Auto-Design feedback

[Lima]

Basically, this topic is for discussion and suggestions for improving AI ship designs in the campaign. There will be a lot of screenshots here, I don't want to fill in the main topic with them.

[Lima]

Let's start with this new interwar heavy cruiser hull. Many nations have it, and AI isn't able to properly balance it at the moment. Below you can see two *different* AI projects on this hull and the refit of the second project.

As you can see, in all three attempts of AI to create a ship, it turned out to be just a terrible fore weight offset.

I believe that it is possible to properly balance this hull, as has been done with hulls like this

It might look like this

For example, here's what happens with auto-design at the moment.

[Lima]

Speed of interwar cruisers

Now, I'm not sure, maybe it was fixed in the last update. However, so far in my campaign, the speed of AI interwar and modern cruisers has been simply terrible. Above you could see the French attempts.

Initially, the speed of this Italian cruiser was 20 knots. After 5 refits, she got this speed. And that was fine...

But the newest Italian cruiser has returned to turtle speed

The US original design

(1932) refit version

British Turtle Champion

Japanese cruisers had a speed of 20-24 knots, but I don't have screenshots right now, trust me bro.

[Lima]

Light cruisers - below you can see Japanese and Italian examples that I particularly liked, but all the other light cruisers were decent.

 

[Lima]

A couple of battleships - victims of the fore weight offset

[Lima]

Just a lovely little AH CA. This is Refit(5) and she has a 20% fore weight offset unfortunately. But I really like the look of this ship and her AH's design philosophy.

[Durham Dave]

Possibly part of the fore weight offset problem is the red area of machinery spaces always seems to be too far forward. It usually starts at the forward funnel and runs aft, but later trunking efforts could produce some unusual layouts. 

[Lima]

Behold, the first good heavy cruiser created by the AI in 40 years of the campaign.

This is the last failed attempt

[Lima]

I finally managed to capture this ship. They were usually destroyed in the first seconds of battle, obviously because of this 0 main belt. If it wasn't for this strange decision, it would have been a decent interwar CL.

[Lima]

Particularly nice destroyer

[Lima]

The strange preference for deck armor again