Manual Targeting Poll

[Twitchy]

How many of you actually manually target your torps?

[wetwarev7]

I manually target unless I'm under a certain amount of pressure, i.e. getting chased by a DD, or targetting two or more ships. Or if the target has seen me, I'll use the WO as by the time I've got all the data entered, the target has changed course.

[Joe S]

Yes, almost alway, the main exception being if I want to hit multiple targets I use manual TDC for the first and switch to auto for the second. I assume the fire control party has done the workup on the second targets and let them do so through the auto TDC. Joe S

[Twitchy]

Manual targetting is insane. The instuctions in the tutorial are 6 pages long!

[joea]

Yup...most of the time.

[Pkunzipper]

It's hard to learn to use manual targetting..... but it is so rewarding once you have learnt it!!

It's really a whole new game... it's so exciting everytime you hit a ship (the first times) or hit a ship on its weak spot after having aimed for it (when you start mastering it)!!

Today I did my best shot ever... hit a destroyer running at 16 knots at 4.8 km away with a TIII torpedo! :smug: (with a little bit of luck for sure!! :yep: )

[Dowly]

I just got hang of it few days ago. It´s much more enjoyable to see the torpedo hit, when you do everything manually. :up:

[clive bradbury]

Been completely manual targeting (100% realism) for months. Love it, and I'm never going back.

[coronas]

It´s gratefull when I make the solution to target and the fishes impact against the target. :up:

[SubSerpent]

I could do it, but alas I am too lasy and figure that I am the CO of the U-boat and shouldn't have to work to hard on this cruise. I give the orders and other take them, it's as simple as that. I enjoy laying in my bunk and watching the sonar and rader operators working their butts off on my command. I sometimes play games with them. Turn it on, Turn it off, Turn it on, Turn it off...I love the way they have to always address me as Sir everytime I give them an order. Now where the hell are my grapes, and who's gonna wipe my butt? "Navigator, get over here, you do it best". :rotfl:

[asurmen]

I mostly used Manual, unless Im a a horrible position(I usually do AOB by eye, but theres a area at about 120 that I get WAY off on) or theres lots of em

[von Buelow]

My WO is paid for a reason :yep: to listen for my orders to load, plot a solution, and fire the darn thing

[bos]

For solo ships, definitely manually targetting, but that's because they all have the same solution. 500 meters, speed entered, AOB 90 degress, lock target in periscope, open doors, wait for gyro angle to reach zero, FIRE!!!!

[1916]

It depends on what mood I'm in. I usually play with it off (my XO gets to slack off otherwise and I can't have that on my boat :shifty: ) but when I watch a war movie with naval action it, I am tempted to go "real" and do it with 100% realism (as I did after seeing Das Boot Directo's cut for the first time).

[ReM]

The 'satisfaction' when making a clean kill when you made all the calculations yourself is much more greater than without manual targeting; otherwise it's just point and shoot! If you fancy that, you might find Battlefield 2 a better game!

[Heffalump]

I enjoy manual targetting. But I don't enjoy 100% realism. I typically use manual targetting, but leave the map contacts on. That makes things easier because with the God's eye enabled you can quickly and accurately get your target's true course.

[Fangschuss]

Been completely manual targeting (100% realism) for months. Love it, and I'm never going back.

:up: yep Same here I´loved it :rock:

[FERdeBOER]

Manually targeting yes, but not 100% realism because I'm not god and sometimes I need the help of the weapon officer.

And also the external camera... its all so beautifull that is a pity to lose something because you are inside... :hmm:

[SubChief]

I agree on using the camera view, both external and event. Without them you miss the beautiful graphics and lots of action. Whats the point?

As i have mentioned before when it comes to torpedo targeting this was usually done by the weapon officer, needless to say that was his most important job. So if you (the captain) do the calculations yourself you are not playing with realism ;)

But who cares about realism, its not very accurate in SH3 anyway. The main thing with any game is to have fun :|\

[ICBM]

gents, what exacly do you people mean by 'manual targeting'?
Sure I manually set up the TDC to come up with a firing solution all the time but when under pressure and/or lousy visibillity I reset the TDC and make a super quick TDC calc in my head (speed, AOB and distance) and fire where I point my scope.

I've become quite good at this, especially with DD's

[Sailor Steve]

No, not at all. I use the Weapons Officer assistance and I still miss sometimes. I'm perfectly happy letting him do the hard parts.

[Kalach]

I like to play the game in the role of the captain not the weapons officer, so I leave that stuff up to him.

[U-552Erich-Topp]

:) Hello All, Manual targeting makes SH3 much more challenging...........especially if you miss. Good Hunting, Erich Topp U-552

[Twelvefield]

I think a person will miss a great deal of gameplay if they don't figure out manual targetting. It's much more satisfying to do your own calculations successfully on one merchant than it is to get a BF2 unlock. That being said, though, I do let the WO make the calculations a lot more often than I used to. I can do some basic "snap" shots on the fly, and I will be careful to set up of the simpler solutions, but anything complicated gets delegated to the computer officers.

[Twitchy]

One thing that bugs me about torpedos.
How come it takes 7-10+ men 10 minutes to load ONE torpedo into the launch tube?

[FERdeBOER]

One thing we have not to forget is that in periscope attack is the captain the only one who looks throw the periscope and is him who has to give the data (ship class, angle of bow, speed...) to de WO in order that he can set the TDC (the WO)

[Skubber]

I do manual targeting, but I also "cheat" using the TDC.
Say I have to make a "hurry up" shot, such as some weird 90-degree turn on the torpedo's gyrocompass... with an escort breathing down my neck...

The TDC map quickly updates the projected topedo bearing, allowing me to make a fairly accurate "guesstimate" for the shot. In fact, in these instances I usually press the fire button while looking at the TDC map, and not through the scope.

I've gotten fairly good at this, which makes me feel a little guilty. (No one could possibly draw updates like that in real time.) But I just tell myself that's my WO helping me out.
I guess he's really quick with that pen! :rotfl:

[Twitchy]

I salute you hardcore guys that use manual all the time. I cant even figure out how the hell to work the notebook.

:88)

[EkimRis]

You 100% realism guys are crazy :)

I don't use manual targetting but I plan on trying it out sometime in the near future.

[himmelreiter]

I agree with the other posters! It's definitly more fun with manual targetting :rock: (It is another game)

But I also use sometimes the WO, especially if I am in a hurry setting up multiple shots to a fast running convoy.

[Martin1813]

I've thought for a long time that targetting wasn't my job. but I tried to collect datas by myself and I enjoyed it. so I go on like this :ping:

[Sailor Steve]

One thing that bugs me about torpedos.
How come it takes 7-10+ men 10 minutes to load ONE torpedo into the launch tube?
First, the tube has to be pumped dry before the inner loading door is opened. Then, the torpedo weighing more than a ton has to be unloaded from it's cradle by attaching chain hoists, hooked to the loading tray, checked to make sure everything is working properly and winched into the tube. While this is being done, the gyro connections have to be properly aligned or the gyro angle setting device (which is outside the tube) won't work. Couple that with the fact that this is hard work that allows no room for error (if the torpedo is dropped, men can die, and even if they don't it's extrememly difficult to get it up off the deck again) and you have ten minutes being a very FAST time.

[IThoughtYouClosedTheHatch]

I do - but I just started and am only in the Naval Academy. I don't plan on changing that once I start the missions though. I've found it very difficult so far, but I'm sure it's a matter of time before I pick up what I'm doing wrong.
Great game overall.
:up:

[vois2]

I haven't used any Weps Officer assistance in several months, HOWEVER I do set up fast 90 eyeball attacks in almost all instances. (That is, I don't use the protractor and rules of planar geometry for attacks.) I did all the geometry stuff at first for several weeks, and that is what allowed me to gain the understanding and experience needed to move on for strictly positional attacks.

However, I would and will use the full blown geometry if I ever get the chance of a shot at a capital ship. Amazingly, I've only ever seen one as he was zooming by in the darkness at an angle which prevented an attack. :-(

[Tedo]

Only manual targeting for me. :up:

[Roghain]

Getting tremendously frustrated at the 100% realism, but I daresay with all the aides and "how-tos" on this forum, I am getting the hang of it. Only 18k tonnes so far, but I do admit the satisfaction of doing it yourself is well worth the initial learning curve.

To be sure, I am getting more annoyed with the fatigue fidgetting than the manual targetting. The "you go this way, you go sleep" min-maxing is silly. I would assume that shioft rotation IS something a lower officer or NCO arranges, not the kaloun?

[NiclDoe]

can we close this zombie poll becuase it already as old as Bernard!

[Jimbuna]

Another exhumation :nope:

[Goose_green]

I started playing this game as a real newbie as I had never really played sub games before although I played SHII but never really got into it. I played SH3 for a few months before learning manual targeting, which took me a while to suss out - mainly because I got the AOB principle the wrong way round:damn: Once I mastered it I played the game 100% all the way. But lately I have been real lazy and I use auto targeting. I guess I have mastered it and there was no new challenge to overcome.

[Kaleun Klink]

I enjoy manual targetting. But I don't enjoy 100% realism. I typically use manual targetting, but leave the map contacts on. That makes things easier because with the God's eye enabled you can quickly and accurately get your target's true course.

Yep --this is what I do, too.

[Sailor Steve]

Amazing - ressurecting a poll that is two years old. How do people even FIND these things?

[Goose_green]

There seems to be a recurring problem with resurrecting old threads - is there a problem with this?:hmm:

[Sailor Steve]

I don't have a problem with it; I just want to know how they find one that's so far down the list.

[Goose_green]

Yes, it seems that some people must go through all the thread lists and pick out certain threads to revive. It is amazing how far they go back to. Maybe a slow day at the office;)

[She-Wolf]

I would like to manually target, but I find the guides difficult, so hope to pick it up in watching the progress of the torps in relation to the target. I am not even sure I am doing the auto thing right as I decide when to actually fire the torpedo, and I line the sub up in the optimum position, and try to assess when the right moment is before I 'fire'. My finger is on the button - what do the crew do? :-?

[StandingCow]

I am far too dumb to figure out manual targeting.

[Rykaird]

My favorite part of the game!

For those that don't use manual targeting, I suggest you try it using the "Fast 90" techniques outlined in the stickied section.

No pesky AoB calcs, and it is incredibly accurate and repeatable. It is a lot of fun twirling the dials and flicking the switches - and when that torp hits just ahead of the stack exactly as you planned, it is a great feeling.

Plus, more renown per kill since you have higher difficulty selected.

*edit* Aw hell, I walked right into this crypt of a thread.

[Iron Budokan]

I used to, and it was fun, but not anymore.

[PapaG39]

Well for one thing...Trying to find anything on this forum via the "Search" thingie is generally a 99.999% waste of time.
I don't know exactly what the search function is for on this site. I am about 100% negative in finding what I look for.

New people come along & have no idea what has been said on this site over the past two years or so.
It's all new to us..lol

[MONOLITH]

Sometimes these things are the results of search engines. Google, Yahoo. People search the net for stuff, and stumble onto a forum thread, not realizing how old it is. often people sign up just to post in it.

Notice the "digger upper" only has 14 posts here.

As long as the questions is revived...

Manual targeting all the way. I'm a true simulation fan. If I want easy and arcadish there are plenty of other games to play.

I think if you bypass the manual targeting apsects of this game, especially now with the U-jagd tools and OLC's gui, you're really leaving half the game experience in the box.