The Last Great Naval Battle

[SeaMonkey]

Just wondering out loud here....wondering if the PTO engine will be naval oriented enough to do something like the battle of Leyte Gulf?

We've heard mention by Hubert about Moonslayer's "Canal" scenario being an epic naval engagement to some degree, or did I just read that into the comment? I see the listed "Battle of Midway" in the campaign reference of the PTO features page, but what about the widespread use of torpedos(Long Lance) from surface vessels like destroyers and cruisers?

Remember how devastating their(torpedos) use was in the Pacific, especially in restricted waters that were so apparent in the large island groups.

Can we expect an engine to handle these types of actions, Surigao Strait, Samar, etc.? Is there something in the game engine that models smaller vessels' effective use of torpedoes against larger Ca and BB types?

[Hubert Cater]

Hey SeaMonkey,

There are quite a few naval improvements like the new modeling for Carriers as well as for Subs but the nuts and bolts should still feel very familiar to the average SC player. There are of course things we can do like edit the strike ranges of naval units and for scenarios such as Guadalcanal and Midway these increased strike ranges will give the game an entirely new feel.

For a few examples, in Guadalcanal, Carriers have a strike range of 24 tiles giving them considerable lethality at long range relative to the next long range naval unit which are Battleships and Cruisers at 4 tiles. Additionally, strike range is now taken into account for return fire calculations. What does this mean? Well like in real life if you can hit your opponent from a distance further than he can hit you back it now means that optimal positioning of your naval fleets is now that much more important. For example, if I can use my Battleships to lob a few shots at a Destroyer or Sub outside of their range of return fire, only the Destroyers and Subs will suffer potential damage from the exchange.

This is of course not something we saw in many of the previous SC campaigns/scenarios as strike range was mostly 1 for all of these unit types, but now with the addition of these alternately scaled scenarios we can try and make things as realistic as possible under the current SC system of game play.

I should also mention that I recently implemented a new linear algorithm to handle increased strike range for AI units that makes campaigns such as these much more playable with AI turns playing out 3X faster than they would have in previous builds.

Long story short, lots of good stuff coming your way

Hubert

[Syagrius]

Banzai! Banzai! Banzai!!!!

[SeaMonkey]

Sounds great Hubert. Still wondering aloud here.....what if you could bring an enhanced NA CTV for DDs and CAs when they attack close in, say from the adjacent tile to a CV, BB, CA, etc simulating the surface torpedo attack?:cool:

Of course running in that close means that the next turn you're liable to be obliterated if the tactic was unsuccessful, sort of a suicidal naval attack, such as was common from PT boats as well as destroyers in the Pacific.

Just an idea.

[Hubert Cater]

For the smaller campaigns this might be a workable idea but for the larger Operation Z you really cannot attack unless you are adjacent to another unit so it would be without application. It's an interesting idea and I'll add it to my list of possibilities for down the road.

[jon_j_rambo]

Hey, I'm getting too old for all the details. Just let Hubert make his game, and have fun doing it. If it sucks, it sucks. If it's good, it's good. Either way, I'll drop a $50 spot on it. There's no way I can predict or judge what in the world is going on.