Shadowzone implementation

[Teefy]

why did you implement shadow zone when you have to be at least 260~ deep, where the water pumps wont work. The odds of a leak are incredibly high and once that happens there is no recovering, at least not from that depth.

awesome, my sonar detection is going down so the enemy cant find me, but im dying nontheless since im now going to drown or be crushed.

[bartz]

Not sure if this is vanilla, I thought the shadow zone came from one of my mods? I found it at 190m which was quite survivable.

Some leaks happened, but I was able to repair them all, readjust the ballast (it came from improved ballast control mod?) and pump out the water a while later at 50m, all while staying in the direct vicinity of a convoy I had attacked and some pesky warships hanging around.

But I think some of the functionality came with "device energy management" mod, I think it redesigns the temperature around the world?

[Teefy]

I dont know about this mod, my own testing gave me a shadowzone on about ~260 depth. completely unusable as a game mechanic tbh. if it is in fact variable with water temperatures then you would need to save scum to figure out where the shadowzone is. also unusable as a game mechanic.

as a solution, id like an indication of where the shadowzone is on the hud so i can use it to my advantage.

[Dewgle]

Originally posted by Teefy:

why did you implement shadow zone when you have to be at least 260~ deep, where the water pumps wont work. The odds of a leak are incredibly high and once that happens there is no recovering, at least not from that depth.

Because the shadowzone is a deus ex machina, it will instantly break any target lock the enemy has on you and will allow you to run your e-motors a little louder to get away from the enemy's last known position of you.

The devs put it down at a dangerous depth for gameplay balance otherwise the player would rely on it all the time as an escape mechanism when it's meant to be used in emergencies =/

[Dewgle]

And yes, Bartz, the shadowzone is apart of the vanilla game. But the Device Energy Control mod moves the shadowzone to less dangerous depths.

[The cursed Jäger]

In vanilla the shadowzone starts at 260m. You are meant to dive down to it to break the enemy sonar/hydrophone lock on you, then come back up.

Originally posted by bartz:

But I think some of the functionality came with "device energy management" mod, I think it redesigns the temperature around the world?

Correct. DEM (Device Energy Managment) changes how the thermolayer works and when it begins. The mod also contains a config. file which allows to modifiy the depth to when the thermolayer should start to appear.

[bartz]

Ok I'm just gonna say what I think, but it's only my fantasy. So I think yes, shadow zones vary on the map. I don't think in WW2 they already had it mapped, so you kinda improvise - check if there is one at your location and safe depth. If not then well..

It's the same as with seabed "altitude" - if you're lucky or you choose your battle right, you have the seabed at safe depth and you can always lay your boat on it. Then you become invisible, basically a god mode. So for me what you're saying sounds like: "why implement the mechanic of being able to lay the boat on a seabed if most of the seas are deeper than 200m and I can't use it?". My answer is: "look at bigger picture. it's a bonus. sometimes it's there, sometimes not". Or maybe the deep shadow zone is a last, desperate option, which will almost certainly kill you, but maybe you get lucky.

Or maybe I'm wrong and the shallower shadow zone came with my mod. Not sure. Anyway, grab a cool video to make your day more interesting:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-3khvUtY9I&ab_channel=SubBrief

[bartz]

Disclaimer - I was typing for a long time before the other answers appeared, so please excuse me, cause the info about mods influencing the layer depth was already given up there.

[Teefy]

Originally posted by McDewgle:

Originally posted by Teefy:

why did you implement shadow zone when you have to be at least 260~ deep, where the water pumps wont work. The odds of a leak are incredibly high and once that happens there is no recovering, at least not from that depth.

Because the shadowzone is a deus ex machina, it will instantly break any target lock the enemy has on you and will allow you to run your e-motors a little louder to get away from the enemy's last known position of you.

The devs put it down at a dangerous depth for gameplay balance otherwise the player would rely on it all the time as an escape mechanism when it's meant to be used in emergencies =/

you are conflating dangerous to unusable. this isnt even viable as an emergency mechanic. its not just risky, its suicide. there is no high risk high reward, you simply die.

[bartz]

I'm pretty sure I was able to dive deep (260?) for a while and survive it some time ago, maybe they changed something?

[bartz]

Maybe there is something wrong with balance here, but having the thermal layer available always to use indefinitely would make this game extra boring and I would immediately stop playing it, would be too easy.

[Teefy]

Originally posted by bartz:

Ok I'm just gonna say what I think, but it's only my fantasy. So I think yes, shadow zones vary on the map. I don't think in WW2 they already had it mapped, so you kinda improvise - check if there is one at your location and safe depth. If not then well..

It's the same as with seabed "altitude" - if you're lucky or you choose your battle right, you have the seabed at safe depth and you can always lay your boat on it. Then you become invisible, basically a god mode. So for me what you're saying sounds like: "why implement the mechanic of being able to lay the boat on a seabed if most of the seas are deeper than 200m and I can't use it?". My answer is: "look at bigger picture. it's a bonus. sometimes it's there, sometimes not". Or maybe the deep shadow zone is a last, desperate option, which will almost certainly kill you, but maybe you get lucky.

Or maybe I'm wrong and the shallower shadow zone came with my mod. Not sure. Anyway, grab a cool video to make your day more interesting:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-3khvUtY9I&ab_channel=SubBrief

yes, cold waters did it right. shadowzones are variable and you can use it to your advantage. its not a ticket to get out of any hazzard whenever you want. it is however a game mechanic you can use if you pay attention and play your cards right.

in this game you are almost guaranteed to die if you try the limits.

[Teefy]

alright, ill do some more testing with the current assumption:

dip under 260 meters ever so briefly, to break the sonar lock, then attempt to bring it back to 160 meters, where the pumps work at 80% and you should be able to recover, catastrophic damage notwithstanding.

attempt 1: 1 leak, was able to repair and pump out remaining water, climb to surface

attempt 2: 1 leak, was able to repair and pump out remaining water, climb to surface

attempt 3: no leaks, managed to climb to surface without any issue.

attempt 4: no leaks, managed to climb to surface without any issue.

attempt 5: 1 leak, was able to repair and pump out remaining water, climb to surface

attempt 6: no leaks, managed to climb to surface without any issue.

[edit] tried this in an actual game.

set speed to 1/3rd. that seems to matter

attempt 7: 1 leak, couldnt stop additional leaks occuring. drowned. ofc this was in an actual game.

attempt 8: 1 leak, couldnt stop additional leaks occuring. drowned. ofc this was in an actual game. same save file.

attempt 9: torpedo tubes damaged, but was able to recover fully. same save file as 7 & 8


in conclusion, i was wrong and i know how this mechanic works now. it's still hit or miss, save scumming will help you.

closing tip: if you are desperate enough to try to break the sonar by shadowzone, pre-emptively turn on the pumps at 100 meters because a leak will most likely occur.

[wolf310ii]

A Typ VII is not an SSN, they didnt even had a thermometer to monitor the temperature in real time. Only when the LI take a water sample to measure the salt amount in the water once in a hour they could measure the temperature.

[Dewgle]

@Wolf310ii, you might want to speak up on the main B129 discussion thread. There was a user named Freeze who was quite insistent that u-boat crews did measure temperature. Though they seemed to have deleted all of their comments

https://steamcommunity.com/app/494840/discussions/0/3088885996493591123/?ctp=37#c3039355912926249540

[Teefy]

you're better off just popping a decoy. the AI really doesnt like those.