Quote:
Originally Posted by Gray Lensman
Did not know that one... Thanks
Seriously, though, to me, the weather model in this game is the only thing seriously flawed enough to ruin the gameplay. I'm hoping that's one of the things addressed in Webster/Rockin Robbins new mod.
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You know, that one wasn't even on the radar. But now it is!
Yes, people have asked "if the US submarine TDC was so all-fired sophisticated compared to the German one, why didn't they sink a lot more ships!"
Complexity results in errors. Sometimes complexity results in unquantifiable errors that can't be mitigated. The real Achilles Heel of the stadimeter measurement of range/bearing (yes, in the game, both are always sent together to the TDC when you press send) is that it absolutely depends on correct identification of the target. Most targets in the real war were identified WRONGLY. That will result in an error that can't be predicted or quanified. The secondary problem of the stadimeter is the difficulty of judging exactly where the tip of the mast is, or exactly where in that thick line is the waterline. A one-click error can be a significant number of yards. When combined, these two error sources are a barrel of laughs.
The Germans, and us if we use a constant bearing technique like the Dick O'Kane method, didn't give a rat's patootie about identifying a target except maybe for bragging purposes in the bar between cruises. Range didn't matter much to them because their targeting method only cared about the angle between target track and submarine course and the speed of the target. Get those two somewhere close, close the range to 600 meters and the target goes down.
Simplicity is the simplest way to eliminate error. Every step you can eliminate. Every calculation, every measurement you do not need to make adds to the accuracy of your shooting.