Ships Turning Rates

Steeltrap · 05-31-10, 12:56 AM

The fact is convoys did NOT alter course just because they were attacked. Alterations of course were usually done for strategic reasons in line with intelligence warnings about likely concentrations of u-boats.

Furthermore, merchant vessels almost never saw torpedos (most were fired at night at the start of the war, and later they were electric and left no wake to be spotted).

Altering the course of an entire convoy was not a 5 minute exercise. The merchant ships did not zig-zag; getting them to maintain station on a fixed course was frequently challenging enough. Escorts often did zig-zag while patrolling their stations.

The 'mass evasion and zig-zag' programmed in SH 3, 4 and 5 are pure 'Hollywood' crap. They do not belong in a simulator.

Having said that, ships sailing individually often zig-zagged, but they would alter course between legs that ran for minutes at a time, not the constant slalom shown in the games.

This whole aspect of these games is complete and utter rubbish. I've posted about it before to no avail. I don't expect anything to change. It's hard to believe the devs of any of these weren't aware of the realities (not like they're a secret.....). I can only conclude they did it because they thought is was 'cool' or that 'people will expect to see it'.

As for turn/acceleration rates, they, too, are utter bunkum. Lazy programming because the devs felt the ignorant masses wouldn't accept accurate modelling, or the AI couldn't handle it? Don't know. Maybe both, maybe some other reason(s).

05-31-10, 12:56 AM	#7
Steeltrap Grey Wolf Join Date: Mar 2001 Location: Sydney, Australia Posts: 818 Downloads: 3 Uploads: 0	The fact is convoys did NOT alter course just because they were attacked. Alterations of course were usually done for strategic reasons in line with intelligence warnings about likely concentrations of u-boats. Furthermore, merchant vessels almost never saw torpedos (most were fired at night at the start of the war, and later they were electric and left no wake to be spotted). Altering the course of an entire convoy was not a 5 minute exercise. The merchant ships did not zig-zag; getting them to maintain station on a fixed course was frequently challenging enough. Escorts often did zig-zag while patrolling their stations. The 'mass evasion and zig-zag' programmed in SH 3, 4 and 5 are pure 'Hollywood' crap. They do not belong in a simulator. Having said that, ships sailing individually often zig-zagged, but they would alter course between legs that ran for minutes at a time, not the constant slalom shown in the games. This whole aspect of these games is complete and utter rubbish. I've posted about it before to no avail. I don't expect anything to change. It's hard to believe the devs of any of these weren't aware of the realities (not like they're a secret.....). I can only conclude they did it because they thought is was 'cool' or that 'people will expect to see it'. As for turn/acceleration rates, they, too, are utter bunkum. Lazy programming because the devs felt the ignorant masses wouldn't accept accurate modelling, or the AI couldn't handle it? Don't know. Maybe both, maybe some other reason(s).