[REL] Solution Solver 1.3

[Munchausen]

Originally Posted by Starforce2

I am the longest seated site admin on the network, running BCfiles since somewhere's in 2002. I know what I'm talking about.

Well, if BCfiles is any indication, I gotta agree. Great place to find Bridge Commander mods ... mostly because it has a well-structured index, nice screenshots, and an informative description of each mod.

[gutted]

Originally Posted by Rockin Robbins

With your permission this will be the first link added to the Sub Skippers' Bag of Trick thread...

sure, why not.

after i release the final update (soon), this thread may get lost in the clutter when no updates are posted to it.

so having a link to this thread from there might not be a bad idea.

[Rockin Robbins]

Done! This thread should never get lost. The Solution Solver is just too good!

@starforce: by the authority stolen by me from nobody in particular and a with good deal of bullschnitzel according to many, I hereby charge you with the responsibility of finding something to bring to the table more than merely duplicating Subsim's great download section, already stocked with a couple hundred mods and already sorted by category, game and author.

"Me too" ain't good enough. Imitation ain't innovation! Dig, man! Dig! Surely you can come up with something that isn't already being done well here at Subsim. If you don't bring something new to the mix, you're condemned to always futilely playing catch-up to Subsim. Carotio did it and you can too.

[Wilcke]

gutted,

Just DL the app for a peak, watched your tutorials. This is just the bomb! Well done! I know that RR has already groveled at your feet but let me do so as well.

Case of your favorite beverage on its way via FedEx!

Btw, still flying for JG52?

[gutted]

Originally Posted by Wilcke

gutted,

Just DL the app for a peak, watched your tutorials. This is just the bomb! Well done! I know that RR has already groveled at your feet but let me do so as well.

Case of your favorite beverage on its way via FedEx!

Btw, still flying for JG52?

no, i hung up my online dogfighting wings bout a year ago. At the time i had taken an extended break from world war 2 online, and the squad fell apart in my absence. Website went bye-bye as well.

Figured there was no point flying anymore because the only reason i stuck around so long was that i enjoyed flying with my squad mates. If it weren't for them, i probably would have quit way earlier, as it just got tiresome. Take off, shoot down a bunch of snot nosed spitfire pilots, then get jumped by a horde and run away... rinse and repeat. Was almost chore-like.


I also grew bored of IL2 long before i did ww2ol. I hate repetition. Probably why i can't play Silent Hunter for more than a few months at a time before needing to walk away for awhile. hehe.

[gutted]

Originally Posted by Wilcke

Case of your favorite beverage on its way via FedEx!?

ahem... Budweiser. (yah yah, joke all you want, but i practically grew up on the stuff).

It's all i've drunk for the last 15 years.

[I'm goin' down]

Other than the lead angle calculator, how do you use the Wheel when it is too dark to see the target?

Here is an example.

It was so dark on my last mission, that I had to plot a convoy's course on the Nav. Map. I set its speed per the 3 minute rule. I set the firing point from your calculator after setting the wheel for a broadside to the target's port (O'Kane method.) I barely could see the target crossing the "wire" at a range of 800 yds. I watched the torpedoes run on the Attack Map, and saw the target sail right into their path. I never saw the impacts, but my sonar man announced 4 out of 5. I gave up on the rest of the convoy due to poor of visibility.

[Wilcke]

Originally Posted by gutted

ahem... Budweiser. (yah yah, joke all you want, but i practically grew up on the stuff).

It's all i've drunk for the last 15 years.

Budweiser! Nah, it will ship fine! I have been taking a break from IL-2, my schedule just does not give me enough free time to keep that "edge" sharp, don't know if I will ever go back to it, flew with II/JG1.

[gutted]

Originally Posted by I'm goin' down

Other than the lead angle calculator, how do you use the Wheel when it is too dark to see the target?

Here is an example.

It was so dark on my last mission, that I had to plot a convoy's course on the Nav. Map. I set its speed per the 3 minute rule. I set the firing point from your calculator after setting the wheel for a broadside to the target's port (O'Kane method.) I barely could see the target crossing the "wire" at a range of 800 yds. I watched the torpedoes run on the Attack Map, and saw the target sail right into their path. I never saw the impacts, but my sonar man announced 4 out of 5. I gave up on the rest of the convoy due to poor of visibility.

covoys are the easiest to plot:


basically you do this:

1. set your true course on the wheel.
2. rotate the entire wheel so your blue arrow is underneath the periscope line as if you were looking straight ahead.
3. look at the radar display, and observe the way the convoy looks on the radar screen.
4. you should see them lined up and pointing in a certain direction.
5. put your index finger near the monitor mimicking their heading.
6. jump the solution solver and turn the target dial so that it matches your finger.
7. and voila!!! EXTREMELY accurate true course of the convy.

all you gotta do now, is determine their speed, and get in firing range.

to get their speed, what i do is look at the radar screen and see what bearing the middle of the convoy is from me. You could either jump to the sonar and give it a ping or two on that bearing, or if you have a radar mod that makes reading range accurate then do that instead (i do).

plot that on the map.. then draw the convoy's course line from it using the true course you got from the AoB wheel (from the steps above).

Let a decent amount of time pass and then see what beaing they are currently on in the radar. Draw a line (from you) down that bearing to where it intersects the convoy course line you drew earlier. then measure between there and the first plot to get their speed (using the calculator).

hopefully that estimate will be correct. but it can be off alittle "if" you can get close in. remember the closer you are the more error you have to work with.

if you can see the convoy good enough visually once you are on final approach... try to get a stadimeter/stopwatch or solution solver speed estimate on the nearest merchant in the convoy a short time before firing to confirm the speed. i prefer stadiemeter/stopwatch.. as i can do it earlier. just remember to "undo" the inputs in the TDC before firing. If however, the speed i got from plotting, and the speed i got from stopwatch are way off.. i may do a solution solver on em when i get closer and make a best guesstimate. The more peices of info you can get, the better. if that is still wacked up... i'll stop the sub, and take a "sighting". note which bearing a particular ship was at and start the stopwatch. 3 minutes later i'll see what his new bearing is.. then i'll jump to the map and plot those two "sighting" lines and measure the distance between where they cross the convoys course line i drew earlier.

so yeah, there's a million ways to get speed

when i get some free time, i may do a video of this.. as i dont think many people realize you can get a convoys exact course using the wheel just by looking at them on the radar.

[I'm goin' down]

I understand. This method is time consuming. Plus, getting close in TMO awakens the destroyers. But, I will give a shot or two.

[I'm goin' down]

Okay! I am convinced.

Last night and this morning I sank tankers without a visual sighting.

Last night, in total darkness, it was a Nippon Maru. I was a little unsure of the procedure, and was surprised that five of the six torpedoes found their mark. As it turns out, it should have convinced me that the program does its assigned task. This morning, my attack on the Biyu Maru convinced me.

I leveled the Biyu Maru about an hour ago, during a rainstorm with visibility under 500 yds., striking 4/4 torpedoes.

I picked the freighter up on sonar at around 15+ nm. At 3-4 miles I picked it up on radar.

I started using the EZ Plot mod this morning and used it to plot the freighter's course. I calculated its speed at 5.76 kts. per the 3 minute rule. It was approaching from starboard.

I could not see the target because of the foggy and rainy conditions even though my periscope is equipped with Werner Sobe's Optics2 over TM.

I used the Intercept program to input the target and my ship's course, and set up for an attack at a 90 degree AoB using the "+" key to turn to the appropriate angle of attack. I activated the sonarman to track the target when it was more than a mile distant, closing from starboard. I approached the torpedo intercept point to within 500 yds., all the while scanning the horizon with the periscope to trying to get a visual on the target. I gave up trying to spot it when it closed to a range of 1,000 yards and was still not visible. At that point it was only 500 yds. from the Intercept point.

I set four torpedoes to run at 10 feet, with two of them set on a one-half degree torpedo angle. I set the periscope to firing angle of 6.5 degrees per the Intercept tool, as the target's speed of 5.76 kts. yielded a firing angle somewhere between 5.9 and 7.1 degrees per the data that it generated. I started firing torpedoes when the sonarman announced the target was at 7 degrees and the fourth shot was launched just as he called out that it was at 5 degrees. All four torpedoes married the target. I never saw the explosions, but I heard them and saw the the smoke and flames aftermath. I activated the free camera and took a look, catching it vertical in the waves, going down. When I check the captain's log, I discovered the target was a Biyu Maru.

The Intercept tool requires patience, but is accurate to the point of being deadly.

When firing at long distances and at steep angles, which I have not tried yet using the program's tools, my hunch is the Nicolas' Easy AoB mod may be more effective as it gives you the ability to verify a torpedo's angle and the target's range on the Attack Map. But for broadsides at relatively short range, the Intercept tool requires less work and is highly effective, plus it does not require adjustments to the AoB and range dials on the TGT tool for the TDC or a cross-check of those inputs on the Attack Map to verify he firing solution. Those tasks are time consuming, and often times a pain in the butt.

[gutted]

i never advocated that this tool is a complete replacement for the TDC and map plotting.


It can certainly do that... but it was really meant as a supplement. There are times where you may use this alone.. and other times where you'd use this along side the TDC and plotting, and other times where you wont touch it.

Whatever the situation calls for. The more options you have the better.

[Rockin Robbins]

Originally Posted by gutted

Whatever the situation calls for. The more options you have the better.

Arrrrrrrrr!! The skipper with the biggest bag of tricks wins!

[I'm goin' down]

Some skippers will not hit like Tiger Woods even if they are playing with a bag of tricks,Titleists and a a good caddy. Kind of like that captain that sank one of our fleets best carriers...

[Rockin Robbins]

It was my sonar guy. He identified it as a Japanese warship. His fault. How was I to know that a 60 ship convoy of American warships was coming through my "everything you see there will be hostile" region? And what's one lousy carrier between friends? They can make another one. I just don't see what's the big deal here... They TOLD me to be aggressive!