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Post by randomizer on Jan 16, 2014 13:48:57 GMT -6
I think that it is important, insofar it may be practical to do so, that the rationale behind the effects seen in the game should be communicated to address Player inquiries. Also I can be a bit pedantic at times particularly when trying to distil a very complex subject that crosses a variety of disciplines as does naval gunnery into a simple Internet post. So, if I sounded abrupt or impatient I apologize; that was not my intention and your support of SAI is certainly appreciated.
Thanks.
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Post by dickturpin on Jan 16, 2014 14:09:19 GMT -6
I find that smoke interference can make a highly significant difference to hitting rates.
If you are down wind of the enemy line you appear to usually outshoot him; if up wind you generally don't. Deployment of your fleet generally appears to outweigh nationality. I have outshot the Japanese when playing the Russian.
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Post by phoenix on Jan 16, 2014 16:02:16 GMT -6
No need for apologies at all. Like I said, great game. Most of all, for me, as I've said before, it's fantastic that you're putting time into developing a proper AI (friendly as well as enemy). I personally think that really is the key to great games, but it most often has been forgotten and sidelined in favour of spending the time on eye-candy, these days (your brain can do the eye-candy, I think, but it can't do the AI). Very few devs are really putting the time into AI and it's great you're one of them.
Since you've spent the last year immersed in the history of the RJW, I was wondering, which 2 books would you recommend to look at? So far I have been unable to find anything matching Hart and Steels' superb book on Jutland (imho), which gives you the tactics and strat for Jutland, but really also brings it to life with personal accounts. I have read Olender's 2 volumes on the RJW, but haven't found anything more like the Hart and Steel treatment, with personal stories showing 'what it was like'. Thought you might know something of that sort though. |
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Post by randomizer on Jan 16, 2014 17:11:38 GMT -6
Hands down, The Tide at Sunrise: A History of the Russo-Japanese War 1904-1905 by Denis and Peggy Warner for a one-volume general history of the entire conflict. The Amazon price is outrageous which is why I buy my books on line elsewhere like at Biblio: It should be available through your local library depending on where you live so you should not have to buy it. My copy pre-dates ISBN catalogue though. Richard Hough The Fleet that had to Die and Constantine Pleshakov's The Tsar's Last Armada are fine works, the latter has some wonderful vignettes from the voyage of Rozhestvenky's fleet to Tsushima but suffers from using the Julian calendar which makes the dates seem out of skew. Other general titles include: David Walder - The Short, Victorious War lacks the depth of Warner & Warner but is very readable and has some useful maps. Richard Connaughton - The War of the Rising Sun and Tumbling Bear should be used with caution but provides adequate coverage while being inferior in most respects to the other general histories mentioned above. For naval affairs Piotr Olender's two-volume The Russo-Japanese Naval War 1904-1905 is invaluable and well illustrated with photos not found elsewhere. Amazon has them for considerably more than I paid but that outlet is now out of stock. Beware of contemporary sources; commentary on the war was an ideal platform for the naval Talking-Heads of the day to spin the conflict to support whatever agenda they may have had. However they do provide context and are very useful for details and if you read past the spin (half the battle is knowing that it may be there) there is much useful information out there. To this end one cannot praise the Russo-Japanese War Research Society website too highly. Russo-Japanese War Research SocietyThere are some excellent resources on the Internet, others may be less than stellar. Good luck. |
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Post by oldpop2000 on Jan 16, 2014 17:24:41 GMT -6
Hands down, The Tide at Sunrise: A History of the Russo-Japanese War 1904-1905 by Denis and Peggy Warner for a one-volume general history of the entire conflict. The Amazon price is outrageous which is why I buy my books on line elsewhere like at Biblio here: It should be available through your local library depending on where you live so you should not have to buy it. My copy pre-dates ISBN catalogue though. Richard Hough The Fleet that had to Die and Constantine Pleshakov's The Tsar's Last Armada are fine works, the latter has some wonderful vignettes from the voyage of Rozhestvenky's fleet to Tsushima but suffers from using the Julian calendar which makes the dates seem out of skew. Other general titles include: David Walder - The Short, Victorious War lacks the depth of Warner & Warner but is very readable and has some useful maps. Richard Connaughton - The War of the Rising Sun and Tumbling Bear should be used with caution but provides adequate coverage while being inferior in most respects to the other general histories mentioned above. For naval affairs Piotr Olender's two-volume The Russo-Japanese Naval War 1904-1905 is invaluable and well illustrated with photos not found elsewhere. Amazon has them for considerably more than I paid but that outlet is now out of stock. Beware of contemporary sources; commentary on the war was an ideal platform for the naval Talking-Heads of the day to spin the conflict to support whatever agenda they may have had. However they do provide context and are very useful for details and if you read past the spin (half the battle is knowing that it may be there) there is much useful information out there. To this end one cannot praise the Russo-Japanese War Research Society website too highly. Russo-Japanese War Research SocietyThere are some excellent resources on the Internet, others may be less than stellar. Good luck. I don't mean to be petty, I am just trying to understand the rules of the forum. Has the rule forbidding the use of a marketplace competitor to NWS, been changed? My Kindle Freebies thread was closed due to that rule and if the rule has been modified, I would like to reopen that thread or start a new one. Thanks. |
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Post by randomizer on Jan 16, 2014 17:31:32 GMT -6
Fixed.
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Post by phoenix on Jan 17, 2014 2:17:55 GMT -6
Fantastic, Randomizer. Many thanks for that. From that list, all I've read is the Olender! I'll try and find The Tide at Sunrise, certainly. And maybe The Fleet that had to die. Thanks!
The web site too. Excellent stuff.
UPDATE: And thanks for the 'Biblio' recommendation. I'd never heard of it, and you're right - the prices compare very favourably to amazon. I've ordered the Tide at Sunrise from there. |
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Post by oldpop2000 on Jan 17, 2014 8:50:45 GMT -6
Fantastic, Randomizer. Many thanks for that. From that list, all I've read is the Olender! I'll try and find The Tide at Sunrise, certainly. And maybe The Fleet that had to die. Thanks!
The web site too. Excellent stuff.
UPDATE: And thanks for the 'Biblio' recommendation. I'd never heard of it, and you're right - the prices compare very favourably to amazon. I've ordered the Tide at Sunrise from there. Heresies of Sea Power by Frederick Thomas Janes
The Naval Battles of the Russo-Japanese War by Kichitaro Togo
The Russian navy in the Russo-Japanese war by Nikolai Lavrentevich Klado
A Study of the Russo-Japanese War by Lionel James
The Imperial Japanese Navy by Frederick Thomas Janes
These four and others are free books, written either during or after the Russo-Japanese War. Frederick Thomas Janes is the originator of Janes Fighting ships. Here is a link to a good source for these books. They are available in many formats for download and reading online, which I prefer.
archive.org/details/texts
Kichitaro Togo was a captain in the Imperial Japanese Navy, nephew of Admiral Togo of Tsu-shima. He kept a diary of his actions in the naval engagements on board the flagship of the Fourth Division, the cruiser Naniwa.
One interesting book is "War-ships" by Edward Lewis Attwood, dated 1912. It was" a text-book on the construction, protection stability turning etc. of war vessels". Quite interesting and informative, again it is available on Internet Archive
Another interesting book is "Before Port Arthur in a destroyer: The Personal Diary of a Japanese Officer". by Hesibo Tikowara
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Post by phoenix on Jan 18, 2014 4:06:04 GMT -6
Even more! And free. Can't fault that. Many thanks, oldpop. Will certainly go and find the free ones. The Togo sounds like it might have some stories in as to 'what it was like'. Ditto the Tikowara. Thanks again.
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Post by oldpop2000 on Jan 18, 2014 9:00:24 GMT -6
Even more! And free. Can't fault that. Many thanks, oldpop. Will certainly go and find the free ones. The Togo sounds like it might have some stories in as to 'what it was like'. Ditto the Tikowara. Thanks again. One more series of books to search for at Internet Archive is the Cassell's History of the Russo-Japanese War. It is in several volumes. It is quite interesting and informative as are the series of volumes on this war by the British Committee for Imperial Defense titled the Official History of the Russo-Japanese War.
I have given you books that are, in many cases, used by modern authors if you read their bibliography. I urge you to read those bibliographies and look for others. The source documents for modern books are excellent. Good luck.
Update: One set I forgot to mention, and it is not free, is the two volume set by H. P. Willmott titled "The Last Century of Sea Power". Volume 1 is "From Port Arthur to Chanak, 1894-1922" and the other is "From Washington to Tokyo, 1922-1945". As you can see these cover a long time period. They are both in printed and electronic version, I have both.
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