Questions about TMO 2.0

[GoldenRivet]

Originally Posted by Armistead

I always wondered when and how charges blow. Is there a time the enemy of AI reads sub is at certain depth and that's the depth they blow.

The japanese DCs in question had a baffle - a sort of hallow compartment.

this hallow compartment would flood as the DC sank. (think of a toilet tank)

when the baffle flooded, the depth charge would explode. This explosion took place between about 97-105 feet (this accepted standard is 100 feet)

if the submarine was suspected to be at a deeper depth, ther was a portion of the baffle that could be opened to make the baffle space large and allow it to take in more water. So... when the now enlarged baffle flooded the DC would explode. When the baffle was enlarged before launching the DC - the new explosive depth ranged anywhere from 195-205 feet (this accepted standard was 200 feet)

thus... the Japanese depth charges for the first half of the war only had 2 depth settings. approx 100 feet and approx 200 feet with perhaps a 5-10 foot margin of error.

This depth charge type was in use for about 20 years prior to the outbreak of world war two and had been unchanged by the Japanese until the end of June 1943 when a third setting was added to DCs

this setting allowed the DC to explode at about 300 feet.

by the end of the war - japanese depth charges were about on par with the DCs of other major powers capable of reaching up to approximately 480 feet.

**note: When using the 100 foot setting, the depth charge had a sort of small drift anchor (parachute) attached to it - this was required to slow the sink rate of the DC to keep the attacking DD from blowing itself up.

unfortunately for the Japanese - it also allowed plenty of time for the submarine to escape attack as well.

it is a major oversight on the part of Ubisoft to not at least simulate this on some level within SH4