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Arrigo74

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Everything posted by Arrigo74

  1. Well, after Tsushima ships striking the colours were a rarity. On the other hand I can see a point where a CO would abandon ship to save the crew. As Andrew Lambert once pointed out to me (it was a discussion about HMS Repulse sticking to the sinking HMS Prince of Wales instead of abandoning the scene): a ship can be built faster than a good crew can be trained. In the campaign that should be a critical decision both for players and AI...
  2. I think, but not 100% sure that the latter (I assume you are talking of the Type 21 RN frigate), involved the dad of one of my classmates in PhD school... 😅 Said that, I disagree with Skesis about the AI being rough but good... I still have to see a competent design after the pre-dreadnought period. Templates are becoming a necessity (and to be quite honest they are also a logical step, after all templates is how naval architecture works in broad sense). As far historical movies are concerned... Both agree and disagree. I agree with the latter statement, disagree with the former. I do not want carbon copies of all historical ships (but that will not hurt either) but I want design that follow roughly the same principle rather than Frankenstein monsters... There are reasons behind every real design, not least the fact that the design had to work and be 'competitive'. Suspension of disbelief is not the only element in an historical game design (and no, Hollywood should not be our benchmark...)
  3. Issue with divisions: does issuing a division Screen orders allow the ship to avoid torpedoes? My screening destroyers appeared to literally run into them.
  4. Quick note on the hot-fix. I have menu and buttons blurred now.
  5. unrelated... if you are commander Reed... why you have Ryker pic? ST fan too and I agree it would be nice to have one... but here is for warships not starships! 😀
  6. Is not a super BB problem... it the problem that currently the AI is incapable to design a decent Dreadnought... look at the miracle of AI engineering (BB vs BC mission): Now this spectacular failure had only two 11" twin turret, a mass of 10", and then 7", 6", 4", 3", 2"... if you call it a dreadnought... it was a quite poor semi-dread in my book. Note, my BC just kept at long range and pounded it. Current AI is incapable to design modern ship, despite his early one being acceptable. And I am not talking about the funnels. To be quite hones the AI has a penchant for mixed caliber main batteries and love side guns. Side guns made sense to a point, after barbette for superfiring guns were introduced they lost appeal and sense... yet I have seen frequent AI design of dreadnoughts with a large barbette with a secondary over it. So yes, AI designs ugly, unrealistic, and poor ships.
  7. Here are my last adversaries in Power of the Dreadnought... the secondary (shielded) turret on a barbette is a must... as the line of secondaries on the side... basically can the AI design a dreadnought?
  8. Well, no screen here... but my AI had built a dreadnought with at least 5 different calibers... (Naval academy Power of the Dreadnought). I distinctly remember Andrew Lambert, Norman Friedman, Howard Fuller and myself talking about dreadnought having basically a single caliber main gun... also twin centerline turrets and triple side ones... In y dream land the AI would pick from historical designs rather than attempt its worst in post-modern warship design... That would solve a lot of issue on Naval Academy, possibly even in custom battle. Wondering about the campaign... but again using historical ships as templates...
  9. Have you ever been in a CiC during an action? I was in a Type 23's one for a simulated action, and basically the whole job of the CiC crew is to hold the CO's hand to allow him to make informed decision. I have friends who had done this for real in 1982... Now in a simulation like Admirals I do not expect having voice reports continually flowing to me (also because I can jump between ships and divisions), but their net effect provided to me, that means tracking spotted torpedo, having a map overlay providing heading and bearing of enemy spotted contacts and so on. For a lot of thing I found the game quite arcadey and some of the suggestions of 'realism' more based on arcade games, than any simulation of naval combat. There is also difference between a warship simulator and a simulation of naval combat. As for the game itself... one of the biggest selling point was the campaign. Not just creating the 'perfect' theoretical ship, but one that actually accomplish missions and keep your political masters happy. So I hope to see not just technical developments, but also the chance for treaties to influence naval construction, and a changing global landscape, plus receiving information on other countries new ships and being forced to adapt. The battles themselves are important, just one of the many cogs in the game. Said that... this is a technical thread to report on the patch... and the campaign is still not in my greedy hands... so another UI issue is the inability to lock target info. Basically it would be nice to be able to lock the information cursor on a specific target (friendly or enemy) rather than, as it is now, being always floating, sometimes you lose the information when you rotate the screen or, quite annoying, at long range when ships dots are close together it is a bit difficult to keep info an a specific target. Also at time information are hidden above or under the screen border because they are displayed at a fixed distance from the cursor itself. Like the target relative armor strength can be seen only when you keep the horizon relatively low... Ship design: getting an immune zone calculator would be nice. Also a better indication of ship range would be nice when the campaign will be implemented.
  10. I do not find marking spotted torpedoes gamey. After all there will be specific crewmen detailed to this task and to keep a track of them. Of course torpedo spotting distances must be realistic. What I find arcadey is the need to scour the map to spot torpedoes right now. Considering this is a simulation of command rather than skippering focusing on tactics and management rather than 'driving' is appropriate. Certainly the way to appease everyone (for once it appears possible) is to provide selectable elements of realism and difficulty. Still concerned about the lack of simultaneous and sequential turns. Even in line ahead ships do not really follow a line ahead approach, but they act more like they recreate a line ahead formation after every turn. Flag selection after a ship falling out of formation should be either second in line, or selected by the player.
  11. Downloaded the new alpha, and played with it a bit... I see some improvements coming but I have still some perplexities on formations. Switching from line ahead to line abreast is still weird. There should be the option to perform simultaneous and sequential turns. Scout and screen seems better, it would be even nicer if you can set a screen/scout primary direction. Maneuvers: option to order a division to make evasive maneuvers automatically option to order full rudder course changes even in auto plotting. UI: still not 100% sure of it. Two things I would appreciate... 1) spotted torpedoes are permanently marked. You should have lookouts whose job is just that. 2) an option to lock the info of the target ship. Ship building... more hulls and superstructure (okay it is still alpha... so I am waiting for it, but right now you cannot design the IJN CA or the US big CLs, I am a fan of the Brooklyns. I miss the flat stern US Cruiser hulls. Scout planes... they became more and more important and a key element in ship design (either by inclusion or exclusion...) and they are important for... scouting. Even if they are not included as a direct mechanics in battle, they should be a design consideration (as DP secondaries and at times primaries). Looking forward to the campaign and next updates.
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