Speed calculations in game are &#%$**!!!! (RESOLVED)

[hunter301]

I am getting so effinn sick of this. I must have played the torpedo training mission in the academy 30 friggin times and no matter what I do I can't hit the faster moving ships because the game won't calculate the speeds right. Every time I shoot it they always outrun the shot. Remember, these are perfectly lined up beam shots.
For instance..... I was targeting the small (light gray) tanker. Book says it has a speed of 16 knots. I am sitting in the ideal beam shot waiting for it to cross my path moving towards it at full speed to close the distance (which if anything means I should overshoot my shot), but no matter how I do it never calculates the speed correctly. The fastest it calculates so far is 9 knots. Know I can tell from all the other ships in this map that this this is flying, moving a hell of lot faster than 7 or 9 knots. Which brings up another good point. Why does the same ship at the same angle keep coming up with different speeds?
Can anybody tell me why this is happening? If I can't even sink ships in here without escort protection what chance do I stand in campaigns or single missions? I love this game but what's the use if you can't do anything with it?
Thanks ahead for any help.

PS..Is there anyway to input the speed manually or fudge the calcs some how? I lot of times I will hold the stadimeter a little below the actual top of the mast so the TDC thinks the ship is a little farther out and lead it even more but it still doesn't seem to help.

[Dutch]

Well there is alwyas the possiblity of human error.

Make sure you put the AOB in correctly, also make sure to click the manual imput button after you entered the data or else the data will be outdated and you will undershoot our target.

I use Wazoo's plotting system to figure the speed and course ect of the target.

http://www.paulwasserman.net/SHIII/

Check there, if you do exactly what it tells you you will never miss. I haven't yet.

[Der Teddy Bar]

Yep, blame the game bacause you can't hit shyte... :rotfl:

Thats why I can hit 100% of the time, yep, you are the best, a legend and it must be the game, cause you are so good! You is a legend man! You IS the the dud, uhm I meant dude, well I think I did.

The book, indicates its maximum speed.

Fair go, no wonder they keep dumbing down games :damn:

[hunter301]

Well I just put in about 12 hours straight and still have not completed the torpedo training portion. BUT!!!!!
I'm not upset about it because......Once I started pressing the manual input switch in the TDC it changed my whole game. I think I sank that first coast merchant ship that just sits in front of you not moving (That is until it sees that torp heading for it then the stack starts smoking and she kicks it into overdrive) at least a hundred times tonight. Then going after the large cargo ship I finally got to the point of being able to fire a 2 torp salvo at while moving. While I haven't been able to finish the training phase I'm not concerned because I can say that knowing what I am looking at makes this game a whole lot more enjoyable. It's amazing how much joy one little switch can bring to something (At least that's what my wife keeps telling me!!). Anyway since I have doing the manual inputting I have spent hours looking at the different dials, how they affect my shot, how they affect my bearing, etc.....
I don't even mind when I miss anymore because at least now I know why it missed. And being able to input the speed manually changes the whole game for me. Except for looking at the target's range I don't even use the notepad anymore, I do it all on the TDC. I preset my firing range, bearing, torp depth, magnetic/impact, etc... ahead of time and then I use the notepad to count down the range as it gets closer.
I know it sounds like newbie talk but believe it or not I have been trying to play this game to get to this point since it first came out. Shows you how much time home, job, wife and kids can take away from you. You deffinately cannot learn this game by playing it for only a couple of hours, you have to really immerse yourself into for an entire afternoon just to understand the basics of the controls. Today (over 12 hours) has to be the most I have ever been able to play the game in one sitting and was able to get so much out of it.
Next on my list is Dangerous Waters....Now where did I put that game manual???

[Gizzmoe]

Yep, blame the game bacause you can't hit shyte... :rotfl:

Thats why I can hit 100% of the time, yep, you are the best, a legend and it must be the game, cause you are so good! You is a legend man! You IS the the dud, uhm I meant dude, well I think I did.

Please cut down on your sarcasm in the future, it is inappropriate and fairly insulting. Thank you!

Gizzmoe
(with his moderator bathrobe on)

[Der Teddy Bar]

Except for looking at the target's range I don't even use the notepad anymore, I do it all on the TDC. I preset my firing range, bearing, torp depth, magnetic/impact, etc... ahead of time and then I use the notepad to count down the range as it gets closer.
I use the 100% manual as well as using the notepad for the relative bearing input, the AOB and range input.

It allows accurate and quick updates to the TDC. All I use the manual switch for is so that I can set the speed.

I put the scope to where I want to shoot at and then press the notepads tick, you will then notice the bearing number underneath change, now that bearing number represents where the torpedos course in relation to the relative bearing, the AOB and the speed etc of the target, So the relative bearing may be 350, but the number may say 355.

The range does not have to be precise and it is only important for it to be somewhat accurate to within 500 metres for long range shots of over 2000 metres. It is handy to have it close for all ranges as it is the notepad distance that is used by the stop watch to indicate when the torpedo should hit.

Using the notepad for the AOB is handy as it can be done very quickly. The trick is to make sure that you press the tick once to accept the new AOB and again to update the TDC. Remember though, the scopes relative bearing will be that of which it is pointing too, so you might need to redo that part again.

Also, use the bridge or something with a nice right angle and flat edges for calculating the AOB.

Remember, if your distance says 2500 metres and the target is at 500 metres, it means nothing, take the shot.

[sk065]

I am having some difficuly sinking the large cargo ship in the naval academy mission also. Im using the notebook method and not the TDC method. Im a bit confused as to why my torps dont hit after doing everything the wiki manual suggests. NOw, if the target is moving, i simply point my scope at where i think the target will be and fire. 1 out of 5 times it works. Better than 0.
Im a bit confused, even after reading the wiki manual, as to how to go about firing correctly. Any help would be appriciated.

[Joe S]

Hi sko65!

I has some trouble using manual TDC also for a while, still miss occasionally , but not often. The most critical factor in the manual TDC is target speed. I mark the position of the target on the map with a marker, wait one minute and mark its new position, then measure the distance with the ruler. That gives your speed. For example, 216 meters travelled in one minute is seven knots. One problem is that the ruler only measures in 1,000 increments, so if the distance is almost 2,000 it will still read 1,000. But you can make that adjustment on your own. If you have time, mark the target's position at one minute intervals over a period of two or three minutes, it gives you a more accurate result. Then manually enter that data on the TDC screen. Forget the notepad speed method, it does not take into account the sub's speed so the whole thind doesnt work. (unless maybe your boat is stationary).. I then also pre-set the range manually to 1,500, and the AOB. I set the aob for a 90 degree shot then manuver into that position. If you have to shoot at other than a 90 deg shot you can always use the notepad for that, it is accurate.

Another suggestion is to cycle through all the tubes from the tdc station and set the speed to fast, that gives the target less time to manuver out of the way. Just before you shoot, if you have time, check the manual tdc screen to make sure the green line representing the torp track is leading the target, just to make sure you didnt enter something wrong.

My method is very simple and authentic. My use of the map represents the work that the fire control party would be doing with its manual plot of the target. I still set the range, estimate AOB from the scope, manuver the boat into position and so forth, just like a real captain would have to do. By marking the target's position on the map, you are letting the crew help with range estimation, nothing wrong with that as there were lots of ways of doing it besides the ranging reticle. I hope you find this helpful Joe S

[hunter301]

Another suggestion is to cycle through all the tubes from the tdc station and set the speed to fast, that gives the target less time to manuver out of the way. Just before you shoot, if you have time, check the manual tdc screen to make sure the green line representing the torp track is leading the target, just to make sure you didnt enter something wrong.


I never thought about the torp track line in the TDC leading the target. Probably because all I ever see is the green line and not the target. Anyone know why that would be? How do I set up the screen so I can see the target relative to my line of shooting?

[Joe S]

If you adjust the scale of the map,(zoom out) you should be able to see the target. The green line should be ahead of the target slightly. If you change the range you will notice that the amount by which the green line leads the target almost never changes, no matter what the range, which tends to illustrate that the range is the least important piece of information that you need for the TDC. Joe S

[sk065]

OK, thank Joe S, I will give it a try!

I was reading Wazoo's targeting tutorial. He mentioned the ruler is not accurate; is this still the case in ver 1.4b? If so, is there a mod that increases ruler accurancy?

Also, is Pato's bearing mod or something similar included in RUB or IUB?

Thanks

[Der Teddy Bar]

Another suggestion is to cycle through all the tubes from the tdc station and set the speed to fast, that gives the target less time to manuver out of the way. Just before you shoot, if you have time, check the manual tdc screen to make sure the green line representing the torp track is leading the target, just to make sure you didnt enter something wrong.


I never thought about the torp track line in the TDC leading the target. Probably because all I ever see is the green line and not the target. Anyone know why that would be? How do I set up the screen so I can see the target relative to my line of shooting?
Its a realism setting. But has little value when the target is moving as it will show where the torpedo will travel to, which is where the ship is yet to be.

If the line and the ship are to intersect then the ship is stationary or moving away/towards you.

[Der Teddy Bar]

OK, thank Joe S, I will give it a try!

I was reading Wazoo's targeting tutorial. He mentioned the ruler is not accurate; is this still the case in ver 1.4b? If so, is there a mod that increases ruler accurancy?

Also, is Pato's bearing mod or something similar included in RUB or IUB?

Thanks
It matters little that the ruler is not 100%. I am using the default SHIII 1.4b and nothing else and can still hit 100% of the time. I do however not attempt poor shots over 1000 metres and almost never a shot ober 1500 metres.

[Schpeedy]

For getting accurate range...
Put the bottom of the range finder as near to the ship's water-line as possible...
THEN PAUSE THE GAME (put time compression to zero)
Then click the thing to put the top line at the tallest mast, allowing for corrections if the bottom isn't lined up exactly.
Tada, your range, if nothing else, is correct.

Forget the notepad speed method, it does not take into account the sub's speed so the whole thind doesnt work. (unless maybe your boat is stationary)..
Are you for certain here man? If you are right, then the game seriously needs a patch.

[Krupp]

It's easy to test (torpedo attack academy mission), just put your sub running max speed and full rudder and then try to have a target speed via notepad. It gives you wierd results. Going straight, 1- 3 knots in 60 - 90 AOB it works ok if the target is moving straight too. Or so I have seen, might be wrong after all, that wouldn' t be anything new... :88)

[finchOU]

I dont even adjust the range anymore...as long as I have a pretty acurate Target speed ..range does not really mater....since the gyro angle does not change while adjusting it.

[U-214]

I have finally solved my manual TDC problems by using Wazoo's nomograph + Moose accurate ruler.The ingame ruler is very prone to approximation errors and even with Wazoo's nomograph i wasn't getting the right speed.Now with the accurate ruler,my problems seem gone.At least i hope.But i just had 1 shot 1 kill.Yesterday with th e ingame ruler 5 shots 1 kill :doh:

[Schpeedy]

Easy to test with full rudder? why full rudder? ofcourse stuff will mess up with full rudder.

if were at a distance from it, straight course... lets just say a parallel course... and the TDC doesn't consider our speed?

I've got to guess that the real TDC's consider'ed the subs speed.

[Krupp]

Yes, full rudder, doing loops and immelmans. Perhaps a barrel roll too... that way it is even harder to get target speed calculations or even keep the periscope cross over your target. You see, that the german u-boats loose too much energy in normal corner speed turns...