Campaign Suggestions (Beta v1.1-RC2)

[Heet]

For the next patches, I would love to see some fundamental changes to the campaign.  You will notice that many of these changes are similar to how Hoi4 manages naval control. Say what you like about that game, but the campaign setup for naval zones works well and reasonably emulates the decisions the admiralty would need to make during a global conflict (supply line protection, resource management, sea control , fuel rationing, etc).

If I had one wish I would take Hoi4's campaign map (including fleet control, research, resource management, etc) and fuse it with UA:D's ship designer and battle screen.  Some suggestions to get us there:

• Create Scenario campaigns in addition to the freeform campaign with set start dates, war goals, and consistent end dates. Let me relive WWI, WWII from the admiralty's perspective.
• Politics are VERY restrictive currently.  Even with the various options, it still feels as though the player is just "bucking the current," and you can't really influence politics due to the high rate of failures, and restrictions.  Give us more direct control in the freeform campaign.
• Permit the creation of dedicated task forces and allow the user to specify rules for how they are permitted to go to sea (i.e. - can they deploy without some screens, or does the whole fleet need to go out together)?
• Change the map style to sea "zones" similar to how Hoi4 works.  Task forces can be assigned to various roles within a zone or connecting series of zones.  The effectiveness of their coverage is based on the quantity ships and task forces in a particular zone, and is influenced by the zone's size and by technology (reconnaissance, spotting, etc).  Ship range influences the zones they can occupy and how effective they are in those zones.
• Create dedicated jobs for each fleet.  I.e. - minelaying, minesweeping, ASW/patrol, convoy raiding, convoy escort, sea control, strike force (only deploys when a comparable task force is spotted in the zone), etc.
• Change the merchant marine/transport function to ships which must be built and count towards the shipbuilding maximum every month.  Allow the player to select which zones convoys/merchants may sail through (and whether they should force a passage if the zone is dangerous or poorly controlled).  This will naturally lead to losses which must be replenished, and will influence the supplies coming into the nation which will influence the course of a conflict.
• Create rationing and supply lines for fuel and precious resources.  If you start creating all oil-fired ships, then the player has to maintain supply lines to oil-rich countries. Various task force roles are more fuel intensive (i.e. - sea control is more intensive than strike force), and if fuel runs low, the player must choose how to manage the dwindling resources.