Reach down for the right temperature

[Reverie]

My VIIC pounced on a convoy in what was literally "The Black Pit", that last spot in the North Atlantic free from land based planes April '44. And the sky was completely overcast, dark, foreboding, perfect for a stalking uboat. So much so that we bagged 52K of shipping including two escorts, and stayed shallow until a frigate River Class nearly took our conning tower. Peppered to roughly 80% hull integrity with no permanent damage, we found safety under a temperature gradient below 110 meters. Able to vacate at high speed, reload, and plan a end-around. Same era, same boat, off the continental shelf near Brest. A line of six destroyers moving south at the edge of the shelf. Targeted the last five, got the last two, scared the first two on south, the remainder wouldn't let up. 58% hull integrity, all antennas and scopes destroyed, both diesels broken as well as one e-motor. Found safety and escape under the thermocline, again at just below 110 meters.Is that the norm for this simulation ? 110 meters ? And will the regions remain the same,and thus prove mappable, or are they transitory and based on season and climate ? Anyone ?Reverie

[TarJak]

What mods are you playing? In stock there is no thermal layer modelled, but if you are using SH3Commander the Sensors.dat gts randomised each time you reload SHIII to simulate a layer at a random strength and depth.

[Reverie]

I see in SH3Cmdr 2.7 Help where water density is adjustable, but in the program interface (SH3 Options) it only refers to clarity in the visual sense. Opaque to Transparent for the graphical display. Is this also affecting Sensors ? The muddier I set the water the greater the opportunity for temp gradients ?
Reverie

[TarJak]

You don't set anything. SH3Commander sets both the depth of the layer and the percentage of 'opacity' to the sensors randomly on it's own each time you start up. The settings are universal anywhere you are in the world and do not vary until you restart the game with SH3Commander.

You can't control it without making a permanent setting in a config file which IMHO is a little too predictable.

Even the SH3Commander thermal layer is rather unrealistic as in the Atlantic the themal layers are much deeper than in the Pacific and in most places far deeper than most of the WWII subs were capable of diving.

[Reverie]

Thank you, TarJak, for clearing (sic) that up. Couldn't resist making a funny, what with water densities etal. And you are so right about the need for randomisation. Still it would be nice if the layers were regional rather than global, but for simulating protection I'm just thrilled to find one now and then.
I do experience currents in places, usually during storms. Don't know if it's modeled on water flow or winds.
Reverie

[TarJak]

It would be nice, however historically thermal layers did not play as significant part in the Atlantic war as they did in the Pacific where the layer is shallower and easier to find, so the Ubi devs didn't put any effort into modelling them.