[REL] Feared Hunters 2.0

[ddrgn]

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Feared Hunters 2.1 - by ddrgn (AI, DC and SENSOR MOD)
Patch 1.2 compatible (Checked May 12, 2010)

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Special thanks to all the fine modders past and present.

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Overview and goal:

In this mod I have tried to increase the chances that the player will make mistakes and either die or become crippled realistically from his errors.
You can still evade DD's by using deep dive and run silent tactics. Turning will also improve your chances of avoiding charges. The accuracy of the DD's
charges is a little better but most of the time they are misses. Anything within 25m of your boat you will feel it and take damage. Although not always
realistic this mod tries to put the fear "back" into the player when seeing a DD, forcing a thinking mans game, instead of point and shoot.

I have tried to balance the the AI sensors to work with the more deadly charges an found a nice balance. Sensors (visual, sonar, hydrophones) are weaker
but when your detected they will unleash hell upon you ;}When in range of a DD go silent running (1 knot) or they will detect you if in close range.

Remember the closer you are the quieter you need to be.

The DD's should not damage themselves or other units around them, except enemies of course.

All comments are welcome.

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Features of this mod:

-Increased depth charge damage
-Damage from well laid, more precise charges increased
-Minor AI tweak allows ships to race at contacts at full speed
-Longer lost detection time
-Balanced AI sensors and cannons.

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Changes 2.1:

-Fixed problem where Corvettes would randomly hit themselves or other units with charges.
This problem was rarely seen but happened in stock as well.

-Changed lost contact time to 60 mins. They will hold on to you longer, 2.0 was 20 mins.

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Change Log 2.0:


-Changed max range enemy can visually spot submarine from 20k to 7k

-Increased night factor. Night time visual contacts take more time.

-Changed Max and Min Effect for Depth Charges
(3rd accurate pass and you should be dead if you havent taken proper avoidance steps)

-Changed Min and Max radius of Depth Charges (charges when accurate will take more hit points from the sub)

-Destroyers now go full speed towards contact (as per Nisgeis's mod)

-Enemies visual detection time is now increased
(In stock, the enemy can spot your scope the second it comes from the water night/day,
this will allow for some human error on the enemies side and give players
a chance to make a solution before being spotted, good for convoys)

-Max error angle on the enemy cannons has been increased to 9
(this should remove the perfect cannon fire from all ships)

-AI guns range increased to 2500m

-Hydrophone thermal layer removed, stills exists in sonar but reduced 33% in this mod

-Enemy visual contacts in fog decreased by 25% for a total of 60% reduction in this condition.
(Meaning it should take about 60% longer to acquire you than in day, associated with max vis range and visual detection time)

-Lost contact time increased to 20 mins, any longer than this and your dead for sure.

-Hydrophone and Sonar sensitivities decreased to half it was in stock (compensating for improved dc's)

-Enemy Surface factor on Sonar is now reduced to 52 sqm to allow units to ping with more accuracy in a cluttered environment (multiple ships)

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Files changes (5):

sh5/cfg/sim.cfg
sh5/library/dc_barrels.zon, ai_sensors.sim
sh5/scripts/ai/ship-navigation.aix
sh5/sea/nco_flower/nco_flower.zon

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Install via JSGME.

You have permission to use my mod in combinations with other mods as long as credit is shown in your readme.
I would contact me for the latest version and help making sure the version is the best possible for your mod.

Download: http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/down...o=file&id=1737

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Good Hunting!
-ddrgn

[ReFaN]

Will check it out, thanks

[Ablemaster]

Interesting, will check this out thanks. Hopefully the much awaited patch will improve the AI's behaviour, see your getting into the mechanics of it all, that can only be good for us all, thanks.

[ddrgn]

Originally Posted by Ablemaster

Interesting, will check this out thanks. Hopefully the much awaited patch will improve the AI's behaviour, see your getting into the mechanics of it all, that can only be good for us all, thanks.

Scripting as it sits isn't where the problem is I think, The scripts all make sense when I look at them. To me the problem really was the damage, they DD's we're dropping a hundred charges and maybe getting 1 decent hit.

[ddrgn]

The other problem is the campaign itself I'm guessing. The units are probably placed in the mission editor as novice or even veteran. The units act a lot better with elite VeterncyLevel.

Here is a mission you can use to test the DD AI yourselves.

http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/down...o=file&id=1738

Single player can add it via JSGME.

You can stick you scopes up, see how long it takes to see you.

Fire up your electrics and watch how the DD's react.

You can try to out run them and see how much damage your going to take.

Its fun to watch them in time compression you get a real feel for what they are doing and how they react to you.

[t0maz]

What about lost contact?
With your mod DD's will use some search patterns like in Nisgeis killer mod?

Anyway meanwhile i will give it a try - sounds interesting, and good to know that you have future planes for it.

[ReallyDedPoet]

Nice

[ddrgn]

Originally Posted by t0maz

What about lost contact?
With your mod DD's will use some search patterns like in Nisgeis killer mod?

Anyway meanwhile i will give it a try - sounds interesting, and good to know that you have future planes for it.

I couldn't incorporate his exact scripts without permission. The only problem i see with that script is its contact related, so the escorts will always maintain a certain action until a precondition for another occurs,. His follow lightly scripts are enabled by contacts so the search pattern doesn't really make sense, as its already written in the script to do that.

This mod change the way the DD will detect you, they race forward and drop charges till losing contact, they will continue to track you a little longer with better chances of harming you. I very lightly changed the scripting with this.

As for search patterns while in convoys, perhaps work incorporated in the future will have all combined.

[doomlordis]

I have moved back to this mod from killer uboat one (killer uboat is too killer imo), i have a couple of questions though.

Why did you choose 7000m (4.35 miles)for AI detection? seems a little short ranged to me, in reality at sea from 1.7meters high you can see over 10 km on a clear day.

You have also made the detection by sonar and hydrophone easier to evade, i tried it like this and found it very easy to get away.
By returning it to stock it is much better balanced (for me).

I keep all other changes you have made and i am enjoying it a lot, so thanks.

[Paco]

Originally Posted by doomlordis

Why did you choose 7000m (4.35 miles)for AI detection? seems a little short ranged to me, in reality at sea from 1.7meters high you can see over 10 km on a clear day.

You have also made the detection by sonar and hydrophone easier to evade, i tried it like this and found it very easy to get away.
By returning it to stock it is much better balanced (for me).

Hi,

could you post your changes, please?
I'm interested in your solution

Greets,
Paco.

[doomlordis]

in the sim.cfg

changed the sonar and hydrophone sensitivity from 0.5 back to 1.

The visual detection time had been increased from 15seconds to 60 , i set it to 30 seconds.

Lost contact time at 60 seconds is fine imo.

I will be changing the visual range up to 11000 meters but this is done using goblin.

[ddrgn]

Simply changed the visual detection to allow subs a chance to sneak up from distance without having scopes or boat spotted from too far out, making the convoys/single freighters zigzag and speed up. I find this numbers works out nicely.

Submerge when at 7km from your contact.

This is highly debatable, "How far should a warship/freighter spot a submarine at?".....

My opinion is only that an opinion, but I dont think that freighters and merchants would spot conning towers 11.5 km away, and if they were, certainly they were not perfect eagle eyes each time.

Here is a bit about Otto Kretschmer and Patroclus, around the time he torpedoed the Laurentic. Note the fact that even at 300m he was unseen:

"A third torpedo was fired at the Laurentic at 23.30 hours from a distance of 250 metres into the hole opened by the first torpedo, at this time the lookouts spotted the U-boat on the surface and Kretschmer had a hard time in evading the gunfire. In the meantime, HMS Patroclus began picking up survivors instead of participating in the fight against the U-boat and her lookouts did not see U-99 only 300 metres away. A first torpedo struck the ship at 00.22 hours, a second at 00.44 hours and a third at 01.18 hours, but then the lookouts spotted the U-boat and Kretschmer had again to evade the gunfire." -taken from uboat.net

So again, highly debatable, I think 7km is just about right.

[doomlordis]

Does the change to the visual detection range make the grey circle around targets inaccurate then? How does that work, it changes based on your angle to the target but it does not cover 25km thats for sure.