I need a manual... - Page 2

VirtualVikingX · 03-02-10, 05:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by VirtualVikingX

The supplied manual is not very informative. So maybe somebody can help me with these questions:
- 1. How do i use the stadimeter properly? I am very unsure now, as I have no info on its use in SH5.
- 2. I am sure I saw something about mast height somewhere (manual targeting). Am I dreaming? And if its there - where did I see it?

Are anybody able to answer my questions - or maybe some guidedance/thoughts?

Thanks in advance.

Bilge_Rat · 03-02-10, 06:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ddrgn

The real questions is where to take the range readings from when using the stadimeter, from the tip of the mast, the funnels, or the bridge roof?

So far bridge roofs have worked well for me.

I have the same problem, I get inconsistent readings no matter where I read, top of highest map seems to work the best so far.

It would be nice if one of the Devs would supply an answer. As much as this is designed for casual gamers, it would be nice if they supplied us with some basic info about basic gameplay fundementals.....

Safe-Keeper · 03-02-10, 07:15 AM

Quote:

War in the Pacific - Admiral's Edition manual:

http://www.matrixgames.com/forums/fb.asp?m=2211995

See it and weep, 330 Pages!

Falcon 4.0 Allied Force has an impressive manual, too. It's only in .pdf format, while the printed one is pretty short, but it's there, with information everything from the necessary to the redundant. 716 pages long, 17.7 MB in size. This comes in addition to goodies such as keyboard layouts for 14 keyboard types and nationalities, a quick reference card, a line-up sheet that you can print to jot down mission data, addenda, and a map of the Korean theatre. All in all, documentation conists of a staggering 26 documents.

Then again, this is strictly not a valid comparison because WitP and F4AF are, unlike SH5, simulators

.

Quote:

LOLZ! i wanna see you wipe yer ass with a PDF file...

That was my first thought, too.

brandtryan · 03-02-10, 07:29 AM

I think the new version of Adobe Acrobat has a print to toilet paper option. You can try that.

sergei · 03-02-10, 07:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by brandtryan

I think the new version of Adobe Acrobat has a print to toilet paper option. You can try that.

Yep, that about sums it up.

VirtualVikingX · 03-02-10, 07:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bilge_Rat

I have the same problem, I get inconsistent readings no matter where I read, top of highest map seems to work the best so far.

It would be nice if one of the Devs would supply an answer. As much as this is designed for casual gamers, it would be nice if they supplied us with some basic info about basic gameplay fundementals.....

I think I do not know how a stadimeter is supposed to work. I thought i was giving the range when you had ONE image. This has to be wrong. So what is the PRINCIPLE?

brandtryan · 03-02-10, 07:37 AM

sorry I can't remember which thread--but someone figured it out. IIRC, there is a black line at the bottom of the mirror image. Place this black line on the tip of the highest mast of the actual ship. According to the user, this gives very accurate range.

VirtualVikingX · 03-02-10, 07:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by brandtryan

sorry I can't remember which thread--but someone figured it out. IIRC, there is a black line at the bottom of the mirror image. Place this black line on the tip of the highest mast of the actual ship. According to the user, this gives very accurate range.

Ah. So the principle is to JUST and/or EXACTLY see two images? With now space in between?

How did it work in RL?

brandtryan · 03-02-10, 07:59 AM

yes, that is how it worked IRL. The idea though, is not necesserily have "no space" in between the two images. You simply place the mirror image ABOVE the actual ship, so that the water line--where the keel touches the water, of the mirror image, is resting on the tip of the highest mast of the actual ship. Apparently with SHV, they have provided a black line that designates the waterline of the mirror image, which makes it a bit easier. You DO NOT try to "overlay" the image over the actual ship. So it should look like this:

5 (mirror image)
5 (actual ship)

Where the line between the two fives is the waterline of the mirror image placed on the tip of the highest mast of the actual ship.

VirtualVikingX · 03-02-10, 08:06 AM

Thanks! ("Slow" day at work - I have to admit....!)

This really should be covered in the manual!

GDFTigerTank · 03-02-10, 08:07 AM

That is how it worked in real life.
The Stadtmeter uses simple right angle geometry and ratios to find the distance.

***WARNING: MATH!***

Knowing the height of the ship's mast and the angle from your periscope at which that image hits the top of the mast sets up an equation using the tangent of the angle.

Basic Right Triangle Equation:
tangent(angle)= opposite length (height) /adjacent length (distance)

How Equation Applies here
tangent (periscope image angle) = height of ship's mast / range to target

Since you know the first two of the three values in the equation, you can then of course solve for the third - Range to Target.

And as brandtryan stated below you do not have to or WANT to put the image exactly on the of the mast. Depending how fast you are in creating your firing solution and especially if your target is say - a destroyer bearing down on you at 40 knots

, you can use the stadtmeter to aim ahead of him so that he doesn't outrun your plot. Rather he may very well run INTO it.

Likewise for a target like a carrier desperately running away from you at flank, you might dip the Stadtmeter image slightly on top of the real image to make up for the fact that by the time you plot the full solution he could be farther away than when you took the Stadtmeter reading.

The leading with the Stadtmeter is most important when you have to shoot fast with only 1 or 2 readings and perhaps only a best guess at the speed of a target before you engage.

The whole reason that you should normally take 3 or 4 stadtmeter readings ( or more) before firing is so that inconsistencies in any single single reading will be mitigated in the plot of your final solution as more data is entered into the calculation. Getting the speed and AOB right too is of course just as critical.

VirtualVikingX · 03-02-10, 08:18 AM

Ah. It was the mast height that puzled me. I did not know that the game "knows" the mast height! I could not understand how the stadimenter worked with just one value out of three.

I understand how it works if you have 2 out of 3 values. THANKS!

Jander · 03-02-10, 08:20 AM

The game "knows" the mast height from the identification book where you have to select the ship type prior to using the stadimeter.

GDFTigerTank · 03-02-10, 08:29 AM

This is why correctly identifying the class of the target is so important. Wrong ship class = wrong mast height
Wrong mast height = wrong equation
wrong equation = "WTF happened to my torps! That plot was perfect!

"

Yes the plot was perfect - had the target been the ship you thought it was

Also - can someone please remind me... I have not played Silent Hunter IV for about 6 months now... it's - KNTS = distance in 3 minute right?
ex. ship traveling 500 meters in 1 minute = 15 knts?

Bilge_Rat · 03-02-10, 08:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GDFTigerTank

Also - can someone please remind me... I have not played Silent Hunter IV for about 6 months now... it's - KNTS = distance in 3 minute right?
ex. ship traveling 500 meters in 1 minute = 15 knts?

everyone has a different method, for example where possible I would track the ship for 3 minutes, measure the distance traveled on the map and the first two digits would give you the speed in knot.

i.e. a ship moving 10 knots will cover 10 nautical miles or 20,000 yds in one hour (1 nautical mile=2,000 yds), in 3 minutes it will cover 1000 yds. If you drop the last 2 zeros you get the speed in knots per hour = 10

now I am going to have to figure it out in metric...

03-02-10, 07:29 AM	#19
brandtryan Engineer Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Indianapolis, United States Posts: 214 Downloads: 122 Uploads: 0	I think the new version of Adobe Acrobat has a print to toilet paper option. You can try that. __________________ from Brandt

03-02-10, 07:37 AM	#22
brandtryan Engineer Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Indianapolis, United States Posts: 214 Downloads: 122 Uploads: 0	sorry I can't remember which thread--but someone figured it out. IIRC, there is a black line at the bottom of the mirror image. Place this black line on the tip of the highest mast of the actual ship. According to the user, this gives very accurate range. __________________ from Brandt

03-02-10, 07:59 AM	#24
brandtryan Engineer Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Indianapolis, United States Posts: 214 Downloads: 122 Uploads: 0	yes, that is how it worked IRL. The idea though, is not necesserily have "no space" in between the two images. You simply place the mirror image ABOVE the actual ship, so that the water line--where the keel touches the water, of the mirror image, is resting on the tip of the highest mast of the actual ship. Apparently with SHV, they have provided a black line that designates the waterline of the mirror image, which makes it a bit easier. You DO NOT try to "overlay" the image over the actual ship. So it should look like this: 5 (mirror image) 5 (actual ship) Where the line between the two fives is the waterline of the mirror image placed on the tip of the highest mast of the actual ship. __________________ from Brandt

03-02-10, 08:07 AM	#26
GDFTigerTank Machinist's Mate Join Date: Apr 2009 Posts: 121 Downloads: 44 Uploads: 0	That is how it worked in real life. The Stadtmeter uses simple right angle geometry and ratios to find the distance. *WARNING: MATH!* Knowing the height of the ship's mast and the angle from your periscope at which that image hits the top of the mast sets up an equation using the tangent of the angle. Basic Right Triangle Equation: tangent(angle)= opposite length (height) /adjacent length (distance) How Equation Applies here tangent (periscope image angle) = height of ship's mast / range to target Since you know the first two of the three values in the equation, you can then of course solve for the third - Range to Target. And as brandtryan stated below you do not have to or WANT to put the image exactly on the of the mast. Depending how fast you are in creating your firing solution and especially if your target is say - a destroyer bearing down on you at 40 knots , you can use the stadtmeter to aim ahead of him so that he doesn't outrun your plot. Rather he may very well run INTO it. Likewise for a target like a carrier desperately running away from you at flank, you might dip the Stadtmeter image slightly on top of the real image to make up for the fact that by the time you plot the full solution he could be farther away than when you took the Stadtmeter reading. The leading with the Stadtmeter is most important when you have to shoot fast with only 1 or 2 readings and perhaps only a best guess at the speed of a target before you engage. The whole reason that you should normally take 3 or 4 stadtmeter readings ( or more) before firing is so that inconsistencies in any single single reading will be mitigated in the plot of your final solution as more data is entered into the calculation. Getting the speed and AOB right too is of course just as critical. Last edited by GDFTigerTank; 03-02-10 at 08:31 AM.

03-02-10, 08:20 AM	#28
Jander Sailor man Join Date: May 2005 Location: Gleisdorf, Styria, Austria, Europe, Earth Posts: 48 Downloads: 136 Uploads: 1	The game "knows" the mast height from the identification book where you have to select the ship type prior to using the stadimeter. __________________ long-time-reader, seldom-poster

03-02-10, 08:06 AM	#25
VirtualVikingX Captain Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Bergen, Norway Posts: 262 Downloads: 40 Uploads: 0	Thanks! ("Slow" day at work - I have to admit....!) This really should be covered in the manual!

03-02-10, 08:18 AM	#27
VirtualVikingX Captain Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Bergen, Norway Posts: 262 Downloads: 40 Uploads: 0	Ah. It was the mast height that puzled me. I did not know that the game "knows" the mast height! I could not understand how the stadimenter worked with just one value out of three. I understand how it works if you have 2 out of 3 values. THANKS!

03-02-10, 08:29 AM	#29
GDFTigerTank Machinist's Mate Join Date: Apr 2009 Posts: 121 Downloads: 44 Uploads: 0	This is why correctly identifying the class of the target is so important. Wrong ship class = wrong mast height Wrong mast height = wrong equation wrong equation = "WTF happened to my torps! That plot was perfect! " Yes the plot was perfect - had the target been the ship you thought it was Also - can someone please remind me... I have not played Silent Hunter IV for about 6 months now... it's - KNTS = distance in 3 minute right? ex. ship traveling 500 meters in 1 minute = 15 knts?