Time Compression

[VIICDriver]

There has been some discussion here lately of time compression and its effects on things such as aircraft for instance. Those who want please post what TC settings you use. Also which fatigue model you use. Just want to get an idea of how the sim is being handled by the Kaleuns!

For instance,
I play at 64 during the day when in aircraft range and 128 at night when in range. I will use 1024 after leaving port and just before arriving (to get to and from "enemy" territory). In very bad weather I will usually use 128 day or night.

Reasons for, I used to run 256 and 512 respectively but after losing a career because a destroyer killed me after TC not dropping back to 1x until the ship was about 150m off my bow headed directly for me. He never even fired a shot just plowed me as I was trying to turn and crash dive. Also just do not feel like missing air attacks, flying along at higher TC's and never getting harrassed by the air just is not realistic. Who only knows what ship contacts are being missed.

Also it has been said that the fatigue model does not work above 64TC. On my system anyways I can vouch that it does not work above 32TC. Always being at 64 nothing changes, either rest or fatigue. So at times during the patrol I will run maybe an entire night at 32x just to tire and rest guys then swap them out in the am.

Lastly I use the 24 hr fatigue model. I know it has been stated as being "buggy" but just have not seen it on my end. I had to get an older install of SH3 commander to get it but that is fine. I have tried all other fatigue models but with any of them after a 2-3 week cruise I can find no one on my boat that is fit for duty. Over time they all just degrade down to being unusable so to speak. Even with constant rotations.

Thanks in advance guys, will be looking forward to trying out some of your settings if I can find them to be more realistic than what I currently use.

Chuck

[mookiemookie]

I use 256x and ahead 1/3 speed for the most part while travelling. While patrolling, I use ahead slow and usually stick to 256x so as to not make patrols drag out too long in real life. (I usually only play for about 2 or 3 hours, maybe 2 or 3 times a week so they're long enough as is!) I also remember reading somewhere that 6 kts was the recommended speed in real life for U-boats to patrol at. I'll up the TC to 512x when I'm in home waters.

When I stop at dawn and dusk to do hydrophone checks, I do those manually and in real time.

I use pretty much the same settings as you when it comes to fatigue, and have noticed the same thing when it comes to your crew "degrading." I've been out for a little over a month in my current patrol and my crewmen are starting to get worn down. Which I guess is pretty accurate when you think about it!

[Corsair]

I have 2 installs : NYGM and GWX.
I use so far NYGM for my core gaming in the Atlantic. I like to get out of port TC 1 following the Flottenbegleiter - find it immersive. Max TC 128. Using the NYGM fatigue model, I make a complete crew shift every 6 hours. In rough weather have to swap the watch crew every 4 hours. All action from the time I have a contact (either sight or sound) is played at TC x 1 until it is sunk or I decide to give up the chase if not worth it once identified. Chasing, attacking and escaping a convoy can take 10 hours spread on 2-3 evenings. When I am near enemy territory I usually run submerged during the day at 2 knts so my sonar man can pick up contacts and I man the hydrophone myself for a check every 3 hours. If weather allows (and airplanes...) I run surfaced at night and make a quick dip for hydrophone checks also every 3 hours. This is how I found so far the great majority of the ships I sent to the bottom. When I come home, I wait outside for the Flottenbegleiter and get to the quay at TC x 1 (same immersion purpose)

I started GWX a week ago for a more "relaxed" experience by a career in the Med starting from Salamis. Same type of use except this time I launched thru SH3 Cdr with a "no fatigue" option, just to see how the gameplay goes without. Just back in port from short first patrol with 31.000 tons. Too early to make in-depth comments (haven't been chased at all, only one airplane attack at night, all victims were singles) but enjoyed the ride. The skies and general athmosphere are gorgeous, the sunrise at TC x 1 on a partly cloudy sky looks very real (and I have seen many at sea in the Med as I was 8 years sailing instructor and racing skipper based in Antibes on the french riviera. Been also convoying boats between France and Greece many times...)

[VIICDriver]

This is exactly the kind of info I am fishing for. Thanks a ton.

Chuck

[codmander]

1x -stock nygm fatigue- 100% realism :up: only thing i dont like about 1x is the lack of weather changes but workin on a fix --actully just started my 3rd patrol grid fricken BF15 looks like the channel:shifty: 32 hours till deadly deadly waters


((2nd partol went to weather adjustmentsadjustment ))


http://home.comcast.net/~codmander/images/3rd.bmp

[Corsair]

This is exactly the kind of info I am fishing for. Thanks a ton.

Chuck

You're welcome...:D

[Mooncatt]

so what everyone is saying is that if u use max tc i will miss loads of ships and planes etc etc. coz i got a patrol grid from st nazaire to just outside halifax and i used max tc to get there. i saw one ship on the way there.
currently im using no mods or patches (laugh all you want) i got no internet acces at home atm only at work

[Corsair]

That's right. Above 256 you will miss probably all airplanes, and the higher the TC, the more chances to miss ships as well. On the other hand, the Atlantic crossing is worth higher TC. But in hunting grounds the less TC the more encounters...
It's been clearly explained with drawings by Letum in another thread. Like in all sims, there is a player "3D bubble" where the objects are calculated real time. All other outside are checked at timely intervals. The higher the TC, the longer the intervals and therefore increased chances to "hop" past the player bubble.

[Letum]

It's been clearly explained with drawings by Letum in another thread.

Heres the explanation: ;)
http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showpost.php?p=371010&postcount=6

[codmander]

so what everyone is saying is that if u use max tc i will miss loads of ships and planes etc etc. coz i got a patrol grid from st nazaire to just outside halifax and i used max tc to get there. i saw one ship on the way there.
currently im using no mods or patches (laugh all you want) i got no internet acces at home atm only at work



yes miss loads even at 2x air patrols will miss you
((not that that's a bad thing:hmm: )) i like 1x guess it just relaxs me when nothing going on

[Iron Budokan]

For a while there I was playing 256x or higher and found the game becoming too arcadish. Which was fine for instant fun and all and always shooting off the torpedoes at targets. But of late I have come to run patrols around 1x and never more than 32x.

I much prefer this, especially with GWX. There is simply too much to miss if you're zipping along at 1024x...and in my opinion the game becomes less of a sim and more of an arcade shooter at higher time compressions.

Now to be fair I don't expect to be running a 1x patrol deep into the Atlantic along the convoy routes. (Hm...maybe I ought to rethink that.) But I do like keeping my TC down much more than I used to, I find it adds realism. Now I no longer just "surface" at 256x after running on batteries during the day but find myself coming to periscope depth and taking a look around first. And doing trim dives and what not. Much more fun for me...but then again maybe that's just me. Dunno.

[Corsair]

Don't worry about yourself, you're not alone...
Today I was on my way home from BF 47 to W'haven around the north route. All torpedoes expanded except for external reserves. Weather a bit rough, and although the game allows it I felt in reality it would not be possible with these waves.
Changed my course, headed for the mouth of the Shannon, found a very sheltered bay in the north side, entered it and "anchored" for the night in 12 m water. Hauled my reserve torps in during the night and was back out of the Shannon by 12h00 next day. Must also be nuts, but i like it...:D

[codmander]

Don't worry about yourself, you're not alone...
Today I was on my way home from BF 47 to W'haven around the north route. All torpedoes expanded except for external reserves. Weather a bit rough, and although the game allows it I felt in reality it would not be possible with these waves.
Changed my course, headed for the mouth of the Shannon, found a very sheltered bay in the north side, entered it and "anchored" for the night in 12 m water. Hauled my reserve torps in during the night and was back out of the Shannon by 12h00 next day. Must also be nuts, but i like it...:D


ANCHORED!!! I love it your hooked on sh3 just like me dang junkies:rotfl:

[VIICDriver]

The general impression I am getting is that alot of people used to play at high TC but now have brought them back.

I'm sure there are still tons of 1024 guys out there but they just are not posting so. I used to be one but as has been mentioned just became way too arcadic for me and I never had the first air attack. Now I get them all the time. Have survived 4 patrols and am now into Jan/Feb or so of 1940. Have a bad feeling things are slowly going to start getting worse for the boat!

But so far it has been very fruitful. 27 ships sunk (26 merchants) for a total of 138,359 tons. Wracking up all the tonnage I can early because I know it will not last!! But at least the crew is gaining some experience for the dark year(s) to come.

Still playing 64/128 and it seems to be giving me a happy medium.

Chuck

[Mooncatt]

well after seeing all the posts about this last night i decided to do a patrol in 1x now the bloody BDU wanted me to go to a grid just outside of newyork, i was like good grief ive only got a 1XB. anyway i set sail and got bored very fast, i fell asleep on the sofa and woke up about an hour and a half later only to find that at 12 knts i hadnt even got out of the bay of biscay yet:damn: so sod 1x im gonna stick to something a little higher like 256 or summat.
rant over :D

[Corsair]

Picking up an assignment to NY on a first TC 1 patrol is bad luck. I don't even go there at high TC...:D
Like to hunt in my home waters and ask usually transfer to Brest end 1940. Although the IX carries more torps and longer range, I am a VII lover ;)

[VIICDriver]

Funny, I just started my first 1x patrol myself. Started a second career with the 2nd out of Wilhemshaven for this purpose. Its going along OK, enjoyed following the escort out in real time. Only took an hour or so before he turned off and so far am enjoying the patrol. Heading up to AM12.

I've got to figure out why my PC will not let me task-switch out of SH3 though. Every other piece of software I have I can task-switch to the desktop without issue, trying to do so with SH3 basically results in a screen freeze with a little blinking. Press ALT-TAB lets me get back to the sim without problems, if I could just get AWAY from it. LOL

Chuck

[Mooncatt]

yes but whta did you do during that time while you were sailing out of the harbour its not as if anything is going to happen is it??? i cant just sit there for an hour staring vacantly at a screen :D

[VIICDriver]

No actually I "guided" the boat out of the harbor correctly. Worked on staying exactly 500-1000m behind the escort and directly behind her. Took the time to enjoy all the harbor traffic. Watched a large cargo come in and a schnellboot apprently investigating me by making a large circle around me. Studied the Tirpitz for the first time as we went past her.

So I did enjoy it. Just because you do not like "staring vacantly at a screen" does not mean that is what the 1x'ers are doing. If it is not for you 1024 out and torpedo some ships but knocking the way some people enjoy the sim is not helpful to anyone.

Chuck

[Ducimus]

I use TC judiciously, but i have my limits depending on where i am. I really need to given all the long range patrols i tend to do.

If im in any area where i expect heavy patrols, either aircraft or tin cans, i tend to stick around 256 to 512 TC. Which is fast enough to make the game move a bit faster, but slow enough to where i wont have a plan spotted when its right atop of me dropping its bombs.

If the area isnt heavily patrolled, ill go as high as 1024. When in my acutal theater of operations, Most of the time during the day i travelled submerged and just let my sonarman do the hydophone checking, although il check it myself from time to time. If im patroling an area for shipping, ill do the same routine, but travel in a search pattern that goes in diagnals to expecting shipping routes - that way i'll have little chance of a ship sneaking up into my baffels.

If im in transit to my theater of operations, (IE crossing the atlantic) ill kick that TC up to 2048.

[Corsair]

No actually I "guided" the boat out of the harbor correctly. Worked on staying exactly 500-1000m behind the escort and directly behind her. Took the time to enjoy all the harbor traffic. Watched a large cargo come in and a schnellboot apprently investigating me by making a large circle around me. Studied the Tirpitz for the first time as we went past her.

So I did enjoy it. Just because you do not like "staring vacantly at a screen" does not mean that is what the 1x'ers are doing. If it is not for you 1024 out and torpedo some ships but knocking the way some people enjoy the sim is not helpful to anyone.

Chuck

Totally agree with above. I always get out and in harbour TCx1 enjoying the ride. When you love the sea athmosphere... same on a sailing boat on cruise, I can watch the sea (or the skies at night) for hours doing nothing else while the autopilot is handling the job...

[VIICDriver]

Well this one was pretty cool as I departed at 1745z and the sun was setting throughout the entire departure.

Also apologies to Mooncatt if I came off as a tad rough, just reread my post and it sounded alot worse than was intended. Just to each their own, if guys want to run at 2048 or 1x TC if it is how you enjoy the sim more power to ya.

From my end that 1x departure though was eye opening, I probably have left on a hundred patrols now and never enjoyed it as much as that one! Just see a bunch of stuff I was missing before.

Chuck

[Iron Budokan]

Heavens to Betsy. I've been playing 1x lately but even I wouldn't attempt a first 1x patrol to New York. That's bad luck getting that grid for your first 1x patrol. Eh, do what I did, start at the beginning of the war and work 1x in the backyard of the English.

But bottom line (to me anyway) it doesn't matter what TC you use as long as you're having fun. But with GWX going through the harbor on 1x is more enjoyable than the ghost town it used to be on stock SH3 so I do that now, too.