• We have updated our Community Code of Conduct. Please read through the new rules for the forum that are an integral part of Paradox Interactive’s User Agreement.

Developer Corner | Aerohydrodynamics

Hello everyone!

It has been a while since the last dev corner, as many of us (including myself) went on vacations - but now I have returned, even if it has been quite hard to readjust my brain back to the work frequencies. As usual, keep in mind that everything discussed here is in a relatively early stage, and as such is subject to change, especially all the numbers and values. There is also quite a number of placeholder art.
Today we will talk a bit more about Islands, Carriers (and changes to them) and also about a new branch of Special Forces, so buckle up!

Strategic Locations

dc_aerohydrodynamics_001.png

Truk is what we call a ‘strategic location’, a place that can have increased building capacity or potential. In this case, currently it is a ‘placeholder’ name of Natural Harbor increasing the level cap of Naval Base Truk in Caroline Islands from 6 to 8. (note, that doesn't mean all the Caroline Islands have that increased level cap). This increased level cap of 8 can be quite important as it will allow…

As I mentioned in the Hydrodynamics Dev Corner, not all islands will be equal under the new system. We have created a concept called ‘Strategic Locations’ - that due to specific circumstances, historical importance, geographical location etc. deserves to be a bit more unique, while also having increased gameplay importance. Those locations will have increased limits for certain buildings, depending on the type of the strategic location. Some of the ‘Islands’ like Truk or Guam, may have increased Naval Base caps, others could have increased Airfield or Fort Caps. Or have a mix of them.

Defending Against Naval Strikes

dc_aerohydrodynamics_003.png

In this screenshot, you can see that planes from the British Carriers shot down some of the incoming German Naval Bombers performing Naval Strike.

One of the things that didn’t sit quite right with me for a long time, was the fact that whenever Naval Strike was performed on the Taskforce that included Carriers, Carrier Planes would sit idle and twiddle their thumbs. Now, carrier planes will participate in defense of the taskforce against Naval Strikes - with numbers depending on a few factors.

Carrier Missions

dc_aerohydrodynamics_006.png

dc_aerohydrodynamics_007.png

dc_aerohydrodynamics_008.png

In these screenshots you can see that while the task force is executing the mission (in this case it was naval exercises), planes on that carrier can also perform the air missions at the same time. In the second screenshot I’ve selected all planes to do exercises, while in the last screenshot I’ve opted for fighters to provide air cover and superiority, while I ordered my taskforce to operate in the North Pacific Sea Zone.

Another update when it comes to the Carriers that we will be doing, is the ability to set and execute air missions for the Carrier Air Groups, while the taskforce that contains Carriers are performing the missions. Planes will be executing the missions selected in the same region that the taskforce is currently operating in.

Carrier Hangar Detection Changes

And another change for Carriers, is the introduction of ‘Carrier Sub/Surface Detection’ values on the Hangar modules. Essentially what it does - it provides increased Sub / Surface detection to the ship scaled by the % of the planes it currently has.

dc_aerohydrodynamics_005.png

Deck Space / Hangar for the ‘regular’ carriers provide +2 Carrier Sub Detection and +5 Carrier Surface Detection. For example, a carrier with 3 hangars, will have a Deck Size of 60, and +6 Carrier Sub Detection, +15 Carrier Surface Detection. If it would have a full compartment of 60 planes, then it would get +15 Surface and +6 Sub Detection, while if it would have only 30 planes, it would only provide +3 Sub Detection and +7.5 Surface Detection. As usual, keep in mind those values may be adjusted down the line.


New Special Forces

dc_aerohydrodynamics_004.png

Who will guess which one is the new branch of Special Forces?

To fight in all the jungles and on the islands, we are introducing a new branch of Special Forces - which we internally called for quite some time ‘Jungle Specialists’. This temporary name was great as long as they remained on the design board, but for the actual implementation finding the right name for them proved to be quite challenging to me. They went under a few ‘name iterations’ (amongst them some like: Jaegers or Chindits), but finally decided to name them Rangers. But hold up, aren’t there Rangers in-game already as a Support Company unlocked by the Mountaineers Special Doctrine, you will ask? Yes, and they will be renamed to Recon Rangers. Recon Rangers will be now unlocked by either picking Mountaineers Special Doctrine OR Rangers Special Doctrine. Rangers specialty will be fighting in the Woods and Jungles, and of course they can be further customized and boosted by the Rangers Special Forces Doctrine branch.

dc_aerohydrodynamics_002.png

And this is the new special forces doctrine branch in all its FINAL_BACKUP_DRAFT_FINAL_V5 glory and form.

And that’s pretty much it for this dev corner from my side. In time we will return with more dev corners, including me talking more about things that are opposite to dry amongst others. I am really curious to see and read all your feedback and opinions on what I mentioned today.

Thanks for reading and until next time, farewell!

/Zwirbaum

dc_aerohydrodynamics_009.png

I am going to leave you with another teaser for one of the new ‘toys’ we will talk about in the future. This shouldn’t be a hard guess, I think?
 
  • 55Like
  • 13Love
  • 10
  • 3
  • 2
  • 1Haha
Reactions:
In case enemy fighters operate air superiority in region carrier operates, will carrier fighters fight them?
Will land based fighters escort naval numbers attacking ships when sent on air superiority?
Will land based fighters intercept bombers/navs from carriers and fight escorting carrier fighters?
 
  • 3Like
  • 2
  • 1
Reactions:
That is great! There are indeed not as many islands in the Pacific that must be contested. Also, may I ask if unrestricted submarine warfare would be more effective in blocking Britain?
 
I have a couple of questions about the new carrier air missions

1)Does the carrier have to be in a sea zone to assign the air mission, or can I assign it while they're in port and then they'll automatically execute it when moving? eg could I put a carrier on Naval invasion Support, then put some of it's planes on Close Air Support so that they'll automatically cover the landings when the invasion launches?

2)What happens if I have a carrier on Patrol or Strike Force, and put it's Navs on Naval Strike? Will they automatically launch a naval strike as they move into a zone, and still take part in the actual combat, or is it one or the other?
 
  • 2Like
Reactions:
On the remaining part, about production costs, rebalancing etc. - as someone linked my answer from previous dev corners, it is somewhat high on my to-do lists. :)
What are your thoughts about having as close to 1:1 as possible for real ships vs their in-game setup. Other then the colours of the items being truly awful and it being out of date, this mod was the most realistic i've seen. Can we ever get something close to this?

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1687056790

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2862849828
 
  • 2Like
Reactions:
I like the approach of giving different islands some individual "geographic personality" - I always felt they were far too generic :)

  1. I assume the new Rangers/Jaegers will unlock via army xp, which is already the slowest to get. Will the army xp gain rate be adjusted, to account for the additional branch?
  2. Talking about special forces branches, any adjustments to the current limit of 2 coming?
Add me in on these, @Silens asked exactly what I'm wondering about, too...
 
  • 5
Reactions:
In case enemy fighters operate air superiority in region carrier operates, will carrier fighters fight them?
Will land based fighters escort naval numbers attacking ships when sent on air superiority?
Will land based fighters intercept bombers/navs from carriers and fight escorting carrier fighters?

1) If you set your planes to do Air Superiority mission on Carrier then yes, they will fight and try to contest the Superiority.
2) Land based fighters as it is right now, do not join the Naval Strike itself, but they should definitely help against disruptions/superiority/interceptions caused by Carrier-based Planes doing Superiority/Interception mission.
3) Similarly, depending on what carrier planes are doing as their mission, but I think that should be the case.
 
  • 8
  • 2Like
Reactions:
  • 4Like
Reactions:
I would suggest a change to Scout Plane Module on BB, SHBB
Like to equip 2-6 CV Planes (only SHBB 6) for defence/support missions.
Also suggest to change the small black Icon in fleet menu for SHBB like you already did for modern-BB. Both things would give so much flavour :)
 
  • 1Like
Reactions:
Will reserve final judgement on Rangers getting their own branch until we see more, but first impression isn't great. Was previously very clearly Land, Air and Sea. Now different land branches, so maybe Commandos should have their own entire branch, maybe paratroopers should be different to glider borne troops, maybe helicopter air assault troops should be different, etc. etc. Smells like unnecessary granularity of choice to me.

I'd also like to know if the arbitrary limit of two specialisations will be reconsidered. Why does Germany get all three?

Carrier changes honestly mean very little without addressing the underlying naval system, which we all know has to come at some point. How will these new features be changed again when the inevitable rework does happen?
 
  • 4
  • 3
Reactions:
Very nice! Three questions remain, though:
  1. I assume the new Rangers/Jaegers will unlock via army xp, which is already the slowest to get. Will the army xp gain rate be adjusted, to account for the additional branch?
  2. Talking about special forces branches, any adjustments to the current limit of 2 coming?
  3. Will the long-standing problem of hybrid fighter-bombers for carriers be resolved? For those who don't know, CV planes can only perform a single role right now, which makes hybrid designs unviable.
Would really love to get three 'yes' here! Great work, looking forward to more.

1. Yes, they are unlocked via Army XP. Army XP (or rather what it is spent on) will see some changes, but I guess that is a topic for the future discussion.
2. Nothing we have planned or discussed for now, so likely will remain at 2.
3. Yesn't. There is no big sweeping change to the multi-role planes, even though I would want to see their usability increased. However big systemic change to them would be outside of the scope, and would require to take a longer look at the air stuff more thoroughly.

Now saying that, I am right now considering that 'Multi-Role' Carrier CAS/NAVs could also potentially participate in the defense of the Carrier Taskforce, thus making designs like 1 x Torpedo 2 x HMG a bit more useful in the big picture.

It is not 3 times YES, but hopefully you will not be disappointed with this answer. :)
 
  • 9
  • 6Like
  • 1Love
Reactions:
nice
as someone who refuses to buy the overpriced DLC every mechanic will be locked behind the paywalls.
or will the reduction on airfield and port levels on backwater islands be generosly free?
Will you now force the Road to 56 team to lock their Jäger/Dshungle special forces to be locked behind this coming dlc aswell?
 
  • 9
  • 1Like
Reactions:
Still craving more, I'm eager to know how players will be involved in naval battles in future versions. Will it still be as simple as just clicking patrol or strike fleets, just like in the past?
 
Another dev corner that stirs my appetite, I've always felt that woodsmen have been under represented in media as a whole. Though the carrier hangar modules and talks of specialized modules make me wonder about a particular question.
I had wanted to ask if the catapult/seaplane module will get a second look bringing in the possibility of offensive seaplane carriers for less industrious nations.
 
  • 1
Reactions:
Please use the opportunity of new special forces to finally give France 3D special forces models. How cool would it be to finally have the French Foreign Legion? Especially since they fought in the jungle against the Japanese in Indochina…
 
  • 5
  • 1
Reactions:
So, will the 4 carrier limit in battles actually change, or is it going to stay as is?
Also, if your going to add more special forces, the way to get extra doctrines needs to be changed, USSR for example has to go down the naval branch to get a 2nd doctrine, while germany gets it in 2 focuses
 
  • 4Like
  • 2
Reactions: