Dev Diary - OPEN BETA UPDATE IV

Generals!

Today we have an update to the open beta, including a sneak preview of the anniversary patch we have planned. This update includes quality of life improvements, bugfixes, gameplay and balance changes, naval AI improvements, and a sizable amount of performance work. It also includes the balance changes from the previous balance open beta.

Early next week we will be back with more news on Thunder at our Gates.

NAVAL AI

We’ve been looking at some of the key pain points behind the naval AI’s underperformance. One of the reasons was the way that the AI decided to use its strikeforces, and another was how it decided where to prioritize its navy. 

Previous patches significantly improved naval AI compared to the NCNS launch version, but it still struggled to react quickly to changing situations. Here are some of the problems we’ve seen and how they have been addressed.

AI wasn’t making good use of new naval technology

The AI will still not build the absolute “best” meta ships, and this is intentional. We aim for historically plausible ship designs rather than fully optimized ones. After all, if you had been directing Japanese naval production in 1936, you probably could have defeated the US Navy by stacking light guns on fast cruisers. (Instead, you can do that in-game.) 

That said, we’ve had a look at some of the problem areas and improved them. This is an area where we will continue to improve things in further updates to the game. The fix is around a combination of focusing on naval research and updating the ai_equipment targets.

AI wasn’t reinforcing fleets with newer ships

We’ve instructed the AI to occasionally scour the reserve fleet for upgrades to its current taskforce, this doesn’t have a huge impact, but it does allow the AI to fight with newer ships as they come available. Once war breaks out, this stops as it could cause lone ships to wander the ocean, ripe for picking by enemy submarines.

AI repairs were too passive

The AI fully relied on the automated repairing system and this was clearly not efficient. The AI will now manage repairs more similar to before, where it can decide to repair its fleet at a local dockyard, or retreat to a bigger dockyard further away. Together with this we also made it so that if it has capitals in the reserve fleet available, it can decide to swap them out, so the damaged capitals can safely repair, and the taskforce gets reinforced immediately.

AI response times were too slow

This was due to a 2 layered system where strikeforces would be the 2nd layer. This 2nd layer is now removed and each objective determines if it requires a strikeforce, that combined with improved priority calculations and better taskforce stealing logic makes it far quicker to react to threats. 

MISCELLANEOUS

The AI would sometimes choose very strange homebases, and this essentially was because the logic was triplicated. This is now consolidated and is better at picking a homebase that also allows better region coverage. 

Occasionally the AI would accept a very large lend lease, which would eat all its convoys, and it would trigger “build only convoys” mode. This caused the AI to not build any other ship, and it was sort of a downward spiral. Now there is a limit to this panic mode, and the AI will also now not accept such large lendleases anymore. 

GAMEPLAY & BALANCE

This open beta has the full balance update that we had trialed earlier in the open balance beta, additionally it contains some changes to naval gameplay.

Strike forces will not join combats ‘on route’ to their intended strike target

It was a common way to stunlock a strikeforce, as they would get pulled into combat by submarines doing convoy raiding on convoys. This then caused the strikeforce to be late to reinforce or even worse, entirely miss the combat.

We also took the opportunity to nerf HMG’s in planes a bit, they are still the strongest air attack for IC, but not overly anymore. The 4x LMG/HMG slots now also come with a small reliability penalty. 

While there’s still more work to do on naval AI, these changes should significantly improve naval responsiveness and fleet behavior overall. Naval engagements should happen more frequently, and the AI will be much more committed to defending its waters.

Please share your experiences of playing with the open beta in the thread, or make new threads with write ups. I am not promising updates to this open beta, but we do read almost all feedback and take that with us.

Thank you, and have a great weekend!

/Zwirbaum, Gorion and Batya

If you want to join the Open beta, but are unsure how to, check out the steps that are covered in the very first Open Beta announcement HERE

Open Beta Update IV Notes 

Balance

• Supply Consumption of Carriers reduced from 1.2 to 0.8

• Supply Consumption of Battleships reduced from 0.8 to 0.56

• Supply Consumption of Battlecruisers reduced from 0.48 to 0.32

• Supply Consumption of Heavy Cruisers reduced from 0.4 to 0.24

• Increased Naval XP Gain for the following mission types: Patrol, Convoy Raiding, Convoy Escort, Mines Planting, Mines Sweeping - to 0.2, Strike Force to 0.05

• Reduced SUBMARINE_HIDE_TIMEOUT from 20 to 8 and SUBMARINE_REVEALED_TIMEOUT from 16 to 12. This means that revealed submarine in battle will hide after 8 hours, and if the submarine taskforce was attacked they will stay revealed for 12 hours at the start of the combat.

• Reduced SUBMARINE_REVEAL_DETECTION_MULTIPLIER from 0.1 to 0.075. This reduces passive reveal chance for Submarines in combat

• Increased SUBMARINE_RVEAL_TORPEDO_FIRING_DETECTION_MULTIPLIER from 1 to 1.1. This means that Submarines when firing torpedoes have a slightly higher chance to be detected, unless they have modifiers reducing Torpedo Reveal Chance.

• Removed Resource Cost from most of the naval modules (guns, deck armor, hangar decks), Armor Schemes as well as Anechoic Tiles will still have resource costs associated with them.

• Penalty from Positioning to the Submarine Visibility reduced from +200% to +100%

• Reduced Shallow Waters effect on Submarine Visibility from +100% to +33%.

• Naval Sub-doctrine Coastal Mine-laying 'Clearing Procedures' reward no longer applies bonus to mine sweeping to the Submarines, instead the effect on Destroyers have been increased from +20% to +25%

• Long Range Submarines Sub-doctrine 'Ocean Patrols' reward now also apply +10% bonus to the surface detection to the Nuclear Submarines.

• Long Range Submarines Sub-doctrine 'Improved Dive Protocols' reward now also reduces Surface Visibility of the Nuclear Submarines by 5%.

• Long Range Submarines Sub-doctrine 'Support the Surface' reward now also apply +10% bonus to the Torpedo Attack and Naval Speed to the Nuclear Submarines.

• Capital ships will retreat slower, staying in the fight a bit longer

• Submarines are slightly harder to detect in combat

• Navy XP & Mastery gain buffed

• Carrier airplanes are ~20% more effective (vs air & ships)

• Heavy MG fighter armament costs more IC (2x +20%, 4x +30%) and 4x mounts (light & heavy) take -2.5% reliability

• Ships are able to retreat faster now, especially hidden submarines

• All Carriers Surface Detection reduced from 26 to 20

• All Carriers Sub Detection reduced from 5 to 1

• All Carriers Fuel Consumption reduced from 87 to 70

• Basic Carrier Naval Range increased from 3000 to 3500

• Basic Carrier Hull cost increased from 3 Steel + 1 Chromium to 4 Steel + 1 Chromium

• Basic Carrier Manpower reduced from 4500 to 4000

• Improved Carrier Naval Range increased from 4000 to 4250

• Improved Carrier Naval Dominance Factor increased from 300 to 325

• Improved Carrier Hull cost increased from 4 Steel + 1 Chromium to 5 Steel + 2 Chromium

• Improved Carrier Manpower reduced from 5000 to 4500

• Advanced Carrier Hull cost increased from 4 Steel + 2 Chromium to 6 Steel + 2 Chromium

• Advanced Carrier Manpower reduced from 5500 to 5000

• Modern Carrier Fuel Consumption reduced from 90 to 72

• Modern Carrier Hull cost increased from 5 Steel + 3 Chromium to 6 Steel + 3 Chromium

• Modern Carrier Manpower reduced from 6500 to 6000

• Ice Carrier Fuel Consumption reduced from 95 to 90

• Ice Carrier Hull cost increased from 5 Steel + 2 Chromium to 8 Steel + 2 Chromium

• Converted Battleship and Converted Cruiser Naval Range reduced from 4000 to 3000

• Converted Battleship Manpower reduced from 5000 to 3500

• Converted Cruiser now requires 1 additional Chromium (3 Steel → 3 Steel + 1 Chromium) and gains an override Fuel Consumption of 60

• Escort Carrier Fuel Consumption reduced from 87 to 50

• Escort Carrier Build Cost reduced from 1500 to 1250 IC

• Escort Carrier Hull cost changed from 2 Steel + 1 Chromium to 3 Steel

• Escort Carrier Manpower reduced from 2500 to 1500

• Early Cruiser Hull cost increased from 1 Steel to 2 Steel

• Improved Cruiser Naval Range reduced from 4000 to 3500

• Improved Cruiser Manpower reduced from 1200 to 1000

• Improved Cruiser Hull cost increased from 2 Steel to 3 Steel

• Advanced Cruiser Naval Range reduced from 4500 to 4000

• Advanced Cruiser Naval Dominance Factor increased from 130 to 150

• Advanced Cruiser Hull cost increased by 1 Chromium (3 Steel → 3 Steel + 1 Chromium)

• Advanced Cruiser Manpower reduced from 1400 to 1200

• Torpedo Cruiser Naval Range reduced from 4000 to 3500

• Torpedo Cruiser Manpower reduced from 960 to 900

• Panzerschiff Build Cost reduced from 3500 to 2800 IC

• Panzerschiff Surface Visibility reduced from 22 to 18

• Panzerschiff Hull cost increased by 1 Chromium (3 Steel → 3 Steel + 1 Chromium)

• Panzerschiff Manpower reduced from 1800 to 1200

• Coastal Defense Ship Build Cost reduced from 3500 to 1500 IC

• Coastal Defense Ship Hull cost reduced from 3 Steel to 2 Steel

• Coastal Defense Ship Surface Visibility reduced from 20 to 16

• Coastal Defense Ship Naval Range increased from 1500 to 2000

• Coastal Defense Ship Max Strength set to 110 (override added)

• Coastal Defense Ship Manpower reduced from 1800 to 1000

• Pre-Dreadnought, Early, Basic, Improved, and Advanced Heavy Ship Fuel Consumption reduced from 67 to 60

• Modern Battleship Fuel Consumption reduced from 80 to 72

• Super Heavy Battleship Fuel Consumption reduced from 75 to 68

• Pre-Dreadnought Naval Range increased from 2250 to 2500

• Pre-Dreadnought Hull cost changed from 1 Steel + 1 Chromium to 2 Steel

• Early Heavy Ship Naval Dominance Factor increased from 300 to 325

• Early Heavy Ship Hull cost increased from 1 Steel + 1 Chromium to 3 Steel + 1 Chromium

• Basic Heavy Ship Hull cost increased from 1 Steel + 1 Chromium to 3 Steel + 1 Chromium

• Basic Heavy Ship Manpower reduced from 5200 to 4300

• Improved Heavy Ship Hull cost increased from 1 Steel + 1 Chromium to 4 Steel + 1 Chromium

• Improved Heavy Ship Manpower reduced from 6000 to 4650

• Advanced Heavy Ship Hull cost increased from 1 Steel + 1 Chromium to 4 Steel + 1 Chromium

• Advanced Heavy Ship Manpower reduced from 6000 to 5000

• Modern Battleship Build Cost reduced from 4000 to 3600 IC

• Modern Battleship Hull cost reduced from 6 Steel + 3 Chromium + 2 Tungsten to 5 Steel + 2 Chromium + 2 Tungsten

• Modern Battleship Manpower reduced from 6000 to 5000

• Super Heavy Battleship Hull cost increased from 1 Steel + 1 Chromium to 5 Steel + 2 Chromium

• Super Heavy Battleship Manpower reduced from 9000 to 7000

• Early Destroyer Naval Range increased from 1500 to 2000

• Basic Destroyer Naval Range increased from 1800 to 2500

• Improved Destroyer Naval Range increased from 2000 to 3000

• Advanced Destroyer Naval Range increased from 2500 to 3500

• Basic Destroyer Manpower reduced from 325 to 300

• Improved Destroyer Manpower reduced from 400 to 350

• Advanced Destroyer Manpower reduced from 500 to 400

• Advanced Destroyer Naval Dominance Factor increased from 40 to 42

• Advanced Destroyer Hull cost reduced from 4 Steel + 1 Chromium to 3 Steel + 1 Chromium

• Early Submarine Sub Visibility reduced from 25 to 22

• Basic Submarine Sub Visibility reduced from 22 to 20

• Improved Submarine Sub Visibility reduced from 20 to 18

• Early Submarine Max Strength increased from 10 to 15

• Basic Submarine Max Strength increased from 20 to 22.5

• Advanced Submarine Max Strength increased from 35 to 37.5

• Submarine Carrier Hull cost increased from 3 Steel to 4 Steel

• Repair Ship and Support Ship Naval Range increased from 3000 to 3500

• Repair Ship and Support Ship Max Strength increased from 25 to 30

• Improved Repair Ship and Improved Support Ship Naval Range increased from 4000 to 5000

• Support Ship Sub Attack reduced from 1 to 0

• Support Ship Sub Detection reduced from 1 to 0

• ship_deck_space Carrier Surface Detection increased from 5 to 8 and Sub Detection from 2 to 4

• big_ship_deck_space Carrier Surface Detection increased from 6 to 10 and Sub Detection from 3 to 4

• ship_escort_deck_space Carrier Surface Detection increased from 2 to 5 and Sub Detection from 5 to 7

• ship_armor_bb_3 cost reduced from 2 Steel + 1 Chromium to 1 Steel + 1 Chromium

• ship_armor_cruiser_3 cost reduced from 1 Steel + 1 Chromium to 1 Steel

• ship_armor_cruiser_4 cost reduced from 2 Steel + 1 Chromium to 1 Steel + 1 Chromium

• light_ship_engine_3 Fuel Consumption reduced from 10 to 9

• sub_ship_engine_2 Sub Visibility multiplier set to -3.5% (was disabled)

• sub_ship_engine_3 Fuel Consumption reduced from 10 to 9; Sub Visibility multiplier increased from -5% to -7%

• sub_ship_engine_4 Build Cost multiplier reduced from +20% to +17.5%

• sub_ship_nuclear_engine_1 Naval Speed multiplier increased from +10% to +20%; Sub Visibility multiplier set to -15%

• cruiser_ship_engine_1 Naval Speed multiplier increased from +20% to +25%; Build Cost multiplier reduced from +15% to +12.5%

• cruiser_ship_engine_2/3/4 Build Cost multiplier reduced by 2.5pp each (0.175→0.15, 0.20→0.175, 0.225→0.20)

• heavy_ship_engine_1 Fuel Consumption increased from 20 to 22; Naval Speed multiplier increased from +20% to +25%; Build Cost multiplier reduced from +17.5% to +12.5%

• heavy_ship_engine_2 Fuel Consumption increased from 25 to 28; Build Cost multiplier reduced from +20% to +15%

• heavy_ship_engine_3 Fuel Consumption increased from 30 to 34; Build Cost multiplier reduced from +22.5% to +17.5%

• heavy_ship_engine_4 Fuel Consumption increased from 35 to 40; Build Cost multiplier reduced from +25% to +20%

• carrier_ship_engine_1/2/3/4 Naval Speed multiplier reduced by 5% across all four tiers

• carrier_ship_engine_1 Fuel Consumption increased from 12 to 16

• carrier_ship_engine_2 Fuel Consumption increased from 16 to 24

• carrier_ship_engine_3 Fuel Consumption increased from 20 to 32

• carrier_ship_engine_4 Fuel Consumption increased from 24 to 40

• Reduced Minimum Naval Hit Chance from 2% to 0.5%

Gameplay

• Quality of Life: Buying equipment on international market now selects the maximum by default, and auto sets the minimum acceptable civ count

• Strikeforces are now able to target combats that are already in combat, while they exit their own combat

• Strikeforces with a valid strike target will now ignore active combats on the way (no more being distracted by pesky subs!)

Stability & Performance

Long sessions used to slow down significantly as the game state grew. Several leaks and accumulating costs have been addressed:

• Fixed a memory leak that caused late-game performance problems for the AI

• Fixed a sound effect leak that caused longer sessions to slow down over time

• Equipment data is now compacted once per year, keeping its memory footprint stable

• Air wing accident calculations now use a pre-roll, skipping thousands of late-game checks

Hitches and frame-drops during play have been reduced:

• Added a sound pool that keeps recently played sound effects in memory for around 20 seconds, reducing disk access during gameplay

• 2D icon rendering is approximately 15% faster thanks to a new DX11 ringbuffer implementation

• Optimized map icon update slightly

The simulation performance has been improved, especially in mid-to-late game:

• Air fuel requirement calculations are 90% faster

• Equipment variant processing is significantly faster

• Optimized AI theatre distribution with a pre-pass that drastically reduces the number of options evaluated

• Optimized Naval HQ calculations

• Optimized supply system calculations

• Optimized trade calculations by computing them per resource

• Airbase status updates now run in parallel

• Improved performance when a large army is selected

• Cached root and fallback orders to speed up unit order handling

UI

• Tooltip updated to indicate that control ratio required for having dominance in a sea zone is 60% instead of 66%

• Added Hit Profile 'Stat' to be displayed on Ship Designer as well on the Ship Cards. Minelaying/Minesweeping will be displayed only if their respective value is above 0.

• Added ability to filter divisions based on their type in the division overview window

• Repair-now button will stop the current mission so the fleet can focus on repair

AI

• AI can choose to disengage from disadvantageous naval battles

• Convoy production deficit boost is now capped to avoid starving warship production

• Large lendleases will no longer be accepted if they would take too many convoys to ship

• AI will be more aggressive with advantageous naval invasions

• Navy AI now considered scripted fleet separate for the case of building its required & optional task forces

• When naval objectives overlap, they will consider that and reduce request for patrols due to that

• Coastal defense will prioritize assignment based on number of VP's being defended

• Germany will build more submarines and fewer surface ships, matching historical doctrine

• Small tweaks to ENG/USA task force compositions

• Better at picking a homebase that can reach all regions

• Strike forces will skip regions already covered by coast defense and clean up faster

• Multiple invasions into the same sea region will share a single defense objective

• Naval dominance strategies with negative values will properly suppress objectives

• Coast defense will only ramp up when enemy presence is detected

• Naval AI fixes plus USA-specific build/strategy tuning

• research weight tweaks

• Introduced CV Fighter / Naval bomber equipment progress for england

• Streamlined destroyer and escort designs for JAP, USA, ENG

• AI will swap out higher quality ships from reserve into active task forces during peace time

• USA will research radar earlier

Modding

• Introduced naval_invasion_support_priority to direct the naval AI more

Bugfixes

• Fixed a rare crash that happened due to order invalidating

• stopped taskforces being in two combats at the same time

• Efficiency is correctly applied to screening bonus