Crash dive broken.

[PapaG39]

On my standard SH3 install with Commander only I started a campaign with the VIIC boat. I haven't messed with this boat so I have been checking thing out to see what it does & doesn't do...

when I hit the "C" key for crash dive the power goes to "all stop" instead of "ahead Flank"

I have tried this with various speeds, with both props turning or with only one prop while charging batteries & it makes no difference. I can't even just place the lever in the ahead flank position because it just goes to off. The sound tones down also.

Is this perhaps a bad install...again? I have installed this bugger about 4 times now plus the 1.4b patch also.

this is my laptop so only the standard sh3 cd install is even runable...

[Umfuld]

Do you have the SHIII Commander "Malfunctions - Sabotage" feature activated?

Engine trouble is a common malfunction.


Though I'm sure it's realistic I turned that feature off myself. Felt like about every patrol there was something wrong with this or that.
I may go back to switching it on every few patrols, or even every so it's still a part of the game just not so frequent.


Anyway, that may not be it. Just a suggestion.

[GoldenRivet]

I can almost promise you its SH3 commanders sabotage and malfunctions option. Your install is fine... SH3C is doing exactly what it is supposed to do.

Dive planes jam, valves fail, engines flood etc in real life, this is why commanders put their boats throught its paces at the start of missions. Test all speed ranges forward and reverse, crash dive, test guns etc.

Your crash dive will work, the ahead flank feature is probably failing. Hit C to crash dive then immediately order ahead full "4". You will crash dive, just slower

[PapaG39]

Hmmm, that had not even crossed my mind. I will have to check it out. I don't remember checking or unchecking it. This is a new install & what ever the default is, then that is what it is.
I did try the "C" key & then press the "5" & when it didn't work I just pressed the "4" key & like the man said..."it dove fine, just a hair slower....
I don't think I'll abort just for that. I'll try putting the "fix it" team to work on it...
thanks, I'll bet your right..

[Turm]

I found just the same thing last night; I hit 'C' for crash dive and noticed that.... 30 seconds later... we were still on the surface :huh: I was lucky to survive the aircraft attack! At first, I thought it was due to poor crew efficiency since I'd not moved the crew around for a while, but later I realized it was that flank speed was broken... SH3's malfunction feature indeed.

I had tested my boat after reaching deep water at the start of the patrol and everything checked out okay. But I've been launching the game with SH3 Commander each time I play, so here I am, halfway through my patrol and only just getting the malfunction appear! I will start it with SH3 Commander again later and hopefully it will go away again :D


In future, I will probably only launch with SH3 Commander at the start of the patrol, and then not touch it again until I'm about to start my next patrol. That way the malfunctions won't be randomised whilst at sea. Of course, I figure I'll miss out on varying density levels, randomised crush depths, gramophone radio messages by date and so on, but better that than having to test my boat each time I load a saved game mid-patrol!

[Umfuld]

In future, I will probably only launch with SH3 Commander at the start of the patrol, and then not touch it again until I'm about to start my next patrol. That way the malfunctions won't be randomised whilst at sea. Of course, I figure I'll miss out on varying density levels, randomised crush depths, gramophone radio messages by date and so on, but better that than having to test my boat each time I load a saved game mid-patrol!
Yes, that's the way to do it. Only use Commander when starting a patrol. Doing it each time you save mid-patrol changes the random settings you've already established for that patrol.

You shouldn't miss out on anything doing this. It will be as if you started and ended the patrol in one sitting is all. Which is what you want :up:

[HW3]

In future, I will probably only launch with SH3 Commander at the start of the patrol, and then not touch it again until I'm about to start my next patrol. That way the malfunctions won't be randomised whilst at sea. Of course, I figure I'll miss out on varying density levels, randomised crush depths, gramophone radio messages by date and so on, but better that than having to test my boat each time I load a saved game mid-patrol!

Or once you have launched your patrol with SH3 Commander, turn the malfunctions option off before resuming the saved patrol with SH3 Commander. You can then turn them back on for the next patrol. :yep:

[Turm]

Thanks for the replies both. I see the logic in both cases, but also I have the following thoughts on each:

Only use Commander when starting a patrol. Doing it each time you save mid-patrol changes the random settings you've already established for that patrol.

You shouldn't miss out on anything doing this. First thought here was with gramophone radio messages. They are in the dated folders, and if two messages are close together (maybe 2-3 days apart), realistically you ought to hear both messages during your patrol. By launching with SH3 Commander during the patrol each time, I thought the radio message would be updated during your patrol if you passed a certain date. But I just realized that SH3C only knows the start date of your patrol, not the date you save on mid-patrol (since it displays "After Fri Sept 1st 1939" for example) , so I guess this wouldn't happen anyway! You'll always have the radio message corresponding to the first day of your patrol, for the whole patrol (not that it's important anyway :roll:).

However, regarding randomisation of, say, thermal layers, I was thinking that it should vary during the patrol, as in reality it would vary throughout the ocean. If you only launch SH3C at the start of your patrol, your random thermal layer is fixed for the whole patrol throughout all the world's oceans. Ditto for the time escorts spend searching for you. So perhaps better to use SH3C to launch SH3 every time in this respect?

Or once you have launched your patrol with SH3 Commander, turn the malfunctions option off before resuming the saved patrol with SH3 Commander. You can then turn them back on for the next patrol. :yep:
Maybe this method would disable/remove any malfunctions that were applied to your boat when you started the patrol? (Obviously depends how SH3C is programmed). Well, I can try it, since when I saved the game my ahead flank was broken. :yep: I'll give it a go tomorrow (it's 1am here, not a good time to load it up!). If ahead flank still doesn't work, I'll know that unticking the malfunction option mid-patrol doesn't reverse the effect :know:

[PapaG39]

In reference to the "ahead flank" not working. When I rebooted to computer today and check it was working. Perhaps It just needs to recycle its self.
I also put a repair crew in the box & cycled through each compartment...Perhaps they fixed it.

[Turm]

Well, I had a chance to test it.

Without starting SH3 Commander, I loaded up my career and found that ahead flank was still broken. So any malfunctions set by SH3C do stay if you don't launch the game again with it.

I then quit the game and started SH3 Commander, unticked the 'malfunctions' option, and used it to start SH3. Loaded my career once more and ahead flank now was restored, so removing the option mid-patrol does actually remove the malfunction. So won't be using your suggestion HW3, sorry! :-?

It seems the best way to go is definitely to only use SH3 Commander to launch SH3 when you start your patrol, and launch SH3 from the regular shortcut at all other times. Removes any mid-patrol randomisation of thermal layers and escort patience when hunting you, but at least each patrol will use different settings to the last. (Unless you don't use malfunctions/sabotage, in which case it doesn't really matter! :D )

[PapaG39]

Hmmm, I guess I'm not getting at what your guys are about.
I always start with commander & reboot & restart with commander icon. I never do start the game with just the sh3 icon. heck, I deleted it from my desktop altogether.

all I know is: I had that ahead flank malfunction & when I rebooted via Commander the next day I didn't have it any more...
Perhaps it was fixed by the repair team...I didn't touch the malfunction check either.
I don't use the sabotage portion of the thing...Just the malfunction part.

[Turm]

Yes, SH3 Commander will (potentially) change the malfunctioning parts of your boat every time you launch the game with SH3 Commander.

So one day you couldn't go to ahead flank. When you exited and later started the game with SH3 Commander, it would have reset the malfunctions (and possibly created new ones) and applied those to your boat. So that's why it was 'fixed' later on when you resumed your career.

This is why I think it's best to only launch with SH3 Commander at the beginning of your patrol. It applies all those 'random' settings into the game files, and those will remain part of your SH3 installation until you use the 'rollback' option in Commander. (Or until you launch with SH3 Commander again, which will overwrite the random settings with new ones).

So maybe you should recreate that original SH3 desktop icon and use that to launch the game at all times except when starting a patrol. Otherwise you're going to find that different parts of your boat malfunction each time you reload the game (not every time, but sometimes). Hope that makes sense :hmm:

That's what I'm going to do, anyway :smug:

[siber]

I launch with SH3Commander each and every time.

I figure that if Commander loads the save again and the malfunction is no longer there, it's as if the Chief has kicked his lazy swabbies into action and fixed the problem. If a new problem emerges, then it's probably effects of wear-and-tear etc.

The only thing that isn't realistic is that you have to exercise your boat each and every time you reload a saved game in order to be safe.

To be honest, I can't remember the last time I had to select emergency ahead full.

[PapaG39]

Turn; I hear what your saying...yeah, that makes sense. However, this is the first time that I have had a full blown mechanical problem actually show up that I have caught anyway...lol..

Maybe I had problems before, but didn't recognize them as such...

I will test things more as iI go along from now on to see if everything is actually working.