[Oldgamer48]

I know that most people don't have as much time or patience as I do, but I'm one of those "strange people" that plays at 1x speed. One of the things that I've noticed is that I will spot a ship about 2-3 minutes faster than my bridge watch. A lot can happen in those 2-3 minutes. Also, playing at 1x speed adds immeasurably to the experience of the game.

For example, watching the sun go down and rise the next morning, at 0532 hours, is a rewarding in itself, having survived a night at sea. I also like to play the gramophone, to which I've added .mp3's of my own, including many Wagnerian pieces. If one of the pieces from Das Boot comes on, I go to my bunk and enjoy.

But the trouble with time compression is suddenly coming out of it to find yourself under attack by warships or aircraft. I learned that with Aces of the Deep, the hard way. After all, they may "make them good in Germany, Heinie ..." (The Enemy Below), but even a U-Boat can't get hit with a full salvo of 5-inchers from a Fletcher-class, and survive, if you don't get out of time compression until you've sunk 450 meters down!

Okay, I may take several weeks to run 198 hours at 12 knots to my patrol grid (I did on my first patrol with SH3). But on the way, I managed to dive away from a British aircraft, evade a destroyer patrol between Scapa Flow and the Shetlands, and still manage to sink a C2 two hours later (after the DD's broke off). I'm now happily patrolling BF17 at 4 knots (maximum effort with hyrdrophones), and just before I quit, tonight, I came up with a merchie sound contact, long range, closing.

Tomorrow will be fun.