Well whoopity doo! :O:

Yes, that's what I'm talking about. In SH3 dud torpedoes meant bouncing torpedoes, that's what the setting actually controlled. There were no real duds, that setting just controlled whether they bounced off the hull or not.

Okay, then i had always another thought about that.
Thanks.

You've gotta be kiddin' me! :nope:

I noticed that the searchlights switches on at torpedo impact. I do not hope that this will spoil possibilities to make succesfull nightly surface attacks as it did in SH-3. At the Community Q&A it was stated that surface attacks are very well possible so I wonder if that's the case.

why the 'angry' face Weather-guesser ? opinions are opinions ...maybe this tdc is ok for you but this can't block me to say my opinion right ?of course you can keep yours but what good do you see there? i am ,only, criticising what i see and what i see is not good at all ! it seems very 'fast' made giving me the impression that was made only for its existance (you know...for noone can say that tdc is 'out')
exept if there is a tdc's 'full' page that Neal haven't discover yet...

Kind of makes me wish the player was voice acted.

Why do you say that? It's a targeting data computer that takes inputs (bearing, range, speed, AOB) and provides a solution for torpedoing the target.

:know:

Anyway, --just frustrated by negative comments all the time--and I know how software development works, as I work in that arena.

Thank you for posting this video Neal,

The manual targeting is a very important capability for me. In my opinion, everything else is secondary.

This video showed me that there will be manual targeting in SH5 and that is a good thing. It will probably be the video that pushes me ever so slightly to the side of buying this game.

The method that SH5 will be using is intriguing. Honestly I am torn on this.

One one hand I liked being able to, as the player, set the TDC dials myself.

But on the other hand, I do feel it is more realistic that as the Kaluen, I take observations and my crew accurately plots my observations including faithfully plotting my errors in observations.

If I remember my readings correctly, the plotting officer would even give recommended course changes to the Kaluen based on the plotted information. This would be a nice addition. One has to keep in mind that the crew is there to assist the Kaluen in his decisions. Not to blindly stand there doing nothing until told to do something.

This SH5 methodology eliminates one of the issues I had with SH3/4 in that often the player had to do everything. This may make for an exciting game but it does take a realism hit.

A question I would like to be answered is whether the player in SH5 can "take the place" of the IWO in that the player can take time away from the periscope (with its intrinsic risks) and either make the plot or more importantly review the plot.

I am sure that in real life the Kaluen would allow his crew to make the plot but might take a few moments to review the plot.

As to the speed issue. In real life, just how accurate could the Kaluen be reasonably expected to guess/estimate/calculate the speed of the target?

Is it realistic to expect the Kaluen using only observations from the periscope and stadimeter to calculate speeds within 1 knot? Now using the stationary periscope method (1.94 x L[meters] / T [sec]) can mathematically give you very accurate speeds. But using a stadimeter I don't think you can get all that finite of an answer.

Is a speed rounded to the nearest 2 knots all that unreasonable considering the realities of war and the need to keep periscope observations to about 15 seconds?

Do merchant ships maintain their speed to the nearest single digit i.e., when the Captain orders 15 knots is the merchant ship holding exactly 15 knots or does the speed vary between 14 and 16 knots? I suspect there is some variance. The merchant may or may not average 15 knots, but at any specific point in time, it may or may not be traveling exactly at 15 knots.

Some posters wrote that in SH4 you can input speeds in fractions. Just because the graphic interface allows the player to manipulate a dial to indicate 1/2 knot increments, does not mean that the game uses those increments.

For example, when cruising in SH4 I try to set my speed to 9 1/2 knots. The graphic interface allows me to do so. But every time I move the indicator to 9 1/2 the crew repeats back to me 9. I don't know if the same "rounding" occurs with the TDC i.e., I input the target speed at 9 1/2 knots and the computer interprets this as 9. I am not a coder so I can only base this on my observations.

Finally, considering the accuracy of the Torpedoes is speed down to the nearest digit all that important? Mathematically, if I can calculate all the factors and enter then into the TDC, I should be able to make torpedo shots at 4,000 yards. But in reality I need to make shots at under 1,000 yards. The sea is a cruel mistress when it comes to affecting torpedoes.

The point of my ramblings is that perhaps some thought was placed into the speed selections being restricted to 2,4,6,8... knots. Is this a way to simulate the inaccuracies of observations, variance of speeds from the targets, and the intrinsic inaccuracies of trying to push a torpedo through swelling seas at 46 knots (more or less)?

and those searchlights came on the INSTANT (actually before) the torpedo hit. How about a little human reaction delay?????????

i don't know how software development works but i can say this : this tdc is not doing what is supposed to do ! thats why i am telling that it is 'funny' and show a laziness by devs .besides the issue with the speed (i wish to be moddable but this will not 'save' it) it has 'missing' important features (like gyro and spread) .also ,something else ,that 'seems' to be missing is the tdc combined with an attack map .....
anyway.... i am not negative...i am ....dissapointed !

the real tdc has rounded dails...that means that the germans could put in tdc's data a speed set even 3.15 knots !as most of you talking for realism here, i am thinking that if the calculated speed of the target is for example 3.2 knots and you ,as captain , order the wo to set speed at 3.2 , he (the wo) would set it at 4 ? (or 2?) or he would execute your order ?

i understand your point Platapus , but to messing something that worked in order to achieve observation inaccuracies is not good idea at all ! they could add physics at sea's water that would affect the torpedo's running and it would be up to you ,the player, how to 'mess' your tdc's settings accordinally to sea's states.but as it is done now you will never know what to set ....

my opinion...

I love it! It's a simulation of a U boat captain, not a simulation of the u boat itself. For the first time every the crew will be a integral, part of the experience, doing what they actually did, leaving you to do what you actually did, rather than doing everyone's job for them.

IMO that makes it a more realistic simulation. Bit it is something new and different and will take some getting used to.

First of all, many thanks for this video, it was without the doubt the most wanted one.

I fully agree. :)

Like Luke said, I too like the new approach. It gives you more of the feeling as if you are the captain, and are giving orders to the trained crew. The very thing that was missing from the previous titles IMO. Still, I consider myself a HC player so I would love to fiddle with the TDC myself but I don't find this a bad thing. :)

THE GOOD: Probably the most positive side of the video is that the ship in question didn't sink immediately. The sinking and damage physics seem to be very fine tuned. Not to mention the DM eye candy which looked great.

I also love the new use of the rec. manual. Easy and simple to operate, unlike SH4, where you had to first select either the country or the type of the vessel. It seem to me (unless Neil opened it on freighters page before) that it opens on the ship type right after you lock on the target. And the selection is very fast and usable which is a nice improvement over the former variants. I like it. As far as the description of the rec. manual, that is a step backwards unfortunately. There are mast hight, draft, tonnage info and other stuff missing... :( There is a draft info in the torpedo depth setting AFTER you ID the tharget, but still, I would like to see it in the manual.

THE BAD: The two problems I have with this video are:

#1 The 2 point incremental speed setting. And how on Earth did you successfully hit the vessel with wrong AOB? I know it has been stated that the crew entered the right value, but still - it seems to me on the video that your values were taken... ??

#2 Are the any settings for the salvo option? Or is it just a default 'salvo' as the video suggest. I do hope not...

The 'DUD ISSUE' has been explained, that you have disabled it in the options. That is good to hear.

One more thing... Why isn't there any smoke coming from ship stacks...?