Hello from a noob

[scalelokt]

Hi everyone. I got Silent Hunter 3 a while ago but am just now really getting into it. Wow, what an incredible game! So much fun. Anyway I'm no expert with sub simulations, but I'm learning. So far I've been pretty successful though I'm not using all of the realism settings. At the moment I'm keeping on the unlimited fuel (so I can get used to going all over the map and finding spots I like). I also have faster torpedo reloads on (so I can practice without such a long wait) and I'm using auto torpedo solutions as I'm not quite ready to do the manual targeting stuff. Aside from that though I'm trying to keep it pretty realistic and pretty soon I'll go for 100% realism.

Anyway I came across this webpage and really liked it, so just wanted to say hi. And if you all dont mind I thought I would ask a couple questions that maybe you can help me out with. I've read most of the guides on the internet I can find, however there are a few points I'm having trouble with that I dont quite understand yet.

The first would be about the torpedoes. I'm still early in the war (3rd patrol) and at the moment there are only 2 torpedoes available to choose from. One is steam/gas powered and refered to as the "prewar" torpedo. The other is electric. I get the impression from the game descriptions that the electric torpedo is supposed to be better because it says it was used the most throughout the war, and also it doesnt leave a visible trail on the surface in its path like the other one does. The question I have though, is just how is this electric torpedo better? From what I can tell, the "prewar" torpedo is faster and has a better range. And I'm yet to see a ship detect the torpedo's surface trail and avoid getting hit. When I use the electric model it seems much harder to get a hit for some reason. Maybe this has something to do with the automatic firing and if I were doing it manually I would see a difference. Thoughts anyone?

My other question is about escaping from destroyers after being detected. Especially when I attack a convoy and then the escorts come after me. What I'm doing right now to get away is I dive about as deep as I can and then set the engines to slow and silent running. Then I do turns from time to time (especially when DC's are blasting) to try to slip away. However it seems like most of the time my batteries are on the verge of dying before I finally lose them, if I lose them at all. I'm not complaining really, that actually seems like a pretty realistic account of what it would have been like. However I'm wondering if I'm missing something, maybe theres something I could do differently to lose them faster, or keep from being discovered at all?

Thanks so much everyone. Looking forward to posting on the boards, I've been reading everyone's post pretty much all day and I'm seeing tons of cool stuff! Oh one last question. I am running the GWX mod (the huge expansion mod) and love it, are there any other mods I should also download? Or does that one pretty much cover it all? Thanks!!