Small Point
Posted: Fri Aug 08, 2003 6:13 pm
Is it me, or do ships take too long to sink before 'slipping?' I watched a tanker do this - it was almost sunk before the final plunge!
Now, transports and especially tankers tended to sink PDQ due to their open nature and the fact that people like us filled them with holes!
In studying submarine and surface ship tactics there are many stories of convoy attacks. One of the interesting things that we found was the tendency of some freighters - when hit a certain way - to float for days or weeks if not finished off. This was due to compartmentalization of the ship.
A particular story told of a US submarine shooting a Japanese tanker, blowing the stern off her. They surfaced to finish it off and found the front half firmly afloat and the freighters crew opened fire on the sub with their AA guns killing 1 of the subs crew.
We decided to use a range of "sinking" models so some slip away quicly, others last for up to 10 minutes (very long in game time).
Fair enough then - when you think of tankers you think of large tanks that when holed tend to fill quickly.
Is there a way to hit something so it sinks quicker? And don't say 'hit it with a 15" shell'!
right now, no.
One of the features we are working on is a more detailed damage model, this will include the ability to send ships down to the bottom all the quicker.