Wondering what your habits are...

[squadldr76]

I've looked through the search function and haven't come across this particular question, so if it has been asked before, please forgive me and point me to it.

I play both SH3 and SH4, usually alternating back and forth depending on what book I'm reading at the time. Currently, I'm paging through "Silent Victory", so naturally I'm in a fleet boat at the moment, trying my hand at manual targeting (yikes! ). Basically, I'm curious as to how you all play. Does everybody here have their own set patrol routine? Or do you all play to your own taste...

Generally, when I leave port, I'll accelerate x256 to my area, set up a back and forth search pattern and run at no more than x32, doing underwater sweeps about every 6 hours.

I guess, specifically, what I'm asking is what sort of search patterns do all of you use. And in a nutshell, how do you play, going from leaving port to coming home? I'm just wondering how everybody else runs their simulator, maybe picking up a few ideas to change things some.

"He who has the most tricks always wins the audience."

[Fishie]

There was a thread a while ago that really helped me.

There's a max range of your hydrophones. I completely forget what that number is- it's all instinct right now- but what I do is drat a series of circles in the area, and then move to the center of said circles, dive to 100 ft, and shut down, then listen.

Surface, move to next circle or contact, whichever.

[squadldr76]

Do you by any chance remember the thread? Or know of a couple of key words I could use to search for it myself?

[Platapus]

I have to admit that I abuse the TC a lot.

I speed to and from my patrol area and then spend a lot of time IN the patrol area.

I know that I will be missing contacts on the way, but I gets bored.

This is also why I can never play on 100% realism as I always pick unlimited fuel (I know, I suck)

To me, the important thing is to play the game the way you enjoy it

Good luck with the manual targeting. It is well worth learning. Manual target makes the game for me.

There are some excellent tutorials on this forum as well as on Youtube.

Once you get Manual Targeting, you will never look back.

Good hunting

[Fishie]

Originally Posted by squadldr76

Do you by any chance remember the thread? Or know of a couple of key words I could use to search for it myself?

I'll find it for ya tonight at home, dude. No worries. I'm pretty sure I have it bookmarked.

Try Hydrophone search tactics for starters.

[vanjast]

I look for a choke point, and then pick a position about 50Nm from that - I sit of one place for 2-4 days ... waiting.

At dawn I go down to 250 ft and every 2 hours have a sweep on the hydrophone.
At dusk I surface, and then goto periscope every 2 hours, for a sweep.
Time compression never above 256.

If nothing happens, after about 2 days, i move on to the next spot say 50-100Nm further on.

[clayp]

I spend most of my time trying to get my crew to go with me......:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

[Rip]

I may pick up some of these habits but have tried to constrain myself thus far to doing some stuff because that is what they really did. So I only dive during the day when in the range of known airfields. It seems they also kept moving most of the time so I have resisted the urge to sit in one spot especially from what I have read SH4 uses the same fuel whether you are going 10kts or something under. Not sure about all stop though. Have to check that out this weekend.

I would like to do more night surface attacks but at least using RFB I don't seem to be able to keep from getting detected inside two or three thousand yards and they almost never shot at a target farther away than that.

I think I am on the verge of just developing a strategy that works well for the game and reality be damned. Real world tactics just don't seem to be modeled well enough by the game to be successful. That pushes me back to pondering whether that should effect whether I run RFB or TMO. Maybe it is time I just did a separate install for each. I know I have found myself playing SH3 a lot more lately and SH4 less. I must find a way to get back into the mood of my eye candy laden SH4 because I miss watching sunset/sunrise and such.

[vanjast]

Originally Posted by Rip

I would like to do more night surface attacks but at least using RFB I don't seem to be able to keep from getting detected inside two or three thousand yards and they almost never shot at a target farther away than that.

The settings don't look right, if you consider that the Uboats were able to get into the convoy lanes on the surface, when the Allied ASW was no better than the Japanese.
I made AI config changes to reflect this...

[Torplexed]

Sometimes I just sail to my assigned patrol area, turn off my engines and wait for a contact to show up. Why burn fuel when you don't have to?

[squadldr76]

Some very interesting ideas here. Thanks!

Just started a new career in the Asiatic fleet. I think I'll try some of these ideas out. Wish me luck. If anything interesting happens, I'll be back to let you know what my results are...

(BTW, I'm using TMO 1.7 with RSRD if anybody's curious)

[Task Force]

I have actualy never used the tdc... I always think through the attack... Look at the target for a while. and depending on speed, fire when I think it looks good. and Im actualy pretty accurate.

I take on distroyers, even in rfb & gwx.

dont go to my grid in sh3.

lost of other stuff that I do, just cant remember.

[magic452]

I set up a zig zag search pattern with each leg about one hour at 10 kns.
and do a manual sonar sweep at the end of each leg, you can find more targets yourself than your sound man can. Later when you get radar you can stretch out your pattern.

Getting to the patrol area watch to see if the game seems to slow down if you are in high TC, some times there is a target you can find with a manual search.

I try to get into choke points like Vanjas does or into shipping lanes.

Good luck and good hunting.
Magic

[Fishie]

here's the link to that thread, bro!

http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=137458

That's the method I use.

Good hunting!

[Rockin Robbins]

As long as you have radar, sonar is a waste of time and fuel. Radar has much longer range, gives you precise target positions, not just bearings and it works just fine at 4096x TC. You want to find more targets? STAY ON THE SURFACE AT ALL TIMES unless your live's in danger. The ostrich strategy doesn't work. You aren't safer just because you can't see and you don't see further with your radar antenna under water.

The number of targets you find is directly proportional to the number of square miles of ocean surface you search in 24 hours. That means you stay on the surface at 9 knots with the radar on. Anything else is dereliction of duty. Darn, I'm predictable!