In this article we present several design aspects of “Ultimate Admiral: Dreadnoughts”. Designing your warships is a vital procedure before building them and sending them into combat. No matter how important and complicated this process can be, the intuitive design interface should help you to easily learn the basics and start experimenting on with the various potential design combinations for your ships. Let’s see below the most important design characteristics, that are available at this moment of writing.
You can design the following ship types: Battleship, Battlecruiser, Heavy Cruiser, Light Cruiser, Destroyer and Torpedo Boat. Each type can fill a specific operational role as follows:
Battleship: The biggest and most expensive type of warship you can built. Battleships have immense firepower embodied in their large guns capable of destroying smaller ships with even a single shot. They are large targets and need heavy armor to be sufficiently protected from incoming fire. Battleships can execute any operational role but due to being so valuable, it is risky to send them into combat without sufficient escort.
Battlecruiser: A ship that combines the size and firepower of a battleship with the speed and maneuverability of a cruiser. Battlecruisers are undoubtedly superior compared to smaller cruisers and are ideal for distant commerce escort or raid operations, as they can hit hard and escape using their high speed. However, Battlecruisers are not suitable to fight versus heavily armored Battleships, unless they can fire effectively with safety from very long distances.
Heavy/Light Cruiser: Cruisers are ships that fulfill various naval roles depending on their armor and weaponry. The “Light Cruisers” are suitable for distant commerce raiding or defense against enemy torpedo craft, or can threaten even battleships if they carry torpedo armament. The “Heavy Cruisers” have stronger armor and heavier guns, so they are potentially more powerful at the cost of being more expensive, less maneuverable and more detectable. They may stand in the line of battle in the absence of Battleships or Battlecruisers, or serve as flagships on distant colonial stations.
Destroyer: The “Destroyer” category of warship is specifically designed to carry strong torpedo armament to threaten capital ships and sufficient firepower to defend the fleet against smaller craft, such as Torpedo Boats. Destroyers are particularly effective versus battleships, because their small size, speed and maneuverability allow them to approach and launch devastating torpedoes against them.
Torpedo Boat: Designed solely to deliver the deadly new torpedo against capital ships, the Torpedo Boat is the smallest war vessel you may build. The Torpedo Boats combine small size, low freeboard and high speed, which help them approach dangerously close to battleships and unleash a powerful load of torpedoes. Evaluating their low cost versus their damage potential, they can be very effective in the early years of naval warfare, but lack the range and sea worthiness necessary to operate with the fleet in distant waters.
Hull Types and Technology
As technology develops, new hull types become available and older become obsolete. For example, in the early 1890s you may construct battleships with pre-dreadnought characteristics. When technology allows it in the 1900s, your battleships can be built bigger, stronger and carry heavier armament, replacing the older hull types.
Each hull has four basic characteristics which provide unique base statistics. These are: Resistance, Hull Form, Stability and Floatability.
Resistance: Affects the damage received from shell hits and torpedoes after armor penetration. Additionally, it applies special slope design that increases the ricochet chances of incoming shells.
Hull Form: Affects ship's acceleration, turning speed and the engine power needed to achieve top speed. Additionally, it affects the speed penalty from structural damage and influences ship maintenance costs.
Stability: The higher the “Stability” of the hull, the more accurate are th