Destroyers unable to detect boat above 8x time compression?
 

I've been playing with options in SH3 Commander, I changed the base time compression for when near enemies up to x32 from x8 just to speed up the game a bit.

I've noticed however that this seems to have made enemy escorts completely unable to detect me.

I've done maybe 6 convoy attacks and even when enemy boats come near me I don't seem to hear any asdic pings and they drop no depth charges. I'm in 1942 so this is particularly strange as i'm used to getting nearly destroyed after each convoy attack.

Is this a known issue with time-compression or have I just been incredibly lucky? If so is there a limit outside the base game tc limits where you can still play and be detected by enemies?

Edit: I'll add this is when I'm submerged, they're perfectly capable of finding me on the surface with radar.

Hi FeatsOfStrength I never altered time compression when playing our Steel sharks GWX Campaign when heading to my patrol grid on surface at max time compression and if something came near to me it would drop to x32
wether it was a aircraft a single ship sighting or a escort or convoy.


Is this 1939-1940 time frame early war if so radar isnt in most escorts and the escorts ar'nt that good with green crews as the war progresses its a all new ball game when you run into a large convoy with sixty plus merchants
and 12-20 escorts also hunter killer groups patroling the shipping lanes
areas like the rockall banks where HX SC SL HG convoys converge on their final trudge to liverpool or belfast or Outbound Convoys OA OB OG.
Also when your leaving your channel coast base lorient st nazaire boardeaux
late 1941 onwards my advice would be once outside the harbour of the bases and you have enough depth under your keel 15-18 mtrs get to periscope depth quick because by 1942 them Jabos allied fighter bombers are like flys around a pot of jam in the bay of biscay or bay of dismay
when you get walloped.


https://www.subsim.com/radioroom/pic...ictureid=10973


https://www.subsim.com/radioroom/pic...ictureid=10977


https://www.subsim.com/radioroom/pic...ictureid=10976

x32 shouldn't be a problem but you can try a lower number if desired. However, the escorts in <insert version here> aren't very good anyway at any stage of the war.
Either are the aircraft.

Re the AOD manual pages, yes, but AOD escorts/convoys followed historical tactics, etc.
SH3's don't. :)

I think something must be off as a destroyer passed over me literally minutes after torpedoing a merchant in a convoy whilst I was only 30m below the water without silent running and it just kept going, not seeing me there. The in game date is December 1942 so I would have thought them more vigilant. Haven't had a single depth charge dropped on me this career and i'm on my 7th patrol.

Like I said, they're not very good. :) Your experience isn't unusual.

There is a setting in the sim.cfg file that is easy to change that will give them better hydrophone ability/easier to find and keep you in contact.
They still won't react *before* an attack as well as they should (helps a little) but it helps after one.
If interested, let me know.

Always good to know...if you please?

In the "Hydrophone" section, called "Noise Factor". Scale goes from 1.0 (deaf) to 0.0 (hear you on the dark side of the moon :)). I.e., smaller number = more noise from the player.
For myself, I've found .10-.15 is about as low as I want to go. One can choose a single setting and always have that in place or use SH3 Commander to pick from a number of settings to pick from.
I use the Commander option to pick from either the "stock" setting of whatever sim.cfg file I'm using or from a number of lower settings.
I.e., NYGM's stock setting is .25. I have it set up so that there is a 60% chance of either .2, .15, or .1 being picked leaving a 40% chance that the stock setting gets picked.

FeatsofStrength, what is your mod list anyway ?

Please walk me through how you did this. I have opened SH3 Commander and can't see a way to do what you are describing.


When you get time, of course.


Cheers.

Are you wanting to just change the sim.cfg file or are you wanting to also have the SH3 Commander randomization too ?
Knowing that will help me answer your question.

Good evening from Blighty.


Thanks for the speedy reply, John.



I use jsgme for most mods and Commander to set time in base and time compression etc. I fancy using Commander to 'tweak' the sensitivity of the sonar occasionally but would rather not alter the sim.cfg file directly. In the same way that jsgme can be used to make changes to the basic.cfg file without having to make alterations to the basic.cfg file directly. Assuming that I have understood what you are suggesting, being able to tweak via Commander will do this, no?


I will not pick this up before tomorrow pm GMT.


Cheers for now.


Prof'

Ok, what you want to work with is the Randomized Events.cfg file found in path SH3 Commander\cfg.
You add whatever you want to happen to this file. I.e., here is my entry for the noise level setting of the GWX sim.cfg file. "Stock" GWX setting for this aspect is 0.5:


;----------------------------------------------------------------------------------RANDOMIZED HYDROPHONE NOISE LEVEL
[0:data\cfg\sim.cfg]
;lower number equals more noise can be heard by the escort.
ChooseFrom=5
RndMidPat=1

0_Hydrophone|Noise factor=0.4

1_Hydrophone|Noise factor=0.3

2_Hydrophone|Noise factor=0.2


***See this section repeated below for explanation of various parts of it.***



;----------------------------------------------------------------------------------RANDOMIZED HYDROPHONE NOISE LEVEL < - this is just the title of the Randomized events section.
[0:data\cfg\sim.cfg] < - this is the path to the file you want to work with.
;lower number equals more noise can be heard by the escort. < - this is just a comment line explaining what is being done.
ChooseFrom=5 < - this tells Commander to choose from one of five entries; the three I added below and then the "stock" GWX value for the other two choices. Since the last two choices are just using the "stock" GWX value there is no need to list them here; they're already listed in the sim.cfg file, i.e. Only need to add values NOT in the file you're working with.
Since the setting here is 5, Commander chooses from 5 possibilities. Since I added three other options, that means there is a 60% chance of Commander using ONE of the lines below (3 divided by 5) and a 40% chance it used the "stock" GWX value (2 divided by 5, 100% - 60%, etc.) If say i.e., this number was 15 vs. 5, then there would be a 20% chance of one of the three values below being chosen; 3 is 1/5 of 15 = 20%. You can use whatever value you want.
RndMidPat=1< - this tells Commander to choose a value each time the game starts. So if you're on patrol, save and exit, the next time you start the game it chooses a value again. It may be the same, may be not. Without this option, upon restarting Commander would always just use the "stock" value of 0.5

0_Hydrophone|Noise factor=0.4 < - this line and the next two lines are the changed values I want to use for the section "Hydrophone" line "Noise factor" in the sim.cfg file.

1_Hydrophone|Noise factor=0.3

2_Hydrophone|Noise factor=0.2


Hope this helps/makes sense. Much of what I wrote is explained at the top of the Randomized events file.
Let me know of any questions you have.

You also could use Cmdr Date folder feature to avoid the random matter...so at a certain date ingame, escorts could hear you better...by making new SIM.cfg file with desired value, and dropping it in any date you want?