LIVING SILENT HUNTER III EDITION 2015 - News & Download

[THEBERBSTER]

Hi TheBeast
The best way to get a response to your questions is to email LSH.
Urmel does not seem to frequent this thread that often.
LSH3 has lost their English speaking modder through ill health so if you know the German language then that would be a big help in translation.
urmel@lsh3.com
Peter

[Pomf666]

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/

[THEBERBSTER]

Hi Pomf

1) Ridiculous loading times (5-7mins for save games)

The loading time is down to the quality of your rig.
LSH3-2015 is a big super mod.

3) Most picky and buggy mod when it comes to crashes and saving games (compared to say GWX)

Never had a game ctd to date.
I only make 1 save game per gaming session.
I never save closer than 60km to any AI.
Peter

[Pomf666]

Originally Posted by THEBERBSTER

Hi Pomf
The loading time is down to the quality of your rig.
LSH3-2015 is a big super mod.

My rig is:

Win7 64 bit
i5
gtx 1070 8GB VRAM
16GB RAM

I don't see how the "quality" of my rig could be much better, save for an i7, which unless the modders put in specific code for hyperthreading (which I highly doubt or probably not even possible to do with the old code/engine).

I don't think I could complain if other supermods did have the same extremely long load times. For example, while GWX is a bit longer than stock to load, it is no where near as long as LSH. And when it comes down to it, even though LSH15 is much more recent, there really isn't that much "extra stuff", more ships and more planes, but not much more components apart form that. And if really all the extra variety and a few extra nations are what is causing the extreme load times, then they really should have just dropped them.

But anyways, I guess there is nothing that can be done about it as it doesn't seem like LSH is being worked on anymore. And I'll just have to be more careful about saving and backing up saves, but still doesn't change my frustration and my hesitation to play this mod simply due to the long load times and pickiness of saving issues.

[Pomf666]

Does anyone know where the markings for German aircraft tailwing are for LSH15?

I have become pretty good at uncensoring SH3, spending so much time in its file system and looking around and have managed to uncensor pretty much everything but the German tailwing markings.

The "Markings" folder in the "data" folder is for the horizontal wings as I have for sure confirmed (at least for one type of aircraft) as in my attempt to try to uncensor LSH, I used the GWX version, which I know has 4 symbols instead of 1 but I thought I would try it anyways. But anyways, I came across some German bombers where the GWX version markings was on the horizontal wings (with 3 crosses and 1 swastika grouped up in 1 texture), but even though that clearly isn't correct it showed that the tailwing marking must be separate for LSH15 because the tailwing was still just a single cross.


I've gone through all the folders in data multiple times, but can't seem to find the source of this. Anyone know...? Or is it each aircraft skin has to be edited? Which would really suck...

[TheBeast]

Originally Posted by Pomf666

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)

I also noticed the long load times. When you first start a career, the load time is OK. Save game load time seems to increase as you progress through the Campaign though.
Also, You may want to defrag your Hard Drive.

Originally Posted by Pomf666

2) Worst Destroyer AI off all the supermods (including stock) [even with extended challenge on]

The AI (and yours) Sensors seem to be very restricted.
If I go to the beach I can see (without visual aid) 25 foot boats a few miles away and know its a small Boat but in LSH3 your deck crew doesn't see 200 foot ships until around 9000 meters. So I agree with you here.

Originally Posted by Pomf666

3) Most picky and buggy mod when it comes to crashes and saving games (compared to say GWX)

I've had Zero(0) CTD issues. Even after making a few tweaks to Sensor ranges.

Regards!
TheBeast

[THEBERBSTER]

Hi pomf
I have made 137 saved games to date with no ctd's either in game or loading.
I only make 1 game save per gaming session.
I use SH3Commander realistic career length option.
I have had 3 captains
Josef Rommel 12 patrols
Ernst Weppner 7 patrols
Kurt Halderbaum currently in patrol 8
47 game saves in total showing in the career menu 1939-1945
My saved game loading time to hearing sound in the Command Room is 4 minutes and 8 seconds.
Peter

[Urmel]

Dear LSH3 players

By working out Edition 2017 we found a ugly bug in comabination with HSIE-Patch U-TANKER function.
(Keep in mind: In Edition 2015 HSIE-Patch is allways active!)


Bugfix: HSIE U-TANKER / CTD

! Highly recommended for all Edition 2015 players !

This Bugfix solves the problem by docking at U-TANKER and minimizes inexplicable game crashes.

Read more and download the BugFix here:

» LSH3 Edition 2015 - BugFix and Update Information


___________________

We also recommend reading the comprehensive knowledge database of L/SH3 Grandmaster THEBERBSTER:
» LSH3-2015 <> TUTORIALS <> ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW <> ALL IN ONE PLACE (by THEBERBSTER)

[ericlea]

good news this u-tanker fix ! thanks

[ericlea]

Originally Posted by Urmel

Hi dear SH3 Friends

@ericlea
Tnx for your nice remarks.
The WWII Swastika Flags not exists in Edition 2015.
We (LSH) must respect the (silly!) EU law in this case.
To all Modder: Feel free to create and publish V15 compatible “Swastika” mods.

Best regards by Urmel

Hi !

It is more realistic for a historic game to play LSH with the Svastika flag on own u-boat and on all german ships. here is the mod :
https://www.dropbox.com/s/ru72at9s4l...ships.rar?dl=0

Have fun !

[Urmel]

Salu Eric

Tnx for this Mod!
In Edition 2017 all historical german flags will be back/available.

Best regards, Urmel

[Urmel]

Hi SH3 friends

Another update about some SH3 Videos and Channels:

- Living Silent Hunter III Video Cannel
- Schwalbes Let's play SH3... Video Cannel
- Mr.Flecks Video Cannel


Some SH3 Videos:

Original game SH3 vs Supermod LSH3 - part 1


Silent Hunter III Edition 2017 Essentials


Mr.Flecks Dolphin



"Das Boot" movie versions:

Preview "Das Boot" (trailer)


Original movie "Das Boot" (1981)



Regards Urmel

[THEBERBSTER]

Hi Urmel
How long will be do you think before LSH3-2017 is going to be released?
Peter

[Pomf666]

Originally Posted by Urmel

Salu Eric

Tnx for this Mod!
In Edition 2017 all historical german flags will be back/available.

Best regards, Urmel

Will this include for German aircraft? And what about GUI Menus?

Originally Posted by Urmel

Hi SH3 friends

Another update about some SH3 Videos and Channels:



Some SH3 Videos:


Regards Urmel

Is there a changelog for 2017 edition because all I am gathering from watching the 2 videos is a more detailed training mission section.

[ericlea]

Thanks for the videos Urmel.


I have just bought at the moment :

Das Boot - Director's Cut - Blu-ray

(October 2011 edition)