Situational Awareness, Map Contacts, Tracking and Plotting

09-28-09, 12:15 PM

What I personally think would be "realistic" is:

1) Far Radio TX Reports of ships/convoys/taskforces etc should provide grid square, course and speed estimate but nothing should show up on the nav map. (aka Mikayl's mod)

2) Near Radio TX Reports of ships/convoys/taskforces etc should drop compression to 1x and provide the player with an indication of "something in the area" but nothing on the nav map untill the target has been visually spotted (the Luftwaffe were notoriously inaccurate with sea navigation anyway, as were the RAF for that matter)

3) Ship spotted contacts should appear on the map but using a big circular icon to avoid accurate range estimate. This icon should only appear if an optic is locked on the ship or the player hovers his mouse pointer over the general area (aka Assisted Plotting Mod).

4) All identified targets should be marked on the nav map but they should not track, i.e. not move over time untill an optic has locked back on them - then their old position icon should be erazed and their new position indicated.

4a) OOpps....if a target has an optic locked on it then it should be constantly updated but again only using a vague circular icon to model the uncertainty of range.

5) Whilst submerged the existing Assisted Plotting Mod works perfectly with gradually fading sonar lines. These should be updated once for all sound contacts each 360 deg sweep of hydro (if sonar man in sweep mode) or only one sound contact updated constantly (if sonar man in follow target mode).

6) Ideally, the player should be able to designate a desired target for the Sonarman to track rather than simpy the "nearest"

6a) A bit off topic but the WO should also be able to provide a range ESTIMATE for any target that an optic is locked onto as opposed to the current system of nearest target only - this is actually a very annoying flaw in the original SH3 game design.

7) The player's sub should always be marked (unless the payer chooses otehrwise for whatever reason).

8) Ideally, aircraft should also be indicated by fading hydro-like lines with line lengths equivalent to long range, medium range and short range (they move to fast for accurate range estimates anyway)

9) All harbours should be marked, i'm sure real U-Boat commanders knew their way out of a port at least!

10) Can anyone add to this or argue against it ?

Cheers, Ug.

09-28-09, 12:15 PM	#2
Uber Gruber Stowaway Posts: n/a Downloads: Uploads:	What I personally think would be "realistic" is: 1) Far Radio TX Reports of ships/convoys/taskforces etc should provide grid square, course and speed estimate but nothing should show up on the nav map. (aka Mikayl's mod) 2) Near Radio TX Reports of ships/convoys/taskforces etc should drop compression to 1x and provide the player with an indication of "something in the area" but nothing on the nav map untill the target has been visually spotted (the Luftwaffe were notoriously inaccurate with sea navigation anyway, as were the RAF for that matter) 3) Ship spotted contacts should appear on the map but using a big circular icon to avoid accurate range estimate. This icon should only appear if an optic is locked on the ship or the player hovers his mouse pointer over the general area (aka Assisted Plotting Mod). 4) All identified targets should be marked on the nav map but they should not track, i.e. not move over time untill an optic has locked back on them - then their old position icon should be erazed and their new position indicated. 4a) OOpps....if a target has an optic locked on it then it should be constantly updated but again only using a vague circular icon to model the uncertainty of range. 5) Whilst submerged the existing Assisted Plotting Mod works perfectly with gradually fading sonar lines. These should be updated once for all sound contacts each 360 deg sweep of hydro (if sonar man in sweep mode) or only one sound contact updated constantly (if sonar man in follow target mode). 6) Ideally, the player should be able to designate a desired target for the Sonarman to track rather than simpy the "nearest" 6a) A bit off topic but the WO should also be able to provide a range ESTIMATE for any target that an optic is locked onto as opposed to the current system of nearest target only - this is actually a very annoying flaw in the original SH3 game design. 7) The player's sub should always be marked (unless the payer chooses otehrwise for whatever reason). 8) Ideally, aircraft should also be indicated by fading hydro-like lines with line lengths equivalent to long range, medium range and short range (they move to fast for accurate range estimates anyway) 9) All harbours should be marked, i'm sure real U-Boat commanders knew their way out of a port at least! 10) Can anyone add to this or argue against it ? Cheers, Ug.