were armed with Depth Charge racks and large guns, but hiding them in SH5 would be difficult, I myself, do not know how to hide ships weapons.

But maybe other modders might have more input.

It is a good idea though.
I could add DC racks to a Merchant ship, but he will have difficulty find anyone without a sonar, but I could add a sonar.

Yes, exactly. They basically were old merchants loaded up with camouflaged weapons and a had a Royal Navy crew on board. They would wander around solo waiting for a u-boat kaleun to approach it on the surface trying to save his precious torpedoes. I wonder if you could have it fire weapons but not have the ship models render the deck guns visually. Basically, you would see cannon fire but no cannon, unless they could be camouflaged some other way. Once they were firing, it wouldn't really matter once you're desperately pressing the crash dive button. In other words the incoming fire would be enough to convince you the cannons were there. The next thing would be randomizing the chance of coming up on one and limiting them to their historical years of use.

[gap]

Originally Posted by Stoli151

Is there a mod that simulates Q-ships in SH5? If not, does anyone think they would like to make one. I did love the one that was made for SH3. It really makes approaching lone merchants in the early war years much more interesting.

The Allied WWII merchat cruiser / Q Ship program was a big flop. The idea is cool though, and it would be nice having more of these ships in game.

Originally Posted by Stoli151

I wonder if you could have it fire weapons but not have the ship models render the deck guns visually. Basically, you would see cannon fire but no cannon, unless they could be camouflaged some other way. Once they were firing, it wouldn't really matter once you're desperately pressing the crash dive button. In other words the incoming fire would be enough to convince you the cannons were there.

SH5 got two armed merchants already, HMS Rawalpindi and HMS Patroclus (as a proxy of Rawalpindi), not to mention the German auxiliary cruisers Carl Peters, Comet and Pinguin. I have never met them in game though, and I am curious to know if their guns are disguised somehow before they start using them.
In the negative, creating dummy but fully working weapons wouldn't be a big problem

Originally Posted by Stoli151

The next thing would be randomizing the chance of coming up on one and limiting them to their historical years of use.

This isn't really a problem. SH5 dynamic campaign takes dates and unit types and classe into account. We can make ships to appear when/where historically espected. We can even set individual ships, making them not to be respawned in game if they get destroyed at some point during the campaign.

On a side note, there were so few of these ships, that the chance to come along one of them should be very low anyway.

[Stoli151]

Originally Posted by gap

The Allied WWII merchat cruiser / Q Ship program was a big flop. The idea is cool though, and it would be nice having more of these ships in game.



SH5 got two armed merchants already, HMS Rawalpindi and HMS Patroclus (as a proxy of Rawalpindi), not to mention the German auxiliary cruisers Carl Peters, Comet and Pinguin. I have never met them in game though, and I am curious to know if their guns are disguised somehow before they start using them.
In the negative, creating dummy but fully working weapons wouldn't be a big problem



This isn't really a problem. SH5 dynamic campaign takes dates and unit types and classe into account. We can make ships to appear when/where historically espected. We can even set individual ships, making them not to be respawned in game if they get destroyed at some point during the campaign.

On a side note, there were so few of these ships, that the chance to come along one of them should be very low anyway.

I totally agree the program wasn't very successful in RL. The mod in SH3 however, made me approach lone merchants in the early years with caution. Although I only met 3 in game, 2 of them ended my career. Knowing the small chance that they were out there was enough to make me think twice about just cruising up to single ships with my deckgun to save torpedoes. What an unpleasant surprise it was when that old rust bucket opened up on me with the power of a light cruiser. So I think the mod would be totally worth it if someone did one for SH5. I do also agree that the chance of running into one should be small, as it was in the SH3 mod.

[gap]

Originally Posted by Stoli151

I totally agree the program wasn't very successful in RL. The mod in SH3 however, made me approach lone merchants in the early years with caution. Although I only met 3 in game, 2 of them ended my career. Knowing the small chance that they were out there was enough to make me think twice about just cruising up to single ships with my deckgun to save torpedoes. What an unpleasant surprise it was when that old rust bucket opened up on me with the power of a light cruiser. So I think the mod would be totally worth it if someone did one for SH5. I do also agree that the chance of running into one should be small, as it was in the SH3 mod.

Three encounters in how many careers? This is probably still too much, but I agree with you on the deterrent effect anyway

P.S. I had a look into stock SH5 armed merchants, and I didn't see any special setting/controller attached to their main gun bones. But the bones themselves are placed in some underdecks not immediately visible to the observer, or they are well within the hull

Has anyone seen these ships firing in game?

Moreover, someone in Jimbuna's Q Ship thread suggested using SHIII's trap container, though this method wasn't flawless.

In any case, after solving the puzzle of how to conceal armaments, creating proxy copies of any merchant featured in game, and converting them into Q-ships is really easy

[volodya61]

Guys.. just my experience.. Open Horizons II.. Autumn, 1939.. armed merchants..
I think these ships are armed enough to not try to attack them from the surface position using the deck gun.. I have seen what may happen after..

[gap]

Originally Posted by volodya61

Guys.. just my experience.. Open Horizons II.. Autumn, 1939.. armed merchants..
I think these ships are armed enough to not try to attack them from the surface position using the deck gun.. I have seen what may happen after..

Yes, but are their guns visible before they actually start firing? If no, how do they show up when they are fired? Some of the German auxiliary cruisers have guns which are so deep in the hull, that they should fire through it

[Stoli151]

Originally Posted by volodya61

Guys.. just my experience.. Open Horizons II.. Autumn, 1939.. armed merchants..
I think these ships are armed enough to not try to attack them from the surface position using the deck gun.. I have seen what may happen after..

I am talking about Q ships the RL wolves in sheeps clothing. Like what was said earlier a flop in RL but an enjoyable mod when done right, at least in SH3. You think you are coming up to something unarmed and then BLAMO! My three encounters were over dozens of careers spanning the early war years, so I think that was about right. I will never forget them. I always proceed with caution approaching lone merchants on the surface now in SH3 with the mod enabled. Even though the chances are small I will encounter one.I hoped that maybe somebody could do this again for SH5. As for if you like or dislike the mod if ever done, I guess that is what the enable-disable buttons are for in JSGME. Well it was just an idea anyway. If nobody else does it, maybe I can make an attempt at it although I lack skills.I may have lots of time to try, if I don't drum up any interest. In any case if done right it gets the gamer to act like a real captain and not act recklessly because they think they are safe. I would think any modder would want to make something that can do that.