Tactical use of game slow-downs

[strenface]

I see your point. I will say that the reason I use this tactic is that it allows me to run at a decent time compression, while not worrying about missing potential targets due to the sometimes random nature of the crew's contact report. In the end, I believe that it saves me time, as I can safely run at higher TC without these worries.

I will say that I have yet to be fooled by this tactic. The studdering caused by vessel spawning is quite distinct, and I have even learned to gauge the size of a convoy based on these patterns. This is what I meant about the "feel" aspect of my justification

But I will repeat that when the studder feels like a contact, it ALWAYS is a contact. I can't remember being fooled by some other element that could potentially cause a studder.

The best way to describe this studder is a quick freeze, followed by immediate and intermittent studders for a couple of seconds.

[Sailor Steve]

It's been around since SH3. I don't use it because the game already gives a lot more contacts than they got in real life. In my SH3 installation I use a mod that lets you adjust contacts, and I have them adjusted very low. I sometimes have whole patrols in which I never see an enemy ship. I wish I could do the same for SH4.

[Diopos]

Originally Posted by Sailor Steve

...
I sometimes have whole patrols in which I never see an enemy ship.
...

Avoiding them?



.

[MKalafatas]

I've noticed the stuttering but always attributed it to my CPU. Usually I'm downloading a movie or something while playing SH4.

I do use the sonar to "hunt" faint readings that the sonar operator ignores, and find it fascinating. It is tedious, taking over his job, but frequently rewarding. Of course, sometimes the contacts are allied merchants.

[sharkbit]

Consider the stutter as your "spidey senses are tingling."

I sometimes justify it as maybe smelling the smoke from the stacks. I've read some accounts of U-boats smeeling the smoke of convoys long before spotting them if the conditions were right.

[Sailor Steve]

Originally Posted by Diopos

Avoiding them?



.

Ummm...umm...well...er....

[Char]

I've been using the Stuttering to my advantage since SH3.Though it's not technically cheating,as the game does need to load in said convoy.


As with many Simulations,there's no real way to perfectly Simulate what it was like.In the end,it is game.A Damn good one at that.

Originally Posted by Sailor Steve

Ummm...umm...well...er....

Let me help ya here Steve.

In Short,Yes.

[Sailor Steve]

Of course. But my way was funnier.

Actually, for me the stuttering is like cheating, so I always ignore it. But then I've been playing subsims since 1986, and I'm a bit jaded.

[donna52522]

When I get the stutter, I dive and listen myself on the sonar, you can pick up a green light on the sonar then click to ID and receive info. You can hear a ship before your radar detects it. If you don't hear anything, it's most likely a sampan or fishing boat in the area which your radar won't pick up.
The info will tell you if it's closing or heading away, but it'll always say merchant even though it may be a warship.

[misha1967]

Yep, I've seen it too and as Steve says, it's been around since SH3.

I try to resist the temptation, but there are exceptions, such as when I've been splashing around aimlessly for a week in fog and I really, really need to find that one target to get rid of the last eel and go home to base before I get old enough to collect my pension

One thing I always do, though, even when I just ignore the temptation to go hunting for that far-off contact because of the "stutter early warning system" is to drop my TC to 128 or 64 for a while, but that's because it might be a plane causing it and I really, really don't want to lose my career because that plane manages to sink me in the time it takes the sim to auto-drop from 1024 or 512 to 1.

Is it "cheating?" I guess, but so is using TC in the first place, yet most of us don't have 6 years to finish a campaign

[TorpX]

Originally Posted by Sailor Steve

It's been around since SH3. I don't use it because the game already gives a lot more contacts than they got in real life. In my SH3 installation I use a mod that lets you adjust contacts, and I have them adjusted very low. I sometimes have whole patrols in which I never see an enemy ship. I wish I could do the same for SH4.

Doesn't RSRDC provide realistic traffic? Are you saying it is still too high?


Anyway, that was one of the things I didn't like about SHCE. It was too easy to find targets. If you were in the right spot, you could expect one almost every day.

Is it "cheating?" I guess, but so is using TC in the first place, yet most of us don't have 6 years to finish a campaign

The difference is that using the "studder" will boost your tonnage, while using TC merely allows you to finish your patrol faster.

What happened to the guy who tried to play the game at x1?

Tell me you are joking?

No, someone really was trying that. Maybe he is still on his first patrol. Or, more likely, he got burned out and quit the game.

[donna52522]

I've never seen an SH4 rule book, so I have always figured 'cheating' is ones own personal opinion.....I try to play it as realistically as possible, while still being able to enjoy it. If the sim is meant to frustrate or annoy me I would quit it and move on to something I wouldn't mind wasting time on.

As for the amount of ships sunk or tonnage, I gave up on all that many careers ago. I have had some very high tonnage careers, but then realized I wasn't trying to impress anyone, least of all myself.

Now I just play it for the enjoyment, and sometimes I use shortcuts..... So people who talk about this is cheating or that is cheating can blow it out their butt. giggle

[Diopos]

Originally Posted by donna52522

...
So people who talk about this is cheating or that is cheating can blow it out their butt. giggle

Hey donna we're just talking about our hobby here plus I need my butt normaly operating !!!



.

[donna52522]

Originally Posted by Diopos

Hey donna we're just talking about our hobby here plus I need my butt normaly operating !!!



.

That's why I winked and giggled, ...I'm playing TMO2.5/RSRDC at 90%, I retain the free cam because the graphics are just too good. I also play with map contacts, but soon will go without...I move up in increments and never go back. So I just want to be sure of myself before I move up to 'no map contacts' because I would feel I was "cheating" if I went backwards....plus I would feel the sim beat me, and I won't let that happen.

[Sailor Steve]

Originally Posted by TorpX

Doesn't RSRDC provide realistic traffic? Are you saying it is still too high?

That's a good question. I'm still stuck in u-boats in 1939, so I couldn't say. The only way to be sure is to compare actual reports http://hnsa.org/doc/subreports.htm with what the game provides.

Anyway, that was one of the things I didn't like about SHCE. It was too easy to find targets. If you were in the right spot, you could expect one almost every day.

There's no question that SH1 gave way too many contacts. AOTD did the same. They all do, at least in stock version.

No, someone really was trying that. Maybe he is still on his first patrol. Or, more likely, he got burned out and quit the game.

Several have done it. The most recent was Subsim regular GoldenRivet.
http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/show...ight=1x+patrol
http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/show...ts+goldenrivet