Hey, all! I decided a while ago that I wanted to start empirically determining the limits of the Dangerous Waters game and its mods, mainly just as a cool thing to do, but with the hope of giving you all more insight and knowledge into the game to help you be better players!
So, I'm finally getting around to posting this. I uploaded the video two weeks ago (link down below). Starting earlier this year, I've been compiling various active sonar detection ranges between various platforms, i.e., using a 688(I) to detect an Akula III, using an Akula III to detect an Ohio, etc. In addition, I also compared these values between the Stock game, Reinforce Alert 1.40 (RA) and LwAmi 3.11. The setup of the experiment was to try and produce the situation that results in the maximum possible detection ranges so as to eliminate variables: I modeled the calmest sea state possible, a rock bottom ocean, no thermoclines, and January (cold) in the North Atlantic (deep!)
The stock game and RA produce very similar results with the only real noticeable difference being that RA reduced the detection ranges on the Kilo. This was a very fair change for RA to make because, in the stock game, the Kilo and the Akula III have the same detection ranges, which may or may not be a strange thing to do; that is beyond the scope of this experiment as I only set out to determine detection ranges. I will try and make sense of these detection ranges in a later video.
Coming to LwAmi, however, results in greatly reduced detection ranges compared to stock and RA: on the order of 50% or less! Some ranges were reduced by so much that it was virtually impossible to get an active return on a Kilo from a 688(I) at a range of 1 nmi!
Anyway, this little write-up is intended as a summary of the interesting bits. Check out the video here for all the numbers and the full report of my findings (bitly link so I can track hits):
http://bit.ly/29Tm2Pm