[pdiddy]

Originally Posted by HertogJan

Just a quick question Pdiddy.
Do you calculate target speed yourself or do you use the option on the TDC after two or more stadimeter readings?

I always calculate target speed (and course/aob) myself through tracking but check it using the option on the TDC (which through comparison also indicates the quality of my stadimeter range readings.) I.e, if the clock icon course/speed is close to my pre-calculated course/speed, that indicates my stadimeter ranges can be trusted.

Originally Posted by Torpex

AFAIK, TMO doesn't make it any easier or harder

I should have been more clear: I find it exceedingly frustrating with the ridiculously omnipotent (imo) AI in stock TMO! E.g. using your Ship Sprint Test, I start @2200 yards abeam the Fubuki bearing 360 with engines off at periscope depth. As soon as I raise my scope, (and I mean as soon as!) he spots me and it is over from there! (Fun to shoot off an auto-targeted torp (or three) but no time to gather data for a quality manual shot.

Originally Posted by merc4ulfate

It is hard to miss using O'Kanes method. Under a 1000 yards lead by ten degrees and fire.

No disrespect meant here at all: I understand the so-called O'Kane method and is a wonderful concept (shooting 90 off to eliminate range errors.) It is perhaps one of the "drivers" in my golf bag of many other clubs. -And If it takes 400 yards for torpedos to arm, then shooting from the spot where the torpedo will travel 401 yards is the ideal firing range; "shooting big targets" to ensure a higher percentage of hits.

I say "so-called" because reading through O'Kane's book, he definitely used everything at his disposal for tracking and inputting accurate target data. As a former boss of mine said about a similar situation: to do otherwise would be like "delivering pizza in a Cadillac!" O'Kane even laments about missing due to inaccurate speed data by saying "firing just 24 minutes after first sighting was something akin to shooting from the hip." I think RockinRobbins linked O'Kane's name to what was essentially the Fast-90 technique used by SH3 players to "sell" it to SH4 players. More here. Wonderful technique for large Atlantic convoys in a boat without a PK. And largely adopted in SH4 due to the limitations of the (buggy) game with grossly inaccurate stadimeter readings prior to OTC. Anyway, O'Kane definitely did not just pull up to within 1000 yards and shoot 10 degrees prior.

I guess I like the tracking and hunting part of the game, plotting and messing with the dials and creating and refining a targeting solution until the moment of truth. Putting a torpedo exactly where I want it (e.g. at the stack, or under the main turret) is the best part of the game. The TMO uber AI sort of wrecks that for me. There seems to be a prevailing mindset on the forums that if you don't like the TMO AI, you will once you get better at evading. You can even use TMO with training wheels if the AI is too tough. I like pretty much everything about TMO except for the AI. If I still don't like the AI, I guess I never will. I was wondering if there was a silent majority out there that feels similarly.