Real Time Spotting/Hydrophone Detection

crocodile · 12-20-10, 10:02 AM

Hi everybody. I ve been playing this game for a while, since 2006 then stopped and recently re installed. I play Vanilla 1.4 or GWX 3.0 Gold.
I like it but sometimes I feel a bit frustrated by one aspect: I actually never spot ships convoys or planes myself. It's always the Crew doing so while I get around at 128 or 256 X time acceleration.
I usually leave my base and head for the patrol grid where I patrol then back home or somewhere else but the point is since the area is so wide and the U Boot moves so slow as in real time, I need to speed up to 128 or 256 to get things not to last ages. (been told than more than 256 X time accel is bad for game dynamics).
And so I never manage to spot the ships myself or to spot a plane because most of the time I'm navigating or patrolling in accelerated time.
Is the same for you right? I mean if you get back to 1X normal time at a random point you can look at the sky and sea or listen to the Hydrophone for a couple of minutes in search for contacts or visual spottings but after these couple of minutes you must be back to accelerated time right? Otherwise it will last hours of nothing happening and that would be boring....
I also tried to switch back to normal 1X time when I found I was on a route where usually convoys pass but after few minutes I didn't see anything and so went back to 128X and after 40 secs of real life the crew detected a plane or a ship. So the point is, especially when navigating away from the coast, I'm always there with time very fast accelerated and crew spotting things for me, and sometimes badly or too late.
Is it the same for you or you like to play many many minutes or even Hours in normal 1X listening to the Hydrophone or searching sky and sea by yourself?
Or you do like me and act when your crew inform that a plane or a ship are near the U-Boot?

Axeman3d · 12-20-10, 10:41 AM

I think we'd all love to be the one to spot the ship or aircraft first, but due to the time constraints it's not going to happen.

One place I have beat the crew to the punch is on the hydrophones. During a normal patrol I submerge several times a day to have a listen and see if anything shows up out of visual range. Sometimes I will listen myself, just to be sure my sonar guy isn't missing something, and on two occasions I have actually detected faint ship noises he had missed.

Missing Name · 12-20-10, 11:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Axeman3d

Sometimes I will listen myself, just to be sure my sonar guy isn't missing something, and on two occasions I have actually detected faint ship noises he had missed.

This exactly. It's rewarding to hear the "catathunk-catathunk" of an ore carrier that the sonar guy overlooked.

Jimbuna · 12-20-10, 11:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by crocodile

Hi everybody. I ve been playing this game for a while, since 2006 then stopped and recently re installed. I play Vanilla 1.4 or GWX 3.0 Gold.
I like it but sometimes I feel a bit frustrated by one aspect: I actually never spot ships convoys or planes myself. It's always the Crew doing so while I get around at 128 or 256 X time acceleration.
I usually leave my base and head for the patrol grid where I patrol then back home or somewhere else but the point is since the area is so wide and the U Boot moves so slow as in real time, I need to speed up to 128 or 256 to get things not to last ages. (been told than more than 256 X time accel is bad for game dynamics).
And so I never manage to spot the ships myself or to spot a plane because most of the time I'm navigating or patrolling in accelerated time.
Is the same for you right? I mean if you get back to 1X normal time at a random point you can look at the sky and sea or listen to the Hydrophone for a couple of minutes in search for contacts or visual spottings but after these couple of minutes you must be back to accelerated time right? Otherwise it will last hours of nothing happening and that would be boring....
I also tried to switch back to normal 1X time when I found I was on a route where usually convoys pass but after few minutes I didn't see anything and so went back to 128X and after 40 secs of real life the crew detected a plane or a ship. So the point is, especially when navigating away from the coast, I'm always there with time very fast accelerated and crew spotting things for me, and sometimes badly or too late.
Is it the same for you or you like to play many many minutes or even Hours in normal 1X listening to the Hydrophone or searching sky and sea by yourself?
Or you do like me and act when your crew inform that a plane or a ship are near the U-Boot?

I think you'd find your game experience is similar to many others...apart from those that play in real time.

crocodile · 12-20-10, 12:30 PM

OMG and thats surely something that surprise me. Are there really people that play in real time for hours and that for hours listen to the hydrophone or look through binoculars?

Sailor Steve · 12-20-10, 12:58 PM

There have been people who became legends here for playing entire patrols in real time.

I'm not one of them.

kapuhy · 12-20-10, 02:38 PM

I scan the area with binoculars and have often been able to spot the target first, but I only do this when I suspect my watch crew missed something (say, I had a contact report and arrived at calculated interception point, or I'm following a hydrophone contact and have a feeling it should be visible already). Also, I had regularly make 360 degree hydrophone sweeps every now and then, since I am usually able to pick up a strange noise sooner than my sonarman.

Once I was also able to spot an airplane before watch crew reported it, this however was pure chance - I entered the bridge to look at the surroundings and after several seconds picked up a faint buzzing noise. Crash-dived just in time.

Jimbuna · 12-20-10, 04:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by crocodile

OMG and thats surely something that surprise me. Are there really people that play in real time for hours and that for hours listen to the hydrophone or look through binoculars?

Check the threads...each to their own.

Myxale · 12-21-10, 05:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by crocodile

OMG and thats surely something that surprise me. Are there really people that play in real time for hours and that for hours listen to the hydrophone or look through binoculars?

Yeah those people are epic! We worship them

I once did the Gibraltar Mission in Real Time and it was hairy, draining and nerve whacking.

I suggest you try one of those missions in 1x too!

12-20-10, 10:02 AM	#1
crocodile Watch Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Italy Posts: 23 Downloads: 27 Uploads: 0	Real Time Spotting/Hydrophone Detection Hi everybody. I ve been playing this game for a while, since 2006 then stopped and recently re installed. I play Vanilla 1.4 or GWX 3.0 Gold. I like it but sometimes I feel a bit frustrated by one aspect: I actually never spot ships convoys or planes myself. It's always the Crew doing so while I get around at 128 or 256 X time acceleration. I usually leave my base and head for the patrol grid where I patrol then back home or somewhere else but the point is since the area is so wide and the U Boot moves so slow as in real time, I need to speed up to 128 or 256 to get things not to last ages. (been told than more than 256 X time accel is bad for game dynamics). And so I never manage to spot the ships myself or to spot a plane because most of the time I'm navigating or patrolling in accelerated time. Is the same for you right? I mean if you get back to 1X normal time at a random point you can look at the sky and sea or listen to the Hydrophone for a couple of minutes in search for contacts or visual spottings but after these couple of minutes you must be back to accelerated time right? Otherwise it will last hours of nothing happening and that would be boring.... I also tried to switch back to normal 1X time when I found I was on a route where usually convoys pass but after few minutes I didn't see anything and so went back to 128X and after 40 secs of real life the crew detected a plane or a ship. So the point is, especially when navigating away from the coast, I'm always there with time very fast accelerated and crew spotting things for me, and sometimes badly or too late. Is it the same for you or you like to play many many minutes or even Hours in normal 1X listening to the Hydrophone or searching sky and sea by yourself? Or you do like me and act when your crew inform that a plane or a ship are near the U-Boot?

12-20-10, 12:58 PM	#6
Sailor Steve Eternal Patrol Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: High in the mountains of Utah Posts: 50,369 Downloads: 745 Uploads: 249	There have been people who became legends here for playing entire patrols in real time. I'm not one of them. __________________ “Never do anything you can't take back.” —Rocky Russo

12-20-10, 10:41 AM	#2
Axeman3d Machinist's Mate Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Central Scotland Posts: 127 Downloads: 29 Uploads: 0	I think we'd all love to be the one to spot the ship or aircraft first, but due to the time constraints it's not going to happen. One place I have beat the crew to the punch is on the hydrophones. During a normal patrol I submerge several times a day to have a listen and see if anything shows up out of visual range. Sometimes I will listen myself, just to be sure my sonar guy isn't missing something, and on two occasions I have actually detected faint ship noises he had missed.

12-20-10, 12:30 PM	#5
crocodile Watch Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Italy Posts: 23 Downloads: 27 Uploads: 0	OMG and thats surely something that surprise me. Are there really people that play in real time for hours and that for hours listen to the hydrophone or look through binoculars?

12-20-10, 02:38 PM	#7
kapuhy Grey Wolf Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Poland Posts: 874 Downloads: 72 Uploads: 3	I scan the area with binoculars and have often been able to spot the target first, but I only do this when I suspect my watch crew missed something (say, I had a contact report and arrived at calculated interception point, or I'm following a hydrophone contact and have a feeling it should be visible already). Also, I had regularly make 360 degree hydrophone sweeps every now and then, since I am usually able to pick up a strange noise sooner than my sonarman. Once I was also able to spot an airplane before watch crew reported it, this however was pure chance - I entered the bridge to look at the surroundings and after several seconds picked up a faint buzzing noise. Crash-dived just in time.