gwx smoke

[WeeBubba]

hello i just reinstalled SH3 after a long layoff.

i have installed the GWX 1.03 mod. it runs great. apart from when i hit a ship the thick smoke lags my comp. is there anyway i can reduce the smoke without losing the grahpic quality on the rest of the game, as like i said the rest runs ok?

thnx

[_Seth_]

Hi mate, and welcome to subsim! :up::up: You could do a search over at the SHIII mods forum, or just use the original smoke from vanilla SHIII. (The files are locate in the folder SHIII/data/Textures/TNormal/tex, and named smoke_volum.tga and smoke_volume02.tga, if i am not mistaken..... Please correct me if im wrong on this, mates!!!)

Edit: Read Kpt. Lehmanns post further down. He knows this to the bone, mate, believe me!

[Genghis Khan]

I think that this not a problem of GWX,actually,but a feature of SHIII in general.Some ships do produce a really lots of smoke when severly damaged-especially tankers.

To my mind this smoke is not such a big problem,it's often enough to move away for several hundred meters,where you will not experience any lagging.

And the other feature,I like GWX for is that even if it is some lagging there,that lagging does not spoil the gameplay,the game is still playable even if you have the highest graphics settings.

Welcome to Subsim,Kaleun.Have a nice stay,and good hunting :D :up:

[Kpt. Lehmann]

Weebubba,

Welcome to Subsim! Here is your potato peeler. Fritz is waiting for you in the galley!

Can you post your system specs here please?

Actually, GWX removes ALL textures from the texture folder and repacks them in their respective .dat files. Unless the user adds new textures from other mods after installing GWX, the texture folder should be empty. This was done to improve performance... The game engine no longer needs to search multiple locations for graphic files.

Smoke is one of the elements in-game that place a high demand on the system... oil fires are even worse. Stock SH3 smoke actually creates more of a load on the system than the version used by GWX.

One way to fix it if your system is below recommended specs is to reduce the particle settings in the in-game SH3 user interface menus prior to loading missions. This in turn will lower the density of ALL particles rendered, and their demand on the system.

[WeeBubba]

thanks for all the kind welcomes! :up:

im a bit noobish at this game so please be prepared for lots of questions! :damn:

i would to point out that i am absolutely overwhelmed by the sheer size of the GWX mod. hats off to you guys for providing such excellent software for the community. admittedly ive not read the manual yet. i only just installed everything, so i got excited and couldnt resist a quick game first (as you do).

ive got some questions. if any of these are stupid pls forgive me - im a humble pot washer! some of these questions have arisen out of my first tentative mission in a 1939 old stylee uboat.

1. when i sailed from germany to my patrol area half my fuel was gone on arrival. is there any good fuel economy tips? am i supposed to stop at ports en route to top up fuel? do i go at slower speed? underwater? is there milk cows and how do i use them? basically i need fuel tips because i like ran out.

2. en route i got some messages like "survivors need picking up" together with some long/lat coordinates. how do i work out where the area is from my map using the coordinates?

3. i noticed when i kept submerging to use hyrdophone (bad weather) then resurfacing always 1 crewmember stayed behind in electric/diesel compartment causing me to get message not enough crew members. so every time i had to manually drag and drop him. can i avoid this somehow?

4. i installed GWX 1.03 SH Command1.7 and Sobers wave mod. this best setup?

5. im going 100% realism! i got my wazoos manual printed off and my circular wheel targetting tool cut out! woohoo!

6. my 1939 uboat goes real slow. i just chased a cargo ship for like 2 hours in bad weather using the hydrophone! any tips? or is this just the deal when uve got an older style boat. if so i think ill give up chasing unless theyre closer?

sorry for all teh questions. just need to get over some initial hurdles then i can sit back and start some captains logs for you to read!

thanks!

[WeeBubba]

uhu i just read about the milk cows in teh manual (apologies). but any other tips re fuel most welcome. how to conserve etc

[Foghladh_mhara]

Ahead 1/3 is roughly the most economic setting within a knot or two. You can set your speed by knots by using the little button at the bottom of the dial. Differs by sub. For a type VII 8 knots is the most economical, not sure for a type II. The radio messages are for effect only, ignore them. The petty officer thing is a bit of a bug I believe, he'll always stay where he is until you move him or promote him

[Schöneboom]

Herzlich Wilkommen, WeeBubba,

Re #6, if you're in a Type II, I wouldn't waste fuel chasing ships in bad weather if your sonarman says they're heading away, esp. beyond visual range. If you're patrolling England's east coast, be patient, the ships you want are coming towards you.

Mach's gut!

[blackdog_kt]

I just downloaded GWX today and haven't installed anything yet. I did take a not so quick glance at the manual though...there's a certain Kiel canal added in GWX (like it is in real life) which might help you conserve fuel.

It's a canal that leads from the Baltic Sea (Kiel) to the North Sea. If you have downloaded the GWX manual in pdf, instructions are on page 105 according to the document's numbering convention (in case you printed it), which translates to page 113 according to acrobat reader (due to the document not counting the cover/preface/contents/whatever pages).


The manual can be found here: http://mysite.orange.co.uk/manual/GWX/GWX_MANUAL_EN_PF.pdf

Assuming you arrive at the exact correct starting point (or better yet plot a course directly to that point and let the AI navigate for better accuracy), you can have your navigator plot an automatic route through the channel.

By what i can gather, two of the originally included search patterns from the navigator's list of orders have been replaced by "Kiel Canal OUT" and "Kiel Canal IN". So, you just have to arrive at the correct starting point and give the appropriate order to your navigator, then kick back and let time compression do the job at ahead 1/3 :up:

[WeeBubba]

thanks for the helpful replies. the kiel canal navigation is just awesome!

[bigboywooly]

To use a milkcow\resupply you need to be within 30km ( IIRC )
Same procedure you would use to dock at home
End patrol
Dock at xxxxxx

If the milkcow\resupply doesnt show in " Dock at " then you arent colse enough

Your patrol WILL end and when you begin you will be given a NULL grid to allow you to sail back to you home port

If you use SH3commander it will know you are at a milkcow etc and set " days in port " to 1
Otherwise you will be there for 28 ish days