AacornSoup

Just played a quick US 1900 campaign to try out 1.5.1. Really appreciate the increased frequency of invasion prompts in the early game. Don't like how a mini-map was added but the world map hasn't yet been made cylindrical.

In my original large list, I also mentioned the idea of Pirates, that were hostile to all major nations major and minor, randomly spawning with flotillas of 3-4 TBs or DDs led by a CL, and indiscriminately attacking shipping lanes, as an excuse to get the player Navy's fleet out of port and actually do something while at peace. Clearing out Pirates would be a cheap source of Naval Prestige, an easy way to reduce Unrest, and even improve relations with other countries (in whose waters the Pirates were operating). And yes, there should be things like Pirates (and Counter-Piracy missions), Politicking (whether with playable nations, non-playable nations, or the player's own government), and other things to prevent the campaign from becoming a clicker game.

I've got a very long list of things I want to see added to the game, but the big ones are: -Steam Workshop support. -Multiplayer Campaigns and Multiplayer Custom Battles. -Wraparound cylindrical world map. -The ability to do diplomacy and war with non-playable minor nations without having to wait for random events. -Ability to reduce Unrest without waiting for random events (especially since Absolute Monarchies just randomly acquire Unrest for no reason). -1870 or 1880 Campaign starts to include ICs (Casemate Ironclads) and BMs (Monitors) to the campaign. Other suggestions I have, but didn't include on the previous list: -16-inch guns for the US Modern Battlecruiser (especially since the earlier US Battlecruiser III has 16-inch guns, but the Modern Battlecruiser currently doesn't). -Des Moines style superstructures for US Heavy Cruisers (as opposed to the scaled-down Iowa-class superstructures). -Alaska style superstructures for the US Large Cruiser (as opposed to the scaled-down Iowa-class superstructures). -Pennsylvania-class hulls for US Dreadnoughts and Modernized Dreadnoughts. -If the US Modernized Dreadnought II is not meant to be the first South Dakota class (BB-49), replace the one English-looking US Experimental Dreadnought (and the current US Modernized Dreadnought II) with the South Dakota type hull. If it is supposed to represent the original South Dakota class, add a South Dakota style superstructure. -North Carolina/ South Dakota (BB-57) style superstructures for the US Modern Battleship I, Modern Battleship II, and Fast Battleship hulls. -Montana-style superstructures for the US Modern Battleship III and Super Battleship. -8-inch guns for Light Cruisers, 12-inch guns for Heavy Cruisers, 16-inch guns for Battlecruisers. -Scharnhorst-style superstructures and funnels for German Modern Battleships.

Step 1: Determine which minor countries you want to annex. Step 2: Determine whether the absolute smallest/cheapest BB, BC, or CA is the cheapest; those will be your capital ships. Step 3: Build as many of those low-end capital ships as you can afford, organized into flotillas with two of them plus three DDs or TBs as escort vessels. Step 4: Put those flotillas in the ports nearest the minor country you want to annex. Step 5: As soon as the campaign begins, move your ships out of port to blockade the minor countries you want to annex. Step 6: Set your flotillas to "invade" to maximize the chance of receiving the prompt to invade those minor countries. Step 7: Wait for years, even decades, to receive the prompt to invade the minor countries you want to take. Step 8: If Britain and France try to annex your intended conquests, park as much of your naval tonnage next to their fleets as possible to keep them from annexing the minor country. Step 9: Scream in impotent rage when Britain and/or France annex the minor countries you want to annex, despite having parked literally half of your entire fleet next to theirs to prevent the annexation. Step 10: Restart the Campaign and repeat steps 2-8 for as many times as it takes to annex all of your strategic objectives.

Many people on this forum know the frustration of getting filtered in Naval Academy missions, because the AI builds ridiculously OP warships that would be impossible for the player to reproduce without being incredibly overweight and/or over-budget, and requires the player to make absolutely cheesy ships to even have a hope of defeating. My question is, can you if you make warship designs in Shared Designs, will the AI in the Naval Academy missions use those warship designs? If so, then in theory, could you be able to control what ships you face in Naval Academy missions by designing them yourself in Shared Designs? Whether to test a Shared Design you plan for the Campaign by facing it in Naval Academy, comparing your warships against (relatively) historically accurate designs, or preventing the AI from creating cheesy juggernauts by feeding them deliberately mediocre warship plans?

I bought Ultimate Admiral: Dreadnoughts back in October, and since then I've sunk (pun intended) over 150 hours into this game. The part where you design and build ships was easily the best and most refined part. However, I found a LOT of frustrating headaches in both Campaign and Naval Academy that needed rectification. I actually came up with a long list of suggestions for features that the Ultimate Admiral: Dreadnoughts Devs can take into consideration for better gameplay and immersion: Diplomacy and Politics: -Ability to initiate treaties/alliances/trade agreements with minor nations. -Ability to accept or refuse treaties/alliances/trade agreements with minor nations, so that you don’t get offers to buy your ships from that country you’ve been blockading for decades with intent to annex. -Ability to pay money so as to guarantee success in increasing tension or improving relations with other countries. -Dictatorship is a separate form of government, so that the Soviet Union and Third Reich aren’t considered “Democracies” in-game. -Absolute Monarchies stop randomly accumulating Unrest without random events. -Ability to buy or sell provinces with other countries without declaring war, or annexing minor countries by buying them (this should be very expensive, like upwards of $100,000,000 per province). - Ability to designate certain Spheres of Influence where major powers will prioritize colonization and allying with minor nations (eg. the US has all of Latin America as their Sphere of Influence thanks to the Monroe Doctrine, Britain and France have Africa and Asia as their Spheres of Influence, etc.), try to keep other major powers out of their Sphere of Influence (eg. the US using the Monroe Doctrine to keep Britain and France from Colonizing Latin America), and competing with other major powers in overlapping Spheres of Influence (eg. the "Great Game" between Russia and Britain). -Ability to order invasions of minor countries you want to annex, or to call off unsolicited Army invasions of minor countries you don’t want. -Ability to grant independence to provinces, to create puppets/satellites that will always have an alliance/trade agreement with you and will buy your warships. -Ability to sign trade agreements with other playable countries, increasing GDP and research rate of both countries. -Alliances last at least five years, or the duration of the current war, whichever is longer. -Alliances are more likely to last longer, the longer they last, with a Naval Prestige penalty for breaking the Alliance that increases the longer the Alliance lasts. -Ability to diplomatically mediate disputes between an Ally and a third party, that can prevent war if it succeeds or start a war immediately if it fails. -Blockading a minor country (whether or not as a prerequisite to an annexation attempt) has a non-zero chance of causing the country’s fleet to scramble in their defense, provoking a war with the minor country. -Invading minor countries is no longer just parking sufficient tonnage off the coast to guarantee a successful annexation (or parking enough naval tonnage off the coast to keep other countries from doing the same); failed annexations can result in the minor country’s fleet mobilizing, causing a naval battle or an outright war. -Selling warships to minor countries increases both the tonnage needed for a successful annexation and the chance of a minor country successfully fending off an invasion. -Random event where a minor country voluntarily submits to occupation by a major power, either becoming a puppet/satellite, being annexed outright, or just remaining an ally (depending on the major power’s choice). Finances and Research: -Ability to lobby for increased Naval Budget (and reduced GDP), or reduced Naval Budget (and increased GDP), with +5 Naval Prestige if you succeed and -2 Naval Prestige if you fail, without having to wait for random events. -Ability to spend money to reduce Unrest, without having to wait for random events. Finances and Research: -Ability to lobby for increased Naval Budget (and reduced GDP), or reduced Naval Budget (and increased GDP), with +5 Naval Prestige if you succeed and -2 Naval Prestige if you fail, without having to wait for random events. -Ability to spend money to reduce Unrest, without having to wait for random events. Construction: -Better balancing for warships so that they aren’t so front-heavy. -Ability to design and customize submarines, just like with surface ships. -Very early ships such as Casemate Ironclads (IC), small Monitors (CM), large Monitors (BM), and Torpedo Rams (an early CL that represents the transition from CM Monitors to Cruisers). -Corvettes and PT Boats are considered TBs so that the TB tech tree is not made obsolete by the Destroyer II. -Frigates and Destroyer Escorts as smaller, lighter, late-game DD ships. Combat: -Amphibious Invasions that you can provide fire support for, like in Ultimate Admiral: Age of Sail. -Commanding Marines in amphibious invasions that your ships provide fire support for. -Organizing Fleets into Flotillas and Squadrons, with Commodores and subordinate Admirals leading from designated flagships. -Adding submarines to tactical battles, fully under the control of the player. -Ships can now be told to fire torpedoes, rather than either not firing them or shooting randomly. Campaign: -1870 and 1880 start dates so that Casemate Ironclads (IC), small Monitors (CM), and large Monitors (BM) can be added to the very early Campaign. -Torpedo Rams as the first CL, preceding even the Torpedo Cruiser. -Wraparound Cylindrical world map for player convenience (especially US Players). -More provinces, for more historically accurate borders. -Pirate flotillas, a CL flagship with 3-4 TBs or DDs, attacking transports gives players a reason to deploy their fleets outside of wars. -The Monroe Doctrine is in effect in the 1890 and 1900 start dates, preventing major powers (besides the US) from trying to colonize Latin America, and also keeping the US from trying to colonize outside of Latin America, aside from wars between the US and other major powers. -In a 1920 or later start date, Austria-Hungary should be either absent or replaced by either Hungary or Yugoslavia. -Ottoman Empire/Turkey becomes a playable country. -Either Netherlands, Serbia/Yugoslavia, or Portugal becomes playable, to increase the number of playable countries to twelve. -Biloxi, Houston, and Guangzhou should be added to the map as ports. -Ability to raise Battalions of Marines so as to conduct and initiate Amphibious Invasions. -Organizing Fleets into Flotillas and Squadrons, so that your ships are organized the way you want on the campaign map (so that it’s carried over into tactical battles). -Certain minor countries already start the campaign as allies/trade partners with playable countries (eg. Belgium and Portugal are British allies/ trade partners, several Latin American countries as US allies/ trade partners, etc.). -Canada and Australia are part of the British Empire in the 1890, 1900, 1910, and 1920 start dates, and are British allies/trade partners in 1930 and later start dates. -Ability to sell off obsolete ships to minor countries with trade agreements. -Countries whose governments are overthrown cannot become Dictatorships prior to 1915, so that the Soviet Union doesn’t anachronistically form in the 1890s or early 1900s. Multiplayer: -Multiplayer Campaign for up to 10 or 12 playable countries. -Support for both Hot-Seat Multiplayer and online Multiplayer (with or without Drop-In Drop-Out Multiplayer option). -Player vs Player Custom Battles, 1 vs 1, 2 vs 2, 3 vs 3, or 4 vs 4. AI and Difficulty: -Remove AI cheating, less artificial difficulty. -Easy difficulty for Campaign. -Adjustable difficulty on Naval Academy missions (Easy, Medium, Hard, and Legendary difficulties). -Make the AI as likely to produce slow and heavily-armored ships as they are at making lightly-armored ships that have ludicrous speed. -AI guns’ aim should not be more accurate than the player’s. -AI torpedoes should not be hyper-accurate homing missiles, while the player’s torpedoes consistently make the Mark 14 torpedo look reliable in comparison. -Adjustable AI settings in General on game settings. Modding: -Official Steam Workshop support for Ultimate Admiral: Dreadnoughts (yes, I underlined this because this is arguably the single most important suggestion on this list). -Campaign Editor to create custom Campaign starts for mods (eg. using the editor to create a Kaiserreich: Legacy of the Weltkrieg mod/ custom scenario for UA:D).