U-boat visual detection range

gurudennis · 11-29-19, 04:59 AM

It's now become clear that our previous (and formerly correct) understanding that time of day had no impact on visibility was stealthily shattered sometime around update 0.20.

After some empirical research, below are the visual detection ranges as of game version 0.20b (current).

Note that night time represents the extreme (no moon, pitch black) and so does day time (the brightest it can get), while dusk/dawn is calibrated to about the average amount of light around that time of day. Anecdotally, the exact amount of light influences the equation somewhat, so take the figures below as a rough guideline rather than gospel.

Yes, this means that you can now do Kretschmer-style night attacks

Kudos to Koji and Lucifer for hopping on my boat while I was running the experiments, and not dying of boredom :P

Jonas Grumby · 11-30-19, 04:25 PM

Thank you sir. Saved a lot of guys a lot of tedium there.
At full moon I've ran alongside a Flower at 800 meters out while matching his course and speed. Never detected.

(15 OCT 40, Biscay, approximately 2100hrs, medium setting)

VonHoffman · 11-30-19, 06:15 PM

We ran about 800 m away from a Sloop and was never spotted, even though we could clearly see the Merchant ships in the distance (about 4000 m).

1941, night time with low Moon (ship outlines easily visible due to looking "up Moon" (Moon was behind us).

Aktungbby · 11-30-19, 07:34 PM

VonHoffman!

THEBERBSTER · 12-01-19, 07:51 AM

A Warm Welcome To The Subsim Community > VonHoffman
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Fidd · 12-07-19, 02:53 AM

What do people think about these effectively digital ranges?

Ideally whether or not one is observed should be a very low base chance per minute, increasing or decreasing with:

Lighting
Being silhouetted
Surfacing or Diving
Aspect (side on or pointed at the viewer)
Height
Gun-flashes
Weather
Observer being alerted to a U-boats position

...and so forth.

In other words if you can see the convoy, then you're not utterly safe from observation at any range, or any light-level etc. Instead in disadvantageous conditions for the AI observer eg night, fog you can be pretty sure of being unobserved, but not completely certain...

11-29-19, 04:59 AM	#1
gurudennis Mate Join Date: Mar 2019 Posts: 55 Downloads: 2 Uploads: 0	U-boat visual detection range It's now become clear that our previous (and formerly correct) understanding that time of day had no impact on visibility was stealthily shattered sometime around update 0.20. After some empirical research, below are the visual detection ranges as of game version 0.20b (current). Note that night time represents the extreme (no moon, pitch black) and so does day time (the brightest it can get), while dusk/dawn is calibrated to about the average amount of light around that time of day. Anecdotally, the exact amount of light influences the equation somewhat, so take the figures below as a rough guideline rather than gospel. Yes, this means that you can now do Kretschmer-style night attacks Kudos to Koji and Lucifer for hopping on my boat while I was running the experiments, and not dying of boredom :P Last edited by gurudennis; 11-29-19 at 05:09 AM.

11-30-19, 04:25 PM	#2
Jonas Grumby Watch Join Date: Feb 2017 Location: Retired in Rapid City, South Dakota Posts: 23 Downloads: 126 Uploads: 0	Detection Ranges Thank you sir. Saved a lot of guys a lot of tedium there. At full moon I've ran alongside a Flower at 800 meters out while matching his course and speed. Never detected. (15 OCT 40, Biscay, approximately 2100hrs, medium setting)

11-30-19, 07:34 PM	#4
Aktungbby Gefallen Engel U-666 Join Date: Jul 2013 Location: On a tilted, overheated, overpopulated spinning mudball on Collision course with Andromeda Galaxy Posts: 29,979 Downloads: 24 Uploads: 0	VonHoffman! __________________ "Only two things are infinite; The Universe and human squirrelyness?!!

12-01-19, 07:51 AM	#5
THEBERBSTER Growing Old Disgracefully Join Date: Dec 2012 Location: Hythe - Southampton Posts: 9,609 Downloads: 1133 Uploads: 0	A Warm Welcome To The Subsim Community > VonHoffman Subsim <> Make A Donation <> See The Benefits <> Support The Community __________________ LSH3-2015 <> TUTORIALS <> ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW <> ALL IN ONE PLACE SH4 <> TUTORIALS <> HOW TO DO IT <> INFORMATION <> DOWNLOAD LINKS SH5 <> TUTORIALS <> HOW TO DO IT <> INFORMATION <> DOWNLOAD LINKS Always Here To Help A Fellow 'Subber' \| Need An Answer to A Question Just Send Me A PM

11-30-19, 06:15 PM	#3
VonHoffman Seaman Join Date: Oct 2019 Location: Near crush depth. Maybe. Posts: 33 Downloads: 6 Uploads: 0	We ran about 800 m away from a Sloop and was never spotted, even though we could clearly see the Merchant ships in the distance (about 4000 m). 1941, night time with low Moon (ship outlines easily visible due to looking "up Moon" (Moon was behind us).

12-07-19, 02:53 AM	#6
Fidd Captain Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Blighty! Posts: 542 Downloads: 10 Uploads: 0	What do people think about these effectively digital ranges? Ideally whether or not one is observed should be a very low base chance per minute, increasing or decreasing with: Lighting Being silhouetted Surfacing or Diving Aspect (side on or pointed at the viewer) Height Gun-flashes Weather Observer being alerted to a U-boats position ...and so forth. In other words if you can see the convoy, then you're not utterly safe from observation at any range, or any light-level etc. Instead in disadvantageous conditions for the AI observer eg night, fog you can be pretty sure of being unobserved, but not completely certain...