112. AI gunnery accuracy proportional to illumination
One of the weaknesses in the game is the very considerable accuracy of enemy gunnery v the (tiny) u-boat, compared with the poor accuracy of the u-boats deck-gun v the (much larger) merchants.
It seems to me that the initial accuracy of enemy guns v a moving u-boat needs to be dialled back considerably, with gradually increasing accuracy over time.
One logical way to do this is to make AI accuracy dependent on the sum of these factors:
Range
Natural light (daylight or moon-light)
Artificial light (held in a search0light or with illumination flares above*
Number of shots fired by the escort or merchant
Number of shots fired by the u-boat (aiding seeing the u-boat)
Expertise of gunner (greater in escorts)
Sea-state
Speed of u-boat
Rate of change of u-boats heading
Visibility (fog)
Not all of these would have an equal effect, however, all would cumulatively affect the probability of a hit on a u-boat. This would mean that a u-boat commander might get a few shots off with a deck-gun before incoming fire becomes so accurate that he's compelled to dive. Whether or not he chooses to employ a desk-gun therefore be driven by an assessment of the factors above. It might be that the conditions allow for it to be tried, or, conversely are deemed to make it took risky. The difference with the current game being that it's not simply a matter of the factors of range and time only.
To what degree given factors affect the escorts ability to fire on a u-boat, and which affect accuracy and by how much, is all open to discussion, but the ability to get a reasonable number of shots off and then scuttle down the tower before diving would be some good content now and again?
|