Me And The Hydro' Guy

[flag4]

hi hunters

a small dilehma...

how come i can hear a merchant and track it manually, and yet, when i ask my hydro guy to do the same he tells me "no sound contact" repeatedly...

and there it is as plane as day - chop chop chop chop chop - come the screws through the hydrophone... ( maybe it's coz i'm better'n him ?? :hmm: )

one more thing: short range, medium and long, what are their basic distances. for instance if im chasing a merchant across long distance, what am i likely to expect in terms of meters, or is it miles or kilometers

cheers
flag4

[papa_smurf]

It could be that your Sonar guy isn't quailified enough, or it could be that he's just lost contact with it. This can happen if the weather is poor with rough seas - this has happened to me on numerous occasions. I just man the 'phones myself - much more reliable.

[Cohaagen]

This happens when you select Realistic Sensors. Uncheck that option in the Realism settings and your 'phones operator will inform you of contacts as soon as they get within range...in fact, often before they become audible to you.

[flag4]

thanks for getting back you guys...

Cohaagen, does the unchecking make it more or less realistic, i'm a bit confussed?

[baggygreen]

Unchecking will make it less realistic, much like the 16km atmospheric mod - the crewman will be aware of a contact long before you can see or hear it.

[Capa]

Just my two cents but I assume he actually has to notice the contact while he's sweeping before he'll report it on command. You're asking him to confirm a contact that he hasn't found yet.

Now all we need is a method to tell him where you know a contact is.

[Slang]

I believe the ranges are as follows:

Long Range: 3km - 15km

Medium Range: 1km - 3km

Short Range: Less than 1km

[Mittelwaechter]

My earwig doesn't report any contacts within visual range (~ 8km) as long as my periscope isn't completely lowered - even in pitch-black night and heavy fog.

[gordonmull]

If the little funker does this I can usually manage to get him to cooperate by putting the hydrophone needle on the contact and then asking him. He proceeds to report merrily away after that.

[flag4]

Originally Posted by Capa

Just my two cents but I assume he actually has to notice the contact while he's sweeping before he'll report it on command. You're asking him to confirm a contact that he hasn't found yet.

Now all we need is a method to tell him where you know a contact is.

hi Capa, thing is, I hear it as I'M searching with the very same hydrophone HE'S using. and, unlike Gordonmull - who's hydro guy picks up on it when he has been shown; my guy steadfastly refuses to hear the same as me -AND I'M USING HIS HYDRO.
(maybe he's tired - maybe he feels put-out by the authority figure of his Kakeun; i shall have to have words with him..)

surely, if i can pick up the sound he can too...? maybe he is'nt qualified enough yet; after all it is only his second patrol.

this was my original queery.

cheers Slang for the distances.

[Umfuld]

First off was this contact between 340 - 20 degrees? Or 160 -200 degrees? If so your hydros wouldn't pick it up. That you can hear it is unrealistic, so if you want total realism - don't listen to those ranges. (This depends on your hydro, of course. Later models had more complete coverage.


If it's what I'm thinking about - asking the hydro guy to track a target and give updates on it - then having him not do that happens. Even to the point where if you just ask for nearest contact he'll tell you, but ask him to track it and you get nothing. I just live with this. No big whoop.



Also, as far as you hearing it - and someone correct me if I'm wrong - you can hear ships yourself beyond what is realistic. So if you want total realism - don't listen for single contacts 30,000m away

[flag4]

"Also, as far as you hearing it - and someone correct me if I'm wrong - you can hear ships yourself beyond what is realistic. So if you want total realism - don't listen for single contacts 30,000m away."


Umfuld, i don't understand this. technically you are way beyond me.

i just wanted to know why i could hear something on the hydro when the hydro guy missed it. i would'nt know, for example, if a ship was 30.000m away; i dont have your thorough understanding of such a complex subject and game. or for that matter, need a crack round the back of the head coz i dont understand: i was asking for help, not complaining.

[Umfuld]

Well, I'm not that well informed myself. I'm mostly speculating and may not be helping at all.


What I was saying is I THINK you can hear ships beyond what your hydro guy can.

You are looking at it this way: 'I hear the sound. Why can't he?'

But the game is set up so he only reports contacts when it is realistic for him to do so.



The game has a rendering range. That is: a 32KM circle around your U-Boat. Any thing beyond that circle isn't being rendered by the game.

Example: If you are 100KM away from a convoy - as you are playing the game that convoy isn't really there. The game isn't 'rendering' those ships.
Those ships don't appear in the game until you move to within around 32,000m. (Which is why, on a slow system like mine, the game will pause whenever I come that close to a convoy. The game is 'rendering' the convoy)

If you think of all the ships in any port, and then think of all the ports in the game - obviously the game isn't rendering all those 100s upon 100s of ships. They don't really appear in the game until - as said - you are within 32KM of them.



So, when a ship is rendered - when it moves to within 32,000m of you, it appears in the game. The game is now rendering that ship.
If you listen to the hydro yourself you may be able to hear that ship. Because it is there making noise.
But it's not realistic for you to hear a ship that far away.


To help you understand this, another example of the rendering range:


If you are looking through your UZO or periscope you can lock onto a ship - and identify, get it's speed and course if you use WO Assist - from almost 32,000m away.
This is totally unrealistic. But again, the ship is there, so if you lock your scope at it the game recognizes it. From 32KM away!
Now obviously, your watch crew isn't going to spot this ship until it is more realistic. Maybe only 8KM away.
But if you want to you can spot a ship from almost 4 times that distance. You won't actually see anything, but your scope will lock onto it.

I THINK it's the same with the hydrophone. You can detect things well beyond what your hydro guy can - even to the point where it isn't realisticly possible to do so.


Does that make any sense?





The funny thing is that may not be your problem at all. Like I said it may be that the ship is in one of your hydrophone's 'blind spots'. Blind spots are anywhere directly in front or directly behind your sub - no matter the distance.
You can hear screws in these blind spots if you listen yourself - even though it is unrealistic to do so.


Or it maybe something else. Maybe bad weather, or bad luck, or tired crew, etc.

Just remember that your hydro guys - for the most part - respond when it's realistic for them to do so. Just like the example I gave with spotting a ship with a scope. Just because you can "see" a ship from 32,000m away don't expect your watch crew to spot it until it's realistic for them to do so.

If you want them to hear everything you do then switch off "Realistic Sensors" as someone suggested.


Hope that helps or if I'm totally wrong about stuff someone corrects me

[flag4]

aaahhh !!!

now it makes sense. you have explained it beautifully. i get it now !!

what you have written is worth - to me, printing off, especially the stuff about blind spots and distances.
i have a lousy memory. also, there is so much to remember about the game and the real life experiences of these u-boats - what really went on, all the tactics and skills they used, alot of wich can be used here in the game.

i dont want the easy option - i'm up about 70 - 80% realism and would love to go the whole 100%, but this will take a while coz i'zz iz slow in de head: i'm virtually blind when it comes to maths.

i'm just getting to grips with Letums 4-stage tracking helper, from here on another thread. never thought i could work it out, but, i've just plotted a corse to intercept a merchant - and arrived about an hour early in the wrong spot, but not too far away. at this moment i am racing to intercept it and have found it at 7.5000 meters away. my watch crew have just found it - its a whale ship or something. a big *********.

thanks for your patience Umfuld, i do appreciate it. it puts another piece in the ever expanding jig-saw of sh3.

i shall read it through a few more times to let it sink in...

[Sailor Steve]

Originally Posted by Capa

Just my two cents but I assume he actually has to notice the contact while he's sweeping before he'll report it on command. You're asking him to confirm a contact that he hasn't found yet.

Now all we need is a method to tell him where you know a contact is.

Originally Posted by gordonmull

If the little funker does this I can usually manage to get him to cooperate by putting the hydrophone needle on the contact and then asking him. He proceeds to report merrily away after that.

:rotfl: I was about to reply to Capa's comments by making a joke about telling him "HERE! RIGHT HERE! Do you hear it now?" Then you point out that there is a way to actually do that in the game!:rotfl:

The things we learn around here...