Post by Adseria on May 16, 2019 0:58:06 GMT -6
Before I start, I've only played through the demo a few times as either of the 2 countries, so it's entirely possible that I'm missing something, and that one or more of the things I mention here don't exist. Also, a lot of this post is going to sound like I'm complaining, but I do like the game; I just think it has some teething problems that a generous application of patches could fix. Either way, please bear with me; I'm going to try to provide constructive criticism. Anyway, on with the post.
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I have a lot of problems with the way carrier air operations (and air ops in general, but I'm focusing on carriers for this thread) are handled. I realise that large parts of what I'm about to say are because you wanted to automate things, to take work away from the player. However, most of what I'm going to mention here is, IMHO, terrible. I have some suggestions to make (what I think would be) significant improvements, but, first, I want to list a few of the biggest issues I've noticed.
1: The UI for air ops is not user friendly.
1a: The menu for setting missions, the one for viewing the status of squadrons and the one for setting cap and search patterns are 3 separate windows.
1b: In the menu for setting missions, it's hard to tell what's happening; aircraft that air airborne, readying, launching or landing aren't visible. Also, it doesn't show how many aircraft a "deckload strike" should consist of, how many aircraft are selected, when they would be ready/launched if the relevant commands were given at that point.
1c: The menu for displaying status of aircraft is hard to read; aircraft from a squadron or on the same mission aren't grouped together, and it's cluttered with aircraft flying CAP.
2: Reconnaisance is too heavily automated.
2a: The player has no control over which aircraft/squadrons are used for recon.
2b: The player has limited control over the actual recon schedule (direction, launch times, number of planes assigned etc)
3: The player has limited control over their aircraft (connected to 2a).
3a: The player can only select squadrons to be assigned to a mission, whereas, historically, admirals would often send a few planes on a mission, while keeping others from the same squadron in reserve.
3b: Once aircraft have been launched, there is no way to control them. It's possible that this is alleviated by later technologies like radio, but even at the start of the game, it should be possible to recall aircraft that are still close to the carrier using flags.
As you can see, a lot of my issues with the system as it stands tie in to one another. This is good, because it means that a single solution can solve multiple problems. Now I'll list what I think should be don to solve the problems, as I see them (note: I'm using the same numbering system, but the solutions don't necessarily correlate to the problems above in order).
1: Put reconnaissance under more direct player control. Obviously, the player can't be expected to send out each recon aircraft one at a time. I suggest that an entirely new system be created, described in part 3, below.
2: Merge the menu for readying aircraft and launching strikes, the one for viewing aircraft status and the one for setting CAP into one window (not recon; I'll get to that later). Group aircraft by the ship they're based on, then by squadron, then by current status, allowing the player to view the status of all planes in their fleet at a glance. You could also use a ticker (I forget if that's the right word; the same thing as used to set gun calibre in the ship design) to select a certain number of aircraft from a specific group (for instance, I might want to select 3 spotted TBs from HMS Ship and 2 unreadied fighters from HMS Other Ship and tell them to launch; it should be possible to select any planes you want, in whatever situation you want (except flying or damaged)). Also, having the option to filter out specific carriers would be a nice QOL addition.
2a: When assigning CAP, the game should select a number of fighters, spread between available carriers, to be assigned to CAP (the number should be based on the current CAP setting, obviously), and should indicate to the player which fighters have been set aside for CAP, keeping them separate from fighters available for other missions.
3: Create an entirely new system for preparing and launching planes.
3a: First, the player assigns a loadout (light, medium, heavy, torpedo(s) or a new option, "none," where the aircraft has nothing but fuel (including drop tanks, if the game simulates those), as well as choosing HE vs AP bombs manually) to aircraft, something which would be handled on an individual level, but could also be assigned to an entire squadron or group of squadrons (of the same aircraft) at once. While doing this, the game would tell the player exactly how many aircraft are set to be readied, and the spotting capacity of the carrier(s). Once aircraft are readied, they must then be spotted, a new step that allows a player to have a limited number of aircraft ready to launch at a moment's notice, but leaves any spotted aircraft vulnerable, and limits other things (a carrier with no room to spot new aircraft can't operate CAP (CAP fighters will be automatically assigned from other carriers if possible; if not, the game will flag this to the player), and a carrier with too many spotted planes can't recover aircraft). Finally, spotted aircraft will be launched. The spotting and launching steps should be able to be automated, or it should be possible to do 1 or more steps manually (for instance, a group of aircraft is readied and spotted, but not launched, or is readied and then told to spot and launch immediately (like it works now).
3b: When the player is ready to launch a strike, they first select which planes will be launched. They can select only planes that are already spotted (in which case the carrier(s) will immediately turn into the wind and launch those aircraft), planes that are either spotted or readied below deck (in which case, the carrier(s) will launch the spotted aircraft, and then immediately begin spotting other aircraft; aircraft that are spotted can be told to either wait for unspotted aircraft and coordinate their attack, or proceed independently to the target and attack as soon as they arrive. This selection is made in the next window, described in section 3c, below), or planes that are either spotted, ready below decks, or completely unready (in which case, any aircraft currently spotted or ready will act as above, while unready aircraft will be readied, and then automatically launch once all unready aircraft are ready (if some are ready before others, these will automatically begin spotting, but wait to launch)).
3c: When aircraft have been selected and the "launch" order has been given, a new window appears. This window is used for selecting a mission. This window is split into three sections. One section displays what aircraft have been selected, and their loadouts. The second gives a list of possible missions (naval strike, ground strike and so on). The third segment changes depending on the mission selected in section 2, and is used for setting the parameters of the mission. Strike missions, for example, would allow all the same options we have now (target location, target contact report and so on), plus a few more if the team has the time and inclination to add them (like the ability to set what the aircraft will do when they reach their target location (search the area, continue on course, RTB and so on)). This section also displays information about the strike, including how long launching will take, the approximate time the first aircraft (for an uncoordinated strike) or all aircraft (for a coordinated strike) will arrive over the target, and the approximate time the last aircraft will return to the carrier. If unreadied aircraft were selected, the timing info will be displayed separately for those aircraft.
3d: This window is also where the new recon controls would come in. The player can set the left and right parts of the search arc, the range of the arc, and (preferably) the size of each segment of the arc (a "segment" being the size of the arc covered by each aircraft; a narrow arc with narrow segments to search an area at long range, a wide arc with wide segments to cover an area close to the fleet. Then, each available plane is automatically assigned to a segment, with any excess aircraft being kept on the carrier, in it's current status. If there are excess aircraft, spotted aircraft will be selected first, then readied aircraft, then unready aircraft last. The player could set the left and right points of the arc to the same bearing, and segment size to 0, to replicate the way that manual "recon" missions work now.
4: Give the player more control over airborne aircraft. As I said earlier, some or all of what I'm about to mention may already be in the full game, but I'll say it anyway. Early in the game (IE until radio is invented), control of airborne aircraft should be limited to the ability to recall aircraft in the vicinity of the carrier (this could be calculated as something as simple as the distance from the plane to the carrier, but should probably have a full visibility check). However, once radio is invented, it should be possible to recall aircraft from outside visual range, and to redirect aircraft to a more up-to-date (or high-priority) contact.
Ok, I'm pretty much done, just a few more things (my hands are hurting, so I'll keep it brief! ). First, I'm sorry if I came across as too harsh. It's a very good game; I just felt like there were a few things that could be improved, and wanted to mention them.
I realise most of the things that I've suggested here would take a lot of work, and obviously I'm not expecting them to come overnight; this was just me laying out what I think of as my "ideal" air ops system based on the system that's currently in place. In fact, I'm fully expecting everyone to go through it and point out all the massive flaws in my system that I never thought of. As I said, I was just trying to find solutions to the problems I described above, and I think the only way to completely remove them all is a significant overhaul. Even if people do agree, I understand that what I'm suggesting would be a lot of work, and I won't be offended if none of my ideas are implemented (ok, maybe a little bit offended ); these are just suggestions.