New Player - Help requested

[Edward Ballsy]

Hello everyone. I'm Ed and I just bought this game 10 days ago and being a fan of anything involving world war 1 or 2 is a must have for me. I'm enjoying this game immensely and I just want to thank UBISOFT for creating this game and Subsim for mantaining a community where I found tons and tons of info!

I recently downloaded Trigger Maru's mod + GFX pack and also the living breathing mod and the silent service 1.2 graphics mod and I installed all of them. Everything runs great except on occassion while in a mission I CTD and have to start all over again or if I remembered to save I just load the saved game.

My PC specs as follows:

AMD Athlon DualCore 64 X2 2.21 GHz
4 Gigabyte of RAM
160 GB SATA drives
Nvidia 8800 GTX graphics card (with latest drivers)
Windows XP Professional (64-bit) operating system (latest service pack)

I have all my graphics settings on maximum since this PC can handle it and even before installing the living breathing oceans mod I was impressed by the graphics and after installing the mod I spent almost an hour just enjoying the scenery!

I need help with the following:

1. Any idea how to stop these random CTD's? I hate to assume that it's the mods that're causing it but my friend told me that mods usually cause CTD's. So, if anyone knows a way to stop the CTD's I'd be thankful for any info.

2. Prior to installing Trigger Maru's mod I had all the nifty camera options and I was recording some videos using Fraps since I'm enjoying the game so much and also it helps me learn the game better. Now, I only see 1 camera option and a radio and gramophone. How can I get the other camera options back? I hope I don't have to uninstall trigger maru to get them back!

3. How do I know how much noise my ship is making after I've ordered for silent running? I am having a lot of difficulty avoiding Destroyers and they almost always sink my Sub :damn:. Any tips appreciated.

4. Is there a guide on how to locate enemy convoys etc via Radar and Sonar without having them detect you first? Any tips appreciated.

And lastly anything that you guys can help a noob out with I'd appreciate it.

Thanks so much.

Ed. :up:

[Krauter]

3. How do I know how much noise my ship is making after I've ordered for silent running? I am having a lot of difficulty avoiding Destroyers and they almost always sink my Sub :damn:. Any tips appreciated.

4. Is there a guide on how to locate enemy convoys etc via Radar and Sonar without having them detect you first? Any tips appreciated.

And lastly anything that you guys can help a noob out with I'd appreciate it.

Thanks so much.

Ed. :up:

Hi there,

Since I dont run T.M at all because I'm currently running the "bugs" out of it.

For 3) If DDs repeatedly pick you up, dive to different depths and, slow down to 1-2knts (by switching the type of speed indicator) If you hear ASDIC pinging you, it doesn't matter how quiet you are, he's got you, so floor it and change depth and heading numerous times. Also beware, as silent running halts all repairs and fish loading.

4) One method is sprint and drift (usually when I'm submerged, run for a couple hundred meters, stop and listen) also, if you're having trouble finding contacts, check your map, COMSUBPAC regularly sends the position (heading, speed and type) of contacts near you. Also, remember SD radar is only for aerial targets, so if you're running early war subs, with only SD, you won't detect surface contacts (SJ is the basic surface radar..)

One last minor, and yet somewhat critical point, is to ALWAYS open your doors befor you shoot:up: I was always getting stern shots before, and finally realized that by opening my doors beforehand, I didn't have to wait the crucial couple of seconds after I shot for my tubes to fill and expel the fish.

With Regards,

Krauter

[Edward Ballsy]

Thanks a lot for the info. Much appreciated. I didn't know about SD radar so now it makes sense why I can't pick up any surface targets. Earlier today I actually had a Destroyer ram into me and the ship actually grazed the conning tower of my sub and even tho my sub didn't take any noticeable damage the Destroyer actually caught on fire, exploded and a few meters off, sunk to the bottom! This was the mission where you have to destroy this destroyer that has downed 7 other subs. Wish I could remember the name of that mission but in any case, I did not get update and the mission said "Incomplete" even tho the destroyer blew itself up by ramming me.

I really miss the camera options I had when I first launched the game without the mods so I guess I hope there's a way to get the camera back. I'm not looking for die hard realism, I just want to have some fun with this new type of game lol.

[THE_MASK]

Forget the missions . Play the campaign .

[Frostyvegi]

1 - The only CTD's I've suffered from are when I alt-tab outta the game, and that still has only happened twice out of about 40 goes. I'm running the same mods you are except for the SS 1.2 graphics mod. Don't see any reason why it should be happening. Are you alt-tabbing outta the game when it happens or doing anything else?

2 - I think this is the free cam option. When you are getting your mission briefing at your port (before you actually leave), in the realism settings the bottom middle one is free cam. It does not affect your realism %'age, so feel free to activate it. It may have been automatically selected when if you chose one of the pre-set realism settings.

3 - The main one to look out for is your RPM's. I know with SH3, the main aim is to keep it under 100rpm at the very least. There will be a dial somewhere in your control room that will show you the RPM your engines are generating (check with the guy behind the steering wheel! :up:

4 - What Krauter said. If you're crusing to or from your mission area.. or just around and are surfaced, occasionally pop down to periscope depth and manually control the hydrophone to listen all around. If you hear anything, change heading and take a look. You will be able to tell with the hydrophone if it's a lone merchant or two.. or a fully fledged convoy or task force. (that's how I found my first one! :smug: )

[Edward Ballsy]

Thanks. I'll try what you all suggested. Oh and Sober, the campaign kicks ass :rock:

I just wish I was a bit more comfortable with the game to enjoy the campaigns fully. Even at "easy" setting I get my butt handed to me :rotfl:

Oh well, guess I'll learn slowly but surely!

[Rockin Robbins]

If it be easy everybody'd be doin' it.:arrgh!: Especially with Trigger Maru, it be difficult and glorious. Ducimus is the evasion expert here. Search his contributions and you'll be evading like a pro shortly.

As for attack strategy, WernerSobe's School of Advanced Submarine Attack Tactics (I seem to rename it every time I recommend it:rotfl:) is the place for you. http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=118923 (http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=118923). When he gets through with you with his three videos you'll be a certified killer.:arrgh!:

When you're done with that, just do us a favor, will ya? Leave a couple small merchies for us to sink.:ping:

[seaniam81]

about your camera option. I think your talking about next and prev. target views. If you take a look at TM's read me there is a section on how to bring those back.

[NefariousKoel]

about your camera option. I think your talking about next and prev. target views. If you take a look at TM's read me there is a section on how to bring those back.

Yep! It's in the FAQ in the Support folder of the mod. It'll tell you how to reactivate the camera keys.

[jazman]

If you think it's the mods then you need to remove the mods and see if you still have the same problem with CTDs. If the problem goes away, then you need to isolate which mod is the problem.

[SteamWake]

Not to knock LBO but I tried it and it dragged my system to its knees.

Shame it looked great but I couldent handle the frame rate.

[Powerthighs]

Regarding the CTDs:

A few months ago I upgraded from an ATI x800 to a x1950 graphics card. I was able to max out the graphics with a decent framerate, so I did. I started getting regular CTDs after an hour or two of play. After some investigation it looked like the video card was overheating, so I turned the graphics down some and haven't had a CTD since.

The moral of the story is just because the card can output a certain framerate doesn't guarantee it won't overheat. I would try turning the graphics way down and playing for awhile to see if this is a fix. If so, experiment turning them up until you find a level that works.