Is it possible?

[fastfed]

to have map contacts ON, but don't have the cheat attack map??

I'd like to play as realistic as possible, I tried checking everything off in the gameplay settings, including no map contacts..

Problem is, its almost impossible to really get information needed.. speed,course and so on.

But if I uncheck no map contacts, its like god mod is enabled throughout.

Including god mod attack map.

Sure, I can avoid it, but knowing its available to me, gets the better of me, lol

If I could just have my sonar guy show the little line on the map and nothing else, I would be fine.

Do you guys play with no map contacts ??

[razark]

When I play, I play with map contacts sort of on.

At low zoom levels, I have the map contacts on, so I can see what is where. At higher level zoom, the map contacts are gone, so I can't use the map to get impossibly accurate speed/range/course information. I gather information at long range with the radar, and use the periscope to make observations closer in. Once I enter the target into the TDC, I watch the prediction compared to the actual observation, and refine my data.

[CapnScurvy]

Do you guys play with no map contacts ??

Yes I do. I like to map plot without having the target show up on the map (even if the ship icon is only a black dot). I never use the Attack Map since it doesn't allow for using the map tools (protractor, ruler, compass) like the Navigation Map does. I learned to map plot back in my SHIII days, from a guy named Wazoo. He had a technique and a two dial tool that allowed you to figure AoB, target track etc. compared to "true North". This allowed you to figure a good firing solution.

I carried over his technique and made a three dial tool to do the same thing for SH4. The "AoB Calculator" gives you target tract information when you know the targets "relative bearing" compared to your relative bearing to "true North", and an estimate of the targets AoB.

True North compass information is important since that's the only stationary basis of comparision a player has when out on the wide expance of the ocean (no other stationary points of reference exist!). The game uses this same reference point, that's why the ruler protractor has the 360 degrees reversed on the tool (the zero is at the bottom of the dial). It's intended to mark a bearing compared to true North.

As far as eliminating the Attack Map from your view, yes you can do it. You need to eliminate its reference from the keyboard inputs, and remove it from the buttons along the bottom of the screen interface. For me, I just don't go there to use the Attack Map.

[fastfed]

When I play, I play with map contacts sort of on.

At low zoom levels, I have the map contacts on, so I can see what is where. At higher level zoom, the map contacts are gone, so I can't use the map to get impossibly accurate speed/range/course information. I gather information at long range with the radar, and use the periscope to make observations closer in. Once I enter the target into the TDC, I watch the prediction compared to the actual observation, and refine my data.



SAY WHAT??

How do I do this?

[Red October1984]

Guess im the only one who uses Auto Targeting.... :oops:

[Moonlight]

No you're not :hmph: and I'm gonna keep using auto targeting as well.:haha:

[Sailor Steve]

I use auto targeting as well. Of course the way it's done in the game none of the choices are realistic.

[fastfed]

wow really?? Steve? wow

[razark]

SAY WHAT??

How do I do this?
It involves going into the directory that holds the ships (and subs, and planes), and replacing the symbol (silhouette or black dot) with a blank image. There's a few other things involved to get it working, and I honestly can't remember how I went about it all. Even with this modification, I'm still not happy with the choice between contacts on and off.

[Sailor Steve]

wow really?? Steve? wow
Anyone who reads the SH3 forums has known this for years. I have zero math skills (well, I'm pretty good with basic math, but trigonometry and calculus are a foreign language to me) and would be totally lost if I had to do it myself.

[arnauld]

I play without map contacts, because i seem its to easy with them.

[HowardMilner]

Hi, first time poster, long time player.

I generally play with contacts off. I like the little extra work load of making my own plots. I plays TMO 2.5 with the TDC / radar mod built in, so plotting contacts beyond visual range is possible with a pretty high degree of accuracy. At least a fairly historic amount of accuracy.

I have also recently started playing without using sonar. That is to say, I do not man the sonar station myself. I only use the info the crew can relay to me when I inquire about sonar contacts. Again, for a game a little more close to historic accuracy. Being able to reliably listen to contacts 20 miles away was not the norm back then from what I have read. It also makes me feel like the crew ratings might actually mean something, and any time I spend putting crew into positions based on their skills might be worth it, at least in the conning tower crew stations.

And the last play tweak I am trying is to not use the time acceleration / stutter trick to detect contacts in my area. I only accelerate to about 512x and keep the stopwatch hidden. This way finding contacts only comes about when the crew alerts me to it.

[swamprat69er]

I play with map contacts on and auto-targeting as well.

[paulhager]

I play TMO_2.5 and map contacts on. That's 100% in TMO. I think of it this way: I'm the captain - I have crew to take the data I provide and plot it for me. When it comes to handling the actual targeting, I do all of that.

As much as possible, I try to make night surface attacks, which allow liberal use of radar for refining the solution. Lone merchants I'll attack submerged during the day and use active sonar for that purpose.

I used to play with the external camera as well, primarily so I could take screen shots to accompany postings. Apropos of this, I posted a number of instructive articles (using screen shots) on conducting night surface attacks in the Ubi SH4 forum, for anyone who is interested.

[fastfed]

Yea I turned ext. view off..

I hate to be one of those guys.. But sadly I am now, lol


I ONLY played with auto targeting.. and my immersion was the whole avoiding damage deal, but whenever I saw a ship, I made believe I was actually plotting something, when in reality, I knew no MATTER what, it was going to sink..

Even during a big task force, normally I would sink at least 1 big ship, flat top or cruiser.

Now with manual targeting, I am that guy, the guy that will say, How could anyone play with auto targeting..

:( I know.. I know.. I was embarrassed to admit I used auto targeting all these years, so I avoided mentioning it.

I told some great war stories over the many years here but never included I was using aimbot :)

How anyone could use auto targeting it beyond me.. I don't even remember how it was anymore, lol but I could never ever go back to it.

REALLY plotting and figuring things out and shooting 3 fish and only hitting 1, is a huge success..
and I smile :)

Before, if I missed with just 1 torp. I would be pissed and sometimes reload, lol

With auto targeting, sinking 50k tons or more is not unheard of , lol

now I'm happy with 3 ships and 15k tons

[TorpX]

I never use map contacts or auto-targ, unless I just want to check out the game, fix something or develop a mission. To me, having the AI give away so much information, just unbalances the game. There are already limitations, that make it easier for us to sink ships, than it was in real life.

I used to play SHCE without map contacts, and that was work. The only way to do it, was to never look at the charts and do your plotting on paper.

And, as others have said, I like the fact that my patrols will not have bags in six digits. If the game is too easy, it soon becomes boring.