Adjusting GWX 2.0 Sensor Ranges?
 

GWX 2.0 is incredible...an absolute 'Magnu opus'. That said, there is one thing that is driving me crazy...Running silent (1 knot, under 100 rpm) and 15m deep, 0-degree heads-on aspect, I can't seem to get within 5 kilometers of a convoy without the psychics in the DDs locking onto my position. I have read the threads about GWX sensors and what not, but something isn't right. I enjoy a challenge and have astrong appreciation for realism, but there's no fun in being chased away on every approach long before you have a chance of engaging the convoy. Instead, I find myself resigned to looking for lone merchants (and its 1940)!:damn:

Does anyone know how I can slightly adjust the sensor ranges of the enemy DDs enough to simulate the real limitations of their sensors? (No offense to the GWX team...I think overall you guys have done a great job.)

Any advice is greatly appreciated!

Quick comments do you have your periscope up at this time? What is the weather? Time of day?

If you get inside their active sonar cone they just start pinging you (if they have active sonar). It doesn't matter what your aspect ratio is - that only affects how good of a signal they get back from the ping. It doesn't affect whether or not they start pinging in the first place. They just do, every time. You just have to be in the cone and they ping.

The solution is to not be in the cone in the first place.

Press "Z" key :lol:

Also, just because you are being pinged, doesn't always mean that you've been detected.

However, being pinged certainly always makes you FEEL like you've been detected.:lol:

Ditto! Once a sea turtle swam right on to my hull, resulting in a sharp metallic sound that I immediatly though as a sonar, sooo I surfaced, ordered the men to get out and sunk my boat. :yep: BdU wasnt that happy... :nope:

Thanks guys for responding to my post.

I don't usually keep the periscope up longer than it takes to scan and see if I'm in visual range yet. I'm pretty conscious of that. In many cases, they seem to be homing in on me before I've even reached visual range.

I know the sonar cone on early sonar is supposed to have a range of about 1200 meters. It seems like they're picking me up long before that. Usually one will start moving in my direction, then when he's about 2-3 kilometers away the party starts and the rest of the escorts begin moving in quickly. (Mind you, I'm figuring this out this from my hydrophone contacts and an occasional peek with the external camera)

What is the range on their hydrophones? Am I more vulnerable to hydrophonic detection at shallower depth? That's the only way I can think they are picking me up. Once I go deep and keep it silent running under 1 kt / 100 rpm, I have no problem escaping.

I don't have the noise meter activated, but I should be quiet enough. (Unless one of my crew on stand-down is snooring too loud :hmm: ..."Wake Dieter up now or put a pillow over his head!")

Thanks!

Never had a problems like this in GWX. Modders are right - there's all ok with AI sensors in GWX. Of course, you're more detectable at periscope depth, than on 100 meters below)) i am in 1940 now in one career, and in 1943 in another, second one is more tough, but that's more interesting. As already said - maybe you're not turning silent running on?

Did you press "Z" otherwise you will stilll be 2 loud...even with 1 knot.... (remember your crew is making noise 2 ... its "silent hunter 3" not "noisy hunter 3" :D:D:D )

and you periscope is not 2 high? at calm sea the periscope should not be higger than 1 meter over the water.

From what iv'e read, subs were harder to detect at periscope depth due to the fact ths sonar was aimed 6% below the surface because the waves would interfere with the signal. And im assuming the hydrophones would share the same restrictions.
Ive tinkered with the sensors and now im not bieng attacked every time i hear a ping, in fact i can tell when i have been detected because there will be a loud ping then a quieter one then its rapid loud pinging. but there have been times they pinged their little guts out and never detected me :)

On the sensors i noticed there is and active and a passive type, were those actualy supposed to be the same unit and not 2 separate ones? I ask because i set like types to have the same detection cones, and so far my experiences are very close to the ones i have read about.

Yep, thats y u can go flankspeed on surface if ur 300 meters away from a DD (if he has no radar, and your in heavy fog) and he will not hear you.

We're speaking about the game, not reality. In real life acoustic waves travel through water, depending on many factors - depth of the sea, temperature, thermal layers etc. They can mirror from the bottom, or from the sea's surface, can spread in "thermal channels". If you wish to find real acoustics physics - play Dangerous Waters)) In SH3 acoustic model is a little bit simplified. Only "blind zones" of escorts are modelled, and triangular "searchlight" scheme, when depth, on which you will be undetected, depends on the distance from escort.
ASDIC systems could work in both modes, as I know - Active and passive search. However, passive search requires slower speed and better conditions to perform.

Maybe I am wrong, but in real life diesel sound on flank speed will be hearable on this distance. Real commanders use "silent approach" on electric engines on surface on such distances..

sabreto; When I first got into this game escorts were a pain and I tried to tweek all kinds of things.
Here's the deal; "Read the Manual".:up:
After I got to understanding the escorts in GWX I looked for a new tactic for attacking convoys. Now, I'm sneeking right into them up to late `42 and sometimes sinking the cruiser inside protecting them. I know that past `43 this will change, ehh so what.
That whole rush in and attack deal you see on Das Boot, forget about it. Use the tools on the map screen, beware and plot the escorts inner cone. Also if you do make a mistake, even just one, ... remember it's just a game :ping:

Danure: I have the read the manual and the subsim post regarding how their sonar works. I'm glad you found a tactic that works. Please share.:yep:

For others, every time I get caught, I am in running silent mode and observing the under 100 rpm rule. I can understand if they caught me from active sonar, but they were way too far away (over 2 km).

Well, we're going to try it again. I am 100 km NE of the Azrores and just picked up contact with a nearby small convoy heading away from me. Here's the plan...

Surface at least 10 km away from the convoy and Flank it into a position ahead of them, keeping out of visual range. Submerge to 20 meters, approach from the front, silent running, under 100 rpm. Once I'm past the lead escort (if there is one and granted THE DAMN PSYCHICS don't home in on me again), flank my position to 90-degrees perpendicular with the traffic, periscope depth, shoot at least one, and down deep and quiet for the escape.

Anyone see a problem with this plan?

Maybe this is a good place to ask this.

I'm using GWX 2.0, and even with my sonar guy at maximum, he only detects ships when they are pretty close (20km), while if I go on the sonar room myself and listen, I can listen to ships much farther away, about 30km. Sometimes just a whispering of a ship, can berely listen to it, but its detectable. I wish to adjust the distance that the sonar guy detects ships to the same distance that its possible to hear them. Which file and which line should I edit?