Overview of Realism settings

[Incubus]

All these are based on stock SHIII:

Limited Batteries- Pretty pointless having this on. Also creates a stupid 'overlap' with 'limited fuel' (just travel around submerged 99% of the time) which artifically lets you get away with more 'realism' than you should. Limited batts is exciting; seeing if you can manage to sneak through the Strait of Gibraltar or other dangerous places. Another silly thing is even if the batteries are completely dead your sub still goes at 1kt. People say, 'just use X mod' but I'd actually rather see a patch for these kind of things.

Limited Fuel- Same issue as limited batteries. The point of the type IX series is range; using limited fuel really forces you to think about your patrols and be conservative. The thing I like about this game is that every decision has consequences, but the consequences are abstract and not scripted (running out of fuel because you cruise too fast, for example)

Historical Loading time- Makes convoy attacks stupidly easy. If you know what you are doing, you can pretty much flatten the whole convoy with the increased load time. Keeping them at historical levels also gives you a point to handing out Torpedoman designations, and making sure the torpedo sections are properly manned. It also makes loading external stores a harrowing experience (particularly for the type IX boats which have way, way too many externals!)

Limited Compressed air- I'm not sure why they even bothered to put this in. Does compressed air do anything beyond blowing ballast? Generally, if you have to blow more than once/twice, you're probably hosed anyway. So even if you can mash the 'e' key to your heart's content this isn't gonna help much. Even for newbie/young players I'd say keep it realistic.

No map contact updates- This one is debatable. BdU did gives subs contact reports (it was even in Das Boot, damn it! ) and since stock doesn't allow you to form wolfpacks and the radio function is extremely limited as it is, I don't mind this. Disabling it definitely does put your sensors (both the subs and your own eyes and ears) to the test. Ironically enough, I blunder into more convoys than BdU points out for me. Go figure

Weapon officer assistance/Manual aiming- Funny thing about these two is you can have one on and one off and get virtually the same benefit while having a slightly higher realism %. Not very practical, but there are a few benefits- by having manual off but weapon officer on, you can 'train' yourself to fire manual solutions; if the firing solution is iffy you can have the weapon officer plot the solution, otherwise, go it manually. Another thing novice players should know is that while 'auto' mode is theoretically easier to set a firing solution, it is by no means a guaranteed hit. Often times setting up a auto shot that has a good chance of hitting isn't much harder to do manually, also.

Noise Meter- Maybe useful for someone who hasn't had any idea what sub warfare is like. Personally its pretty easy to do without. Actual crews had enough common sense to know how noisy their subs were- if the screws are chugging away, stuff is banging and clattering around in compartments, you are probably making a big noise signature. Silent Running mode means you don't really need the noise meter. If you are worried about noise, rig for silent running and creep very slowly. There is very, very little gray area between 'quiet' and 'too noisy' when it comes to nearby DDs.

Event Camera- Fun, but makes things too easy. It is neat having a chance to watch a ship crack in two while you are hiding several kms away, but the fact that it activates when planes are making attack runs makes it too easy to escape danger. Part of the fun of the game is you have to be on guard during the WHOLE patrol, because there are so many ways to get caught with your pants down. The event camera can kind of take the suspense out of it.

Free View- More flexible than the Event Camera. At the worst, Free View lets you blatantly cheat; you can see depth without pinging, or spot ships in bad weather. However, it is nice in other situations, like setting up screenshots, or just admiring your boat gliding through calm water during sunrise. Since you can control it, it is a 'for fun' toggle in my opinion.