ORIGINAL: Myrddraal
Dear friendly forum users! We (the LGS) are looking at ways we can improve the naval game in a patch. We've been watching the efforts of some modders on these forums with interest, and thinking of ways we could incorporate some of their ideas into an official patch. We’re trying to finalise a plan for what to change, and your input would be very much appreciated.
NB: Patching a game isn't the same as modding a game.
When you’re modding a game, anything goes. You can rip up the rule book and start again. When patching a game with an official you have to be a lot more careful. For example:
You might create a mod where any unit in the enemy red zone loses 1 hp per turn, to simulate losses due to mines. Anyone who downloads your mod will know exactly what their getting, no nasty surprises. But many more players will download a patch than a mod, and many of these won’t be forum posters. If we include something similar in a patch, we’d have to be very careful about how this new rule was introduced to the player, possibly with a new overlay on the map showing ‘mined’ hexes in such as way as the player is immediately aware that something has changed. Otherwise we’d be much more likely to be flooded with bug reports (My fleet hp is falling every turn, this game is borked!!!) than happy customers.
So what are we considering:
- A new ‘Destroyer’ unit type, as implemented by kirk and xris.
The reason this unit wasn't added originally is that naval units are meant to represent entire fleets (due to a lack of stacking in this game). Destroyer units by themselves don’t make much sense in that context.
- An ‘escort’ ability for all naval units.
This escort ability would be very similar to the air intercept/escort mechanic, where armed fighters automatically protect units which are attacked from the air. For naval vessels, the range of this ‘escort’ ability would be just 1 hex. This means that units adjacent to each other would support each other if attacked. A mechanic like this in a sense compensates for the lack of stacking, and allows for some sort of combined arms approach to naval defense. Three naval units can now sail together, support each other defensively and could be considered a ‘fleet’ (rather than the single unit counter model we had previously).
Different units could provide a different defensive bonus when escorting. Destroyers would provide a very large defensive bonus to ships they escort, but provide very little offensive impact, meaning that fleets without destroyer ‘screens’ would be much more vulnerable to taking casualties.
- Simulate the blockade of German ports
At the start of the game, Germany would have convoys, just like France & Britain. When Britain first attacks a German convoy (usually within the first few turns of the game), a historical event would appear saying ‘Germany’s ports blockaded!’ ‘Britain has intercepted merchant shipping heading for German ports. No more merchant convoys will sail for Germany until the British hold on the North Sea is weakened’.
If entente naval power in the north sea then drops to less than half of German naval power, Germany’s convoys would be ‘re-activated’ and convoys would spawn for Germany.
We’re hoping that these three changes would be enough to make the naval game more meaningful, as well as more tactical. Comments and ideas very much appreciated!
The U-boat warfare is terrible!
Absolutely awful - the worst thing I've ever seen in a strategy game.
Why can't submarines, which are attacked, do not submerge?
Submerge (visually on the map) with a % chance to escape without damage?
The ability to submarge is what characterizes a submarine!
Something important like this may never be abstracted!
The Strategic Command series shows a way to do this.
U-boats were and are dangerous and effective!
See yourself again the introductory video of Ypres - Artois scenario to listen carefully and listen closely ...
"... Submarins have Proved to be deadly. While difficult to catch and even harder to destroy ...".
Your submarine warfare design is embarrassment for the whole game! [:@]
A destroyer unit is not that important to me.
After you've explained now why you waive the destroyer, it's understandable and make sense (at least to me).
I really like how do you implement the convoy system in the game
Sometimes you can see through the fog of war only a short "wiper", which can then hunted in your next turn.
That's a mini-game for themselves.
I would, however find more fun to hunt (and escape) with functionale submarines.
And maybe you will also find better sound for the submarine movement and torpedo launching?
The vanilla ones are....well. [8|]
