[Help!] It's my first day.
 

I've been lurking this forum for quite awhile, reading about SH4 and wanting to grab a copy. Now that I have a computer that can play it, I've been running the tutorials... and got a bit stuck.

I used assorted videos to learn manual TDC, so I'm alright and manually getting a solution (just alright-- I still need practice), but I'm stuck on the 4th training mission. I just don't understand what I'm supposed to do to get in range of the merchants. The destroyers always see and pound me.

So, I need help with the tactics of the approach. What is the theory behind convoy attacks? I've watched Legion's (Extremely helpful) tutorial on getting near something, but I'm looking for close-range escort evasion tactics. I'd greatly appreciate the help.

Thanks!

P.S. Bonus points to anyone who picks out the (oddly appropriate) Simpson's reference here.

My advice is to forget that training mission . Go to the mods section and downlaod the RSRDC mod where you will get loads of war patrol missions and practice with those . Cheers .

Awesome, I went and installed it, will get to work.

Thanks!

I found the single missions to not be a great training ground. Simply because I found myself in a position i would not have approached a convoy to begin with. In the campaign if you mess it up you can start again. What works for me especially with a convoy or a task force once I have some intel via radar, sonar or radio. I knuckle around the convoy well past the radar ranges of the escorts. Place my boat in a good intercept position and I get under a thermal layer at all stop and go quiet. I let the escorts pass then it is up to PD and pick a nice juicy merchant. Sneaking past escorts is doable but there are some tricks to it and like a magician we cant give them all away, but you have one good startegy here I gave you to start. Part of the fun is learning by trial and error.:rock: :up:

New question:

I have two periscopes, the observation scope and the attack scope. I seem to be able to do TDC calculations and fire torps from either, however, so the distinction is lost on me. What is the purpose of two scopes, and when should I use one over the other?

I never use the obs . The attack scope is skinnier and harder to spot and the obs scope can look right up where the attack cannot .

If you're running Trigger Maru Overhauled, the observation scope is brighter than the attack scope, because the bigger head lets more light in. I use the attack scope during the day and the observation scope at night. In the stock game the only differences are magnification level and maximum angle of elevation.

When I first installed SH4, I started a war patrol on "easy" and just used it as practice. Now am running RSRD too and on realistic. But the lack of targets makes one fall asleep!!

Part of the problem is confusing the game with real life. I don't mean that in an insulting way; it's just that before SH3 and now SH4 no game ever modelled both periscopes, and it was something everybody said they wanted. I try to use both periscopes historically, just 'cause.

In real life both scopes have the same magnifications. The purpose of the observation scope is to observe, obviously. It does let in more light for night use, and cranks up 85 degrees for spotting aircraft. It also leaves a larger wake.

Here is pretty much everything you ever wanted to know about periscopes:
http://www.maritime.org/fleetsub/pscope/index.htm

What , you mean its not real :huh:

WHAT! Does thart mean CJ on baywatch is not real either? (Borat voice):hmm:

I am gutted!! Al those ships gone and it didn't matter!!! Shocked

Another question for you all.

I have noticed that campaign has a difficulty setting. I don't see any information anywhere that defines what these settings really mean.

Also, I'm looking for a way to alter realism a la carte as with war patrols and the other missions. The earlier settings lack Manual TDC, which is something I've been practicing, and is one of (in my opinion) the most exciting aspects of the game. How can I have my realism settings in campaign?

Hey,

Not to sure about campaign difficulty, wondering about that myself, but I quess it effects enemy AI and maybe number of enemy ships/planes that spawn or show up on your map. Torpedo failure rate might also be affected, but can't say anything for certain.

What I do know is that you can change realism settings mid-campaign when you're in port (office). If you look to the left there is a radio or something:
http://i268.photobucket.com/albums/j...me/example.jpg
Click it and you can change you're options. I think you have to do it every time you start a career (I "had" to do several restarts because I forgot this).

Hope it helps. ;)

campaign difficulty settings , hard , very hard etc effects what boxes are ticked in realism settings . Thats it .

Thanks for clearing that up. I was kinda hoping it effected AI as well, all I have to do now to slip away is hit "z" and hit "d" and get below thermal layer. Oh well, nothing a good mod won't fix! :D

FUEL!

Fuel is infuriating. I never have enough to finish my first patrol!!

I have no idea how to travel without running my fuel to nothing. That run from Pearl to the home Islands is nuts. How do you people have enough fuel to do anything?

Travel at 1/3 speed [< 10 knots] ALL the time. Top off fuel with a refit at Midway - outbound and inbound. Use TC [time compression] to avoid boring times. I usually can go from there to the Rising Sun homelands and arrive there with 70-80% left in the fuel tanks via a Midway Island refit. I NEVER go beyond 1/3 speed ANYTIME, but will crank the speed up doing an "end around" on the map with the map scale around 21 miles ONLY IF a ship/convoy/task force is on the map. Hence, fuel is NEVER a problem for me.

Happy hunting, put the bastards on the bottom!

Just to add to the post above, you'll need to find the optimum speed for cruising. I find that at 9 knots my sub can cruise the longest distance (abt 15,000 miles on a full tank).

And to add another thing: stay on the surface! Recharging batteries takes a lot of fuel. If you stay under during the day and only surface at night to recharge batteries, you'll see your fuel fall like there's a hole in the tank. It's probably a good idea to fit SD radar (air-search) so you see airplanes coming in time and dive only if neccesary to stay undetected. If you don't have that option, it might be a good idea to run decks awash (set depth to 25-30 feet, the boat will settle at 25). It will limit you're speed a bit due to increased displacement, but it allows you to dive imediatly, since there's no one on deck. Don't forget to raise one or both scopes, or you can't see anything outside the boat.

just a tip: If you set depth to 40 feet, the masts on top of the conning tower, including the SD radar antenna, will rise above the surface, allowing you to scan the skies before resurfacing to make sure the bugger that forced you under is gone without exposing more of the boat than necessary. You only need to stay down ~10-15 min. Planes move fast, so he will have past by in that time, and you can quickly dive back down if neccessary like when running decks awash.

Good hunting, don't let the planes get you! ;)