Do you use Auto TMA? Why or why not?

[Sonoboy]

I was having a discussion about the topic with a friend, and wondering what other people have to say about it.

I personally don't use auto TMA at all. It's a big portion of the game to me, and I like the challenge.

[Bort]

Purists will probably decry my lack of dedication to the great mysterious art of TMA, but I don't do it manually. I play sims to unwind and have fun and unfortunately, TMA doesn't fall into either of those categories for me. I like to focus more on the wider tactical decisions of the game rather than the narrow technical focus of TMA.

[suBB]

Originally Posted by Sonoboy

I was having a discussion about the topic with a friend, and wondering what other people have to say about it.

I personally don't use auto TMA at all. It's a big portion of the game to me, and I like the challenge.

I've been doing manual TMA since 1997 and there has never been a dull moment up to this day in manual TMA. It’s always challenging and for me it keeps the game alive and interesting, I wouldn't have it any other way.

[Molon Labe]

I prefer to play with the option locked OFF because it makes it more of a skill game and the aTMA cheats a little. If the option is on I'll use it unless it starts getting too slow from too many contacts.

[Blacklight]

If it's a mission with only a small handfull of contacts, I'll do my own TMA usually, but for those missions with a few hundred contacts, I let my autocrew handle it and then I will pop in from time to time to tune things. I pretty much autocrew almost all my stations for those type of missions and then check up and fine tune stuff with all of the autocrew as things progress. I find this the most realistic way to play the game. A sub captain simply isn't going to be doing all the sub duties himself. He'll listen and see what his crew is coming up with, check their work, and or fine tune it as he sees fit.

Multiplayer... All autocrew off. Everyone does their own TMA.

[Janus]

Originally Posted by Blacklight

A sub captain simply isn't going to be doing all the sub duties himself. He'll listen and see what his crew is coming up with, check their work, and or fine tune it as he sees fit.

Exactly. Furthermore there is a whole group of people doing TMA in a real sub, not just a single player like it is in DW, as far as I know.

I use the auto TMA more than I would like to, the problem with the fine-tuning is that the autocrew does not stick with it. You manually merge a contact for instance, and seconds later the autocrew splits it again or overrides the target's speed you have entered...

[Suvs]

I almost always use it when i'm using the OHP frigate, and almost always have it turned off when using any of the subs. I don't know why but i've never really got the hang of using the TMA or TA stations on the frigate, I never put enough time in to learn it probably.
The TA and TMA system on the subs is easy to use and i've been using that system, or similar, since 688 attack sub ~15 years ago. It's almost natural to use it in manual mode.

[suBB]

I use voice commands & since I’ve been commanding subs much longer than thing else, it’s understood that manual TMA / ESM / RADAR / ActIntercept would be 1st line of defense against automatically detecting my opponent. And in some cases depending on the platform and your style of command, a TMA solution isn’t really required to be effective, even in a 1 v 1 scenario.

Considering the rest of the platforms(air & surface) really anything(I guess MAD / radar / acoustics / CMs) that automatically detects my opponent / allows for evasion from my opponent is a showstopper. I’d rather pass on a MP server of many with auto capabilities optional, only to wait for a MP server of a few with manual capabilities available only.

I think the bottom line is to enjoy your DW experience as you see fit.

[Dr.Sid]

On subs TMA is easy to do manually. But it takes time. In MP games there is plenty of that, in SP games there is less of it.

AutoTMA has 2 bad features. It cheats - solution quality seems to be based on number of lines alone. It can do nice solution from 5 parallel lines, which is impossible to do manually. There also is poor control about what should be solved first, and what later, what should be merged and so on.

On FFG manual TMA is impossible, due to terrible interface. Use Auto, or, use no TMA at all. Since you mostly use active sonar, buoys and helos, you don't really need it.

[OneShot]

Whenever I play Subs or the FFG I use aTMA simply because I lack the skill to do it manually. But since I mostly play the P3/MH-60 tho I'm not faced with this issue.

[Iron Budokan]

When I was playing DW I always used it.

[CapitanPiluso]

I use auto TMA when there are plenty of contacts and I guess my contact classification and ID is not the best for that situation.

[goldorak]

Originally Posted by Suvs

I almost always use it when i'm using the OHP frigate, and almost always have it turned off when using any of the subs. I don't know why but i've never really got the hang of using the TMA or TA stations on the frigate, I never put enough time in to learn it probably.
The TA and TMA system on the subs is easy to use and i've been using that system, or similar, since 688 attack sub ~15 years ago. It's almost natural to use it in manual mode.

For me its the contrary, autotma on the frigate and manual tma on the subs.
On the other hand most people don't like manual tma so in multiplayer matches I'll almost always use autotma so as to not be at a disadvantage. :p

[Sea Demon]

It depends on my mood. Sometimes I only wish to play from the perspective of command, and will only monitor these stations as I consider the tactical situation, and survival of my boat (tactics). But most of the time, with the exception of the FFG, I use manual sonar and TMA. That provides most of the gaming challenge here. I would say I use manual TMA 7 out of 10 scenarios I play.

[Captain Nemo]

Auto TMA. Too much hard work for me doing it manually.

Nemo