Any point in going back to Base, rather than refitting?

BalaoThatOrder · 10-24-14, 12:20 AM

Hey, all - new to the forum, here... great group of folks!

I'm on my 16th patrol of a campaign. My boat is now the Balao - fully outfitted with the best desk guns, noise suppression, best AA guns (fore and aft) and all radars/sonars updated, etc. as of 1 May 1944 date availability in my career, so far. My crew is highly trained, and I typically do everything myself (deck gun, AA, torp targeting, etc.). All legitimately 'earned' from managing promotions/upgrades, etc. No 'game mods' (just "enviro").

I prefer the torps that are steam, and default to only 41kts./4100yds.

My question:
---------------
Is there really any point in going back to port (Brisbane) at this point in the war?

All the cool stuff is about to happen around the Solomons, New Guinea, Phillipines, etc. and after *3 years* of playing the sim on and off, I just *found* (and sunk) the Yamato! Or one of them, if it/they reappear regularly.
I sink large tankers regularly, and I've developed an appetite for BB's, CV's and the like lately, also.

If crew 'morale' (which is already skilled/trained near the max) doesn't suffer, why "miss" all the stuff by going back to Brisbane when I can just refit at the many ports now available in the area?

Thoughts?

Thanks! And great forum, guys!

I go "back" with Silent Hunter, to Silent Service (on Commodore 64), and everything made, up to present (except SH5). I play/own most of the Sonalyst "stuff" too...

Sniper297 · 10-24-14, 12:43 AM

Short answer is yes.
Long answer is it probably depends on the system.

I have an 8 year old Dell with XP, 2 gigs of RAM, a Pentium D 3.4ghz. What I found is the save game files get really big and even loading from a SSD it takes a really really long time to load.

I'm the kind of sinner who when led into temptation, I invariably fall, so after creating the "Gone Asiatic" mod:

http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/down...o=file&id=4358

I can never resist heading to one of the resupply bases near the Philippines so I can keep shooting everything in the Japanese Navy.

But the save files get to several megabytes and it takes forever to load on my machine, so I try to end the patrol before I get to 500,000 tons or 100 ships sunk.

Aktungbby · 10-24-14, 01:05 AM

BalaoThatOrder!

BalaoThatOrder · 10-24-14, 01:13 AM

Thanks, Sniper297!

Come to think of it, you're right!

The "history" (size of data retained) of the patrol - must have been why I was getting artifacts (like a billowing smoke trail from my last "kil") which followed my sub everywhere I went after 2-4 'refits' - rather than some NVidia "stuff" from inferior drivers. I haven't seen it recently (patrols limited to 2-3 refits), so thought it was 'fixed.'

I thought it was corrected with my 'new' drivers (using a 640M on my Dell XP One 2710 system [i7, 3.3, 8G mem, Win7 64-bit] with 3.31 or 3.34 drivers, for my embedded video).

Thanks for the heads-up!

Good Hunting!

Sailor Steve · 10-24-14, 02:23 AM

In order to load faster, SH4 only loads 6 months of activity at a time. If you keep rifitting over and over (which was something they didn't do more than once in real life, as the crew would become absolutely exhausted) you will suddenly find yourself without any targets at all.

Jimbuna · 10-24-14, 05:39 AM

Welcome to SubSim Balao

BalaoThatOrder · 10-24-14, 08:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sailor Steve

In order to load faster, SH4 only loads 6 months of activity at a time. If you keep rifitting over and over (which was something they didn't do more than once in real life, as the crew would become absolutely exhausted) you will suddenly find yourself without any targets at all.

Thanks for that, Steve!

I'm not so sure about running out of targets, though...

...I'm at that point in the war (1 May 1944) where there are 8 enemy ports

in the northwest area of New Guinea, with convenient refit base "right around the corner!"

If true, I haven't gone "harbor hunting" in a while - with or without the 'long dogs' - to reach out and touch them up to 8-9k yds. I prefer to get in close though, as timing and evading the escort 'orbits' is such fun!

Good segue...do they spawn/respawn in ports? I had a large tanker convoy in Celebes Sea that just disappeared from radar the other day...

I save and reload at the start of each contact tracking session, and again just as I'm evading and exiting after engagement. I reloaded the save and searched everywhere - at a certain point, they just went 'flying Dutchman.'

Any info on the port spawn/respawn or whether it's random, appreciated!

I think I'm running TMO...I have JSGME installed, and a PE4 (1,2,3,4,5) in the MODS folder, from 2012. I had to do a system restore at some point a year ago, and JSGME isn't 'active' and I haven't bothered with it. I like the added effects, crate debris, bodies, etc. and just left it alone, because it's graphically-tuned and works so well!

Thanks!

Sailor Steve · 10-24-14, 09:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BalaoThatOrder

I had a large tanker convoy in Celebes Sea that just disappeared from radar the other day...

I don't know about spawning or how it even works, but I may know something about this problem. Were they nearing a port? The game isn't sophisticated enough to allow them to break formation and sail into the harbor. When they reach that last waypoint they vanish.

10-24-14, 12:20 AM	#1
BalaoThatOrder Swabbie Join Date: Oct 2014 Posts: 9 Downloads: 15 Uploads: 0	Any point in going back to Base, rather than refitting? Hey, all - new to the forum, here... great group of folks! I'm on my 16th patrol of a campaign. My boat is now the Balao - fully outfitted with the best desk guns, noise suppression, best AA guns (fore and aft) and all radars/sonars updated, etc. as of 1 May 1944 date availability in my career, so far. My crew is highly trained, and I typically do everything myself (deck gun, AA, torp targeting, etc.). All legitimately 'earned' from managing promotions/upgrades, etc. No 'game mods' (just "enviro"). I prefer the torps that are steam, and default to only 41kts./4100yds. My question: --------------- Is there really any point in going back to port (Brisbane) at this point in the war? All the cool stuff is about to happen around the Solomons, New Guinea, Phillipines, etc. and after 3 years of playing the sim on and off, I just found (and sunk) the Yamato! Or one of them, if it/they reappear regularly. I sink large tankers regularly, and I've developed an appetite for BB's, CV's and the like lately, also. If crew 'morale' (which is already skilled/trained near the max) doesn't suffer, why "miss" all the stuff by going back to Brisbane when I can just refit at the many ports now available in the area? Thoughts? Thanks! And great forum, guys! I go "back" with Silent Hunter, to Silent Service (on Commodore 64), and everything made, up to present (except SH5). I play/own most of the Sonalyst "stuff" too...

10-24-14, 01:05 AM	#3
Aktungbby Gefallen Engel U-666 Join Date: Jul 2013 Location: On a tilted, overheated, overpopulated spinning mudball on Collision course with Andromeda Galaxy Posts: 27,973 Downloads: 22 Uploads: 0	Welcome Aboard BalaoThatOrder! __________________ "Only two things are infinite; The Universe and human squirrelyness; and I'm not too sure about the Universe"

10-24-14, 02:23 AM	#5
Sailor Steve Eternal Patrol Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: High in the mountains of Utah Posts: 50,369 Downloads: 745 Uploads: 249	In order to load faster, SH4 only loads 6 months of activity at a time. If you keep rifitting over and over (which was something they didn't do more than once in real life, as the crew would become absolutely exhausted) you will suddenly find yourself without any targets at all. __________________ “Never do anything you can't take back.” —Rocky Russo

10-24-14, 05:39 AM	#6
Jimbuna Chief of the Boat Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: 250 metres below the surface Posts: 181,403 Downloads: 63 Uploads: 13	Welcome to SubSim Balao __________________ Wise men speak because they have something to say; Fools because they have to say something. Oh my God, not again!! GWX3.0 Download Page - Donation/instant access to GWX (Help SubSim)

10-24-14, 12:43 AM	#2
Sniper297 The Old Man Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Philadelphia Shipyard Brig Posts: 1,386 Downloads: 160 Uploads: 19	Short answer is yes. Long answer is it probably depends on the system. I have an 8 year old Dell with XP, 2 gigs of RAM, a Pentium D 3.4ghz. What I found is the save game files get really big and even loading from a SSD it takes a really really long time to load. I'm the kind of sinner who when led into temptation, I invariably fall, so after creating the "Gone Asiatic" mod: http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/down...o=file&id=4358 I can never resist heading to one of the resupply bases near the Philippines so I can keep shooting everything in the Japanese Navy. But the save files get to several megabytes and it takes forever to load on my machine, so I try to end the patrol before I get to 500,000 tons or 100 ships sunk.

10-24-14, 01:13 AM	#4
BalaoThatOrder Swabbie Join Date: Oct 2014 Posts: 9 Downloads: 15 Uploads: 0	Thanks, Sniper297! Come to think of it, you're right! The "history" (size of data retained) of the patrol - must have been why I was getting artifacts (like a billowing smoke trail from my last "kil") which followed my sub everywhere I went after 2-4 'refits' - rather than some NVidia "stuff" from inferior drivers. I haven't seen it recently (patrols limited to 2-3 refits), so thought it was 'fixed.' I thought it was corrected with my 'new' drivers (using a 640M on my Dell XP One 2710 system [i7, 3.3, 8G mem, Win7 64-bit] with 3.31 or 3.34 drivers, for my embedded video). Thanks for the heads-up! Good Hunting!