Trevally Tutorials...a few questions

[kevinsue]

First of all, Thanks for the great tutorials. They are an invaluable aid to newcomers like me

I have practiced the "Four Bearings Tutorial" a couple of times (100% realism, real nav etc) and then used the Four Bearings mission to continue consolidating the training. I am using the exact timing and time intervals as the tutorial, but each time I do it, the bearings, range and speed are slightly different although the target still has the same general direction. This has resulted in some very quick fixes to "battle plans last only until the battle starts".

First question is...are random values used in the mission parameters or is my sonar guy giving me "near enough is good enough" bearings?

Second question...are the sunrise/sunset times messed up in the single missions as it's daylight at 23:00 Nautical (-1 GMT) or is it a function of being +50 degrees North?

Third question...is there a mod available for the Captains handgun like in "Das Boot" so you can shoot those crew that have to fart, cough, talk, yell or shuffle their feet while you are at the hydrophone trying to null sounds to get the mid point for a long range contact bearing or trying to count prop RPM's!

Thanks again to all those people that put in the hard yards for our enjoyment. The more you learn the more enjoyable this game is. Since doing the Manual TDC and RAOBF tutorials, I've managed to pull off some real satisfying shots like 60degrees off boresight, 6000 meters and narrow AOB!( a running gunfight at flank speed with a burning tanker doing evasive manoeuvres at sunset with good music on the gramophone gets the old blood pumping!!)

[Trevally.]

Originally Posted by kevinsue

First of all, Thanks for the great tutorials. They are an invaluable aid to newcomers like me

I have practiced the "Four Bearings Tutorial" a couple of times (100% realism, real nav etc) and then used the Four Bearings mission to continue consolidating the training. I am using the exact timing and time intervals as the tutorial, but each time I do it, the bearings, range and speed are slightly different although the target still has the same general direction. This has resulted in some very quick fixes to "battle plans last only until the battle starts".

First question is...are random values used in the mission parameters or is my sonar guy giving me "near enough is good enough" bearings?

Hi Kevinsue and thanks
The mission used with or without the tutorial will be the same every time im afraid. Try getting zoomed in as close as you can when you make the bearing line and ensure that they run through the "x"

Second question...are the sunrise/sunset times messed up in the single missions as it's daylight at 23:00 Nautical (-1 GMT) or is it a function of being +50 degrees North?

There is a time bug in single missions that does not show up in campaign. Since making the tutorials - I have found out how to fix them, but as it is only a small issue - I have not.

If you want to fix it yourself - let me know and I can post a step by step guide

Third question...is there a mod available for the Captains handgun like in "Das Boot" so you can shoot those crew that have to fart, cough, talk, yell or shuffle their feet while you are at the hydrophone trying to null sounds to get the mid point for a long range contact bearing or trying to count prop RPM's!

Im sure the TDW has added a non-flatulence patch to his patcher

Thanks again to all those people that put in the hard yards for our enjoyment. The more you learn the more enjoyable this game is. Since doing the Manual TDC and RAOBF tutorials, I've managed to pull off some real satisfying shots like 60degrees off boresight, 6000 meters and narrow AOB!( a running gunfight at flank speed with a burning tanker doing evasive manoeuvres at sunset with good music on the gramophone gets the old blood pumping!!)

Sink em all

[divingbluefrog]

Originally Posted by Trevally.

There is a time bug in single missions that does not show up in campaign. Since making the tutorials - I have found out how to fix them, but as it is only a small issue - I have not.

If you want to fix it yourself - let me know and I can post a step by step guide

I notice this bug too, and I'm curious to see your solution, if it's not too heavy for this thread, perhaps could you post it here?

@kevinsue : I'm a great fan of the 4 bearings method too. Do you practice the standby method, i.e. with your first 3 tracing at 0 speed, or the dynamic method? The later is a little bit more precise than the former, and especially more realistic, but don't expect to find the heading of your target at the minute right.
When courses and relative speed are the most favorable, you will find the heading at 2-3°, distance is very much more precise : a few hundred meters.

[kevinsue]

G'day and Thanks Trevally,

I was kind of hoping that the values were random...means I need to go back to the tutorials and see where I'm going wrong. Do you recommend using the hydro yourself or the sound guy's bearings will suffice?

The time issue is no worries, I was just curious as I would like to try celestial navigation at some stage. I did a celestial nav course way back in the early eighties but I can hardly remember the basics now.

I've followed a few links on this subject by various modders but they seem to die out before anything is properly resolved. I searched the town trying to buy star maps the other day as the links for high resolution map bmp's are dead, and the response was..."you do know there is such a thing as GPS nowadays!"

[Trevally.]

Originally Posted by divingbluefrog

I notice this bug too, and I'm curious to see your solution, if it's not too heavy for this thread, perhaps could you post it here?

Sure - it is a simple fix

Open the SM .misge file with notepad - I am showing the 4bearings one
At the very top you will see the mission per


[Mission]
IsVisible=true
MissionType=0
MissionDataType=0
MultiMissionType=0
IsTutorial=false
Year=1942 <<<<<<<<<<here is what you have set the date and time as in the mission build
Month=12
Day=1
Hour=8
Minute=0
CurrentYear=1940 <<<<<<<Here is the bug
CurrentMonth=1
CurrentDay=1
CurrentHour=0
CurrentMinute=0
GroupMissionStartDelay=0
IconIndex=0
Fog=0
FogRand=0
Clouds=1
CloudsRand=0
Precip=1
PrecipRand=0
WindHeading=0
WindSpeed=5.000000
WindRand=0
WeatherRndInterval=5
SeaType=0
ActivationAchievements=


To fix - edit the bug part to match your mission date and time

CurrentYear=1942
CurrentMonth=12
CurrentDay=1
CurrentHour=8
CurrentMinute=0


Note: this is also the start point for all timming within the game. Where you set a trigger by time/date - the vaule is based in seconds or mins from this time and date. Defualt value for missions and campaign layers is 1940/01/01 00:00

[kevinsue]

Hello Divingbluefrog,

@kevinsue : I'm a great fan of the 4 bearings method too. Do you practice the standby method, i.e. with your first 3 tracing at 0 speed, or the dynamic method? The later is a little bit more precise than the former, and especially more realistic, but don't expect to find the heading of your target at the minute right.
When courses and relative speed are the most favorable, you will find the heading at 2-3°, distance is very much more precise : a few hundred meters.

Haven't tried the dynamic version of 4 bearings (first time I've heard of it). Is there a tutorial for this method? I use a lot of dynamic shooting at flank speed when I mess up my 4 bearings quick 90 degree setup! Mad spinning of the RAOBF getting solutions while the target is zigzagging and running. Sometimes I've taken an hour or more to run them down if I've been spotted or the watch has seen the torpedo wake and they manage to evade it.

[divingbluefrog]

Well, I've an old 4bearingsMethod.pdf file from the time of SHIII, but I'm absolutely unable to say where I got it.
Look in both forums, I'm sure you will find a tutorial about this.