Beginner Questions

[peterfarg]

Hello Forum,

I'm complete new to SH3.
1. In the academy is a mission with torpedos. I have to sunk 4 of the 5 shiputs. But If I fire the torpedos with the help of the weapon officer (fire solution & and fire torpedo) most time the torpedo dont detonate. The torpedo hits the ship in an angel maybe 80°. Is it a dupe, or has the angel to be perfectly 90°?
And before I fire the torpedo, there is sometimes a green or sometimes yellow triangle on the ship. Does the green triangle mean that now the angel is nearly 90°?

2. If i sunk a ship, I get a video in the left lower corner. The problem is that the mouse pointer gets invisible as long as the enemy ship sinks to the ground in this video window. The mouse is still there, if i move it randomly above one of the controls, the tooltip window appears or a button get highlighted. But its extremly difficult to control the ship with an invisible mouse pointer. So, how can I close this stupid video window to get back control of the ship?


Thanks

Peter

[zygoma]

Hello, Peter.
I'm a perpetual n00b, but I've come across a couple of your questions.
The little window in the bottom left that comes on when something significant happens is called the "event camera". If you like seeing it sometimes but want to close it, hitting either the / or V key on your keyboard should close it. If you would prefer not to have it come on at all (sounds like your computer graphics or memory are being strained) you can disable it with a mark on the list of options.

I'm not good at manual targeting, but I know that the triangle is red if a target is outside the bearing angle from your boat that a torpedo can hit from. It goes to yellow once a shot is possible. I don't know for sure what the green means, as I think I've only seen it when I am AOB of 0 deg or 180 deg.

As for the torpedoes not detonating, I do not know if having duds selected in the option affects the Naval Academy functions, too (it seems like it should, if the torpedoes at school were historically accurate).

Also, if you have the torpedoes set to run too deep and have the "pistol" set only "I" (impact) instead of "M" (impact + magnetic), they will swim happily under the keel of the target and run until they are exhausted, or they explode on their own because of a defect.

If you're using manual targeting, you already know about the Torpedo Data Computer at F6. Those settings are in the upper right.

Hope this helps, and welcome aboard. I bought this sim in 2006 and am still learning from the experienced Kaleuns on this forum.
-- Zygoma --
diddly dahdidah
dit dit

[peterfarg]

I have canceled the video window in the options. Now, the mous pointe stays visible. Thanks :)

I think the torpedos must hit on a plain surface in 90°. If i hit a ship from the side, the torpedo always explodes. (Dude Option is selected.) But if i hit it on the front or rear from only 1/3 are detonating.
I think the green triangle has something to do with the torpedo arc. If the torpedo dont have to do a curve, the trianlge is green.

[stasork]

That "green triangle" in UZO or periscope appear when gyro angle is near 0 (+-5)
This is the best time to fire the torpedo.

[U570]

It might be that the torpedoes are hitting too low on the ship, and they just bounce off. This has happened to me quite a few times.

[Sailor Steve]

Hello Forum,

I'm complete new to SH3.
1. In the academy is a mission with torpedos. I have to sunk 4 of the 5 shiputs. But If I fire the torpedos with the help of the weapon officer (fire solution & and fire torpedo) most time the torpedo dont detonate. The torpedo hits the ship in an angel maybe 80°. Is it a dupe, or has the angel to be perfectly 90°?
And before I fire the torpedo, there is sometimes a green or sometimes yellow triangle on the ship. Does the green triangle mean that now the angel is nearly 90°?
Use the Recognition Manual to get the draft (depth) of the ship's keel. Set the torpedo to run 1 meter under the keel. The magnetic detonater will do the job and the angle won't matter.

2. If i sunk a ship, I get a video in the left lower corner. The problem is that the mouse pointer gets invisible as long as the enemy ship sinks to the ground in this video window. The mouse is still there, if i move it randomly above one of the controls, the tooltip window appears or a button get highlighted. But its extremly difficult to control the ship with an invisible mouse pointer. So, how can I close this stupid video window to get back control of the ship?
Use 'Options' in the Menu Screen to turn off 'Event Camera'.

[Laufen zum Ziel]

Welcome aboard Mate. Happy hunting.:salute:

[peterfarg]

Currently I'm attacking from the side. But I will try the magnetic thing. If it helps to reduce the amount of torpedos to sink a ship, I will switch to it.

I have some new questions. Currently I'm doing the career.
1. There is the message that the new harbor xyz is from now on available. What does it mean? I can transfer my boat per telephone to it, nothing more? Or can I stop there while a mission an refill my torpedos and gasoline?

2. There are only patrol missions. Will I get other mission type, if I proceed in time?

3. Often a warship is spotted. If I look closer, its a destroyer. Is it possible to see other ship type? Maybe with a minor random factor?

4. I sneak in several harbors. Sometimes there are tankers and C3 cargo ships docked. Is there a harbor where I can see other ships? Battleships? Where can I see the ocean liners? (In career mode)

5. In one harbor was a wall under the water with "ballons" on top. Was this a anti uboat wall with mines on it? (Will this ballons explode?)

6. How can I determine that I can use the deck gun, if I'm under water? I can get the weather report and see the sea with the gyroskop. But in the end I must surface and try it. Is there an indicator in the weather report that shows me a storm is ongoing?

7. What is a good fishing ground? Currently I'm driving beneath Ireland to get the convoys. Maybe above Ireland could also be a good fishing ground. But the airplanes are no fun, if I come to close to England.



Thanks

Peter

[zygoma]

Hello again, Peter.
I hope my limited experience with the sim can be of some help again.
1. I've only seen the message appear a couple of times in the vanilla (i.e., non-GWX) version of the game. Sometimes it has been something like "Your flotilla has been transferred to Bergen." When I get messages that look similar to yours, I go to the F5 map and either drag it to the port shown, or I zoom out so I can see more of the earth, and just look to see in what color the port's name is printed. If it's blue, it's under Axis control; green means neutral, and red is Allied. When I've run low on fuel from missions that are 12,000 km in a boat with a 6,700 km range, I've put in at friendly ports to resupply (I have to "end" the patrol there) and can get a full load of fuel and get more torps there. If I recall correctly (it's been awhile), medals and promotions earned up until then will not be offered until you return to your home port, or the one to which your flotilla has been moved.
2. It's possible that you're confusing "missions" with "careers". The missions (again in SH3 1.4b, not GWX that I know of) have you start in a a specific location with a specific object to achieve, like defending your remaining surface fleet in northern Russia, or sinking a couple of aircraft carriers in a moving task force, etc. In Scapa Flow, you're to penetrate the defenses and make it in to sink the Royal Oak. Patrols, as far as I know, only appear under "Careers". Each time you make it back to your port alive, you're assigned a new grid to patrol for 24 hours, which of course means you have to get there alive, complete the patrol, and get back alive (or "warp" back, if you don't think you'll make it).
3. I you enable "external view" (or "external camera"?) in the Options list, you can hit the "," or "." keys to see yourself and any surface ships that have been detected -- also aircraft sometimes. It won't give the name of a ship; you'll still need the recognition manual accessible from the periscope or UZO view unless it's a ship you can identify easily. I have GWX on my less-capable laptop, and while the periscope view is better, it's still pretty frantic to page through the recognition manual as *something* is bearing down on you at 22 knots from 3 km out.... ;)
4. I've seen a Bogue-class carrier at Firth of Clyde, and a troop ship at Plymouth, I think it was. There was a large cruiser one time when I sneaked into Reykjavik after finishing my assigned patrol area just south of Iceland. The big prizes often hide at the "rear" of the docks, beyond the easier C2 and T2s that are easily spotted. Warning: I found that, even after being holed enough to settle on the bottom (about 7 meters) while dockside, the Bogue keeps its guns manned, and they can still shoot at you if you surface on the other side of a pier to shoot at the tanker at Firth of Clyde.
5. If those are mines, I've been exceedingly lucky, as I've run into lots of nets. However, if they *are* mines, they're so close to the surface that only very shallow draft vessels would be able to clear them, so perhaps they are defense against substantial enemy surface ships not using the channel that's designed by the port's "owners". So I don't know, but the nets can sure do a lot of damage to the bows of your sub, like the forward torpedo, forward enlisted quarters, and radio room. I've learned to keep a full Damage Control team on duty when entering enemy ports, it sure speeds up fixing those "Oh, geez!" maneuvers. I've also tried using the observation periscope raised until it's just clear of its housing, but not above the water's surface, to have a chance of seeing the nets *before* I impact them.
6. I don't know what the stock limits are for deck/flak gun weather states, so I've cheated somewhat by putting in the "any-weather guns" mod. It's completely unrealistic, as the deck gun frequently spends as much time underwater as above, but when I'm lazy and playing in Arcade mode instead of "realistic", it's all about tonnage and airplane kills. (A couple of tweaks to the supercharger factors, and I've got a Type IX-D that will do 66 knots on the surface, but 5 knots at the slow setting, so I can navigate in ports.) Some of the more seasoned Kaleuns here will doubtless have more definitive weather values to answer this question for you.
7. Aside from the area directly south of Ireland, and west of Gibraltar, I can only find good hunting grounds by using the map showing naval, convoy, and air protection areas. The map is in the program under "Documentation", along with 4 or 5 other handy docs. I leave the map open on my desktop under the sim window so I can Alt-Tab to it every so often. As soon as I win the Irish Sweepstakes, or get the money from the nice gentleman at the National Bank of Nigeria, I'll have that map printed out in 17" x 22" and laminated so I can hang it on my wall, mark it with a grease pencil, and erase it with a wipe after each patrol. FWIW, my two adjacent walls have maps from Eve Online, and amateur radio country designators and a pin map for contacts in those countries, counties in the US, etc. I'm not a multi-tasker, but I've got lots of interests :)
Hope that helps a little, but you'll undoubtedly get more informed answers from the more senior members here.
Toodles,
-- Zygoma -- kl7hny

[Frenchy849]

Yes,you get only patrol missions,but you can head out and raid any port.
The most famous port to raid is Scapa Flow,as there are Battleships and cruisers there.
Also,Zygoma,you can find that map in-game:It's in the navigation map,on the upper left,it's tan and if you want to see it,just drag it down.
For the "new port availaible" message,it means they are basing U-boat flotillas here,you can replenish your fuel and torpedoes at any friendly port.
You can man the guns when there's no foam on the surface,but if you want to test it underwater,go to periscope depth and just raise the periscope.
Yes,those are anti-submarine nets,but those things on the bottom aren't mines,they're just weights to keep the net underwater.

[Ilki]

I'll just hijack this thread with a newbie question of my own.

I'm trying to sink a lone destroyer escorting a small convoy which would leave the merchants defenseless. The seas are just rough enough not to allow deck gun usage.

However, every time the torpedoes go too deep. I'm firing manually and I've set the depth to minimum, tried with impact and magnetic but no joy. They always go way under the vessel. I tried research but the only recommendation seems to be not to use magnetic and go with impact in rough waters. Any help?

The year is 1940 and the torpedoes are both pre-war types.

Thanks.

[19Herr_Rapp86]

Welcome to the Kriegsmarine. Our torpedoes make me feel as follows..... :/\\!!:/\\!!:/\\!!:/\\!!:/\\!!:/\\!!:/\\!!:/\\!!:/\\!!:/\\!!:/\\!!:/\\!!:/\\!!:/\\!!:/\\!!

Just gonna have to deal with the crap torpedoes. I use impacts until about mid-1942