I was thinking about project ships that were cancelled/never laid down due to the Naval Treaties or other factors. I wanted to know if you guys think that, if added, Gaijin should try and make a “best approximation” of if the ships were modernized, or leave them as designed? I know WoWs did it with a few ships that actually existed, like the Ersatz York (in WoWs named Prinz Heinrich) and I’m not really sure what the consensus is on if that should be done here too.
For example, if ships like the Borodino-class, G3-class, Normandie-class, or Francesco Caracciolo-class are eventually added, would you want a version that is an approximation on how they would’ve been modernized during the interwar years/WW2? This would also include ships like the O-class, M-class, Lion-class, the Unnamed Yamato-class ship, or in general any ship laid down/under construction during WW2 that may have had armament/equipment changes between the final design and what would actually end up in service. For example, when the USN’s Baltimore-class was laid down, they were planned to use .50 cals and 1.1in guns, but obviously that was scrapped for Bofors and Oerlikons. Should Gaijin make a “modernized” version for WW2 era project ships, like these, as well?
Things like new fire control systems, radar, dual purpose mounts, more small AA, etc. were added to a lot of ships leading up to, and during, WW2, and if any of the project ships were actually finished and commissioned, they probably would have been similarly modified. If our project ships were finished, and allowed to be “modernized,” would wartime modernizations like more DP guns or AA like the Bofors and Oerlikon be on the table for addition?
There would obviously exist no plans for such modernizations, as if the ship is cancelled/unfinished it cannot be modernized. So that would make any such modernizations somewhat “up to interpretation,” ideally depending on and referencing actual modernizations for other ships as inspiration. Maybe trends of modernizations, like ships overall receiving more AA guns, multiple ships of a class modified with radars, changes to secondary armament, etc. Or, for ships that were under construction during WW2, looking at the equipment in use around the ship’s planned fitting-out date, and taking inspiration from there. But there would still be the possibility of whoever is making the ship to throw such trends and inspirations out the window.
If you do want to see something like this, what would be the limit? Would you want them to make an “approximation” for more or less a specific year, such as 1941, across the board? Or would/should it be dependent on specific ships? Should multiple project ships of the same class be added to reflect both the initial design and the potential modernizations, or should it be limited to the original design only? Should such additions of multiple ships of a class be limited to the WW1/early interwar ships, or extend to the WW2 era ships as well?
