Installing

Troubleshooting

Multiplayer

TIPS

Attack strategy - When operating in conjunction with cruisers, battleships, and aircraft carriers remember to know your place. A destroyer is considered expendable and is expected to protect the capital ships. When your battlefleet encounters an enemy force, you have one principle decision to make: from which quarter to attack.  In the case of enemy aircraft attacks the destroyer captain must not only engage the planes at maximum range but also position his ship to block any torpedoes that may be targeted against the capital ships you are protecting.

ASW Strategy - When approaching a suspected submerged U-boat (as determined by the big grey "uncertainty zone"), slow to 2/3 speed for sonar to work effectively. This is historically accurate and allows the program to function. Don't expect to hear anything if you go ripping around at 30 knots.

Be sure not to hold a steady course as the enemy may launch a fan shot of torps at you. Put the sonar in MANUAL and leave it in ACTIVE (passive sonar works in active, too). Use the  , and  .  keys to manually turn the sonar head sweep.  Use the / key to send out pings. Forget selecting 4000 yard range, the effective range is under 2000. When you hear the U-boat's screws/electrics, use the  [ and ]  keys to bring your ship into line for a depth charge attack. Use the  '  key to center the rudder.

Check the map for a rough target position. If the symbol is a square, then your solution is less than 50%. Go back to the sonar station, check the bearing and keep the sweep centered on it. You will hear the sub get louder as you approach. Decrease the range switch and keep the spike in the center. When the spike is left of center and the range switch is 500, switch the sonar switch to AUTO and go to the Depth Charge station. Immediately increase speed to FLANK (to avoid damage to your DD from your depth charges. Use the depth estimate in the small map window to select the depth. As you ship passes over the contact icon, press the fire button, it should dim as the depth charges are ejected from the rack. Depending on the interval you have set, you may change the depth and drop another round before you pass out of estimated target range.

Weapons

• If you decide to man the AA guns personally use the ‘z’ key to zoom in and keep a finger on the period key to switch gunstations when reloading. A glance at the light-green ownship silhouette on the left should help you stay oriented.

   

Sonar/Radar - When approaching a suspected submerged U-boat, slow to 2/3 speed for sonar to work effectively. This is historically accurate and allows the program to function.  Put the sonar in MANUAL and leave it in ACTIVE (passive sonar works in active, too). Use the  , and  .  keys to manually turn the sonar head sweep. Search for the sound of the sub by directing the sweep in his estimated position. If he is within 3000 yards, you will probably hear his faint signature. Remember, you have to listen with your ears, the game may not blurt out that the AI crew hears a sub.

 Use the / key to send out pings. Forget selecting 4000 yard range, the effective range is under 2000. Once you get within 1500~2000 yards, you should start registering sonar spikes on your display.

When you hear the U-boat's screws/electrics, use the  [ and ]  keys to bring your ship into line for a depth charge attack. Check the map for a rough target position. If the symbol is a square, then your solution is less than 50%. When the range decreases and the contact solution is greater than 50%, the contact will be represented as a ship-shaped icon. Go back to the sonar station, check the bearing and keep the sweep centered on it. You will hear the sub get louder as you approach. Decrease the range switch and keep the spike in the center. When the spike is left of center and the range switch is 500, you are ready to begin a depth charge run.

Multiplay with Silent Hunter II - by Frank "Torpex" Kulick, SUBSIM.COM

The following is an extremely reliable method of conducting SH2~SH2, and SH2~DC MP operations. I have used this over the last week and have had excellent results hosting up to 4 players on a 56K modem. I have no data for DSL or Cable hosts but it should only be better.

First each player needs to check his/her computers resources. As a host I made sure I had nothing less then 80% free. As players I urge nothing less then 75% free. Use of "End-it-all" is highly recommended.  Another little utility I used (Thanks to Ol'man) is "Cacheman" to manage my memory better and have it configured for 3D games. Once everyone is ready, tell them to give you 2-3 minutes to start the server and setup as host. 

The next part is for the host. Go into Windows explorer and under SSI/Silent Hunter II/Dedicated Server . Click the RT.bat file to launch the RTime server. Allow it to stabilize for 20 seconds before launching SH2. Close windows explorer, and shrink the RTime server. Launch SH2.  After selecting "Host a Multiplayer Game" you select "remote server" under "Advanced Features" there is a block there for an IP address, enter your IP and then click the button "validate". If you have done it all correctly, that button changes to "Start server", click it and now you are running on Rtime server.

This has worked very well and the only reasons people were dropped was due to a poor ISP line, or a poor computer, not in the best of health. If you suspect your ISP, reconfigure your dial-up to use another number. I did this once and sure enough it eliminated all lag encountered.
 

Mission Editing -  Check  DOWNLOADS for the Manual Editor Guide and the Koralle Scenario Editor

The first International Silent Hunter II and Destroyer Command Online Fleet:

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