Voyage of the Bismarck is released.

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bru888
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Re: Voyage of the Bismarck is released.

Post by bru888 »

New version 1.4 uploaded:

- Fixed a couple of German language spelling errors.
- Applied authentic names to all cargo and transport ships.
- Applied authentic names to all British J-class escort destroyers.
- Provided a list of convoy ships including data sources in the Information folder.
- Included "Voyage of the Bismarck Scenario Playing Tips" in the Information folder.
- Created a module by which escort destroyers will now stay with convoys until released.

Here's some background on the last item: With each Allied convoy, there are two destroyer escorts. The problem was, you cannot just have the destroyers sailing along with the cargo and transport ships in one AI team. Why? Because destroyers have 4 MP and cargo and transport ships 3MP. If you lump them together and assign the AI team a destination, the destroyers pull ahead and leave the other ships behind.

My initial solution for this was to have each pair of escorts placed in their own AI team and assign them the job of protecting one cargo or transport ship in their convoy. However, that worked only until the assigned ship was sunk. At that point, the destroyers would become idle and ping around with their sonars. What I have done to keep them on the job is to daisy-chain their assignments so that as each cargo or transport ship is sunk, they are assigned to guard another ship in the convoy. Only if all the cargo and transport ships in their convoy are sunk are they then released to seek and destroy the enemy (you).
- Bru
steevodeevo
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Re: Voyage of the Bismarck is released.

Post by steevodeevo »

bru888 wrote:New version 1.4 uploaded:

- Fixed a couple of German language spelling errors.
- Applied authentic names to all cargo and transport ships.
- Applied authentic names to all British J-class escort destroyers.
- Provided a list of convoy ships including data sources in the Information folder.
- Included "Voyage of the Bismarck Scenario Playing Tips" in the Information folder.
- Created a module by which escort destroyers will now stay with convoys until released.

Here's some background on the last item: With each Allied convoy, there are two destroyer escorts. The problem was, you cannot just have the destroyers sailing along with the cargo and transport ships in one AI team. Why? Because destroyers have 4 MP and cargo and transport ships 3MP. If you lump them together and assign the AI team a destination, the destroyers pull ahead and leave the other ships behind.

My initial solution for this was to have each pair of escorts placed in their own AI team and assign them the job of protecting one cargo or transport ship in their convoy. However, that worked only until the assigned ship was sunk. At that point, the destroyers would become idle and ping around with their sonars. What I have done to keep them on the job is to daisy-chain their assignments so that as each cargo or transport ship is sunk, they are assigned to guard another ship in the convoy. Only if all the cargo and transport ships in their convoy are sunk are they then released to seek and destroy the enemy (you).
Nice! Though does this mean that if I select the 'right' cargo ship the AI Destroyer will ignore me? Or is this just to keep the group coherent due to speed difference and if the enemy gets close the Destroyer will attack anyway?
bru888
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Re: Voyage of the Bismarck is released.

Post by bru888 »

steevodeevo wrote:Nice! Though does this mean that if I select the 'right' cargo ship the AI Destroyer will ignore me? Or is this just to keep the group coherent due to speed difference and if the enemy gets close the Destroyer will attack anyway?
The latter is my understanding. I am still learning about OOB, how it works, and how to design stuff for it. So it is my understanding that when a naval unit is told to Naval Defend Hex but instead of a hex, to assign it a Target Unit, that it will indeed attack an enemy if it gets too close to that unit.
Screenshot 1.jpg
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I believe this to be true from personal observation and it should still be working because that part didn't change. It's just that now, instead of guarding just one ship in the convoy and then going idle when it is sunk, the destroyers are assigned other ships in the convoy to guard.

Now, you are just itching to play this again and see if it works, aren't ya, Steevo? Huh? Aren't ya? Huh? How about it? :wink:
- Bru
Alexander1
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Re: Voyage of the Bismarck is released.

Post by Alexander1 »

Excellent scenario, fun to play! While I managed to let one supply ship to escape with 2hp, I still enjoyed it! These two steel beasts were kings of Northern Atlantic. :) This feels a bit ahistoric, but I I lack educated opinion. Maybe removal of two German fighters would add more challenge, i.e. let ships do both naval and air work. Also, I would consider a couple of subs to hunt those merchants. Thanks!
bru888
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Re: Voyage of the Bismarck is released.

Post by bru888 »

Thanks, Alexander. A very timely post indeed, evocative of conflicted emotions. This is what motivates me about OOB and I'd hate to lose it.
- Bru
13obo
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Re: Voyage of the Bismarck is released.

Post by 13obo »

bru888 wrote:Thanks, Alexander. A very timely post indeed, evocative of conflicted emotions. This is what motivates me about OOB and I'd hate to lose it.
Give yourself a break, bru! You seem like you could use a distraction after a burnout with OOB.
bru888
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Re: Voyage of the Bismarck is released.

Post by bru888 »

13obo wrote:
bru888 wrote:Thanks, Alexander. A very timely post indeed, evocative of conflicted emotions. This is what motivates me about OOB and I'd hate to lose it.
Give yourself a break, bru! You seem like you could use a distraction after a burnout with OOB.
True. I need to care a bit less and take what comes concerning OOB.
- Bru
steevodeevo
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Re: Voyage of the Bismarck is released.

Post by steevodeevo »

Here's a nice distraction for you Bruce!! ...https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Jutland
I know of a map that would work perfectly for this!!
bru888
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Re: Voyage of the Bismarck is released.

Post by bru888 »

steevodeevo wrote:Here's a nice distraction for you Bruce!! ...https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Jutland
I know of a map that would work perfectly for this!!
Thanks, I will keep that in mind. Next, however, is Battle of the River Plate which is more than halfway finished already and I just started it yesterday! (Yeah, yeah, I cannot help it. :( :) )
- Bru
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Re: Voyage of the Bismarck is released.

Post by steevodeevo »

Nice, don't know too much about that Battle, except from an old movie.. What are the main points of interest and challenge may I ask?
bru888
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Re: Voyage of the Bismarck is released.

Post by bru888 »

steevodeevo wrote:Nice, don't know too much about that Battle, except from an old movie.. What are the main points of interest and challenge may I ask?
I will quote myself (I love doing that) from my Bru's Scenario's thread:

if there was a way to do Battle of the River Plate, and similarly Voyage of the Bismarck, in such a way as to be absolutely historically accurate and still provide the player with a challenge to win or lose, I would do that. Unfortunately with these two scenarios, playing "straight up" from the German side is impossible (Britannia really did rule the waves, at least on the surface) and from the British side is just too easy or boring (such as "searching" for the German raider over vast seas). Hence, while I want to pay tribute to the historical events and the brave men who participated in them, I need to take some semi-fictional liberties.

So here are the liberties that I have taken so far in Battle of the River Plate.

Liberty 1
The Graf Spee is approaching Río de la Plata, the estuary separating Argentina and Uruguay. It is on a mission of commerce raiding. While in real life it had already sunk eight or nine merchant ships, in the scenario it is still looking for them. Every merchant ship in the scenario is one that the Graf Spee destroyed in real life but some of them were actually sunk out in the South Atlantic or off the coast of Africa.

Liberty 2
In real life, the Graf Spee was deprived of aerial reconnaissance just before the battle when it's Arado 196 floatplane went out of commission. In the scenario, it is still functioning. The map is too large and the cruiser moves too slow for it to go around hunting blindly. Boring!

Liberty 3
After the real battle, the Graf Spee took refuge in Montevideo but was not welcomed there. The captain believed that he faced overwhelming British forces if he left port. He did not in fact, at least not right away; he could have escaped if he sailed promptly but instead he chose to scuttle the Graf Spee. (He subsequently committed suicide which was a sad end for a decent man. I explain my opinion of him in the scenario.) In my Battle of the River Plate, the Graf Spee is required to visit Montivideo but not to stay there. Getting there may be a bit of a challenge, though; something about a small craft evading Uruguay gunboats to deliver bribe money...

Liberty 4
As always, one of the toughest things to do in an AI scenario is balance the gameplay. Ajax, Achilles, and Exeter are all coming. I've already tested; the Graf Spee cannot defeat all three in combat at once which it came close to doing in the real battle. Something will be done to give the Graf Spee a chance to accomplish its mission and escape if it moves fast enough (of course, the implication is the same as in real life in that even more British warships are also on the way). The liberty here is that in OOB, one cruiser against three is not going to be a winnable challenge, so only if the human player is dumb or slow will he get into a battle like that.

That's it for now.
- Bru
Cataphract88
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Re: Voyage of the Bismarck is released.

Post by Cataphract88 »

Good luck with this project, it's sounding really good already. :)
Richard
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Re: Voyage of the Bismarck is released.

Post by Erik2 »

Yes, good luck with project.
I know you'll pull it off :wink:
jeff00t
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Re: Voyage of the Bismarck is released.

Post by jeff00t »

i think the link is dead. I can't download it
my custom single player mini-campaign in order of battle : normandie-niemen: Image
http://www.slitherine.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=374&t=79333&p=676302#p676302
bru888
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Re: Voyage of the Bismarck is released.

Post by bru888 »

jeff00t wrote:i think the link is dead. I can't download it
That is funny. When I realigned things yesterday for the Custom Scenarios and Campaigns, I made sure that everybody's links were updated and working (including yours) . . . but I forgot to update my own! :)

What's even more funny, somebody actually noticed! Bwa, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, aahh. :lol:

Oh, excuse me. I lost my composure just now. Yes, thank you. The OP in this thread is now updated or you can go to Bru's Scenarios for the link there. Thanks for bringing this to my attention.
- Bru
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Re: Voyage of the Bismarck is released.

Post by GabeKnight »

Bruce,

same as Duplex' post in the "new procedure for custom scenarios" thread, I think you did a FANTASTIC job rearranging the links for custom scenario downloads. I'm sure that took some time. You're really a good and patient moderator. Thank you for doing all of this... :!:

And as a good shepherd, of course you forgot to check yourself! :wink:
bru888
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Re: Voyage of the Bismarck is released.

Post by bru888 »

GabeKnight wrote:Bruce,

same as Duplex' post in the "new procedure for custom scenarios" thread, I think you did a FANTASTIC job rearranging the links for custom scenario downloads. I'm sure that took some time. You're really a good and patient moderator. Thank you for doing all of this... :!:

And as a good shepherd, of course you forgot to check yourself! :wink:
Thanks, Gabe. That was genuinely funny. I checked everybody else's links from announcement to thread and from thread to cloud server, but I forgot my own. :oops:
- Bru
jeff00t
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Re: Voyage of the Bismarck is released.

Post by jeff00t »

thxs for all !

edit: i just finished the scenario and it was very fun to play ! good work !

here is my feedback:

I got major victory easily with medium difficulty in one try . As it was said, i think it coud be nice that boats make reparation themself without any ships aside ( i won without using the escort ships ) so using auto-repair is enough.
Also, i think there could be more fairey swordfish : only 3? it is too easy to shot them down with the arados. there aren't enough enemy ships like destroyers. ( 2 ships at the beginning, ok but why no destroyers with them?)

Another thing is the lane of the convoy. I thought there will be some ships in the north but there are only in the south and with same road. why not some ships in the north or in the middle of atlantic?
As for the enemy, why only from the est? when i began the scenario, i dispatched all my arados around me but no ennemy ships from west or south .... two arados scouting for nothing during 60 turns !

and again: great scenario!
my custom single player mini-campaign in order of battle : normandie-niemen: Image
http://www.slitherine.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=374&t=79333&p=676302#p676302
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