Need Career / Patrol HELP!!!

[Gildor]

Originally Posted by Kweli

Thanks for the information.... Right now im playing with no fuel until i can master the game more.... Ill end up with full realism as i get better..

How do i 'patrol' and find boats... How close do i have to be to them? When you say "patrol" do you mean just make giant circles in a certain area, or sit still for days?

Im not sure how far i can spot people on my map...

So far ive been doing ALOT of circles and i have yet to find a single enemy anywhere

If you dont have radar, you can spot a ship while surfaced, depending on weather, at max 8 or 9 miles probably.

If it is during the day, try and submerge to 60 feet or lower so you can use the hydrophones. These can detect up to 25 nm or so.

Plot a course to patrol in a pattern. A good spot to patrol is at a strait where shipping routes would converge. The ships have a start point and a end point so if you look at the map and make a determination on possible routes near your sector, the chances are you will find ships.

Radar can spot a target at about 30nm I think.

If you are not using realistic fuel then decide to head back to home port at about 3 - 5 weeks max. I dont recall what the real patrol times where though.

[Kweli]

Thanks guys... I stayed surfaced which is why i couldnt find anything... Ill try submerging and using my hydrophones...

Are Hydrophones something i have to purchase, like radar, or will all subs have this?

Ill start reporting more often too...

Any information on how to find enemy ships once i reach the 'waypoint' star on the map? Like my Mission 2 example?

[davejb]

This made me smile (in a mad, wild eyed manner, admittedly) -

even at x8200+ time compression it takes like 1-2 minutes

Yesterday I read about 1/2 book (Evelyn Waugh, 'Officers and Gentlemen' since you asked) while I transitted from a truckstop called Midway to Manchuria. I'm really hoping that even more RAM helps here - I'm serious, I've had entire transits running in chug mode once going beyond 1024, and 2500 miles at 7kts is, errr.... say 350 ish hours of gametime - which ought to take around 20 minutes to run but in chug o'vision takes perhaps 1 to 1.5 REAL hours. No joke, I really have sat here reading a book for an hour and a half while my sim transits to the area. Hope the extra RAM helps - I had 1.5Gb to start with and a 4Gb swapfile on C, defragged, reloaded everything....

Okay, I read the book over several transits really. It's a good book, by the way, despite having only one submarine in it.

[AVGWarhawk]

Originally Posted by Kweli

Thanks guys... I stayed surfaced which is why i couldnt find anything... Ill try submerging and using my hydrophones...

Are Hydrophones something i have to purchase, like radar, or will all subs have this?

Ill start reporting more often too...

Any information on how to find enemy ships once i reach the 'waypoint' star on the map? Like my Mission 2 example?

You will have sonar already. Cruise at 70 feet or you do not hear to much with the sonar.

What I do when I arrive to the star, report in your position so they know you are on stations. Lay out a patrol path on your map but stay around 100nm to the star. You have to hang out for 48 hours. Sometimes you strike gold sometimes you see nothing in that 48 hours. Just a fact of the game and life concerning patrols.

[Kweli]

Perfect, thanks.. I will try that

Now when you guys say "plot a patrol course" what do you mean?

Before i was making circles around the star, getting wider and wider (sort of like one of those weird illusion/bullseye things)

Other times, i just tried zig/zags around the star

[AVGWarhawk]

Originally Posted by Kweli

Perfect, thanks.. I will try that

Now when you guys say "plot a patrol course" what do you mean?

Before i was making circles around the star, getting wider and wider (sort of like one of those weird illusion/bullseye things)

Other times, i just tried zig/zags around the star

That is plotting! You look to be doing it