AoB = angle on bow.
easiest way it was explained to me once was to think of it like this:
a lookout on the target ship sees you and reports you to his captain. he will yell 'uboat spotted, bearing ...' that bearing will be your AoB. the angle off the bow he spotted you at. except it doesnt go to 270 degrees, instead it will be 90 degrees in the other direction, so 90 degrees port. like pisces said: it's not what side HE is on, it's what side of him YOU are on.
as for target speed: zoom does not matter at all like already explained above: when the ship (140 meters long) passes entirely across your crosshair and it takes 40 seconds to do so, then it just travelled 140 meters / 40 seconds. whatever the range or zoom level or anything. speed can be calculated from that, even using a simple calculator or perhaps even a mind that knows how to do mathematical magic. (i'm alpha myself)
I hope that helps. Reason i butt in here is that these two things were exactly what I did not understand at all the first time I tried to wrap my head around realistic manual targeting. in fact, coz this thread is now back among the living, i read the first few pages of it. I thought I understood a sentence in there, for a second, but that feeling soon went away
it is actually magic you see. no seriously, I stand in awe of the people who are taking the time to make this kind of stuff actually work ingame. good job!!!
before i crawl back into my hole, think about this:
If you get your target data correct (speed and AoB), the range does not actually matter, theoretically. (even though it does whenever i actually play the game. or maybe that trick only works at 90degrees AoB.)
Anyway, if you understand that concept, then you are pretty much there
