"Naval Arms Race" mod overhaul. BETA v10.9 - "Shells & Ballistics rework" update - for UAD v1.5.0.9 Optx4

[o Barão]

Introduction

Naval Arms Race, or simple "N.A.R.", is a mod overhaul for U.A.D. that reworks several game mechanics with focus in historical accuracy. Adds new ships and rework many others. Other gameplay improvements are also made where it is possible to provide a more enjoyable experience with more interesting choices for the player.

 

Special thanks to “Nick Thomadis” from the U.A.D. team, for all the help and the precious information shared, and to all the players that shared feedback. It helped me a lot, some with interesting suggestions, others by reporting bug fixing issues.

 

Summary of the most important changes.

 

I - Guns

Complete rework of all guns in game penetration values with data from real guns used as a reference from a ballistics software. Note: In N.A.R. 1-inch of penetration equals to 1-inch wrought iron armor.

All guns models in game manually edited (around 3500 guns!!). Reworked the guns for all nations to be a smooth transition, between gun models and Mk variants using historical guns as a reference. Many guns had their size tweaked and changed place to improve the nations historical design language.

More than 135 historical guns reload times researched and used as a reference for the different eras and guns marks.

Barrel length mechanic reworked from the ground. Now increasing barrel size will no longer lower the deck pen, but will also not be OP as in stock game. Lowering the gun barrel is in fact a viable option to reduce the “immune zone” from the enemy ships. This is based on my historical guns research comparing different barrels using the same shell.

Gun's accuracy formula changed. In general, the bigger the gun, the more accurate will be, specially at long ranges. Around 1x – 1.5x to what was possible in real life based on some battle and trial reports. There is also an arcade version (x2 the hit probability) for the players that enjoy that kind of experience.

Fantasy quad guns removed from the game. Only Britain, France and USA will have access to big caliber quad guns. Note: Italy had some quad guns studies, but I don’t have an exclusive gun model for them ingame.

 

II – Components

All armor values and descriptions reworked with new options added to better represent the different types of armor used in the time period, their properties, and to give the player more interesting options. Note: In UAD, the armor scaling effect doesn't exist so it is not possible to make, as an example, the American Class "A" armor the best in the world for cruisers but only average for battleships. Some modifiers were added to better represent this in game.

Guns propellants and bursting charges reworked with new, historical options, that will give the player more options to choose.

All weight modifiers removed from the armor components. Where it is possible to have some minor differences between different types of armor, in reality the differences are so small that aren't worth it to mention in the game. With this change, the player will find it impossible to add absurd levels of armor to ships as in the stock game, forcing to use more historical accurate levels of armor in the ships, however because of the guns penetration rework, these values should be more than enough if you stay inside the “immune zone”.

Sonar torpedo spotting modifiers removed since it is unrealistic for a sonar to detect torpedoes in the water with the ship at flank speed coming from the stern.

Sonar is now only applied to CL and DD classes.

Added scout plane mechanic. This will add recon value, bonus to the long accuracy and add aerial depth charges to use against subs. Radar long range accuracy values rebalanced because of this to reflect the real value of these systems in the battlefield. Credits goes to “M3rky1” for finding the solution.

 

III – Shells & Ballistics

Lighter shells have better accuracy at low ranges due to higher muzzle velocity, trajectory flattening and reduced time to target, where heavy shells have better range and are more accurate at long ranges due to better ballistic coefficient, that is a measure of how well a projectile retains its velocity and resists drag as it travels through the air. Note: In NAR , the long range accuracy effect starts at 5.5 km and gets the maximum effect at 40 km. This offers new tactical options for the Admiral to consider when designing the ships.

Wind resistance modifiers added to all shells. The lighter the shell, the bigger the effect, specially on stormy weather.

Penetration values difference from shell weight modifiers increased to 28%. This was by reading and comparing the data from the 16" on the Nelson class (light shells) with the 16" on the Iowa class (super heavy shells). There is around 41% difference, but there is also a generation gap in gun technology.

Heavier shells are more likely to penetrate surfaces rather than bouncing off, due to their greater mass and momentum.

Added guns weight and rotation modifiers for the shell weight components. The loading mechanism weight is taking into account the shell weight. This will have a small impact on the gun's overall weight and turret rotation.

New shell added, SAPC.

SAPBC penetration improved.

SAP and all HE shells damage was improved to better represent the difference in weight from the bursting charges.

HCHE, CNF and CP fuse are now more sensitive since they were designed to work against light armored ships.

Min angle and max angle of ricochet for all shells reworked, taking into account the shell shape or the AP cap design, if present, for ricochet chance calculations:

• APBC & SAPBC The addition of a ballistic cap that allows the cap underneath to have a less aerodynamic shape often with sharp edges, which allows it to grip into armour even at high impact angles.
• APC shells have a unique hard cap design that favors penetration at low angles, but is very poor at steep angles.
• SAPC Use a soft cap to spread the radial shock outward from the impact along the radius of the now flattened soft cap, keeping the shock from travelling into the body of the shell itself. Soft caps, however, do not function at high impact angles.

 

 

IV – Ship design

Ships stability reworked, being a lot easier to get stable ships. As an indirect effect the AI also benefits a lot from this, so expect to fight more capable ships.

Many modifiers rebalanced to better simulate real ship weights: fuel; belt armor; deck armor; barbettes; conning tower; crew numbers; crew quarters; torpedo protection; side turret armor; turret top armor; secondaries armor; casemate guns weight.

Added 4" and 5" casemates for the protected cruisers. Credits goes to "clavernever" for finding the solution. Note: Not all hulls support this. (Torpedo cruiser hull as an example)

Increased the gun caliber cap for all semi armored cruiser to 9"

Depth charges removed from CA class.

Main triple guns barrels removed from the destroyers since they were never used.

Added mines, radio, rangefinder, sonar, depthcharge, radar, shaft, rudder, steering and antiflooding techs to TBs.

Flooding mechanics reworked so the difference between bulkheads used is now smaller.

Hull effects reworked:

• The wider the beam, the shorter the ship turning radius.
• The greater the ship draft, the bigger is the surface area that needs to push the water, increasing the ship turning radius.
• The deeper a vessel lies in the water, the more sluggish will be her response to the helm.
• The deeper a vessel lies in the water, the more gentle will be the rolling in bad weather, mitigating the issues with the guns accuracy.
• Changes in beam and draught will have lower impact in accuracy to balance the AI ship designs and to prevent the wide ships designs meta.

Night vision stat enabled. This is only experiemental, and it is for running test to see if it is working or not. The player will find this new stat in the towers.

 

 

V – Battle

Gun and torpedo damage reworked. The smaller the ship type more devastating will be the damage.

Torpedo evade range at 1500m (13500m in stock game). To improve fleets movement and the AI behavior in battle.

Torpedos takes longer to reload to prevent spamming.

Spotting values and accuracy modifiers affected by weather and light conditions reworked.

Smoke option disabled. The most important reason is the fact the AI doesn’t know when to use it, so it is unfair against the AI and ruins the experience. The fact that it is a bubble and that it haves an arcade timer also does not help.

HE fire chance nerfed, however using picric acid and variants is still a viable option.

Ships sections on fire needed to make it sunk buffed from 70% to 80%. Credits goes to "brothermunro" for the tip.

Flash fire, ammo detonation and torpedo ammo detonation damage x2.

 

VI – AI

AI ship design logic reworked to use more main guns for most ships, bigger secondaries but fewer to lower the chance of seeing a gun firing arc blocked by other gun. The chance of seeing torpedo launchers in big ships was lowered.

Battle AI logic reworked to have complete freedom of movements. Can chase, rush the player for torpedo runs, create battle lines, maintain the distance, will try to retreat from battle if the odds are not favorable. Badly damaged AI divisions will try to disengage from battle. Divisions roles ranges edited to help the AI to create a coherent battle group and still have some freedom of movements.

Lowered the optimal distance used by the AI to promote more fighting at medium and close ranges.

The AI ammo logic improved to know better when to use HE or AP. This affect both the player and the AI, unless the player gives strict orders to use one specific ammo.

 

 

VII – Campaign

Economy reworked to prevent or at least minimized the snowballing effect in later years and to make decisions about spending more important. The impact in the GDP for a country at war is now less impactful which should help the AI nations to stay at war.

Shipyard building program is now more important in the long run. The player can still skip many years without upgrading, but if he wants to build big ships in the future it should consider upgrading sooner.

The GDP and army modifiers differences from the type of government are smaller now.

Scrapping threshold increased to 200k from the previous 50k to help the AI to maintain a decent fleet size.

Crew training values were rebalanced. The differences are now more reasonable.

TBs class will not become obsolete.

Improved AI building program for all nations. Added the Japanese 8-8 fleet construction plan.

Lowered the initial starting fleets distances in battle. It should be now quicker to initiate combat, or quicker to catch the AI if it is running away from battle.

7000 tons CA cruisers and 3750 tons CL cruisers available to be built from the start. (1890)

Lowered weight penalty for non prioritized researches and improved the research speed for old techs to give the player more freedom and enjoyable experience with the tech tree.

Ship movement at sea x2.5 in comparison to stock game.

Withdraw and delay factor according to average speed of ships increased to 100%.

Denial zones smaller in size to allow more fredom of movement in chokepoints. Only powerful task forces should be able to block straits.

The defense modifier changed for many provinces. It will take into consideration, the terrain, the weather, tropical diseases, and the people and their willing to fight.

Changes to submarines:

• Minelaying subs removed from the game. Overpower and impossible to balance them ingame since the player can always refuse to lead them to battle.
• Subs range limited to more realistic values. Now subclass and base of operations will be more important. Sub descriptions updated and added range info. (*base value)
• Increased the sub stealth, stealth power and the escort's ASW power. Vastly decreased the subs hull strength. Dangerous if undetected, vulnerable if spotted.

Changes to mines:

• Minefield size nerfed around the ports and it takes longer to reach the maximum size.
• Vastly increased the mine sweeper capability.
• Decrease the chance to have an event about ships being damaged by mines.
• Increased the mine damage. It is possible to see ships being sunk by mines in rare occasions.

 

 

VIII – Hulls & parts

New modern torpedo boats for all nations. (unlocked in 1920)

All modern destroyers hulls package were reworked to offer a unique design language for most nations.

Many new hulls added to offer the possibility to build historical ships or design proposals:

• "Northampton" and "Portland" classes cruiser. American heavy cruiser II hull.
• Replaced the Russian BB I hull for one that resembles more to what the Russians were building around 1890. "Navarin"; "Tri Sviatitelia" and "Sissoi Veliky" classes.
• Added Russian pre-dreadnought "Poltava". Battleship II hull.
• Replaced the Spanish battleship I hull for another that resembles more the "Pelayo".
• "Recon Cruiser" from plan Z added to the Germans.
• German light cruiser IV changed to better represent the Magdeburg; Karlsruhe; Graudenz; Pillau and Wiesbaden classes.
• German light cruiser VI added to represent the Emdem, Königsberg and the Leipzig classes.
• French armored cruiser V, the "Edgar Quinet" class.
• Barbettes added to the french experimental dreadnought hull so it is possible to design the "Coubet" and the "Bretagne" batteships.
• Japanese experimental large cruiser hull reworked to resemble more the "B-65" design project.
• British dreadnought II hull reworked to resemble more the "Colossus" and the "Neptune" classes.
• British dreadnought III hull changed to look more with the "Orion" and "KGV" (1911) classes.
• British dreadnought IV package reworked to resemble more the "Iron Duke" and "Queen Elizabeth" classes.
• British dreadnought V package, reworked to resemble more the "Revenge" class.

Many funnels, towers and other parts created, stats edited and used to create the new ships or improved already in game hull to get a better design language, historical accurate if possible. Impossible for me to list all the thousands changes I made without the reader to fall asleep.

 

-----   Installation:   -----

1) Set the game language to be in english.

2)Backup if you wish but move or delete this files from this location: C:\users\(user)\Appdata\LocalLow\Game Labs\Ultimate Admiral Dreadnoughts

custom_battle_data.bin

mission_data.bin

save_x.bin

The reason behind this, is the many changes to the game files will make all your designs impossible to work with the mod.

3) Go to this link, download the english file and the resource.assets from the version you want. The mod offers two ways for the players to choose how they want to play the game. "Realistic accuracy" or "Arcade accuracy" (x2 the hit probability).*

*Unless you are a masochist, naval history nerd, that understands how the game different mechanics works, DO NOT use the realistic accuracy version. You guys are not going to like it.

Beta 10.9 "Shells & Ballistics rework" update for UAD 1.5.0.9 Optx4 https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1ac6FZM6KTnY3Rhm5GRsEO6Zs6V8Jfasf

Note: Use a software to unpack the download and extract the content from inside the folder.

4) Move the resource.assets file inside the folder to this location:

c:\...Steam\steamapps\common\Ultimate Admiral Dreadnoughts\Ultimate Admiral Dreadnoughts_Data and click yes to replace the file.

5) Move the English.lng file inside the folder to this location:

c:\...Steam\steamapps\common\Ultimate Admiral Dreadnoughts\Ultimate Admiral Dreadnoughts_Data\StreamingAssets\Languages and click yes to replace the file.

 

The player will know if the mod is working and what version it is by reading the news.

 

VERY IMPORTANT:

I don't know when I am going to update the mod again, so to avoid any issues, block the auto updates from steam:

• Set game to update when start game. Do this in game setting(properties)-> update.
• Don't start game by steam or steam shortcut. Make a shortcut on desktop from the main game .exe  in this location: "....\SteamLibrary\steamapps\common\Ultimate Admiral Dreadnoughts\Ultimate Admiral Dreadnoughts.exe"
• Start a game from this shortcut. Game will run without update.

 

-----   Sources   -----

• A Brief History of Naval Armour - by Drachinifel https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BoEFjl0buiM
• Table of Mettallurgical properties of Naval Armour and construction materials - by Nathan Okun. http://www.navweaps.com/index_nathan/metalprpsept2009.php
• Introduction to the development of Warship Armour. https://www.naval-history.net/WW0Book-USN-Armour1937.htm
• Naval Weapons of the World. http://www.navweaps.com/Weapons/index_weapons.php
• Range-finding and Fire Control - by Drachinifel https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbXyAzGtIX8&t=2208s
• Evolution of Battleship Gunnery in the U.S. Navy, 1920-1945 - by William J.Jurens http://www.navweaps.com/index_inro/INRO_BB-Gunnery.php
• Report on naval gunnery at the Battle of Santiago de Cuba https://theodorerooseveltcenter.org/Research/Digital-Library/Record/ImageViewer?libID=o283734&imageNo=1
• USA 16"/50 Mark7 naval gunnery report on trials http://www.navweaps.com/Weapons/WNUS_16-50_mk7.php#Accuracy_During_World_War_II
• Hull Form Design - by Drachinifel https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fkRJxgYgTVA
• Bismarck weights list https://www.kbismarck.com/bsweights.html
• Guns reload research https://drive.google.com/file/d/1LjZPDcRo6GsqRVEMfHsM5426_d3jYm5C/view
• Recon Cruiser https://www.german-navy.de/kriegsmarine/ships/destroyer/spahkreuzer/index.html

 

-----   New Horizons III reshade   -----

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/13_-C2R1V8l2_kuzFN0n-zpqt69zZ4qHb?usp=drive_link

Features:

RTX Global illumination,

3 color scheme for the player to choose. All featuring a RTX version and a non RTX for a minimal fps loss (1 fps). A total 6 options.

Many tweaks to contrast, exposure, sharpness and colors.

Installation:

Download "New Horizons III" folder.

Unpack, and place the content inside the folder in this location: c:\...Steam\steamapps\common\Ultimate Admiral Dreadnoughts

To remove the mod, just delete the files.

Shortcut keys in game:

• "Home" -open/close reshade panel
• "End" -enable/disable the effects.

To change the color scheme:

• Press "Home" to open the panel
• Usethe "arrows" to change the preset you want to use.

 

 

 

-----   Important   -----

Do not report any bug to the devs if you are using this mod. They are not responsible for the changes I made to the game.

----------------------

This mod is a work of passion and dedication, that took me thousands of hours and many months to be completed. If interested in using parts of the mod in your work, please ask permission and give me the credits.

 

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

 

Happy hunting, the Baron.

 

Edited 9 hours ago by o Barão

[Suribachi]

Question on the gun pen values since I did not see it mentioned.  I am assuming a "yes" until told otherwise.

Are the guns still using the formula of "vs +0% armor" when viewing the values in this mod?  Meaning if my armor has a +50% value, and the gun I am looking at is 20" of pen, do I still need to use 20 / 1.5 == effective armor at specific range?

Edited March 16, 2023 by Suribachi

[o Barão]

15 minutes ago, Suribachi said:

Question on the gun pen values since I did not see it mentioned.  I am assuming a "yes" until told otherwise.

Are the guns still using the formula of "vs +0% armor" when viewing the values in this mod?  Meaning if my armor has a +50% value, and the gun I am looking at is 20" of pen, do I still need to use 20 / 1.5 == effective armor at specific range?

That is a good question that I should clarify in the mod description. Thank you for remind me.

I added this note to the iron plate armor, so the players understand what is the relation being used in NAR. Iron plate being the first armor component in game, was for me natural using this as a reference. Not only the penetration value from the shells, but also the armor values being used.

[Suribachi]

I will respect the devs' wishes and not post the bug I found since your mod is active, but I don't think your mod does anything to interfere with the things beyond stats of modules and having the formations spawning further apart right?  

Basically, I just ran into the transports not having superstructures again.  Not saying your mod did it at all.  Just frustrating that the game is in a state where it not only happens, but happens almost 80% of the time in my experience.

Think I will wait a few more patches before having the ships engage in boarding actions again.  Great mod though!

[o Barão]

W.I.P. rebalance some of the bigger funnels to make them more interesting to be used in game. In the current state, there is no reason to use them. They don't give the same benefits as if using smaller ones.

With additional aiming bonus (if having a place for observations) and in many cases improvements to the funnel capacity, these components will be much more useful in game.

[o Barão]

Update alpha build 0.25

Changelog:

• Updated for UAD 1.2.8
• rework some funnels for DDs, torpedo cruiser and BB Maine (still W.I.P.)
• armor cost rebalanced
• Increase damage taken from torpedos in DDs

[SpardaSon21]

2 hours ago, o Barão said:

Update alpha build 0.25

Changelog:

• Updated for UAD 1.2.8
• rework some funnels for DDs, torpedo cruiser and BB Maine (still W.I.P.)
• armor cost rebalanced
• Increase damage taken from torpedos in DDs

Nice stuff, especially the funnels.  Here's hoping things stabilize soon so you can get some more time to properly work on things instead of updating for patches.

[o Barão]

Update alpha build 0.30

Changelog:

• Rebalanced the funnels for all DDs and TBs. Now bigger components will be more useful, with some providing an aiming bonus (if having an observation post or a range finder).
• It is no longer possible to achieve unrealistic speeds with only a small funnel. The designs should now look more realistic and interesting to see.
• Added tall angled and thin funnel variants to all modern Japanese destroyers hulls. It is now possible to recreate the look of historical ships like: Kagero; Asashio; Shimakaze; Shiratsuyu; etc...
• Rebalanced the funnels stats for the torpedo cruiser hull and BB Maine. These were incredibly weak, forcing the player to use an incredible number of funnels to achieve a minimum engine efficiency. Now should be much more enjoyable to design these ships.

*Shiratsuyu-class destroyer

 

*

*Kagero & Asashio destroyer

 

*New aiming bonus in some funnels (if having an observation post or rangefinder)

Edited March 20, 2023 by o Barão

[o Barão]

Update alpha build 0.31

Changelog:

• Updated to UAD 1.2.9
• Updated some cruiser funnel descriptions
• Ship armor cap limit changed: BB 20;BC 15;CA 10;Cl 5 *This can cause issues with current designs.
• Tech being researched will be revealed at 25%.

[Danz_Von_Luck]

download wont work for me

ok eventually it worked

Edited March 22, 2023 by Danz_Von_Luck
update

[o Barão]

W.I.P.

• Changed the default BB Italy hull for 1890. This design, looks more to what the Italians were building at late XIX century.
• Added Basic tower II & I to Italy and Austrian BB I hulls.

• Added modern destroyer hull for the Germans (without the aft island)

[o Barão]

Update alpha build 0.32

Changelog:

• added modern destroyer hull to the germans (without the aft island)
• Hybrid italian destroyer funnels stats reworked (it was missing)
• Changed the default italian BB for 1890 *warning this can cause issues with your current campaign or designs.  A new campaign is recommended.
• Basic tower II & I added to italian and austrian BB I (1890)
• updated for UAD 1.2.9r

[SpardaSon21]

I'm sorry to say I haven't yet done a campaign with your mod since I've been hoping the devs slow down with updates (will tonight), but any chance you can take a look at the stats on the engine types?  Some of it just doesn't make sense, like gas turbines having worse funnel efficiency than diesels and an absolutely terrible cruising speed despite turbines working best at higher RPMs.  Does the game assume they're completely ungeared or something?

 

Also, to be historically accurate 9,000 ton cruisers should be acceptable for an 1890 start, unless you think one can research that by September of that year when USS New York of 9,043 metric tons fully loaded was laid down.  Light cruisers should be 4,700 as USS San Francisco was 4,657 metric tons at full load and was laid down in 1888.

And is there an alternate download source?  Dropbox isn't working for me at the moment when I try and download.

[StrikerDanger]

21 minutes ago, SpardaSon21 said:

I'm sorry to say I haven't yet done a campaign with your mod since I've been hoping the devs slow down with updates (will tonight), but any chance you can take a look at the stats on the engine types?  Some of it just doesn't make sense, like gas turbines having worse funnel efficiency than diesels and an absolutely terrible cruising speed despite turbines working best at higher RPMs.  Does the game assume they're completely ungeared or something?

 

Also, to be historically accurate 9,000 ton cruisers should be acceptable for an 1890 start, unless you think one can research that by September of that year when USS New York of 9,043 metric tons fully loaded was laid down.  Light cruisers should be 4,700 as USS San Francisco was 4,657 metric tons at full load and was laid down in 1888.

And is there an alternate download source?  Dropbox isn't working for me at the moment when I try and download.

I find that I'm able to download it if one selects the PDF and the zip folder and downloads them as a package.

[SpardaSon21]

4 minutes ago, StrikerDanger said:

I find that I'm able to download it if one selects the PDF and the zip folder and downloads them as a package.

That worked.  Thanks.

[MasterBurte]

Just started a new 1890 campaign and find it quite confusing that the accuracy is so low. I would consider that i know how to build a ship but man my BBs have problems hitting enemy ships even a few hundred meters away. I have everything build to max accuracy. At this distances i would consider it beeing actually difficult to miss a shot. Maybe you can consider starting with higher accuracy for the MK1 guns.

[MDHansen]

I find the accuracy pretty darn punishing aswell 😬 I've tweaked it to a point roughly inbetween vanilla and this mod. It is a game after all, though I can understand some peoples wish for accuracy (pun intended)

 

I do love the work you've done adding and tweaking/changing parts

[o Barão]

5 hours ago, SpardaSon21 said:

And is there an alternate download source?  Dropbox isn't working for me at the moment when I try and download.

Try this link. Maybe is much better for me and for the players. No need to pack or unpack anything, just download.

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1q3jd4AXtSRNYvMD7uEtfI51cbwDS-CNQ?usp=share_link

About the cruiser's size. Yes, but I need to think also in average numbers and tech tree progression. Not all nations could build ships with that size. This is a global modifier that is being applied to all nations.

About the gas turbines, is something that I will need to research before I do any change. And there are still other things that I want to do before I look at this.

Edited March 23, 2023 by o Barão

[o Barão]

1 hour ago, MasterBurte said:

Just started a new 1890 campaign and find it quite confusing that the accuracy is so low. I would consider that i know how to build a ship but man my BBs have problems hitting enemy ships even a few hundred meters away. I have everything build to max accuracy. At this distances i would consider it beeing actually difficult to miss a shot. Maybe you can consider starting with higher accuracy for the MK1 guns.

Well, in reality it was much worse.

3% to 5% hit rate for the 5-inch guns.  And this at ranges somewhere between 1 km to 2 km only.

https://theodorerooseveltcenter.org/Research/Digital-Library/Record/ImageViewer?libID=o283734&imageNo=1

Battle of Santiago de Cuba.

In game, I can already have crazy high numbers in comparison to what was possible from that time period. This example is from 1890 custom battle with regular crew (50% crew quality)

Also, crazy high accuracy numbers add, as a consequence, the negative effect of making armour almost useless in game if using HE. By igniting so many fires in a short time period that the damage control parties don't have enough time to do their job. Leading the ship to surrender very quickly to extensive, fire. You will notice this in vanilla game very easily.

[SpardaSon21]

5 hours ago, o Barão said:

Try this link. Maybe is much better for me and for the players. No need to pack or unpack anything, just download.

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1q3jd4AXtSRNYvMD7uEtfI51cbwDS-CNQ?usp=share_link

About the cruiser's size. Yes, but I need to think also in average numbers and tech tree progression. Not all nations could build ships with that size. This is a global modifier that is being applied to all nations.

About the gas turbines, is something that I will need to research before I do any change. And there are still other things that I want to do before I look at this.

I already the got link downloaded @StrikerDangerand their advice, but always nice to have a backup in case.  And that's fair on the turbines and other things.

[clavernever]

On 3/23/2023 at 6:30 AM, o Barão said:

Well, in reality it was much worse.

3% to 5% hit rate for the 5-inch guns.  And this at ranges somewhere between 1 km to 2 km only.

https://theodorerooseveltcenter.org/Research/Digital-Library/Record/ImageViewer?libID=o283734&imageNo=1

Battle of Santiago de Cuba.

In game, I can already have crazy high numbers in comparison to what was possible from that time period. This example is from 1890 custom battle with regular crew (50% crew quality)

Also, crazy high accuracy numbers add, as a consequence, the negative effect of making armour almost useless in game if using HE. By igniting so many fires in a short time period that the damage control parties don't have enough time to do their job. Leading the ship to surrender very quickly to extensive, fire. You will notice this in vanilla game very easily.

We've been spoiled by non-frustrating game mechanics designed by thoughtful devs to enhance our entertainment, and it turns out reality tends not to be as thoughtful of the involved parties' enjoyment of the situation.

It took multiple watchings of Drachinifel's long form videos to really hammer in the point of how hard it was to hit stuff back then.
Yet if you think seriously about it and take the time to imagine the whole thing, it starts to make sense: you're in a moving hunk of metal trying to shoot at another moving hunk of metal that's several kilometers away, with limited knowledge of ballistics and a LOT of error introduced by the myriad variations involved in the manufacture of the gun you're firing, the shell you're shooting, your estimation of the target's distance, speed and bearing and the possible manufacturing errors of the equipment you're estimating it with.. all on top of extreme life-and-death pressure to do everything right and do it fast, all while probably also being shot at.

We have much, much more info as players than anyone had in real life, thus we easily forget that for even the smartest people on board the ship we're controlling it would have been nigh on impossible to achieve what our expectations demand.

Even so, it remains true that UAD is a game first and a simulation second.. and maybe it's acceptable to sacrifice some realism to the altar of fun.
Either that, or add all the historical explanations to set expectations back to historical levels.. which would be one hell of a UI design challenge and not necessarily make the game any more fun.

[ijp8834]

On 3/23/2023 at 4:30 AM, o Barão said:

Well, in reality it was much worse.

3% to 5% hit rate for the 5-inch guns.  And this at ranges somewhere between 1 km to 2 km only.

https://theodorerooseveltcenter.org/Research/Digital-Library/Record/ImageViewer?libID=o283734&imageNo=1

Battle of Santiago de Cuba.

In game, I can already have crazy high numbers in comparison to what was possible from that time period. This example is from 1890 custom battle with regular crew (50% crew quality)

Also, crazy high accuracy numbers add, as a consequence, the negative effect of making armour almost useless in game if using HE. By igniting so many fires in a short time period that the damage control parties don't have enough time to do their job. Leading the ship to surrender very quickly to extensive, fire. You will notice this in vanilla game very easily.

I would look into some reports of Olympia's performance at the Battle of Manilla Bay. From what I understand she had much higher accuracy for her main and secondary guns than any of the American BBs at Cuba. While Olympia is not a Battleship, her layout is very much like a scaled down Pre-Dreadnought. I would also look into reports from the Battle of Tsushima for crew training bonuses and accuracy of secondary gunfire from 1890s era BBs and Armored Cruisers (as much of the Japanese fleet was).

[o Barão]

1 hour ago, ijp8834 said:

I would look into some reports of Olympia's performance at the Battle of Manilla Bay. From what I understand she had much higher accuracy for her main and secondary guns than any of the American BBs at Cuba. While Olympia is not a Battleship, her layout is very much like a scaled down Pre-Dreadnought. I would also look into reports from the Battle of Tsushima for crew training bonuses and accuracy of secondary gunfire from 1890s era BBs and Armored Cruisers (as much of the Japanese fleet was).

I did, but didn't find any numbers related to the accuracy of the guns.

https://www.history.navy.mil/research/library/online-reading-room/title-list-alphabetically/s/selected-documents-of-the-spanish-american-war/olympia-in-battle-of-manila-bay.html

About Tsushima, there were some important improvements about firing methods and optics, that increased the accuracy at the time of the battle that simple didn't exist in XIX century. So is not a valid comparison, but in the end is irrelevant anyway, and I will show why.

In the image I posted in the previous post, that accuracy values were from a 1890 custom battle. The battle of Santiago of Cuba was in 1898. So I would get access to rangefinder tech, better hulls and better guns if I were to replicate the same situation. In other words, the accuracy % value, would be much higher.

And I also got this.

Iowa guns firing tests. 2.7% chance at 27.4 km away against a broadside target of a similar size. A BB.

With 50% crew quality, I already got 25.4% against a BB at almost 29 km away. So almost 10x better.

This is too much, IMO.  But taking into consideration this is a game, a middle ground between realism and fun is not bad. But don't expect any buff to accuracy values. They are already too high in any era. And then of course there is the problem with HE spamming, that I mentioned.

[Danz_Von_Luck]

I really like the accuracy in this mod tbh it feels muck more real, and makes it far more worth-while to operate fleets rather than a single super ship, as more guns generally meens more hits 

[o Barão]

Major update alpha build 0.5

Due to the changes to ship building, I strongly recommend deleting these files:

custom_battle_data.json / mission_data.json /save_x.json

 

Part 1 - armor rework finalized.

"Iron armor" was replaced by "Pre-WWI Midvale Non-Cemmented Class "A" armor (MNC). Note that in N.A.R. 1-inch of penetration still is 1-inch Iron armor.

Why the change?

1.  I tried to add more armor options, but sadly the game always crashed, so I am limited to use the 11 slots the game allows me to use.
2.  Both Iron and Compound armor are available in 1890, but most navies were mainly building the new warships with Compound armor for best protection and weight savings.
3. There is no reason for the player to choose Iron armor. I can make the Compound armor more expensive, but the cost will be irrelevant for the player and the AI can still build ships with iron. So a little unfair against the AI IMO.
4.  I have a huge gap in time between KC armor, and Class "A"armor, so by adding "MNC" in 1907 and moving KCA to 1914 will make the transition to Class "A" armor in 1922 more natural from a gameplay point of view.

 

Part 2 - ship design changes.

*Bismarck weights list

 

1. Many modifiers rebalanced to better simulate real ship weights: fuel; belt armor; deck armor; barbettes; conning tower; crew numbers; crew quarters; torpedo protection; side turret armor; turret top armor; secondaries armor; casemate guns weight.
2. Some gun weights rebalanced.
3. All towers weights halved.
4. Sonar components weight & cost modifiers only applied to the main tower.
5. Armor cost rebalanced

Part 3

1. Lowered weight penalty for non prioritized researches
2. Improved the research speed for old techs.

 

Also:

Download link changed, now I will be using the google drive. No need to unpack the file anymore.

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1q3jd4AXtSRNYvMD7uEtfI51cbwDS-CNQ?usp=share_link

"New Horizons II" reshade visual mod is also included, to anyone interested. Installation procedure in the mod description.

Mod description and PDF file updated.

Edited March 26, 2023 by o Barão