Crew Management in v1.5

jgbishop · 01-13-09, 02:36 PM

The crew management screen changed pretty drastically in v1.5. There are now limits on the number of officers and petty officers. As such, I have a few frustrations and questions that someone can hopefully help me with:

1. What are the crew limits? I don't see them specified anywhere in the game.

2. How do I tell what crew fall into the 'officer' category and which ones fall into the 'petty officer' category?

3. With crew limits exceeded, promotions are impossible. Has this feature been removed from the game?

4. How do you typically 'rotate' your crew? Do you let the more experienced people go after a few patrols? I'd like to spend some of my renown, but not being able to promote doesn't allow me to do that.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions!

ancient46 · 01-14-09, 01:19 AM

The crew is grouped in two categories, Officers (officersand Enlisted rank 7) and above, and Petty Officers (Enlisted rank 4 to 6). I don't really know exactly what the stock game allows but it can be modified to reflect the real WW2 crew mix. If you want to have a more historic crew allowance you have to add the last two lines to this section of every boats UPC file.
[UserPlayerUnit 1]
ID=Gato
NameDisplayable=Gato Class Submarine
UnitName= USS Gato (SS-212)
Type=Gato
UpgradeClass=2
UnitInterval= 1941-12-31, 1967-06-01
ExternalClassName=SSGato
Nationality=American
CrewRanks=12
Evolution= Normal
Damage= 0
TextureName=data/Submarine/NSS_Gato/NSS_Gato_T01.tga
LightmapTextureName=data/Submarine/NSS_Gato/NSS_Gato_O01.tga
NormalmapTextureName= NULL
MenuSilhouetteTextureName= Gato_Class_01.tga
MaxPettyOfficers=52 ; max number of crewmembers over rank 4
MaxOfficers=14 ; max number of crewmembers over rank 7

If you really want to go a step further in realistic fleet boat crews you should have 13 first class POs, 20 Second class and 19 third class. 14 Seaman/Fireman First class and 2 Second class round out the crew. These numbers are a statistical average of the existing WW2 Submarine patrol logs I have found.

One of the real problems with SH4 is how it handles the promotion scheme. You are limited by those numbers but the game is not. You wil not be permitted to promote anyone in port unless you reduce the crew POs below that number. The game keeps promoting the crew at sea until the balance is way off and the crew stats make for an unrealistically efficient crew. To compound that, if you rotate the promoted crew members out the replacements are the lowest in their class, leading to another unbalanced crew.

However there is a way to defeat that by turning off the Game's ability to promote. Then you can control all the promotions in port and promote crew members, dismiss firsts or chiefs and fill with third class POs from those available in port.

01-13-09, 02:36 PM	#1
jgbishop Mate Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: North Carolina Posts: 58 Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	Crew Management in v1.5 The crew management screen changed pretty drastically in v1.5. There are now limits on the number of officers and petty officers. As such, I have a few frustrations and questions that someone can hopefully help me with: 1. What are the crew limits? I don't see them specified anywhere in the game. 2. How do I tell what crew fall into the 'officer' category and which ones fall into the 'petty officer' category? 3. With crew limits exceeded, promotions are impossible. Has this feature been removed from the game? 4. How do you typically 'rotate' your crew? Do you let the more experienced people go after a few patrols? I'd like to spend some of my renown, but not being able to promote doesn't allow me to do that. Thanks in advance for any suggestions!

01-14-09, 01:19 AM	#2
ancient46 Officer Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Pennsylvania Posts: 239 Downloads: 108 Uploads: 1	The crew is grouped in two categories, Officers (officersand Enlisted rank 7) and above, and Petty Officers (Enlisted rank 4 to 6). I don't really know exactly what the stock game allows but it can be modified to reflect the real WW2 crew mix. If you want to have a more historic crew allowance you have to add the last two lines to this section of every boats UPC file. [UserPlayerUnit 1] ID=Gato NameDisplayable=Gato Class Submarine UnitName= USS Gato (SS-212) Type=Gato UpgradeClass=2 UnitInterval= 1941-12-31, 1967-06-01 ExternalClassName=SSGato Nationality=American CrewRanks=12 Evolution= Normal Damage= 0 TextureName=data/Submarine/NSS_Gato/NSS_Gato_T01.tga LightmapTextureName=data/Submarine/NSS_Gato/NSS_Gato_O01.tga NormalmapTextureName= NULL MenuSilhouetteTextureName= Gato_Class_01.tga MaxPettyOfficers=52 ; max number of crewmembers over rank 4 MaxOfficers=14 ; max number of crewmembers over rank 7 If you really want to go a step further in realistic fleet boat crews you should have 13 first class POs, 20 Second class and 19 third class. 14 Seaman/Fireman First class and 2 Second class round out the crew. These numbers are a statistical average of the existing WW2 Submarine patrol logs I have found. One of the real problems with SH4 is how it handles the promotion scheme. You are limited by those numbers but the game is not. You wil not be permitted to promote anyone in port unless you reduce the crew POs below that number. The game keeps promoting the crew at sea until the balance is way off and the crew stats make for an unrealistically efficient crew. To compound that, if you rotate the promoted crew members out the replacements are the lowest in their class, leading to another unbalanced crew. However there is a way to defeat that by turning off the Game's ability to promote. Then you can control all the promotions in port and promote crew members, dismiss firsts or chiefs and fill with third class POs from those available in port.