Sonar detectability

[Ulfberht]

How to avoid this detection? My hull gives 100%, is there any way of lowering this? How to make their sonars work worse? It seems they ALWAYS find me if they have sonars on their ships...

Also, I NEVER get detected based on sound. Is this not really implemented yet or?

[KrazyKanuck]

this could be a bug in the game yet - I would assume hull detectability should reduce with the depth of the boat, especially passing the thermocline layer or getting close to the sea floor and running quite. I feel they haven't got the algorithm completed for this?

[Simon]

Originally posted by KrazyKanuck:

this could be a bug in the game yet - I would assume hull detectability should reduce with the depth of the boat, especially passing the thermocline layer or getting close to the sea floor and running quite. I feel they haven't got the algorithm completed for this?

That's the great thing about sonar and radar. If none of the detection parameters have changed then distance doesn't matter, you just measure the response.

You are right about thermocline as that is at variable depth depending on the ocean at the time and will reflect some of the sonar signal back. Because its an ever changing feature of the ocean interpreting results through that would be problematic.

The sea floor doesn't actually change hull detection at all from a sonar perspective. The problem becomes interpretation of the return in that you cannot tell what is sea floor and what is submarine as you know you should get a solid return at that depth anyway for the sea floor. Depends how accurate your ocean maps and sonar are at that point I guess.

The negative counters DWS are using for sea floor seem like a reasonable approximation right now, hull = 100%, seafloor proximity = -80%, I think I remembered that right but happy to be corrected.

You could be right that this may not be completed yet but I'm guessing that the maths involved in a complete sonar solution, particularly through a thermocline, are pretty involved.

[Razors_Edge1 || TTV]

Originally posted by Disturbed:

150 m is the safest deepth you can go. While there is no 100% cover in open ocean it greatly reduces the chance that the enemy can find you. After my experience he have to be almost above you to find you.

I have gone as deep as 200 as long as I have an officer at the dive plane station and maintain 1/3 speed. Its loud as heck though. Sounds like the bolts are about to shoot out at any moment. :)

[Simon]

Originally posted by Razors Edge:

Originally posted by Disturbed:

150 m is the safest deepth you can go. While there is no 100% cover in open ocean it greatly reduces the chance that the enemy can find you. After my experience he have to be almost above you to find you.

I have gone as deep as 200 as long as I have an officer at the dive plane station and maintain 1/3 speed. Its loud as heck though. Sounds like the bolts are about to shoot out at any moment. :)

200m..nice work dude...nuts of steel fella.

[Ulfberht]

I went down to 250-260 m. Boat still ok. Maybe its like a percentage chance of leaks at great depths? The deeper you go the higher the chance of hull cracking, its not a guarantee but higher probability. Dont know what crushdepth is

[Fatpiglet]

Originally posted by Ulfberht:

I went down to 250-260 m. Boat still ok. Maybe its like a percentage chance of leaks at great depths? The deeper you go the higher the chance of hull cracking, its not a guarantee but higher probability. Dont know what crushdepth is

Crush depth is around 300m roughly. People seem scared to go past 200m but it really isn't that dangerous compared to depth charges. Should experiement when you can before you get into a combat and need to dive past 150m.

[Kitsuka]

I don't know if it has changed since I tested a few versions ago but you can go as far as 280 meters without getting crushed instantly. What seems to happen is when you are in crash depth there is a chance of a leak starting and a smaller chance that the sub will be crushed. The deeper you go the greater the chance of each happening. Also you will not always get a leak before you are crushed. The chances of one or the other happening seems to start off very low and increase slowly at first as you go deeper but the rapidly increase after a point. I have gone deeper than 360 meters while sinking before being crushed. I have also been crushed as shallow as ~250 meters.

[Razors_Edge1 || TTV]

Originally posted by Kitsuka:

I don't know if it has changed since I tested a few versions ago but you can go as far as 280 meters without getting crushed instantly. What seems to happen is when you are in crash depth there is a chance of a leak starting and a smaller chance that the sub will be crushed. The deeper you go the greater the chance of each happening. Also you will not always get a leak before you are crushed. The chances of one or the other happening seems to start off very low and increase slowly at first as you go deeper but the rapidly increase after a point. I have gone deeper than 360 meters while sinking before being crushed. I have also been crushed as shallow as ~250 meters.

Its touch an go below 250m It depends on the weather as well. Rough sea's have caught me off guard at deeper depths. They also added a "shadow" (hover over the detection icon) feature which shows your detection bonus based on depth and sounds from depth charges. It allows you to speed up during the explosions as sonar cant detect you as the charges are going off. I'm able to change direction and change various depths until they eventually run out of barrels :) Learning some really cool tactics.

[Ulfberht]

On a sidenote... I find the early game very easy in the beginning. There is really noting that can threaten you apart from the occational aircraft. Does the difficulty ramp up? When? I have not played up until a few years in the game. I seem to earn well over 100 000 points, resupplying is just a clickfest, no priorities really.

[Razors_Edge1 || TTV]

Originally posted by Ulfberht:

On a sidenote... I find the early game very easy in the beginning. There is really noting that can threaten you apart from the occational aircraft. Does the difficulty ramp up? When? I have not played up until a few years in the game. I seem to earn well over 100 000 points, resupplying is just a clickfest, no priorities really.

I did pick the end of the war, the most difficult setting. Less ports, less supply but even that isnt going to challenge you if you have 60+ hours.
I think as the next phase Q1 comes out and then for sure Q2 this will be a handful to master.

For now I just continue to report bugs, and find my own challenges like seeking out a battleship with an escort of smaller patrol boats.

[ждун]

Originally posted by Ulfberht:

How to avoid this detection? My hull gives 100%, is there any way of lowering this? How to make their sonars work worse? It seems they ALWAYS find me if they have sonars on their ships...

Also, I NEVER get detected based on sound. Is this not really implemented yet or?

I find sonar decoys quite effective.

Just drop one through pill thrower at about periscope depth and get away with full speed. Don't mind if they here you, they will always jump on the decoy first and will atack it for about 20 minutes until out of charges. You can get away several kilometers until they find out they were bombing bubbles.

I tried it several times, and it always worked like a charm. Now i always have at least 10 decoys on each patrol with me.

[Fatpiglet]

Originally posted by Ulfberht:

On a sidenote... I find the early game very easy in the beginning. There is really noting that can threaten you apart from the occational aircraft. Does the difficulty ramp up? When? I have not played up until a few years in the game. I seem to earn well over 100 000 points, resupplying is just a clickfest, no priorities really.

A lot of the difficulty comes more from searching for more valuable prey like destroyers, battleships, aircraft carriers, etc. Even than I haven't had that many close calls and once you get the snorkel aircraft pose a minimal threat to you. The economy and research becomes a non issue after a short time. If you find it too easy I do recommend starting in 1943 or later. Things are a little bit more challenging and there are more warships to hunt.

[Moray.Eel]

I don't know what you guys are talking about as the real main issue is at 150 mtrs depth the water pump is at about 75% and 200 mtrs it's around 100% so once you get to that deep you can't pump the water out ?

Sonar is on a ship so I'd aim for that one first, before it starts looking.

[El Rushbo]

Another tactic depending on the range is to turn directly towards or away from the ship. Your boat will present a smaller profile and reduce the chance of a return reaching the escort. ASDIC (or sonar) is also pretty much useless if your boat is on the surface. If it's real dark out and you can get some distance, it's possible to surface and slip away. U-boats had a low profile that made them difficult to see during the day, and almost impossible to see at night. This is why most torpedo attacks were done at night on the surface. Remember, night is your best friend... until radar becomes more common that is.