[propbeanie]

FotRSU does not have a front and back visual sensor. It also has a reduced number of AI visual sensors as compared to something like TMO and other mods. The game itself seems to have the visual sensor as a 360x360 device, that can see all the way around, and can apparently see below the water also, given certain settings used. Other mods have restricted the "viewing angle" for various uses, but our thoughts are that a person either passes or does not pass the eye exam in the military or Merchant Marine, and if they fail, they aren't there, so a Merchant can see just as well as a military man can. The height of the sensor and the "CrewRating" is where the difference is in FotRSU, in that regard. We have those set to influence the sensors used.

Depending upon which of the "more difficult" AI mods used (v1.26 has one, Preview has 2??), it might alter the AI sensor dat, it might alter the eqp radar, or it might alter the sim.cfg, or a combination. Each of the release versions has something a little different in that regard, with the next release being no exception, and having five AI add-in mods. Suffice to say, there are multiple ways to edit the AI response. Some are more specific than others.

As for the weather, the game is very strange about it at times, and defies all attempts to mod it. You can add "weather" to the mis files for specific mission files, but adding that to the campaign files can have an adverse affect. The weather does change, but is on a "timer". It also has a "random" chance for what it changes to, such that you might be experiencing ultra clear skies, wind at 2 knots, and after five hours of game time, it does indeed change, but now it is ultra clear skies and winds at 5 knots. It appears you are stuck in a weather pattern, but it did change. It might also be that the "chance" of a "change" came up with "no change", and you are indeed still in the same weather. In theory, a <Ctrl><N> key combination will "re-set" the weather, but again, it only induces a "chance" for that "change". Similarly, if you exit the game just before the weather pattern goes to "roll the dice" for that chance of a change, the weather clock then stops. When you re-load the game, the weather "clock" is re-set (similar to repair times for damage), you are back at zero time for that weather change chance to occur, and have to go through another cycle without a change. The same thing can happen with foul weather, where you might be in a storm for days on end, which of course, can happen in real life, but there is usually a bit of variety involved in such storms, of ebb and flow with the rain and wind. Another aspect apparently affecting the weather seems to be Time Compression, but that effect is not fully understood, if it's even quantifiable, since the weather in the game can be rather wonky... SH4 seems to be better than SH3 in this regard, but not by much, if it is.