LOW DISCIPLINE - Hit the breaks!!! :)

[Toxsic]

The game prides itself with the extra attention to detail and I like it. This game is a pioneer - period. A new benchmark has been set. You did done good.

That said, We are just getting into our first battle and my guys are dying ...... waaa? Having been a soilder I can tell you that not even navy plugs breakdown having been at sea for months let alone few game weeks..... I understand what you are going for here ..perhaps an efficiency hit or something ... but this needs to be addressed quickly. I want morale to be a factor but I don't play sub sims to spend extra time worried about the mental state of my crew that has been at sea for a few weeks,

Awesome work all.

[Skoop]

I agree, I think the mechanic is ok, but I'd like to see it less punishing. These guys signed up for uboats so they new what the were getting into, they should be able to tolerate more stress.

Why do they Die ? Stress and nervous break downs don't physically kill you, you may pass out from a panic attack from hyperventallation, but never die.

Physical effects from stress are scene long tern over time, like years / decades of stress contributing to stroke or heart disease.

These are Uboat men not drama queens.....man up.

[Kani]

Just combine food types for huge morale bonus

[Skoop]

thanks for the tip, I'll try that.

[JeanDeaux]

It's not always a negative, one of my crew got a bonus for not breaking down under stress.

[Preach_A]

Sadly, good ideas like "crew moral" often translate into really annoying game mechanisms. In this case you will click at cheese or exotic fruits a lot transfering it from storage to rucksack (OMG) to kitchen...that´s so much fun and so realistic! Who doesn´t remember those stories told by old sailors:

"Yeah, we were running around with 20 tons of cheese in our rucksacks all day. It was a problem, though, when we needed a free hand to get water out of the boat. We had to get rid of the cheese first, then, and only then we could bilge water around in our rucksacks. Well, those were the days..."

[Prophet_01]

Just make one of your officers stand near the galley and transfer things freely and directly between the galley and main storage. No need to use the rucksack for this.

It's still a bit buggy though (it sometimes takes a few times to register). I rly wish this wouldn't require crew in the first place.

[Uwus von Krassus]

Please give 100% food in the galley!

[tmtc]

Offer more than 1 food type and morale goes away as a problem :), play radio, play cards, so may ways to maintain it

[Vasious]

Yeah between food variety and music over the Radio, I have never had Discipline issues, let alone needing to have officers play cards with the crew.

I just stock up the Galley when in port, 10 units of 4 types of food usually keeps moral high the whole patrol

Look after your crew and they will not failure

[LanceLeader]

Plus, early on in the war during the 'Happy Times', these guys were rock stars in Germany. Moral early game should be buffed.

[Rothary]

I havent had sailors straight up dying unless I don't give medical treatment to one having a heart attack, but I agree it'd be odd having a heart attack outside combat in the first place. During combat I don't really see a problem with it. Even if the sailors realistically speaking volunteered for the job, it still doesn't necessarily mean they can handle the stress of submarine warfare without problems, fresh sailors completely lack combat experience and thus don't know how well they're going to handle it. In Das Boot (yes, a fictional story, but iirc the main inspiration for this game) we see Johann break under stress during depth charge bombardment.

Of course even so it wouldn't realistically be anywhere near this common for the sailors to break under stress, but to me it makes sense for the game mechanic as it is.

I believe the idea (and exactly how I've been treating it) is to filter out the weak and cowardish sailors by testing them under stress. After a patrol you kick out those who turned out to be weak/cowards (couldn't handle the stress of submarine warfare) and keep those who turned out to be sea wolves and thus fit for their task. Eventually you have an entire crew of sea wolves and stress no longer has any effect what so ever. The idea is to over time acquire an experienced professional crew that doesn't let stress affect them. Discipline drop causing problems is an early game challenge that completely loses its meaning once your crew gains experience.

Personally I always deliberately try to decrease discipline as much as I can so as many sailors as possible will reveal their personality, often taking deep dives just for this purpose. Anyone who gets a heart attack and dies (if I don't react on time) was weak and would've been kicked off the boat anyway when we'd get home, so not really a big loss in the game, crew is cheap to replace.