Surfaced detection radius

[stashy]

I've been searching around a lot and for the life of me can't find much on how far ships can spot you when surfaced. I've just recently gotten to the point where I feel confident in my real navigation and manual TDC skills, but shadowing ships to get out in front of them for the kill is still proving tough.

Are there any general rules of thumb that one should follow during the day/night and different weather states to avoid being seen? I spotted an old SH3 thread on this subject, but not sure if the information still applies. For the record, I use TDW's UI with real navigation and full realism besides no external view and no periscope stabilization.

[misha1967]

Not sure if there are any rules of thumb as it depends heavily on the weather, but one rule that works is "if you have just gotten close enough that you can see THEM, then they can't see YOU" (until the advent of radar, of course, at which point you should start filling in your next-of-kin paperwork if you haven't already ).

Practical uses of this would be to do a quick distance estimate when you first see the target, then make a note of that distance. Keep outside of or just inside of that radius and you won't be seen while you maneuver into position.

Hope this helps.

[stashy]

That's great advice, thank you!

[finchOU]

Remember that YOUR AOB to the target...aka how much aspect you show him...aka ..how much of your sub you expose is a factor too (in think anyway)..... if you are ever worried about being seen...the first step is to go nose on or tail on the target to "get skinny" and make it harder to see you. Calm seas are Bad!! excessive speed...is bad...as you would have a bigger bow wave. moon between you and the target is bad. ...now to anwser your question....I dont know how much of these factors are incorporated into SH5....looking at the date cfg file might be a start.......

from SH5/data/ctg/sensors.....visual..

Visual range factor=0.30 ;[>=0] was 0.5, decreased by 25%
Visual fog factor=0.75 ;[>=0]
Visual light factor=1 ;[>=0]
Visual waves factor=0.65 ;[>=0] was 0.8, decreased by 25%
Visual speed factor=0 ;[>=0]
Visual aspect=0.9 ;[>=0]
Visual enemy speed=0.2 ;[>=0]
Visual noise factor=0 ;[>=0]
Visual sensor height factor=0.5 ;[>=0]
Visual already tracking modifier=600 ;[detection probability modifier], most accurate, once a contact is detected it will lose it very hard
Visual decay time=250 ;[>0] already tracking bonus decay, in seconds
Visual uses crew efficiency=false ;[true or false]

So.....light is the biggest factor .....followed by aspec, fog, waves, range, then enemy speed..... I think this is for both friendly and enemy AI. currious that speed factor is 0.