OLC GUI Quick reference guide.
By Skookum
Here’s how to successfully target vessels using One Life Crisis’ GUI mod. I’m assuming
you’ve played SH3 for a while and that you have a basic understanding of the stock
interface. You need follow these next steps to get enough information about your target
to accurately guide your torpedoes with this mod. Use the acronym I.S.R.A. or ”I Sail
‘Round the Atlantic”:
1. IDENTIFY your target.
2. Find your target’s SPEED.
3. Estimate your target’s RANGE.
4. Determine the ANGLE ON THE BOW (AOB) of your U-boat from the target.
It’s best to do these steps in the order shown above. Here’s how:
IDENTIFY your target.
Assuming you’ve stalked your target and it is in visual range, raise your periscope and
locate the target. Lock your view to the target by clicking the ”LOCK” button or by
pressing ”L”.
Click on the weapon officer’s icon. Click on the button to the left of the row of that
appears to order your WO to identify the target. The vessel’s name appears in the scope
underneath the ship. Click on the name to open to the corresponding page in the
recognition handbook.
Find your target’s SPEED.
For this step make sure your U-boat is either at a DEAD STOP or ensure your target is
within plus or minus 10 degrees of your bow or stern. Make an accurate speed estimate
by pointing the vertical crosshair of the periscope in front of your target.
Start the stopwatch the instant the target’s bow touches the crosshair.
Stop the stopwatch the instant the stern clears the crosshair.
Click on the bottom of the silver wiz wheel near the top of the scope to pull it down over
the viewfinder.
Rotate the middle ring by clicking on it and dragging it so the transit time on the inner
ring (in seconds) lines up with the ship’s length on the outer ring (in meters). In this case
the transit time was 28 seconds and the ship’s length is 94.8 meters.
Read the ship’s speed opposite the scratch mark at 58° on the innermost scale (don’t ask
me why the scratch mark is at 58°, it just is.) In this case our target’s speed a hair under 7
knots.
Enter the target’s speed into the by TDC by clicking the small button seen here near the
bottom of the screen.
***IMPORTANT --- Remember to close the TDC window after each data entry to ensure
it updates bearing and AOB information automatically (more on this later). Though we
haven’t entered either bearing or AOB, it’s still a good habit to get into.
Estimate your target’s RANGE.
1. Line up the horizontal crosshair with your target’s waterline. With the scope zoomed
in, note which yellow vertical mark lines up with the tallest mast on the target (do not
use funnels, even if they are taller than the tallest mast). Here I guessed nine and a
half since the crosshair was just above the waterline. Rotate the inner ring to place the
mark number (9.5 in this case) over the 90 degree mark on the center scale.
2. The ship’s mast height on the outer ring (53.2 meters from the handbook) now
appears next to the target’s range on the inner ring (1,300 meters here).
3. Enter the range (1,300 meters) into the TDC and close the TDC window. Now
quickly move on to the next step. The range is only valid for a short time (perhaps
only 10 seconds or so if your target is closing quickly).
Determine the
ANGLE ON THE BOW (AOB)
of your U-boat from the target.
Think of AOB as the relative bearing to your U-boat as it would appear from the bridge
of your target’s vessel.
1. Note the ship’s length in the recognition handbook. On the wiz wheel, drag middle
ring so the target’s range (still 1,300 meters) on the inner scale lies alongside the
ship’s length (94.8 meters) on the outer scale.
2. Make sure the target is locked in the viewfinder (”L” or the ”Lock” button). Note the
mark on the horizontal crosshair with which the bow of your target aligns (17° here).
On the inner scale, read the AOB next to this number (here 17° lines up with 80°
AOB).
3. Decide if the ship is moving towards you or away from you. If the ship is heading
towards you enter the AOB directly into the TDC as is. If the ship is heading away
from you then subtract the indicated angle from 180° to get the correct AOB and then
enter this into the TDC. Remember green is starboard and red is port. (In this image,
if we were standing on the target’s bridge, we would be looking at a U-boat’s
periscope in the water about 80 degrees off the starboard bow at 1,300 meters).
***IMPORTANT --- Again, remember to toggle the TDC window off once you have
entered each piece of data. This will ensure your TDC is updated as the bearing and AOB
change while the target moves. As long as your heading and your target’s course remain
constant, the solution will be accurate. If you can see the TDC dials, then the TDC
computer is not updating and you must recalculate the AOB. The shorter you let the dials
appear, the more accurate your solution will be.
Shoot to Kill.
While doing all this, you should have already selected your torpedo tubes (they’re loaded
right???), set the spread, selected your desired torpedo speed and pistol setting and
opened the doors. If you have finished all the steps above and set the TDC to auto, simply
line up the vertical crosshair at the desired point of impact on your target’s hull, press the
fire button and enjoy the show.
Finding Range and AOB at 1.5X Zoom
If your target is too close and its masts or bow extend beyond the crosshair marks at 6X
zoom, you can take all the required measurements while zoomed out at 1.5X. The
procedure is essentially identical but with one extra step.
Here’s how:
Do all the I.S.R.A. steps but instead of using the 90° AOB mark for your calculations,
use the scratch mark near the 15°mark.
Here we see the mast is 8 marks high, so we line up 8 with the scratch mark. The target’s
range now appears opposite its mast height on the outer scale. Range here is roughly 325
meters.
Move the middle ring and line up the target’s range (325 Meters) with its length (78.5
meter Tramp Steamer). Note the number that now appears next to the scratch mark.
Move this number so it lines up with the 90° mark (should be 14 here, not 15, sorry).
Read your AOB as in the last section. Here 9 marks to the bow indicates 37° AOB.