[CaptBones]

Greetings Urmel, et. al.;

Thank you for your 11/16 post regarding start dates, transfer dates, etc. It describes what I've experienced and is just as explained in the Manual, but I still have some questions regarding starting a career on other than the 1st of August '39 and in other than a Type VIIB. To be clear, I have enjoyed doing so, to be "on station" near the Rockall Bank when the war starts; but I've also been interested in starting my career in a Type II boat and "earning" a promotion to command a Type VII boat as the war progresses.

So, I have tried to start in a different Flotilla on 1 September. The career start page in SH3 Commander for LSH3 2015 opens the box for choosing a Flotilla on that date and offers Erprobungsstelle, 1st Flotilla and 7th Flotilla. But if I choose either the 1st or 7th, the box for the choice of submarine types on that date is blank, completely empty. Therefore, I have to chose to start on September 1st in Erprobungsstelle, Stralsund and go to a patrol area in the Baltic Sea. After completing the 24hrs patrolling the assigned grid area, I return to Stralsund on September 4th and immediately apply for a transfer. I've experimented with transferring to the 1st and 7th Flotillas in Kiel and the 2nd Flotilla in Wilhelmshaven and done so successfully. I can also upgrade to a Type VIIB at that time, but would still like to make at least a couple of patrols in the North Sea in a Type II before doing so.

However, I've noticed a problem with the career start screen (shown under the pull-out chart in your last post). On my display, the insignia in the upper right-hand corner of the screen are incorrectly labeled; the label under the red "U" shield for the 1st Flotilla is labeled "U-Flotilla Saltzwedel" and the insignia for the 2nd Flotilla is labeled "U-Flotilla Wegener" (the Raging Bull insignia for the 7th Flotilla is correctly labeled).

When I return to Stralsund and apply for transfer, the change Flotilla screen has the same problems; this time in the boxes on the left side of the page used to click on, to request a transfer. The insignia for Erprobungsstelle is labeled “U-Flotilla Weddigen”, the label for the red "U" shield for the 1st Flotilla reads "U-Flotilla Sal" and the insignia for the 2nd Flotilla is labeled "U-Flotilla Weg" (the Raging Bull insignia for the 7th Flotilla is correctly labeled).

More experimenting: In both of the cases above, I have found that this problem is apparently in LSH3 2015 Commander. When I start the game directly, using the shortcut in the START LSH3 2015 folder, the insignia and Flotilla name labels all line-up correctly. The "misalignment" of Flotilla name/number labels only occurs when I start the game using the LSH3 2015 Commander shortcut in the START...folder. No, I did not make any changes to LSH3 2015 Commander. Does anyone have any idea on what is causing this or where to look for the source of the problem?

To ask for a transfer, I guessed that the insignia was correct and the labels were wrong and thus got the correct transfers approved.
Edit: I was wrong...the requested transfer did not happen correctly. When I loaded the saved career and started the second patrol (assigned to grid AO44), I found I was in Kiel, but was assigned to U-Flotilla Saltzwedel. Wrong for two reasons...On 1 September '39 U-Flotilla Saltzwedel is supposed to be in Wilhelmshaven and that Flotilla did not have any Type II boats.

Perhaps something in the text files doesn’t line up correctly with the Widescreen MOD and “rearranges” the Flotilla insignia? Although, due to the native resolution for my monitor being 2560 X 1600, I have text size 150% selected in my NVIDIA control Panel settings…could that be the problem? No, that's not the source of this problem. I changed the text size to "normal"/100% (in Windows display settings, not an NVIDIA control panel setting, my mistake) but it had no effect on the mismatching between Flotilla insignias and names.

Anyway, my real question is still this...is there any way to start a career in August '39 in a Type II boat. I'm guessing that the answer is "no" and if so, I will just have to be content with using the process that I have been experimenting with, as described above. But, before I give up, I'd like to know if that is correct. Edit: On second thought/third try, I think I will give up for now and use the LSH3 SuperMOD for a pre-war start in the Type VIIB. I'll use my GWX3 Gold installation for my pre-war start in a Type II.

BTW, I've observed some unfortunate results of encountering bad weather during my initial "experimental" patrols from Stralsund. Upon return to port I’ve found some of the Crab Cutters and the Artillery Barges sunk, or sinking and burning, as well as some of the larger ships damaged and on fire. I suppose I could chalk that up to the “cheeky” Tommies getting in an air raid on the first or second day of the war. But, I suspect it’s just the result of the high winds and sea state, which always happens during the time I am in my patrol area, battering ships in the harbor against each other and/or against the dock walls. Is there any way (other than changing “Storm Counter“ settings in h.sie’s configuration .ini file) to keep that from happening?

Thanks again for any help or suggestions you can provide, your SuperMod is great; good luck and good hunting.

Edit: I just want to add another "congratulations" and "thank you" for the work you all have done to produce this MOD. The problems I encountered were no doubt due to trying to operate in a way that the MOD was not designed to work. I also have to mention again that the world you've produced in LSH3 is unquestionably "lively". Taking the boat out of Stralsund was interesting with all of the other traffic in the harbor. Taking the boat out of Kiel was as "real" as any ship-driving simulator I have yet found; the amount of traffic in the harbor required careful attention to conning the boat and the scenery, especially the trees and shrubbery, along the shore was very highly detailed and "realistic". Thanks again!