Aircraft and TC

[Kip Chiakopf]

Is it true that aircraft won't appear if the TC is higher than 128? What about at night? Do aircraft fly in the dark? I seem to recall the Brits used floodlights on ASW aircraft that hunted U-boats. Will they appear only if the TC is 128?

[Jimbuna]

Your best chance of survival as well as aircraft spawning as intended would be achieved if you keep to a maximum tc of x128.

[Sailor Steve]

The will appear if you use higher TCs, just not nearly as often. GWX has aircraft appearing at night with Leigh lights. Use SH3 Commander to set your "When Enemy Planes Detected" and "When Enemy Ships Detected" for x1, otherwise it defaults to x8, and they'll be on you before you know what happened.

[Kip Chiakopf]

Thanks for the info, guys.

Love this forum!

[Obltn Strand]

TC x 128 also makes good hunting grounds more challenging. Five crash dives during daytime off Freetown. One of them minutes after coming to surface and I do aerial sweep with periscope.

[Captain Nemo]

Originally Posted by Sailor Steve

Use SH3 Commander to set your "When Enemy Planes Detected" and "When Enemy Ships Detected" for x1, otherwise it defaults to x8, and they'll be on you before you know what happened.

I always have found that when enemy units are spotted the TC drops to x1 without touching anything in SH3 Commander. However, what I did notice, and I posted this some months back in a different thread, is that when neutral units are spotted TC drops to x8. On changing the setting in SH3 Commander for "When Enemy Ships Detected" from x8 to x1 now all ships that are spotted drop to x1. The only difference being that I get no verbal warning from my watch crew when a neutral is spotted which is annoying. In my experience, those settings in SH3 Commander only affect neutral units not enemy units as is stated in the options screen.

Nemo

[papa_smurf]

GWX has aircraft appearing at night with Leigh lights.

Nowt worse when a blinding spotlight appears out of nowhere

Info on the Leigh light in case you were wondering:http://www.uboat.net/allies/technical/leigh_light.htm

Originally Posted by Captain Nemo

I always have found that when enemy units are spotted the TC drops to x1 without touching anything in SH3 Commander. However, what I did notice, and I posted this some months back in a different thread, is that when neutral units are spotted TC drops to x8. On changing the setting in SH3 Commander for "When Enemy Ships Detected" from x8 to x1 now all ships that are spotted drop to x1. The only difference being that I get no verbal warning from my watch crew when a neutral is spotted which is annoying. In my experience, those settings in SH3 Commander only affect neutral units not enemy units as is stated in the options screen.

Nemo

When snorkeling in the navigation map station and with a periscope raised, TC will not drop to x1 on visual contact with aircraft. Without Map Contacts On they will not appear visually at all so not using map contacts in the late war will hasten your demise. Radar detection's when snorkeling will drop TC to x1 however.

Using TC greater than x16 and any map zoom greater than the 2500 metre squares when using the snorkel is a recipe for disaster as the threats will generally be on you before you can react.

[Captain Nemo]

Originally Posted by Randomizer

When snorkeling in the navigation map station and with a periscope raised, TC will not drop to x1 on visual contact with aircraft. Without Map Contacts On they will not appear visually at all so not using map contacts in the late war will hasten your demise. Radar detection's when snorkeling will drop TC to x1 however.

Using TC greater than x16 and any map zoom greater than the 2500 metre squares when using the snorkel is a recipe for disaster as the threats will generally be on you before you can react.

I must admit that I have never progressed far enough into a campaign to be able to use the snorkel and experience what you have said. The point I was trying to make is that the settings in SH3 Commander that are meant to manage TC settings for "When Enemy Plane(s) Detected" and "When Enemy Ship(s) Detected" don't affect enemy units as they are supposed to. The default for these in Commander is x8 and I left the settings at this for some time because out on patrol, for me anyway, TC dropped to x1 when enemy ships and planes were spotted so I thought why bother messing with these settings. However, what I did notice is that when neutral units were spotted i.e. both ships and planes, TC would drop to only x8, thus giving me the heads up before making a formal identification that these units were neutral. A bit of a spoiler. So I went into SH3 Commander's settings to see if there was a similar setting for neutral units. There isn't, so I reduced the "When Enemy Plane(s) Detected" and "When Enemy Ship(s) Detected" settings down to x1. Now all units whatever nationality when spotted TC drops to x1. However, this hasn't cured the neutral problem completely as I don't get a verbal notification from my watch crew when a neutral is spotted, so I still know in advance that the unit spotted is neutral.

Nemo

Captain Nemo

The point I was trying to make is that the settings in SH3 Commander that are meant to manage TC settings for "When Enemy Plane(s) Detected" and "When Enemy Ship(s) Detected" don't affect enemy units as they are supposed to...

No disputing your observations, in fact they're all good. My only aim was to point out to everybody that using a snorkel in SH3 requires modifying expectations and adapting different techniques for managing TC, spotting, navigation and mission execution. Otherwise life will be short and end violently, usually by an attacker you never detect.

[Captain Nemo]

Originally Posted by Randomizer

Captain Nemo

No disputing your observations, in fact they're all good. My only aim was to point out to everybody that using a snorkel in SH3 requires modifying expectations and adapting different techniques for managing TC, spotting, navigation and mission execution. Otherwise life will be short and end violently, usually by an attacker you never detect.

Yes, very good advice, which I have taken on board should I ever make it far enough in a campaign to get the opportunity to use the snorkel.

Nemo