problem using crash dive

[Viduka]

I never normally used the crash dive fuction, (haven't really had to so far) but i've been playing around with it with some disturbing results.

If I crash dive, normally I let it get to around 14m before pressing P for periscope depth to stop the boot continuing downwards. The problem is that it seems to totally ignore this command and continues diving until I hit the bottom with a big THUD.

The only way i've been able to stop the boot going right to the bottom is by ordering "full stop" and hitting S for surface.

So in short, I seem to have a workable (if not slightly annoying) solution around this problem but I was wondering if this is a noted bug?

Is it the case that ordering a 'crash dive' sends you down to a predetermined depth regardless of how much ocean you have underneath you?

Currently using IuB, SH3 commander and bordeinstrument mods. Hull was at 100% at time of testing.

Thanks in advance.

(I also tried using 'maintain depth' to stop it going deeper but to no avail.)

[jasondef]

I use crash dive in emergencies just to hurry up and get it off of the surface, and I order periscope depth as soon as the watch crew gets off the bridge, and it seems to stop diving around 20-25 meters before rising to periscope depth. I think crash dive pumps ballast forward, crew runs forward, etc., so it will always take time to revover from all that momentum before rising again whenever you give orders to rise.

It does seem to order a predetermined depths regardless of where the ocean floor is. I've gone in deep water and ordered a crash dive and let the crash dive run its course; I forget exactly but it levels out at like 50 or 70 meters or something like that. Its up to the captain to make sure there's enough room before hitting the bottom!

[AntEater]

Crash dive means a hellbent dive without any regard for such trivial things as the ocean bottom.
If a Liberator is inbound, hitting the bottom is the least of your problems.
In real life, it would have been hard to recover a boat from such a dive from anything less than 50 meters.
I mean basically you if you flood all cells and have a 30 degree bow down angle with flank speed you will get deep pretty fast.
SH3 normally does a worse job simulating the dynamics of a U-Boat than AOTD did; there you lost compressed air when going too slow and if you went too deep, the pumps could not keep up with the pressure. In SH3 the boat still largely behaves as if it just climbs down stairs.
But they got the crash dive right.

Would be nice that if you have an incompetent LI he could totally lose control of the boat and plunge to 200 meters or so.
Also such idiots should broach the boat on periscope depth or when firing torpedoes. But that is just dreaming, I'm afraid.

[raymond6751]

I too avoid hitting bottom by pressing 'P' right away after crash dive. You might also try using the 'A' key once under which attempts to level off.

Don't forget to slow it down too.

If you do a look outside and see bottom coming up, you could press 'E' which is blow tanks, then press 'P' and see if that helps.

Anyway, hitting bottom at slow or stop speed is better than if moving faster. You won't get damaged. I usually hit hard left or right turn, slow or stop engines once underwater. Get it level, then speed up.

I also hit P as soon as the boat starts to dive, but I think AntEater is right. Part of the diving process is to flood the tanks, and trim the boat once you are underwater. Diving straight to periscope depth is a tricky process in itself, and to go decks awash the boat has to dive first, then trim neutral and then use the planes to come back up to the desired depth.

Crash diving means flooding everything to get under in a hurry. levelling off in that condition is very difficult, and involves blowing out tanks again to obtain neutral bouyancy.

[Heibges]

Silent Hunter 2 also made you use compressed air if you dove or surfaced at too low a speed.

[jumpy]

I seem to remember it taking +10-20m or so for the boat to level out after a crashdive order. For my VIIB crash dive takes me to about 85m then settles out at 70m.
Generally I cruise on the surface at ahead slow; when I receive and alert I hit flank speed and change course rapidly, as soon as I have 10+ knots on the speedo I press 'D' for dive- it normally only takes several seconds for the boat to get below the surface at speed, then I change course again. To recover from the dive press 'A' at your desired depth setting - but be aware that you will continue to dive for about 20m then the boat will level out and return to your set depth.

You can mod the surfaced depth of the boat to improve dive time- my VIIB is set to 7 - 7.5m this can reasult in a slightly reduced surface speed (especially in bad weather) but greatly reduces the time it takes to perform and emergency dive. Sailing with 'decks-awash' is a simple little mod, I'm sure there's a link about this on the SHIII mods sticky.
The faster you are going on the surface, the quicker your dive time will be.
I generally avoid the crash dive button unless I'm in the atlantic- bouncing off the bottom of the north sea after running out of depth is a sure way of letting any persuing DD know where you are!!

On the subject of knowing your sea depth, I think it was Boardinstrumente mod which has a small colour chart attached to the mouse pointer which gives an indication as to the colour depth markings on the NAV map screen- this only seems to work in daylight mode as the colour chart is off when viewed at night- dimmed lights affect the map but not the chart scale.
If you're in the process of being attacked, there's no problem in ordering the NAV officer to ping the sea floor for depth as the DD knows where you are anyway

[jasondef]

I kind of miss in SH2 how you can manually change your bow and stern plane angles, to give more control over your dives and levelling out and such.

[Tonnage_Ace]

I don't know why people use crash dive, I just hit 5 and 'd' to dive then I can set the appropriate depth when I get below the waves. All crash dive does is set ahead flank and depth 70m, guess some people are lazy and want to hit 'c' instead, although not recomended when depth under keel is 50m

[jasondef]

But will "d" flood the tanks like "c" to get down faster, like Anteater and Sailor Steve says? And "c" instead of combination of "5" and "d" will save you the time of pressing one additional key, that may be a crucial nanosecond right there!

Originally Posted by jasondef

I kind of miss in SH2 how you can manually change your bow and stern plane angles, to give more control over your dives and levelling out and such.

I was playing in an online game several years ago (I always ended up being a DD) when one of the U-boat players said he had died-he tried to come up fast and manually put the planes to 'up'. The boat kept getting more vertical until it was pointing almost straight up, at which time he died; apparently when you got to vertical everything inside would break loose and the boat and crew were done for.

Originally Posted by Tonnage_Ace

I don't know why people use crash dive, I just hit 5 and 'd' to dive then I can set the appropriate depth when I get below the waves. All crash dive does is set ahead flank and depth 70m, guess some people are lazy and want to hit 'c' instead, although not recomended when depth under keel is 50m

Since I'm using the old Das Boot Sound Mod I prefer to hit 'C' simply because it triggers the whole 'ALAAAAAAAARM!' sequence, including guys running and swearing. Much fun.

Originally Posted by jasondef

But will "d" flood the tanks like "c" to get down faster, like Anteater and Sailor Steve says?

I NEVER SAID THAT! LEAVE ME OUT OF YOUR PERVERSE FANTASIES! WHY, I OUGHTTA...okay, meds kicking in, I'm much calmer now...actually I was refering to real life. I don't hit the 'D' key unless I'm already submerged; in fact I nearly bought it the other night when I forgot I was going deeper until I started hearing bolts popping and people screaming-another good one from DBSM.

[Viduka]

Then that would make sense then. I was testing the crash dive just off the Dutch coast in quite shallow waters - around about 28m.

I don't know how much more effective using "C" is but it's very cool hearing the "ALLLARRRMMM!" as has been stated above.

I tried using the level out command with little sucess. I think i'll have to continue to use "surface" to level out, at least whilst i'm in shallow waters, or maybe try to "pull out" by pressing P a lot earlier.

[Aqualung]

I'm with Sailor Steve on this one - am using Das Boot sounds, and crash dive mainly because of the 'ALAAAAARM' sounds that go with it (although I avoid using it in shallow water).

Why not go to the Submarine CFG files and change your Crash depth value to what you consider a reasonalbe value?