TDC question

[Sailor Steve]

Originally Posted by sharkbit

Hmmmm....interesting.

Maybe another "personal option" to add to the list.

I was unaware of that as well, but from now on I'll be using slower speeds early in the war.

[Threesixtyci]

Just be aware of the TDC torpedo speed glitch. Always click on the speed knob when dealing with torpedoes, even if there is only one speed to choose from. For some reason the game will use the wrong speed for the lead calculation, if you don't always do that.

http://www.paulwasserman.net/SHIII/
Fast 90 instructions are probably the easiest way to understand how manual targeting, works....
With the fast 90 technique you're predicting the 90 degree AOD.... and working backwards from there, which makes the overall process a lot easier.

And GWX added compass makes calculating bearings much easier than using a calculator... I don't know if you're using GWX, though.

Fixed wire is a way to calculate the speed of a given ship by knowing the ship's length and plugging it into a formula.... that involves time. (will need a calculator, for this...). I don't remember the formula.

Anyway, it eliminates the need of having an accurate ranging distance. Which happens to be the hardest thing to do in the sim, due to the recognition charts of mast heights being so hard to depict, the errors of constantly bobbing, the awkward aiming controls, and other such things.

[Pisces]

Originally Posted by Threesixtyci

...
Fixed wire is a way to calculate the speed of a given ship by knowing the ship's length and plugging it into a formula.... that involves time. (will need a calculator, for this...). I don't remember the formula.
...

Length (in meters) divided by time (seconds), multiplied by 2, and you get knots as the result. It's a simple and good-enough approximation, but officially you should multiply by 1.944.

[Iranon]

Faster speeds have another advantage apart from giving the target less time to evade: It reduces the impact of slightly inaccurate torpedo settings.

Ok, if they don't zig-zag you shouldn't miss entirely anyway.. but it can mean the difference between sinking the target with 1 hit in the oil bunker and needing to spend another eel/a few deck gun rounds and risking trouble.

*

On the other hand, faster speed means less time under the target. I can't verify this completely, but I believe at AoB close to 90/180° this makes magnetic detonators even less reliable.

[Paul Riley]

Originally Posted by Pisces

Length (in meters) divided by time (seconds), multiplied by 2, and you get knots as the result. It's a simple and good-enough approximation, but officially you should multiply by 1.944.

What was the official way to gather speed data?.I tend (in rough seas it becomes difficult) to and prefer placing my vertical crosshair against the target ship and observe it for a while,usually no longer than about 15 mins.If the ship moves forward of the line I can see it is moving faster than me,and if it moves behind then it is slower than me,I can then set my speed accordingly to match ITS speed.This proves to be quite reliable,but only in calm sea as I said.In rough sea I would probably opt for the fixed wire method you speak of.

[Hitman]

What was the official way to gather speed data?

Naked eye estimate.

[BillCar]

Originally Posted by Threesixtyci

Fixed wire is a way to calculate the speed of a given ship by knowing the ship's length and plugging it into a formula.... that involves time. (will need a calculator, for this...). I don't remember the formula.

Anyway, it eliminates the need of having an accurate ranging distance. Which happens to be the hardest thing to do in the sim, due to the recognition charts of mast heights being so hard to depict, the errors of constantly bobbing, the awkward aiming controls, and other such things.

Fixed wire is definitely the fastest, simplest, and most consistently accurate method I know of. Since switching over, it's extremely rare for me to miss when playing at 100%. If you find that it takes you too long or you don't know the ships' lengths, well, you should download Hitman's superb GUI, which contains a chart for calculating range, length, and AOB. You can just quickly refer to it and plug in the relevant data. Works like a charm, and I don't use the calculator anymore!

I used to use the medium speed setting for G7As but, the TDC problem mentioned by Hitman caused me to leave all torpedo speeds at 30 knots. That is, "slow" for the G7A, and the only speed available to the G7E.