The unofficial Distant Guns 'wish list'

saddletank

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Harv said:
Perhaps it's more poor AI targeting choices as opposed to fixation. For example I have a game where 6 Japanese cruisers (3 on each side) are within 1500m of two Russian battleships (Navarin and Vyeliki) and beating them up quite badly, while both BB's are firing on the Chin Yen which is almost 8000m away. If the BB's were "smart" they'd blow away the cruisers with the 305's at short range and then work over the Chin Yen.
The player can set his/her ships to fire at various target settings. It sounds like the AI in the situation above is staying on 'free' targeting and therefore engaging the target with the highest combat value even though that target isn't the highest threat. The AI seems to need an extra setting the player does not: a 'greatest threat' setting which should be a combination of combat value, range and whether that target is firing at the AI ship. Perhaps a setting called 'return fire at nearest significant aggressor' is needed? The AI would then fire at TBs or DDs within 1000m first then the nearest ship firing at it next and finally the target in range with the highest combat value.

Certainly the situation you describe sounds screwy to me.
 
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BlackVoid

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Please give us an option to hide ship names, green dots and triangles! The game would look much better without these artificial things. And I really do not need those names, we have that nice magnifyng glass. The dots and triangles could be useful sometimes, but many times not needed either.
 

saddletank

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I've seen plenty of screenshots with no markers at all so they must be disable-able?
 

WallysWorld

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Press 'S' to disable Ship Status which includes ship names, ship markers and the triangle markers too. I always play with the Ship Status off.
 

BigBog

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wishing for...a couple of things...

Most of which have been covered, but like to add my vote to:

1) OOB screen, including location, status, TF/Division, damage and ability to click on it and go there..

2) Abbreviated "status: <s> titles like: BB instead of battleship, etc...tkaes up too much space as it stands now

3) more fire and explosions--a ship with 70-90% fire damage should show a bit more evidence of raging out of control fires, granted that much can be below deck, so then alot more smoke billowing up/out...

4) secondary explosions: I remember Action Stations (PC-DOS, anyone remember this title?) in particular did a great job in modeling these...

BigBog
 

Mowers

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Please can we see a total tally of merchant shipping sunk so we can see how close to victory we are.
 

APHILL

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Wish List

Need an OOB!!!
Ability to maximize the lower right overview map. And issue orders from it
F9 Key doesnt work in the campaign map to toggle the trade routes
 

von Tirpitz

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wish list

1. Easy multiplayer including easy search for games,sharing computer
generated scenarios,eventually VOIP (not realistic but fun).
2. ability to add small areas or rain or snow to a computer generated scenario
map: realistic and gives fleets a place to hide in or escape to
3. point buying system for computer generated scenarios
4.GREAT GAME
 

Ironhand

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BigBog said:
4) secondary explosions: I remember Action Stations (PC-DOS, anyone remember this title?) in particular did a great job in modeling these...

BigBog
I still have it. Played the Amiga version to death.

Would like to see a better end of battle summary. Shells fired, how many hits.

As was mentioned before, a general order for ships to engage their opposite number. As it stands, if I want to do that, I have to order each ship by hand. As the admiral, I want to hoist a signal.

Maybe this is a little much, but if the commander is killed, maybe a period where you can't issue orders until the next in command takes over?
 
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Porkchop

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This may have been mentioned before. Whilst playing the campaign game as the Japanese I'd been hunting a Russian TF that had been harassing my shipping lanes. I patrolled outside Vladivostok waiting for their return. They did and I gave chase and was gaining on them. What was disappointing is the Russian ships disengaged as they fled from the map. Battle over. Lots of daylight left. This doesn't happen in the CG battles. When you reach the map edge, it loads the next section allowing the engagement to continue.
 

Dogbert

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I see this a lot... kind of frustrating.
I ran into a Japanese squadron going at 14 knots (that old chinese battleship) and chased them with 4 divisions: 1 at 23 knots, 1 at 21 knots and 2 at 18 knots. My 23 knot cruisers just barely got into range before the battle ended due to the Japanese ships sailing off the map.
 

Mowers

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I have had some fairly bizarre outcomes my self along similiar lines.

Some information on how the computer calculates this would be useful.
 

Porkchop

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BTW, in my previous post I mentioned the Russians exiting the map. My TF was between them and Vladivostok so they didn't sail into port. What was more annoying, when I returned to the campaign map, my TF had moved over to the right of Vladivostok and the Russian TF sailed straight past me into the port!
 

Mowers

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Porkchop said:
BTW, in my previous post I mentioned the Russians exiting the map. My TF was between them and Vladivostok so they didn't sail into port. What was more annoying, when I returned to the campaign map, my TF had moved over to the right of Vladivostok and the Russian TF sailed straight past me into the port!
Yep, this is exactly the sort of problem I was encountering.

In addition to which, I would split fleets only to have them appear as one TF despite heading off in completely different directions!
 

Porkchop

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Lol. You can just imagine the Russian's lined up on the decks giving me the finger! :angry:
 

Dogbert

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I wonder if the AI bases its decision only on spotted ships or if it knows your fleet composition... it would make a lot of sense if you could post a "bait" force of fast cruisers up ahead to lure them into a trap
 
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Porkchop

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One more observation. If, during the campaign, you are zoomed in on the map and the game switches to an engagement and you click to view the campaign map on the engagement screen, it remains zoomed in. If that is the case and the engagement location is not within the zoomed view you cannot see where the engagement is taking place. Perhaps it would be better if the campaign map, viewed from the engagement screen, is zoomed out fully by default. Hope this makes sense. :crosseye:
 

Rhetor

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Annoying thing - after each engagement a task force is automatically ordered to return to base. Not so much a problem in Yellow Sea sorties, but in the case of commerce raider sent to the other side of Japan...
 

Mowers

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Yeah, I have been finding that a bit annoying, especially when the "battle" was against a transport ship
 
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