SH3 Commander questions (newbie ones)

[Bindolaf]

I downloaded it - and I'm not sure I want to use it... However, reading all the good things, I feel I should give it a chance.

1) I am totally unsure about how to use it. Load SH3 first? If I click "Run SH3!" on Commander, will it run the GWX mod .exe or the old one?

2) It's all convoluted... "exit the game after each patrol"? I *really* don't want to - it takes 6-7 mins to load the game and I already have random sound crashes (nothing to do with the game).

3) What happens with loaded games? When can I load games? When should I?

4) I assume that if I leave all the options unchecked the GWX ones will be in effect? I like the fatigue, water murkiness etc just like GWX has them.

All in all I guess I found I need more help getting started - and I am unsure it's worth the trouble.

This is not to bash any modders, please realize. Without you people SH3 would just be plain vanilla. You all took it to the next (and then some level)

:up:

[robbo180265]

Welcome aboard matey

I've been using SH Commander for a while, so I'll try to answer your questions.

Load the game through SH Commander, whatever mods you have enabled will load as normal.

I normaly try to arrange the end of a patrol to coincide with the end of my nights gaming. Using SH Commander to give out the medals and manage the crews is so much easier than through SHIII.

You load up your games through the same screen as normal, in fact once the game has loaded it's exactly the same as it would be without SH Commander.

You can leave it all unchecked and all will be as normal, but I reccomend you look a the time compression and adjust accordingly. I.E tc near land, whilst hunting, being hunted. Near land I normaly set it to 64,when hunting 128, when hunted 64.
Also check out seasonal waves- they're cool.

I'm not at home at the moment so I'm typing this from memory, hope it helps but if you're still having trouble - post again I'll be home in about an hour and I'll try to talk you through my settings

[Bindolaf]

It does help, thank you - and it reminds me of one more thing: Crew management. I got the impression from the help file, that crew awards will be totally different in SH3 and Commander, but that the Commander awards will work in SH3 as if they were visible (but they're not). Is that correct?

I don't know... seems like too much trouble :hmm:

[Prince Kassad]

It does help, thank you - and it reminds me of one more thing: Crew management. I got the impression from the help file, that crew awards will be totally different in SH3 and Commander, but that the Commander awards will work in SH3 as if they were visible (but they're not). Is that correct?
The help file is a bit complicated in that part. I think what it wants to say is that you can change the crew from there and SH3 will adapt to the changes - just if you try to do something that is not possible in normal SH3 (like giving petty officers multiple promotions or giving seamen promotions), the game will show the invalid changes but they won't take effect.

The commander will also warn you if you try to hand out awards before they're handed out in-game - you can ignore the warnings and the awards will still work.

[robbo180265]

[/quote]
The help file is a bit complicated in that part. I think what it wants to say is that you can change the crew from there and SH3 will adapt to the changes - just if you try to do something that is not possible in normal SH3 (like giving petty officers multiple promotions or giving seamen promotions), the game will show the invalid changes but they won't take effect.

The commander will also warn you if you try to hand out awards before they're handed out in-game - you can ignore the warnings and the awards will still work.[/quote]

Spot on mate:up:

I recomend that you give it ago,in the long run it makes life a lot easier.

One thing I should have added in my first post is that the malfunctions setting needs to be turned off. 3 reinstalls of the game before I found out about that setting:damn:

I reckon you'll like it once you get used to it but if you don't,just uninstall it.

[KevinB]

How do you hand out awards? I've tried to do this without success so I hand them out without Commander.
Also, in the manual it states it is inadvisable to download the combined skin pack. Why is this? And are there any other skinpacks I can download?

[danlisa]

How do you hand out awards? I've tried to do this without success so I hand them out without Commander.
Also, in the manual it states it is inadvisable to download the combined skin pack. Why is this? And are there any other skinpacks I can download?

Awards - In the crew management screen in SH3Commander you will see you crewmen listed on the left and the slots for their awards on the right, below that you will see the available medals & qualifications. All you need to do is drag & drop to either the medal area or the qualification area. Be sure to click APPLY when you are done with each crew member.

Skin Pack - SH3Cmdr still has it's own skin pack available for use, however this was built before GWX and as such is only recommended for people not using GWX. GWX has it's own skin pack (click on my sig) which should be used, as well as this GWX has totally redone the merchant skins and these are already built into GWX.

[P_Funk]

2) It's all convoluted... "exit the game after each patrol"? I *really* don't want to - it takes 6-7 mins to load the game and I already have random sound crashes (nothing to do with the game). Well the reason you'd want to do this is because SH3 Commander changes a number of settings within the game to coincide with your patrol date, should you enable them.

Besides. How many patrols do you do in one night? I usually can't get through one patrol in fewer than 2 nights at best. But right now I'm using a type IX.;)

3) What happens with loaded games? When can I load games? When should I? You load your game through SH3 Commander because it registers every profile that you have in your save game folders. It also probes the last save game to determine where you're at in terms of date and patrol (ie. before, just after, mid patrol). It loads the last save game made and adjusts whatever game properties it needs to according to the date and such.

4) I assume that if I leave all the options unchecked the GWX ones will be in effect? I like the fatigue, water murkiness etc just like GWX has them. Unchecked options are exactly as they would be if you loaded without SH3 Commander.

All in all I guess I found I need more help getting started - and I am unsure it's worth the trouble. Believe me, its very worth the trouble since the trouble today saves you plenty in the future.

SH3 Commander is the only prog that pretty much everyone uses. Its compaitble with anything.

Plus starting a career out of SH3 Commander is much better. You can choose which month rather than just year, u-boat type, u-boat number, set your own patrol grid, and the crew management is much simpler. It looks daunting but anything with lots of options looks complex before you get the hang of it.

Soon enough you'll be saying "whats an SH3.exe?".:|\\

[KevinB]

How do you hand out awards? I've tried to do this without success so I hand them out without Commander.
Also, in the manual it states it is inadvisable to download the combined skin pack. Why is this? And are there any other skinpacks I can download?

Awards - In the crew management screen in SH3Commander you will see you crewmen listed on the left and the slots for their awards on the right, below that you will see the available medals & qualifications. All you need to do is drag & drop to either the medal area or the qualification area. Be sure to click APPLY when you are done with each crew member.

Skin Pack - SH3Cmdr still has it's own skin pack available for use, however this was built before GWX and as such is only recommended for people not using GWX. GWX has it's own skin pack (click on my sig) which should be used, as well as this GWX has totally redone the merchant skins and these are already built into GWX.


Thanks Mate:up:

[Bindolaf]

Thanks, one last question:

How can I load the next-to-last saved game of a career? For example, in my current career I'm dead I think (the last saved game is "Dead"). Can I load my mid-patrol one? Should I wait till I'm in port? Or should I just start over?

Not meaning to pester you :) Thanks!

[Vacillator]

You can load up previous saves, just select the one you want in the career screen (but be aware that any saves AFTER the one you load will then disappear - not a problem if it's just a 'Dead' save ;)).

As for whether you should start again, well that's up to you. Some play 'Dead is Dead' for realism but if for example you really fancy another go at what got you killed then why not? Particularly if you've just lost an experienced crew and upgraded boat...

[melnibonian]

Thanks, one last question:

How can I load the next-to-last saved game of a career? For example, in my current career I'm dead I think (the last saved game is "Dead"). Can I load my mid-patrol one? Should I wait till I'm in port? Or should I just start over?

Not meaning to pester you :) Thanks!
You just run the game via the executable (Sh3.exe) and you load tour career. There you have the option which save game to load. Once you load the save you want all other saves AFTER that will be deleted. Quit the game and re-start it via SH3Cmd and you will have your life and crew back where you left them;)

[Bindolaf]

Thanks guys, I'll give it a go :up:

[Umfuld]

One thing I should have added in my first post is that the malfunctions setting needs to be turned off. 3 reinstalls of the game before I found out about that setting:damn:Hmm. 3rd patrol with that setting switched on. No problems so far.

[danlisa]

One thing I should have added in my first post is that the malfunctions setting needs to be turned off. 3 reinstalls of the game before I found out about that setting:damn:Hmm. 3rd patrol with that setting switched on. No problems so far.

LOL - You just wait until you are attacked by aircraft and need to crash dive.;)

The malfunctions are loaded each time you run SH3 from inside SH3Cmdr, so if you don't run SH3 everytime from Commander then you won't experience the random malfunctions.:yep: This is also usefull to remember if you are mid patrol and don't want a completely new set of malfunctions applied but it's all done on chance anyway.

[Umfuld]

Do you use it? I usually just minimalize SH3 and don't exit mid patrol, so that won't be a problem.

I'd like to use it if it's realistic, but if it happens too often I'll turn it off.

[danlisa]

It's based on a random chance percentage each time you start SH3 via SH3Commander.

I personally use the malfunctions & sabotage setting but only ever start my game via Commander when I have finished a patrol.

As for being realistic, within the limitations of the game it does a very good job and I would advise any one to conduct 'shake down' drills just after leaving port.

Things that can be affected:


Engines
Batteries
Optical Scopes
Flak Guns
Crash Depth
Max Depth???

I'm sure there are others but you get the idea.

[Umfuld]

I would advise any one to conduct 'shake down' drills just after leaving port.That's a great idea! Wouldn't have occured to me until I'd had some problems that cost me. Heh.