"Happy Times" -- Cannot find anything in the North Atlantic

roccom · 06-04-18, 11:12 PM

I'm playing WoS for reference. Also, I've played a lot of SH4 and never really had a problem finding targets, but I'm just not finding ANYTHING in the North Atlantic Gap.

I've even set the realism down to have better sensors (and turned off Real Navigation to make sure I'm in the right place).

I've been hunting right on the convoy line for a few "days" for reference using Stoianm's search automation.

1) Is there a grid location anyone can recommend for a more target rich environment?

2) Are there any general tips for finding ships?

3) Am I just doing it wrong here? Should I not be patrolling the line looking for randoms?

I'm not looking for a super "realistic" experience here of sailing for weeks and not finding anything and am getting a bit frustrated sailing around (listening to Seinfeld episodes streaming) and not being able to actually try to sink anything ("try" being the operative word). I've watched a ton of tutorials on intercepting and targeting using AOFB and the other tools and am eager to try them out!

Thanks in advance!

XenonSurf · 06-05-18, 01:41 AM

I guess there is a problem with your campaign inizialisation. When starting a new campaign you must enter Bunker, save, quit to main menu, reload game, and - optionally - accept the mission in the officer room. This dance is necessary everytime you start a new campaign chapter.
Failing that will not initialize the campaign correctly and everything weird can happen.
Then, you should always save game in a new slot, never overwrite saves, never use autosaves.

Most of this is in the TWoS doc, you need to read carefully...

Missions and traffic: they are all date-controlled, if you are there at the wrong date then you will only encounter random stuff, nothing related with your mission, or in your case: nothing at all. Generally there is a 'generous' time intervall of a few days for you to encounter mission objectives in the form of a grey contact marker if you play without Real Navigation (go look in your Captain's Log for messages, because these contact markers will not stay forever on the map). Also, click on your red mission marker to see a red area circle appear. Within this circle the chance of spotting contacts is increased (mission targets or not). But for all that to happen you need to do all the above.
And if you play with RN, then sorry you are on your own: you must locate the contacts yourself, I don't know if messages pop-up in your Captain's Log. I would dive in regular intervalls below periscope depth and listen extensively for contacts once I reach mission area.

roccom · 06-05-18, 05:39 PM

Thanks for the info. I'll restart that leg of the campaign and try the Enter -> Save -> Exit -> Load -> Accept Mission work-around.

Quote:

Also, click on your red mission marker to see a red area circle appear. Within this circle the chance of spotting contacts is increased

The screenshot I linked was of me inside of that "red area circle"--the circle is just huge for the North Atlantic Gap! Since I have done my whole patrol in there (including extensive 25-30m submerged hydrophone usage), I'm guessing it is probably the loading issue.

Appreciate your help!

THEBERBSTER · 06-06-18, 04:38 AM

Hi roccom
It is worth looking at one of the search scripts.
Just point the boat in a particular direction the script will do all the work for you which is useful in a situation where you have a large expanse of sea.
The scripts automates various movements including.

Move,
Dive.
Hydrophone search.
Move
Dive.
Search
Repeating until you stop it or until it finds a contact.

Peter

XenonSurf · 06-06-18, 09:14 AM

I forgot to say:
If your problem is the initial loading of the campaign, then - unfortunately - you must throw away all your savegames where you did already start 'Happy Times' and load the last savegame which will start 'Happy Times'. After loading that one, just do as I have explained above to correctly initialize the campaign chapter.

This may also be of interest to you:
I have made a tutorial (guide) about how to start at a specific campaign chapter, in your case how to start at 'Happy Times'. My guide is here:

http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=236272

roccom · 06-06-18, 03:27 PM

Quote:

It is worth looking at one of the search scripts.

Thanks--as noted, I'm using Stoianm's scripts.

Quote:

I forgot to say:
If your problem is the initial loading of the campaign, then - unfortunately - you must throw away all your savegames where you did already start 'Happy Times' and load the last savegame which will start 'Happy Times'. After loading that one, just do as I have explained above to correctly initialize the campaign chapter.

This may also be of interest to you:
I have made a tutorial (guide) about how to start at a specific campaign chapter, in your case how to start at 'Happy Times'. My guide is here:

http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=236272

Oh, wow. That's a lot! I actually restarted and sailed back out there yesterday (following the instructions, but not deleting that saves) and still had trouble. I'll go through, clean up my directory and restart again.

(Or maybe I'll play SH4 some more instead...

)

vdr1981 · 06-06-18, 04:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by roccom

Thanks--as noted, I'm using Stoianm's scripts.

Oh, wow. That's a lot! I actually restarted and sailed back out there yesterday (following the instructions, but not deleting that saves) and still had trouble. I'll go through, clean up my directory and restart again.

(Or maybe I'll play SH4 some more instead...

)

You probably need to be more patient and to pay special attention to occasional radio contact rapports in your captains log.
There's a lot of traffic outhere but again the ocean is pretty large as well...

Cheers!

roccom · 06-07-18, 03:18 PM

Thanks all for the help. I ended up deleting all my saves and restarting the campaign with the save -> reload method and I'm thinking this might have helped! Time will tell.

Captain_AJ · 06-09-18, 10:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by roccom

Thanks all for the help. I ended up deleting all my saves and restarting the campaign with the save -> reload method and I'm thinking this might have helped! Time will tell.

YES North Atlantic Air gap is indeed very boring .. there is nothing wrong with your computer or install after 5 days& low on fuel i get a message.. objective complete ..with zero kills . and my crew moral is to about two dots .. and What VDR said is true. Pay attention to what your captains log is saying. because I did not , there were about 6 entries of contacts . that I missed,. mistakingly I tried to intercept a convoy . that was in the exact location of my boat. well AJ relized that . the information sent was already a day old. by the way you will not see these reports or silouttes . you have to map out the cordinates and intercept -- amazing game at 100% settings -- a lot to learn !!

06-04-18, 11:12 PM	#1
roccom Swabbie Join Date: Aug 2017 Posts: 10 Downloads: 15 Uploads: 0	"Happy Times" -- Cannot find anything in the North Atlantic I'm playing WoS for reference. Also, I've played a lot of SH4 and never really had a problem finding targets, but I'm just not finding ANYTHING in the North Atlantic Gap. I've even set the realism down to have better sensors (and turned off Real Navigation to make sure I'm in the right place). I've been hunting right on the convoy line for a few "days" for reference using Stoianm's search automation. 1) Is there a grid location anyone can recommend for a more target rich environment? 2) Are there any general tips for finding ships? 3) Am I just doing it wrong here? Should I not be patrolling the line looking for randoms? I'm not looking for a super "realistic" experience here of sailing for weeks and not finding anything and am getting a bit frustrated sailing around (listening to Seinfeld episodes streaming) and not being able to actually try to sink anything ("try" being the operative word). I've watched a ton of tutorials on intercepting and targeting using AOFB and the other tools and am eager to try them out! Thanks in advance!

06-05-18, 01:41 AM	#2
XenonSurf Sea Lord Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Germany, Italy Posts: 1,703 Downloads: 107 Uploads: 4	I guess there is a problem with your campaign inizialisation. When starting a new campaign you must enter Bunker, save, quit to main menu, reload game, and - optionally - accept the mission in the officer room. This dance is necessary everytime you start a new campaign chapter. Failing that will not initialize the campaign correctly and everything weird can happen. Then, you should always save game in a new slot, never overwrite saves, never use autosaves. Most of this is in the TWoS doc, you need to read carefully... Missions and traffic: they are all date-controlled, if you are there at the wrong date then you will only encounter random stuff, nothing related with your mission, or in your case: nothing at all. Generally there is a 'generous' time intervall of a few days for you to encounter mission objectives in the form of a grey contact marker if you play without Real Navigation (go look in your Captain's Log for messages, because these contact markers will not stay forever on the map). Also, click on your red mission marker to see a red area circle appear. Within this circle the chance of spotting contacts is increased (mission targets or not). But for all that to happen you need to do all the above. And if you play with RN, then sorry you are on your own: you must locate the contacts yourself, I don't know if messages pop-up in your Captain's Log. I would dive in regular intervalls below periscope depth and listen extensively for contacts once I reach mission area. Last edited by XenonSurf; 06-05-18 at 02:22 AM.

06-06-18, 04:38 AM	#4
THEBERBSTER Growing Old Disgracefully Join Date: Dec 2012 Location: Dibden Purlieu - Southampton Posts: 9,605 Downloads: 1123 Uploads: 0	Hi roccom It is worth looking at one of the search scripts. Just point the boat in a particular direction the script will do all the work for you which is useful in a situation where you have a large expanse of sea. The scripts automates various movements including. Move, Dive. Hydrophone search. Move Dive. Search Repeating until you stop it or until it finds a contact. Peter __________________ LSH3-2015 <> TUTORIALS <> ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW <> ALL IN ONE PLACE SH4 <> TUTORIALS <> HOW TO DO IT <> INFORMATION <> DOWNLOAD LINKS SH5 <> TUTORIALS <> HOW TO DO IT <> INFORMATION <> DOWNLOAD LINKS Always Here To Help A Fellow 'Subber' \| Need An Answer to A Question Just Send Me A PM

06-06-18, 09:14 AM	#5
XenonSurf Sea Lord Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Germany, Italy Posts: 1,703 Downloads: 107 Uploads: 4	I forgot to say: If your problem is the initial loading of the campaign, then - unfortunately - you must throw away all your savegames where you did already start 'Happy Times' and load the last savegame which will start 'Happy Times'. After loading that one, just do as I have explained above to correctly initialize the campaign chapter. This may also be of interest to you: I have made a tutorial (guide) about how to start at a specific campaign chapter, in your case how to start at 'Happy Times'. My guide is here: http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=236272 Last edited by XenonSurf; 06-06-18 at 09:53 AM.

06-07-18, 03:18 PM	#8
roccom Swabbie Join Date: Aug 2017 Posts: 10 Downloads: 15 Uploads: 0	Thanks all for the help. I ended up deleting all my saves and restarting the campaign with the save -> reload method and I'm thinking this might have helped! Time will tell.