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Originally Posted by Hadrys
I was thinking about building the wheel but gave it up for now. I was doing some serious plotting but now nearly I don't draw more than a single line - a general course if I need to follow. It all started when I removed my position from the map (as to use celestial navigation). Suddenly I have found myself calculating in my head bearing, speed, course etc. I started to see things differently, started to fell relative courses etc. Another thing is that to be realistic you need to make some observations like timed hydro readings, manual range through your scope etc. The more you spend on the see the more it's obvious and very quickly you just know what to do, how to react. This gives a very nice feeling of being a true, trained and experienced captain who has everything in his head!!
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My problem is finding enjoyable balance in the game. First I used map contact updates and weapon officer assistance. Soon practically every torpedo I fired hit. Then I turned off weapon officer assistance and used the updating map contacts to plot tracks and generate solutions. Nothing changed, practically every torpedo hit. Recently I turned off map contacts and started plotting manually based on observations. Now I miss about 10% of the time, with something like 50% of my torpedoes hitting within 5-10 meters of point of aim.
The only thing that has changed as I've turned on more realism, is that I now only fire from good positions. No more instant weapon officer solutions against zigzagging targets in poor positions. Also, gameplay has become a lot slower - plotting takes time.
I'm not ready to go through the trouble of navigating myself. That would slow gameplay even more. With my current settings I already find the game a bit too tedious to my liking. A real captain would have had crew to do some of these tasks. Unfortunately the game crew is too good at its jobs, making hitting targets too easy for the game to be enjoyable.
So I'm looking for a method of playing the game without making tedious observations and plotting, being able to hit about realistically, and not using the way too accurate crew observations, if at all possible. Good suggestions are welcome.
One solution I'm currently considering, and will test out next, is this:
- Overhauling the target on surface, keeping a long range and a general bearing of 90 or 270 to target. This should give me an idea of target heading as I visually observe aob changing during the maneuver, as well as some idea of target speed.
- Submerged approach on a (as close as I can visually determine) perpendicular course, setting speed, when possible, so that the bearing to target keeps constant. This gives me a good idea of target speed and puts me in a good firing position. I can also stop and measure target speed quite accurately using the stopwatch and target length, if I am in doubt.
- Visually verifying aob and measuring range through the scope, and adjusting the TDC accordingly, just before firing.
I'll have to see how this works out. I just fear that I'll end up with worse solutions than a real captain would have in a similar situation, and won't be able to hit much anything. Hopefully I'm wrong about this.