Getting really frustrated with LSH again...
I get all the more mad when I know as others have described it is the most atmospheric feeling supermod there is currently and would be the undisputed best mod if it weren't for it's major issues (which IMO are):
1) Ridiculous loading times (5-7mins for save games)
2) Worst Destroyer AI off all the supermods (including stock) [even with extended challenge on]
3) Most picky and buggy mod when it comes to crashes and saving games (compared to say GWX)
And yet as far as atmospheric and immersive feeling, it is the best out of them all, and so if only the technical/major issues would get worked out, then the game mod would be perfect.
So, long story follows, followed by seeking some help on the current issue I have myself in:
So, recently I had tried to get back into LSH15, and had been having some success. Basically I came up with some solutions to some of the major issues the mod has. First, I would plan out when I was gonna to play and when I would start loading a save game. For example, after waking up and intending to play, I would start loading the game as I went to the kitchen to prep coffee and breakfast (because you really do have that much time to kill).
Eventually, I refined my plans to always trying to stop playing for the day after completing a mission as there is no extra load time while at office base.
Also, if I did have to save and stop for the day, I tried to make sure my uboat was surfaced and no other ships around. As indeed that does seem to cause failed save game loading sometimes. Keyword is sometimes. Because I have got it to work before to load a save game while a convoy was around and underwater.
As I progressed with my first campaign in LSH15, I reached my 12th patrol, starting in Jan 1941. And recently I had been lured into a false sense of security when it seemed like almost any saved game would load regardless of condition.
Anyways I had come across a real neat convoy that I had not experienced before in LSH, it was 2 rows with one column being almost entirely tankers, T2 and 3 T3s even. Since the waters were safe for deckgun, I decided to first take out the 3 escorts so I could maybe take out the entire convoy with torps + deckgun. This worked out rather well, without reloading, since LSH makes me afraid to reload due so many failures in save game loading. I took out the escorts and and a few ships that had guns on them (3) with torps before surfacing and attacking with deckgun while loading ext torps. After finishing uses all torps and deckgun ammo, there were still 8 ships left and since before the attack I had reported the convoy position via radio. Only this time, I had got a response I had not yet got in LSH, to the effect of hold contact.
So, even though I knew I should have sailed out of range of the convoy to save, I did not, because I was hoping for the first time to see a wolfpack attack since I checked the option in HSIE. I followed the convoy and reported every 2 hours, until I got a report about how all uboats were in position and do not send any more reports and attack when ready. Well, I had nothing to attack with but I was hoping to see AI uboats attack at least.
I will say despite the fear of knowing how LSH is so bad with loading I still save very often under the chance it might work to reload. So I had about 20+ saves from the point of contact until following the convoy and getting the uboats ready to attack message.
Now, as much as I wanted to see this, I had already held out as long as possible and had to leave for a doctor appointment. So I exited the game with a save while 10km away from the convoy with my uboat on the surface.
When I have a chance to play again, I try to load up the last save, which of COURSE...fails... and so do the last 20 saves that all involved visual/sensor range of the convoy...(keep it mind this is 5-7mins loading just to test each one [add in the 1-2mins main menu starting up load time]).
I was even more mad, because it was probably the most fun convoy attack I have ever done in over 1000+ hours of SH3 playing, either stock, GWX, or LSH.
At first I allowed the deleting later saves for the first couple of "maintaining contact" saves I had made. But then I decided to cover myself and I backed up my save games in a backup folder. However, at the time of backup I made one critical mistake, when copying over the OLDER backup files (done after the 4th patrol) I did not save over all the files and keep the old files in the "captain name" folder, which at the time I was very tired and mad and not thinking straight, but I did not realize that this meant that the career and patrol cfgs would not get updated.
But I had given up trying for the day. And the next day, I came up with an idea in which maybe if I removed a few extras from LSH it would allow me to load the backup saves safely.
So, I went to the JSGME but saw all I had was the deutschland radio and extended challenge as the only extras besides the base main LSH mod.
In any case, I intended on removing the radio mod since I thought it probably wouldn't work but might as well try. As I had just got out of bed but not properly awake, I instead actually click the REMOVE all arrow instead of just the single item arrow.... I don't know if this is ****ed things up even more but I put back the main mod + extended challenge. One thing for sure it did those was mess up some custom configs I had to redo, for example airstrike, contracts, and a lot of uncensoring digging through various folders to uncensor all the swastikas that could be uncensored (deckcrew helmets, medals, etc).
At this point, I still tried my plan by recopying the old backup save files back into the documents/v15/ dir for my captain. Now, when I tried to load up the game and go to career, it was only showing the original 4 patrols done from the first backup of save files that I did, despite the actual save files being up to their number 11 (for 12th patrol) folders still in the proper place.
I've made a number of attempts to play around and "fix" the config files, which at one point I got the 11+12 patrol saves to show up, but clearly I am always missing something, because I am getting "changed base to : null" when trying to load a game repeat either infinitely or after clicking/entering enough times it will either CTD or attempt to load the save but because the save is in visual of a convoy, it crashes after finishing loading for 7 minutes.
For the moment, I've given up on trying to fix the .cfg files that would allow me to properly load up my 11 + 12 patrols, and stuck with starting back on the 5th patrol, but if anyone knows what exact items need to be fixed in order to properly access the 11th and 12th patrol save files (which again I still have the properly correct contents for the main save files in their directories "11" dir and "10" dir) but because access to those are tied to the config files in the directory it shares with the individual main save file directories is the wrong information, I can't load them up.
If not too much trouble, I would like to be able to fix the config files and be able to at least continue from even the start of patrol 12, either at the base or in a save on the 12th patrol before I make contact (which I usually have 3 saves for everyone patrol covering that [1 for for at the port, 1 for just out of the port area and traffic, and usually 1 on convoy sighting via radio]).
Lastly, yes, it was my mistake and fault in 2 cases where I accidentally uninstalled the LSH mod (which seems like it didn't really require a FULL reinstall), and not copying my save game backup properly, BUT, NONE of those mistakes would have even happen, if LSH wasn't so goddamn picky, buggy, and slow. If save games would actually load as they are supposed to than I would not have had to experience the headache, frustration, anger and 10+ hours trying to fix this mess all because save games only work in VERY specific conditions, which in stock, rarely did it matter what state you were in.
Anyways, as how I started, I am even more mad that this mod is so close to perfect that if it would just get a bit more work done to it as to the 3 issues I listed at the start, it would not only be the perfect mod, but save people lots of frustration and headaches.
To make matters WORSE, when I got so frustrated with LSH to give it up and go back to GWX and stock, I started playing each again a bit and was even just starting a new ironman campaign in stock SH3, full realism, I played for 2 days on 1 patrol, then on the 3rd day, I try to load up stock SH3 (no mods [expect d3d.dll for 4k res) it now crashes to desktop on loading up the main menu (same for GWX too)...so for now, the ONLY way I can play SH3 is LSH15 with backtracked 5th patrol and thus meaning I lost a ton of progress.
BTW, if anyone wants to help with my other SH3 issues, I already wrote up the details on this steam thread:
http://steamcommunity.com/app/15210/...2646977641574/