The general concept behind this mod is a good idea, and is badly needed in the game. However, the mod makes changes which are a bit extreme. The author's "readme" says:
This mod reduces the probability of enemy air strikes and increases the pauses between them. To make up for that, the effectiveness of airstrikes has been considerably increased during day (but decreased during night).
In gameplay terms this means that you'll get attacked by aircraft a lot less, but if you see an aircraft they will pose a much more serious threat.
The author's changes to the "AirStrike.cfg" file show the following:
Night strike probability decreased by 60% (from 0.5 to 0.2).
Default air strike probability decreased by 50% (from 10 to 5).
Logic Steps (pauses) between air fighting sessions increased by 200% (from 10 to 20).
Modifier for poor airbase or carrier increased by 250% (from 0.2 to 0.5).
Modifier for novice airbase or carrier increased by 200% (from 0.35 to 0.7).
Modifier for competent airbase or carrier increased by 160%, from 0.5 to 0.8.
Modifier for veteran airbase or carrier increased by 129% (from 0.7 to 0.9).
Modifier for elite airbase or carrier stays the same at 1.0.
Enemy air strike probability increase based on radio messages sent decreased by 33% (from 30 to 20).
Enemy air strike probability increase based on player detection decreased by 25% (from 40 to 30).
My biggest complaint about Silent Hunter 4's enemy airstrike configuration is that there are too many night attacks. While Japan did have competent night fighters in its arsenal, they were principally used as interceptors. In all my years of playing the original Silent Hunter, I did not ever come under attack by an enemy airplane at night and I do not recall reading about night attacks against U.S boats in the Pacific by Japanese aircraft. Also, I do not agree with the author's logic that a decrease in the night strike probability factor should be offset by a significant increase in the effectiveness of day light air strikes. Therefore, I do not recommend the author's mod.
I have made my own modification to the game's "AirStrike.cfg" file. The sole change reduces the Night Strike Probability by 90% to 0.005, from the default value of 0.05. There are no other changes. All other values are unchanged - they are the same as the ones in the un-modded Silent Hunter 4. On my system, the AirStrike.cfg file is located at the following path:
c:\Program Files\Silent Hunter Wolves of the Pacific\Data\Cfg\AirStrike.cfg
I call it the
SubSoWesPac Air Strike Mod. The file is zipped and should be JSGME friendly.
Ed Howard
Silent Hunter 4 Wolves of the Pacific
Author
