auto targeting questioning

[I'm goin' down]

how do I turn on auto targeting. My cursor turns yellow when the ship is getting close, but the light in the torpedo firing button does not come on. What is the problem? Do I have to get to port to fix it or return to home base?

[Lexandro]

Just shoot. The torps button doesnt light up, they stay green constantly and the fire button never changes. The only button that changes is the "lock" button ( small red and says "S" i think). The lock button will go red when you have a target in the viewfinder. Where ever you aim the crosshairs is where the torp is going to hit. If you press L key you lock to target and the torp will hit where you are locked.

[I'm goin' down]

My button is not lighting up at all, which is the problem I described. You are assuming I have no problem and it is not that simple (at least I do not think it is.)

[peabody]

My button is not lighting up at all, which is the problem I described. You are assuming I have no problem and it is not that simple (at least I do not think it is.)
Do you mean the Red knob at the top of the panel or the individual 'lights'. The red knob only get a little brighter when you put you cursor over it.

The lights only indicate that you have a torpedo in the tube if it's green and loading if it is red. (Edit: It does not flash red when loading it flashes green, my mistake.) If those are the "buttons" you are talking about and they do not come on then you probably do not have the torpedo tubes set to auto-load. Go to the tabs and find the 'sub management', it looks like a clipboard, make sure the button that looks like a torpedo is selected. Then they should start loading torpedoes.

Like Lexandro said when you have the yellow arrow, select the L key and it will lock on the target. Then if you fixed the light problem, select a 'green light', that will select the torpedo you want to shoot. Press the Q key that will open the tube door. Wait for the arrow to turn green and click your mouse pointer on the big red Knob above the lights. That will fire the torpedo.

Peabody

[Lexandro]

There is no simple visual marker to tell you. The yellow wedge on the boats you aim at is all you get. As I said it only goes red, and that ONLY happens if the target is in a "good" shooting position (eg yellow/green NOT orange). In anycase the lock button lighting up or not is nothing to worry about. I never even look at it anymore anyway. Easy aim is a case of simply point the crosshairs where you want to shoot, open the tube and hit the big red fire button. Job done:up:

*EDIT* Ah well I didnt think of the auto reload being off. Nice work there Peabody.

[Falkirion]

Watch legions noob guide. It uses auto targeting and is a fairly good introduction to it.

Basically the procedure I follow is to intercept, close to firing, wait for visual, wait for a green triangle in my periscope, press the red button to fire (It doesnt light up when you're solution is good, thats what the green triangle is for!) and watch the fireworks, and slink away.

[I'm goin' down]

Thank you all very much. I will try all of your solutions.

Note, I am playing on my son's computer now that he is away for college. The problem may lie in his Navidia Color Manager. I do not have green in my color scheme, at least I have not been able to find it. The spining and rolling little smilies to the right, which are usually green and purple, are dark brown in my display. I may have to get another color card because I have disconnected his 32 inch digital display screen from this computer (how he talked into that I will never understand) and set it up as a television screen. I replaced his screen with an old Neovo screen. I am not sure if Navidia or Neovo is responsible for the color issue, but it may be affecting the colors on my auto targeting. If I reconnect his screen, I will no longer have a television set and will have to buy a new one one becasuse our big screen TV bought the farm. While I greatly enjoy SH4, I don't like it enough to forego football games or spend a grand on a new television. I'll let you know how it turns out.
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With a loop, a whirl, and a vertical climb, it time for .....
Rocky and his Friends! (co-starring Bullwinkle the Moose)

[Lord Kelvin]

Try getting a new driver for the card if you know how to, otherwise don't worry too much.

Also, try looking at WernerSobe's manual targeting guide. It's quite informative, and while it takes a while to learn how to manually aim, it's also really really fun, and satisfying when you score a hit.