Stupid questions about ... what I have read and studied.

[zma]

Every sonar array has four trackers, labeled A to D in sphere array, E to H in hull array and I to L in TA. The trackers have the job of following the contact and sending bearing updates to TMA, and do not require autocrew to work. If you have assigned a tracker to a contact, but do not see new bearing lines appearing in TMA every two minutes, the contact must have moved to your sonar array's baffles. That's the only explanation I can think of. Unless, of course, you have paused the simulation...

The purpose of the course change is to significantly change the own ship's contribution to the bearing rate. What kschang said about crossing the contact's bearing is an effective way of doing this; in any case, you should change your course by at least 30 degrees. Reading tip: TimmyG00's TACMAN contains an excellent guide to TMA. If you haven't got it already, download it from http://www.subguru.com/downloads.html.

How long have I been doing this? Hmmm, when did I buy 688(I) Hunter/Killer? '98? '99? (There have been breaks in between, though )Anyway, I don't recall ever completely relying on autocrew, apart from TMA. I have used autocrew occasionally on sonar, if for example there were surface ships using active sonar and I couldn't be bothered to man the active intecept all the time (this in SC, DW of course has separate active intercept autocrew). Even then, I tried to be sure autocrew wouldn't detect any contacts I had missed.

By the way, I'm sorry if it seems I'm spelling stuff out to you. I just don't want there to be any misunderstandings.

[ReubenJames]

Zema,
You have been very very helpful like many others on this forum. This is a nice and knowledgeable forum.

[zma]

Originally Posted by ReubenJames

Zema,

Hey, what is the extra "e" for?

[ReubenJames]

Alright seamen, here comes my results. With TMA switched to auto, it makes a hell of difference. Every dot, which now I understand, sits tight on the vertical line of the "T" bar at the upper left of the TMA screen.

I also get more familiar with the operation now. To report a contact, I just click (i.e. "mark") either on the NB or the BB displays. If I encounter an Active emmitting sonar source, mostly from surface vessels, I just "mark" by drifting the triangular pointer to the direction vectored by the display. Whcihever way, a dot will be put on to the "T" bar to represent my reporting. It is not done automatically, I have to manually perform this procedure.

The more reporting of the contact I make, the more accurate the speed is as indicated by the TMA instrument. Thanks to many of you, I now get to the method of classifyig the contact and use the TPK. I suppose the TPK is the number of revolutions the bladers have been through per 1 nautical miles of trip.

I wish there would be a co-op, whereby human players can do at each station. For instance, I manage the sonar, zma manages the TMA, Kaptian gets to the weapons...etc. That would be great fun.

Anyway, I still have 1 big question for discussions here. Probably a bad habit inherited from playing flight simulation over the years. See, the speed of aircrafts is several hundred times that of a boat. So when I go creating a mission, this bad habit makes me placing units 10~20nm away. It takes ages to get to each other.

Q1: What separation do you use normally when you create a mission?

Q2: What is the fundamental technique to look for possible contact? Right now, I make turns in steps of 45 degree at roughly 5 knots. Is that a good method? I can't think of anything otherwise. Would you suggest some other methods?

[Zerogreat]

Originally Posted by ReubenJames

I wish there would be a co-op, whereby human players can do at each station. For instance, I manage the sonar, zma manages the TMA, Kaptian gets to the weapons...etc. That would be great fun.

Well i have some good news for you then, this IS possible in DW

[ReubenJames]

Oh Zerogreat, my dear fellow,

You know I do believe it is COOL.

[Fish]

Originally Posted by ReubenJames

Q1: What separation do you use normally when you create a mission?

For multiplayer maps, between 10 and 20 nm depends on the bottom type, SSP.

Q2: What is the fundamental technique to look for possible contact? Right now, I make turns in steps of 45 degree at roughly 5 knots. Is that a good method? I can't think of anything otherwise. Would you suggest some other methods?

When not finding anything with the TA straight I turn just enough to cover the TA's blind spot.
When you want to make a big turn (90 degrees), wind your TA, and stream it when on new course. Your TA is straight in less time.

[ReubenJames]

Absolutely awesome, the more I play DW, the more I find it so. I think I have to put aside for the time being SC. Actually, I bought SC just 10 days before I bought DW. Anyway, the ME (Mission Editor is such a great invention.

I just find there is something called "Random Start Box". See, I have been doing this tracking business. So I need to generate mission which places enemy boat randomly so I don't know which one is everytime and where it is. Thanks also to Random Group.

After almost 3 exercises, I managed to track down one. I also managed to fire upon it but the loud explosion was mis-interpreted as hitting the hull. It was the counter measure. But at least I tracked it in the right direction. It was so quiet, the Typhoon. I think I was luck only.

[SeaQueen]

Originally Posted by ReubenJames

Q1: What separation do you use normally when you create a mission?

Depends on the scenario. If I want to do something quick I start with both sides within sensor range. The Mission Editor has an overlay that allows one to see the maximum sensor ranges.

That doesn't really teach one much, though. A lot of naval warfare is just FINDING the enemy. Usually, I ask myself "What is everyone trying to do?" and build from there. I usually also take advantage of dynamic locations and dynamic groups so that I can have some surprises.

Q2: What is the fundamental technique to look for possible contact? Right now, I make turns in steps of 45 degree at roughly 5 knots. Is that a good method? I can't think of anything otherwise. Would you suggest some other methods?

That's actually a deep question. It really depends a lot on what you're trying to do. Optimum employment of sensors is heavy stuff. A mathematician during World War Two named Koopman wrote a book about it called Search and Screening. He was trying to find German U-Boats. It's good stuff, but not simple.

How I'd employ my sensors in a transit scenario, is very different from how I'd do it in a barrier search, or for area clearence. It might also depend on things like how fast I needed to go, what I needed to defend against, and what else was working with me. It might also depend on how much I wanted to frustrate the enemy's ability to find me. It might also depend on the SSP and bottom type.

For a fast transit scenario, for example I might not NEED to see very far, because just by kinematics, only submarines within a limited angle are dangerous or alternately I might sprint and drift. Sprinting a period of time to maintain a certain average speed of advance while being nearly blind, then drifting a period to ping or listen.

A good scenario will force one to make compromises. That's what makes it interesting. If there was a clear answer regarding what to do, the game would be a whole lot less fun.

[ReubenJames]

Thanks SeaQueen. The Dynamic Group is very good. But the Random Start Box is even cleverer. With both mechanism, I can make a 1 Vs 1 start with the enemy at different location each time.

What is the SSP and Bottom Type? How does it affect my searching effort?

Looks like that it's all a game of searching.

[SeaQueen]

Originally Posted by ReubenJames

What is the SSP and Bottom Type? How does it affect my searching effort?

Looks like that it's all a game of searching.

SSP is sound speed profile. If you're searching with sonar, it determines how the sound waves travel through the water, and so it impacts your sonar's range. If the SSP favors it, and the water depth allows for it, you might get a convergence zone and maybe detect some targets from 30Nmi or more away. If the acoustics favor it, your sonar performace is will be far better than your radar performance, and potentially yield more information.

On the other hand, though, in a bottom limited environment, though, you might only get 2Nmi.

Bottom type is whether the bottom is rock, sand or mud. That also effects sonar performance. If you can get a good bottom bounce, then the fact that the SSP is bottom limited, might not be so bad. You might get 10Nmi or so of effective range.

Another thing is sea state. If you have a windy day with big waves, then you'll get lots of noise near the surface. That makes a big difference in your sonar performance too. On the other hand, if you have a towed array, you might be able to minimize that by towing it at a depth below the noise (just don't drag it on the bottom).

One should not overemphasize sonar. You have other sensors too, which frequently have longer ranges than that (ESM and radar), but sonar is probably the most complicated of all of them in the game.

And yeah, an awful lot of this game is either searching for the enemy or complicating the enemy's search efforts. Whether you get hit with pair of torpedos, a salvo of cruise missiles, a barrage of cannon fire, or a suicide boat, the person who strikes first will almost always be utterly devastating to his adversary. The only way to win consistently is to find and identify your target before he can make a strike at you, because if he plays well, you won't get to shoot again. You'll be out of action shortly after he opens fire.

[ReubenJames]

Thanks SeaQeen.

ESM and Radar are very effective. Troubles are they can't be used beneath the surface.

About the SSP, it is indeed, very complicated. That's why I admire Sonalyst's work. Layers modelling is such a complex thing.

I have a wishful thinking about the "Bottom Type". If there are mountains, meaning more landscpae as the Bottom Type. With that, evading torpedoes is such great fun.

[Bellman]

Reuben - If you like using the topography I have sent some scenarios to Bill. They are mostly set
around islands and seamounts so you get that weaving, dodging 'hide and seek' fun play.

Designed for MP - most of them can be played SP but no AI can imitate the human 'Crafty Dodger'

Plug over.

[JamesT73J]

Originally Posted by Bellman

Reuben - If you like using the topography I have sent some scenarios to Bill. They are mostly set
around islands and seamounts so you get that weaving, dodging 'hide and seek' fun play.

Designed for MP - most of them can be played SP but no AI can imitate the human 'Crafty Dodger'

Plug over.

Plug away. The more the merrier.

[ReubenJames]

Originally Posted by Bellman

Reuben - If you like using the topography I have sent some scenarios to Bill. They are mostly set
around islands and seamounts so you get that weaving, dodging 'hide and seek' fun play.

Designed for MP - most of them can be played SP but no AI can imitate the human 'Crafty Dodger'

Plug over.

Can you send me a copy of your mission file? Or tell me the lat and long so I can create one myself.

Would you also give me the link to Hyperlobby. I would like to plug in.