>>>v1.6.0.7+ Feedback<<<(Latest version: v1.6.1.5 Optx4)

[Warspite96]

EDIT: never mind me, I am an idiot. 

Edited October 6, 2024 by Warspite96

[HMS Implosive]

3 hours ago, Zuikaku said:

I understand, thank you! But the other problem is that turreted versions of small caliber guns are available way too early. Shielded guns were a common thing well into '20s, while in the game they are hsrdly available a few years into 1890 campaign. 

I agree it would make sense to slow down unlocking of small caliber guns.

Personally i would also remove loading system as its own thing and rather bake it into the gun marks. The reason beign that it is easy to develope 2" automatic gun but difficult to develope 6 inch automatic gun, not to meantion nigh impossibility of automatizing battleship calibre gun. These technologies are not equal from engineering point of view.

If you want to keep the loading mechanism as separate ship component, very least give different options for main and secondary gun components and separate them in the techtree.

Edited October 6, 2024 by HMS Implosive

[SirTrafalgar]

3 hours ago, Zuikaku said:

I understand, thank you! But the other problem is that turreted versions of small caliber guns are available way too early. Shielded guns were a common thing well into '20s, while in the game they are hsrdly available a few years into 1890 campaign. 

     Tertiary battery weapons of under 3 inches were not often fully enclosed. The British QF 6-Pounder 10 CWT was one example I could find. I am sure there are more examples, but since most guns this size were from land anti-tank weaponry and small artillery, so much of the documentation I could easily access (Ie, web-based resources) did not have more than a passing mention of their naval use.  The QF-6-Pounders were only used on the W-class destroyers. The point is that guns fully enclosed in a turret of this size were the exception, not the rule.  They should only appear in enclosed turrets on destroyers IMO. 

[HMS Implosive]

Btw, could Austrian Super Battleship get more secondary tower options, please? Maybe the same as Austrian Modern Battleship has. The current options severely limit space avaiable on the deck and/or block firing arcs of the guns.

[Zuikaku]

A bug when refiting ships. In refit screen you no longer have only appropriate ship classes listed. All of the ships are there and when try ing to refit e.g. tb ro new standard, you can also select BBs and any other ships for refit. All of them are then going to convert to tb while keeping ship name and class.

[mrfox1918]

 Is it just me or has it gotten REALLY hard to move ships into ports? I keep clicking on the ports 500 different ways hovering over the port and it just keeps giving me the "move to" instead of "name of port" Seems as though your home ports are less finicky? Idk very strange.

[HMS Implosive]

13 minutes ago, mrfox1918 said:

 Is it just me or has it gotten REALLY hard to move ships into ports? I keep clicking on the ports 500 different ways hovering over the port and it just keeps giving me the "move to" instead of "name of port" Seems as though your home ports are less finicky? Idk very strange.

No, it is not just you. The ports' clickable interfaces are apparently just very small. Would be helpfull if the port got highlighted or something when cursoring over it.

Edited October 8, 2024 by HMS Implosive
typo fixes

[Nick Thomadis]

Uploaded optimizedx3 version including
- Further fine tuning in tension mechanics.
- Reduced further the AI technology progress boost of harder difficulties to make the gameplay more comfortable. 
- Logistics and navy power calculations improved, increasing the influence of the Navy Strength and Transport Capacity. This change will greatly affect all aspects of campaign military warfare.
- Campaign log can include much more information per turn showing all actions of the AI (when you save the log information gets limited).
- Fixed some code exceptions causing ships to disappear from the fleet or sunk ships to not be cleaned up.
- Fixed VP calculations related to transports, causing big differences in VP (old issue).
- Fine tuned overall VP calculations.
- Auto-Resolve further optimizations.
- Fixed problem that prevented shared designs to be used in the Fast mode of campaign.
- Fixed minor calculation inconsistency for event effects.
- Fixed old error causing task forces to travel in the same exact spot if they failed to merge, making it very difficult to select them.
- Other minor fixes.
Please restart Steam to get the update fast
 

[Drenzul]

Tried playing again. Gave up due to ship designer in possibly the worst state I've seen it.

Just tried to make a destroyer. Just had space to slap a 3" gun (3 tons total) on a 900 ton ship
at the front. Balance changed from 10% aft to 25% fore..... for 1 3 inch gun....

Ship designer really really needs some work putting into it to actually fix it rather than adding new features.

[Panzergraf]

1 hour ago, Nick Thomadis said:

Uploaded optimizedx3 version including
- Campaign log can include much more information per turn showing all actions of the AI (when you save the log information gets limited).

Very good change!

[justMike247]

what the hell has happened with Tension now? Not three days ago, we're telling you things feel just about playable, and now, latest update, we're right back to batchit loopy again?? Seriously??????????????

[justMike247]

campaign start puts me at -75% political relations with Spain. Political attempts to improve things are 100% ineffective. Start fleet size limits me to just 6x BB's at 8500 tons. My ENTIRE FLEET wouldn't comprise a task force, yet within 6 months... SIX MONTHS... I'm facing threats from Spain because relations have plunged to -95%. I've nothing to fight them WITH... first attempts to expand my fleet are still in build, so my prestige goes through the floor. 2 months later, game over... prestige at -100% and I haven't fired a shot, haven't built a single hull beyond start-up...

 

No budget to build with, no designs worth building, crazy politics, crazy prestige... What are we supposed to do with this???

 

Absolutely unplayable... This is frikkin nutz

[Zuikaku]

Playing as Japan, budget is so tight you can not get to near historical numbers. Yes, budget was overly abundant before, but now it is enough only to maintain very small fleet. Part of the reason is crew training cost. Before it was only a fraction of what it is now. At 50% training my training costs are higher than fleet maintenance, transport building and port expansion combined!

[Abuse_Claws]

13 hours ago, justMike247 said:

campaign start puts me at -75% political relations with Spain. Political attempts to improve things are 100% ineffective. Start fleet size limits me to just 6x BB's at 8500 tons.

What nation are you playing as?
I suppose this is an 1890 start due to the BB size, and from the starting fleet size I'm guessing you aren't playing as the US

Is this a mod or something? I've never encountered anything like this.

If you're playing as one of the "minor major" nations (Italy, AH, Spain itself), I suggest starting with a bunch of CLs instead of battleships. At about 19kn and with a bunch of 4" guns you can destroy enemy cruisers and run away from enemy battleships, eventually gaining enough victory points to successfully sue for peace

[JaM]

Early game is a problem overall.. technology speed is not that high, so it takes a lot of time to get decently sized hulls (especially for CA, which have no point building unless you can get at least 8000t and armored cruiser II.. armored cruiser I is a waste of money, as you cant even fit funnel to make it move..)

And if you play FAST option, AI will greatly outpace you, because they will get much better ships over time...  seems like they also get the technology with it, so when AI unlocks new level of pre-built ships, it puts player down the Technology level...

but back to 1890 - costs are too high, while options are very limited.. I usually tend to start in 1890 and completely focus on technology and build just minimum ships (CLs mostly) and rush the important tech so i can get decent CAs asap... BBs are mostly waste of money as you will get Dreadnoughts which will make them obsolete anyway...

 

 

[Warspite96]

17 hours ago, justMike247 said:

campaign start puts me at -75% political relations with Spain. Political attempts to improve things are 100% ineffective. Start fleet size limits me to just 6x BB's at 8500 tons. My ENTIRE FLEET wouldn't comprise a task force, yet within 6 months... SIX MONTHS... I'm facing threats from Spain because relations have plunged to -95%. I've nothing to fight them WITH... first attempts to expand my fleet are still in build, so my prestige goes through the floor. 2 months later, game over... prestige at -100% and I haven't fired a shot, haven't built a single hull beyond start-up...

 

No budget to build with, no designs worth building, crazy politics, crazy prestige... What are we supposed to do with this???

 

Absolutely unplayable... This is frikkin nutz

To add to this, I've started an Italy 1930 campaign and I am struggling to get crew for my ships. New crew are currently trickling in at +109 per turn. In 20 turns I'll have enough to man 1 modern battleship! I'm not sure if the recruiting process has been affected by updates, but I've never had an issue manning my ships (including my previous Italy playthroughs) until I started this save.

Edited October 9, 2024 by Warspite96

[justMike247]

4 hours ago, Abuse_Claws said:

What nation are you playing as?
I suppose this is an 1890 start due to the BB size, and from the starting fleet size I'm guessing you aren't playing as the US

Had 3x aborted starts as UK... had Germany chompin on my ass within seconds of starting. Switched to US to have at least some geographic segregation... Another 2 aborted starts before finally getting first new builds available... Available tech, fresh outa the box (1890 start) was bad enough to make me envy the AI's clown cars; 16kts but only in a straight line... if I turn at all... ferget it. Crew training in drips n drabs... tech research limping along on life support while waiting ages for merch fleet to replenish after dozens of nickel n dime raids... 

[Nick Thomadis]

Uploaded optimizedx4 version including
- Further fine tuning in tension mechanics. It should be much better if not optimal.
- Reduced AI boosts at higher difficulty levels to make the gameplay more comfortable.
- Fixed a loading freeze that could happen in campaign prior to a battle (a left over bug of the beta).
- A memory handling optimization.
Please restart Steam to get the update fast

[Nick Thomadis]

5 minutes ago, justMike247 said:

Had 3x aborted starts as UK... had Germany chompin on my ass within seconds of starting. Switched to US to have at least some geographic segregation... Another 2 aborted starts before finally getting first new builds available... Available tech, fresh outa the box (1890 start) was bad enough to make me envy the AI's clown cars; 16kts but only in a straight line... if I turn at all... ferget it. Crew training in drips n drabs... tech research limping along on life support while waiting ages for merch fleet to replenish after dozens of nickel n dime raids... 

The most recent update should make things more comfortable, however, players who somehow were previously able to build dozens of battleships without any financial impact, will notice now that battleships are harder to man and maintain, plus they will inevitably cause tension when players try to "blob" dozens of them in one sea.

[JaM]

30 minutes ago, Nick Thomadis said:

The most recent update should make things more comfortable, however, players who somehow were previously able to build dozens of battleships without any financial impact, will notice now that battleships are harder to man and maintain, plus they will inevitably cause tension when players try to "blob" dozens of them in one sea.

regarding BB blob, its quite common for AI to do it... they commonly have 3-4 BBs, with lots of CAs,CLs and DD/TBs in single fleet.

[Grayknight]

Please.... just please.... if there are ships in port (multiple) stop the ambush mission generator. I just put my ships into port and now it sudenly decided to wonder alone (BB) without its fleet (it is 1st turn into port i just got it in to reorganize the fleet) to be ambushed by 10 destroyers.... words wont describe how much i am fuming especialy after multiple atempts to force combat)

Edited October 9, 2024 by Grayknight

[Panzergraf]

4 hours ago, Nick Thomadis said:

Uploaded optimizedx4 version including
- Reduced AI boosts at higher difficulty levels to make the gameplay more comfortable.

I'm not sure if this is a good change. I think the AI really needed those boosts (to tech and growth) to make the game more challenging late into a campaign.
Currently the difficulty curve is almost opposite of what (I personally think) it should be. It's challenging at the start of a campaign, with limited resources and enemies vastly outnumbering the player with at least comparable tech level ships, but then it gets progressively easier and after a decade or two there's little challenge left for the player.

(games like the Total War series suffer from the same decreasing challenge curve when playing longer campaigns - once the player has a few full stack armies and out-tech the AI where it really matters, winning battles becomes almost a formality)

IMHO it would be better to let the AI have increased boosts to tech and growth, at least on Legendary and Hard difficulty levels, so that late in a campaign they will be on somewhat equal footing with the player, or even surpass the player. While at the same time, to make gameplay more comfortable, increase the starting funds somewhat so that players can have a bit stronger starting navy.

[jw62]

2 things so far;

the crew recruitment rate is way too low

the game used to save at the beginning of each battle, now it doesn't, so that I have to replay a whole turn if i quit out? I get multiple battles and meetings during turns and that means I can't quit out and go to bed unless I replay. That's a game killer

[justMike247]

Mid-battle while I write this, so I've no clue what the game date is... lateish 1890's best guess. Thing is, I finished a campaign last evening, started fresh campaign immediately after, and already that old campaign is three updates old... Devs.. For pity's sake... SLOW DOWN with the updates... Seriously... Don't be in such a rush... Find a stable state and give us TIME to play it through start to finish, PREFERABLY without any major updates through the campaign. By giving us time, WE can give feedback on playability in the early, mid and late game phases, ALL of which are very very different to each other. 

 

First suggestion I'd toss into the ring for you guys to mull over... Re Research... During peacetime, historically there's precious little money available to make things radically different, so tech evolves very slowly. During war however, that's like RnD on steroids... the ultimate test, where you find out very quickly which tech works, which designs don't work, survival of the fittest, and it all happens very rapidly.

 

An observation re combat with the latest rev... I noticed that there's a fire control element built into the accuracy display; "ladder ranging" caught my eye. For late 1930's to early 1940's this would be period correct, because by then, all the critical elements for good, effective fire control had been developed and were proactively fitted to every hull. For 1890's however, ladder ranging is pretty damned close to science fiction. Period correct fire control (for 1890's) relies on the earliest rangefinders, with each gun very much under local control. Modus Operandi is "spray and pray" until ranges close to the point where you just can't miss. There should be a slow, progressive evolution between "spray and pray" and "ladder ranging," where accuracy improves steadily, effective combat ranges increase progressively and modern / refitted to modern spec capitol ships benefit from ever greater lethality.

 

Second suggestion... I've noticed a huge change in the game since rev 1.4 in the number of night/low light engagements, with corresponding graphics... Score a point for the graphics guys. Unfortunately, from a gameplay perspective, taking on a night engagement is tantermount to committing suicide, where the A.I. advantage is absolute. Ignoring RADAR, why not toss us a bone with a couple of low-tech options. Seachlights are modeled into practically every design superstructure, but they merely take up space/add weight... Why not make them work? Alternatively/additionally... Allow Star Shells... That tech had been around since just after Nelsonian era...

 

General observation that's felt way off irrespective of game rev... There seems to be an absolute disconnect between political influence and military might. Biggest frustration, late game... boredom... It takes forever for political influence to force a war, not merely because of the "skip a turn" loop, but because player political influence is always... impotent... (sorry, but can't think of a more appropriate word). I spent five years twiddling my thumbs while building/refitting my entire fleet to "state of the art" spec, constantly growling at the "politics ignored" or merely downgrading relations by 5%... The last country I engaged was the UK, with their gazillion tiny island states. I had over 20+ fleets sat offshore of 20+ "targets" for YEARS, just waiting for a political slot to open up to enable conquest. The the entirety of the last 20 years of the campaign just felt... pointless, where the only hands-on engagements were the occasional convoy mission, promptly followed by "hurry up and wait for the next political turn." It seems to me that the more powerful/up-to-date a countrys navy is, the more political influence it should have.

 

Final point... Yo, Nick... re latest rev... things are slightly less frenetic... I thank you...

[Северная]

8 hours ago, Nick Thomadis said:

The most recent update should make things more comfortable, however, players who somehow were previously able to build dozens of battleships without any financial impact, will notice now that battleships are harder to man and maintain, plus they will inevitably cause tension when players try to "blob" dozens of them in one sea.

Did this also change the weights and dockyard space?  I am working on shared designs and have noticed BB that I designed last week are now extremely overweight and don’t fit in the dockyard of the respective nation.