Steer course 000 - and KEEP IT!
 

One thing I hope we'll see coming with SH5 is helmsman who can actually keep the given course. I know it can be a tricky thing to keep the exact course in RL, especially in bad weather or when the helmsman is not used to the ship or familiar with his work. However I don't like the SH3/4 "feature" where the boat is usually taking a slight curve either to stb or port in case you are not using waypoints. That's not real! Especially when you are cheasing a target the captain has a lot of other things to do than babysitting the steersman.


Greetings,
-RC-

The captain doesn't babysit the helmsman, the navigator or the chief engineer/1st officer do that.

That has always been one of my complaints about SH3 as well. The boat might not end up where it should due to tidal drift and currents, but the helmsman will hold the course he's given, or they'll find a new helmsman. Giving a heading of 160, going to high TC and watching it change to 180 and then to 210 is just not right.

You know I have never noticed this.

Then again I hardley ever travel long distances without a course plotted on the nav map. :hmmm:

well guys it could be thats the only way they could find to simulate tidal drift and currents.

remember, being a video game these things tend to be absolute in many cases so building in the error factor isnt always easy and i assumed this was the reason that the error was there.

if you cant make the road drift off coarse then make the car drift off coarse :hmmm:

It was (and still is) impossible to stay on a straight course... normally they would give a general direction and de helmsman would keep that course. But the actual course could be way off depending on drift and location on the world. That is why the compass rose has 8 points, no more are needed for navigation.

My compass has 360 points :03:

Sure its impossible to sail a straight line in the ocean, and the ship will drift off its heading if left to its own devices, but your helmsman can and should keep the boat on a specified heading unless he is drunk or something.

remember in SH3 there is no man who take care of course:haha:

for SH5 the devs found him:D
http://foto.arcor-online.net/palb/al...6634386230.jpg

And the guy standing behind him is, touching him inappropriately. :o

No wonder he can't stay on course. :haha:

well i spent most of my life on fishing boats and yes they are much smaller and harder to control but depending a lot on weather conditions i would have to work my tail off trying to hold a true course but over time you learn from experience to give up trying and just occassionally correct a few degrees as needed to correct your intended heading.

i see this so called heading "bug" as more realistic then a set course being held exactly. that said it could be a little more accurate than it is but i wouldnt want it to be too accurate.

:up: :up: :up: WEBSTER

This is what I meant to say :) thanks Webster

And I served on a destroyer for some time. Any helmsman who didn't hold a precise course would find himself doing a different job so fast his head would spin.

As I said, you should experience drift, even to the point of becoming lost, but when he is ordered to 000 you shouldn't find yourself on a heading of 280. I've had that happen.

Holding a perfect course as it does when you set waypoints isn't realistic, but neither is the wandering you get when you don't use the waypoints.

In reply to SteamWake and looney's post: a compass has 32 points.
I used to know em all by heart. If you wanna learn em all, check out this link:

http://www.thecompasscompany.com/32poofco.html

Note, this site rounds the number, but to be accurate: one point is 11,25 degrees (360 degrees / 32 points = 11,25 degrees)