Radio location - just how approximate a bearing does it give?

[cracktrackflak]

Can anyone point to a WG reference that describes the actual performance parameters of "radio location"?

 

Wiki merely states "Shows the direction to the nearest enemy ship."  That statement implies that it gives a true bearing to (presumably the centre of) the enemy ship. However various forum posts mention that this was nerfed before release to the public server, and that the bearing is "approximate". If so, how approximate - what is the +/- error range, etc?

 

I've also seen it stated somewhere that it only points to the centre of the grid square in which the enemy ship is located. If so, that could give a huge error at close range - up to 45o.

 

Authoritative link/reference? Thx

[Tyrendian89]

error 404 reference not found, but I think it works (am basing this on vague memories of how I think WG announced it back in the day) by pointing you at the "compass eighth" that your target is in relative to you. As in, divide the compass north/south and east/west to get four quarters, and then cut those in half to give you eight "directions" that it can point into. Combine this with common sense and map knowledge and you can often get very good guesses as to where on the map that closest guy might be.

Don't have definite proof, but I've been operating with this assumption successfully so far (including in ClanWars, feel free to laugh at me if it's wrong^^).

[Linkaex]

Hmm, when I know there is an DD behind an Island because it was spotted before. I see the pointer rather quick moving along with the supposed target. 

So I always assumed it points to the center of the closest ship. But I don't know for sure. 

[ColonelPete]

The accuracy is 22.5 degrees in either direction.

[cracktrackflak]

21 minutes ago, ColonelPete said:

The accuracy is 22.5 degrees in either direction.

 

 

Is that stated by WG somewhere?

 

If so, is it then dynamic? I.e. if the ship is actually 12.5o to the left of the bearing when you start tracking it, does it stay at that "error", or can the ship subsequently move anywhere in that +/- 12.5o arc?

 

It would be interesting to know what the actual performance parameters are.

 

 

Incidentally, one of the bits of evidence that supports the "grid square" assertion is what happens when you are tracking a single ship for a period of time (e.g. an unspotted DD that is isolated and thus cannot be two separate ships). Occasionally, the "track" suddenly flips forward by a significant amount in the direction that the ship is moving. That would imply that the ship has crossed a grid square boundary, and that therefore the track is somehow linked to the grid square.

[ColonelPete]

The arrow can show 8 directions. It always shows in the direction closest to the target.

When you see the arrow move, you know in which 22.5 degree arc the target is.

[Tyrendian89]

22 minutes ago, ColonelPete said:

The arrow can show 8 directions. It always shows in the direction closest to the target.

When you see the arrow move, you know in which 22.5 degree arc the target is.

45°, actually (because, you know, the eight sectors sorta have to add up to 360 not 180), but otherwise yes - the arrow changing means the target just switched from one sector to another

[ColonelPete]

And left and right of a direction arrow  you have 2x22.5 degree arcs. 

[44smok]

16 sectors, not 8.

[RAHJAILARI]

10 hours ago, cracktrackflak said:

Can anyone point to a WG reference that describes the actual performance parameters of "radio location"?

It is nothing to fret about Lad. The best way to check and understand this better is to take this skill for one of your own captains and try it out. BUT meanwhile... It merely shows general direction of the nearest enemy ship. No distance, no direction of movement (though that is easy enough to deduce yourself. You see indicator going to your left, chances are that the ship is also). No ship type either, but in the beginning of the game AND if you see no-one it is usually safe to assume it is a DD. I have it for my German DD's. It is useful in knowing from which direction you can expect a threat to emerge and you can always fire some desultory torps that way to scare the blighter IF he is close enough. Especially useful if you are trying to track down an elusive DD, which has slipped behind your lines or during end-game, when searching fo that last surviving enemy ship. Can also be used to ascertain enemy DD's position, if he is just sitting in smoke in a cap circle in order to torp him there. Too expensive for its utility to my taste, should be 3 or 2 points skill rather than 4.

[Leo_Apollo11]

Hi all,

 

You can also watch latest "Flamu" video:

 

 

 

 

Leo "Apollo11"

[cracktrackflak]

1 hour ago, RAHJAILARI said:

It is nothing to fret about Lad. The best way to check and understand this better is to take this skill for one of your own captains and try it out. BUT meanwhile... It merely shows general direction of the nearest enemy ship. No distance, no direction of movement (though that is easy enough to deduce yourself. You see indicator going to your left, chances are that the ship is also). No ship type either, but in the beginning of the game AND if you see no-one it is usually safe to assume it is a DD. I have it for my German DD's. It is useful in knowing from which direction you can expect a threat to emerge and you can always fire some desultory torps that way to scare the blighter IF he is close enough. Especially useful if you are trying to track down an elusive DD, which has slipped behind your lines or during end-game, when searching fo that last surviving enemy ship. Can also be used to ascertain enemy DD's position, if he is just sitting in smoke in a cap circle in order to torp him there. Too expensive for its utility to my taste, should be 3 or 2 points skill rather than 4.

 

 

I do use it on several ships. However, in order to get the best out of what is an expensive skill (as you point out), I wanted to know how it is defined as working by WG. For example, there are extensive WG articles describing spotting mechanics, or shell penetration angles - but "radio location" appears to have no written specification.

 

I'm surprised no-one has data-mined or investigated this, since there is potentially tactical advantage in knowing the mechanics - e.g. in aiming torpedo spreads at an unseen enemy.

 

- If radio location is based on a fixed octant system, then is that octant fixed relative to the map grid or to the ship's heading?

 

- If you see a trace "flip" to a new heading, does that mean the enemy is at the boundary between two octants (and thus you have a precise bearing if you know how the octant is aligned), or does WG use an RNG system to assign a radio location heading to the enemy, in which case there will necessarily be a +/- error in reporting which octant it is in when transiting between two octants?

 

 

Actually i'm surprised there aren't any mods around that give a graphical map of the radio location report. There is potentially a lot more information to be gleaned from the skill.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[RAHJAILARI]

Oh yeah, you are right there @cracktrackflak. There are some videos made by Flamu and others, giving you tips on how best to utilize this skill to you advantage. But unfortunately I think it is not a very precise skill at all. It just gives you a sector and trying to fire torps based on it usually gives no hits. It is useful in some specific situations (typhoon, end-game chase and so on) and so quite limited in its general application. I would also suspect some RNG is definitely at play here (this is WG we are talking about after all). I use it for CL and DD, which I have specced for hunting DD (especially the border-hugging Yugumo's, Shimas and Asashios) but frankly I do think my cap skills might be more usefully distributed getting 2*2 point skills instead. Why have I taken it then? Oh well, I like to try different skills in my ships just to test them out and learn how they work and also, more importantly, how to work against them.

[Admiral_H_Nelson]

The radio location graphic that is shown in game consists of an arc.

I always treat this informations as telling me that the nearest enemy ship is somewhere in the direction covered by the arc.

[Altsak]

After a few thousands games with it you develop a RPF-nose that sniffs out enemy fleet movements out of how the thingamabob dongles around in your screen.