Know what's wrong with SH v1.2 - 11 issues with some hints to fix them

[mechan]

Hello worlwide skippers.

In this post, I will try to make a design-to-cost sensitive prioritization of the major bugs that are still in the game as far as v1.2 is concerned.

Please note that the views reflected here are my own and any comments or personal lists in this thread are welcome and I believe will positively add to the discussion. I may actually edit my own list later on if the situation warrants it.

Much of the the credit of the work here goes to the following very special people:
- The developers and Ubisoft for making such a great game and continuing to support it
- krazyfrenchman for his awesome bug report thread (http://forums.ubi.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/6421019045/m/5721054265)
- Beery for the incredible Real Fleet Boat (http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=111770) mod
- Ducimus for the great Trigger Maru (http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=115258) mod

As a sidenote, I will not discuss here three main topics:
- "Realism", be it either related to missing/improper information or already explained licensing issues (medals, etc.)
- Anything to do with "torpedoes too powerful"; "too many duds"; "planes with too many bombs"; "merchants doesn't sink", etc. I believe that changing this game parameters is one of the things mods should be for. [that said, I do believe that in the default game merchants are indeed hard to kill if compared to battleships, but let's leave it at that]
- Anything that would be "nice to have" but, at this point in development, is unrealistic to ask (i.e. new sub classes, at-sea resupply)

So let us begin:

<span class="ev_code_RED">Section 1: Quick Wins</span>

#1 Default torpedo speed and detonation mode
This should really default to fast/contact as it is a nuisance to access the screen just to change every single tube status. This has also the downside of not being moddable.
Coding effort estimated: 10 minutes

#2 Torpedo and Medal Info
There should be an in-base tooltip, to the very least, stating statistics and/or a description for each torpedo type and, eventually, what medals do (or just a description for fun if they don't do anything).
Coding effort estimated: 5 minutes

#3 Aircraft and contact ratios
This has been modded to avoid the sensation that the entire japanese airforce is hunting you down at all times and to avoid being swamped by contact messages too far away that only clutter your log.
Coding effort estimated: 1 minute (just edit the default config files)

#4 Player gets same mission over and over again
Well known and very annoying bug. Trigger Maru mod v1.2 fixes this. The devs should do the same.
Coding effort estimated: unknown but this shouldn't take long

#5 Balao class isn't "registered" in Australia and player gets mothballed on his first mission after getting a Balao class sub; in addition, once your base gets taken over, you have to "guess" which base to dock to
This has also been fixed by modders and should be incorporated into patch v1.3. See RFB mod: "Added base change advisories for boats based at Brisbane and fixed advisories for Manila and Surabaya. Also fixed message priorities. This ensures that you get notified of which base you have to dock at when your current base closes and it fixes the problem of being transferred to a base that doesn't use your sub (the "Your boat and you have been mothballed" bug). Mod by Beery (Data\Campaigns\Campaign\messages.txt)."
Coding effort estimated: 5 minutes - look at the modders' work

#6 The SD radar only works at 0 degrees through 179
This is definitely a bug that is, however, probably harder to track down and to solve, but it is very annoying and it should be fixed. Here is what the (as usual awesome) modding community did and this is also a temporary workaround:
Link to solution thread (http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=111562)
Coding effort estimated: unknown, but not long

#7 Add a message for closing torpedo doors and disable automatic closing of torpedo tube doors
See real fleet boat mod - credit to Beery
Coding effort estimated: 5 minutes - look at the modders' work

#8 UI: Added Silent Running and Battle Stations buttons to all menu bars
See real fleet boat mod - credit to Iceberg
Coding effort estimated: 5 minutes - look at the modders' work

#9 Fix battery range
Credit to CCIP
Full Info (http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=109120)
Coding effort estimated: 5 minutes - look at the modders' work


<span class="ev_code_RED">Section 2: Tougher but critical coding challenges</span>

#10 Chronometer
This has been requested by almost everyone and is mentioned in the manual. It should be fixed.
Coding effort estimated: unknown

#11 Permanent damage is never shown anywhere
This is also reflected in the fact that there is no way of knowing bulkhead condition after taking damage to even attempt to estimate a new test depth. It should be fixed.
Coding effort estimated: unknown

#12 Crossing the IDL makes torpedos and firing lines disappear from the tactical map
This is really annoying especially for Pearl patrols. It has been modded in trigger maru v1.2 with a workaround of SHIFTING the exit of pearl left of midway ... but this should really be fixed.
Coding effort estimated: unknown, but at least implement the workaround in v1.3

[krazyfrenchman]

Originally posted by mechan:
<span class="ev_code_RED">Section 1: Quick Wins</span>

#1 Default torpedo speed and detonation mode
This should really default to fast/contact as it is a nuisance to access the screen just to change every single tube status. This has also the downside of not being moddable.
Coding effort estimated: 10 minutes

#2 Torpedo and Medal Info
There should be an in-base tooltip, to the very least, stating statistics and/or a description for each torpedo type and, eventually, what medals do (or just a description for fun if they don't do anything).
Coding effort estimated: 5 minutes

#3 Aircraft and contact ratios
This has been modded to avoid the sensation that the entire japanese airforce is hunting you down at all times and to avoid being swamped by contact messages too far away that only clutter your log.
Coding effort estimated: 1 minute (just edit the default config files)

#4 Player gets same mission over and over again
Well known and very annoying bug. Trigger Maru mod v1.2 fixes this. The devs should do the same.
Coding effort estimated: unknown but this shouldn't take long

<span class="ev_code_RED">Section 2: Tougher but critical coding challenges</span>

#10 Chronometer
This has been requested by almost everyone and is mentioned in the manual. It should be fixed.
Coding effort estimated: unknown

#11 Permanent damage is never shown anywhere
This is also reflected in the fact that there is no way of knowing bulkhead condition after taking damage to even attempt to estimate a new test depth. It should be fixed.
Coding effort estimated: unknown

#12 Crossing the IDL makes torpedos and firing lines disappear from the tactical map
This is really annoying especially for Pearl patrols. It has been modded in trigger maru v1.2 with a workaround of SHIFTING the exit of pearl left of midway ... but this should really be fixed.
Coding effort estimated: unknown, but at least implement the workaround in v1.3 Overall, good post! http://forums.ubi.com/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_smile.gif <span class="ev_code_yellow">Keep it up</span>. However, what I've quoted from you are going to be addressed in patch v1.3, but it is unclear for now if the medals and torps infoboxes are going to be added. The others (not quoted) might be corrected or not, depending on the time the DEV Team has at hand. If they feel it's not critical, they might just leave it as it is, unfortunatly for ALL of US, I am afraid...

[catlegwest]

oh, man! krazyfrenchman beat me to the 'here comes krazyfrenchman' post..

[catlegwest]

This is a good thread. I mostly agree with it.

[mechan]

Thanks. I may be adding more to these later on. There are certainly more things that should be on that list.

[mechan]

Things to be added here: Game settings not transferring to campaign...

And certainly others.

[catlegwest]

Game settings not transferring to campaign...
The campaign (career) game has a seperate setting, accessed by clicking the RADIO in the office. Confusing at first but not a real issue.

My BIGGEST gripe currently is the map contact updates being so spot-on accurate and in real time, and how utterly fast and accurate your firing solutions are when using auto-targeting. I might not always want to operate the standinometer (sp?) and TDC myself, but that doesn't mean I want to cheat!

[mechan]

The campaign (career) game has a seperate setting, accessed by clicking the RADIO in the office. Confusing at first but not a real issue.

Yes but, as you mention, it's one of the many small nuisances that could be fixed with little effort.

As for map contact updates and precise targeting, that's part of the "realism" thing discussed in the initial part of the thread.