Locate enemies / other ships

[crocodile]

Hello. I have been playing SH$ and SH3 since many years but only for few weeks each time cos I soon get annoyed pissed off frustrated and angry at these game and would like to give it up for good then after a while I reinstall and try again but this time I'm really going to shelf this one if I can't get a solution.... My problem is not hitting ships targeting or similar. It's just finding the enemies and convoys... but also neutral ships, I'm now stuck since days in a base in Norway playing the OM Mod and I patrol the indicated area and sometimes 5 hrs of gameplay go by wihtout me even meeting a neutral ship.
So I' like to know if there's a mod/cheat that work with any version of the game and possibly also with SH3 that show all the ships and convoys, both friendlies and allied, on the map. Than once I find out roughly where the ships are I could well turn it off and go there in the areas I noticed before and be sure that soon I'll have a ship to identify and eventually attack.

[doulos05]

Originally Posted by crocodile

Hello. I have been playing SH$ and SH3 since many years but only for few weeks each time cos I soon get annoyed pissed off frustrated and angry at these game and would like to give it up for good then after a while I reinstall and try again but this time I'm really going to shelf this one if I can't get a solution.... My problem is not hitting ships targeting or similar. It's just finding the enemies and convoys... but also neutral ships, I'm now stuck since days in a base in Norway playing the OM Mod and I patrol the indicated area and sometimes 5 hrs of gameplay go by wihtout me even meeting a neutral ship.
So I' like to know if there's a mod/cheat that work with any version of the game and possibly also with SH3 that show all the ships and convoys, both friendlies and allied, on the map. Than once I find out roughly where the ships are I could well turn it off and go there in the areas I noticed before and be sure that soon I'll have a ship to identify and eventually attack.

There isn't that kind of a cheat, but you could patrol closer to harbors and entrances. The missions are basically optional. You can usually find good targets there.

[Sailor Steve]

The point of a simulation game is to recreate the real war. Most uboats never saw an enemy ship, let alone sank one. Long boring patrols were the norm.

[doulos05]

Originally Posted by Sailor Steve

The point of a simulation game is to recreate the real war. Most uboats never saw an enemy ship, let alone sank one. Long boring patrols were the norm.

Well, perhaps that's the point of a simulation game, but the point of a simulation game is for the player to have fun simulating an experience they could not otherwise have, such as commanding a starship, being a rail baron, or commanding a WWII submarine. Some choose to stress the fun, some choose to stress the realism. I think it's fair to ask what options there are for increasing the fun aspect and not really fair to dismiss his request out of hand with what amounts to "real uboat captains didn't have fun, why should you?"

That said, does anybody know of any traffic layer mods which increase traffic to "arcade" levels, guaranteeing contacts?

[Carthaginian]

The level of traffic in the stock campaign is arcade-like in its lack of realism. There is FAR too much traffic as it is... you just need to know where to look.

I found this map- already posted here- on page two of a Google Images search for 'Japanese Shipping Lanes in WWII.'
Japanese Shipping Lanes During WWII
If you patrol along these routes, then you WILL see a ship or two virtually every day in the stock campaign. Whether or not they meet your criteria as 'good targets' isn't necessarily guaranteed, as many will be fishing boats or sampans, but the targets will be there. Naturally, the more distant lanes will close as the war progresses, and the traffic along all will (or at least should) become lighter.

If you want a mod that makes it so as you can walk form Darwin to Tokyo on the decks of Japanese ships without getting your feet wet... well, I don't think that's going to be something that interests a lot of people.
Sorry.

[doulos05]

Originally Posted by Carthaginian

The level of traffic in the stock campaign is arcade-like in its lack of realism. There is FAR too much traffic as it is... you just need to know where to look.

I found this map- already posted here- on page two of a Google Images search for 'Japanese Shipping Lanes in WWII.'
Japanese Shipping Lanes During WWII
If you patrol along these routes, then you WILL see a ship or two virtually every day in the stock campaign. Whether or not they meet your criteria as 'good targets' isn't necessarily guaranteed, as many will be fishing boats or sampans, but the targets will be there. Naturally, the more distant lanes will close as the war progresses, and the traffic along all will (or at least should) become lighter.

If you want a mod that makes it so as you can walk form Darwin to Tokyo on the decks of Japanese ships without getting your feet wet... well, I don't think that's going to be something that interests a lot of people.
Sorry.

Sounds like he's running uboats, in which case, you'd want to hang around Portsmouth or some of the other big British ports on the Western seaboard. In theory, they'd have a convoy arriving every few days, especially at the peak of the war.

[Sailor Steve]

Originally Posted by doulos05

Well, perhaps that's the point of a simulation game, but the point of a simulation game is for the player to have fun simulating an experience they could not otherwise have, such as commanding a starship, being a rail baron, or commanding a WWII submarine. Some choose to stress the fun, some choose to stress the realism. I think it's fair to ask what options there are for increasing the fun aspect and not really fair to dismiss his request out of hand with what amounts to "real uboat captains didn't have fun, why should you?"

First, what makes you think I was dismissing anything out of hand? I merely pointed out that if the point of the game is to recreate the war as realistically as possible, maybe a different game would be more to his liking.

That said, does anybody know of any traffic layer mods which increase traffic to "arcade" levels, guaranteeing contacts?

Perhaps the stock game, with no mods. People are always complaining that there's way too much traffic. Possibly the old SH1. You met a convoy every five minutes in that one. It's still available.

[doulos05]

Originally Posted by Sailor Steve

First, what makes you think I was dismissing anything out of hand? I merely pointed out that if the point of the game is to recreate the war as realistically as possible, maybe a different game would be more to his liking.

Sorry, I read it hastily and misread your intent.

Perhaps the stock game, with no mods. People are always complaining that there's way too much traffic. Possibly the old SH1. You met a convoy every five minutes in that one. It's still available.

I tend to agree stock has a lot, but stock may not be an option for him with SH4 given his love of the Atlantic Theater. He said he's running OM, I'm not familiar with any of the ATO mods, does anybody know some good patrol spots for ATO? Only one I know of is Portsmouth or another major British harbor.