Endless storm? (gwx)

[Hadrys]

"Isn't the weather gorgeous out there?"
"No Chief, you can't make me go up there, no f... way!"

It rains, pours, wind tries to roll over the boat and at 1200 hours visibility reaches impressive 250m... Most of the time the weather is like that. It's impossible to hunt anything! Recently near Gibraltar I was following a convoy, took some time to get close to it (find it) and after these few hours, when I started the hunt with 7-9m/s, no rain, now I found myself in a middle of hell. I was going flank and "ship spotted!" Quick glance from the bridge and full reverse!! Merchant was 300m in front of me. Fired 3 eels into some shadows, 3 hits, 1 sunk, gave it up and headed for Thalia. After resupply, the sea is dead calm, no wind and I'm doing morning "exercises" with DD's near Gibraltar (Tribal Class is already a new fish-home).

When I start the patrol the weather is always like on a postcard... after some time after leaving port I keep doing circles having no idea where I am. I was amazed when reached Iceland and except high wave it was beautiful.

I'm doing longer patrols each time and the weather doesn't change, like now it was raining for 2 weeks and only near land wind dropped to 9m/s... so I docked at Thalia. Forgot to stay there for few days with x1024 to see if it helps.

Is this normal? I can remember 2/10 patrols with mostly good hunting weather... rest of them had just very few good moments. I was shocked at first when I launched GWX but now I'm just so tired... especially when trying to navigate manually.

Another Q: does it make any difference who is at the hydro station? I've got my well trained Funker Heinz with 9 patrols, 320 experience, 1 class Cross and... he often can't hear a thing when he's most needed to give me constant readouts. Right now when playing with DD I've gave him time to rest before the next one, put in his place a good sailor who right away started to report far contact... It just doesn't make sense. Is the Funker only for Funk and Hydro doesn't matter?

Except the weather thing, GWX rocks! Can't wait 1.04!

PS as usual it was meant to be a short Q but just love to write here :oops:

[KeptinCranky]

weather can be real nasty like that, but I'm running the SH3 weather program which seems to make it a lot more variable.
although I'm now in the North atlantic and all it varies is amount of fog and wind direction, it's a constant 15 m/s gale, but that's to be expected in October.

as for a heavy storm starting almost exactly on the dot 4 days after you leave port, I've noticed that too, I try and work around/through it by going for far patrol areas so I can get out of the really nasty weather.

as for Funkers, yes I have noticed the same but with 2 skilled funkers and a full efficiency bar I get a few more hydrophone contacts, although I tend to check up on them personally a lot

what they do seem to affect a lot is the amount of radio contact reports you get, and believe me it's quite significant:hmm:

[blue3golf]

My first couple patrols the weather was horrible for most of the trip, until I got out by the Bay of Biscay, then I had calm seas and fog. Lately though I've had clear sailing throughout patrols so luck of the draw I guess.

[Avatar]

Weather is very predictable in sh3. That huge storm sets in, usually right about the time I want to save and that resets the weather from what I hear. I tried the weather mod and my game went nuts. Sh3 commander wouldnt load and an error prompt came up. GWX was fine though. I just uninstalled sh3 commander and reinstalled it after I uninstalled the weather mod, and everything is fine. I guess what Im saying is becareful by backing up those files that are about to change.
I winder if GWX crew can do anything about this?

[Reece]

If you want better weather you can edit with notepad the following in all 3 campaign mis files right at the top: (stock) :yep:
[Mission]
Title=GWXR1.02FULL
MissionType=0
MissionDataType=1
Year=1939
Month=1
Day=1
Hour=12
Minute=0
Fog=0
FogRand=0
Clouds=0
CloudsRand=0
Precip=0
PrecipRand=0
WindHeading=0
WindSpeed=5.000000
WindRand=0
WeatherRndInterval=5
SeaType=0
Briefing=

[Hadrys]

Thx for the input, I've changed the random parm to 1 and will see what happens. I prefer sudden weather brakedowns than constant storm...

Just sunk W&V during a beautiful sunset! My exercises in the mouth of Gibraltar continues :arrgh!:

BTW From now on my sonarman will be my medic!
BTW2 Crews medals and skills are way to fast i think. Half a year at sea, another half at the docks and my crew looks like a bunch of perfect shiny killer robots with medals top to bottom...

[Schöneboom]

Guten Abend, Hadrys,

Your description sounds exactly like the vanilla SH3 weather pattern: perfect near your base, lousy almost everywhere else! On my last patrol it was so awful for days (rain, huge waves, & fog: the Grand Slam) that after wasting 2 eels I decided, "Maybe if I head home, it'll get better, & then I'll hit something." And sure enough, while crossing the North Sea east of Scapa, the skies cleared up.

The down side was I didn't realize this until my lookouts spotted a DD coming towards us, and I dropped out of 1024X TC -- I was chugging along merrily in broad daylight, and you could see for miles. Whoops! :o A case of, "Be careful what you wish for!"

[Reece]

sounds exactly like the vanilla SH3 weather pattern
I was having almost every day stormy in GWX so I changed to stock as above & now I have a good veriety! Go figure hey!:D

[Kpt. Lehmann]

Some things for players to remember about weather in SH3.

1) Prolonged weather patterns are partly the fault of SH3.

2) The other reason for prolonged weather patterns can also be the player himself! Here's why: The weather pattern at any given moment is on a "timer" between points at which the engine checks for a break in the current weather type.... Players prolong this by exitting the mission... which resets the timer at zero for the current weather type...

3) Seasonal changes do occur in SH3 by region and season... or more accurately, the weather change probabilities change by region and season.

4) GWX v1.04 will not be changing these weather probabilities... nor has any previous version. However, we will be increasing the overall chance of changes in the weather to occur which will limit the player's game habit effects on the weather by about 20% I think.

5) If you are modding and/or tinkering with the weather entries, they are found in the opening lines of ALL THREE campaign files. (.SCR, .RND, and .LND) All entries need to be identically mirrored on each file to function correctly.

[ReM]

Never had any problem with the weather.....the bad weather, with rain, fog and storms continuing for weeks and weeks is pretty accurate for the Northern part of the Atlantic.

[Kpt. Lehmann]

Never had any problem with the weather.....the bad weather, with rain, fog and storms continuing for weeks and weeks is pretty accurate for the Northern part of the Atlantic.

Yup... especially in the winter... pretty much nonstop.

[Reece]

Yeh but when I go out on a patrol I like to play God & say "LET THERE BE CALM SEAS AND GOOD VISABILITY" (in a deep voice ofcourse), & I expect it to be so!!:lol:

[Sebbe02]

I once got hell out of the American coast in a 9 type.
The storm (heavy rain, fog, and maybe 200m visibility) started in my patrol grid, west of california, and lasted all my patrol up to New York and those bases north of it.

Mind you, it was '43, so destroyers almost constantly came out of nothing to ram me:down: .

[ReM]

Yeh but when I go out on a patrol I like to play God & say "LET THERE BE CALM SEAS AND GOOD VISABILITY" (in a deep voice ofcourse), & I expect it to be so!!:lol:

Maybe you need a little more practice at playing God;)

[siber]

...started in my patrol grid, west of california, and lasted all my patrol up to New York...

Man, BdU must hate you. Having a patrol grid near CALIFORNIA?!? Like, california as in PACIFIC CALFORNIA??? That's a long old cruise, out round South America (I presume you didn't use the Panama canal with all the American/British ships guarding it) all the way up past Mexico. I suppose you waved at Los Angeles and then headed straight back. Where did you refuel? Uruguay? Did you see the wreck of the Graf Spee? But then I imagine there was some good weather across the caribbean until you hit Florida, and then I suppose it was a quick slog up to New York, New England, Nova Scotia and then home. Must have been a patrol length of, what, 3 months???

Are you married to the BdU Flottillenchef's daughter or something? He doesn't seem to like you! (Chuckles) ;)

[SmokinTep]

The weather changes don't bother me at all, heck it's supposed to be the North Atlantic.

[Wilko]

Yeh but when I go out on a patrol I like to play God & say "LET THERE BE CALM SEAS AND GOOD VISABILITY" (in a deep voice ofcourse), & I expect it to be so!!:lol:

I like this mans thought patterns :cool:

[Thniper]

The weather changes don't bother me at all, heck it's supposed to be the North Atlantic.

Yep!:yep:

I really enjoy the bad weather, it's just the cherry on the cake.:D
In a heavy storm I'm always scared of running into other ships when surfaced.
And I nearly get an heart attack when I get the message 'Ship spotted, Sir!'.:o
"Ruder hart backbord, beide Maschinen AK!" :arrgh!:
- Phew! That was close! - :|\\

It's really thrilling! Couldn't image playing SH3 without it.

Happy hunting!

[ichso]

On my last patrol from something around the 20th Nov until start of December, there was simply all the time the same weather:
15km/h wind speed from 312° with the most clear sky, no coulds, no fog.
Makes at least torpedo attacks harder because of the good visibility there is no chance to get near the target on surface (except at night) and using the periscope in such waves is not easy :yep:

[Hadrys]

Wow, just finished my "exercises" in Gibraltar with sick results. Went through the passage, visited Ceuta to recharge batteries, rushed Brits a little bit in Gibraltar, in both ways through the passage intact! Converted 3 Tribal Class, 3 V&W, 1 Fiji, 1 Dido into new fish theme parks :arrgh!:

My medic rocks as a sonarman, I must try our cook, he should be even better!

But mostly I wanted to say that I'm impressed. If you are patient, do everything like you should do, stay in shadows and you'll have great successes. One unnecessary move and you're gone! This game really gives me an opportunity to relax and get some rest from my stressful work.

Just sunk a Groser Frachter 10k with 5 hits from the 88!? I was aiming the screw, short distance, something exploded on the bow and it sunk like a rock. Before that I sunk a trump. Loads of 88 and flak rounds went to it, cleaned its deck from everything, it was like a table !! and still crawling forward... Hit into the screw finished the job... seams to be a good technique!

Good hunting :arrgh!:

[Avatar]

I dont mind a n. atlantic storm, but it seems that there is absolutely no let up, unless I go back to base. It would be nice to see a hole in the clouds, at least. I go out to the patrol grid and my entire operation is hampered. I cant see anything unless it's about 200m out. And that's for the entire patrol. Once I cheated, knowing that there was a ship out there, due to sonar, and just pressed "L" as I scanned what I thought was the horizon. I eventually was able to sink the ship, even though I had no idea what it was and who it belonged to.
I'm not asking for glass-like seas all the time, that's plain unrealistic. Just a little hole in the clouds, maybe the rain lets up, and maybe the fog clears even for a little while. When I go out on patrol now, I never save when the storm sets in. That way, I dont reset the values. So if I have to do something I submerge and let it run while I'm away from the computer. Only problem is that when I return nothing has changed. Usually, submerging and trying to wait out the storm will only result in a low battery and low O2.
For a beautiful game and a great mod, GWX, this is my only gripe. I thought for a while that there was some longitudinal value that would automatically start a storm as you passed northern Scotland, then as you went back through it, the storm would go away. Now I understand that its a timer. So that when time starts at 0 things are peachy, then as time goes on, the storm sets in. Given snough time, the timer would eventually come back to 0 and glass-like seas.
I wish there were some probability equation that given a particular area certain weather patterns emerge. Kinda like a dynamic weather generator, but this kinda thing is probably hard-coded in SH3 itself, so not much can be done about it.
Anyway, I had a bad experience with the weather and the weather mod. So not to come off entirely bitter, I've learned to liev with this.
Sorry for the long rant, and if you made it this far, thanks for reading!

[dmlavan]

Looking at REESE's post to improve the weather, can someone explain which fields to change to improve the chance of better weather, yet not force good weather all the time? I.E.: does the field "WeatherRndInterval=5" determine how often the program (GWX 1.03 in my case) checks to change the weather? If so, what do the numerical values mean, ex: is "5" once every 5hrs? Appreciate any help/clarification!


If you want better weather you can edit with notepad the following in all 3 campaign mis files right at the top: (stock) :yep:
[Mission]
Title=GWXR1.02FULL
MissionType=0
MissionDataType=1
Year=1939
Month=1
Day=1
Hour=12
Minute=0
Fog=0
FogRand=0
Clouds=0
CloudsRand=0
Precip=0
PrecipRand=0
WindHeading=0
WindSpeed=5.000000
WindRand=0
WeatherRndInterval=5
SeaType=0
Briefing=

[Reece]

Hi, I just cut n pasted the whole stock version & I get a good veriety of weather, otherwise just do a comparison between the 2 (GWX & Stock) and adjust to values you think would suit your taste, be sure to edit all 3 mis files to be the same.
Note: These settings may not take effect unless you start a whole new campaign.:yep:

[dmlavan]

Thanks Reece - I'll give it a shot when I get home tonight.

[Hadrys]

Thanks Reece - I'll give it a shot when I get home tonight.

Stock settings are fine, just checked during long patrol. Weather changes very reasonably.

[kvbrock82]

by setting fog=0 and fogrand=0 will that mean i will have ansolutely no fog throughout the patrol?

the fog is really getting on my nerves as ive had 200 metres visibility since just outside port and cantman the deck guns or get a good angle at the ship as its usually 150 metres up ahead by the time i can even identify it.

I dont want to remove the fog completely, but i want to at least have it vary so maybe its at least foggy early mornings and a bit better in the afternoons... i enjoy the severe storms, but the fog renders me useless. :nope:

any suggestions to edit the game?.... and anyone got any good tips on how to get a kill with no visibility?

cheers! :arrgh!:

[Canovaro]

... and anyone got any good tips on how to get a kill with no visibility?

cheers! :arrgh!:

A simple way to get a kill is to wait for a contact update on the F5 map.
Then go to its course and listen until you find it.
Remember that you only need 1 visual observation to get the right course and speed since the first observation comes from the map update (you now have two to draw a line).

Then go submerged on a parallel course at 700 meters distance from the targets track and fire a spread from 90 degrees. Use the hydrophone to know the bearing of the target.

If you really want to do this advanced, search this forum for the hydrophone tutorial. There are also other great hydrophone threads on this forum.

[kvbrock82]

yeah that is pretty much what i do however this presents a problem.... not knowing what the target is... would be a hell of a waste to send a spread of 3 torpedoes at a small merchant