Am I too conservative?

[VonGlaus]

Lately I've been reading about high time compression levels while on patrol. (I'm a long-time lurker, just finally started posting also.)

I'm not sure where I got the idea, but I never run (in enemy areas) surfaced higher than 32x and submerged 64x. I think I got jumped once or twice on higher TC, made me gun-shy.

But now I read about folks patrolling at 1024 or higher! Can this be true?

SH3 is running on my main PC, a fairly late-model Alienware. Typically I surf the net on my work laptop at the same time. Like right now, I'm quietly exiting the Keltische See at 16x, 0400, on the surface. Is this waaayy too conservative?

What's the best compromise between "don't get killed before you blink" and "don't get the wife too Pi$$ed so I can't play any more?"


Oh, GWX 2.1 is biggest mod. It's still October 1940 this time.

[baggygreen]

I run it at 64, so i dont have to worry about crews getting tired, but i still manage to see enough contacts.

Running at 1x would be considered conservative in my book!

[Tim Stan Armstrong]

Hi mate,

Usually i run at around 128 - 256 tc, seems to give a good reaction time when encountring aircraft and ship contacts.

If im in mid atlantic or somewhere out of the way i usually sit on 512.

[Parkera]

Yeah i usually Tc at x64 around enemy zones. I will play 1x leaving/entering port and during attacks. around home waters i will go as high as 256x.

I go 1024x everywhere. AOD had 4096x. Even 256x and 512x are too slow for me. I don't know how you can finish an entire career going so slow. Especially since the vanilla game sends you out on a patrol every month.

[Rommer69]

Agree with Kraut, 1024x everywhere. Don´t have many time to play and don´t want to lose it travelling, although i can miss some contacts

[Jimbuna]

x32 and above = crew fatigue is turned off.

x128 and above = possibility of missed contacts and or getting attacked by air assetts before you can take avoidance measures.

[GOZO]

If running at 1x at all time is just and indication on an urgent need to get a life!!!:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

Kidding...

[Task Force]

All depends where im at if im just crusing im at full TC if im hunting I use 1024 to 512

[nikbear]

On the surface never more than 64TC,submerged no more than 128TC except when crossing the atlantic to give our american friends some hassle,then it can go as high as 512TC but usually 256TCof course slowing it right down everynow and then to check for victims

[predavolk]

Some of you have WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY too much free time on your hands. I'm either disappointed in you and/or I'm highly jealous. This game is NOT playable without using high TC. How do you sail around the entire coast of Africa on less than 256x? You'd spend, quite literally, an entire day just getting there, let alone the individual time spent with contacts.

If you have hours and hours of free time to watch an empty map (or stay close enough to your PC to be alerted), good on you.

If you are worried about losing contacts or sudden attacks, those are SH3 urban legends. I personally cruise at 1024 whenever I can, including when I'm closing in on a convoy on the surface AND HAVE DETECTED RADAR. The notion that 1024x is instant death is 100% untrue. Does it make ANY difference? Possibly. The nano-second between getting a contact and the program automatically booting you to 1x might take a few extra nanoseconds. Maybe even a few seconds. But the bottom line for me is that:

1- I use time compression all of the time. When approaching convoys, when evading escorts, when patrolling, etc. I use the max TC allowed in the situation (e.g., 8x with escorts close, 32x with enemy shipping close, 1024x cruising).

2- As you can get from my 100K+ club thread, I have NO problems detecting large amounts of shipping.

3- As you can get from my 100K+ club thread, I have NO problems evading destroyers and airplanes beyond the usual challenges of GWX. I've only be surprised by airplanes when I couldn't detect their radar, and 95%-99% of the time I am able to dive my IXB in plenty of time even without detecting them (weather is the factor here). Destroyers are not even close to be an issue other than in extremely poor visibility when they can pop out of the gloom and surprise you at close range.

4- Crew fatigue is moot as most of my crew has enough medals (all 2+ medals, most 3+) to overcome any related issues. I do get significant crew fatigue during combat encounters, which is about all I'm looking for.

So I would strongly encourage everyone to try higher TC values unless you get some intrinsic enjoyment in spending loooooong quiet periods staring at your screen. Looooooong periods. Maximum TC has no effect, or a negligible effect, on detecting contacts and evading air attacks (let alone surface). Long-term fatigue is generally porked IMO, and it is most certain not practical to run the game at 32x just to simulate it throughout your patrols!

So Happy (Faster) Hunting!

[Sag75]

Hi, I try to play at 1024x during all patrol, because the game drop your TC to 8x for any ship/radar/hydrophone contact and 4x for any incoming aircraft. Moreover if you are within 32km from a convoy, you surely will experience a fps drop, so you will have the indication of large enemy activity in this radius.

It's 2 years that i'm playing with SH3 (several months with GWX2.0) and i'm not been surprised so many times by sudden attacks. Anyway, this add some realism, because in the reality some incoming contacts can not be listen/seen by your crew due to tiredness, or so on..

[Ivan Putski]

predavolk, it`s ok to be jealous, I`ve retired twice, once from the military, and once from law enforcement. I have all day to play my sims, so I usually travel at 256 TC, or less.

[msalama]

x32 and above = crew fatigue is turned off.

Not if you set SH3 Commander's "when in 3D views" TC option to 1024

As regards the original question: I use 1024x all the time, and have had no problems whatsoever so far. Well OK, I've been attacked by incoming aircraft once w/out spotting them beforehand... but then, didn't that happen IRL too?

[msalama]

it`s ok to be jealous, I`ve retired twice

He's not the only one