I forgot to respond with the following. The amount of renown you receive is also in a large part dependant on the realism level. It's not linear. Meaning you still get a reasonable amount of renown if you have 1% realism. There is a formula for renown and realism factor hidden deep in the forum, I'm sure. But where!?

I'm getting more hardcore. I've installed the Grey Wolves mod and it does make significant improvements to the game, and I'm now learning how to manually target and actually hit stuff (and have my hits explode instead of bouncing off).

I would have never expected to be so involved in this game a few weeks ago when I first bought it, but suddenly I'm a submarine geek. People at work are starting to wonder about me as I rave about torpedo strategy and U-Boat history. :)

Exactly how it happened with me, man. Sink 'em all!

I think most of us can file that one under "been there, done that." :haha: :yeah:

I live on a cliff on the ocean... and every day look out with the scope and calculate tonnage, distance, and AOB. If they only knew what I am plotting.

I guess I'm in pretty rare company then. I was a naval geek as far back as 1960, and pretty much fell in love when Silent Service was released back in 1985. I first found Silent Hunter in 1998, two years after its release.

Ok, two new questions.

First, the recognition manual with GWX has multiple entries for some ships with different measurements. Is this correct, and if so which is which? I found a thread that mentions one being for "lit" and one for "not lit" but what does that even mean?

http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/show...anual+multiple


Second, I was playing the convoy training mission. I fired two torpedoes and then dove to escape. The two convoy war ships started tracking me and dropping depth charges. Then suddenly one ship attacked and destroyed the other before resuming the hunt for me. Huh? Is this a bug or what?

http://i.imgur.com/VHaMe.jpg


Thanks.

Yes, they did that very often when I played the convoy academy mission. I'm not sure what the cause is. Last year it was discussed again in some thread, and there was a pretty plausible reason for it, but I forgot exactly. I write it down to one somehow received damage by depth-charges or direct gunfire (aimed at you) of the other and changed allegiance. (which it does only temporarily for 24 hours) Either ignore them or make use of the confussion.

Lit ships are neutrals. Don't fire on them. Unlit ships are usually fair game. There can be unlit ships flying neutral flags. Not sure why they have two separate entries in the recognition manual, but you can treat them as the same.

Your other problem seems like a funny bug. I bet that's exactly what happened - one got hit by the other's depth charge and went batsheet crazy.

Another update. I just sunk my first ship playing at full realism in a new campaign with the Grey Wolves mod. Most excellent. I identified the ship, tracked it, intercepted it, identified the nation (I had to be super close for this), calculated a firing solution, fired a single torpedo which hit, and then finished the job with the deck gun!

A few new questions:

A radio message bearing "SSS" is an "SOS", right?

How do I know the best places to hit a ship? Is there a guide that tells me where different components reside on different ships?

Is there a reason why I'd want slow or medium speed torpedoes instead of fast other than to time multiple shots on multiple targets? For a single target would I just use the fastest speed? Does this cause more of a trail on the surface?

When I'm given a patrol what if I go sink a bunch of ships and then return without going to my patrol sector. Is that a problem?

Is there a faster way to identify a nation's flag without spending an hour tracking the ship only to learn after all that time that it's a friendly ship?

I tried the resolution mod, it messed up the mouse screen edge barrier on the right and bottom of the screen. Was there any fix for this? I never found one.

Thanks!

Well done. Little Grey cubs growing up fast. ;)

Yes, but remember those messages are immersion only.

Stock SH3 actually has a neat 'cheat'. If you got close enough and had the periscope pointed up front (or gyroangle near zero/green solution) then you would see colored rectangles in the recognition manual, signifying vulnerable areas. (un)Fortunately it has been removed in GWX because it is too simple. Aside from that they completely overhauled the damage system with more emphasis on flooding. But the vulnerable areas still exist, you just have to think logically. i.e. where would ammo-storage likely be located? Where would the engine room be? Fuel is more trickier. Hmm, how do I break it's 'back'. But try to make as many compartments flood as possible, that speeds up sinking. Either hit it with multiple torpedos at different parts of the hull, or fire one at a place that hit multiple sections. Hint: Cranes are not located on the lids of the compartments but onto..... ;) Finding weak-spots is mostly trial and error. Especially if you have a ship added by a mod, you cannot be sure that the modder also took care of the damage sections. Often they just copy a unit and focus on the 3d model.

Good question if it leaves more of a bubble trail. Don't know if it becomes more dificult for the AI to detect. Slower speed does mean longer range. But for long range shots beyond 5km you need really really accurate target speed. So it's hardly a selling point. A slower torpedo means the TDC needs to aim it with bigger lead. In some cases this can be useful if you want to hit a far away target in a convoy, without a closer ship taking the bullet for it.

Nope, none whatsoever. Except if you feel like you should stick to historical militaristic realism. Orders are orders. But if you don't have torps left, what else is there to do?

You can cheat by using the free movable camera, but I guess that is a no-no for you too. I don't think so. Not without mods that provide super-zoom optics. You can get the colored icons back in GWX, but that is also somewhat cheating.

Sorry, no experience. I prefer to let my graphics driver scale the 1024x768 screen up to native, with aspect ratio. It's a fuzzy look on my 1920x1080 screen, but works with all mods and circles remain circles instead of ellipses.

Fast setting is good for 5000 meters, medium setting for 7500 meters and slow for 12500 meters. 'Fast' was not used by U-Boats as I understand it, but by German E-boats/Schnellboote and Destroyers. I never realized a difference in the length of the bubble trail.
The slow setting is formidable for stand off attacks - especially with pattern running FAT or LUT torpedos as they do not need to be aimed precisely.

Well done! After playing the game for 5 years, I still don't use manual targeting. The whole "angle on bow" calculation was always too much trouble for me.

"SSS" was an SOS radio message meaning "sub spotted". But as Pisces said, the radio messages don't necessarily correspond to what's going on in the game world. The GWX team took real life radio messages and put them in the game at their corresponding historical dates. So if you get a radio message from U-whatever radioing back in to BDU that they're sinking or what have you, that means that U-whatever really did sink on that date and send that message. But there are also other scripted events in GWX that model reality that you're going to get radio messages about, like the invasion of Norway.

There's mods floating around that take out the extraneous radio messages and just leave the stuff that you actually have to worry about. Search for the "WB News Network" mod if you're interested.

Under gun turrets and under smokestacks are usually good places to aim. That's where ammo bunkers and engine rooms would be, respectively.

The speed does not affect the trail. And AI merchants don't see trails: they will watch one coming from a mile off and not twitch. AI naval ships, however, do see them, and react. Escorts will try to evade, then turn on you. Capital ships in convoys will try to evade, but won't turn on you.

Because I rarely need variable speeds (it's easier to do "set off" shots by stopwatch), I find electrics perfectly adequate. Then I don't have to worry about some pesky, sharp-eyed escort spotting a trail. I do keep a gas-powered in Tube 4, though, in case I need to make a fast snap-shot.

Not in GWX, as there is no renown award for going to your patrol area (however there is an easy modification you can make that will award it).

Even so, for realism, I go to my assigned station 7-10 days.

I like to keep 2 air, and 2 electrics loaded. I use the electrics only when I need a stealth shot, and use air for most other shots. Especially when the target is zig zagging, having high speed eels gives you a little more edge in range, but not much.