Flag Identification - GWX
 

I am presently in a career in 1939 using a type II. I am loving it immensely. Last night I intercepted my first enemy merchant and launched 3 fish (2 impacted....still floating). This was great except I felt like I had lauched on a British Vessel. At least I was near certain until the vessel got a little closer and I was able to tell that the flag was not UK. It was actually Polish which was ok as well.

The only concern is that Up until about 700m I was certain it was a UK vessel.

Am I the only one that has trouble IDing the nationality of the ship? I am using the GWX mod which I believe incorporates a 10x scope, but even then I can't seem to pick out the details on the flag. I am running the program on a 20" LCD at 1280x1024. Should I be forcing AA/AF (would it matter with an LCD?)

Any help is appreciated.....I am not interested in causing an international incident aside from waging war :D

A good rule is that in the night or the day if a ship has its lights on (Windows etc) you should probly NOT fire on it as its neutral.

Heh i learned this the hard way, My first GWX patrol out of Wilhelmshaven I went and sunk 3 french ships in a row not realiseing it before we declared war. :damn:

I am affraid that the only way to ID the flag is getting as close as you can. This is difficult when weather is bad. :nope:
CapZap

I had thought about using this except I was mere seconds away from firing a salvo at a large merchant flying a german flag at one point....it was red :oops:

How close do you typically have to get, is 700m, 1000m, 1500m? My experience lately has been around 800m. Not looking to complain, just looking to see if I am doing something wrong or just getting old :D

Dare I say....this is actually one thing I like about SH4. I can pick out the nationality from several km away (unrealistic....but saves a lot of time in making attack runs on non-targets). I guess the good side is that it gives you practice :D

Well, the distance in general will be dictated by the weather. Other factors can be the presence of escorts, if it's day or night, and stuff like that.
Just one more question: what is your level of realism? If you use the color contacts (red, blue, green) then the job is easily done. If it's red, well, sink it, no remorse.
CapZap

No, I'm a 100% person and using the GWX so everything is grey (I actually had the tail removed). I don't mind getting in close to ID, I just mainly wanted to see if 700-800m is typical for most or if I need to improve my skills.

Is it just me or is it odd that neutral ships to leave there lights on during the day? Im assuming this is a skinning/code problem? And you cant dynamically change the lights state on/off without a complete re-skin of the ship?


Was tracking a ship on hydrophones once, popped up the periscope - score nice big fat large merchant - two torpedo doors open.... hmm hang on its lights are on... DOH god damn Americans floating around England during 1940 :roll:


Surfaced and waved at a range of about 300-400 meters lol :lol:

Nothing worse than setting up a shot on a fat tanker.merchant only to find out it is a nietral...........:damn:

Surface and loiter until a destroyer shows up, then submerge and attack the American ship, which is now being escorted by a British one and is thus a valid target. :P

Happened to me in the Norwegian Sea. Soundman reports merchant contact moving slow closing. I set up a decent approach only to discover its a German merchant! I think this kind of thing happened quite a lot to real u-boat commanders so adds to the realism.

Nemo

PFT destroyers - a small merchant yea sure a warship of that puny size is worthless imho lol regardless of what ever the game rates them as tonnage wise besides merchants don't shoot back! and YAY just won the Knights Cross.... haha just refueled and rearmed with German tramp stream which has pitched tent in a Spanish port! lol - just as well it was there getting home from my patrol grind of the west coast of Spain was going to be a close call.

Time for the homeward bound trip :arrgh!:

That's why rules about whether or not a ship could be sunk were relaxed on several occasions:

at some point alomost every ship around the British Isles was fair game for U-Boats...:arrgh!:

This isn't modeled though...

I especially detest the Irish tanker convoy, consisting of 2 or more large tankers that regularly pops up in BE 39. Next time I will sink them, renown loss or not!

Anybody encountered those Irish convoys running around taunting me? On almost every patrol I encounter a fat, unescorted convoy of three or four huge tankers and freighters, only to get that sinking feeling as I see the lights and the Irish flag. Verdammt!

Oh, and if you're into Paukenschlag be advised that several American ships continue to sail with lights on for quite a while after war is declared, so do not disregard lighted ships off the coast of America, they could very well be amis and fair game. (After 15 Dec '41 or whatever the declaration date was)

As for the OP: In nighttime I usually cant see the flags until 700/800m, altough it depends a bit on the colour. I usually fire from 500 or so meters so I have a few seconds to identify flags before I fire tough. I also sometimes use the view contact "cheat" if I'm to lazy to set up for attack without ensuring that it is in fact a valid target.

You may want to look for a mod called 'Big Flags. I never installed it but I think it might, you know, make the flags bigger?

What is the view contact cheat?

Also with people like myself not able to ID the flag from further than 7-800m how are people attacking ships deep in a convoy.....they might be neutral

Thanks! I might give this a try or I will stick for the immersion effect of making these practice runs:D