That's where the SOP I posted came from: uboatarchive.net

I just modified them for the game.


Been thinking about communicating with other U-boats in a game, via the wireless, and some way to send position info.


Proposed: Zoom in until the grid square your boat is in fills most of the map.

Then measure from the left side, and then from the bottom. Round up to the nearest hectometer, then combine with the grid square using an x to separate.

In this case, we're in grid AF 5149, 8321m from the left, 2295m from the bottom. Round up/down, this would be the message:

POSxAF5149x83x23

http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/pict...ictureid=10289

NICE! :Kaleun_Salute:

Great idea.

I've joined a discord group that's also setting up SOP's and one set is the radio comms.

This is much better than I've seen anywhere else. Only problem is we can't send numbers.

The other group suggested just using the first two letters of each number i.e.
1 = on
2 = tw

etc

My only suggestion is that we should also add course and speed on too.

So in your example given course of 310 and speed 18

POSxAFxFIONFONIXEITHXTWTHXTHONZEXONEIZE

Unless of course, numbers are being added as recognised characters and then all is good. :)

That is a great idea Neal. This kind of brainstorming I feel really makes the game rich. I need to get more familiar with the radio. I’m hoping in upcoming sessions we get enough to man a couple boats again so we can refine this aspect too.

love to help
 

Yes, I am in provided you guys are in my time-zone.


Be aware, I only bought the game yesterday and getting to grips with it now.


:Kaleun_Cheers:

Yeah, forgot to mention, the new patch will add numbers to the wireless.:Kaleun_Wink:

I like Neal's coordinate system. On the Wolfpack discord some suggested angles from the 2 bottom edge corners. And then use a digit-to-letter key tot translate the angles for enigma encryption and short message. But this should be a bit shorter. Especially since number-morse is (becoming) a thing.

One could just further subdivide the KM grids, but that doesn't converge fast enough to pin-point location.

@Stosstrupp: You have a point about time if crew was manning the deckgun. They need to 'secure' it first. Rotating it to bow and running back up the bridge takes a while.

I like to keep the radioman at the forward vent, instead of the aft. Going through the hatch takes a bit of time. While the navigator could go to the aft in the same time. And punch the Atlas-Echolot on the way (back).

I edited the SOPs based on helpful suggestions (thanks Elphaba!).

Primarily, I’ve got Radio on the bridge now with just Diving Officer below. Radio and Nav are to man the flood vents. This is predicated on the assumption that Radio and Nav can get down to the vents in time for the flood order. I think they can with the “slide down the ladder” trick but it would need testing. To the regulars (or irregulars) who play with me - all we need is 4 to test this assumption.

I also added suggestions for sectors for the bridge watch, in such a way that would facilitate Radio and Nav getting through the hatch first followed by Helm then the Commander.

As always please let me know thoughts and who would like to devote a session or two to test out. I will then post a session in the WP League just for this.

I’d like to sail with you if you’ll have me. Steam: Captain Summers

On the subject of SoPs and best practices, it seems very few captains that I've been watching on live streams have any conception of periscope discipline. All the actual manuals from the era repeatedly stress the shortest possible exposures, at low speed, to collect the data you need calcuate/check/update a solution.

I get it, because it's fun to see what the heck is going on, but it's a product of the fact that nobody is actually going to die if your scope gets spotted.

You are right - with the fixed-eye attack scope the skipper could keep the scope head right at the waterline at all times constantly moving it, which was probably the #1 advantage of that scope (along with the binocular view of course).

Side note - apparently the range estimation advantage of having binocular optics in there outweighed the disadvantage of having to sacrifice stadimeter/RAOBF to install it! Too bad we are looking through a “monocular” computer monitor!

id like to be on this as well

Session is posted for trying out SOPs!

http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=240746

Many good suggestions here.


In addition to standard procedures for diving, etc. I'd like to encourage the use of standardized verbal communication procedures, and maintaining "radio" (voice) dicipline when appropriate.

For inspiration, an american handbook on Standard Submarine Phraseology can be found here: https://maritime.org/doc/subphrase/index.htm


I'll quote the beginning of the handbook, which describes the basic concepts:

There is much more, much of which is not (currently) relevant to the game. But if everyone uses the basic concepts, it make for much more orderly communication. It may not be so important when cruising, but when under attack or in the final stages of making an attack, efficient communication can be essential.

To summarize basic "standard" voice message procedure:

• Basic message format: [person/station who is being addressed], [person/station who is talking]: [Message]
• Orders are repeated by the addressed station (may be followed by "Aye", to indicate it is an order being received, not given.)
• The station adressed reports when the order has been completed.
• "Very well", or "Aye, aye" is used to confirm receipt of reports.

A couple of questions quickly come up on how to translate real world procedures to Wolfpack the game. Firstly, how should each person be addressed? There are five player slots in each submarine, each with the name of a particular role, but in practice these roles can be fluid, with different persons operating the various stations. To meet these challenges, I propose the following:

• Each person is adressed by the name of their current station. Persons who have multiple roles, or switch roles, use the callsign of the station they are currently operating. For example, the person in the "Radio" slot (or anyone else operating that equipment) uses the callsign "Radio" when communicating about radio messages, and "Sonar" (shorter than "hydrophones") when communicating about use of the hydrophones.
  
  
• A related issue is that there is often confusion about who is in command of the boat. It should always be clear who is in charge of giving orders for the boat's maneuvers. As this might not be the person nominally in the Captain slot, it's useful to be able to always address the person currently in command consistently. This person can be called the "conning officer", or "conn" for short. Ideally, the person in the Captain slot should be the actual captain, and only he should be addressed as captain. However, if he sees fit or needs to (going AFK or leaving the game, for example.) he can "give the conn" to someone else as follows:
  
  Captain, or current conning officer: [station or name*], take the conn." or "[station or name], you may have the conn."
  The designated conning officer confirms this with "I have the conn.". The Captain can take the conn back by saying, "This is the captain. I have the conn."
  
  *Not sure what is best to use here.
  
  

The callsigns should be short and easy to say. With the above in mind, I propose the following callsigns:

• Captain: "Conn" (unless the conn has been transferred to someone else, in case he should be adressed as "Captain".)
  
• Navigator: "Navigation"
  
• Helmsman: "Helm"
  
• Radioman: "Radio"/"Sonar" (or "Hydro(phones)")
  
• Dive officer: "Dive"

A few examples:

Ordering a course change:

Captain/conning officer: "Helm, conn. Make course 380 (three eight zero)."

Helmsman: "Conn, helm. Make course 380, aye".

...

Helmsman: "Conn, helm. Course is 380." or "Conn, helm. Steady course."

Captain/conning officer: "(Helm, conn.) Very well.", or "Aye, aye".


Ordering a depth change:

Captain/conning officer: "Dive, conn. Make depth 50 [fifty, or five zero] meters."

Dive officer: "Conn, dive. Make depth 50 meters, aye." or "Make depth 50 meters, dive aye."

...

Dive officer: "Conn, dive. Depth is 50 meters and holding."

Captain/conning officer: "Very well."


Passing the conn:

Captain: "Helm, take the conn."

Helm: "This is helm, I have the conn."

(From now, the helmsman uses the callsign "Conn.")

(The Conn could now order someone else to take up the Helm position, who would then use that callsign, and so on.)

In fluid role situations, shouldn't taking the conn be addressed to and taken by the actual nickname of the person? Otherwise it seems to get confusing.

Also, what is wrong with "hydro" as shorthand for the hydrophone station? And it is a just as distinguishable from others. "Sonar" seems wrong for a sub that cannot actually send out ranging pulses of sound.

Agreed on the first point. Passing the conn/switching roles is one situation where using (nick)names may make most sense.

Re: Hydro/sonar, a few reasons:

• The sub doesn't currently have active sonar, but some german submarines did have active sonar installed, and so this naming is "future proof" if that's introduced.
  
• "Sonar" is a single word, while "hydro" is just part of a longer word, and "hydrophones" is rather long.
  
• Last but not least, "rule of cool". "Sonar" just sounds cooler.:yeah:

Yeah, no! The coolness factor does not apply to games that try to be authentic and realistic. Sonar is an abbreviation. And active sonar was not used on German boats until later in the war. And infrequent at that.

Let's just call it as it was meant to be.

Edited again - based on the fact that plotting targets on the surface requires a man on the TDC to read off bearing from the UZO, I've got Nav in the tower now. For his plot he has all the info he needs and the commander is feeding him the required info/bearings from the bridge, as IRL. This solves the issue of personnel not getting down to the vents in time too - Nav slides down on the dive order and is on aft vents right away, with Dive Officer manning forward.:Kaleun_Thumbs_Up:

Soon to follow in coming posts - 4-player and 3-player SOPs (to follow shortly).:Kaleun_Cheers:

I agree with you guys on a standardized verbiage also, that we can refine!

Aye, aye.

Continuing on that track, here are some "standard helm commands": http://www.boatswainsmate.net/BM/helmcmds.pdf

If we are doing this Friday, I can be there

I like this better, just divide the grid

|1|2|3|
|4|5|6|
|7|8|9|

That's close enough for wolfpack coordination.