Anyone here play with no autocrew at all?

[RedMenace]

I've been attempting to, but so far it hasn't proved very succsesful/

Anyone any good without any autocrew at all?

[goldorak]

Originally Posted by RedMenace

I've been attempting to, but so far it hasn't proved very succsesful/

Anyone any good without any autocrew at all?

You can play with only the tma autocrew.
Once you become proficient with tma (no small feat ) you'll have no problem playing with all the stations on manual.

[ASWnut101]

yeah, i use absolutaly no auto crew execpt for TMA, and thats only when i've got other things to do (ie. prepare torpedoes, evade torpedoes, get to masts, ect.)

the rest of the autocrews are either usually too good or too bad. you'll never learn anything if you use autocrew 100%!

the first autocrew to go should be your torpedo control. They ALWAYS miss.

[Molon Labe]

In subs, I usually only play with active intercept autocrew. I hate wasting my time manually marking every damn ping.

In the other platforms, I'll use ESM autocrew for the same reason.

[Palindromeria]

I use absolutely no autocrew in missions where there are only a a handful of contacts. In this situation i really find it very enjoyable.
But
Missions with many contacts it just gives me a headache and i feel like im "at the salt mine".

a good way to learn how to play with no autocrew is to create a small mission for yourself with just one enemy set on a "random box". Start close enough so youre not overconcerned about locating it. Since you will know what type of enemy and what speed its set to , this help you get comfortable at NB id , demon station, and TMA station. (by reversing learning process)
once youve reached that comfort level set up a dymanic group to generate 1 of 20 different subs at various speeds so you have to ID and demon them correctly.

as you improve, edit the dymanic group to randomly generate between 2 and 5 enemies to increase the complexity level.

One of the things i used to do in the single enemy scenario, was as soon as i fired my 1 torp i would quick turn truth on so that i could see just how accurate / inaccurate my tma was. just for the purpose of judging myself. i would then turn it back off (regardless of perceived accuracy) and see if it hit. if i missed i likely have to look for an incoming shot and track/tma it then assuming i survive, set up another shot and again fire only once.

Theres a feeling of satisfaction that comes with using no autocrew.
personally i find it extends to the tracking of incoming torps.
I find that leaving active intercept OFF makes me more cautious , more likely to stalk the enemy and try to set up the perfect shot because i have a lot more to do if it returns fire.

i find it just as satisfying to have tracked / TMA'd a torp and suddenly realized "OMG its actually gonna hit me" and just barely get it with a cm, as i do getting the tma right on an enemy and sinking it.

theres a lot of different ways to enjoy the game.
no single one of them is "the right way"

enjoy as you see fit

[Chief Thud]

I play with no Autocrew but really only play in multi-station mode with 2 to 3 others. Since the responsibilities are spread out it is very Autocrew-like I suppose.

[OKO]

Hi all !

Originally Posted by Molon Labe

In subs, I usually only play with active intercept autocrew. I hate wasting my time manually marking every damn ping.

In the other platforms, I'll use ESM autocrew for the same reason.

... and we miss and ESM autocrew in sub
Even if he is less critical than the active intercept one.

The use of autocrew is also mission dependant :
On very long solo mission, sonar AC is a must have, when you spend most of the time in X16 time acc.
same for radar AC : you don't often use the radar on a sub, but if you need to use it, as for active intercept and ESM, there is always an operator, able to mark each contact, on a real ship. You couldn't do that yourself or you will waste your time just to clic on a signal when you see it.
So I think it's fair to consider that radar and active intercept must be allowed even in MP games, because this is just "dumb" sensor, no treatment, just marking.
I miss also an ESM AC for subs : TMA with ESM + DEMON is very easy and quickly done, and could be made in place of stadimeter TMA in case of heavy sea (especially for the KILO with no TA).
If we could have an AC here, I think more people will use that possibility, because with manual process, it's much more laborious.

So ... I don't think that "no AC" is specifically more realistic on DW.
The only AC which must be off is TMA -to my eyes-.
Just because it's with this one you will make the work with datas from your sensors.
If a sensor is just a dumb one, where you just need to mark a thing with a clic, there is no need to lock the AC here.
Even for sonar ... on a real sub, a contact is reported as soon as detected.
As the AC sonar crew is just able to report you the contact (you will be much better than him for other things) so it's not heretic to allow also AC sonar even in MP.

But where you are building the theatre, regrouping, merging and working on the data : the TMA station, you better not use the AC or you will miss the most interesting of this game (to my eyes) => how is your ability to collect the datas, to use the datas you collected to build your situationnal awarness, and then to move and engage your target ?

If you use AC TMA, you move to another level : the "tactical only" one.
But here, you are completly AI dependant => it's the way the AI is tuned which will create or dissipate the fog of war, instead of your ability to do it yourself.
I don't say this is better or worst, it's another way to play DW.

For my part, I love the uncertaincy part with manual TMA :
There is lots of factors that could make a situationnal awarness very foggy in manual process.
you also need to take much more care of your ship with manual TMA =>
- you need to go to desired speed with SSN's (beetween the speed the TA fall down, 7 knts, and the washout)
- you need to avoid to record data on the edge of the sonar with KILO and SSN hull sonars (beam wander effect)
- you need to use different legs to refine your TMA, and to record data without any depth / course / speed change during these legs.

With AC TMA, because it's based on show truth informations, you don't need to repect all these factors, this simplify quite a lot your manoeuvers.
It's simply 2 different way to play DW.

But I don't think you could say : it's more realistic because I killed all AC, because every submarine have a crew, you are not alone, and for example, missing a very quiet active intercept track because you were working on something else is really not a realistic feature : a real crew will have had reported it.
Same for a new sonar track.

[Palindromeria]

For me, " no AC " is only for small missions in a relatively small sea area.
i find it very enjoyable to try to locate and sink a few enemy subs with no ac.

i would not find it remotely enjoyable to traverse a couple hundred miles in a kilo while making several dozen contacts with no ac.

Some missions are a heckuva lot of fun using all ac with exception to fire control.
Some are heckuva lot of fun using NO ac.

its not a matter of "better or worse" or "realistic or not".

its simply whats fun at a particular moment.

[Takeda Shingen]

With the exception of fire control, I use autocrew to man the stations that I am not currently occupying. We assume that the crew will keep the submarine on course, at speed, and at depth when we are not there, and is, as such, reasonable to assume the same for each of the other stations in turn. After all, one man does not soley run the stations.

I think that if we saw additional stations added, autocrew would be more readily accepted. It may become too cumbersome, for even the most forthright maunual station advocate, to be required to man SONAR, TMA, fire control, active intercept, ESM/Radio, and at the same time manage the reactor and turbines as well. Some things are better left to the crew.

[BigBadVuk]

Originally Posted by Molon Labe

In subs, I usually only play with active intercept autocrew. I hate wasting my time manually marking every damn ping.

In the other platforms, I'll use ESM autocrew for the same reason.

Yep...
Same reason why the last autocrew wich i deselected was P3 ESM....

[acid1216]

I play with only TMA crew on DW. The sonar crew always selects the phantom contact on the the towed array as a real contact. Once you delete the false contact, the sonar crew redesignates it . 688(I) and Sub Command didn't have this problem. Is there a way I can modify it so the sonar crew doesn't do that?

[sonar732]

Originally Posted by acid1216

I play with only TMA crew on DW. The sonar crew always selects the phantom contact on the the towed array as a real contact. Once you delete the false contact, the sonar crew redesignates it . 688(I) and Sub Command didn't have this problem. Is there a way I can modify it so the sonar crew doesn't do that?

I don't use the autocrew in a sub, but do in the OHP. If you make a course change with the sub would the autocrew figure out which is the real contact like the OHP AC resolves ambiguity?

[Dr.Sid]

Sonar autocrew is useful in Kilo, nowhere else. Kile has only 2 tags (auto followers), and it does not have towed array. Without AC only 2 contacts will be automatically updated to TMA.
With all others subs marking contact manually is better I think. You don't need autocrew for updating contacts and as was said, autocrew does not do good job with TA.

Other sub stations:

Radar - manually mark, AC takes too long. Then use AC to update cons.
Sonar intercept warning - no problems, let it on AC.
TMA - AC helps a lot here, but in many situations you don't need TMA at all.
Weps - in subs AC will use proper settings, can be used. If you wanna outsmart people, don't. For AI targets it is OK.

FFG:
Countermeasures - leave it on auto, but when auto fires CM, check it if it fired some chaff. They usually only fire flare, and most missiles are radar guided.
TMA - auto, or nothing. I state no human can do it on FFG. The interface is just awful. :rotfl:
TA Sonar - do it manually. It takes some time to learn it, but it is in fact really good sonar. Again you have enough tags, so AC is not really needed.
Sonobuoys - AC if you are busy elsewhere, but you can do it much better. Also note that AC will mark EVERYTHING and it can clutter map display really fast.
Weaopns - auto is just fine.

Helo:
Do it all manually, except maybe RWR if you need it (you don't against subs).
DO NOT USE weapons autocrew. It is completely weird. You'll just miss everything with auto settings.

P3:
Can't really tell, I don't play it much. But mostly same as for Helo.

[acid1216]

No, the sub autocrew does not resolve ambiguity (except for the Kilo). The mirror contact shifts along with the towes array during a course change. While you can still tell which contact is the actual one, the mirror contact clutters up the screen. If there are multiple contacts, this gets awfully frustrating

Sub Command and 688(I) AC didn't do this. I wonder what Sonalysts changed.

[TLAM Strike]

Originally Posted by Dr.Sid

Sonar autocrew is useful in Kilo, nowhere else. Kile has only 2 tags (auto followers), and it does not have towed array. Without AC only 2 contacts will be automatically updated to TMA.
With all others subs marking contact manually is better I think. You don't need autocrew for updating contacts and as was said, autocrew does not do good job with TA.

Little Kilo sonar hint (That is in my to come Kilo Guide) you can mark a already marked Sonar contact on the Kilo and a fresh LOB will be drawn on the TMA plot for it. So you can assign your two tags to the most important contacts and manualy update the less important contacts.

Back to the origional subjects the only sub Auto-Crew I use is Active Intercept since A) its tedius and B) on US Subs atleast it is automated.

On the Aircraft I only use ESM and Countermesures. On the FFG I have EW (Only to mark I go and shut it off and classify then turn it back on), TMA (that DRT is a PITA) and Countermesures (Just for the "Vampire Imbound" warning).