Midway wish list

[Old Dog]

It is swell to see that HPS is correcting Midway already. Thank you, folks.
I have two requests to be considered for the next Midway patch:

1.) I would like to see the Japanese Cruisers have usable recon aircraft
They had 'em and used 'em at Midway. I understand that you had considered this earlier and rejected the idea. How about making it an option (for the History fans in the audience) ?

2.) I'd like to see the Japanese be allowed to group strikes from different carriers.
They did historically. The U.S. Fleet did not.

Fighter direction control was still a dicey proposition through the Battle of the Eastern Solomons, and only in its infancy at Santa Cruz, but if it hadn't matured hugely by the Marianas, that battle would not have been called 'the Turkey Shoot'. I haven't looked beyond the Coral Sea and Midway scenarios yet, and so cannot offer any concrete suggestions currently, but did not see anything as I read the rules that indicated a maturing of FDC procedures.

Thank you for your efforts to date. Keep up the good work.

Old Dog

 

[Gary McClellan]

Both of these things are already in the game. The Tone and Chikuma at Midway both carry 5 float planes, and generally the cruisers have them in most scenarios (Though not necessarily every single cruiser). Now, the US float planes are not in the game. We decided to avoid taht, as those planes were not normally used for that, and it would give the US player an unfair advantage.

As to multicarrier strikes, that's very much doable.

The trick is this. When you form up a strike, you change the "Package Name". Then, as you add each element (Fighters, Dive Bombers, Torpedo Bombers), you hit the dropdown menu for "Strike-Package" and choose the selection for the overall package. Voila, you have one unified package! It can be across multiple carriers.

 

[Old Dog]

Many thanks Gary.
Must have missed the section of the instructions on combining strikes from several carriers...as well as the Tone and Chikuma's scout planes. Yeesh.
Agreed on U.S. use of float planes. They were pretty much intended to be spotters for gunfire anyway. U.S.S. Salt Lake City had a mishap with one of her scout float planes just before the shooting started at Cape Esperance. They were largely shunned as fire hazards after that.

Thanks again,
Old Dog

 

[ivanmoe]

It's almost impossible to request features for Midway without first acknowledging what a terrific little game that it is. IMHO, it's the best computer game ever that deals with WW2 carrier warfare. And I'd add that the surface combat portion of the game has been enhanced as well.

In spite of the game's several strengths, I have to suggest a few items that I believe would make Midway even better:

1) Aircraft Altitude - This doesn't have to be done in a full-blown, all-or-nothing manner. In fact, the game already has a simpler, more elegant method of addressing the issue in it's handling of subs. Couldn't the same approach be used with aircraft? Even if there were just two altitudes, high and low, much of what goes on in the game would be far more plausible. And that raises the point of the whole deal, the ability of a fighter to leap off of an airfield or flight deck and immediately engage a B-17, or an SBD before it starts it's dive.

2) Submarine Missions - I think that the subs are great fun, but they are mighty dumb, lacking even a fig-leaf of AI. They really need a little logic built into them. For instance, couldn't a submarine be assigned to shadow or attack a task force? In the mission dialogues for aircraft, players have the choice of using their assets for search/strike/patrol. Couldn't subs be assigned for similar sorts of work? At very least, they desperately need to be aware of enemies, and be programmed in such a way that they will dive when spotted/attacked.

3) Hotkeys - I've spent a lot of hours in front of the game, now, and it can really be hard on my mouse-hand. I play the game RT with very few pauses, and the amount of clicking involved can border on the extreme. I really appreciate the "R" key that was built into 1.01, but I'd like to encourage the developer to provide additional keyboard support.

4) Color - No, not art. I want more "dirt." Again, in the context of what the developer did right, please continue to drill as far down into naval-air-combat as you possibly can. Anything that you can do to add to the authenticity of the game is a positive. Among such items, I'd include being as discreet as possible when it comes to values associated with aircraft, ships and weapons. In that same vane, if you can define doctrinal differences between combatants, USN and IJN, you can't go wrong as far as I'm concerned.

In closing, I'd again like to congratulate y'all on this terrific little game. Having worked with developers in the past, I realize that none of what I've suggest above would likely find itself on a programmer's list of "easy" fixes or features to be added to a patch. However, I do believe that they would add significant value to the game and, therefore, should be given due consideration. Good luck and keep us informed about future developments with Midway.

 

[rahamy]

Thanks for the feedback, it will be considered. Glad you are enjoying the game so far!