>>> Beta 1.09 Feedback (Released)<<<

[anonusername]

Still occasionally locks up while the AI is building ships.

[Cadmus02]

So I have a multi-monitor setup. If I click outside the game window the game pauses, which is good when I am in a battle. Unfortunately it also seems to pause during loading screens. Has anyone else noticed this?

[ShakenU]

I'm unfortunately still getting crippingly long "Building new ships" turns. Sending bug reports after every one, but some of them have been 10+ minutes.

[mikekervin]

8 hours ago, Knobby said:

So after sinking 95% of the enemy fleet, I'm having trouble getting victory points.

IMO if the enemy is leaving ports undefended, either because they have no fleet or that fleet is fighting on the other side of the globe, I should be able to punish them for it.

IMO there should be a VP penalty for insufficient warship tonnage

[DieselPower]

Got about a year into my 1920 US campaign with no issues. Game worked as it should.

 

Now each and every turn I get hung up on "building new ships" and am forced to shut the game down as the main menu is not accessible.

[Fangoriously]

This taskforce left dutch harbor Alaska with full fuel tanks 1 turn ago, crossing the map edge deleted their entire fuel supply. hold on, both of these ships classes were designed with a 17000km range benchmark, this displays quite a bit less. Not enough so to explain being on low fuel though.

*edit

Ok, Next turn the whole fleet is at about 80% fuel, sounds about right.

Also, opps! The Japanese really didn't like me sailing that fleet between them and korea, lets see if I can slip by to my destination without getting nailed by mines that are about to generate. Hopefully the 12 destroyers will counter them this patch...

 

Edited October 27, 2022 by Fangoriously

[Candle_86]

Its a shame the new hulls where canceled, the American navy is still impossible to actually build, Dreadnaught 1 is fine, but no way to build any other 12in gun armed US Ships, Dreadnaught 2 is just a terrible idea, it comes maybe close to the US Standard Type if your playing real loose with it, but there is no way to build ships with 5 turrets on these ships, then we get Dreadnaught III which is a hull the US never even had, then Dreadnaught 4 which is finally able to put 5 guns on it, but the cage masts are so low it looks wrong. Overall I'd say the US is lacking until the modern era where it seems the only real work on them has occurred. 

[Danz_Von_Luck]

16 minutes ago, Candle_86 said:

Its a shame the new hulls where canceled, the American navy is still impossible to actually build, Dreadnaught 1 is fine, but no way to build any other 12in gun armed US Ships, Dreadnaught 2 is just a terrible idea, it comes maybe close to the US Standard Type if your playing real loose with it, but there is no way to build ships with 5 turrets on these ships, then we get Dreadnaught III which is a hull the US never even had, then Dreadnaught 4 which is finally able to put 5 guns on it, but the cage masts are so low it looks wrong. Overall I'd say the US is lacking until the modern era where it seems the only real work on them has occurred. 

The new Hull weren't cancelled they were delayed, they'll come

[Admiral Donuts]

It's happened to me enough times now throughout the overall testing to say it's a bug.

That annoying dud torpedo that clangs against my hull, then half my ship blows apart. Last time it cost me 14 months of repairs on a Japanese battleship after taking one of those amidships, then followed by having to battle my way back to port at 5 knots on retreat in a straggler battle.

The captain had dry feet and was writing a nasty letter to the RNG gods when he was suddenly thrust back in time to 1910, aboard the same ship, ready to do it all again. He was heard saying

大野。二度とない。

Personally, I think it's all Bushido.

Edited October 27, 2022 by Admiral Donuts
cleanup

[Fangoriously]

Here we go again. These ships were hit by mines as soon as a war with Spain started. The mines are ~750km away, and the fleets control radius is 131.85km. Obviously, this is incorrect.

Mine are the only ships in the Caribbean, there's no Spanish ships or British ships at any of these ports laying a single mine, yet all these ships were also hit by mines. Even more incorrect.

My entire Atlantic fleet, 50% of my ships, are out of action for at least 6 months and a 4 front war just started, all because of mines that ether didn't exist or were 600km away. This also proves that destroyers don't make a damn bit of difference protecting other ships from mines.

 

In every way, mines are critically broken and you would be insane to push out a new live version of the game with them, in this state, enabled at all.

 

*Edit

Next turn, more of the same. No actual mines in more than 3000km, and my entire pacific fleet is also hit as well, leaving me no navy to speak of, all because of mines they could not have encountered.

No improvement in mine behavior from the previous patch. An unreleaseable version of the game.

Edited October 27, 2022 by Fangoriously

[Muppetlord]

Damn. New patch, new campaign. 8 years in. Stuck at "Update Research" every turn again.

Seems like it's not entirely fixed.  

[Admiral Donuts]

A new bug for me. I mean, I assume it's a bug. My unrest in Japan was 2. When I cycled the month-end, it is 36.7.

No events took place that would cause it.

Game now not responding at Building Ships.

Edited October 27, 2022 by Admiral Donuts

[Candle_86]

Something else that really bothers me is the USA Campaign has comments about parliament, the US doesn't have a Parliament, it has a congress I know its minor but its incredibly noticeable 

[Shawa666]

Nope still getting a unity crash on building ships,

[Idean]

Sorry to say RC1 is worsethan the last version for me.  Was getting shipbuilding bug about 3 yrs in, now its on 1st turn after campaign start can’t get to Feb.

[Lima]

6 hours ago, Fangoriously said:

Here we go again. These ships were hit by mines as soon as a war with Spain started. The mines are ~750km away, and the fleets control radius is 131.85km. Obviously, this is incorrect.

Mine are the only ships in the Caribbean, there's no Spanish ships or British ships at any of these ports laying a single mine, yet all these ships were also hit by mines. Even more incorrect.

My entire Atlantic fleet, 50% of my ships, are out of action for at least 6 months and a 4 front war just started, all because of mines that ether didn't exist or were 600km away. This also proves that destroyers don't make a damn bit of difference protecting other ships from mines.

 

In every way, mines are critically broken and you would be insane to push out a new live version of the game with them, in this state, enabled at all.

 

*Edit

Next turn, more of the same. No actual mines in more than 3000km, and my entire pacific fleet is also hit as well, leaving me no navy to speak of, all because of mines they could not have encountered.

No improvement in mine behavior from the previous patch. An unreleaseable version of the game.

From my observations, mines work fine for AI. Playing for Spain, I mined every port in the Caribbean, the Canary Islands and Cadiz. 

When the US AI transfer ships from Pensacola to the east coast, its ships receive damage from a minefield in Havana. I don't think it should have happened if they had stayed near the shore, but in general it's OK. Also, the AI once sent 1 cruiser to my shores, it took damage coming close to Cadiz. When the AI ships are just staying something in the Eastern North America region they don't take damage from mines, as it should be.

However, for the player...I will simply add to what you have described that my ships were damaged by Austrian mines when a group of 1BB 1CA 2 CL 6DD minesweepers was near Valencia. Mines are broken.

I'm not saying that mines need to be removed or that they should cause little damage. Mines are not a joke. I just want their mechanics to be clear and that they can be countered with the proper resources.

[CapitanIncognito]

The Russians were right to suspect Japanese TBs in the English channel, but also given the extreme ranges and the fact that Japan is war with Russia and China, I feel like their main fleet shouldn't be sailing halfway around the world to attack the UK home islands?

[Lima]

AI Russia on steroids. it looks like they've opened up mass production of Kamchatka-class space BBs.

Edited October 27, 2022 by Lima

[Pappystein]

Going to cover several points here:   But before I do, I want to thank the dev team for how they seem to be cranking out updates that hopefully address serious and powerful bugs almost daily!   Thanks, team!

I want to preface what I am about to say by stating I have been a beta tester (both paid and unpaid) for more than 25 years and have beta-tested many of the early PC games in this genre (Patches for Great Naval Battles of the North Atlantic, and actual game for GNB-II & GNB-III.) I also played an active part in developing the premier Naval strategy game of the 1990s to the 2000s (Computer Harpoon 3.)  The point of this "bragging?"   I know testing + Development cycles and the software industry better than the average gamer.   I am NOT associated with Game-labs other than having purchased this game.   So please bear that in mind when I say what I am about to say 

So, there are several essential to solve bugs that still need to be addressed in this Release candidate.   Mostly those bugs revolve around Victory conditions, Convoys, and the ship designer.   Yet in forums and discord, everyone wants to talk about "you didn't put ship hull X or Y in"  yet.   I get it.  I, too, like historical things, but this game is an AB-historical game.  If this were a historical game, then you would ONLY get the exact ships as they were built, and you wouldn't be able to modify or tweak them.  That is what the "Great Naval Battles" series by Strategic Simulations was... it was nowhere near as fun as this game can be... 

As playtesters lets focus on REAL BUGS and not "but I don't have X fluff feature yet."   Having a US standard class BB hull, or HMS Vanguard's hull, would be a huge boon; I get it and agree.  But currently, there are things orders of a magnitude more important to talk about with this game.   Sorry if that sounds harsh fellow players/testers... but the reality is this game is a very good game with some minor but severe issues and that is where the focus should be currently.   Once the serious issues are addressed, then the fluff should be our focus. 

Here is my list of bugs (Labeled as RC1 for Beta 109 or 108 for the current release AND Beta 109RC1)
NOTE: I use the campaign almost exclusively for testing, so I am not covering tutorials or simple battles/custom battles.

 

 

 

 

TIME COMPRESSION:  The number one Bug/error/bad decision, in my opinion:  The point of the step down from 30 to 10 to 5 to x is all too conservative, meaning instead of playing the game, I crank the volume, get up and make food or something.   The trigger points as you close with the enemy need to be MUCH CLOSER for each time compression step.  This is a V1.08 and still in RC1

Convoy battle (any type):  108 and RC1

• Once escorts are destroyed, battle is over PERIOD.  THIS IS A HUGE BUG
• No victory points for sunk transports when the above happens (The escorts were between you and them)
• even if you sink most of the transports to the goal (50% 100% seem to be the goals I have seen only) but do not meet your goal and the escorts are sunk no matter the victory points you LOOSE
• SOLUTION:  Do not end the battle when all escorts are destroyed... instead end when all ships are sunk or the player hits the END BATTLE button only.   Maybe that should be "include transports as actual combatants."
• On the positive I have been having fun with the "Battlecruiser to the rescue" Convoy missions.   But the above errors/issues remain.

Shipbuilding:   (108 but improved in RC1 but not perfect yet)

• After unlocking Dreadnought BB, AI should no longer make non-dreadnought ships (ships with many different calibers of guns basically)   1 Primary caliber for the main and two secondary calibers ONLY.  A latter tech point could add a 3rd caliber for AA weapons. 
• Casemates blocking items on the deck above (RC1, but it was rare in 108, too)  Casemate models seem to have gotten larger, causing this (supposition)
• "Invalid build" on refit.  It happened in 108 but is worse in RC1.  You build a ship, and it is legal... save it; when new tech comes along later you plan a refit and your Barbette is now RED, and you get the message "invalid location,” "Part too far from original location," or "Poor weapon arc"   Note I used Barbette as the example here because that is the most common trigger, but I have seen towers, smokestacks, and turrets on deck trigger the same kind of error messages
• Destroyer size in the campaign.   Early on, when you unlock Destroyers, they are 1100tons... then you are restricted to 850/900 tons?   It seems a simple fix in the tech tree is in order here
• Large ticket items (specifically cannons) are automatically updated on a refit to the latest tech.  This is a colossal mistake, instead, it should work like Armor, torpedo protection, and the like where you have to CHOOSE to upgrade it.  This can trigger the Invalid Build refit error referenced above, where your ship gets caught in a loop, and you can't refit it to a new standard and have to spend months/years with a substandard hull while you await a replacement ship.
• Several hull forms need TLC currently but given updates to those seem to be pushed to the next release, I won't belabor the point further right now except to suggest to all players that if you can't place an Item on a ship hull where it SHOULD go then report a bug while in shipbuilder I guess.

 

 

Ship formation (in battles)  Covering this before Battles because, in many ways, it is CRITICAL to how both the AI and the player battle each other. (108 and RC1 are the same)

None of the assigned roles except battle-line and follow do as the tooltips suggest they should do.   I will cover the parts in a couple of additional posts later (as this is getting long already)

 

 

Battles: 108 + RC1

• Doomfleet stacks are still a thing   . Bad AI for putting all of your ships from all of your oceans into one extensive fleet to crush us!
• AI is still a Big chicken and won't attack in manual battles most of the time.   Even when the AI on paper has overwhelming superiority.
• AI will almost always spot you before you spot them.   AI almost always gets the first shots of the battle.
• Without ESM/RDF or Radar, it is nearly impossible to find ships at any seriously long distance (more than 10x time multiplier away).   Need to be able to see smoke from vessels if they are coal burners on the skyline.   You really shouldn't see smoke from Oil Burner II and above tech (or Gas Turbine + Oil I)
• We need a visual "estimated speed" once a ship has been identified (our gunners know this information, why don't we?)  This prevents overshoot/undershoot by not enough or too much speed. 
• No tool tips in open water (eg on the various range bands) can cause player to fail to click on their target or point of maneuver and in a big battle with the doomfleets this is life or death!  Keep tooltips to those areas we have buttons and no where else please!

World map:  RC1

• It was mentioned that the maps are still not final... so much of the next points about things on the map may not be solvable until the map is finalized
• Many close ports interfere with each other (you send ships to one port (only) and they end up in the sister port... you can't move ships back and forth between the ports because the computer thinks you are not moving at all
• Battle menu on the top left (where it shows the sides fighting a war) should only focus on wars the Player themselves are involved in (to make things easier to see/figure-out.)

Mines: RC1

• Damage factor seems to be consistent with historical mine damage.  Great job
• Minesweaping seems to not have much/any effect
• Minefields are often well beyond the size and shape they are portrayed to be.  This leads to heavy mine damage when a task force shouldn't intersect a mine field at all. this is a serious issue.

 

 

End of turn: RC1

• Still getting the "building new ships" crash.   It does ***SEEM*** to happen when there are 2 wars going on that The PC player is not a part of (if that is of any help, I know it is a dubious observation)    RC1 it is less often, or latter in the game.   But still there.  
• ALT-Tabbing at this point for any reason can also cause the game to hang/crash.

 

 

I know I have not covered every bug and issue... I know I have included one "feature request" in the Battle section and I know there are two change the UI to do X mentions in there.   But for the most part I think this is a list of the major issues currently facing us, the player in the game.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited October 27, 2022 by Pappystein

[The PC Collector]

24 minutes ago, Pappystein said:

After unlocking Dreadnought BB, AI should no longer make non-dreadnought ships (ships with many different calibers of guns basically)   1 Primary caliber for the main and two secondary calibers ONLY.  A latter tech point could add a 3rd caliber for AA weapons. 

I agree on pretty much everything you said but this. Semi dreadnoughts (ships which had most of the traits of dreadnoughts in terms of hull and speed but still had multicalibre weaponry) were rare, but did exist. The "Small Dreadnought" hull is meant primarily for this kind of ship. So, as the ships did exist, I see no reason for any AI which has said hull not building them.
 

 

28 minutes ago, Pappystein said:

Mines: RC1

• Damage factor seems to be consistent with historical mine damage.  Great job
• Minesweaping seems to not have much/any effect
• Minefields are often well beyond the size and shape they are portrayed to be.  This leads to heavy mine damage when a task force shouldn't intersect a mine field at all. this is a serious issue.

I'm still skeptical about mines at all. For all what I've read, they serve no other purpose than being annoying. And a feature which has the only purpose of being annoying, should be made optional or not to be included at all.

[o Barão]

44 minutes ago, Pappystein said:

Going to cover several points here:   But before I do, I want to thank the dev team for how they seem to be cranking out updates that hopefully address serious and powerful bugs almost daily!   Thanks, team!

I want to preface what I am about to say by stating I have been a beta tester (both paid and unpaid) for more than 25 years and have beta-tested many of the early PC games in this genre (Patches for Great Naval Battles of the North Atlantic, and actual game for GNB-II & GNB-III.) I also played an active part in developing the premier Naval strategy game of the 1990s to the 2000s (Computer Harpoon 3.)  The point of this "bragging?"   I know testing + Development cycles and the software industry better than the average gamer.   I am NOT associated with Game-labs other than having purchased this game.   So please bear that in mind when I say what I am about to say 

So, there are several essential to solve bugs that still need to be addressed in this Release candidate.   Mostly those bugs revolve around Victory conditions, Convoys, and the ship designer.   Yet in forums and discord, everyone wants to talk about "you didn't put ship hull X or Y in"  yet.   I get it.  I, too, like historical things, but this game is an AB-historical game.  If this were a historical game, then you would ONLY get the exact ships as they were built, and you wouldn't be able to modify or tweak them.  That is what the "Great Naval Battles" series by Strategic Simulations was... it was nowhere near as fun as this game can be... 

As playtesters lets focus on REAL BUGS and not "but I don't have X fluff feature yet."   Having a US standard class BB hull, or HMS Vanguard's hull, would be a huge boon; I get it and agree.  But currently, there are things orders of a magnitude more important to talk about with this game.   Sorry if that sounds harsh fellow players/testers... but the reality is this game is a very good game with some minor but severe issues and that is where the focus should be currently.   Once the serious issues are addressed, then the fluff should be our focus. 

Here is my list of bugs (Labeled as RC1 for Beta 109 or 108 for the current release AND Beta 109RC1)
NOTE: I use the campaign almost exclusively for testing, so I am not covering tutorials or simple battles/custom battles.

 

 

 

 

TIME COMPRESSION:  The number one Bug/error/bad decision, in my opinion:  The point of the step down from 30 to 10 to 5 to x is all too conservative, meaning instead of playing the game, I crank the volume, get up and make food or something.   The trigger points as you close with the enemy need to be MUCH CLOSER for each time compression step.  This is a V1.08 and still in RC1

Convoy battle (any type):  108 and RC1

• Once escorts are destroyed, battle is over PERIOD.  THIS IS A HUGE BUG
• No victory points for sunk transports when the above happens (The escorts were between you and them)
• even if you sink most of the transports to the goal (50% 100% seem to be the goals I have seen only) but do not meet your goal and the escorts are sunk no matter the victory points you LOOSE
• SOLUTION:  Do not end the battle when all escorts are destroyed... instead end when all ships are sunk or the player hits the END BATTLE button only.   Maybe that should be "include transports as actual combatants."
• On the positive I have been having fun with the "Battlecruiser to the rescue" Convoy missions.   But the above errors/issues remain.

Shipbuilding:   (108 but improved in RC1 but not perfect yet)

• After unlocking Dreadnought BB, AI should no longer make non-dreadnought ships (ships with many different calibers of guns basically)   1 Primary caliber for the main and two secondary calibers ONLY.  A latter tech point could add a 3rd caliber for AA weapons. 
• Casemates blocking items on the deck above (RC1, but it was rare in 108, too)  Casemate models seem to have gotten larger, causing this (supposition)
• "Invalid build" on refit.  It happened in 108 but is worse in RC1.  You build a ship, and it is legal... save it; when new tech comes along later you plan a refit and your Barbette is now RED, and you get the message "invalid location,” "Part too far from original location," or "Poor weapon arc"   Note I used Barbette as the example here because that is the most common trigger, but I have seen towers, smokestacks, and turrets on deck trigger the same kind of error messages
• Destroyer size in the campaign.   Early on, when you unlock Destroyers, they are 1100tons... then you are restricted to 850/900 tons?   It seems a simple fix in the tech tree is in order here
• Large ticket items (specifically cannons) are automatically updated on a refit to the latest tech.  This is a colossal mistake, instead, it should work like Armor, torpedo protection, and the like where you have to CHOOSE to upgrade it.  This can trigger the Invalid Build refit error referenced above, where your ship gets caught in a loop, and you can't refit it to a new standard and have to spend months/years with a substandard hull while you await a replacement ship.
• Several hull forms need TLC currently but given updates to those seem to be pushed to the next release, I won't belabor the point further right now except to suggest to all players that if you can't place an Item on a ship hull where it SHOULD go then report a bug while in shipbuilder I guess.

 

 

Ship formation (in battles)  Covering this before Battles because, in many ways, it is CRITICAL to how both the AI and the player battle each other. (108 and RC1 are the same)

None of the assigned roles except battle-line and follow do as the tooltips suggest they should do.   I will cover the parts in a couple of additional posts later (as this is getting long already)

 

 

Battles: 108 + RC1

• Doomfleet stacks are still a thing   . Bad AI for putting all of your ships from all of your oceans into one extensive fleet to crush us!
• AI is still a Big chicken and won't attack in manual battles most of the time.   Even when the AI on paper has overwhelming superiority.
• AI will almost always spot you before you spot them.   AI almost always gets the first shots of the battle.
• Without ESM/RDF or Radar, it is nearly impossible to find ships at any seriously long distance (more than 10x time multiplier away).   Need to be able to see smoke from vessels if they are coal burners on the skyline.   You really shouldn't see smoke from Oil Burner II and above tech (or Gas Turbine + Oil I)
• We need a visual "estimated speed" once a ship has been identified (our gunners know this information, why don't we?)  This prevents overshoot/undershoot by not enough or too much speed. 
• No tool tips in open water (eg on the various range bands) can cause player to fail to click on their target or point of maneuver and in a big battle with the doomfleets this is life or death!  Keep tooltips to those areas we have buttons and no where else please!

World map:  RC1

• It was mentioned that the maps are still not final... so much of the next points about things on the map may not be solvable until the map is finalized
• Many close ports interfere with each other (you send ships to one port (only) and they end up in the sister port... you can't move ships back and forth between the ports because the computer thinks you are not moving at all
• Battle menu on the top left (where it shows the sides fighting a war) should only focus on wars the Player themselves are involved in (to make things easier to see/figure-out.)

Mines: RC1

• Damage factor seems to be consistent with historical mine damage.  Great job
• Minesweaping seems to not have much/any effect
• Minefields are often well beyond the size and shape they are portrayed to be.  This leads to heavy mine damage when a task force shouldn't intersect a mine field at all. this is a serious issue.

 

 

End of turn: RC1

• Still getting the "building new ships" crash.   It does ***SEEM*** to happen when there are 2 wars going on that The PC player is not a part of (if that is of any help, I know it is a dubious observation)    RC1 it is less often, or latter in the game.   But still there.  
• ALT-Tabbing at this point for any reason can also cause the game to hang/crash.

 

 

I know I have not covered every bug and issue... I know I have included one "feature request" in the Battle section and I know there are two change the UI to do X mentions in there.   But for the most part I think this is a list of the major issues currently facing us, the player in the game.

Sorry for my poor english, it is not my native language.

Your report in general is very good I just want to add a few things.

"Once escorts are destroyed, battle is over PERIOD.  THIS IS A HUGE BUG"

There is nothing wrong with this. The issue is the battle is over, and the merchant ships are still alive. For a gameplay point of view, doesn't seem interest for the player to go hunting down some helpless merchants. Why to waste time with this if the defenders are already sunk? My suggestion would be the moment the defenders are all sunk, then the battle is over, and all merchants are also sunk. So, the player have 3 interesting options: A) kill the merchants and leave. B ) Kill all the defenders and the battle ends with all merchants sunk. C) Die or retreat from the battle.

A D) realistic option could be considered, but would need some new AI behavior code lines added to the game. The moment all defenders are sunk the player could go hunt the merchants, however, the merchants would not stay in a division. Instead, they will all break up formation and sail in different directions. The idea is in a hopeless situation like this, the convoy purpose doesn't work anymore, so the best next thing would be to split and each one try their luck. This will increase the chance of some merchants to runaway from the battle alive.

 

"AI will almost always spot you before you spot them."

This is not true. It is all about your ship size, the right components and target signature. TIP: use small ships with low target signature to scout ahead for your capital ships.

 

"Without ESM/RDF or Radar, it is nearly impossible to find ships at any seriously long distance (more than 10x time multiplier away).   Need to be able to see smoke from vessels if they are coal burners on the skyline.   You really shouldn't see smoke from Oil Burner II and above tech (or Gas Turbine + Oil I)"

The irony in this mechanic in game, is the fact, if your sailors are seeing the smoke in the horizon, why don't we have an exact bearing?

 

"We need a visual "estimated speed" once a ship has been identified (our gunners know this information, why don't we?)  This prevents overshoot/undershoot by not enough or too much speed.  "

We have this since the beginning.

Edited October 27, 2022 by o Barão

[Pappystein]

13 minutes ago, The PC Collector said:

I agree on pretty much everything you said but this. Semi dreadnoughts (ships which had most of the traits of dreadnoughts in terms of hull and speed but still had multicalibre weaponry) were rare, but did exist. The "Small Dreadnought" hull is meant primarily for this kind of ship. So, as the ships did exist, I see no reason for any AI which has said hull not building them.
 

Actually Small Dreadnought is not meant for that.  Rather your Semi dreadnought hulls are the Battleship hulls that allow for Battleship caliber wing turrets.

EG the Semi-Dreadnought Hull   Of course I run it as a straight dreadnought but whatever

 

 

[Pappystein]

1 minute ago, o Barão said:

Sorry for my poor english, it is not my native language.

Your report in general is very good I just want to add a few things.

"Once escorts are destroyed, battle is over PERIOD.  THIS IS A HUGE BUG"

There is nothing wrong with this. The issue is the battle is over, and the merchant ships are still alive. For a gameplay point of view, doesn't seem interest for the player to go hunting down some helpless merchants. Why to waste time with this if the defenders are already sunk? My suggestion would be the moment the defenders are all sunk, then the battle is over, and all merchants are also sunk. So, the player have 3 interesting options: A) kill the merchants and leave. B ) Kill all the defenders and the battle ends with all merchants sunk. C) Die or retreat from the battle.

A D) realistic option could be considered, but would need some new AI behavior code lines added to the game. The moment all defenders are sunk the player could go hunt the merchants, however, the merchants would not stay in a division. Instead, they will all break up formation and sail in different directions. The idea is in a hopeless situation like this, the convoy purpose doesn't work anymore, so the best next thing would be to split and each one try their luck. This will increase the chance of some merchants to runaway from the battle alive.

 

I can agree on this HOWEVER I *assumed* that the devs wanted us to sink our own ships (Convoys did scatter IRL and they somewhat try to do so in game as well)   Hence wording it the way I did.  

3 minutes ago, o Barão said:

"AI will almost always spot you before you spot them."

This is not true. It is all about your ship size, the right components and target signature. TIP: use small ships with low target signature to scout ahead for your capital ships.

 

"Without ESM/RDF or Radar, it is nearly impossible to find ships at any seriously long distance (more than 10x time multiplier away).   Need to be able to see smoke from vessels if they are coal burners on the skyline.   You really shouldn't see smoke from Oil Burner II and above tech (or Gas Turbine + Oil I)"

The irony in this mechanic in game, is the fact, if your sailors are seeing the smoke in the horizon, why don't we have an exact bearing?

 

Both of these together are kinda the same subject so:   Yes the game uses that mechanic but that isn't how spotting works IRL.  The Big ships have the same chance to see the smaller ships when the smaller ships first crest/cross the visual horizon. It is only when the small ship is CLOSER to you than the visual horizon that the way the game dev have this mechanic setup makes sense.   And yes our sailors should be able to tell us something more precise than a 45 degree arc of direction.

 

10 minutes ago, o Barão said:

We have this since the beginning.

Thank you! I learned something new today!

[Lima]

11 minutes ago, o Barão said:

"AI will almost always spot you before you spot them."

This is not true. It is all about your ship size, the right components and target signature. TIP: use small ships with low target signature to scout ahead for your capital ships.

This is actually possible even if you do everything right. The US has "Cage mast" spotting wunderwaffe. Their BB CA CL always detect the enemy earlier before radar. Especially noticeable in 1900. (And as far as I remember, the first Cage masts appeared on South Carolina-class BB).

US CA 1900

Spain CA 1900

[Plazma]

2 hours ago, Pappystein said:

AI will almost always spot you before you spot them.   AI almost always gets the first shots of the battle.

That is not the bug. The target signature and spotting ability playing here. AI often made a ship with lower signature than player. 

 

2 hours ago, Pappystein said:

Without ESM/RDF or Radar, it is nearly impossible to find ships at any seriously long distance (more than 10x time multiplier away).   Need to be able to see smoke from vessels if they are coal burners on the skyline.   You really shouldn't see smoke from Oil Burner II and above tech (or Gas Turbine + Oil I)

I have small trick, turn AI on your ships and they automatically will point on the enemy ship.  But ye... this is like a missing feature (smoke on screen) and we use bug (AI pointing on the enemy ship automatically) to find the enemy. 

 

2 hours ago, Pappystein said:

We need a visual "estimated speed" once a ship has been identified (our gunners know this information, why don't we?)  This prevents overshoot/undershoot by not enough or too much speed. 

You have exactly speed, on the top if you point a mouse on the enemy ship card you should get the speed. Or we talking about something else?

 

About mines dunno. However in the rest you are 100% right except... for me this is not major/critical bugs but more like a small issue, balance. 

For me the guns length and AI are the biggest issue. 0 fun to play with AI that can't make a ship even half good in performance compared to the player designs. Especially DD.