help with vanjasts real navigation mod

[orangewhale]

Hi i've read Vanjasts real navigation readme titled SH3_RNM_usingtheGameMod and im still confused, ok i know how to find what course im supposed to travel using the protractor tool - it is subtract or add the angle onto or off 360 degrees right? and thats your course (tell me if im wrong) - i use speed/distance calculator on the internet to find out how long it will take to travel that distance in kilometers at X many kph, but how do i use the sextant, i mean i don't even know what button to press to turn it on. Basically i either need someone to help me a little, or point me to a link that has a guide that is more in depth.

[ichso]

Hi,
did you download and read
http://www.vanjast.com/NavMod/RealNav_ReadMe2.zip
this ?
It explains every basic knowledge you need to use the mod.

Sextant:
It is 'turned on' by dragging it from the right side of the screen to the middle. If you installed the mod properly, there should be a little something at the right side of the screen (no matter on which station you currently are), it's also on some screenshot in the above link.
If it isn't there it might be a conflict of some mods. The sextant consists of some new images and is also edited into the ...\data\Menu\menu_1024_768.ini
If you installed the RealNavMod and later on another mod which wants to edit this file, the second one would have overridden the menu_1024_768.ini and the sextant won't be useable in the game (just in case you installed more mods than RealNavMod).

Protractor:
Relatively straight forward to use. If activated and drawing a line you can simply read the protractor (over the line you are currently drawing) and get the course from that.
Just be sure that you use a protractor for that which has the 180° mark on top and the 360° mark at the bottom.

Further links which should help:
http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=113975
http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=114812
http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=116837 (where we finally figured how to get correct longitude values :> )

But you should read the to guides in my first link at first. They explained everything really well, with screenshots.

Good hunting, i.

[orangewhale]

I did read vanjasts realnav readme 2 and i understand the first step in which you plot a 'course' to get your heading then work out ETA so you know that you'll end up 'there' in said amount of time if your on the right heading. thats pretty clear to me, worked that out no probs first time. Now, i have found polaris as im currently sailing in the northern hemisphere how do i take a reading with the sextant? from the readme i got that you line up the bar so that it fits the top to bottom edges of the screen correct? but what do the numbers mean. Do I measure the bottom of the sextant from the horizon to the star i want if so how do i take a reading and what will i get long and lat?, my questions about the sextant are endless but i'll leave it at that basically i don't have any solid idea of how it actually works

[orangewhale]

ok i just read the quick nav guide and that explained almost everything, i now know that i was looking at the wrong star for polaris, but still a little unclear on longitude any help would be appreciated

[Sebbe02]

I have a question too:

I've been having doubts wether I should install it or not.
I kinda have the idea that it should be lots of fun, and give lots of immersion,
but that's its really cumbersome and takes a lot of time to do...

Is this true?

[orangewhale]

i think that from what i've seen of the mod, and i don't know how to use it entirely yet so i can only speak from what i know, it seems it would only get less cumbersome the more you know as the more you know the easier it would get i guess and ultimately the more rewarding it becomes. The trick it seems to me and i'm at this stage in the learning process is that you have to read up and get through all the tough stuff first which makes it seem cumbersome and thats where from experience i find the people who don't like that sort of thing simply give up which is fair enough as some things are not for everyone.

It's like using the manual TDC in sh3, at first using wazoos method seems daunting but then it all falls into place, it's the daunting stage which determines whether that type of realism is for you. Now thats a bit of a flawed analogy as I would guess from my short time on this forum that most people use manual TDC but most of them i guess would have had to enter that learning curve initially in order to learn MAN TDC.

well i have ranted on a bit but i guess what im saying is im comparing the process of learning the real nav mod to the same process of learning the manual TDC. When i learned Manual TDC I had loads of trouble at first but i learned it and now sh3 is that much better, so i guess real navigation is probably similar in that respect but not the same obviously, actually it even seems easier than manual TDC so far, the basics of it that is correct me if im wrong, once again vanjast well done mate, i remember seeing a post some time ago saying what if we had a real navigation system in sh3, and here it is.

[ichso]

Originally Posted by Sebbe02

I have a question too:

I've been having doubts wether I should install it or not.
I kinda have the idea that it should be lots of fun, and give lots of immersion,
but that's its really cumbersome and takes a lot of time to do...

Is this true?

Hi. Once you got into it it doesn't need THAT much time to do all the navigation. The star readings at night are really fast and since you did the process of getting longitude by the sunrise time (for example) it doesn't take long either. But there are a few things which will change the whole gameplay though:

- You have to travel at lower TC. Maximum 512x, normally I use 512 or
256x. This comes because you set your course manually and not by the
plotting tool and because of that the realistic weather influences can
disturb your course and you have to correct it by yourself from time to
time
- There are some interruptions when you take the star readings at 0
o'clock and (for ex.) in the morning when the sun rises. But this also
means that there are not that long phases anymore where you can
travel around for days under 1024x TC having absolutely nothing to do.
- AND you have get away from the idea of always knowing exactly your
position. You plot along your course as good as you can and try to
calculate your latitude/longitude as often as you can, but as in real life
there are several factors which can hinder you. Mostly it's the weather.
It's a whole new experience.
- Because I cannot just simply ask my Nav Officer for the max km's I can
travel with the remaining fuel anymore I have to roughly count the
travelled kilometers, watch the fuel gauge and have to estimate when it is
time to return to port.

So altogether you get

a fair amount of added realism with this mod. You cannot just race around the world map getting 200k tonnage per patrol. Just intercepting convoys which may be reported by radio is not a 100% sure thing anymore.
Though once you've found a convoy or single ship you can proceed as you are used to even if you don't know your position 100% exactly.

So go and play that mod and don't be bathtub kaleuns

Originally Posted by Sebbe02

I have a question too:

I've been having doubts wether I should install it or not.
I kinda have the idea that it should be lots of fun, and give lots of immersion,
but that's its really cumbersome and takes a lot of time to do...

Is this true?

Now as we have still problems with latitude fix and than longitude I play the "assisted" version from my post. I use the helmsman to nav through the port and fiord, than get an exact fix with last waypoint or ctrl+click for my real navigation journey. From than I start plotting and don't use any help. If u get tired you can always plot course

Tomas - about diesel reserve. Right now helmsman calculation is required because we don't know the consumption. We should make a table. Also I've noticed that going a little bit faster than ahead slow gives about 15% more efficiency! So there are lot's of factors to consider plus full ahead flank eating your reserves quickly.

[ichso]

Tomas - about diesel reserve. Right now helmsman calculation is required because we don't know the consumption. We should make a table. Also I've noticed that going a little bit faster than ahead slow gives about 15% more efficiency! So there are lot's of factors to consider plus full ahead flank eating your reserves quickly.

I just tried to estimate my fuel consum on the patrol by travelled kilometers and remaining fuel. I take those flank speed chases into account but I would also rather return to port a little too soon than a too late

Tables would be helpful but a little complicated to make as you never get displayed your exact remaining amount of fuel.