Deck gun / flack gun questions

XenonSurf · 04-12-19, 10:14 AM

Yesterday I was playing the Eastern British Coastal Waters campaing, I was approaching my patrol objective when I was attacked by a plane.

I thnk I actually know how to man the deck gun & flack gun, this is a rather slow procedure. If I'm right (please prove me wrong if necessary), then what I must do in TWoS to man the flack is:

Set Battlestations to Level 2 (Watch officer icon)
Go up to bridge, talk to WO (Dieter Epp) and command 'Man the flack gun'.
Set firing options in the WO icons > Flack gun icon.

I was playing a modded variant of the stock game (see my modlist below), I tried to do the above steps, but I was way too slow, the surprise factor did totally work well for the plane which was able to fire and damage my sub, also injuring Dieter Epp, my WO.

Now, once WO is injured, his dialogue options are dead, you cannot give any commands to him, I cannot give the 'Man flack' or 'Man deck gun' commands.

Can I man the flack anyway and how ???

I could still do the job myself of course, which I did , but now I had another bad surprise:

After taking control of the flak on the rear part of the sub, I was asking for enemy bearing multiple times, and NEVER was able to spot the plane, call me stupid but: no plane, and yes I also did search at high angle elevations. I could clearly hear the plane was overflying my sub, but I was never able to spot it.

Eventually I had to leave bridge and give the alarm diving command.

So 2 main questions remain after my adventure:

- How to man deck gun / flack gun if your WO is injured (also in TWoS) ?
- Is there a fundamental bug with my modlist below that breaks plane attacks or similar?

My modlist:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Generic Mod Enabler - v2.6.0.157
[C:\Games\SilentHunter5\MODS]

Accurate German Flags
No_Damn_Bubbles_No_Damn_Halo_Mod_ADJUSTED
Equipment_Upgrades_Fix_v1_4_byTheBeast
Equip_Upgrades_Fix_1_4_AFFOE_151
Equipment_Upgrades_Fix_v1_4_Patch_1
Equip_Upgrades_Fix_1_4_Patch_1_AFFOE_151
#Equipment_Upgrades_Fix_v1_4_Patch_1_HotFix
Equipment_Upgrades_Fix_v1_4_Patch_1 (available by date) V9 by sober
EUF_UBoat_FX_v0_0_3_ byTheBeast
FX_Update_0_0_22_ByTheDarkWraith
FX_Update_0_0_22_Torpedoes (modified for torpedoes failure patches)
FXU_0_0_22_Ship zon Files v2
NewUIs_TDC_7_5_0_ByTheDarkWraith
NewUIs_TDC_7_5_0_Sjizzles_Charts for NewUIs from TWoS
NewUIs_TDC_7_5_0_FIX_Message_English_XOTDC_Auto_Ma nual_TDC
NewUIs_TDC_7_5_0_New_radio_messages_German
Automation Scripts for Stock Game (taken from TWoS and compatible with NewUIs)
IRAI_0_0_41_ByTheDarkWraith
IRAI_0_0_41_Inertia_Damage
R.E.M_by_Xrundel_TheBeast_1.2
R.E.M_by_Xrundel_TheBeast_1.2 - no hyd on surface - NewUIs-IRAI compatible
OPEN HORIZONS II v2.5
OH II v2.5 Grid Request fix Patch SH5
Trevally Harbour & Kiel Canal Pilot v3.1
STOCKGAME_ADJUSTED_Stormys DBSM SH5 v1.3 Basemod (only speech & sound, no crew scripts)
STOCKGAME_ADJUSTED_Stormys DBSM SH5 v1.3 additional crew sounds beta6 (only speech & sound, no crew scripts)
TDW_No_Contact_Colors_1_1_0
TDW_No_Contact_Tails_1_1_0
TDW_Waypoint_Contacts_No_Symbols_1_1_0
Map_Tools_ADJUSTED_from_TWOS (new big protractor for NavMap and TAI)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

I can easily have missed something important to do while being attacked by a plane, also my commands above may be the wrong thing. And also a strange thing that I notice after the attack: Later my sub was repaired and Dieter Epp, my WO was healed from his injuries and functional again, if I now order 'Man the Flack' with the commands above, I see NO man at the flack when going in external view. Bug?

I will try to replay this scenario with some historical missions setup with planes to see if I can replicate my problems.

Thank you very much to feedback with your comments!

bstanko6 · 04-12-19, 11:25 AM

Whenever an officer is red, you will have serious issues like you mentioned, not including the damage to the FLAK incurred.

The idea is to simulate the havoc of being attacked and losing your command staff, and their ability in getting things done.

In your situation, Dieter was hurt, this simulated your total watch crew being killed/wounded because they could not give you a range/bearing of the plane anymore.

Example, I was depth charged, lost Benno the hydrophone guy, the hydrophone was badly damaged.

I would ask for sound contacts, and he gave me false readings. Going to the station, I could sit there but the needle would not move. I use voice commands, so I can still order my guys even though they are red, can't click on them. It's a cheat, but their readings are bad anyway!

Your situation sounds normal to me.

XenonSurf · 04-12-19, 11:52 AM

Thank you, bstanko6 !
I'm especially glad to hear that according to what you say it's all normal apart my stupidity to not locate the plane, but humm...some training will do it I think

Also very glad that my modlist is out of cause and very well working up to now.

In the meantime I have played several times a historical mission with 2 ai planes, and found some interesting stuff:

With my modlist which basically only contains essential equipment fixes, the NewUIs and OHII, there is a major difference in the command 'Battlestations Level 2' from TWOS which doesn't exist in my modded game but a similar command is present in the icons (WO officer last on the right, and white 'Battle station' icon). I still have to figure out what this does exactly, but if I use it before the 'Man flack' command then the gunman will NOT move to the flack - for some mysterious reason.
Simply using F7 going on battlestations and giving the order to 'Man flak' will instead move the gunner to the flak.

Alright, I will scrutinize the readme of the TDWs' NewUIs in search of some explanation...

Thank you and cheers!

bstanko6 · 04-12-19, 12:24 PM

Im glad to help.

Just to clarify you battlestation comment.

Battlestation 2 is for general attack. In other words, you are about to attack a boat or use the deck gun, I will use this to have my crew efficiency on alert, an at their best.

The F7 battle station is more for being attacked, hence the hatches in the boat close for damage control.

In my findings, I am more readily located underwater at F7 by destroyer hydrophone (not ASDIC) because your crew is not necessarily quiet. They are at their stations ready to repair. I use F7 when I am already detected, and they are depth charging me. Its a way of going silent, but also at the ready for more.

If I am not detected yet, and I want to be as quiet as possible, I use the "rig for silent running" mode. Not F7. I have more evasion success with this.

XenonSurf · 04-12-19, 12:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bstanko6

Im glad to help.

Just to clarify you battlestation comment.

Battlestation 2 is for general attack. In other words, you are about to attack a boat or use the deck gun, I will use this to have my crew efficiency on alert, an at their best.

The F7 battle station is more for being attacked, hence the hatches in the boat close for damage control.

In my findings, I am more readily located underwater at F7 by destroyer hydrophone (not ASDIC) because your crew is not necessarily quiet. They are at their stations ready to repair. I use F7 when I am already detected, and they are depth charging me. Its a way of going silent, but also at the ready for more.

If I am not detected yet, and I want to be as quiet as possible, I use the "rig for silent running" mode. Not F7. I have more evasion success with this.

That's very helpful for me, thanks a lot

Also congrats for your excellent video about the use of the Long/Lat tool to mark an exact position on the map, I have a similar tool that I can show-up, I don't know if it's yours, but I will try out your system for sure to anticipate convoy routes based on messages.

04-12-19, 10:14 AM	#1
XenonSurf Sea Lord Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Germany, Italy Posts: 1,703 Downloads: 107 Uploads: 4	Deck gun / flack gun questions Yesterday I was playing the Eastern British Coastal Waters campaing, I was approaching my patrol objective when I was attacked by a plane. I thnk I actually know how to man the deck gun & flack gun, this is a rather slow procedure. If I'm right (please prove me wrong if necessary), then what I must do in TWoS to man the flack is: Set Battlestations to Level 2 (Watch officer icon) Go up to bridge, talk to WO (Dieter Epp) and command 'Man the flack gun'. Set firing options in the WO icons > Flack gun icon. I was playing a modded variant of the stock game (see my modlist below), I tried to do the above steps, but I was way too slow, the surprise factor did totally work well for the plane which was able to fire and damage my sub, also injuring Dieter Epp, my WO. Now, once WO is injured, his dialogue options are dead, you cannot give any commands to him, I cannot give the 'Man flack' or 'Man deck gun' commands. Can I man the flack anyway and how ??? I could still do the job myself of course, which I did , but now I had another bad surprise: After taking control of the flak on the rear part of the sub, I was asking for enemy bearing multiple times, and NEVER was able to spot the plane, call me stupid but: no plane, and yes I also did search at high angle elevations. I could clearly hear the plane was overflying my sub, but I was never able to spot it. Eventually I had to leave bridge and give the alarm diving command. So 2 main questions remain after my adventure: - How to man deck gun / flack gun if your WO is injured (also in TWoS) ? - Is there a fundamental bug with my modlist below that breaks plane attacks or similar? My modlist: -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Generic Mod Enabler - v2.6.0.157 [C:\Games\SilentHunter5\MODS] Accurate German Flags No_Damn_Bubbles_No_Damn_Halo_Mod_ADJUSTED Equipment_Upgrades_Fix_v1_4_byTheBeast Equip_Upgrades_Fix_1_4_AFFOE_151 Equipment_Upgrades_Fix_v1_4_Patch_1 Equip_Upgrades_Fix_1_4_Patch_1_AFFOE_151 #Equipment_Upgrades_Fix_v1_4_Patch_1_HotFix Equipment_Upgrades_Fix_v1_4_Patch_1 (available by date) V9 by sober EUF_UBoat_FX_v0_0_3_ byTheBeast FX_Update_0_0_22_ByTheDarkWraith FX_Update_0_0_22_Torpedoes (modified for torpedoes failure patches) FXU_0_0_22_Ship zon Files v2 NewUIs_TDC_7_5_0_ByTheDarkWraith NewUIs_TDC_7_5_0_Sjizzles_Charts for NewUIs from TWoS NewUIs_TDC_7_5_0_FIX_Message_English_XOTDC_Auto_Ma nual_TDC NewUIs_TDC_7_5_0_New_radio_messages_German Automation Scripts for Stock Game (taken from TWoS and compatible with NewUIs) IRAI_0_0_41_ByTheDarkWraith IRAI_0_0_41_Inertia_Damage R.E.M_by_Xrundel_TheBeast_1.2 R.E.M_by_Xrundel_TheBeast_1.2 - no hyd on surface - NewUIs-IRAI compatible OPEN HORIZONS II v2.5 OH II v2.5 Grid Request fix Patch SH5 Trevally Harbour & Kiel Canal Pilot v3.1 STOCKGAME_ADJUSTED_Stormys DBSM SH5 v1.3 Basemod (only speech & sound, no crew scripts) STOCKGAME_ADJUSTED_Stormys DBSM SH5 v1.3 additional crew sounds beta6 (only speech & sound, no crew scripts) TDW_No_Contact_Colors_1_1_0 TDW_No_Contact_Tails_1_1_0 TDW_Waypoint_Contacts_No_Symbols_1_1_0 Map_Tools_ADJUSTED_from_TWOS (new big protractor for NavMap and TAI) -------------------------------------------------------------------------- I can easily have missed something important to do while being attacked by a plane, also my commands above may be the wrong thing. And also a strange thing that I notice after the attack: Later my sub was repaired and Dieter Epp, my WO was healed from his injuries and functional again, if I now order 'Man the Flack' with the commands above, I see NO man at the flack when going in external view. Bug? I will try to replay this scenario with some historical missions setup with planes to see if I can replicate my problems. Thank you very much to feedback with your comments! Last edited by XenonSurf; 04-12-19 at 10:41 AM.

04-12-19, 11:25 AM	#2
bstanko6 Admiral Join Date: Feb 2015 Location: Murwik Naval Academy Posts: 2,122 Downloads: 390 Uploads: 13	Whenever an officer is red, you will have serious issues like you mentioned, not including the damage to the FLAK incurred. The idea is to simulate the havoc of being attacked and losing your command staff, and their ability in getting things done. In your situation, Dieter was hurt, this simulated your total watch crew being killed/wounded because they could not give you a range/bearing of the plane anymore. Example, I was depth charged, lost Benno the hydrophone guy, the hydrophone was badly damaged. I would ask for sound contacts, and he gave me false readings. Going to the station, I could sit there but the needle would not move. I use voice commands, so I can still order my guys even though they are red, can't click on them. It's a cheat, but their readings are bad anyway! Your situation sounds normal to me.

04-12-19, 11:52 AM	#3
XenonSurf Sea Lord Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Germany, Italy Posts: 1,703 Downloads: 107 Uploads: 4	Thank you, bstanko6 ! I'm especially glad to hear that according to what you say it's all normal apart my stupidity to not locate the plane, but humm...some training will do it I think Also very glad that my modlist is out of cause and very well working up to now. In the meantime I have played several times a historical mission with 2 ai planes, and found some interesting stuff: With my modlist which basically only contains essential equipment fixes, the NewUIs and OHII, there is a major difference in the command 'Battlestations Level 2' from TWOS which doesn't exist in my modded game but a similar command is present in the icons (WO officer last on the right, and white 'Battle station' icon). I still have to figure out what this does exactly, but if I use it before the 'Man flack' command then the gunman will NOT move to the flack - for some mysterious reason. Simply using F7 going on battlestations and giving the order to 'Man flak' will instead move the gunner to the flak. Alright, I will scrutinize the readme of the TDWs' NewUIs in search of some explanation... Thank you and cheers!

04-12-19, 12:24 PM	#4
bstanko6 Admiral Join Date: Feb 2015 Location: Murwik Naval Academy Posts: 2,122 Downloads: 390 Uploads: 13	Im glad to help. Just to clarify you battlestation comment. Battlestation 2 is for general attack. In other words, you are about to attack a boat or use the deck gun, I will use this to have my crew efficiency on alert, an at their best. The F7 battle station is more for being attacked, hence the hatches in the boat close for damage control. In my findings, I am more readily located underwater at F7 by destroyer hydrophone (not ASDIC) because your crew is not necessarily quiet. They are at their stations ready to repair. I use F7 when I am already detected, and they are depth charging me. Its a way of going silent, but also at the ready for more. If I am not detected yet, and I want to be as quiet as possible, I use the "rig for silent running" mode. Not F7. I have more evasion success with this.