Questions for getting back to SH5

[Itkovian]

Salutations.

Due to having one U-boat dream too many (seriously, I was going through Kiel *grin*), I've decided to go back to SH5 (at least until July, when the Battle of Britain begins anew *grin*).

I got the sim at release and was impressed with the usual things (including leisurely going down Kiel Kanal *grin*), but decided to wait for a patch due to the crew morale bug (while rather gamey, I like the idea but hated losing all that after a reload). Now that this seems to be fixed, I have a few questions before jumping back in.

1- Has the proper use of the Stadimeter been clarified/identified since release? I could never figure out how to use it properly.

I believe it involved sighting to the waterline and then bringing the black line to some point at the top of the target, but I could never figure out where exactly. Top of the funnel? Top of the bridge? Top of highest mast? All of these seemed to give different results based on the target.

Some help would be appreciated.

2- I understand that many mods have been released, as usual in the SH world. Which ones would you recommend as "basic" mods all players should use?

3- I know most mods are installed using JSME, which I've used before but just want to confirm how to use it:

Basically you just copy the JSME exe to the root of the game folder, executed it to have the MODS folder created, and then I just unzip the various mods to the MODS folder, and then run the JSME exe to enable the mods, correct?

4- How is patch 1.2 best installed? I've read some posts saying that the autoinstaller isn't working right. Is it best to manually download the patch file, or does just starting up the game work?

5- Last, but not least: I'm looking for a good gramophone and/or radio mod. Any suggestions?

Thank you.

Itkovian

[kylania]

Originally Posted by Itkovian

1- Has the proper use of the Stadimeter been clarified/identified since release? I could never figure out how to use it properly.

Nope, still broken. However it has been fixed in TheDarkWraith's NewUI + TDC mod.

Originally Posted by Itkovian

2- I understand that many mods have been released, as usual in the SH world. Which ones would you recommend as "basic" mods all players should use?

There's quite a few. These mods are the ones I personally prefer.

Originally Posted by Itkovian

3- I know most mods are installed using JSME, which I've used before but just want to confirm how to use it:

I've posted instructions for how to install JSGME and install a mod with it. I've also posted a video for installing TDW NewUI + TDC which is a little complicated.

Originally Posted by Itkovian

4- How is patch 1.2 best installed? I've read some posts saying that the autoinstaller isn't working right. Is it best to manually download the patch file, or does just starting up the game work?

It should auto-update when you start the game. If not there are other methods for getting the patch.

Originally Posted by Itkovian

5- Last, but not least: I'm looking for a good gramophone and/or radio mod. Any suggestions?

Yup, here's both.

[Itkovian]

Originally Posted by kylania

Nope, still broken. However it has been fixed in TheDarkWraith's NewUI + TDC mod.

Thank you!

However, a question: how has the Stadimeter been fixed in that mod? I was looking at it, and while it improves the TDC I don't see where it fixes the stadi.

Though from what I understand, the stadi does work, but its just that you need to align to different points depending on the ship for it to work (the mast, the bridge, the elbow of the crewmen standing on the bow, etc.) Does that mod then tell us where to align the stadi?

Thank you.

Itkovian

[kylania]

The problem with the standimeter is that it thinks ALL mast heights are 20m. So that's why it sometimes works depending on where you measure from, as long as the point is 20m up, you'll get a proper reading.

TheDarkWraith fixed it programatically. What happens behind the scenes is that it reads where your install directory is, compares the locked target's name to the names.cfg file, then takes the ship type given by that and reads the proper mast height from the ship's config files. You as a player only see "Mast Height: 28.4" or whatever, and the standimeter "just works". Measure from the top of the mast and tada!

[Itkovian]

Originally Posted by kylania

The problem with the standimeter is that it thinks ALL mast heights are 20m. So that's why it sometimes works depending on where you measure from, as long as the point is 20m up, you'll get a proper reading.

TheDarkWraith fixed it programatically. What happens behind the scenes is that it reads where your install directory is, compares the locked target's name to the names.cfg file, then takes the ship type given by that and reads the proper mast height from the ship's config files. You as a player only see "Mast Height: 28.4" or whatever, and the standimeter "just works". Measure from the top of the mast and tada!

Oh awesome! Excellent!

Maybe I can even play without map updates then.

Itkovian

[Itkovian]

Hum, I notice that the UI mod (installed, working well) also enables the gramophone (or maybe it already was).

Does that mean that I can install that gramophone mode (that adds more tunes) without problem? I am curious, as it is a mod from the SHIII forums.

Thank you.

Itkovian

[kylania]

Yeah, it works just the same. Dump the files in the folder and they'll play.

[Itkovian]

Excellent, I will install both the gramophone and radio mods.

Hum, does the radio mod requires special key bindings to switch stations or something, or can that be done using the radio UI?

Itkovian

[kylania]

Pretty sure it's controlled by the little radio UI element itself.

[Itkovian]

I have another question:

Is there a way to invert the mouse Y axis? Most games have this option, but not SH5 and it's driving me crazy.

Itkovian

[kylania]

I've never seen anyone say they managed to do that.

[Itkovian]

*sigh*

One can hope, though.

[Itkovian]

Some more questions.

I finally started my campaign and made my way to the east coast of england for the "coastal waters" mission. After some prowling around and evading a few destroyers, I approached the Firth of Forth and just now made contact with a convoy headed eastwards.

I am in perfect position to move in and lie silently for them to pass at close range, and so I am using the occasion as something of a training ground .

Now I already made one attempt (albeit a not very scientific one), and fully 3 of my 5 torpedoes detonated prematurely (1 hit, the other missed).

Therefore, my questions are:

1- How do I prevent premature detonation? Is that a problem with the magnetic pistol detonators? Should I rely on explosion on contact instead?

2- What method of attack do you prefer to use when faced with a convoy in perfect formation?

What I mean is: it is simple to get a decent solution on a single convoy member (my first torp hit, after all), but how then do you proceed to fire torpedoes at other members of the convoy? Can you obtain several solutions at once? Or do you simply "eyeball it" using the first solution as reference, knowing the rest of the convoy is on the same heading and speed (so you simply need to adjust the range)?

Of course, once I'm done I'll have to evade the destroyers, and my batteries relatively low after diving away from enemy aircraft, so it should be interesting as well. But I simply can't accept not sinking two of those transports, it is such a perfect opportunity.

Thank you.

Itkovian

[kylania]

Originally Posted by Itkovian

1- How do I prevent premature detonation? Is that a problem with the magnetic pistol detonators? Should I rely on explosion on contact instead?

Slow down your rate of fire really. The game will let you shoot pretty quickly, but you won't want to. Fire.. pause.. pause.. Fire! Will work better than Fire, Fire, Fire! There seems to be a lot of problems with mag triggers right now, even beyond the historical problems they had, so impact shots below the waterline are a safe bet. Try for the Engine Room (just under the stacks) for shots that'll slow a ship down.

2- What method of attack do you prefer to use when faced with a convoy in perfect formation?

This post shows my setup and TDC settings for a convoy attack. Basically set the TDC for one ship, and they'll all be the same settings. The only "gotcha" about the attack is if you're attacking 3-4 ships at once using steam torpedoes the first ones you shoot might be seen by the other ships and that'll trigger them to start zigzagging messing up all your shots.

Of course, once I'm done I'll have to evade the destroyers, and my batteries relatively low after diving away from enemy aircraft, so it should be interesting as well. But I simply can't accept not sinking two of those transports, it is such a perfect opportunity.

To evade the destroyers, once you've fired submerge to around 100m or so (if you have the room!) and head into then turn to exit behind the convoy. You'll be harder to hear if you're under all those screws and hopefully explosions.

Also your batteries should never be low. When a plane starts it's attack run, speed up to flank and order a crash dive. As soon as you've dropped below the surface turn hard to port or starboard. As soon as you're 20m down or so, slow down to 1-3kts (Ahead 1/3 or so). That way you're under the surface, on a different course than the planes saw you on, but you're not burning your batteries by remaining at flank speed. As soon as you can't hear any more attack sounds above, raise to periscope depth, check the skies with the Obs scope, and surface if it's clear. Your batteries should recharge quickly.

While on battery power try to not go faster than the first two speeds if you can to save battery power.

[Itkovian]

Originally Posted by kylania

Slow down your rate of fire really. The game will let you shoot pretty quickly, but you won't want to. Fire.. pause.. pause.. Fire! Will work better than Fire, Fire, Fire! There seems to be a lot of problems with mag triggers right now, even beyond the historical problems they had, so impact shots below the waterline are a safe bet. Try for the Engine Room (just under the stacks) for shots that'll slow a ship down.


This post shows my setup and TDC settings for a convoy attack. Basically set the TDC for one ship, and they'll all be the same settings. The only "gotcha" about the attack is if you're attacking 3-4 ships at once using steam torpedoes the first ones you shoot might be seen by the other ships and that'll trigger them to start zigzagging messing up all your shots.

I read that post, and there is something in that procedure I find strange: Why would the range not matter? You say it "cancels out" why? Obviously if you're shooting at the 3rd rank you need to "lead" your target more than if you're shooting the 1st rank. How come that does not matter using your method?

To evade the destroyers, once you've fired submerge to around 100m or so (if you have the room!) and head into then turn to exit behind the convoy. You'll be harder to hear if you're under all those screws and hopefully explosions.

Also your batteries should never be low. When a plane starts it's attack run, speed up to flank and order a crash dive. As soon as you've dropped below the surface turn hard to port or starboard. As soon as you're 20m down or so, slow down to 1-3kts (Ahead 1/3 or so). That way you're under the surface, on a different course than the planes saw you on, but you're not burning your batteries by remaining at flank speed. As soon as you can't hear any more attack sounds above, raise to periscope depth, check the skies with the Obs scope, and surface if it's clear. Your batteries should recharge quickly.

While on battery power try to not go faster than the first two speeds if you can to save battery power.

Well, my batteries are low because for quite a long time there were constantly airplanes in the air (I was sailing by an aerodrome, for one thing), so I sailed on while submerged.

As for sailing towards the back of the convoy, I'm not sure how wise that would be right now, as that would take me deeper in the Firth, likely crawling with escorts, and then I'd have to limp out for a while before I could surface.

I'll see how it goes, I am definitely using this opportunity as practice, though. Made a save game right before contact, and will probably be reloading it a few times to get the hang of things.

Itkovian