Hit math

[jbickley00]

Its there a method of accessing the hit reports after the game. In the sink a semis dreadnought scenario the to hit math seems off. In other scenarios my ships seem to hit consistently in accordance with the expected percentages (low) but it seems in this scenario, no matter how I build the ships out, or what ships I build. The enemy BB seems to hit much more often, even given technology differences.

Also the ability to override the auto target selection seems not to work. Auto targeting itself is messed up because there is historically no way a BB fires its main gus at a CL when another BB is in range.

[Purgato]

45 minutes ago, jbickley00 said:

Its there a method of accessing the hit reports after the game. In the sink a semis dreadnought scenario the to hit math seems off. In other scenarios my ships seem to hit consistently in accordance with the expected percentages (low) but it seems in this scenario, no matter how I build the ships out, or what ships I build. The enemy BB seems to hit much more often, even given technology differences.

Also the ability to override the auto target selection seems not to work. Auto targeting itself is messed up because there is historically no way a BB fires its main gus at a CL when another BB is in range.

What scenario are you in and could you please post the design of said ship?
But to answer your question there isn't really much of an after action report at the moment. What I would recommend is looking over the ship overview and ship details both of which are in the ship building screen on the top right as a drop down which can provide a lot of helpful info when making a ship.

Also I'm a little confused. Why couldn't a Battleship's battery fire at a ship within their range if even if another ship is in front of them? Certainly they should be able to range it in, even if a cruiser was closer. The only thing that may make that difficult is if said screening ship was utilizing it's torpedoes to keep the battleship from closing properly.

[jbickley00]

That's not my point, my point is the auto target fires at the CL when there is a BB also in range. So my BB fires at the CL with its mains instead of prioritizing the enemy BB. Blocked line of fire is not an issue. The issue that BB v BB should be an absolute auto target priority for main guns.  Historically this is because BBs were more important targets in general, and because Main battery size guns were slow to reload against fast ships like CLs and DDs. Those ships are why  you have rapid fire secondary batteries.   

That being said, if I manually target my main guns to the enemy BB , then I don't want them firing at other targets. That is the whole point of manual overrride

[brucesim2003]

If the CL is getting quite close, you bet I'll fire my main guns on it. "Damn the torpedoes' is what get said after they've done their work on your hull.

[Steeltrap]

21 hours ago, brucesim2003 said:

If the CL is getting quite close, you bet I'll fire my main guns on it. "Damn the torpedoes' is what get said after they've done their work on your hull.

First thing I will do is check its torpedo load out, including position of launchers obviously. If it's doing the usual AI "charge bow on at you", not much of a threat unless it has deck launchers that are able to bear.

Next I will check its bulkhead status. If it's 'Maximum", then I will check to see it it's using its patented Romulan Cloaking Device (aka magically travelling personal smoke cloud). If so, I will turn and run away from it. I'm not going to hit it reliably, and those BS bulkheads make anything other than EVERYTHING firing at it and hitting it repeatedly within a short period ineffective. If it wants to chase me until its magic cloud wears off, good for it. THEN it can die very quickly (AI is none too bright like that; really ought to think about what happens when the smoke wears off and that ship is waaaay too close with no friendlies).

Either way, I have ALREADY made that choice when I directed the main guns to fire at another target. I do NOT want to waste time with several more ladder firing cycles because some dimwit on board decided to ignore/countermand a direct order by the senior officer present (see what that does for your career in a navy).

I still agree with jbickley about how annoying it can be to have your guns decide to shoot at things other than what YOU just told them to. The fact is ships typically would have targets appointed to them by the relevant formation commander unless circumstances make that impossible, most commonly an unexpected night action. To have ships suddenly decide to shoot at other things is directly against usual formation discipline, thus hardly very realistic/historically faithful.

That's not to say mistakes aren't made, and I'm sure we can name some, but that's not the point.

We've asked several times for SOME sort of means of restricting the AI from simply choosing to alter our gunnery commands. Fair enough Nick and co have more important things to do. I think it ought to be done eventually, however.

[arkhangelsk]

I'm one of those people who click on the battleship out of instinct and let the guns attack that, so the first time this issue pops up for me is when I notice the computer auto-shifted onto a CL or DD and I have to decide whether to reverse its decision.

The first thing I do is check the battleship - probably it already took a few hits and its firing efficiency (thus dangerousness) is down.

Second, yes I will check the torpedoes, but usually the computer shifts onto something with torpedoes (perhaps it is because most of its designs have torpedoes, but anyway...), so that box usually gets checked.

Bulkheads and smoke are actually things I don't check.

First, the defensive power of the smoke isn't that great compared to Speed Malus. Second, against a fast ship I expect to wait a few main battery salvoes before the hit comes and in that time any smoke will probably disperse.

As for bulkheads, with these fast little ships, generally the first hit is the main part of the pain and once you get the first hit, the "pile on" starts. Yes, they make a difference, but the bulkheads are not nearly as annoying for me as they seem to be for Steeltrap. About at this point, I choose to let the decision stand. We need to nurture initiative, not neuter it.

After a while I develop a habit where instead of rushing to "reverse error" I let the AI's decision run and see where it takes me. I am not often disappointed.

Quote

We've asked several times for SOME sort of means of restricting the AI from simply choosing to alter our gunnery commands. Fair enough Nick and co have more important things to do. I think it ought to be done eventually, however.

As for this, I've said similarly things in that other thread, but I don't think it is so much them having more important things to do, than what the development process needs. The AI algorithm needs to be refined, and for that to happen it has to be used.

P.S. I just went out to take a few photos

https://photos.app.goo.gl/PXkYiqqBEYMqLane8

This is me with max bulkheads (and also every other survivability feature), 40 knot light cruiser vs random enemy battleship. As can be seen, the smokescreen helps, but not nearly enough. Note also how useful the bulkheads are at the end against large caliber shells

Edited April 13, 2020 by arkhangelsk
Add quoted portion

[Steeltrap]

Yes, high speed and max bulkheads are the two most significant "exploits" available in the game.

As far as I see it both will get reigned in as they must for the game to be credible, even if it's more accurate to say that will happen as factors beyond a crude figure such as "bulkheads" are implemented (crew, damage control resources such as pumping capacity, let alone stability etc).

Edited April 14, 2020 by Steeltrap