Here are a couple more visual observations in 16k. I spent a while bouncing around with a convoy, then realized that it's better to have just one target, since it helps for the crew to be reporting the same target you're looking at <g>. So I started a new career, also with activated map/target updates, auto id, etc 'cause that helps getting the info more precise.
I'm going to give more info than is probably necessary but I don't know all the variables that are built into the game (vs real life) for visual distance.
This is pretty accurate on the distances, since I also had a bit of a system. I run t/c until pick up a contact by crew sighting. Then get ship id and speed/course. Then I run ahead but parallel out of crew visual range and then wait for ship to reappear. This means I'm sighting the target myself at earliest moment since I know where to look.
1. Night. 2100. September. Cloud 10/10. Sea abt 4 (on 10). I would say low fog, although it's hard to distinguish sometimes between distant cloud cover and fog. Merchant (like a goof I forgot to get ship id
, so this is probably useless ... not the largest merchant class, but not smallest), sighted by me @abt 9000 metres or a bit less. Crew sighted at 8400 m.
2. Day. 1126. September. Cloud 10/10. Sea abt 2/10. Lightning (occasional). Low fog. Large cargo sighted by me @10,000. Note @10k I could only just see the merchant without binoculars, and because I knew where to look. The merchant was in plain sight at more like 9000 m. Crew sighted at 8200 m. and lost visual at 9500 m. or a bit more. Interesting point, I then flanked ahead and cut hard right to look for another target, in doing so the crew re-acquired visual on the target ... @8700 m. So it's not a constant given same weather conditions? :hmm:
Now that I have the hang of it, I'll be able to do a bunch more pretty quickly over the next couple of days. Stay tuned.