So here's my Idea of Float planes and what mechanics they will add to the game:
Sections:
Ship components
Aircraft Mechanics
Ship Mechanics
Other additions
Ship Components:
I could say that the components could be narrowed down into 3 sections: Catapult, Crane, Parking rails/hangar.
The catapult:
The catapult could come in multiple forms-
Planes have to always launch upwind.
A catapult mounted on turrets- This would save deck space however decease turret traverse speed.
A catapult turret- would take of deck space, but wont impact turret performance.
Stationary catapult- Cheapest however the ship has to turn so that the plate launches upwind.
Crane:
Cranes will have a simple mechanic of transporting planes between water, catapult and storage.
They could come with different sizes which will have different areas effect, which would also take up different amounts of deck space and have different costs.
Rails could also be used to transport aircraft from storage to catapult without using cranes
Storage:
Could come in two forms, form of parking rails or hangars.
Rails will be cheaper, faster to transfer the plane to the catapults, however plane is more vulnerable and takes longer time to repair/ refuel/ and possibly rearm.
Hangars will offer more protection to the aircraft, speed up repair, refuel and rearming of aircraft at a greater cost and a cost of setup time
Both will take up deck space, however if the ship is big enough it could have a under deck hangar like Yamato.
Some Towers like the one of FIJI could contain hangars for float planes.
The hangar is behind rectangular door found on the rear of the main tower.
Aircraft game mechanics:
What will aircraft bring:
Aircraft will increase identification speed.
Aircraft will increase the visibility.
Aircraft will increase gun accuracy.
Aircraft could shoot down enemy scout planes.
Small bombs or depth charges could be mounted to deal minor damage to the enemy.
Limitations:
Aircraft will take different times to setup depending on aircraft, and its storage position.
Aircraft will have to take off upwind so if the catapult is unable to move the ship will have to orientate itself.
Aircraft will have limited fuel so once their out of fuel they will have to come back to ship to refuel.
Very limited quantity of aircraft could be stored on ships, once their gone their gone
Aircraft could be damaged on ships from naval artillery.
Other:
Aircraft could be repaired when back on the ship.
The damage taken to aircraft handling systems will have an impact on the speed of aircraft services.
If systems get destroyed certain actions to the aircraft cant be taken, for example if cranes get fully destroyed, the plane cant be put back on ship unless there is another crane.
Ship Mechanics
A whole new weapon systems will have to be added to games in form of AA guns, there will be 3 types of AA systems, short, medium and long ranges.
Short range AA- these will be small calibre auto cannons, 25mm and below, These weapons will be the cheapest, least accurate but greatest rate of fire and the lowest alpha damage. These guns will not fire at enemy vessels,
Medium range- something around 40mm in calibre, will have average rate of fire, medium range, and medium damage per shot, however these could still cripple planes easily. Earlier eras will not have rapid fire medium guns but single action as 40mm AA auto cannons weren't really used on ship in the first world war period.
Long range- These will be calibres ranging from secondary gun calibre up 8 inch cruiser sized guns. These guns are best at longer ranges and will deal critical damage to planes if they score a direct hit. Air burst shells will damage planes if their are near them. Dual purpose artillery could be used however the weapons will need to be upgraded via weapon control systems for AA which would increase cost and weight of the weapons. Also air burst shells will take up that weapons ammo storage.
[examples of AA guns provided below]
How ships are designed will change and more options will be unlocked depending how we want to be prepared against float planes or whether want float planes of our own on ships.
Aviation fuel stored on aircraft will also be considered and it could possibly be a weak point and it will increase the displacement of the ship.
Oerlikon 20mm used by many nations
Soviet V11 37mm
British QF 3 inch
More examples can be provided if requested.
Other game play additions
Players could build dedicated AA ships or ships dedicated to carrying float planes which would be an early game addition of aircraft carriers.
There could be a naval academy mission where you have to defend a fleet from aerial attacks.
These additions could be used to possibly develop aircraft carriers in the future.
