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Old 07-25-15, 07:14 AM   #301
Rockin Robbins
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I'm interested in how many people would like to see an in-depth video showing how to do conventional manual targeting in the stock game.

It seems to me that is a large barrier that just doesn't get overcome by many as they go from being pretty dead-eye shots in automatic targeting to a total dufus in manual targeting. They stop having fun and either just quit playing or go back to automatic targeting.

I'm really shocked that I can't find a decent and complete video on this. So anybody want an in-depth, all-encompassing, real time video showing all the steps necessary to sink a ship with conventional manual targeting?
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Old 07-27-15, 02:59 PM   #302
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Getting ready to shoot the video in a couple days. I'm going to use GFO/RSRDC with TMOPlot so there's no ship silhouettes, velocity vectors or giveaway text information. Have to get acquainted with the controls again and I'll be ready to go.
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Old 07-27-15, 07:48 PM   #303
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I can't wait to see it! Are you going to post a link to it?
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Old 07-27-15, 07:59 PM   #304
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Quote:
Originally Posted by captcrane View Post
I can't wait to see it! Are you going to post a link to it?
Is the Pope Catholic?

I have to reacquaint myself with the stock game so I don't fire torpedoes when I'm trying to open the torpedo tube doors. A bit of practice and I'll be good enough to make this work.
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Old 07-29-15, 06:52 AM   #305
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Not to be a pain in the arse. If it is at all possible will your video include using the Stadimeter . I used quite a few videos to "learn" manual targeting. The 90 degree angle more or less works for me. Probably 95% of the time. Trying to use the stadimeter % goes way down to like 5% of the time. Either way definitely looking forward to your video. Thanks in advance.
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Old 07-29-15, 08:18 AM   #306
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Quote:
Originally Posted by captcrane View Post
Not to be a pain in the arse. If it is at all possible will your video include using the Stadimeter . I used quite a few videos to "learn" manual targeting. The 90 degree angle more or less works for me. Probably 95% of the time. Trying to use the stadimeter % goes way down to like 5% of the time. Either way definitely looking forward to your video. Thanks in advance.
Actually, that is my exact goal. This entire video will be centered around using the accursed stadimeter. The game doesn't have a proper stadimeter plot, which the real boats used to average out errors in stadimeter readings. We are left crippled as a result and it severely impacts quality of gameplay.

However the stadimeter can be used and I'm rehearsing its use now for several days, as I also tend not to use it. I don't identify ships because my normal targeting procedures don't require it. Conventional targeting with stadimeter is absolutely dependent on identification of your target. My TMOKeys mod includes a control-I command for "Exec, hows about identifying that target for me?" That way if I miss I can blame it on him.
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Old 07-30-15, 08:46 PM   #307
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All right! I was going to do the video in the safe, balmy waters near Catalina Island off the Coast of California, but in the course of getting some experience in a real campaign I've got a great setup on a lone merchie actually in the war zone with evil planes buzzing around and in the final phase of an end-around. It's just a perfect setup in the Marshall Island chain so I'm going to go for it.

I plan on doing a video using GFO/RSRDC and stock plotting with friend or foe colors, with ship silhouettes, with velocity vectors, and you'll see how to set up the attack that way. We'll see the futility of using the accursed stadimeter at 4000 yards and a big surprise, how to use sonar and make that setup pretty deadly at 4000 yards.

Unfortunately you can't depend on your torpedoes not crapping out at that range and our merchie is zig-zagging because I was stupid enough to get spotted earlier in the run where I was making 20 knots to get ahead and stayed on the surface just 10 seconds too long. I got spotted by a plane. No booms but he's a blabbermouth on the radio. Merchie's been zig zagging ever since. No long shots.

But we'll practice with the stadimeter and compare that to sonar fixes, watch our speed setting to see if we've got that accurate and generally not forget to look for planes. I predict we get buzzed by at least three whilst we are very busy concentrating on our target. Don't get tunnel vision! It can get you a severe headache. A short, severe headache....

After we dispatch this guy we'll start all over using my TMOPlot mod, which gives you the plotting scheme of TMO while not changing gameplay one bit. Now friend or foe colors are gone. Ship silhouettes, identification, velocity vectors are gone. All you get, even on radar is a position dot. It's completely up to you to figure out what direction that dot is moving and how fast. It's much more realistic. And we'll go through the entire attack that way, including planes trying to crash the party.

So we'll have two companion videos of the same attack with lots of trial and terror with the stadimeter, pointing out what you can and can't do, a few little tricks that make it more accurate---and remember---we won't be using CapnScurvy's mod to fix all the boo-boos in the game mechanism. I think that although the game boo-boos are different, they have the same effect as the real life boo-boos including misidentification, that the heroes encountered in WWII. Are they the same errors? No. But they ARE errors and that helps the realism a bit. It means you can do everything right and miss.

Should be fun. Just like all my videos, they're real time, no compression, no cuts no matter how long it takes. You will see the pacing and that's more important than a lot of other things even if I do risk boring some people. But if you enjoy the game you should enjoy the videos. Tomorrow we shoot.

Edit: video didn't come out well, I'm still working on it and you'll have to bear with me while I get these sound feeds set up.
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Old 08-07-15, 06:34 PM   #308
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Default Setting Default Torpedo Depth

I would like to have my torpedoes start at a default depth of 5 rather than the 2 meters that they seem to currently default to on an American Sub in SH4. Is there a way to change that in game? If not can someone point me to the file that controls that?
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Old 08-14-15, 10:26 PM   #309
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New video available, video. This shows how to deal with swarms of airplanes without shooting back, without danger and while never leaving the nav map.

I used the Game Fixes Only Supermod, Webster's custom command bar, RSRD, TMOKeys and a bunch of skins and missions that had no effect on the video. Let me know what you think!
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Old 08-15-15, 05:42 PM   #310
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Just curious why you want torpedoes defaulting to 5 meters instead of two. American torpedoes were such great copies of German ones that they also copied the defects. One outstanding defect was the fact that the torpedoes tended to run much deeper than set and passed under their targets. The solution was to set them to run on the surface and then you got hits.

So I set mine to run on the surface, actually higher than default. Even so they'll sneak under a lot of DDs but I know that whatever else I aim at will go boom!

Last edited by Onkel Neal; 08-18-15 at 07:16 PM. Reason: No one likes New Coke
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Old 08-31-15, 06:13 PM   #311
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Default The Dick O'Kane Blindfolded Shot!

Okay guys, what's the greatest danger while you're setting up a shot? What can happen that will take away that shot, especially in the daytime?

Number one that comes to mind is getting your scope spotted. I just set up an attack like this: spotted a bogey on radar. Plotted the position, set a stopwatch for 3 minutes, marked that position. Gave me a speed of 10 knots and a course of 155º. So I extended the course past my sub. Waited about 10 minutes and observed his position a bit south of my projected track, so I adjusted the track. Ten minutes later he was still on the track, so I considered that I had his course and speed cold.

Then I maneuvered my sub to be 1000 yards off the track at right angles, a Dick O'Kane attack, with TDC set speed:10 knots, AoB 80º starboard. shoot bearing 350 and range at 1300 yards (not critical). What did I do next?

I set speed to half a knot and submerged to 90'. According to stock rules your tubes won't open at 100' of deeper, a gross innacuracy and I believe TMO is 150' still too shallow as fish were fired from as deep as 200' during the war and that was the target depth for shooting a Cutie. But 90' will get the job done. The important thing is that you don't get the message "too deep to fire torpedoes" when you go to open the tubes!

Now you just watch the sonar bearing. Set torpedoes to run fast, on the surface and magnetic exploder just for fun. Now we wait. No scope up. We're on the nav map screen or attack map screen. I prefer the attack map screen so I can see the torpedo controls. I like to shoot with the mouse and use the w key to switch tubes and shoot 2. I use TMOKeys so your keys may be different.

Watch the bearing and when it's at 348, shoot one. And when 352 shoot one. Kablooey! And he never had the chance to see you. You were 90' deep and nowhere to be seen.
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Old 09-02-15, 06:52 AM   #312
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RR, do we have an ETA on that manual targeting video?
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Old 09-02-15, 07:37 AM   #313
Rockin Robbins
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My career got corrupted, I had to dial back to my last departure from base and I'm just waiting to encounter a merchie and do the video. Sorry for the delay. RSRD sure can make 'em scarce when you really need to find one!

I also produced the video and Ironclads II Installation video and those kind of got in the way for a bit. Ironclads II vid has twice as many views as my SH4 video. Go figure! Stadimeter Targeting Video is next though no matter what.

Last edited by Rockin Robbins; 09-02-15 at 07:43 AM.
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Old 09-02-15, 07:59 AM   #314
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Spreads. Yeah, we know the principle: distribute torpedoes over the length of the target so no two torpedoes hit in the same place. But if you're stadimeter targeting you can shoot four torpedoes and if your solution is correct all five will hit the exact same spot! That's not so good, especially if you're using a realistic sinking mod.

So some of us tweak the spread dial. But we do it seat of the pants. Sure we hit targets, and miss them. On an upcoming video I'll be extending the still unmade Stadimeter Targeting Video to cover how we, who lack the spread tools the real guys used, might go about calculating a spread in our heads (no calculators, no trig, no outside computer activity--you know (or don't know) how I feel about those things) so that we know our torpedoes will hit.

The real submariners calculated spread with tool built into the TDC (which, of course we don't have). What they call a 100% spread would hit the tip of the bow, points in between, and the tip of the stern. In other words the pattern would cover the length of the target.

If they weren't quite happy with their solution they would cover their bets with a deal with the devil: a spread of more than 100%. In other words, the distance between first and last shot was longer than the target. Yes, that guaranteed at least one miss, but it also would hit if the target were a little further away or moving slower or faster than their settings.

How are we going to do all that? Stay tuned! Then I bet ColonelSandersLite comes out with the precise, mathematically refined, version. Mine will be based on that but in my cheap, dirty, rule of thumb, figure on the fly style.

This is a different kind of spread than the Dick O'Kane or other constant bearing shooting techniques. They use what is called a longitudinal spread, where all torpedoes follow the exact same course to the target. It is the timing of the individual shots that determine where on the target they hit. With your shoot bearing selected properly in a constant bearing attack, your torpedoes will hit exactly where your crosshair aims when you push the fire button.

The stadimeter spread system is more complicated but, as you'll see, has some interesting wrinkles too.

Last edited by Rockin Robbins; 09-02-15 at 08:06 AM.
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Old 09-02-15, 10:04 AM   #315
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Really looking forward to your new videos. I have watched and printed out your tutorials on manual targeting and it is one of my go to references as I learn. Thank you so much for all your efforts!
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