Simplified engine production

[LargeSlowTarget]

I'm interested in the opinions of fellow modders. Against the general mod tendency of more detail and diversification, I am toying with the idea of a "simplified engine production mod".

I freely admit that I'm too afraid to mismanage the Japanese engine / airframe production and end up with a screwed-up late-game, with the heavy time-investement the game demands going down the drain. I simply do not have the time, knowledge and motivation for the scientific approach necessary to handle Japanese engine / airframe production properly. I also believe many players shy away from playing the dark side due to the complexity of the Japanese production and a simpler production model may result in more JFB converts .

My idea is to limit engine types to an "early engine" covering the types available in 1941-42 and a "late engine" for the more advanced powerplants becoming available from 1943 onwards, plus the jet and rocket engines. Since this will result in a higher flexibility in airframe production, I plan to increase the repair costs of engine factories to 5000 supplies per point, hoping this will keep player honest and production figures within reasonable limits.

Does that sound do-able or is it a crazy idea?

[LargeSlowTarget]

Mmh, 69 views but no opinions? Anyone has tinkered with the repair costs?

[oldman45]

Honestly, everytime I look at Japan, I get a headache and close it down and restart allied.

[JuanG]

This does sound interesting as a way to simplify things for those new to Japan, though I'd consider more than two types.

Maybe something like;
Early Radial
Mid-war Radial
Late Radial
Inline
Rocket
Jet

I also think 5000 even for the 'simple' engines is very steep. I intend to use the repair cost changes for the HD Mod campaign if/when it gets done, and my thoughts were along the lines of 600-800 for the 'junk' engines like the Ha-5, Amakaze, etc. 1500-1800 for the mainline early engines, 2000-2500 for the mid-war radials and the inlines, and 3000-3600 for the jets and late war radials.

In your system, since there are savings due to commonality, I'd start at ~3000 for the early ones and work up to the 5000 you propose. Obviously the best way to tell how it works is to playtest it.

I'd also cut down the number of engine plants themselves a lot, so that you dont have 5x Size 30 'early engine plants' per city, but maybe one or two per city, meaning some need for planning regarding upgrades and switching production, etc.

[Erkki]

It IS possible to modify the aircraft factory repair cost? That plus manipulating upgrade paths and possibly also increasing factory expansion cost could I think be done to find a middle ground between PDU on and off flexibility, where Japan would for supply reasons need to produce lots of the older or worse than optimal plane types. Can the factory expansion cost be modded as well?

[JuanG]

ORIGINAL: Erkki

It IS possible to modify the aircraft factory repair cost? That plus manipulating upgrade paths and possibly also increasing factory expansion cost could I think be done to find a middle ground between PDU on and off flexibility, where Japan would for supply reasons need to produce lots of the older or worse than optimal plane types. Can the factory expansion cost be modded as well?

I don't think so - but then again, the actual repair cost is the bulk of the supply cost anyway.

What you describe is exactly what I want to do with HDM - by 'chopping up' the upgrade paths (to prevent the fast-forwarding all the way to the last plane in the tree), and cutting down the number of R&D plants (to prevent having 5 Size 30 R&D facilities on one airframe without it really being a strain on anything else) along with some other changes, these might go a long way towards making certain choices less 'optimal' than others.

I describe some of these thoughts here; http://www.matrixgames.com/forums/tm.asp?m=2981483

[Symon]

I'm not all that well versed inthe IJ production system. But what LST has to say and what JuanG has as a response, sounds perfectly fine to me.

Ciao. John

[LargeSlowTarget]

Thx for the replies, gentlemen, nice to know I am not alone [;)]. JuanG's concept is intriguing. However, I want to keep things simple (already added much other stuff to my mod so I want something to counterbalance a bit), I am just going to add an inline engine and decrease the supply costs tentatively to 3000 early engines, 4000 late and inline and keep 5000 for the jets/rockets.

[Gaspote]

In my opinion the cost should be based on SR. Like SR*1000.

[Erkki]

ORIGINAL: Gaspote

In my opinion the cost should be based on SR. Like SR*1000.

The problem there is that along with all planes with 2 engines, many of the mid and late war single engine planes that some players already dont build at all would become even less enticing options... Thinking about the entire Ki-61 series, Ki-67, B6N1. Just equipping CV wings with D4Y would have a huge, perhaps disproportional, price. 90k supplies for a size 30 factory.