"Schiff gesichtet!..."Schiff gesichtet!..."Schiff gesichtet!"
 

last night i ran wide of a convoy and whilst they were in sight i used 32x time compression to get ahead of them.

every few seconds my time compression ran back to 1x and my watch officer shouted "Schiff gesichtet!". by the hundredth time i was looking around i was wondering how to shut him up. Could I get him with the deck gun???

I realise I can set time compression in SH3 commander. but i actually want to go down to 1x compression when i first sight a convoy. is there anyway i can somehow stop him from repeating himself like this afterwards?

I'm guessing the answer is 'no' because this might have negative impact on other aspects of the game?

It's an old problem. There are no solutions.

ok

thanks for letting me know

It sounds like you were just on the limits of visiblility and the convoy was moving in/out of range, normally once your WO has spotted all the ships he shuts up so long as they all stay visible to him, he will report again if a ship goes out of visual range and then comes back which seems to be what you were experiencing.

The only real solution is just to either move closer to the convoy or move far enough away that your WO cant seen anything (8+Km or 16+Km depending on any mods)

IIRC, you can alleviate the problem by setting the sweeping arc of the visual sensor to zero, in sensors.sim or sensors.dat file. I can't precisely remember the file name right now, as I'm at work and I modded the file more than a year ago.
Anyway, in principle, the visual sensor works somehow like a car windshield wiper. If you reduce the sweep zone to a few degrees, or make it fixed instead of sweeping, the sensor kinda "locks onto target" and there is no need to reaquire it every 5 seconds.

but then the watch crew is blind und useless, because they are looking always in the same direction, even if you want them to watch. or did i get you wrong?

No they are then watching simultaneously in all directions I think. That would influence a bit the sensor in making it more effective and not as dependant on crew experience/efficiency I think.

Someone with more precise knowledge will be able to tell.:hmm:

Practical solution
 

This has also driven me overboard more than a few times. What I resorted to was to diligently plot the convoy's course out to 100 or 150 KM and then break out the trusty abacus to determine how long it would take the convoy to reach interim points on that line. Once done, I moved off to the point where the only sightings came from the escort when it made it's regularly scheduled sweep outward from the convoy. This serves as a bit of a reality check in case of course changes. Also an occasional dive will reacquaint the sonar operator with the presence of the large group of noisy vessels.

By running fast to the measured point I can arrive there prior to the convoy getting into visual range and then bide my time playing whist whilst they approach. Not only does this give me excellent firing position, it allows me to pick the choice targets before I can be seen by them. The only risk I've encountered using this method is that the lead escort may detect me if I stay at periscope depth while waiting. I dive DEEP to prevent that and maintain 1 or 2 kts until the escort is 25 or more degrees off my bow.