Finding and intercepting targets
 

Hi everyone, newbie here :nope: Im having a hard time completing the first (after the tutorial one) mission, my problem is that i just cant intercept the merchant ships, when i see them on the map they are always very far away, i mark their heading with the ruler but once i get there i just cant find anything :damn: and they only appear once on the map then they vanish and nothing on the horizon where they were supposed to be if they didnt change course... sorry if theres some thread with tips about this but i didnt find anything... I did however sink a couple of warships, the "patrol" objective showed as completed so i just surfaced and sent a report, the reply i got said smth like "good work return to the port or continue your patrol if you like" but once i got back to the port the NPC gave me the same mission again :wah: Btw, is the radar broken ? I cant turn it on surfaced :hmmm:

I just plan routes to travel on my map.If you see a red square on the nav map you have found an enemy.The little line on the square represents their stern.Hover over the square and click on it,and you can find out the range and distance when surfaced.When I'm submerged and I pick up a contact I usually go after it,by plotting a course on my navigation map but in some cases I may not be able to catch it while I'm submerged.If you need some help as far as where allied air coverage is and enemy shipping routes here is a map that should help you:DL and anyone else who looks at this thread.Hope I helped:up:
http://img291.imageshack.us/img291/3576/mapns.jpg

Can watch the first 2 mins of the Auto TDC video that is stickied and it will teach you a very basic intercept.

But to summerize.

Use your pencil to mark your first contact. Time Compress for a few seconds. Mark the Contact Again.. Now that you have two lines use the ruler to mark a line straight through the two X marks. Now you have the heading of the target. Most merchant ships only do 11 knots or so.. You sub is able to do up to 17-20. So full speed and try to meet the Merchant somewhere on the line you just drew. (since that is his heading)

Then setup for torp attack and get yourself a kill.

Just remember that you have to basically beat him to the spot where you want to attack. After a few tries at doing this you will figure it out.

Yes i've watched that vid and tried it problem is that it only shows up once and it doesnt update, i've marked it and fast forward and the red square thing that is the ship just stays on my marker or vanishes :cry:

Make sure to have your periscope raised and map contact updating on.Whenever your number hits his FIRE!:arrgh!:

Also keep your TIA map open,the one in lower left hand corner.:salute:

Yea periscope is always raised, the map doesnt update by default ? could be that if so...

The only solutions I can think of is your map contact updating on?Check this in realism settings.Also make sure your TIA map is open in lower left hand corner.

I have the easiest realism settings cus im newbie so i guess its on, also i do see warships and aircrafts in real time on the map so i dont rly know why merchants just appear and disappear :wah:

Those might be radio reports. When you see one, pull a move waypoint over near it. Do you see a small 'shadow' version of the contact moving as you move your waypoint? If so that's where it'll be when you reach your waypoint. Simply move your waypoint over to where it meets the moving shadow of your contact and travel there.

If you don't get a visual contact once there, drop to periscope depth (press 'F' by default) and wait a bit. Your sonar guy should pick up the contact on hydrophone and you can move in for the kill.

Yeah if you don't have map updates on intercepting targets becomes a lot harder that way.

Also If you see the red Merchant marker on the map, but it disapears. If you move quick you can cheat his heading a little bit... Every merchant marker has a little tail. That tail is actually its heading. If you use the ruler to extend the tail you will also get his heading that way too.

Good luck.

If you have map contacts off you can always use the old school method of intercepting:

http://www.kylania.com/sh3/Intercept_Plotting.png

Ya know, it would really be helpful if those radio reports for single ships would have a TIME in their popups. A contact without a time is useless. By the time i notice it in TC, i have no idea how old it is and where his current location might be (given his speed and direction).

On the rare chance that i spot it and drop out of TC quick enough for the report to be accurate enough, i use a method simlar to kylania showed in his image.

hmm yes, it prolly was radio contacts, if so thats the only contact i had with merchants so far even tho i've been up and down eastern england coast :hmmm: I'll keep trying, thanks! Btw the tail is the heading ? I thought that side is where they came from :o

ummm shouldn't the red circle be where the target currently is?

This doesn't jive with the method i learned. We get two different intercept points.

Not with that method I guess?. The circle is basically your speed away from where it'll be after an arbitrary time based on how fast it's moving.

This what i do:

http://i857.photobucket.com/albums/a.../Intercept.png


I tested yours to see if it was quicker to draw out, then checked it against mine.. and the intercepts were considerably different. Then noticed your placement of your speed and realized why.

But i dont think you're understanding the underlying math.

You're trying to figure out the side of the triangle that is a ratio of your speed to his. Where you drew your speed in your picture porks the equation.


correct me if im wrong. because i may just be very sleepy, it's getting late. but it seems your solving the wrong side of the triangle.

In other words (using your picture)... you are using inputs for the bottom (his speed) and right side (your speed) to solve the left side

when you should be trying to solve the right side... which is the actual intercept.

Interesting! I just tried both our methods and the "built in" method with map contacts on and here's what I got:

http://img25.imageshack.us/img25/916...0307025606.jpg

Kinda hard to see, but the left most X (Mark 3) is my method. The middle X (Mark 1) is your method and apparently the one that the game uses since when placing a waypoint near the marks it put the "shadow contact" right on your X :)

There seem to be drawbacks to both systems. My system does seem to have a bit of deviation based on how accurately you're making your marks and whatnot. However for your method I was constantly having to move marks out of the way since you can't really put a line on a line, ya know? :)

Both seem to work though! heh