New guy has lots of questions

mello85 · 12-11-09, 05:36 PM

Heyya everyone

. I just picked this game up a few days ago and WOW, I can't believe 4 sequels made it past me unnoticed...This is the best game ever!

I have a couple of questions I was hoping you all could answer.

1. Is there any way to change the color of the little triangle that changes green when it's time to fire torpedoes?

2. How can I make my crew rest? By the time I make it to the middle of the Pacific from Midway, most of my men are fatigued.

I'll post more questions later, I had so many but I just got radio contact - large convoy heading north 185 degrees, 10 merchants with 3 destroyer escort

thanks in advance!

Ducimus · 12-11-09, 06:08 PM

1.) Nope, not really. Its a function of AutoTDC. It disappears entirely if you switch to manual targeting.

2.) Crew rotation should be automatic. Be sure to NOT leave your crew at battlestations after whatever action you were doing is over.

mello85 · 12-11-09, 11:57 PM

Quote:

2.) Crew rotation should be automatic. Be sure to NOT leave your crew at battlestations after whatever action you were doing is over.

could you explain that a bit? you mean that (like in the picture below) the guys on the top row are on duty and the guys on the bottom row are resting? I have 2 men on the bow gun at all times, and I leave them regardless of what I'm doing - when I dive they just disappear, what are the repercussions of doing that?

A few more questions

3. when I go back to Midway to refit my sub, the game gets really laggy when I get close to port with time compression set to more than about x256. Is there a fix for this? It happens whenever I get to within 25 nautical miles of a port, not just midway.

4. How can I upgrade my submarine? I just got done with my 3rd patrol and I got a message that went something like: "As you pull your sub into the dock, the mechanics are already scratching their heads...the admiral is pissed because you lost your sub" (I don't understand this, I didn't lose it, although I did take some hits which I promply repaired) and I have an option to resign in good standing, or continue with my career in a new sub

Is this the game's way of assigning me to a better submarine as I progress through the game? The new sub is a bit better, the first one had 4 bow torpedo tubes and 2 stern, while the new sub has 6 and 4 respectively. Below is a screenshot of what upgrades I currently have available, as you can see, it's not much and I don't see the option for a second AA gun, another deck gun, or any new types of torpedoes. Do more upgrades become available later? or are these all the upgrades there are for this specific submarine?

(sorry about the small screenshot, I'm trying to keep this forum-friendly)

5. What does the large circle around the ship in the picture below indicate? His line of visual sight? or his surface radar? Destroyers have 3 of those circles, I know the innermost one (the smallest is their sonar, I learned that very quickly :P) but what about the other two?

More questions to come! Stay tuned

Again, thanks in advance!

btw, I love these smileys

WarlordATF · 12-12-09, 12:18 AM

Welcome!

I'll try to answer a few of your questions. As for the crew, the black bar on the crew page shows which watch is currently on duty, i believe each watch lasts for 4 hours and then the black bar will highlight the next watch on duty.The off duty watches will rest as needed automaticly.

As for leaving your guns crewed, thats not such a good idea if your submerged. If you get depth charged the gunners can be wounded or killed very easily because to the game they are outside the boat.

As for the Time compression near ports, its pretty much that way for all of us. The game drops time compression when new contacts are detected, so you have to keep turning the time compression on. You could also remove the current watch from sonar and radar positions and you will only drop time compression when a visual target is detected, but that can be very dangerous because an enemy could sneak up on you so i would not recommend that.

Upgrades become available over time, in the stock game i think you can only upgrade your Air and Surface Radar,AA Guns and Deckgun. While in port between missions click on the sub on your desk and click on the tab for upgrades, then just click on each item and check the list at the left to see if anything new is available yet.

Hope this helps! After you get used to the game be sure to check out some of the mods available here. Trigger Maru Overhaul,Real Fleet Boat and Operation Monsun are all outstanding and dramaticly improve the game in many ways.

I'm goin' down · 12-12-09, 12:25 AM

You do not know how lucky you are. Ducimus is the man behind TMO 1.9, a super mod. You will understand that later.

You seem to be at the beginning, as you are using auto targeting. For faster speed near port download Webster's faster speed mod. You will have to figure out JGSME, which is a program that activates mods. I will reread your post and add more later if necessary.

I'm goin' down · 12-12-09, 12:34 AM

I believe the small circle around the target is active sonar and the large circle is radar. See the following post http://www.ducimus.net/sh415/ai.htm"

If I am wrong someone will correct me.

Work on auto targeting until you are proficient and then give manual targeting a shot.

I'm goin' down · 12-12-09, 12:39 AM

I assume you are playing a career. When you start the career, you can choose between several boats. Choose one that has lots of torpedoes, such as a Porpoise class. Later on you will be offered an upgrade. I play with a Gato and Gar. Much later, you will be offered a Balao. Everyone has their favorite.

On your settings, if you are in auto mode, give yourself unlimited torpedoes, so you can demolish as many boats as possible. I would use auto targeting as a way to get introduced the game. Manual targeting takes work and time to master, but there are tutorials and videos to guide you through the various machinations.

Armistead · 12-12-09, 01:12 AM

Take time to read the SHIV guide. Great place to start.

http://forums.ubi.com/eve/forums/a/t...4351073726/p/1

mello85 · 12-12-09, 03:00 AM

Excellent stuff, thanks gentlemen. It will take me a while to soak up all the information in the guides you guys have linked to, so I should be pretty busy for a while

I am truly amazed at the amount of depth in this game...(pun intended

)
There is so much more I have yet to learn. I've got the basic idea of what to do, but I still feel like I'm making noob mistakes...I'm playing on 0 realism, but I think it's time to start switching some of those realism settings on. For instance I find myself getting in the habit of using the ahead flank speed way too often, which with limited fuel turned on would equate to a relatively short trip I imagine...

one more question before I hit the hay...

6. Is it possible to switch to a different submarine while in dock? or does the game give you promotions to different subs as you progress through the game?

Thanks a bunch guys

I'm goin' down · 12-12-09, 03:53 AM

I do not know about auto targeting, but when you start a career, you can choose your boat from a selection offered. It depends on the year as to which boats are available. [Note, In career mode, when you are in the office click on the books the left shelf. One of the books will list your options for game play. It may not list the boat, but it will give you game options which will last for the career unless you change them when you return to port.] I believe your boat choice is listed on the main menu when you first select your career start date (that may not be correct. It is somewhere in that area.) Your boat selection is the least of your problems at this point.

peabody · 12-12-09, 04:19 AM

Welcome Mello85,

On the question about the TC when nearing a port, it is a "feature" and partially eye candy. As was stated as you near ships is slows you down, if it didn't as you fly across the ocean at 1000X and came across a convoy you would either fly right by or the Destroyers would demolish you ship before you had time to slow down, remember they will be dropping Depth Charges at 1000X too.
As for the ports, they added ships to make it more realistic, but also added ships outside the harbor for the same reason I just stated, to slow you down. If you came sailing in at high time compression you would not stop and would run aground and most likely destroy the sub and end your career. Problem is, in some places they overdid it a bit and it can take forever to get into some ports.

Like was also mentioned the dark group is on duty, if you select "Battle Stations" you will notice the other bars will get darker, an indication everyone is "on duty", and a reminder to take them off battlestations as soon as you can or the fatigue level will really go up. Sometimes to the point that the sub will stop right in the middle of the ocean, and you will be scratching your head wondering why. So if you come to a stop and you are not near land, ships or a base, that is probably the reason. It gets asked a million times.

Also, your fatigue levels will vary a lot, you may have looked at them right before one group went to "sleep" so the level was high.

Peabody

magic452 · 12-12-09, 04:27 AM

Just go at your own pace in upping the difficulty, I'd leave batteries and dud torpedoes till last. Sink lots o' stuff and have lots o' fun than go to manual targeting. These last three are game changers and take some getting use too. I played medium stock for some time and really enjoyed it, than I moved up. Medium difficulty it's a game, once you go the last three it becomes a simulation.

Welcome aboard mate, were here to help so just fire away with any questions you may have.

Magic

I'm goin' down · 12-12-09, 12:58 PM

Yes, magic has good practical advice. When you get into mods and manual targeting, the game gets much harder. Some mods are eye candy (i.e. the great white shark mod). Some like TMO 1.9 are challenging and prove really tough when played a full realism.

I am playing a Dick O'Kane single mission where I am constantly dodging airplanes to the point where I have to save the game every five minutes just so I don't have to start over from scratch when my boat is sunk. I finally added a mod to reduce the number of airplanes because I could not take it any longer. After an hour or more, I finally came across a destroyer (dd) and subchaser (de?), and sank one -- kind of like hunting for elk and shooting a squirrel. If I had been playing 1.9, I probably would have been spotted before I got a shot off and would be on the bottom with earplugs stuffed in my ears to lessen the noise.

mello85 · 12-12-09, 09:06 PM

Thanks for the advice guys

Another question.

7. When attacking convoys, what is the trick to dispatching the escort destroyers when they are zigzaging in a very unpredictable manner? In the screenshot below, as the convoy got within visual range, one of the destroyers was zigzaging almost directly towards where I was positioned, at least 6-7 nautical miles from the rest of the convoy. Is this normal? He did not spot me...I have been at periscope depth since I first made sound contact. What is the protocol for dealing with situations like this?

I'm goin' down · 12-12-09, 09:32 PM

If the dd has you on radar, which may be the case at long distance, you should plan on diving under the radar arc. A zig zag pattern may not be on a fixed course, so tracking by TDC to predict the torpedo intercept point man not be feasible. If the dd is ahead of the convoy, follow the dd on radar until it passes your position, proceed to periscope depth after, and go after the convoy which is following it.

In TMO 1.9, remaining at periscope depth when a destroyer is closing can be risky as there is a good chance it will spot you, especially later in the war.

12-11-09, 05:36 PM	#1
mello85 Seaman Join Date: Dec 2009 Posts: 39 Downloads: 16 Uploads: 0	New guy has lots of questions Heyya everyone . I just picked this game up a few days ago and WOW, I can't believe 4 sequels made it past me unnoticed...This is the best game ever! I have a couple of questions I was hoping you all could answer. 1. Is there any way to change the color of the little triangle that changes green when it's time to fire torpedoes? 2. How can I make my crew rest? By the time I make it to the middle of the Pacific from Midway, most of my men are fatigued. I'll post more questions later, I had so many but I just got radio contact - large convoy heading north 185 degrees, 10 merchants with 3 destroyer escort thanks in advance!

12-12-09, 12:25 AM	#5
I'm goin' down Ocean Warrior Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Notify command we have entered the Grass Sea Posts: 2,822 Downloads: 813 Uploads: 0	greetings You do not know how lucky you are. Ducimus is the man behind TMO 1.9, a super mod. You will understand that later. You seem to be at the beginning, as you are using auto targeting. For faster speed near port download Webster's faster speed mod. You will have to figure out JGSME, which is a program that activates mods. I will reread your post and add more later if necessary. Last edited by I'm goin' down; 12-12-09 at 01:17 AM.

12-12-09, 12:34 AM	#6
I'm goin' down Ocean Warrior Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Notify command we have entered the Grass Sea Posts: 2,822 Downloads: 813 Uploads: 0	radar and sonar I believe the small circle around the target is active sonar and the large circle is radar. See the following post http://www.ducimus.net/sh415/ai.htm" If I am wrong someone will correct me. Work on auto targeting until you are proficient and then give manual targeting a shot.

12-12-09, 12:39 AM	#7
I'm goin' down Ocean Warrior Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Notify command we have entered the Grass Sea Posts: 2,822 Downloads: 813 Uploads: 0	Upgrading sub I assume you are playing a career. When you start the career, you can choose between several boats. Choose one that has lots of torpedoes, such as a Porpoise class. Later on you will be offered an upgrade. I play with a Gato and Gar. Much later, you will be offered a Balao. Everyone has their favorite. On your settings, if you are in auto mode, give yourself unlimited torpedoes, so you can demolish as many boats as possible. I would use auto targeting as a way to get introduced the game. Manual targeting takes work and time to master, but there are tutorials and videos to guide you through the various machinations.

12-12-09, 03:53 AM	#10
I'm goin' down Ocean Warrior Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Notify command we have entered the Grass Sea Posts: 2,822 Downloads: 813 Uploads: 0	switching subs I do not know about auto targeting, but when you start a career, you can choose your boat from a selection offered. It depends on the year as to which boats are available. [Note, In career mode, when you are in the office click on the books the left shelf. One of the books will list your options for game play. It may not list the boat, but it will give you game options which will last for the career unless you change them when you return to port.] I believe your boat choice is listed on the main menu when you first select your career start date (that may not be correct. It is somewhere in that area.) Your boat selection is the least of your problems at this point.

12-11-09, 06:08 PM	#2
Ducimus Rear Admiral Join Date: May 2005 Posts: 12,987 Downloads: 67 Uploads: 2	1.) Nope, not really. Its a function of AutoTDC. It disappears entirely if you switch to manual targeting. 2.) Crew rotation should be automatic. Be sure to NOT leave your crew at battlestations after whatever action you were doing is over.

12-12-09, 12:18 AM	#4
WarlordATF Frogman Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: SW Florida Posts: 288 Downloads: 105 Uploads: 0	Welcome! I'll try to answer a few of your questions. As for the crew, the black bar on the crew page shows which watch is currently on duty, i believe each watch lasts for 4 hours and then the black bar will highlight the next watch on duty.The off duty watches will rest as needed automaticly. As for leaving your guns crewed, thats not such a good idea if your submerged. If you get depth charged the gunners can be wounded or killed very easily because to the game they are outside the boat. As for the Time compression near ports, its pretty much that way for all of us. The game drops time compression when new contacts are detected, so you have to keep turning the time compression on. You could also remove the current watch from sonar and radar positions and you will only drop time compression when a visual target is detected, but that can be very dangerous because an enemy could sneak up on you so i would not recommend that. Upgrades become available over time, in the stock game i think you can only upgrade your Air and Surface Radar,AA Guns and Deckgun. While in port between missions click on the sub on your desk and click on the tab for upgrades, then just click on each item and check the list at the left to see if anything new is available yet. Hope this helps! After you get used to the game be sure to check out some of the mods available here. Trigger Maru Overhaul,Real Fleet Boat and Operation Monsun are all outstanding and dramaticly improve the game in many ways.

12-12-09, 01:12 AM	#8
Armistead Rear Admiral Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: on the Dan Posts: 10,880 Downloads: 364 Uploads: 0	Take time to read the SHIV guide. Great place to start. http://forums.ubi.com/eve/forums/a/t...4351073726/p/1

12-12-09, 03:00 AM	#9
mello85 Seaman Join Date: Dec 2009 Posts: 39 Downloads: 16 Uploads: 0	Excellent stuff, thanks gentlemen. It will take me a while to soak up all the information in the guides you guys have linked to, so I should be pretty busy for a while I am truly amazed at the amount of depth in this game...(pun intended ) There is so much more I have yet to learn. I've got the basic idea of what to do, but I still feel like I'm making noob mistakes...I'm playing on 0 realism, but I think it's time to start switching some of those realism settings on. For instance I find myself getting in the habit of using the ahead flank speed way too often, which with limited fuel turned on would equate to a relatively short trip I imagine... one more question before I hit the hay... 6. Is it possible to switch to a different submarine while in dock? or does the game give you promotions to different subs as you progress through the game? Thanks a bunch guys

12-12-09, 04:19 AM	#11
peabody Admiral Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: New York State, USA Posts: 2,390 Downloads: 126 Uploads: 7	Welcome Mello85, On the question about the TC when nearing a port, it is a "feature" and partially eye candy. As was stated as you near ships is slows you down, if it didn't as you fly across the ocean at 1000X and came across a convoy you would either fly right by or the Destroyers would demolish you ship before you had time to slow down, remember they will be dropping Depth Charges at 1000X too. As for the ports, they added ships to make it more realistic, but also added ships outside the harbor for the same reason I just stated, to slow you down. If you came sailing in at high time compression you would not stop and would run aground and most likely destroy the sub and end your career. Problem is, in some places they overdid it a bit and it can take forever to get into some ports. Like was also mentioned the dark group is on duty, if you select "Battle Stations" you will notice the other bars will get darker, an indication everyone is "on duty", and a reminder to take them off battlestations as soon as you can or the fatigue level will really go up. Sometimes to the point that the sub will stop right in the middle of the ocean, and you will be scratching your head wondering why. So if you come to a stop and you are not near land, ships or a base, that is probably the reason. It gets asked a million times. Also, your fatigue levels will vary a lot, you may have looked at them right before one group went to "sleep" so the level was high. Peabody __________________ System Spec: Gigabyte GA-965P-DS3, PentiumD Dual Core Presler 945 3.4Ghz, Gigabyte Geforce 7600GS, 2-1GB Corsair XMS2 800Mhz in Dual Channel, 2-WD 250 SATA 3Gb/s, Onboard Realtek HD 7.1 Audio, DVD ROM, DVD burner, Hiper 580 Watt Power supply, WinXP SP2.

12-12-09, 04:27 AM	#12
magic452 Sea Lord Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Reno Nevada USA Posts: 1,860 Downloads: 85 Uploads: 0	Just go at your own pace in upping the difficulty, I'd leave batteries and dud torpedoes till last. Sink lots o' stuff and have lots o' fun than go to manual targeting. These last three are game changers and take some getting use too. I played medium stock for some time and really enjoyed it, than I moved up. Medium difficulty it's a game, once you go the last three it becomes a simulation. Welcome aboard mate, were here to help so just fire away with any questions you may have. Magic __________________ Reported lost 11 Feb. 1942 Signature by depthtok33l

12-12-09, 12:58 PM	#13
I'm goin' down Ocean Warrior Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Notify command we have entered the Grass Sea Posts: 2,822 Downloads: 813 Uploads: 0	good advice by magic Yes, magic has good practical advice. When you get into mods and manual targeting, the game gets much harder. Some mods are eye candy (i.e. the great white shark mod). Some like TMO 1.9 are challenging and prove really tough when played a full realism. I am playing a Dick O'Kane single mission where I am constantly dodging airplanes to the point where I have to save the game every five minutes just so I don't have to start over from scratch when my boat is sunk. I finally added a mod to reduce the number of airplanes because I could not take it any longer. After an hour or more, I finally came across a destroyer (dd) and subchaser (de?), and sank one -- kind of like hunting for elk and shooting a squirrel. If I had been playing 1.9, I probably would have been spotted before I got a shot off and would be on the bottom with earplugs stuffed in my ears to lessen the noise.

12-12-09, 09:06 PM	#14
mello85 Seaman Join Date: Dec 2009 Posts: 39 Downloads: 16 Uploads: 0	Thanks for the advice guys Another question. 7. When attacking convoys, what is the trick to dispatching the escort destroyers when they are zigzaging in a very unpredictable manner? In the screenshot below, as the convoy got within visual range, one of the destroyers was zigzaging almost directly towards where I was positioned, at least 6-7 nautical miles from the rest of the convoy. Is this normal? He did not spot me...I have been at periscope depth since I first made sound contact. What is the protocol for dealing with situations like this?

12-12-09, 09:32 PM	#15
I'm goin' down Ocean Warrior Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Notify command we have entered the Grass Sea Posts: 2,822 Downloads: 813 Uploads: 0	see post no. 6 If the dd has you on radar, which may be the case at long distance, you should plan on diving under the radar arc. A zig zag pattern may not be on a fixed course, so tracking by TDC to predict the torpedo intercept point man not be feasible. If the dd is ahead of the convoy, follow the dd on radar until it passes your position, proceed to periscope depth after, and go after the convoy which is following it. In TMO 1.9, remaining at periscope depth when a destroyer is closing can be risky as there is a good chance it will spot you, especially later in the war.