What a dumb Smoke Screen implementation, and programmation?

[jcv5000]

hi, why when we put a Smoke Screen, ennemy can still see us, but we cannot see the ennemy ships no more? What a dumb programmation by the devs? I was in a DD against 2 ships, I have put a smoke screen, and was in it, but as soon as the smoke screen set up, I did not see the ennemy no more, but they can still shoot at me? Also, that situation happen almost every time I use a smoke screen? I was the ship that put the smoke screen? Also, I have played 2 others ships games in the past, and the ''Smoke Screen'' was made by a shell that you shoot anywhere, normally in front of our ship, in the direction we are going, and want to stop! That make no sense to put a smoke screen in the back of our ships, another dumb implementation, as far as I am concerned! Please Devs, work obn the Smoke screen, because it is really dumbly implemented and programmed?

[Ryuu]

Seems you still haven't grasped the main game mechanics
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qnfLjJ0brXw&list=PLVmXzlhZvJVSo3LA0O0ccjHRxxv-Qzchb&index=8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g71WA4NANDw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rUXaRqCcEJs&list=PLVmXzlhZvJVSo3LA0O0ccjHRxxv-Qzchb

You lose sight of enemy because there's no line of sight between you anymore and no ally spotting him for you. While likely there was another enemy who could still see you likely because of your increased visibility after shooting. Maybe it was even invisible for you, for example a destroyer at the flank.

If you want the smoke to completely cover your you need to move below 12.5 knots, it's a bit more than 1/4 speed for most ships, so just drop to 1/4 for simplicity. Then stay in that smoke for 20 seconds if you've been shooting so your concealment drops to the regular value then exit it if you need to retreat, depending on situation.

[old.school]

Originally posted by jcv5000:

hi, why when we put a Smoke Screen, ennemy can still see us, but we cannot see the ennemy ships no more? What a dumb programmation by the devs?

You need to learn how spotting, concealment and smoke mechanics work...

If you are the only ship and you are in smoke then you wont be able to see out of it. If another friendly ship is nearby and they can see the enemy ships then you will be able to see those ships too when you are in smoke. Also smoke doesnt make you totally invisible to enemies. Once they get to a certain range they will see you. That threshold range is increased if you are firing your guns or if your ship is on fire. Hit H the next time you are in game while in a match.

[StormhawkV]

Yes, it does make sense. Historically smoke generators were mounted on the stern of a ship to create a wall of smoke behind that ship to mask a retreat.

Every ship in WoWs has a smoke firing penalty which means you have to stay away a certain distance from enemy ships while firing or they will spot you. Then there is hydro and radar which can also spot you in your smoke and finally assured detection will spot you when an enemy ship is closer than 2km (3km with a tier 8 module).

Also if you smoke up while you are the only ship that spots the enemy you will lose vision of them unless they fire their guns and their smoke firing penalty is high enough to reveal them. This is often used against battleships. Provoke them to blindfire in your smoke then return fire while they are spotted.


Edit:

Wow, three answers at once. This community is really active and helpful. ^^

[Ryuu]

Also good players are able to shoot back into smoke by memory or by seeing your gun tracers, especially at close distance.

Originally posted by jcv5000:

That make no sense to put a smoke screen in the back of our ships

Makes sense depending on smoke generation method, it's not always made by projectiles. Also that's for balancing, to prevent it being magic button.
Actually a couple of years ago it immediately covered your ship at current position, so was quite unbalanced and dumb.

So just because you don't understand — doesn't mean it's dumb, it usually means you're not seeing the whole picture. Yeah, we all want our ship class to be OP, to have insta-smoke at any speed, but there are reasons why that is a bad idea for the game.

Here are real examples BTW that smoke is usually layed behind the vehicle:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/20/Smoke_screen.jpg
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f9/Olifant_tank.jpg
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e7/US_Navy_100204-N-7843A-121_Republic_of_Korea_amphibious_assault_vehicles_release_a_smoke_screen_before_hitting_the_beach_during_a_Cobra_Gold_2010_amphibious_landing_demonstration.jpg

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smoke_screen#Naval_methods

Modern ships have other means for smoke laying too, but not WW2 AFAIK.

[StormhawkV]

If you activate last known position by clicking on the cogwheel above the minimap and choosing the right option you can put the little circle of the aim assist on that minimap above the silouette of the DD where he was last spotted and you have a very accurate help for firing into his smoke.

Many cruisers and battleships can launch a spotter plane which will raise the viewpoint which makes firing into a smoke much easier. This is especially dangerous for cruisers of the Royal Navy.

[jcv5000]

Thanks a lot for all the infos! Now, I understand it better. And I even think, the way that the smoke screen consumable operate, make sense after all!! :)

[Ryuu]

Originally posted by StormhawkV:

If you activate last known position by clicking on the cogwheel above the minimap and choosing the right option you can put the little circle of the aim assist on that minimap above the silouette of the DD where he was last spotted and you have a very accurate help for firing into his smoke.

DDs are too small of a target for that, more effective against light cruisers.
But in any case watching shot tracers is the best for either case.

So if you're a DD inside a smoke and you see enemy having turrets aimed in your direction — don't fire just yet, wait for them to switch the target.

Many cruisers and battleships can launch a spotter plane which will raise the viewpoint which makes firing into a smoke much easier.

Ah, true, but you also forgot to mention that sometimes it may allow them to see behind the smoke screen if the plane gets on the other side!

[Ryuu]

Originally posted by jcv5000:

Thanks a lot for all the infos! Now, I understand it better. And I even think, the way that the smoke screen consumable operate, make sense after all!! :)

Yeah, you haven't seen WoWs years ago :)

- no shooting in smoke penalty, meaning you was only visible at 2 (3) km distance regardless of shooting (!!!)
- instasmoke immediately at any speed
- you could run at full speed while smoking and get visible only for short moments between smoke circles deployment

Oh, BTW if you are ALREADY below 12.5 knots speed — smoke should cover you fully and IMMEDIATELY! Use that when ambushing enemy DDs:
when you know enemy DD is close — drop to 1/2
spot it, drop to 1/4, start shooting
it starts shooting back — activate smoke
now IF you have other allies who see the target — you can shoot yourself freely at that DD until it smokes up (AND it would take some time if he's above 1/4 speed!) or 20 seconds pass.

Especially effective with British or PA DDs to starve enemy DDs of smoke generator charges!!

[StormhawkV]

Originally posted by Ryuu:

DDs are too small of a target for that, more effective against light cruisers.

You just need to throw out enough shells and something will stick. It works great against DDs that are trying to cap. The hardest part of firing into a smoke is getting the range right and the aim assist helps with this a lot.

[Ryuu]

Originally posted by StormhawkV:

Originally posted by Ryuu:

DDs are too small of a target for that, more effective against light cruisers.

You just need to throw out enough shells and something will stick. It works great against DDs that are trying to cap. The hardest part of firing into a smoke is getting the range right and the aim assist helps with this a lot.

Don't see the need for that, since in binoculars i see the smoke screen borders, so i just need to aim somewhere inside of them, closer to the center of the circle, especially if the smoke is still being deployed or last one. If the DD decides to sit somewhere on the edge or outside of smoke screen after that — you'll never hit it.

BTW i remember cool "feature" of old WoWs, back when borders of smokes were not visible:
while smoke was being deployed you could see small trickles of smoke at the moment of each smokecircle deployment. In binoculars i mean, and EVEN when the enemy ship is not spotted. So i knew the direction and last position of enemy during deployment, and sent the torps towards that last trickle It was super-effective quite often!
So it was like smoke tracers.

They never mentioned removing those trickles publicly i think, but i noticed they're gone. Ah, good times.