GoldenRivet
01-03-08, 06:37 PM
Given all of the discussion about realism settings there have been recently i thought it would be a good idea to post some information about the realism settings for new players. and the "pros and cons" of their use so to speak. some are pretty much self explanitory... others are not.
maybe this can help some of the newer players decide which play style is best for them?
=====
Limited Batteries: Batteries power the electric engines while submerged. in real life operations, batteries eventually die. But they can be recharged by surfacing the boat.
IF CHECKED: Just as in real life, the batteries will die. they will die faster if you travel submerged at higher speeds. Battery life must be taken into consideration given the tactical situation, as eventually they will go dead or you will have to surface to recharge them.
IF UNCHECKD: the batteries will never go dead. You are free to travel submerged at any speed for as long as you wish. theroretically you could go an entire career without having to surface the boat.
=====
Limited compressed air: Compressed air was essential to many tasks on the u-boat, but in SH3 it is primarily used to blow ballast and emergency surface the u-boat. While on the surface, a compressor would take external air and compress it into a tank where it would be stored. This compressed air could be blown into the ballast tanks to rapidly force water out of the tanks causing the u-boat to surface quickly.
IF CHECKED: you will eventually run out of compressed air, this will limit you to only a few attempts to blow ballast and possibly escape a hairy situation.
IF UNCHECKED: Compressed air never runs out. You may blow ballast as many times as is required to help save the boat from peril.
=====
Limited O2: In real life, submarine crews must have oxygen to breathe. without it they obviously would die. you must surface to replinish the fresh air.
IF CHECKED: the crew will eventually use up all of the oxygen on board and eventually die. You will be required to consider the oxygen status before beginning a lengthy submerged attack as you might have to surface in the middle of battle to keep your crew alive!
IF UNCHECKED: the sub never runs out of oxygen and you may remain submerged for as long as you wish.
=====
Limited Fuel: In real life, diesel engines propel the sub while surfaced, obviously these engines use fuel. the faster you travel the more fuel you use. the only way to get more fuel is to dock in port.
IF CHECKED: you may eventually run out of fuel. The fuel consumption of your sub must be taken into consideration. as captain you must always consider your fuel status and ensure that you have enough fuel to return home.
IF UNCHECKED: You will never run out of fuel and may therfore travel to the ends of the earth at any speed if you so choose.
=====
Realistic Vulnerability: This option increases the likelyhood that you will take more serious damage when attacked. U-boats were not well armored against projectile weapons and even one or two well placed hits would prevent the boat from submerging... at least on purpose. (though prevention from diving due to damage is not simulated in SH3)
IF CHECKED: The amount of damage you take in attacks will be increased slightly to a more realistic level.
IF UNCHECKED: The u-boat will still take damage when attacked, but the damage will be reduced substantially.
=====
Realistic Repair time: In real life u-boat operations, depending on the level of damage sustained, it could take hours, or even days to repair a piece of damaged equipment.
IF CHECKED: the repair times will be slightly increased. Your crew will take longer to fix damaged areas of the boat.
IF UNCHECKED: Your crew can repair almost any problem within minutes.
=====
Realistic ship sinking time: Historically, there have been reports of burning ships remaining afloat for several days following a u-boat attack. Most sinkings in SH3 occur within a few minutes.
IF CHECKED: the sinking time of ships will be adjusted to account for the level of damage and the rate of flooding. it could take minutes or even hours for a ship to sink once you have attacked it. this makes it difficult for you to tell how badly damaged the ship is just by looking at it. it also means you might have to stick around for some time to confirm the sinking.
IF UNCHECKED: the sinking time of ships will default to sinking within a few minutes of the initial attack. therfore you know that if it hasnt been sunk within an hour in the game - it probably is not going to sink unless you attack it again.
=====
Realistic Sensors: In real life, hydrophone range could be affected by the purity or muddyness of the water, or by rough seas. Radar range could be affected by weather. Realistic sensors option adjusts the effectiveness of your sensors to a more realistic level.
IF CHECKED: hydrophone and radar range are reduced.
IF UNCHECKED: hydrophone and radar range will not be unlimited... but they will have substantially longer range.
=====
Realistic Reloads: In real life operations, several crew members could take as much as 5 to 10 minutes (depending on crew experience and fatigue) to completely reload a torpedo tube.
IF CHECKED: The length of relaod time is adjusted to more realistic levels.
IF UNCHECKED: The torpedos will be relaoded within a matter of seconds.
=====
No Noise Meter: In SH3, a noise meter is presented in the user interface on the screen to alert the player as to when he is most or least detectable. Obvisouly real commanders didnt have this luxury. they had to do their best to sneak into an attack position - and often their first indication that they had been detected was pinging followed by a depth charge attack.
IF CHECKED: The noise meter will be disabled. You will never really know for sure how stealthy you are or how vulnerable you are to detection
IF UNCHECKED: you will see the noise meter that will indicate green when you are virtually undetectable and yellow/orange when moderately detectable and red when extremely detectable.
=====
No Stabilize View: In real life, the u-boat would be pitching and rolling with the ocean waves. when the captain would look through his periscope the picture would often be moving about as the sub moved.
IF CHECKED: the view through the periscope will not be automatically stabilized.
IF UNCHECKED: the view through the periscope will remain perfectly sill regardless of weather or sea state.
=====
Dud Torpedoes: Frequently, captains had problems with torpedoes that were duds for various reasons, especially early in the war. They would prematurely detonate, run circles, pass beneath the target by running too deep or impact the target and never detonate!
IF CHECKED: You will occasionally experience historical problems with your torpedoes.
IF UNCHECKED: Your torpedoes should never dud.
=====
No Map Contact Update: In real life, the only way a captain and crew knew where the enemy ships were was to either track them on hydrophone or view them directly via the naked eye. In SH3 you have the option of all nearby ships appearing on the map view.
IF CHECKED: Other ships will not appear on the map screen.
IF UNCHECKED: Other ships will appear on the map screen.
=====
No Event Camera: In SH3 an event camera allows you to see key game events in a cinematic format via a pop up window that can be enlarged to full screen by clicking on it.
IF CHECKED: the event camera is disabled.
IF UNCHECKED: Any time a plane attacks, a depth charge is dropped or a torpedo is fired the event camera will pop up to alert you.
=====
No External View: In SH3 a player controlled exernal camera allows a birds (of fishes) eye view of the action. Obviously real life captains did not have this luxury, but it makes for great screen shot opportunities and increased situational awareness.
IF CHECKED: You will not be able to access the external view. You will only be able to see that which can be viewed from the conning tower or from within the u-boat or through the periscope etc.
IF UNCHECKED: You will be able to use the external camera to identify targets from beyond visual range, or observe and easily evade depth charge or bombing attacks etc.
=====
Manual Targeting: Historically, U-boat captains and their assitants had to gather range, bearing, speed, and AOB data manually by observing their target over time, then formulate what is called a "firing solution" via the use of mathmatic equations which dealt with known variables in order to launch an effective torpedo attack. This can be a difficult and time consuming task.
IF CHECKED: You will have to identify the target by using the ship ID book, then observe the target to gather range, bearing, speed and AOB data.
IF UNCHECKD: SH3 will automatically and instantly identify the target you are looking at as well as compute a perfect firing solution every time you look at a new target through the periscope or UZO.
=====
No Weapons Officer Assitance: In real life, Weapons officers could back up the captain by verifying the ID of the target, the Weapons officer would even input data into the Torpedo Data Computer (TDC) as the captain called out the data he had collected. In SH3, your weapons officer can ID targets for you and even formulate firing solutions for any ship you lock onto by pressing the "L" key while viewing through the UZO or periscope.
IF CHECKED: Your weapons officer will be near pointless. He will not be able to compute firing solutions or ID targets.
IF UNCHECKED: You may use your weapons officers abilities whenever you wish... but his solutions will always be instant and perfect every time.
maybe this can help some of the newer players decide which play style is best for them?
=====
Limited Batteries: Batteries power the electric engines while submerged. in real life operations, batteries eventually die. But they can be recharged by surfacing the boat.
IF CHECKED: Just as in real life, the batteries will die. they will die faster if you travel submerged at higher speeds. Battery life must be taken into consideration given the tactical situation, as eventually they will go dead or you will have to surface to recharge them.
IF UNCHECKD: the batteries will never go dead. You are free to travel submerged at any speed for as long as you wish. theroretically you could go an entire career without having to surface the boat.
=====
Limited compressed air: Compressed air was essential to many tasks on the u-boat, but in SH3 it is primarily used to blow ballast and emergency surface the u-boat. While on the surface, a compressor would take external air and compress it into a tank where it would be stored. This compressed air could be blown into the ballast tanks to rapidly force water out of the tanks causing the u-boat to surface quickly.
IF CHECKED: you will eventually run out of compressed air, this will limit you to only a few attempts to blow ballast and possibly escape a hairy situation.
IF UNCHECKED: Compressed air never runs out. You may blow ballast as many times as is required to help save the boat from peril.
=====
Limited O2: In real life, submarine crews must have oxygen to breathe. without it they obviously would die. you must surface to replinish the fresh air.
IF CHECKED: the crew will eventually use up all of the oxygen on board and eventually die. You will be required to consider the oxygen status before beginning a lengthy submerged attack as you might have to surface in the middle of battle to keep your crew alive!
IF UNCHECKED: the sub never runs out of oxygen and you may remain submerged for as long as you wish.
=====
Limited Fuel: In real life, diesel engines propel the sub while surfaced, obviously these engines use fuel. the faster you travel the more fuel you use. the only way to get more fuel is to dock in port.
IF CHECKED: you may eventually run out of fuel. The fuel consumption of your sub must be taken into consideration. as captain you must always consider your fuel status and ensure that you have enough fuel to return home.
IF UNCHECKED: You will never run out of fuel and may therfore travel to the ends of the earth at any speed if you so choose.
=====
Realistic Vulnerability: This option increases the likelyhood that you will take more serious damage when attacked. U-boats were not well armored against projectile weapons and even one or two well placed hits would prevent the boat from submerging... at least on purpose. (though prevention from diving due to damage is not simulated in SH3)
IF CHECKED: The amount of damage you take in attacks will be increased slightly to a more realistic level.
IF UNCHECKED: The u-boat will still take damage when attacked, but the damage will be reduced substantially.
=====
Realistic Repair time: In real life u-boat operations, depending on the level of damage sustained, it could take hours, or even days to repair a piece of damaged equipment.
IF CHECKED: the repair times will be slightly increased. Your crew will take longer to fix damaged areas of the boat.
IF UNCHECKED: Your crew can repair almost any problem within minutes.
=====
Realistic ship sinking time: Historically, there have been reports of burning ships remaining afloat for several days following a u-boat attack. Most sinkings in SH3 occur within a few minutes.
IF CHECKED: the sinking time of ships will be adjusted to account for the level of damage and the rate of flooding. it could take minutes or even hours for a ship to sink once you have attacked it. this makes it difficult for you to tell how badly damaged the ship is just by looking at it. it also means you might have to stick around for some time to confirm the sinking.
IF UNCHECKED: the sinking time of ships will default to sinking within a few minutes of the initial attack. therfore you know that if it hasnt been sunk within an hour in the game - it probably is not going to sink unless you attack it again.
=====
Realistic Sensors: In real life, hydrophone range could be affected by the purity or muddyness of the water, or by rough seas. Radar range could be affected by weather. Realistic sensors option adjusts the effectiveness of your sensors to a more realistic level.
IF CHECKED: hydrophone and radar range are reduced.
IF UNCHECKED: hydrophone and radar range will not be unlimited... but they will have substantially longer range.
=====
Realistic Reloads: In real life operations, several crew members could take as much as 5 to 10 minutes (depending on crew experience and fatigue) to completely reload a torpedo tube.
IF CHECKED: The length of relaod time is adjusted to more realistic levels.
IF UNCHECKED: The torpedos will be relaoded within a matter of seconds.
=====
No Noise Meter: In SH3, a noise meter is presented in the user interface on the screen to alert the player as to when he is most or least detectable. Obvisouly real commanders didnt have this luxury. they had to do their best to sneak into an attack position - and often their first indication that they had been detected was pinging followed by a depth charge attack.
IF CHECKED: The noise meter will be disabled. You will never really know for sure how stealthy you are or how vulnerable you are to detection
IF UNCHECKED: you will see the noise meter that will indicate green when you are virtually undetectable and yellow/orange when moderately detectable and red when extremely detectable.
=====
No Stabilize View: In real life, the u-boat would be pitching and rolling with the ocean waves. when the captain would look through his periscope the picture would often be moving about as the sub moved.
IF CHECKED: the view through the periscope will not be automatically stabilized.
IF UNCHECKED: the view through the periscope will remain perfectly sill regardless of weather or sea state.
=====
Dud Torpedoes: Frequently, captains had problems with torpedoes that were duds for various reasons, especially early in the war. They would prematurely detonate, run circles, pass beneath the target by running too deep or impact the target and never detonate!
IF CHECKED: You will occasionally experience historical problems with your torpedoes.
IF UNCHECKED: Your torpedoes should never dud.
=====
No Map Contact Update: In real life, the only way a captain and crew knew where the enemy ships were was to either track them on hydrophone or view them directly via the naked eye. In SH3 you have the option of all nearby ships appearing on the map view.
IF CHECKED: Other ships will not appear on the map screen.
IF UNCHECKED: Other ships will appear on the map screen.
=====
No Event Camera: In SH3 an event camera allows you to see key game events in a cinematic format via a pop up window that can be enlarged to full screen by clicking on it.
IF CHECKED: the event camera is disabled.
IF UNCHECKED: Any time a plane attacks, a depth charge is dropped or a torpedo is fired the event camera will pop up to alert you.
=====
No External View: In SH3 a player controlled exernal camera allows a birds (of fishes) eye view of the action. Obviously real life captains did not have this luxury, but it makes for great screen shot opportunities and increased situational awareness.
IF CHECKED: You will not be able to access the external view. You will only be able to see that which can be viewed from the conning tower or from within the u-boat or through the periscope etc.
IF UNCHECKED: You will be able to use the external camera to identify targets from beyond visual range, or observe and easily evade depth charge or bombing attacks etc.
=====
Manual Targeting: Historically, U-boat captains and their assitants had to gather range, bearing, speed, and AOB data manually by observing their target over time, then formulate what is called a "firing solution" via the use of mathmatic equations which dealt with known variables in order to launch an effective torpedo attack. This can be a difficult and time consuming task.
IF CHECKED: You will have to identify the target by using the ship ID book, then observe the target to gather range, bearing, speed and AOB data.
IF UNCHECKD: SH3 will automatically and instantly identify the target you are looking at as well as compute a perfect firing solution every time you look at a new target through the periscope or UZO.
=====
No Weapons Officer Assitance: In real life, Weapons officers could back up the captain by verifying the ID of the target, the Weapons officer would even input data into the Torpedo Data Computer (TDC) as the captain called out the data he had collected. In SH3, your weapons officer can ID targets for you and even formulate firing solutions for any ship you lock onto by pressing the "L" key while viewing through the UZO or periscope.
IF CHECKED: Your weapons officer will be near pointless. He will not be able to compute firing solutions or ID targets.
IF UNCHECKED: You may use your weapons officers abilities whenever you wish... but his solutions will always be instant and perfect every time.