SUBSIM Radio Room Forums - View Single Post - wannabe skipper with lots of questions...

silentscorp1971 · 09-14-07, 11:52 PM

Welcome! You can also find alot of SH4 activity on the Ubisoft SH4 forums.

Manual TDC, my favorite topic.

Werner's sonar attack is a thing of beauty, of course I haven't been able to perfect it either. Since the majority of my attacks occurr at night however I have developed another way that you might find helpful. I will explain the vanilla way (no mods) and the the Trigger Maru 1.6.2 way (I highly recommend this mod pack) where they differ.

Before we get started let me preface by saying that Werner doesn't use automatic chart updates, prefering to plot everything by hand.. if this is your style too then disregard the rest of my post. I run at 100 realism with only no external camera and no chart updates turned off.
If you like screenshots you will want the external camera.

Whenever a contact is made locate the enemy using your normal charts (I personally never use the attack map, the disappearing line is a bug btw). If it is dark, raining, foggy, or all the above I will allow my exec to locate the enemy in the perescope and chart its location on the charts. (ie. I raise my scope or surface and let the computer put the ship icon on the map).

Now that you have a ship icon you want to track use the ruler tool to draw a line through its direction of travel (use 8 TC time compress to make this easier). Draw the line past your current location. We will call this his heading line from now on. You can tweak this line by clicking on the x at the end of the line with the ruler tool and then move it up or down till he is travelling down it.

Determine where on this line you want to make your attack and begin working your sub into possition while you plot the solution. The point on the line where you want to fire will be refered to as your intercept point from here out.

Now you can open the tool helper thingy and use the compass tool to get his exact bearing if you like (you don't have too with my method though).

Now use the compass to draw a circle on the heading line somewhere ahead of the enemy. Make the circle exactly .5nm (it will give distance as you expand circle). When it says .5nm single click to make it stay. Now you have a circle on the heading line that is exactly 1nm across. Once your enemy reaches the edge of the circle use your stopwatch (x) and start it. Once the enemy reaches the center of the circle stop the watch and note the time it took to make the .5nm trip. (you could also let him go the whole 1nm and get the time, but .5 works just as well). Now use this time to calcualte the speed=distance/time formula. You can find this in many posts on these forums by searching for speed calculations.

However, I personally prefer using a nomograph. Trigger Maru mod has one on the chart maps and you can download just the nomograph mod itself if you like or make your own with a sheet of paper! The nomgraph will have 3 columns Time/Distance/Speed. You will draw a line from the time you measured through the distance you timed for and the line will intersect with the targets speed!

Now you have your targets speed. (Sh4 v1.3 has an auto speed calculator built into the tdc but it requires identifying the target and using the stadometer, so it defeats my purpose here). You can also determine the AoB (Angle of Bow) using the heading line you drew and your subs intercept heading. Just manually turn the enemy icon in the tdc till it looks like it will look when he reaches where you r intercept point and then make sure the icons of you and him in the tdc look close to what they will look like when you plan to fire.

You now have entered the targets speed and AoB into the TDC. Do not activate the PK (possition keeper) yet though. Now you only need the distance/bearing to be ready to fire. By now you should be close to your intercept possition. Using the compass tool draw a circle with the bow of your sub as the center (or stern if using aft torpedos). When the circle touches the heading line at your intercept point note the distance (you could also use the ruler but I like to use circle in case targets spots my scope and zigs). You now know the distance the target will be from you when you want to fire. If using Trigger Maru you can use the excellent template attched to your sub icon at close zoom that gives you distance squares out to 1500yds at 360 degrees! Whatever square your intercept point falls into is your distance!

Using the inner wheel of the mast height wheel manually set the distance you measured to your intercept point. You now have all you need except the bearing of the periscope that the torpedos need to travel down toward the target.

Bear in mind that while moving into possition and gathering this information you should use good scope discipline and keep it below the surface as much as possible. Once you have your heading line and done your speed calc you really don't need to have it up till he is close to your intercept point. Keep quick peeking to make sure he is staying the course or just use a distance/time calc to determine when he will arrive. Also bear in mind that you should never even have to look into the scope except to set your tdc info (this can even be set with the scope underwater). Most of the time you will simply raise the scope using page up while on the chart screen till his icon pops onto the map, then use page down for a second or two. This represents you standing at the charts while your exec updates you with the scope.

Now you can set up your torpedos and get ready for the big moment. When the target reaches your intercept point simply place the vertical crosshair onto the target (I use the "L" lock key to make it quick since I always fire spreads anyways) and click the send distance/bearing to tdc button and also turn on the PK. The PK allows you to quickly recalculate a follow through shot if your target speeds up or slows down after a torpedo hit.

Begin setting your spread if applicable and fire away!

You will notice that the ship id book, mast height, or stadometer were never mentioned. This solution is made using a place in time called the intercept point and doesn't care what arrives there. (So make sure you properly ID nationalities) :hmm:

I wrote this in a hurry so please ask me to clarify anything that is confusing to you.

09-14-07, 11:52 PM	#2
silentscorp1971 Sailor man Join Date: Aug 2007 Posts: 45 Downloads: 3 Uploads: 0	Welcome! You can also find alot of SH4 activity on the Ubisoft SH4 forums. Manual TDC, my favorite topic. Werner's sonar attack is a thing of beauty, of course I haven't been able to perfect it either. Since the majority of my attacks occurr at night however I have developed another way that you might find helpful. I will explain the vanilla way (no mods) and the the Trigger Maru 1.6.2 way (I highly recommend this mod pack) where they differ. Before we get started let me preface by saying that Werner doesn't use automatic chart updates, prefering to plot everything by hand.. if this is your style too then disregard the rest of my post. I run at 100 realism with only no external camera and no chart updates turned off. If you like screenshots you will want the external camera. Whenever a contact is made locate the enemy using your normal charts (I personally never use the attack map, the disappearing line is a bug btw). If it is dark, raining, foggy, or all the above I will allow my exec to locate the enemy in the perescope and chart its location on the charts. (ie. I raise my scope or surface and let the computer put the ship icon on the map). Now that you have a ship icon you want to track use the ruler tool to draw a line through its direction of travel (use 8 TC time compress to make this easier). Draw the line past your current location. We will call this his heading line from now on. You can tweak this line by clicking on the x at the end of the line with the ruler tool and then move it up or down till he is travelling down it. Determine where on this line you want to make your attack and begin working your sub into possition while you plot the solution. The point on the line where you want to fire will be refered to as your intercept point from here out. Now you can open the tool helper thingy and use the compass tool to get his exact bearing if you like (you don't have too with my method though). Now use the compass to draw a circle on the heading line somewhere ahead of the enemy. Make the circle exactly .5nm (it will give distance as you expand circle). When it says .5nm single click to make it stay. Now you have a circle on the heading line that is exactly 1nm across. Once your enemy reaches the edge of the circle use your stopwatch (x) and start it. Once the enemy reaches the center of the circle stop the watch and note the time it took to make the .5nm trip. (you could also let him go the whole 1nm and get the time, but .5 works just as well). Now use this time to calcualte the speed=distance/time formula. You can find this in many posts on these forums by searching for speed calculations. However, I personally prefer using a nomograph. Trigger Maru mod has one on the chart maps and you can download just the nomograph mod itself if you like or make your own with a sheet of paper! The nomgraph will have 3 columns Time/Distance/Speed. You will draw a line from the time you measured through the distance you timed for and the line will intersect with the targets speed! Now you have your targets speed. (Sh4 v1.3 has an auto speed calculator built into the tdc but it requires identifying the target and using the stadometer, so it defeats my purpose here). You can also determine the AoB (Angle of Bow) using the heading line you drew and your subs intercept heading. Just manually turn the enemy icon in the tdc till it looks like it will look when he reaches where you r intercept point and then make sure the icons of you and him in the tdc look close to what they will look like when you plan to fire. You now have entered the targets speed and AoB into the TDC. Do not activate the PK (possition keeper) yet though. Now you only need the distance/bearing to be ready to fire. By now you should be close to your intercept possition. Using the compass tool draw a circle with the bow of your sub as the center (or stern if using aft torpedos). When the circle touches the heading line at your intercept point note the distance (you could also use the ruler but I like to use circle in case targets spots my scope and zigs). You now know the distance the target will be from you when you want to fire. If using Trigger Maru you can use the excellent template attched to your sub icon at close zoom that gives you distance squares out to 1500yds at 360 degrees! Whatever square your intercept point falls into is your distance! Using the inner wheel of the mast height wheel manually set the distance you measured to your intercept point. You now have all you need except the bearing of the periscope that the torpedos need to travel down toward the target. Bear in mind that while moving into possition and gathering this information you should use good scope discipline and keep it below the surface as much as possible. Once you have your heading line and done your speed calc you really don't need to have it up till he is close to your intercept point. Keep quick peeking to make sure he is staying the course or just use a distance/time calc to determine when he will arrive. Also bear in mind that you should never even have to look into the scope except to set your tdc info (this can even be set with the scope underwater). Most of the time you will simply raise the scope using page up while on the chart screen till his icon pops onto the map, then use page down for a second or two. This represents you standing at the charts while your exec updates you with the scope. Now you can set up your torpedos and get ready for the big moment. When the target reaches your intercept point simply place the vertical crosshair onto the target (I use the "L" lock key to make it quick since I always fire spreads anyways) and click the send distance/bearing to tdc button and also turn on the PK. The PK allows you to quickly recalculate a follow through shot if your target speeds up or slows down after a torpedo hit. Begin setting your spread if applicable and fire away! You will notice that the ship id book, mast height, or stadometer were never mentioned. This solution is made using a place in time called the intercept point and doesn't care what arrives there. (So make sure you properly ID nationalities) :hmm: I wrote this in a hurry so please ask me to clarify anything that is confusing to you. Last edited by silentscorp1971; 09-15-07 at 02:57 AM.