100% Realism n00b

[Nico09]

As the title says! I have pld SH3 & 4 and now 5 but this is the first time i have played it at 100% realism. I have always played on 76 or 79% with contacts on and ltd fuel off, ohh and outside cam as i do like eye candy.

The problem, how the hell do i plot a course of a contact with the tools and tool helper? i know how to use the tools bu the tool helper is totall confusing me as it seems to be upside down .

For instance i have a contact on a bearing of 20 degrees, from the periscope and i know its roughly 1500m away as i have id'd the ship and got the distance from the stad (not that that works very well ). Anyway I click the tool helper then the ruler, i then get lost, infact i get very lost. I have looked at a video and a thread on how to use the tools (which was very well done).

Anyway i have just finished a very long night shift and am going to my bed. Any help with using the tool helper would be much appreciated.


Nico

**Edit** Just read http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=167028&highlight=100%25+realism . I may turn contacts back on, although i am a tad dissapointed . Anyone tell me if 100% realism is playbale in SH4?

[looney]

The upside down thingy is actually very handy. If you want to draw a line on a 20° heading you click then draw upwards and place the line acording to the 20°mark and voila. It takes a bit of getting used to but is very handy.

[DVAFP]

take a look at this post:

http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/show...aring+tool+guf

by the way, something i will try to put into practice next time i play:


http://nefelodamon.blip.tv/

[Onkel Neal]

It's difficult, and tricky. You cannot ever plot all the contacts of a convoy, and even if you focus on one or two targets, you cannot plot with 100% accuracy. Imagine if you are the skipper of a U-boat, at periscope depth, getting short, 15 second glimpses of the surface. The way I do it, when I first make visual contact, I get a general bearing and range, then drop the scope, and plot them manually on the chart. When I get another bearing and range, another plot. After 4 ~6 plots, I have a pretty good idea where the targets are, where they are headed, and their spatial relationship to my sub. I use this info the make course changes to intercept. Then as I get into 3000m range I focus on getting a solution for shooting. Do I misjudge and get out of position, and lose shooting opportunities? Frequently. That's part of the game, for me.

Do I want or need to see every ship plotted and updated in real time? No. Even with a full crew to aid a captain in real life, I don't think there was someone calling off the info on 20 ships and someone else drawing little squares and updating every 5 seconds

[kylania]

Originally Posted by Neal Stevens

Then as I get into 3000m range I focus on getting a solution for shooting. Do I misjudge and get out of position, and lose shooting opportunities? Frequently. That's part of the game, for me.

I had an epphiany this morning driving into work. I looked in my rear view mirror and saw some jerk flying up behind me. I quickly estimated from sight alone how close he'd be to me before we entered into a tight curve in the road up ahead. Then I realized, hey!! If I could do this I bet it's the same thing that u-boat captains did as they closed in on a convoy. It doesn't matter if everything is perfect to the meter, just that you have a feel for what--at that point the jerk flew past me, cutting me off just before the curve, but it was still a cool realization.

[DVAFP]

thats more or less the way i do it too, i look at the target, and with the ruler i take advantage of the ship's position an speed apearing on the mini-map when you hover the cursor over it, although i dont really want to do it that way. I hope they remove that with the patch, whats the point of having no contacts on the map when it shows up when you hover the cursor on the map.

I have the more realistic periscope mod which should help get the range without the stadimeter (which doesnt work) and i should be calculating its speed by marking its position twice and calculating distance travelled/time passed between 2 marks. its still difficult for me to do it fast enought when the ships are already close but thats what i intend on improving on my game.

[Nico09]

Cheers neal, i just Don't understand how to use the tool helper, why is 180 at the top? :-S

[kylania]

Originally Posted by Nico09

Cheers neal, i just Don't understand how to use the tool helper, why is 180 at the top? :-S

Did you see the link that was posted above? It's to my Map Tools tutorial that shows how it works.

Check out this image and notice how the 180 at the top tool is plotting a line to describe a true course:




If you start a line and drag it down you'll cross the 180 mark, meaning it's a line heading 180 degrees. If you start a line and drag it to the right it'll cross the 90 degree mark showing it's a easterly course. If you drag it straight up it'll cross the upside down 0, showing the course is 0 degrees.

[Nico09]

Originally Posted by kylania

Did you see the link that was posted above? It's to my Map Tools tutorial that shows how it works.

Check out this image and notice how the 180 at the top tool is plotting a line to describe a true course:




If you start a line and drag it down you'll cross the 180 mark, meaning it's a line heading 180 degrees. If you start a line and drag it to the right it'll cross the 90 degree mark showing it's a easterly course. If you drag it straight up it'll cross the upside down 0, showing the course is 0 degrees.

Cheers for the link kylania. i missed it as im viewing the site on my mobile. i'll have a look at the link. :-)

[Onkel Neal]

Originally Posted by DVAFP

thats more or less the way i do it too, i look at the target, and with the ruler i take advantage of the ship's position an speed apearing on the mini-map when you hover the cursor over it, although i dont really want to do it that way. I hope they remove that with the patch, whats the point of having no contacts on the map when it shows up when you hover the cursor on the map.

I have the more realistic periscope mod which should help get the range without the stadimeter (which doesnt work) and i should be calculating its speed by marking its position twice and calculating distance travelled/time passed between 2 marks. its still difficult for me to do it fast enought when the ships are already close but thats what i intend on improving on my game.

Yeah, speed is a tough one. Imagine doing this in real life, while all the time you know there are a hundred eyes searching the waves for your scope. I try to take three marks and measure and do the math for speed, just to get in the ball park. As long as I can get within 1200m, being 80% accurate usually produces hits.

Not sure what you mean about "i take advantage of the ship's position an speed apearing on the mini-map when you hover the cursor over it, "

How does the ship's position appear on the tactical map with Map contacts OFF? And how does the stadimeter not work? I'm not seeing a major problem with it.

Originally Posted by kylania

I had an epphiany this morning driving into work. I looked in my rear view mirror and saw some jerk flying up behind me. I quickly estimated from sight alone how close he'd be to me before we entered into a tight curve in the road up ahead. Then I realized, hey!! If I could do this I bet it's the same thing that u-boat captains did as they closed in on a convoy. It doesn't matter if everything is perfect to the meter, just that you have a feel for what--at that point the jerk flew past me, cutting me off just before the curve, but it was still a cool realization.

Exactly! It's all about getting a feel for the situation through observation and not watching an arcade display on a real time gods-eye map.

[DVAFP]

in TAI if you hover the cursor over the targets position a little black box will appear telling you if its a merchant or a warship and its speed, cant remember if the heading also shows up, ill post a screenshot

[Drewcifer]

ya Neal what he is speaking about is at 100% realism if you are DEAD on with your plots, if you put the mouse at the exact point the ship is at on the map a box pops up telling you the ship, ie. Merchant 6kts bearing 183, this works on EVERY ship i've encountered as long as your initial plot is DEAD on and by DEAD I mean your mark is LITERALLY ontop of the ship in question then when you put the mouse over it cheat sheet pops right up.. I have avoided this nasty little window by being very careful not to drag my mouse all the way to the end of my plots.... hence I have to guess range a little shorter while i'm writing it all up but I correct it right before firing.

Sorry for the horrible sentence structure and just mash of words.

[Onkel Neal]

I'll be, did not know that. Ok, that's a bug I do not like

I was going to remark, with the new cone that represents the direction you are looking, it is easier to naturally get a bearing on your target.

[DVAFP]

[Nico09]

DVAFP, I have just watched the link >> http://nefelodamon.blip.tv/ <<. Brilliant, exceptional vid.

Not hat i could do it, too many lines for me :P