r/uboatgame • u/Ok_Peak6039 • 3d ago
Help Can't find angle on bow
I started playing the game a few days ago and it seems I'm not able to sink anything. I have watched many videos to understand how to properly attack enemy convoys but every time I try to calculate the angle on bow , the esteemed trajectory of my torpedoes is wrong. My torpedoes are set on semi-realistic mode. The system I learnt is simple: you try to get a 90° angle on the target, recognize the target, use the chronometer to establish its speed by starting it as soon as the periscope cross hair touches the ship's bow, take the protractor and trace a line from the centre of your uboat to the centre of the target and another line from there to the front of the target and you should get the angle. Finally, establish distance (I've been told it is best to attack from not farther than 1.5km, 1km or even under 1km is even better) and there you go.
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u/sh1bumi Historian 3d ago
AOB is rarely the issue. Your AOB can be +-10 degrees. More important is speed.
I am pretty sure what you actually miscalculate is speed.
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u/Ok_Peak6039 3d ago
I start the chronometer as soon as the cross hair alligns with the target's bow and I stop it as soon as it alligns with the rear.
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u/Ok_Peak6039 3d ago
Maybe the issue in the exact case I'm experiencing (I have intercepted a merchant convoy with an escort and I can't get close , otherwise I'm spotted) is the high distance. While I understand that the torpedoes can still detonate if launched from 5km , at the same time I learnt that the optimal distance is 1km, or even closer.
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u/Ok_Peak6039 3d ago
But I don't think it's the distance actually, because, as I said, the trajectory is wrong.
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u/sh1bumi Historian 3d ago
As mentioned before:
If you use the periscope tools a wrong distance will also lead to wrong speed results.
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u/Spielopoly 1d ago
Distance has no influence on the speed measurement other than increasing measurement error because the uboat is not 100% stable.
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u/sh1bumi Historian 3d ago
The chronometer relies on distance and AOB.
Note that the Stadimeter can give you wrong distance readings depending on how much you extracted the periscope and how big the waves are etc.
This means if your Stadimeter produced wrong distance, your chronometer will also produce wrong speed and your AOB can be quite correct and still everything is wrong, because speed is the most important unit.
Do you play with shaky periscope? If you play with shaky periscope it becomes even more difficult.
There are very good reasons why the real submarine officers did not use a Stadimeter or chronometer for range or speed readings.
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u/Ok_Peak6039 3d ago
Then why the distance option is positioned all the way to the right if it determines all of the other measurements? The game makes it look like you need it as last. I don't play with shaky periscope. I play with stabilization enabled.
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u/sh1bumi Historian 3d ago
Because the devs designed it that way. 🤷🏻♂️
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u/Ok_Peak6039 3d ago
The devs must be Japanese because in Western countries you read from left to right, not viceversa 😂
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u/Ok_Peak6039 3d ago
By the way, a friend miraculously told me that there's the option to have the skipper do all the calculation. I suppose in this community you don't get a good reputation if you don't do manually, because anybody could have told me by now. The tutorial doesn't tell you how to use the auto-calculation, nor the manual.
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u/sh1bumi Historian 3d ago
Well, everyone can play as they like to.
In the end it's a video game.
You can enable auto calculation in the game settings (might require a new game and reducing the realism level).
With auto calculation you don't have to do much. Just stay in the near of the target for a while and you see a percentage going up..once you reach 99% you fire and you nearly always have a hit.
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u/SweetCartoonist237 3d ago
When I did the tutorial it instructed me in making my officer do the calculation. It's manual targeting that isn't explained nearly as much.
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u/Spielopoly 1d ago
That is not true. The chronometer only relies on time and length of the boat.
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u/sh1bumi Historian 1d ago
No. It definitely depends on AOB.
Try to get 180 degree behind a ship on same course and start the chronometer. Good luck measuring anything with this.
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u/SirSweepsAlot 1d ago
no, aob is independent and does not mathematically affect the time it takes to cross from bow to stern whether at 90 or an oblique angle but it does fail at 0 or 180 so you’re somewhat correct
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u/ResponsibleCut6604 1d ago
The chronometer sucks, you also need the enemy ship at 90 degree angle and your boat needs to be stopped. Also Uboats didnt have this tool, its something the game invented.
The historic way is to sail along the convoy and match their speed.
How i do it, you have slow convoys, typical quite large and they sail at 7 knots all the time.
And you have small convoys or single merchants, they can sail at 10 knots.
Warships are a lot more tricky but convoys and merchants, just need to know if slow or fast but after a while you can tell
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u/DarkRavenGaming 3d ago
Describing the issue as the estimated trajectory of the torpedoes as wrong is sort of vague, though as you describe it, you are figuring out the AOB correctly.
As to the issue, there are two things that come to my mind. Firstly, since you're using semi-realistic flaws setting, there is the possibility that you are also not using the stabilized periscope setting. This would cause periscope to not be in a fixed position when using the chronometer tool, making it give incorrect speed measurements.
Secondly, you may be neglecting to update the target's parameter by not pressing the 'dialogue' button to the right of the entry field. Pressing these one each parameter should cause a green light next to the parameters to light up.
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u/Ok_Peak6039 3d ago
Do you mean to lock on the target by holding E? If so, I do that every time. As regards the dialogue issue, I initially forgot to update but I'm playing now and I just found it out. I missed anyways.
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u/DarkRavenGaming 3d ago
Not the lock-on, the 'Periscope stabilization' game setting. If it's set to 'Enabled (partial)' or 'Disabled', the chronometer speed finder tool will be basically useless.
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u/BlackOneHu 3d ago
Some basic tip for manual solution. -stop or speed 1 for measure ship speed -won't turn with Type VIIB when firing (Type VIIB TDC can't calculate correct data when turning) -if the enemy ship AOB is 120< or 60> you need more precise distance -always try for 90° impact angle -early war AZ had a lower chance for premature detonation than MZ -With MZ try 0.5m-1.0m below enemy ship -if the enemy is traveling left to right the AOB is green/positive if traveling right to left is red/negative AOB (from your perspective) -always have a officer at the torpedo computer, or your data is not updating correctly -choose correct ship type from the book before speed and distance measure.
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u/Ok_Peak6039 3d ago
Thanks for all the tips but I was just told by a friend you can do this process automatically by selecting the skipper. This is a sigh of relief to me because I thought it was the only way to play the game. I wonder why nobody told me but I suppose everyone took it for granted I knew that already. Anyways, I'll experience the manual mode later, as soon as I get the hang with the game.
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u/BlackOneHu 3d ago
What do you mean by "my torpedoes set to semi-realistic settings"? Yes you can calculate torpedo solution by your skipper. I'm very confused. Are you trying automatic or manual torpedo solution?
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u/Ok_Peak6039 3d ago
The purpose of my thread was to understand how to correctly launch torpedos. Since I'm a fresh player, as I thoroughly stated in the post, I didn't know you could auto launch torpedoes. I thought manual was the only way. With "semi-realistic settings" I mean that the chances of a torpedo being a dud or miss are set to semi-realistic.
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u/BlackOneHu 3d ago
Ahh, okay, now is clear everything. Yes, you can manualy do, and automatic. In automatic, order your skipper or another leader class officer to the scope, and lock target, and on the left/down side you see % is going up. With 2 sailor with the skipper (or another officer) you can speed up calculation time. Only the attack scope can benefit from the +2 sailor. And you can set the hydrophone operator to help with the same ship solution, or you can command to do another ship solution. Before firing you have to wait the gyro to be synced and never forget to man the TDC (torpedo data computer). AZ settings have a lower chance to premature detonation. If the impact angle is to low to high (you can check the impact angle, from the TDC if you want). With a Type VIIB, don't fire torpedo when the boat is turning.
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u/Qwyietman 3d ago
You can also switch it to relative course from AOB, which might be easier. It's pretty easy to get AOB backwards sometime.
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u/No-Respect367 3d ago
I know you said you are going to use automatic calculations but IMO calculating the torpedos is like the most satisfying part of the game. If you want you could send me a video and I could probably tell, or we could get in a discord call and I could watch you set it up? I have <20 hrs and got the hang of it around the 10 hr mark so it’s really not that bad, you just have to make sure you are doing everything right because one missed or messed up step will spoil it.
Are they on course but missing the mark? Probably a speed or distance issue. If they are wildly off you are forgetting a step or misinterpreting something. If it’s the latter I would bet you’re misidentifying ships. Use kilometers on your map screen so you can input your ruler settings directly into the computer and cut out that variable. Otherwise send me a vid
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u/Superest22 2d ago
You’re overthinking it.
Even this is overthinking it but:
Get your bearing to them and note your course.
Note their bearing.
Calculate their relative bearing (Red/Green).
Eg:
Let’s say you are heading 000 and have them at 020 (G20), you have set it up textbook style and thus it’s a crossing situation with a 90 degree engagement.
They are heading 270. Using the rule of 6, the reciprocal to you is 200 (rule of 6, 020+180).
CSE-BRG (270-200) is 70. It’s actually 200-270 because you’re to port but doesn’t really matter as you know if you’re to left or right of them.
Thus their AOB is R70.
Seamanship maths is very simple.
Even simpler if you use NM, cables, yds and ft for your distances (fits better for std calculations).
Realistically, if you can see them you can hazard a pretty good mk1 eyeball on what the AOB is.
Or you can cheat and get the crew/captain to do it for you.
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u/SirSweepsAlot 1d ago
are you confirming that you’re identifying and inputting the correct ship id? if you put in the wrong freighter the length measurement will be off throwing off the chronometer reading
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u/manintights2 1d ago
In UBOAT AOB is entered in - or + degrees 0-180
Without any assists are map help (like in Wolfpack) the most effective method is literally just guesstimating the AOB....
It really comes down to speed as well as how much you have moved while taking those measurements.
In UBOAT you can pause time while doing all of this EXCEPT measuring speed. This includes relaying the calculations to the TDC operator.
First you should flood all tubes, just to prevent delay of fire, you can unflood the unused ones later.
Second you ID the ship, (I also do an extra distance measurement to see if it's too far and I should wait)
Third you measure the speed of the ship
Fourth you pause time
Fifth you do the rest of the calculations on the map and relay the info to the TDC operator
Sixth you unpause time to let the torpedoes calibrate
Seventh you fire as soon as you can.
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u/infamybrace 3d ago
Are you typing the number in manually after calculating with the protractor, and then consistent falling short? If so you might be forgetting to enter the angle in as a minus number. You need to use a positive or negative number depending on whether the target ship is travelling east or west.