I love and hate these kind of surprises! This game is still awesome, 25 years later!

[MasterChief]

I haven't played this title in awhile. I was in the mood for current WWII sub simulator and tried to get into UBOAT but just couldn't warm up to it. I've always been way more interested in US submarine ops in the Pacific.

So, I reinstalled the reigning premier title for that theater and added the latest FotRS mod. I was really enjoying my first patrol (I even engaged and sank a German Auxiliary cruiser around Truk) when I ran up against a Japanese escort destroyer that knew their s&%^$. I took a pounding - heavy flooding in fore and aft torpedo rooms, a diesel knocked out, etc. I managed to finally slip the escort and get the flooding under control but realized I couldn't steer the boat and I was heading for Japanese held shores. I checked damage control status and noticed my rudder transmitter was damaged. I got it repaired and still couldn't steer. I was thinking it was a bug, but after surfacing and checking the free camera, I found I had actually lost the rudder during the DC attack! I never had that happen when I used to play unmodded SH4 back in the day.

I wish the developers had incorporated a way to operate port and starboard screws independently - I might have been able to limp back home using forward and backing bells to turn the boat.

[Aktungbby]

Master Chief! on the surface after a 3year 'silent run'...

[KaleunMarco]

Originally Posted by MasterChief

I haven't played this title in awhile. I was in the mood for current WWII sub simulator and tried to get into UBOAT but just couldn't warm up to it. I've always been way more interested in US submarine ops in the Pacific.

So, I reinstalled the reigning premier title for that theater and added the latest FotRS mod. I was really enjoying my first patrol (I even engaged and sank a German Auxiliary cruiser around Truk) when I ran up against a Japanese escort destroyer that knew their s&%^$. I took a pounding - heavy flooding in fore and aft torpedo rooms, a diesel knocked out, etc. I managed to finally slip the escort and get the flooding under control but realized I couldn't steer the boat and I was heading for Japanese held shores. I checked damage control status and noticed my rudder transmitter was damaged. I got it repaired and still couldn't steer. I was thinking it was a bug, but after surfacing and checking the free camera, I found I had actually lost the rudder during the DC attack! I never had that happen when I used to play unmodded SH4 back in the day.

I wish the developers had incorporated a way to operate port and starboard screws independently - I might have been able to limp back home using forward and backing bells to turn the boat.

yep, many of us have been there.
there is probably an unpublished part in the rudder "subsystem" that was destroyed and now you are up-the-creek.
and yes, many of us, especially the ex-USN guys, wish that we could steer with the engines...for several reasons, but, noooo, the designers at Ubi don't think like real navy.

[quickening58]

Gentlemen...some non-USN skippers know the value of twin screws,too Am sure if were able to be done, it would have been modded by now, right?
Am 6 months into my introduction to SH4,still playing stock but ready to jump....and am afraid I'm addicted. LOL Fortunately I'm semi-retired
FWIW.....10/43-7th Brisbane patrol, trying to sneak into Rabaul harbor to photo recon a couple of CV's THEN attempt at putting one down. Huge renown,right??
Anyway 3 local patrol DD's (with skills!!) caught me in shallow water and worked us over good. Alot of damage,two squeaky shafts, heavy stern flooding.....and come to find lost the rudder. Bad night at Rabaul.

Guess rudder loss can happen in stock SH4,too

[KaleunMarco]

Originally Posted by quickening58

Gentlemen...some non-USN skippers know the value of twin screws,too Am sure if were able to be done, it would have been modded by now, right?
Am 6 months into my introduction to SH4,still playing stock but ready to jump....and am afraid I'm addicted. LOL Fortunately I'm semi-retired
FWIW.....10/43-7th Brisbane patrol, trying to sneak into Rabaul harbor to photo recon a couple of CV's THEN attempt at putting one down. Huge renown,right??
Anyway 3 local patrol DD's (with skills!!) caught me in shallow water and worked us over good. Alot of damage,two squeaky shafts, heavy stern flooding.....and come to find lost the rudder. Bad night at Rabaul.

Guess rudder loss can happen in stock SH4,too

yes.it.can.

there is a fix, of sorts, if you are intrepidacious, and you know how to use JSGME for mod-sets.

you can create a personal mod folder under the JSGME MODS folder for Zones.cfg. Find the entries for rudders and prop shafts and change the parameter of CanBeDestroyed from Yes to No. keep in mind that any piece of equipment can be damaged and not destroyed but will still take weeks of time to be repaired. you can also change the HitPoints value to something a bit higher than what it is. HitPoints is the parameter of damage for each piece of defined equipment...and crew. yes, each crewman has a HitPoint parm.

whatever you decide, good luck!

[1Patriotofmany]

Originally Posted by KaleunMarco

yes.it.can.

there is a fix, of sorts, if you are intrepidacious, and you know how to use JSGME for mod-sets.

you can create a personal mod folder under the JSGME MODS folder for Zones.cfg. Find the entries for rudders and prop shafts and change the parameter of CanBeDestroyed from Yes to No. keep in mind that any piece of equipment can be damaged and not destroyed but will still take weeks of time to be repaired. you can also change the HitPoints value to something a bit higher than what it is. HitPoints is the parameter of damage for each piece of defined equipment...and crew. yes, each crewman has a HitPoint parm.

whatever you decide, good luck!

Where would i find the hit points and canbedestroyed for guns on enemy ships? I remember I could nail the guns firing at my sub in vanilla SH4, take them out and take my time finishing off ships, but I can't knock out the guns in any of the mods I play like Darkwaters. Also what editor would I use?

[KaleunMarco]

Originally Posted by 1Patriotofmany

Where would i find the hit points and canbedestroyed for guns on enemy ships? I remember I could nail the guns firing at my sub in vanilla SH4, take them out and take my time finishing off ships, but I can't knock out the guns in any of the mods I play like Darkwaters. Also what editor would I use?

enemy ships' damage is handled differently.

they have hitpoints and "boxes" and "Spheres" and i am not sure how they are related at the time that damage is inflicted. the dotZon files have these parameters plus they work in conjunction with the dotDAT file...for each ship.

so, you've probably played different mod-sets where when you torpedo a ship it goes down in approx 45 seconds and then you play a different mod-set where is takes 10-15 minutes and/or multiple hits to sink a merchie. this is because the modder changed the "damage model" which is the .zon/.dat thing.

attempting to damage one particular piece/part of a ship, such as a weapon, is deuce-difficult, if not impossible, because of the "damage model". if the modder did not create a specific damage profile for the weapon, then you cannot destroy it as a weapon. the best you can do is sink the platform (aka the ship) and then the weapon is disabled.

PB is going to weigh-in on this topic and he will go into much more detail, i am sure, but that is the basic explanation.

suffice it to say, once, just once, while shelling a merchie, i discovered that if i hit the platform on which the deck gun was placed, i could knock out the weapon. but that was once, on one ship, which i cannot even remember which ship it was.

UBI didn't want us-gamers using the deck guns to blaze away on the surface.
sink the ship and be done with it.
if you're out of torpedos, stand off 6000-7000 yds and hole her below the waterline.

either way, good luck.