4 Bearing Hunting

[sixcoins]

I'm noticing that on the tutorials I've seen, they always pause the game before they take their bearing.

I understand that getting the bearing in an instant increases the accuracy of the bearing, and therefore also increases the success of the attack, however...

In real world, a sub commander could not 'pause' the game, so I'm curious if it's possible to use the same method (successfully) without pausing.

Has anyone used this method without pausing the game while drawing bearing lines?

Thanks!

[TwoGamers]

The aim of SH is to make you a sub sim and so everything should be done in real time period. as far as i know there is no way to be that accurate but a metre each way wont matter as long as everything else is alright. Id say dont play with manual aiming on until you understnad the rest of the game.:nope:

[sublynx]

In most situations the gain of accuracy in pausing the game is really irrelevant. I wouldn't pause for accuracy. If you need to pause, you are already doing something too late or trying something that would have been unrealistic.

However, I don't feel that pausing the game is unrealistic in all circumstances. I think that by being a part of a team and not a lone superwolf, a Kaleun could have "paused" the situation in a sense. An example: as a captain looking through a periscope, I would talk out the bearings and seconds I gathered. After that I would pause on the numbers and concentrate on getting new ones, while the officers on board would start making calculations based on my sightings. I would be reconnoitering without pause, but that would not mean that the calculations would be waiting for my attention.

As it is I have three unrealistic options:

1. I leave auto-AI on and don't pause
automatic AI officers are calculating pinpoint accurately as fast as a computer is, which is a major letdown on realism
2. I do everything myself and pause the game at points
I gain human inaccuracy and careless mistakes and lose in realism by having indefinite time to my advantage
3. I do everything myself and don't use pause:
The positives of case 2, but I lose in realism in the sense that I can't calculate as fast as a team could and can't reconnoiter while I'm calculating
As it is, I do what I feel is the most fun way to play. I pause if pausing adds to the fun element of the game :ping:

[TwoGamers]

Well said!

[sixcoins]

Everyone, thanks for the insight.

Sublynx....well thought-out reply. I appreciate the time you spent on that post.

If it adds to the fun of the game, I'll pause.... and as I get better, the pausing won't be as necessary as often.


Again, thanks all!

[Pisces]

When doing the 4 bearing hunt pausing the game makes little sense for time accuracy. The bearings drift so slowly that manually measuring them from the map is accurate enough. Unless the target is so close that bearings do drift with degrees per second. Then you might as well consider using the periscope at that range. A few seconds is nothing if the bearing interval takes more than 10 minutes.

If you want to take consideration of realism, then first you need to know that the 4 bearing method was perhaps not even used in WW2. In real-life the hydrophone was probably only used for situational awareness, rather than actual targeting. The bearing accuracy of the hydrophone with operator was probably much worse than can be experienced in-game.

Asking the crew for a bearing via the interface commands get the result in degrees, but could be 1 degree off from reported due to number round-off. Listening yourself makes the bearings even less accurate as you have no exact idea of the highest intensity. (but does allow for better detection range) This introduces enough of a challenge for the 4 bearing hunt, and patience in waiting is your only ally to solve this. Using the map as a source of bearing measurement is somewhat of a cheat (as there would be no uber-accurate transfer mechanism of bearings from the hydrophonestation to the plotting table), but it does make the method reliable to work with.

So, feel free to make up your own mind as to what guidelines you follow.

However, when making a video I can imagine the presenter would want to keep from making mistakes. Then it is smart to pause every once in a while and regain composure. Mistakes happen quickly when under stress and being rushed. So, whenever you feel the need to, don't worry about it.

Oh yeah, Bernard is always around, no matter how often you pause.