Wolfpack Campaign: A journey through the U-boat War

[Onkel Neal]

Scapa Flow mission is next.

[Onkel Neal]

That's a gold mine!! Thanks

[PL_Andrev]

Not sure that mine laying is what the players are waiting for...
All funny games are seek & destroy, by torps or guns.

We can copy some missions from SH4 (supply aid, secret agents mission, port recon) but not sure it is "must have" missions in game.

[MadSin]

Hello! I would like to propose the idea of ​​implementing accelerated time for a cooperative company. The idea is as follows. The navigator or any other member of the crew who understands in the navigator's business in advance calculates the route to the selected position of the far transition. The data is entered into the conditional table on the basis of the "course" and "travel time for a given course" principle. Thus, the entire route is entered. Then the commander presses the time compression button, all crew members confirm readiness and after that the whole crew is displayed in the map mode and simply sees the moving point along the specified route. The captain can at any time reset the time compression and all players return to the boat, or if at the moment of passing the route a post appears in the detection zone

With the possibility of compressing time and long-distance crossings to any point on the map, it will be possible to implement trade routes for convoys and single ships, random convoys and single ships going not along trade routes and significantly dilute the monotony of being in an open water area when there is no enemy.

To avoid the fact that 5 players would observe a long time marker moving on the map is possible. 100% will be players who are willing to spend their time on searching and traveling, the rest, missing players, you can replace AI, Players can join at any time and take their place. The captain (master of the lobby) can, when a convoy is detected, pause the game and save and wait for the whole team to assemble and then join the battle. The ability to compress time does not harm, but adds positive moments to the game for many players.

[iagocor]

Originally Posted by Onkel Neal

Skirmish
Skirmish is merely an instant action convoy/war patrol encounter. Most U-boat missions are essentially: Locate convoy, Intercept convoy, Attack convoy, Evade escorts (re-engage if possible). This is what Doenitz tasked his U-boats with and this is what they sought. In real life, assembling a group of U-boats and locating a convoy could take weeks, and often a U-boat commander would never find a battle. Obviously, this would not work for a simulation, no one wants to simulate the boredom and frustration of empty seas. And when you are talking cooperatively manned subs, by four dudes in real life, even less so. So, the plan is to start a skirmish mission off with the enemy within reasonable range, so the players can possibly intercept and engage within 30 minutes to an hour. It is important to note that we intend to have the missions dynamically generated, so no matter how many times you play a skirmish mission, the inclusion, placement, and course of the enemy will vary. Sometimes you will start off close and in favorable position, sometimes you will have to establish contact and attempt to obtain a favorable firing position without being detected.

So, whenever you want to play a quick game with your friends, you can select a convoy encounter, warship encounter, or random encounter and test your mettle as a U-boat crew.

Thats the actual mode? I really like the idea of a open sea ""full"" of spawning convoys to run away, face or wait for the wolfpack (and a way for doing that: setting a target and coordenates to be shared with other members besides the ordinary radio ¿?)

The continuity may be achieved by making the ships harder and harder every time: Let the timer go from 1939(or 1942 or whatever) to 1945 and vary, all according to the players particular set up and "checkfields").

I know this games are often limited by the number of players, but i think that
we could achieve a game with many new commanders serving the kriegsmarine after the old ones logg off or die(an inside lock for the hatch would be nice btw) thats more fullfilling, the only limitation being sharing/buying the host. I played other games where the savegame was shared among players, wich i think have the same POV that subsims, and it was really good.

So i think this is the best argument in behalf of open world: It won't be single-played! You can actually set a tournament with 4 teams playing at the same time in the same sea or rotate the crew untill the ships perish or time passes.


3 questions:
-Can you give any advance on what are the thoughts on the PVP?
-And more important one: Is any non-submarine ship going to be rided? I am not against it, but i read a comment about it, DD vs SSS, here and i want to know opinions.
- I don't want to be rude, but is this game really gonna progress? i mean... seems it would take a lot (not judging).

PS: I agree that campaing is by far the most appealing and important part of the game.

[blackswan40]

Onkel Neal when I started writing the Steel Sharks Gwx Campaign I used the following sources for info on Convoys ect


http://www.convoyweb.org.uk/


https://warsailors.com/convoys/index.html

for the biggest Convoy Battles and most successful Uboat Patrols

https://www.uboat.net/ops/convoys/battles.htm


I told ya I was a Uboat n Submarine nutjob its all to do wid my date of birth
3/9/65
same day Limeyville declared war on Germany in 39 and the same year his nibs Winston Spencer Churchill Passed away

[blackswan40]

World at War Wolfpacks A insight into the Battle of the Atlantic A good Watch Enjoy


https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x3p7bjc

[Onkel Neal]

Thanks, Andy!

[cmdr750]

isn`t it a better idea to implement a "big campaign" rather than separated missions and work with time compression ?

so, you can have relatively quick action with your buddies but you can also have these strategic decissions like "where are the convoy routes, where are the air gaps, where can i go with my fuel, ect..."

that also will solve the problems with the consumables like battery and O2, mentionted in the other threat. You can make them realistic, but do not have to wait or have some "boring" time.

[THE_MASK]

What about enemy ships have some point on them that you can retrieve documents/ammo etc . As first person if the engine and lookout can manoeuvre your sub close to the enemy boat/sub you can walk over to the enemy boat/sub . From there you can scout the enemy boat/sub for the documents/ammo . You can radio in the documents and that will give you more intelligence . Once you are off the sub you should be able to control the enemy boat/sub and use that to help your teammates . Maybe 2 players want to board another ship/sub etc . Battlefield etc works on this principle . Why not this game .

[Onkel Neal]

In order to get the game out the door and off to a good start the initial focus was on open ocean convoy battles--the quintessential U-boat scenario. We plan to come back to open ocean battles with improvements later but now with bots added to the game, the direction switches to the Scapa Flow mission. This will add another level of tension and stress to the players because there are a lot of things to deal with in a harbor penetration and we want to include all the elements:

• nets
• mines
• blockships
• coastal batteries
• patrols
• Fishing boats
• Northern lights
• lookouts
• Rip tides and tidal factors
• Enigma messages
• Time factors

A successful Scapa Flow mission will be a challenge. I'm sure there are a lot of players here who can add suggestions and ideas to make the scenario realistic and enjoyable.

I'm proposing a historical version of Scapa Flow, where the elements are faithful to the 1939 situation and also a Scapa Flow II where the elements are more randomized so the players will not have a formula and roadmap to success. Sometimes the blockships will be in different locations, sometimes there will be unexpected patrols, other times additional nets. I also would like to see the occasional Enigma message received that, when properly encoded, will supply the players with crucial intel such as location of minefields and tidal flows.



Precise navigation without GPS on the map will also be a fascinating gameplay element in this mission.

[Lost At Sea]

Wow !
This is going to be brutal...
Love the idea of having historical settings and the option for a more random mission.

Cheers,
Lost

[ceh]

This image prompted me to read about the real Scapa Flow mission.

Yes, I call myself a submarine buff but I'm not educated on the history

Anyway, found this website with a detailed account of the sortie. Riveting read I'm sure folks here know the story, possibly the website too, but just in case

[JuanLiquid]

The randomizations sounds very good for me. It would be interesting for a future campaign (Only if you plan it) being able to adding randomization to other ports.

I'd love to have for this mission some torpedo fail rate. Like dub, or those configured as impact that miss because their angle of impact is far from 90º. Magnetic/speed for vapor ones, would be nice too. In the 39 they should fail a lot, in the 42 they should be better (I hope see later dates! like 43 or 44 for those of us that like difficult games!).

Because if the torpedo is perfect you can fire it safely and in an accurate way (0 knots..., just aim the scope) at 4-5Km. And if one hit mean one ship, you may do your own "Pearl Harbor" with just your five preloaded shots.

Another idea would be adding more chaos once a torpedo hit or you get detected, like cars moving, people running to destroyers, SOS calls, (lifeboats in case of regular convoy games) - but I think it's too much work. Also, a good retreat if mandatory.

If you are able to surface the boat without being seen for some time + reach deep waters + sink at least one capital ship, then it should be a Victory. It should be pretty fun to see mad destroyers looking for you, and maybe randomnly deep charging to express their anger. Also planes in a future, looking for revenge.

[THE_MASK]

What about an option to start 200 kilometers away so the nutters can have a chance to play multiplayer for 2 days straight in real time . The mission finishes when you reach 10 klm radius from the random starting point . Organize realtime sleeping eating playing arrangments etc . Random ships and planes would have to be at least 200 klm radius from Scapa .