[tater]

I cannot see how proper carrier operations would EVER be possible in the SH4 engine.

The "airgroup" paradigm is fundamentally a bad one, and the game is completely incapable of modeling the real factors involved in carrier operations. Even a flight sim like Il-2 (or indeed ANY ww2 flight sim in existence, for that matter) cannot properly do CV air ops.

To be even a little realistic, it would require that the player:

1. Have to decide how to arm the planes, then fuel and arm them, then warm them up, then spot them for take off. The difference between USN and IJN doctrine need to be factored (warming up planes in the hanger then bringing them up for the IJN, mostly spotting planes entirely on the flight deck for the USN (early war we sometimes had to spot maybe 1/2 below to give SBDs more take off room). This whole proc\edure needs to take an appropriate amount of time We're talking maybe an hour anyway (+- with crew quality). During arming, ships are particularly vulnerable to damage because of all the avgas and ordnance all around the flight deck or hanger spaces. (can you say, "Midway?")

2. The CV must steam into the wind to launch OR recover aircraft. 30-60 minutes for take offs, probably, and more for recovery, particularly after a strike as damaged planes might limp in spread out over time. Any time you must evade risks losing aircraft in the air should they run out of fuel.

3. Take off and recovery need to be realistic, at least to the extent that the CV steams (likely at or near flank speed) in a straight line into the wind for the duration. This includes TO and recovery of Combat Air Patrols. (note that for the IJN, recon was usually tasked to CA-based float planes as they felt that recon flights from the CV weakened the air group).

4. Arming needs to be specific for ground vs ship targets as very different loads were used. GP bombs will damage ships, but not in the way the AP or semi-AP bombs used did. Also, the VT units (torpedo planes) were also tasked with level/glide bombing vs land targets.

5. Proper reloads of bombs, torpedoes, etc need to be carried for the aircraft. Meaning that the ship can run out. This happened to the US CVs in the Coral Sea since their earlier attacks on Tulagi expended most of their torpedoes for the VT squadron.

Note that I am assuming the air ops themselves are simplified. Even so, I see none of the above as remotely possible in SH4.

Bottom line is that CVs in SH are TARGETS, nothing more. Unmodified (by having their airgroups slashed) they are unrealistically powerful, too, as the entire CAG flies around to the limit of their range endlessly bombing stuff. They probably don;t even count hos many are shot down, lol. Properly for SH4, CVs need to have TINY airgroups (2-3 planes total per CV), and the planes need to be clones with vastly reduced range (since they represent the CAP or ASW patrol, and would stay within visual range of the TF at all times for the IJN (bad radios), and short radar range at most for allied CAPs).