bearing, Mark. range, mark

[fullmetaledges]

Hey I have the tdc down pretty well but after watching the bonus dvd I was wondering if anybody does there attack runs like in real life, like where you plot ownship and tagets for a good amount of time and where you only expose the scope for split seconds. I have tried but with no plotting tools on the attack map or the ability to write notes in game as well as jumping from station to station like a madman to get everything done in a timely manner (i don't know why you can't use the tdc in the attack map, it definatly would be much easier) I have found it quite difficult so I was wondetring if anyone has mastered this skill. oh BTW I know that it is much harder than in real life because, you are the soundman, tdc operator, skipper, plus opening tube doors and re-setting depths like a madman as well.

[melin71]

i want too the tools in the attack map too

[vois2]

All the geometer tools needed for a manual attack are present, although certain features from SH3 on the attack localized plotting are missing (as compared to SH3).

Ironically, in SH4, I was able to make my first torpedo attack completely using geometry and hydrophone on the attack plot. (I never saw my target. I would have liked to seen my target ship, but the no-moonlight night with bad rainstorms prevented me from seeing even 100 yards in front of the bridge.)

In SH3, some of the default attack plotting provided some pretty ridiculous assistance, which is fine for the many casual players.
Things such as nice green vectors to show the exact plot track of the traveling torpedo, etc.

I'll advance upon my previous paragraphs, wherein it is stated that tools for the Attack Plotting Screen are missing in SH4 as compared to SH3.

However, in SH4 as in SH3, an attack plotting screen is itself unneccessary. I suspect that such a screen was included in SH3 to add to its arcade quality for the casual player of sub sims. In SH3, the only varying functionality the attack plotting screen offered over the World Map screen was to provide a 'green track' for the actual path of a torpedo's travel -- and it even updated said green path so that you could watch the torp travel from a God's Eye view on the attack plotting screen.

(Indeed, I suspect the attack plotting screen of SH3 was in fact a debug tool provided originally to developers to work out their models of travel and attack. In some sense, it could also help the player who was new to manual targeting, by speeding up learning to see if you shot too much fore or aft of target.)

In SH4, more is provided on the World Map screen than there was in SH3, so this truly eliminates the need for the attack plotting screen altogether (in SH4). In SH4, the zoom scale to which you can view allows you to eventually see the "actual icon" of ships, that is, little red oblong blops that even reveal the outline of lifeboats hanging from the port and starboard sides of the ship. Indeed even at that scale it is a bit cheesy/arcadish to provide such detail, but at least you must have one's ownship in very close proximity to the target to acquire an accurate update of the red oblong icon's location and position.

Therefore in SH4 only the World Map screen is ever needed. There is even a mod available at Subsim for SH4, which will provide you with a nice radial bearing device oriented to one's ownship, when zoomed in to a certain degree on that World Map. You won't see the 'green torp' icon update, but that is something that was never needed anyway even in SH3. The geometer tools along the left side of the World Map are available and represent all the tools needed for a successful attack.

I hope this helps!

[fullmetaledges]

if I were to plot the target on the regular map would I have enough info to figure where my tdc position indicator was at, so i could then make fine adjustments to my firing solution?

[vois2]

if I were to plot the target on the regular map would I have enough info to figure where my tdc position indicator was at, so i could then make fine adjustments to my firing solution?

You should be able to do so, yes. Like anything, it takes practice.

The nice thing about SH4 is its highly detailed updates on targets within 1000 yards. On the normal World Map, when zoomed in all the way so that you see the ownship icon marker -- and I am talking here where you are really zoomed in a LOT -- so that the ownship marker sort of looks like a black banana -- you will get constant updates on enemy ships as a red blob icon. You will see their every maneuver in the God's eye view -- so long as you are within 1000 yards of the target and have your scope up (if submerged).

With these kind of ranges and with the very generous 'God' updates on targets within 1000 yards, you should be able to fix fine tuning to your position keeper. I'm not saying that it is possible to do it all without pausing, though. There are simply too many stations to attend to, at least for me.

[fullmetaledges]

i only want my scope up for a instant to confirm my firing solution before firing, i will play arond with it and see where i get