Proper Searching Etiquette
 

I have RFB+RSRD and I am having a terrible time finding targets to put holes in. I'm sailin along in an S-18 class with full realism, and I understand that there is some sort of bug that prevents contacts from being called.

What do I need to specifacly in order to find contacts. I have looked at maps where invasion fleets are supposed to be and can find nothing. I just feel like I am missing an important step.

It's early in the war with full realism minus no map updates. Anyone have any ideas or personal habits that they have. I mean I dive at dawn and surface at dusk. What else can I do to maximize target finding opportunities?

I'm not sure what you mean. Are you talking about sonar or something else?


I play RFB-RSRDC with full real in a S-18 class. I just find what I consider a likely spot in my patrol area then move 20 or 30 mi each day. If I've completed my patrol objective and theres nothin' doin', I'll quit the area and move somewhere else and start over. You will occasionally get contact reports by radio. Usually they are too far away to be worthwhile. So far, I've found, I have to work to get the tonnage. I've had to spend 50 or 60 days on patrol to find targets. Personally, I like this. In SHCE, you could encounter a ship almost every day. It was very unrealistic.

If you are patroling submerged, it will help to listen at the hydrophones at intervals. Your soundman will not hear things unless it is close (at least in the early part of the war). If aircraft are not too bad, you can remain surfaced during the day, you will use less fuel this way.

Fleets, convoys and task forces will not be shown on your map. Some who play, know the history very well and thus know where to look to find task forces and such. There is no provision in the game for this, but RSRDC is very accurate, historically, so it can be done. I don't play that way so I can't help you there. I prefer to play as though I am as ignorant as the Commanders were at the time. Thus, it is largely a matter of luck, as to how where and when I find enemy shipping. Of course, I use TC a lot. :DL
Hope this helps some.

Right pretty much what I was asking was if I had to do anything and let the crew do its jobs or if I had to take over. I prefer not knowing as well but since I am a ww2 nut I have a general idea of where to be. I have started every two hours listening to the sonar but I really don't want to have to do everything on the boat. I am the Captian I have people that I order to do that.

Plus I can't make heads or tails as to what the sonar is telling me with the generic merchant sound or generic warship sound. No distant mo real speed no course.

But that did answer my questions though thanks.

Edit: I've cut my listen intervals down to every hour and have found a few contacts I may have missed with my two hour intervals.

It seems like you have the right idea. I agree about the having to stop and listen every 2 hrs; it is a PITA. You are not the first to complain about this. Supposidly, the sound detection has been tweeked to make it so the crew will hear what they should, at that time in the war. I can't say for sure.


The in-game sound model is somewhat limited. My understanding is they only used a few different sound files for every situation. But, you must remember, hydrophones are a passive listening device. You will not get as much infornation as active sonar would give. Basically, it should tell you bearing, the nature of the sound (merchant or warship), and volume (near or far).

P.S. I assume you are keeping your periscope up when you are submerged.

I don't really raise me periscope until I am searching fir a sonar contact. Once I find the contact visually I usually leave it up for three minutes and drop it till I'm ready to fire.

So the rest have been limited from the game engine.

Thanks for the help I'm getting better.

Well I found an invasion fleet in the straight of Luzon could not figure out a way to get my firing solution in.

I read a few but all of them seem to rely on radar which is s18 class does not have. Plus the make mention of checking your firing solution in the attack screen to finalize yet my attack my does not show the firing solution route of my torpedo.

I can understand me not having radar but my torpedo track doesn't show, neither does the torpedo show on the attack map after firing it.

Have I jacked up my install of RFB and RSRD? What's going on?

I'm in a S-18 with no radar, same as you. I get my firing solution from my plot. By this I mean I must plot myself. It is a lot of work, but pays off in results. I have done plotting both on paper, and on the in-game nav map.

Radar is certainly a powerful tool, but you can sink ships without it.

As far as the attack map is concerned, I can't tell you much about it as I never use it. I gather its usefulness is limited to graphically showing elements related to the TDC. I don't use it since I'm not using the TDC and I can't make any marks or lines on it anyway.

I think you should keep your scope up until you get a contact. If your crew cannot see anything, then you don't need to worry about your scope being spotted. You should not rely on sonar alone. When I'm cruising submerged, I will set my depth to 45 ft. or even 40 if seas are rough, and leave the scope up. In RL, captains wanted to keep their scopes as high as possible to search the maximum area. Of course, when a ship is at a tactical distance, I go back down to 50', and keep scope exposures short. At long range it is almost impossible to spot a periscope.

In RFB, there is no way to track torpedos on the map, but if you have time, you can pick them up on your hydrophones.