Crew micromanage

[CeltiCaudillo]

I would like to see micromanage style crew Silent Hunter III. In which each character have a reward function of their performance both in navigation and combat. We could reward them and that this affects their behavior for better or for worse, another option would be to put them in different positions in relation to their skills.

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[admin]

I would like to see micromanage style crew Silent Hunter III. In which each character have a reward function of their performance both in navigation and combat. We could reward them and that this affects their behavior for better or for worse, another option would be to put them in different positions in relation to their skills.

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if it was a game about a small ship with small crews

the problem with thus suggestion lies with large ships 1100 men on a large vessel would be very tedious to maintain, promote and play with over the long term. 

[Cecil Selous]

But for up to 10 Officers it could work

[admin]

But for up to 10 Officers it could work

 

we initially wanted to go this way - if you remember the ship fitting screen it has up to 5 slots for officers

but in testing design stages we found that we cannot give the player enough exciting choices for most professions. 

And we did not want to have filler boring perks and skills for officers.

 

As sid meier once said - choice and hard limits is what makes games more interesting 

[Ledinis]

we initially wanted to go this way - if you remember the ship fitting screen it has up to 5 slots for officers

but in testing design stages we found that we cannot give the player enough exciting choices for most professions. 

And we did not want to have filler boring perks and skills for officers.

 

As sid meier once said - choice and hard limits is what makes games more interesting 

So will it be one officer limit on all ships in the future or will we at least assign different officers on specific ships ? 

[Hethwill, the Red Duke]

Actually the game that comes to mind regarding crew management is the The Mighty Eighth. Still had to fly the bird and could manage the crew also leaving the controls to the co pilot for a bit.

[Cecil Selous]

we initially wanted to go this way - if you remember the ship fitting screen it has up to 5 slots for officers

but in testing design stages we found that we cannot give the player enough exciting choices for most professions. 

And we did not want to have filler boring perks and skills for officers.

 

As sid meier once said - choice and hard limits is what makes games more interesting 

 

I am satisfied with the current implemenation but still a bit dissapointed, that we won't get more officers.

 

What I initially imagined was, that a player always has a set number of officers on his ship like lieutenants, master, gunner, carpenter, surgeon, boatswain, purser, marine seargent/officer etc. They need to be hired, have random nation suitable names and also get random traits (not chosen by player but out of a greater pool of profession specific traits or they are chosen by the player if you want that hard choice thing ).

These traits offer a slight bonus and maybe even a small nerf every now and then. While doing battles and surviving they gain experience and their positive traits become better so that you have a greater advantage when you are victorious over a longer time period. But the positive traits should never be game breaking. 

Your officers only have one life and over the time they might grow on you and you don't want to loose them.

 

I don't know how the position of crew members on a ship is calculated in the battle, but if there would be predefinied places for the officers, they can be wounded or killed by gunfire in the battle  (a few random variations in the positioning , because they weren't exactly in the same spot everytime and thus can't be targeted individually in the game). You can be very unlucky and a good stern rake could kill (better wound) half of your officers, or a lucky penetrating ball kills your Surgeon. Very unlikely because he works further down in the ship near or even under the waterline. With the kill or the injury you loose a significant amount of the traits positive aspects but not all, cause your crew was still trained by these officers. This only counts for this one battle. After it you loose the whole trait because, well, the officer is dead. If morale in battle and impact on crew performance will ever become a factor then the killed officers could also have an influence on that.

This would be an even greater incentive to surrender if the odds are against you and your enemy is far superior. Of course, surrender should be granted as kill/assist to the enemy (this really should be implemented as soon as possible  )

 

This is just a dream from me. If this would work or will be accepted by players is another story.

Edited July 4, 2016 by Cecil Selous

[Captain Lord Cochrane]

we initially wanted to go this way - if you remember the ship fitting screen it has up to 5 slots for officers

but in testing design stages we found that we cannot give the player enough exciting choices for most professions. 

And we did not want to have filler boring perks and skills for officers.

 

As sid meier once said - choice and hard limits is what makes games more interesting 

 

 

Oh well now we can remedy the lack of interesting choices for different officers, it's what we are here for!

 

And when was the last time Sid Meier made anything worth a toss  Please don't say Civilization   

Also, with the current OP perks and cascade of gold modules flooding the player base via shipwrecks, all choice and hard limits will soon be gone.

 

I think a slot for the following would be best, each with a choice of area of expertise. Is your sailing master better at repairing sail damage or does he get the yards moving faster? Does your gun captain reload faster or does he have the crew shooting with less dispersion? Etc, etc:

 

Sailing Master: 2 perks maximum from a choice of 5

Gundeck Captain: 2 perks maximum from a choice of 5

Surgeon: 2 perks maximum from a choice of 5

Quartermaster: 2 perks maximum from a choice of 5

Captain of Marines: 2 perks maximum from a choice of 5

[CeltiCaudillo]

1100 sailors understand that managing is a little tedious, but really what would be managing intermediate and official controls. thus the sailors would have only three moral vectors / fatigue / experience, and with time and luck and surviving combat, could move up and occupy the lower of their fallen superiors.

 

In my view, this establishes a link with our crews, and are not just numbers. So much captains would value his men

The counts of dead and wounded after the battles would be dramatic


Also would give a dose of reality and simulation'm sure many seek in this game.

[Vernon Merrill]

I would be more than happy with 3 slots with a list of normal officers you could choose from rather than some magical "perks". But that's just me. And they could even slowly increase the modifier levels slowly as you gained more battle experience.

I'm willing to keep testing the current setup, but I'm kind of a purist like that...