Please Fix "Weapons Free" Mode

[Nadel]

Hey devs,

I love Sea Power and the potential it has, but the recent beta update that changed the 'Weapons Free' mode so that player units only engage air targets has completely ruined the game for me.

Here’s why:
Before this change, I used the mission editor to create AI vs. AI scenarios where fleets fought each other without me micromanaging anything. I just set them to "Weapons Free" and let the battle play out. It was the best way to objectively test ships and enjoy the visuals of naval combat.

Now, with the new "Weapons Free," my ships won’t fire at enemy ships unless I manually tell them to. It’s turned the game into a micromanagement nightmare, especially with multiple ships. Even controlling one ship is frustrating because I have to handle every single missile launch myself.

What makes this worse is that playing against the AI in this game just isn’t enjoyable. The AI is practically non-existent, and it’s far too easy to outsmart. For now, playing against it isn’t engaging, which is why I focused on AI vs. AI battles instead. This change takes that away entirely.

What’s frustrating is that this change feels unnecessary. The game already has "Weapons Tight" and "Weapons Hold" modes for situations where you don’t want your ships to fire automatically. Why take away the only mode that allowed them to engage all targets on their own?

Suggestions:

1. Please revert "Weapons Free" to how it worked before, where ships could engage both air and surface targets.

2. If that’s not possible, add a toggle in the settings so players can choose how "Weapons Free" works to suit their playstyle.

3. Adding an AI vs. AI mode in the mission editor would be a great feature for everyone. It would allow players to set up battles to watch or test ships without having to manually control one side, and it would make the game more enjoyable for those who don’t want to micromanage everything.

Right now, this change has taken away the one thing that made the game fun and engaging for me. Please consider fixing this.

[Andy]

It didn't work before. Which is why the devs have changed it due to requests.

With multiple air threats over many ships, you often want to go weapons free so the fleet can manage the air defence.
If however there were enemy ships in range, your fleet would launch missiles to attack them aswell. Ignoring any Islands that might be in the way and firing missiles more piecemeal than the player might prefer.
Ideally, you'd have 2 commands, weapons free (Air) and weapons free (other)
But, just reverting it back is still going to cause a problem and likely impact more players than the relatively unique scenario your playing the game with.
What they have done with the beta is going to be a minor improvement for most while not necessarily completely solving the issue.
At least now the instruction does what it says, 'Weapons free air'

[Julhelm]

Would you rather have the option to set the entire faction as AI controlled in the mission editor?

[Nadel]

Originally posted by Andy:

It didn't work before. Which is why the devs have changed it due to requests.

With multiple air threats over many ships, you often want to go weapons free so the fleet can manage the air defence.
If however there were enemy ships in range, your fleet would launch missiles to attack them aswell. Ignoring any Islands that might be in the way and firing missiles more piecemeal than the player might prefer.
Ideally, you'd have 2 commands, weapons free (Air) and weapons free (other)
But, just reverting it back is still going to cause a problem and likely impact more players than the relatively unique scenario your playing the game with.
What they have done with the beta is going to be a minor improvement for most while not necessarily completely solving the issue.
At least now the instruction does what it says, 'Weapons free air'

I see your point, but looking at the manual, Weapons Tight already serves the purpose of engaging only immediate threats like missiles and aircraft while avoiding unnecessary actions, including firing at ships through obstructed terrain?

Changing Weapons Free to engage only air targets feels redundant because Weapons Tight already limits engagements. I completely agree with your suggestion though—splitting it into Weapons Free (Air) and Weapons Free (Surface) would be a great compromise and likely work better for everyone. This way, players can choose the behavior that fits their situation without removing functionality.

Originally posted by Julhelm:

Would you rather have the option to set the entire faction as AI controlled in the mission editor?

Yes, that would be an amazing addition! Having the option to set an entire faction as AI-controlled in the mission editor would be ideal. It would allow players to design detailed battle scenarios, pitting two factions or fleets against each other, and observe how the engagement plays out.

This feature would highlight one of the game’s greatest strengths: its stunning cinematic visuals, because it would free players from having to micromanage every single aspect of the battle, allowing them to fully enjoy the game’s immersive naval combat without getting bogged down in controlling every unit.

Additionally, this could work well with partial AI control. For example, allowing the player to control part of a fleet or air group while the rest is managed by AI. This would give players the flexibility to focus on specific units they want to control while letting the AI handle the rest. In fact, the previous Weapons Free mode worked somewhat like this, letting players focus on specific ships while leaving others semi-autonomous.

If this wouldn’t be too difficult to implement, I think it would be a fantastic improvement to the game and would open up many new ways to enjoy it!

[Targaryen22]

Originally posted by Julhelm:

Would you rather have the option to set the entire faction as AI controlled in the mission editor?

I would love to see this as well. Especially if it means the AI battle group behaves more dynamically. I've edited th Strawberries can kill scenario kinda heavily (added ships to both sides) and I'd like to see the Ruskie side do more then launch all its heli's from the 2 Kievs (Kirov? Mini carrier/heli carrier) and the Orel I gave them and do more then fly them straight ahead at sea level lol. Granted that task force does seem to throw up an AWACs. Cept it too flies with radar on at sea level lol

[Uncle Thrusty]

Possible 3rd way to please everyone:

Add a seperate button for air and surface weapon modes.

Ie: I can have air set to free while surface is set to something else, or in OP's case, surface also free.

[jasoriab]

Originally posted by Uncle Thrusty:

Possible 3rd way to please everyone:

Add a seperate button for air and surface weapon modes.

Ie: I can have air set to free while surface is set to something else, or in OP's case, surface also free.

I like that solution, very good idea.

[Uncle Thrusty]

Originally posted by jasoriab:

Originally posted by Uncle Thrusty:

Possible 3rd way to please everyone:

Add a seperate button for air and surface weapon modes.

Ie: I can have air set to free while surface is set to something else, or in OP's case, surface also free.

I like that solution, very good idea.

Thank you!

I figure it fixes OP's issue, as well as my (unrelated) issue of ships dumping harpoons at patrol boats just because I had a wing of low flying migs show up, while expanding unitl control for otyer senarios I can't think of.

[Enrico Pallazzo]

Originally posted by jasoriab:

Originally posted by Uncle Thrusty:

Possible 3rd way to please everyone:

Add a seperate button for air and surface weapon modes.

Ie: I can have air set to free while surface is set to something else, or in OP's case, surface also free.

I like that solution, very good idea.

Pretty dumb of them to not have that included tbh. It's common sense when you have any kind of big air battle. Either I pause the game every 2 seconds to make sure my AI planes/ships actually shoot at bombers. Or go weapons free and watch my AI launch all all the anti ship missiles in terrible fashion.

[Square Box]

Originally posted by Julhelm:

Would you rather have the option to set the entire faction as AI controlled in the mission editor?

YES! please.

With random start boxes and editor options, as found in Sub Command and Dangerous waters.

Thankyou.

[Dot]

There will be no ability to set player taskforce under AI control.

Ability to auto-shoot at surface stuff in "WeaponsFree" mode will be restored in next update.
It will be enabled by checkbox in Options.
Keep in mind - it is NOT the way game meant to be played.

[Nadel]

Originally posted by Dot:

There will be no ability to set player taskforce under AI control.

Ability to auto-shoot at surface stuff in "WeaponsFree" mode will be restored in next update.
It will be enabled by checkbox in Options.
Keep in mind - it is NOT the way game meant to be played.

Thanks for the update. I’m glad to hear the option to auto-shoot at surface targets in "Weapons Free" is coming back. I get it’s not the intended way to play, but having the choice means a lot. Appreciate the response.

[Lord of the Exiled Winks]

Originally posted by Fall Risk:

Originally posted by jasoriab:

I like that solution, very good idea.

Pretty dumb of them to not have that included tbh. It's common sense when you have any kind of big air battle. Either I pause the game every 2 seconds to make sure my AI planes/ships actually shoot at bombers. Or go weapons free and watch my AI launch all all the anti ship missiles in terrible fashion.

I dont think it has anything to do with them being dumb, and everything to do with high workload and lots of bugs.

[Lord of the Exiled Winks]

Originally posted by Julhelm:

Would you rather have the option to set the entire faction as AI controlled in the mission editor?

Yes

[Tiny]

The devs have listened. In the public beta branche=> [NEW] Options checkbox to allow player units to auto attack surface targets in "WeaponsFree" mode.

[Nadel]

Thanks for adding the checkbox. Finally, devs who actually listen to their players. Great job!