How Screwed Up Is The Base Game??

[hunter301]

I am running the SH4 V1.5 Gold Edition of the game with Uboat missions.
I am starting to get very frustrated in trying to run the basic missions and have to ask....
Is this version of the game patched properly or are there still bugs in the game that makes accurately lining up and targeting ships an impossibility or a sometimes yes and sometimes no depending on the particular mission?

I am getting very frustrated in trying to run manual targeting and I'm not sure if I'm doing something wrong or is it the computer. Especially when I found the computer making the most basic mistakes. Every time I have a target "targeted" and fire the torpedo it goes off in some wild ass'ed direction that I never put in.
So I went back to computer assisted targeting to see what I should be looking at when targeting.
I am running the basic training missions to keep it simple and see what's happening. Once you get into combat missions and have ships trying to kill you it gets to "rushed" to study what should be happening when running the torpedo targeting drill.
I started with the most simple torpedo targeting mission there is. The torpedo training mission. Large cruiser across your bow at 2,000 yds. When I use the computer assisted targeting for the TDC first with scoped "L" locked on target and the spread set to 0 it runs fine all fish hit the same spot on the ship. Then I ran it again and added a 2 degree spread with each fish I fired. As it should have all fish impacted the hull of the cruiser about 50' apart from each other.

Then I decided to run one of the single combat missions in assist mode to again see what I should be looking at in Manual Targeting.
However when running this nothing made sense. At the beginning the first Akizuki destroyer breaks away from the convoy and heads straight for you. I lock in on using both radar and the assisted "L" and arrow just to see again what I should be seeing when doing the manual. I know you won't see the little triangle but again I am using it just to test the game.
So as the Akizuki is closing on me I dive to periscope depth at 6,000 yds. and start setting up my torpedoes. I set them all to high speed and 0 degree spread until I see which way he turns.
I left my periscope up so I would get accurate updates on my range but even that didn't help.
The computer tried to tell me that I was over 1200 yds. away when I could clearly see from my "godseye" or F11 view that I was only a couple hundred yards from him. I mean WTF!!!
How are you supposed to play this game and feel like you are remotely playing the "real" thing if you can't even get truthful information from the computer.
I could understand if I was doing manual targeting and put the wrong information in but the computer was doing all the work. All I had to do was look at the target and shoot.

[KaleunMarco]

I am running the SH4 V1.5 Gold Edition of the game with Uboat missions.
I am starting to get very frustrated in trying to run the basic missions and have to ask....
Is this version of the game patched properly or are there still bugs in the game that makes accurately lining up and targeting ships an impossibility or a sometimes yes and sometimes no depending on the particular mission?

I am getting very frustrated in trying to run manual targeting and I'm not sure if I'm doing something wrong or is it the computer. Especially when I found the computer making the most basic mistakes. Every time I have a target "targeted" and fire the torpedo it goes off in some wild ass'ed direction that I never put in.
So I went back to computer assisted targeting to see what I should be looking at when targeting.
I am running the basic training missions to keep it simple and see what's happening. Once you get into combat missions and have ships trying to kill you it gets to "rushed" to study what should be happening when running the torpedo targeting drill.
I started with the most simple torpedo targeting mission there is. The torpedo training mission. Large cruiser across your bow at 2,000 yds. When I use the computer assisted targeting for the TDC first with scoped "L" locked on target and the spread set to 0 it runs fine all fish hit the same spot on the ship. Then I ran it again and added a 2 degree spread with each fish I fired. As it should have all fish impacted the hull of the cruiser about 50' apart from each other.

Then I decided to run one of the single combat missions in assist mode to again see what I should be looking at in Manual Targeting.
However when running this nothing made sense. At the beginning the first Akizuki destroyer breaks away from the convoy and heads straight for you. I lock in on using both radar and the assisted "L" and arrow just to see again what I should be seeing when doing the manual. I know you won't see the little triangle but again I am using it just to test the game.
So as the Akizuki is closing on me I dive to periscope depth at 6,000 yds. and start setting up my torpedoes. I set them all to high speed and 0 degree spread until I see which way he turns.
I left my periscope up so I would get accurate updates on my range but even that didn't help.
The computer tried to tell me that I was over 1200 yds. away when I could clearly see from my "godseye" or F11 view that I was only a couple hundred yards from him. I mean WTF!!!
How are you supposed to play this game and feel like you are remotely playing the "real" thing if you can't even get truthful information from the computer.
I could understand if I was doing manual targeting and put the wrong information in but the computer was doing all the work. All I had to do was look at the target and shoot.
manual targeting is not easy.
you might want to try using auto-targeting until you get the hang of things. then make the jump to manual targeting.

you may be trying to sprint before you can walk. no offense meant.
either way, good luck.:salute:

[Sniper297]

He said he was using auto targeting for this exercise. :up:

Couple items;
The game added more bugs in 1.5 for me, so I uninstalled it and went back to 1.4. Probably not a problem for most people, but I'm chugging along with 32 bit XP and the 1.5 patch was probably made for VISTA or win 7. I get occasional minor crashes with 1.4, frequent major BSOD with 1.5.

1.4 also has bugs, Webster's GFO mod (Game Fixes Only) helps eliminate the worst so it's playable. Somewhere there's also an optical targeting fix that moves the measurements around, never tried it but I read somewhere that it doesn't work or play well with auto targeting, only manual. The measurements near as I can tell are from center to center, so if I'm in a 100 yard long sub looking at a 130 yard destroyer head on, the end to end and center to center distance will vary by 115 yards.

A destroyer coming at 35 knots will cover 1200 yards in about one minute, so by the time you switch to external view it could be 200-300 yards closer, add to that the center to center error and 1200 yards becomes 600 in a hurry.

I generally fire down the throat with the torpedo depth set for 5 feet, between 500 and 1000 yards depending on how fast he's coming. Webster's GFO is a BIG factor in this, in the stock game enemy ships (ESPECIALLY destroyers!) accelerate like a dragster and turn on a dime, Webster added mass and inertia to make them behave more like the real thing so if you fire close enough they won't have time to dodge.

As for the spread, two ways;

1. Constant bearing timed shots. Aim, lock, then unlock, move the scope to the bow - the triangle should still be on, even if it's unlocked. Fire, wait 10 seconds, fire two, wait 10 more seconds, fire three, etc. The movement of the target across the torpedo tracks will spread the hits bow to stern.

2. Aimed shots - this is much more difficult with manual targeting, and not as realistic since the real world they spaced out the shots so the torpedoes wouldn't be so close together their wakes would screw each other up or even cause collisions and prematures. Aim at bow, fire. shift scope aft a little, fire two, repeat as fast as you want because the game doesn't simulate torpedoes being jostled around by the wake of the torpedo it's following. Again manual targeting requires clicking the SEND RANGE AND BEARING TO TDC button in between each shot with the moving scope to aim method, not a problem with auto targeting.

3. Automatic spread - if that works for you great, for me they always spread unpredictably and too far apart so I gave up on it. Not saying it's good or bad, just that it doesn't work well for me.

Last but not least, you are remembering to hit the Q key and check the message window that the tubes are open before firing? :up:

[propbeanie]

Why, hunter301, all you need to do is enroll in Rockin Robbins' fly-by-night correspondence course for - "er, what's that? the FTC has ya?"... OK - belay that hunter301, just point your browser to the Sub Skipper's Bag of Tricks (http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?p=1025180#post1025180) thread, and work your way through a few of the videos.

But, as Sniper297 alludes, v1.5 of the game still has bugs. While they did fix more than they broke going from v1.4 to v1.5 (they usally broke more than they fixed), there are still some inconsistencies in the game. If you are using the Stadimeter, I would suggest that you build a SingleMission with the game's MissionEditor (Sh4MissionEditor.exe), which can be found in the game's folder. Add a docked ship out in the middle of nowhere to a scenario, along with a player-controlled sub for yourself. Start the scenario, and approach the ship to say about 3500 yards, and do several stadimeter attempts on it. You'll probably get 3 different ranges. Do the same from 2000 yards, and while they're closer, all 3 will be different. Then do some from 1000 yards. All different, but closer together. The big thing is, the closer in the better, though it can be more difficult to get away. But also, the stadimeter is not the most accurate thing... and I suspect they did that on purpose. Also, making certain (which RR mentions in several of those vidz) is that you are actually "Sending" the data to the TDC - oh, and that you input the correct aspect of AOB... :salute:

[jimmbbo]

I ran V1.4 off and on for several years and upgraded to 1.5 about a year ago on a fairly new decently performing system... Most difficulties have been caused by operator error, with an occasional curve ball thrown by the program, but never having to do with targeting.

If your system is screwing up with auto targeting, something clearly isn't right. FWIW, I have great success using auto targeting and the O'Kane method for manual shooting.

Hopefully the experten on the thread will have some nugget of information for you...

:Kaleun_Cheers:

[hunter301]

manual targeting is not easy.
you might want to try using auto-targeting until you get the hang of things. then make the jump to manual targeting.

you may be trying to sprint before you can walk. no offense meant.
either way, good luck.:salute:

I think you missed the whole point of the post.
"I AM" using auto or computer assisted targeting. That's why I'm questioning the accuracy of the game itself.
I can't even rely on the computer to give me accurate ranges when I'm letting it do the work for me.
It showed range to target at 1,200 yds. but when I switched to the F11 or God's-eye view I was so close I damn near rammed the ship. Maybe a few hundred yards from his hull at most. Had to crash dive and hard right rudder just keep from running into him.
Why when I'm letting the computer run the show for me is it giving me such false readings?

[jimmbbo]

It showed range to target at 1,200 yds. but when I switched to the F11 or God's-eye view I was so close I damn near rammed the ship.
That is bizarre... I have not seen anything like that in any mode.. I have limited SH4 knowledge, but for general troubleshooting,



Is this behavior new or since install/upgrade?
Has the game ever run normally, or is this its consistent behavior?
What are your system specs - OS, CPU, GPU, RAM, HD space? CD, download/ Steam version? Patches/updates?

[propbeanie]

If using the auto-targeting, you can get information "stuck" in the read-out. You may have targeted the ship at 1200 yards, or maybe it's sitting at its default, but since the ship is so close when you looked at it this time, the game cannot obtain targeting information, so it keeps what it had... :salute:

[hunter301]

If using the auto-targeting, you can get information "stuck" in the read-out. You may have targeted the ship at 1200 yards, or maybe it's sitting at its default, but since the ship is so close when you looked at it this time, the game cannot obtain targeting information, so it keeps what it had... :salute:

No I thought about that. That's why I kept my attack scope up constantly tracking the target. The range was counting down in real time the entire time he was approaching me. He was even shooting at my scope I was so close to him when I thought I was still 1,200 yds. out.
Either the game was targeting another destroyer behind him which there are several to choose from in this particular mission or something is screwed up.

[Sniper297]

Had something like that happen to me recently, I'm tracking a destroyer coming at me at 3000 yards, and I'm hearing pinging?! Switch to external there's a second destroyer just outside the periscope view a lot closer. :doh: