More carriers doing wierd stuff

[thedoctorking]

This CV division has its formation set as line ahead, but they are going opposite directions 18 miles apart?

Worse yet, the lagging member is only a few miles from enemy ships and doesn't seem to care, is going on course 173 (more or less towards the enemy missile boats) when the division's orders were for course 0, and isn't even operating planes as far as I can tell.

Line ahead.jpg (2.78 MiB) Viewed 1371 times

[thedoctorking]

Here's another example from 1.00.26. In this battle, the CV formation has decided to assume the scouting role for the force, despite the fact that it is night and their planes can't do anything for them.

Carrier strike force.jpg (2.72 MiB) Viewed 1332 times

[thedoctorking]

Naked CV.jpg (232.59 KiB) Viewed 1327 times

And here's another example of what happens when your carriers decide to free-lance it and cruise many miles from their protecting DDs. Poor Peter Strasser here is about to get the attention of a dozen enemy TBs because for some infuriating reason, he won't cruise next to his squadron flag but insists on being 15k yards away. I have set the formation to line ahead, line abreast, changed course several times, tried to detach him so he could be in a different division and I could maneuver him independently and manually keep him close to his protecting DDs - sorry "ship is not damaged enough to detach". Well, the Russians are about to fix that problem...

You can tell by my tone that I am really frustrated by this.

Edit: following up, he survived the attack because the enemy, for unclear reasons, was level bombing and all my carriers have armored flight decks. But even the squadron CAP didn't protect him; it was all down around the fleet flag ten miles or more away and in 1927 doesn't have the speed or reaction (no radar) to get up and protect their OWN DAMN CARRIER!!!!!!!!

[MaximKI]

Thanks for the report! We'll take a look.

[thedoctorking]

Here's another example, where you can see two flavors of the same general problem. 1 Carrier Div is doing what I have commented on many times before, sailing 25 nm or so apart for no apparent reason, and the CAP and escorting DDs are all gathered around the flag ship leaving the other fellow completely unprotected. The other carrier division to the NW, Carrier Division 20, consisting of Moltke and Elsass, isn't quite so dramatic, but Elsass is actually right next to the 1 Carrier Division formation and about 9000 yards from his flagship and protecting DDs. Meanwhile, to the SW, you can see Blucher, Scharnhorst, and Gneisenau are all pretty close to one another as they should be. No apparent difference in the roles assigned, course they are supposed to be on, formation, etc. Just in two cases, individual CVs have decided to free-lance it, while in the third, they are obeying orders. Why, the world wonders?

Line ahead v2.jpg (485.85 KiB) Viewed 1265 times

[thedoctorking]

I think this is connected to the other bug where CVs start in screen mode, which is forbidden for carriers. I'm not sure, but check those saves I sent you and see if you can tell if the offending CV divisions started the scenario in screen mode. I think what the huge separation means is that they are trying to do a screen - and like the guys who ignore "core" orders, just changing their orders during the scenario doesn't really change their behavior. Just a thought, as I watched this happen again in a battle.

[thedoctorking]

They're still doing it in 1.0.33.

This CV group started in screen formation, and although I changed them at once (and they are still recorded as being on line abreast) they are continuing to act like they are screening their poor fragile DDs.

You've really got to fix this. I can just imagine someone punting their expensive monitor if their CVs get sunk because they are sailing along unprotected and even their own fighters won't hang out by them.

Still doing it.jpg (1.49 MiB) Viewed 1094 times

[WilliamMiller]

Thanks, will check save out.

[thedoctorking]

This is a new odd behavior - now the formation is listed as "formation", not screen. But the two ships in the formation are 18K yards apart and the screening destroyers are still only protecting one of the ships.

Formation formation.jpg (467.65 KiB) Viewed 1047 times

[thedoctorking]

And, of course, you can't change the formation because they are locked.

[thedoctorking]

Soon as I started moving them, they shifted automatically to screen, and, once again, can't correct it.

Not allowed.jpg (677.35 KiB) Viewed 1045 times

[WilliamMiller]

What game version was the last save posted in - 1.00.33?

[thedoctorking]

The game was started under 1.00.33, I remember, and I am on Steam, so it automatically upgrades whenever a new version drops, so check the date of the save file (I would have saved as soon as I was aware of the problem) for the version installed when it happened.