[Pisces]

Originally Posted by Jonny K

Another update. I just sunk my first ship playing at full realism in a new campaign with the Grey Wolves mod. Most excellent. I identified the ship, tracked it, intercepted it, identified the nation (I had to be super close for this), calculated a firing solution, fired a single torpedo which hit, and then finished the job with the deck gun!

Well done. Little Grey cubs growing up fast.

A few new questions:

A radio message bearing "SSS" is an "SOS", right?'

Yes, but remember those messages are immersion only.

How do I know the best places to hit a ship? Is there a guide that tells me where different components reside on different ships?

Stock SH3 actually has a neat 'cheat'. If you got close enough and had the periscope pointed up front (or gyroangle near zero/green solution) then you would see colored rectangles in the recognition manual, signifying vulnerable areas. (un)Fortunately it has been removed in GWX because it is too simple. Aside from that they completely overhauled the damage system with more emphasis on flooding. But the vulnerable areas still exist, you just have to think logically. i.e. where would ammo-storage likely be located? Where would the engine room be? Fuel is more trickier. Hmm, how do I break it's 'back'. But try to make as many compartments flood as possible, that speeds up sinking. Either hit it with multiple torpedos at different parts of the hull, or fire one at a place that hit multiple sections. Hint: Cranes are not located on the lids of the compartments but onto..... Finding weak-spots is mostly trial and error. Especially if you have a ship added by a mod, you cannot be sure that the modder also took care of the damage sections. Often they just copy a unit and focus on the 3d model.

Is there a reason why I'd want slow or medium speed torpedoes instead of fast other than to time multiple shots on multiple targets? For a single target would I just use the fastest speed? Does this cause more of a trail on the surface?

Good question if it leaves more of a bubble trail. Don't know if it becomes more dificult for the AI to detect. Slower speed does mean longer range. But for long range shots beyond 5km you need really really accurate target speed. So it's hardly a selling point. A slower torpedo means the TDC needs to aim it with bigger lead. In some cases this can be useful if you want to hit a far away target in a convoy, without a closer ship taking the bullet for it.

When I'm given a patrol what if I go sink a bunch of ships and then return without going to my patrol sector. Is that a problem?

Nope, none whatsoever. Except if you feel like you should stick to historical militaristic realism. Orders are orders. But if you don't have torps left, what else is there to do?

Is there a faster way to identify a nation's flag without spending an hour tracking the ship only to learn after all that time that it's a friendly ship?

You can cheat by using the free movable camera, but I guess that is a no-no for you too. I don't think so. Not without mods that provide super-zoom optics. You can get the colored icons back in GWX, but that is also somewhat cheating.

I tried the resolution mod, it messed up the mouse screen edge barrier on the right and bottom of the screen. Was there any fix for this? I never found one.

Thanks!

Sorry, no experience. I prefer to let my graphics driver scale the 1024x768 screen up to native, with aspect ratio. It's a fuzzy look on my 1920x1080 screen, but works with all mods and circles remain circles instead of ellipses.