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Originally Posted by Tshark
Hey RR,
How do you get the sonar operator to give you a bearing if the sound contact is not the closest? I am under the impression that the "send bearing" and "send range" menu keys are for the closest target.
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You're right. That is one of the most frustrating limitations of the game. We can tell our sonar operator to follow the nearest merchant or nearest warship. For some inexplicable reason GFO won't let you follow the nearest warship unless you know the keyboard shortcut, which I don't right now. But TMO has command keys for both.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tshark
I seem to get "no target selected" anytime I use it unless it is the closest target. Sorry for the noob questions I cannot seem to find a very good explanation for the sonar controls.
I did seem to notice better sound return when deeper. I attributed (a.k.a hoped) that the sim had modeled surface clutter. Then again maybe I am just getting better at operating sonar.
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With sonar, the only way to select a target is to tell your sonar operator to choose the nearest merchant or warship. There's no way to manually select the target you want. It's a big defect in the game. You can understand the game developer's thinking "Why would you shoot at anything but the nearest target?" But sonar isn't just for shooting.
So when you ping something other than the nearest target, selected by the sonar operator, you get "no target selected." And similarly, there is no way to select a target with radar, and no way to enter numbers into the TDC manually for range. If all they fixed was to be able to type ranges into the TDC or turn dials then none of this would mean anything.
So as we have it you have to position your boat so that the nearest target is the one you want if you're going to use sonar or radar.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tshark
Btw - Thank you for giving me the additional "tools" for my Skippers bag o' tricks. My last attack was with aft tubes. I used the "Dick O'Kane sonar" mode for course and speed till the sound contact got lost in my baffles. Then I brought the periscope up high enough to see over the heavy seas and was able to just barely see the outline of the target. Bottom line is I sunk the target by combining both "Dick O'Kane" methods. Had I been restricted to "normal" attack methods I would have had no choice, but to stalk the convoy and hope for better weather.
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Yes! Success is sweet in difficult conditions. AND in those conditions the sonars of the DDs hunting your sorry butt don't work too good and it's easy to get away. By the way, anything 100 RPM or lower is about equally stealthy, which gives the fleet boat a tremendous advantage over the lowly German U-Boat, which was forced to one knot when silent running. You can get almost 3 knots out of a very stealthy fleet boat. Tell me THAT's not the difference between life and death.
After all your mission isn't to twist and turn slow as molasses waiting for some depth charge to blast you into the next universe. Your mission is to get the Sam Hades out of there, to to the surface and raise hell. A submarine is made to fight, not hide. A hiding sub is worthless to anybody but the enemy. Any moment where your enemy is not terrified that in the next 30 seconds he might find himself blown in a dozen pieces you are not doing your job, sailor!
Time after time I hear U-boat apologists say the U-boat is superior because it dives deeper. Bullhockey! Serving as the injured mouse a cat plays with for a couple hours before he puts you out of your misery is not the submarine's (or lowly U-boat's) function. A submarine is a surface torpedo boat with the ability to submerge when its miserable life depends on it, for the least amount of time possible in order to get back to the surface or periscope depth to be dangerous. Yes, a submarine's job is to be dangerous. Put that right above your captain's bunk. A hiding submarine is not dangerous. Superior hiding ability is a pitiful skill to brag about.