[aanker]

I may get yelled at again by Mr know it all but so be it.

In real life the Earth is a bumpy oblate spheroid, in SH4 the Earth is a cylinder.

The first thing I do each patrol is draw vertical lines 7.5 degrees on each side of 180d, the International Date Line. Next I draw vertical lines every 15 degrees from these first two vertical lines; going East and West, every 15 degrees is a vertical line.

Because every 15 degrees is one hour it is easy to find out what time it is at my location. If I am based at Pearl, that is Base Time and is the time of day displayed in my Boat the entire patrol.

Once I cross one of the vertical lines I drew every 15 degrees, I subtract one hour from Base Time to find out what time it is at my location. By the time I reach Empire waters, about four hours need to be subtracted from Base Time to find out what time it is at my location. The line at Western Japan is about 5 hours less than Base Time.

There are charts that list Sunrise, Sunset, Moon-rise and Moon-set, plus the Moon phases by date. I edited in these three pages into my in-game F1 Help file.

Since this is a game on cylinder your distance North & South of the equator don't matter that much for Sunrise, Sunset, etc.

I find that knowing what the 'rough' time is at my location found by subtracting one hour every 15 degrees heading West from Pearl, and the date, can be used with my in-game celestial charts to find out; will it be a Full Moon, Quarter Moon, or New Moon etc. Knowing the time tells me what time the Sun and Moon rise and set. This knowledge helps me plan Special Missions, and plan my attacks to my advantage.

So, I know what time it is at my location by subtraction and what time the Sun & Moon will rise and set using the charts.

Of course if I was headed East instead, I would add an hour every 15 degrees.

Happy Hunting!