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I firmly believe that any submarines in a scenario should mean including at least a few biologics.

I disagree. Any competent sonar operator is going to be able to identify a whale and filter it out. From a gameplay perspective, unless a scenario designer puts in the effort, it's blindingly obvious what is a submarine and what's a biologic.

tylerblakebrandon wrote: Thu Nov 20, 2025 6:38 pm I think historical events in the Falklands show biological and false contacts as valid scenario elements, especially for scenarios set in past decades. The RN expended prodigious amounts of ASW ordnance on not-actual-submarines.

--Adds a contact with ASuW mission on bearing with specified ship. Center ship is the unit you want to target.
-- Check if the Blue side's CVN unit exists
if ScenEdit_GetUnit({side='Blue', unitname='Boxer'}) ~= nil then

-- Adding Unit at random position 40-80 miles away
local TargetedUnit = ScenEdit_GetUnit({unitname="Boxer", side='Blue'})

-- Submarine types: Pakistani DJ Khalid, Pakistani S26, China XLUUV, Russia Akula 2
--local SubID = {720, 738, 733, 748}
local SubID = {187, 189, 58, 454}

-- Initialize variables
--Within 1-2 CZs
local ranRange = math.random(40, 80)
--Want a sub within 180 degrees of the bearing the target ship is traveling. Get min and max angle in variables and use as the random bearing.
local subMinAngle = TargetedUnit.heading - ranRange / 2
local subMaxAngle = TargetedUnit.heading + ranRange / 2
local subBearing = math.random(subMinAngle,subMaxAngle)
--local subBearing = math.random(0, 359)
local subranPos = {}
local randSubID = math.random(1, 4)

-- Repeat until a suitable underwater position is found
repeat
ranRange = math.random(30, 70)
subBearing = math.random(subMinAngle,subMaxAngle)
--subBearing = math.random(0, 359)
subranPos = World_GetPointFromBearing({lat=TargetedUnit.latitude, lon=TargetedUnit.longitude, distance=ranRange, bearing=subBearing})
until World_GetElevation({lat=subranPos.latitude, lon=subranPos.longitude}) < -50 ---this is where you set minimum depth of water you want to add the unit

-- Generate a unique name for the submarine
local subName = 'Sub-' .. math.random(1000, 100000)

--set chance of contact type
local contactsuborfcontact= math.random(1,6)
if contactsuborfcontact ==1 then

-- Add the submarine unit to the Red side
ScenEdit_AddUnit({
type='Submarine',
name=subName,
DBID=SubID[randSubID],
heading=subBearing,
side='Red',
lat=subranPos.latitude,
lon=subranPos.longitude,
autodetectable=false
})
-- Add Reference Points for Mission
-- Reference points will be centered on the unit
local CenterUnit = ScenEdit_GetUnit({unitname="Boxer", side='Blue'})
local subrpbearingNE = 45
local subrpbearingNW = 315
local subrpbearingSE = 135
local subrpbearingSW = 225
local subrprange = 80 -- range from reference point to CenterUnit
local subrpNE = World_GetPointFromBearing({lat=CenterUnit.latitude, lon=CenterUnit.longitude, distance=subrprange, bearing=subrpbearingNE})
local subrpNW = World_GetPointFromBearing({lat=CenterUnit.latitude, lon=CenterUnit.longitude, distance=subrprange, bearing=subrpbearingNW})
local subrpSE = World_GetPointFromBearing({lat=CenterUnit.latitude, lon=CenterUnit.longitude, distance=subrprange, bearing=subrpbearingSE})
local subrpSW = World_GetPointFromBearing({lat=CenterUnit.latitude, lon=CenterUnit.longitude, distance=subrprange, bearing=subrpbearingSW})

-- Unique Reference Point Names
local rpsubName1 = 'RP-SUB-' .. math.random(1000, 100000)
local rpsubName2 = 'RP-SUB-' .. math.random(1000, 100000)
local rpsubName3 = 'RP-SUB-' .. math.random(1000, 100000)
local rpsubName4 = 'RP-SUB-' .. math.random(1000, 100000)

-- Add reference points in
ScenEdit_AddReferencePoint({side="Red", name=rpsubName1, lat=subrpNE.latitude, lon=subrpNE.longitude, highlighted=true})
ScenEdit_AddReferencePoint({side="Red", name=rpsubName4, lat=subrpSW.latitude, lon=subrpSW.longitude, highlighted=true})
ScenEdit_AddReferencePoint({side="Red", name=rpsubName2, lat=subrpNW.latitude, lon=subrpNW.longitude, highlighted=true})
ScenEdit_AddReferencePoint({side="Red", name=rpsubName3, lat=subrpSE.latitude, lon=subrpSE.longitude, highlighted=true})

--Add Mission
local rpsubmissionname = 'RP-SUB-MISSION-' .. math.random(1000, 100000)
local rpsubmissionReferencePoints={rpsubName1, rpsubName3,rpsubName4,rpsubName2}
local rpsubmission = ScenEdit_AddMission ('Red', rpsubmissionname, 'Patrol', {type='naval',zone= rpsubmissionReferencePoints} )

--Update Mission

ScenEdit_SetMission('Red',rpsubmissionname, {CheckOPA=false,ProsecutionZone=rpsubmissionReferencePoints,TransitDepthSubmarine="-200", StationDepthSubmarine='-25'})
ScenEdit_SetEMCON('Mission',rpsubmissionname,'Radar=Passive')

--add sub to mission
ScenEdit_AssignUnitToMission( subName, rpsubmissionname )

else if contactsuborfcontact >=2 then
ScenEdit_AddUnit({
type='Submarine',
name=subName,
DBID=94,--False Contact
heading=subBearing,
side='Nature',
altitude = '-200',
lat=subranPos.latitude,
lon=subranPos.longitude,
autodetectable=false
})
ScenEdit_SetUnit({name=subName, side='Nature', moveTo=false, manualaltitude='-75'})

else
end
end

else
-- Handle the case where the CVN unit doesn't exist (e.g., log an error, perform alternative actions)
print("Unit does not exist on the Blue side.")
end

Mgellis wrote: Fri Nov 21, 2025 5:37 am My experience has been that biologics and false contacts are usually identified fairly quickly. Even so, I generally add a few to scenarios with submarines or an ASW element. The ocean is a noisy place and it makes sense there will usually be a little bit of background clutter.

Questions...

How much do false contacts sound like real contacts? Maybe it would make sense to add a few false contacts to the database that are close matches to specific types of submarines?

Also, do false contacts interfere with spotting real ones (in Command, that is)? If you have a Kilo, for example, right next to a big cloud of shrimp, could that make it harder to tell the Kilo was there? Or how far away it was?