Submarine Periscope targeting

[woodwindmark]

I would like to see the Sub Periscope actually do something to the target acquisition process, at the moment it's just a spotting tool and has no effect on target solution.
This doesn't make sense to me and detracts from the gameplay.

[Johan217]

I find the periscope isn't much use for aiming since it does not show bearing off the bow (same with binoculars).

[Volkswagon]

Originally posted by Johan217:

I find the periscope isn't much use for aiming since it does not show bearing off the bow (same with binoculars).

it kinda does - there's a compass at the top of the screen when you're in periscope view, and your heading is shown in your orders panel (you'd just have to do some math to determine bearing off the bow this way).

If you've already acquired the target, bearing and heading are shown in the target row if you have the ship targeted. Similarly, bearing off the bow is shown by mousing over your torpedoes in the weapons tab if you have the ship you're looking at targeted.

[Johan217]

Yes I know all that, but it's the math that gets me LOL

Over the years of playing subsims I have got used to seeing the bearing off the bow without having to calculate wether I am looking to port or starboard.

[MizuYuuki]

Yes. The targeting is overly simplified. There is no way a sub could target a ship using only the hydrophone. You need target distance, target speed and angle on the bow for the TDC to calculate the gyro setting. The game should at least require the periscope to be up for some period of time in order to get those parameters and determine a solution, and that solution should only be valid for that relative position of sub to target. If the sub to target position changes, the solution would have to be re-acquired with the periscope.

[woodwindmark]

It seems to me that the whole point of playing subs is the periscope, it's what defines the WW2 submarine. I'd like to see the game reflect that (no pun intended) a little more faithfully.
I've noticed a tendency for the "targeting computation" to refuse to give a good solution on easy targets, at night. Even when they're as plain as day in the 'scope and only 2-3000 yds away. maybe one torp will hit, maybe they all miss. RNG is a clumsy tool.

[MizuYuuki]

I edited my previous post because it's clear that the algorithm which calculates the solution is taking visibility into consideration. Solutions are poor at night and in other poor visibility conditions such as rain and haze. So, the submarine is taking visual sightings even though the periscope isn't shown as raised. The periscope button is there so that the player can identify ships at longer range than the auto-identify in the option settings provides. We'll forget about the fact that the player can identify ships just by clicking on them in the mini-map, and instead we'll identify ships only with the periscope. Identifying the target increases the solution by 10% because the height of the mast is then known from the silhouette manual, and that increases the accuracy of the distance to target estimate.

A dichotomy can seem to occur because, if the player raises the periscope, it increases the chance of the sub being sighted by lookouts. I noticed this in the game when my sub was less than 3000 yards from a destroyer in calm seas, and I raised the periscope. The algorithm calculating the solution doesn't suffer this disadvantage even though it must be taking periodic visual sightings with the periscope. The way that I rationalize this away is to believe that the submarine captain can get the necessary visual readings very quickly, so the periscope is raised for a very short period of time.