Crash Dive! An analysis.
 

Firstly I am going to start with the (Still) best way to crash dive. This information is a repeat of other posts on this thread, but I start here to make sure everyone is on the same page.


1) Pause.
2) Select flank speed.
3) Select whichever officer is at the nav post and have him flood the tanks.
4) Select crash dive. (Tool tip reads "Maximum Safe Depth".)


Yield: About 35 seconds to periscope depth. (~6 seconds slower than historical performance for a Type VIIC)


For reference, if you simply select crash dive. (Step 4 above.) The time to dive will be about 50 seconds.


Observation and question: If you watch Youtube video's you will find some players like to assign crew to the valves in the hopes of speeding up the crash dive process. Does this work? What happens if you try?


Short answer: No, crash dive time is still ~50 seconds.


Long answer:


1) Select Crash Dive. Start the stop watch simultaneously.
2) Select flank speed.


Events:
-Your crewman will stand there like the useless lump he is for ~5 seconds.
-Your crewman will slowly saunter on over to the vales about 3 feet away and start operating them. Elapsed time (ET) ~7.5 seconds.
-The animation for operating the valve completes. ET: ~14 seconds.
-You can then hold the "D" key and still have time to get to the bow tank. It is still empty for a second or so.
-Bow tank completely fills. I don't have a time for this. It doesn't matter.
-Your sub stays on the surface with full dive tanks for no reason until ET: ~50 seconds.


Conclusion:


-This game will let you shoot the cook for burning breakfast. Can we shoot the valve crewman too?
-There is no point in assigning crew to the valves. They work slowly and the sub, realizing the valve was turned by a crewman, will defy physics for ~15 seconds just to punish you for trying to be smart.

Good post, I would urge you to reach out to the devs on Steam, if you want them to read this!

Thanks for the feedback.


I have been thinking about rewording the contents and using the F11 key in game to submit the suggestion.


I have also thought about posting feedback on their Discord.


I have lots of feedback but I want to make sure everything is professional and polite. In the above post, I indulged a bit.

It's frustration, no worries.
Just proceed with the medium you're most comfortable with.

Iecek
 

A Possible work around to consider would be to use the "improved ballast control" mod. You could then take care of the valves for crash dive yourself instead of waiting for a crewman to do it.