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.

[Sailor Steve]

For SH3 there are some cool tools, but I'm unaware of any for SH4.

[crocodile]

Thanks for your replies. But so in the specific case of my problem there is not really a solution? I mean if I'm stuck in this artic patrols in Operation Monsun, where they keep giving me grids to patrols where nothing happens what should I do? Ignore the grids? Patrol elsewhere? And where exactly? And how can I end a campaign mission if I ignore the patrol grid I was assigned to?
And to Sailor Steve: you mentioned about some tool regarding SH3 and my problem. Can you just give me a couple of hints.

[Carthaginian]

Originally Posted by doulos05

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.

Hey that's even easier!
This should give you an idea of where to be to intercept convoys at sea.
British Trans-Atlantic Convoy Routes

For convoys closer to home, this map covers the coastal regions.
British Coastal Convoy Routes

Something else that might help is this one here.
Ship Sinkings in 1941
This shows the location of every merchant and U-boat sank from MAR-DEC 1941. If you want a good idea of where to go hunting, it's always a good idea to find out where others are making kills.

[Carthaginian]

Originally Posted by crocodile

Thanks for your replies. But so in the specific case of my problem there is not really a solution? I mean if I'm stuck in this artic patrols in Operation Monsun, where they keep giving me grids to patrols where nothing happens what should I do? Ignore the grids? Patrol elsewhere? And where exactly? And how can I end a campaign mission if I ignore the patrol grid I was assigned to?
And to Sailor Steve: you mentioned about some tool regarding SH3 and my problem. Can you just give me a couple of hints.

If you're in the Arctic, head for the Murmansk/Arkhangelsk in the map in my post above. There won't be a convoy every day- and indeed, won't be any all winter. That's the big thing about Arctic shipping... if the lanes are closed by ice, then you are pretty much done in.

[crocodile]

Yes thanks for the valuable infos and maps ! Perhaps I realised the Artic map I played so much in is one of the worst when it comes to finding enemy ships.... Its is quite a vast area but only few convoys must get there. I'll try the same mod and other regions or also reverse back to SH3 with other Mods. And use your maps as reference to understand where it is better to patrol...

[Sailor Steve]

Originally Posted by crocodile

Thanks for your replies. But so in the specific case of my problem there is not really a solution? I mean if I'm stuck in this artic patrols in Operation Monsun, where they keep giving me grids to patrols where nothing happens what should I do? Ignore the grids? Patrol elsewhere? And where exactly? And how can I end a campaign mission if I ignore the patrol grid I was assigned to?

I guess I really did misunderstand the problem. Personally I do take all the empty patrols, mainly because I'm empty-headed and like the boredom. You don't have to complete any of the missions. Just go to where the action is and enjoy it. You may lose some renown for not completing a "mission", but you'll more than make up for it sinking ships. When you find a grid you like, just go there. The game doesn't really know the difference.

And to Sailor Steve: you mentioned about some tool regarding SH3 and my problem. Can you just give me a couple of hints.

It's called SH3 Gen. It basically gives you a snapshot of the world. It has two sliders; one determines how much information you get and the other determines how accurate that information is. If you keep the sliders set low, as I do, it will act like a spy or an intercepted radio transmission and tell you where a ship or two might be. If you set them both to 100% it will tell you where everything is in the whole world. I use it once near the beginning of a patrol to act like my secret orders.
http://www.global-explorer.de/SH3GEN...e_download.htm

[crocodile]

Thanks Steve. But I actually thought you had to patrol the assigned grid... Fir instance in one mission up in the artic in sh4 and OM mod, I went elsewhere and after 40 mins or so of boredom I quit the mission the screen said.... terminated by user / failure or something like that... as to say you didn't patrol the grid for 48 hrs and so the mission can't be counted.... so you say that if I had sunk any ship it would have been good even if I didn't patrol the assigned area?