Questions I should have asked earlier

hulkamania · 03-15-09, 06:57 PM

I played this game when it first came out, then stopped for awhile, then recently reinstalled and started playing again. I started a career at the earliest possible point with 1st Flotilla (in a IIa) and have now made it to late 1943 without dying once (although, I've had to abandon a couple of patrols and return to base, due to extreme damage).

Anyhow, I have a couple of questions, and probably more I can't remember to ask (so I'll add them to this thread later). Here they are:

1) Do the various torpedos have different sizes of warheads? The in-game descriptions aren't very clear about this. I calculate all my firing solutions and very rarely miss, regardless of speed settings, weather, etc. Having said that, I would prefer to be carrying a full load-out of torpedos that make the largest possible explosion, but I don't even know if they have varying warhead sizes amongst all the different types available at this point in my career.

2) Is the effectiveness of your hydrophone affected by your depth? I realize it actually has to be submerged to pick up sound, but is there a difference between using it at periscope depth vs. some greater depth?

3) How in God's name do I increase the morale of crewmembers? The only thing I've seen do it is awarding of particular medals. Other than that, it seems to be frozen at about 50% for all of my crew (except for the highest officers and for members who received the aforementioned medals)

4) Is renown, medal awarding, etc. affected by the actual type of ship you sink, or simply the total tonnage for the patrol? For example, if I sink 10,000 tons (approximately) of coastal merchant vessels, is it going to result in the same amount of reknown, medal awarding, promotions, etc. as if I'd sunk a single target that had the same weight?

What about warship tonnage? Does it carry more merit than cargo vessels? In other words, does 5,000 tons of warships carry any more merit than 5,000 tons of merchants/cargo ships?

I've already determined that shooting down airplanes seems to reward very little renown (which means I spend almost no time at my anti-aircraft, but oh well), but I'm not sure about the rest of it.

Anyhow, those are some questions I had, and I probably have more, but can't think of them right now.

P.S.

This is the first time I've played this late into the war. Umm...the days of simply surfacing next to unescorted C2s and plinking them with HE from the 88 are over. LOL! At first, when they just had a single gun, it wasn't really a problem. I just shot it off the ship with HE then went about the normal business of sinking it. Now, they have machineguns, two cannons, etc.

I can't even do the old "sink the escorts and then have target-practice with the deck gun" strategy anymore. When a whole convoy of armed merchants starts shooting at you, what individual ships lack in firepower and accuracy is quickly made up by the sheer numbers of weapons being fired at you (nevermind the airplanes that usually show up if you are anywhere in the vicinity of the island, even at night they show up, which wasn't happening at the start of the war)

This is definitely getting more entertaining as it becomes more difficult. It feels less like a turkey-shoot and there are more "soil your undies" moments. I'm playing this career where one death equals end of career (no re-loading saved games), and there have been some VERY close scrapes with death.

I got sidetracked. Main reason for my post was to ask some questions and add more later. Community seems very helpful. Thanks, in advance, for any help you provide.

03-15-09, 06:57 PM	#1
hulkamania Swabbie Join Date: Mar 2009 Posts: 8 Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	Questions I should have asked earlier I played this game when it first came out, then stopped for awhile, then recently reinstalled and started playing again. I started a career at the earliest possible point with 1st Flotilla (in a IIa) and have now made it to late 1943 without dying once (although, I've had to abandon a couple of patrols and return to base, due to extreme damage). Anyhow, I have a couple of questions, and probably more I can't remember to ask (so I'll add them to this thread later). Here they are: 1) Do the various torpedos have different sizes of warheads? The in-game descriptions aren't very clear about this. I calculate all my firing solutions and very rarely miss, regardless of speed settings, weather, etc. Having said that, I would prefer to be carrying a full load-out of torpedos that make the largest possible explosion, but I don't even know if they have varying warhead sizes amongst all the different types available at this point in my career. 2) Is the effectiveness of your hydrophone affected by your depth? I realize it actually has to be submerged to pick up sound, but is there a difference between using it at periscope depth vs. some greater depth? 3) How in God's name do I increase the morale of crewmembers? The only thing I've seen do it is awarding of particular medals. Other than that, it seems to be frozen at about 50% for all of my crew (except for the highest officers and for members who received the aforementioned medals) 4) Is renown, medal awarding, etc. affected by the actual type of ship you sink, or simply the total tonnage for the patrol? For example, if I sink 10,000 tons (approximately) of coastal merchant vessels, is it going to result in the same amount of reknown, medal awarding, promotions, etc. as if I'd sunk a single target that had the same weight? What about warship tonnage? Does it carry more merit than cargo vessels? In other words, does 5,000 tons of warships carry any more merit than 5,000 tons of merchants/cargo ships? I've already determined that shooting down airplanes seems to reward very little renown (which means I spend almost no time at my anti-aircraft, but oh well), but I'm not sure about the rest of it. Anyhow, those are some questions I had, and I probably have more, but can't think of them right now. P.S. This is the first time I've played this late into the war. Umm...the days of simply surfacing next to unescorted C2s and plinking them with HE from the 88 are over. LOL! At first, when they just had a single gun, it wasn't really a problem. I just shot it off the ship with HE then went about the normal business of sinking it. Now, they have machineguns, two cannons, etc. I can't even do the old "sink the escorts and then have target-practice with the deck gun" strategy anymore. When a whole convoy of armed merchants starts shooting at you, what individual ships lack in firepower and accuracy is quickly made up by the sheer numbers of weapons being fired at you (nevermind the airplanes that usually show up if you are anywhere in the vicinity of the island, even at night they show up, which wasn't happening at the start of the war) This is definitely getting more entertaining as it becomes more difficult. It feels less like a turkey-shoot and there are more "soil your undies" moments. I'm playing this career where one death equals end of career (no re-loading saved games), and there have been some VERY close scrapes with death. I got sidetracked. Main reason for my post was to ask some questions and add more later. Community seems very helpful. Thanks, in advance, for any help you provide.