How do you structure your GWX careers?

[MarkShot]

I am playing my first GWX2 career.

I started in April of 1941, since that was the soonest that I could get based in France and get a VIIC.

I am on my 7th. patrol and it is the start of 1942.

I guess the war is beginning to drag, since I am not finding things too challenging, but everyone keeps saying to me wait until 1943!

So, some questions:

(1) Do you always begin your career at the start of the war or do you begin at a specific point?

(2) I have been letting SH3 send me out on patrol after just 10-20 days in port. I am thinking perhaps, I would get more variety if I put 90 days in port via SH3 Commander. Then, I should just be getting about three patrols a year which should allow me to easily try out the entire war. How do you handle your in port time?

(3) Do you use SH3 Commanders realistic career length?

Thanks.

[3Jane]

Personally I always start in 39 in Wilhellmshaven using a VII. By the time the transfer to Lorient comes through I have been able to afford a IXB. Normally about 5 or 6 tours. I find it better starting from 39 as it gives plenty of time for practice for when things become harder.
28 days in port is my normal time, bearing in mind that any damaged sustained will add to that time. I think it's 1 day per percentage point of hull integrity lost.
No realistic career length here, I want to see if I can get through the whole thing in one boat. Never made it past November 41 though.

[Sailor Steve]

I guess the war is beginning to drag, since I am not finding things too challenging, but everyone keeps saying to me wait until 1943!
I wouldn't know - I've never gotten past 1940! Not that I've died, but every time some new super-trick mod comes out I just have to start over from the beginning.

So, some questions:

(1) Do you always begin your career at the start of the war or do you begin at a specific point?
I used to play SHCE a LOT. I didn't discover AOD until later, so my experience with it was limited, but in SHCE I got into the habit of starting a patrol at the beginning of the Pacific war from each available base. If a captain retired or died, I would start a new career at that time and place to replace him. I tried to do the same with SH3, but as I said I keep getting sidetracked. I will be doing just that once my current project is complete and I can start playing seriously again. This means I will be running several careers at the same time.

(2) I have been letting SH3 send me out on patrol after just 10-20 days in port. I am thinking perhaps, I would get more variety if I put 90 days in port via SH3 Commander. Then, I should just be getting about three patrols a year which should allow me to easily try out the entire war. How do you handle your in port time?
I set the 'Time In Port' to Random, and let the fates (or JScones's whim) decide for me. I've spent 40 days fixing repairs, and I've had a Type II be sent out again after only five days - I had had an empty patrol and come back with all five torpedoes. I don't know if it really took that into account, but there it is.

(3) Do you use SH3 Commanders realistic career length?
Yes, with the knowledge that if it cuts me short for what I think are the wrong reasons I can always 'unretire'.

[Brag]

I have always strted my careers in 39. Now I have a stand by career, whic I take out on training patrols only to have a well trained crew should my career guy get killed.

[Sag75]

I prefer start in 39, too. I like use VII type, instead of IX. Maybe, now that I got GWX2 I could ask for a transfert in Mediterranean sea... now is more alive than in SH3 stock..

S

[Iron Budokan]

I've always started at the beginning. I've tried to start careers later in the war, but it just didn't feel right to me. I've never lived past the summer of '43, so frankly, all this talk of what the game is like in 44 and 45 is like a unicorn to me. Never seen one.

[KeptinCranky]

1 I have at least one separate career for every theater of operations, and two or three for the atlantic with different type boats, some I start early, some I start late (1944)


2 depends, but mostly I set them myself based on conditions upon completion of last patrol, damage of boat, tonnage sunk, days spent at sea and "campaign" factors

For example: the career in which I was back in Brest from the BF grids in a week but with 2 King George V battleships and a total of more than 100k tons sunk I spent half a year in port because that Kaleun had to go on an extended propaganda tour of the Reich, whereas my type II career that returned to Kiel just before the start of the Norway Invasion only spent 4 days resupplying and doing laundry before heading out again


3 normally, no, but then I have never done more than 5 patrols in a single career for reasons stated above

[Jimbuna]

Not really had much time for careers over the past year or so.....there's always been something in development.
Normally I would have 3 or 4 careers on the go at once.

My favourite is 39, 2nd flotilla, IXB :arrgh!:

[siber]

I always start in 1939, with realistic career enabled. Then, when I'm retired, I make a note of the port, the type and number of u-boat, and then assume the identity of the replacement captain & crew for that boat. I continue thus until the boat is sunk. :yep:

However, since GWX2.0, I've not had so much time for playing. I've completed 2x Type IIA missions out of Kiel. But I was thinking about retiring crew members after a certain number of missions (transfers to other boats, assignment to desk/staff jobs etc.) to ensure that my crew doesn't get too good.

Does anyone know what the crew turnaround for officers/NCOs/sailors was in real life?

[Kptlt. Siegmann]

1: I've always started in 1939 with the Type IIA out of Kiel. Just something about that canoe, along with being a good "trainer" boat so to speak before being thrown out into the Atlantic. I play DiD and the longest I have survived from GWX1 all the way to GWX2 was January 1941, which was actually in my first GWX2 patrol that I just got sunk in. Yea yea yea...I got sunk by an early war corvette...:damn:

2: I always use random time in base in SH3C
3: Nope, I'm still trying to make it through the war

[Heffalump]

I tend to play sequential starting times. My first career after a long time away from SH3 or a new mod will start off in 39. When that career ends, er, dies, then I start the next career at the same point where the first one ended. This I do on and on until the latter part of the war. I usually don't start later tan Dec 43 though..

[Elmer Kosterman]

I like to keep several careers going and with each captain assume a different personality. For example:

-one who does everything by the book (patrol assigments, contact reports, ship identification) and doesn't take any unnecessary risks :know:

-one whose only goal is tonnage: lets small ships go, drives the IX, 1 torp = 1 kill :hmm:

-one who's (maybe too) aggressive, takes chances, plays fast and loose with torpedos and fuel, raids harbors when nothing else is going on :rock:

[JScones]

(1) Do you always begin your career at the start of the war or do you begin at a specific point?
I run one career at a time. A new career starts on the 1st day of the month following the date that a previous career ends. Where a career ends through retirement, I make the necessary file adjustments so that I can continue it with a new Commander (the ability to automatically continue careers with a new Commander has been added to the next SH3Cmdr release).

(2) I have been letting SH3 send me out on patrol after just 10-20 days in port. I am thinking perhaps, I would get more variety if I put 90 days in port via SH3 Commander. Then, I should just be getting about three patrols a year which should allow me to easily try out the entire war. How do you handle your in port time?
I let SH3Cmdr randomise it unless I am in the DEI, where I set it to 55 days, being the average time there.

(3) Do you use SH3 Commanders realistic career length?
Yes. See #1.

[johnm]

I always start in 1939, usually in Wilhelmshaven with VIIB. Upgrade to IXB when I transfer to France.

I have SH3 Commander set to about 7 days, plus repairs.

I don't use realistic career but usualy get kiled by early 1941.

Best I've done is mid 1942. Now I've upgraded to GW2 with DiD.


Lately I've been distracted, playing about with uberboot and S-boot.

[Sardaukar67]

What do you mean..structure your career(s) ?

You start 1939....if you do not get killed during war years, you retire. Rinse and Repeat..:lol::rock:

[STEED]

Late 1943 that's the start of a real challenge. :yep:

None of this 1939 pussy crap for me, 1943 are backs to the wall we must fight in the name of Adolf Hitler are leader. :arrgh!:

[siber]

(the ability to automatically continue careers with a new Commander has been added to the next SH3Cmdr release).

MARRY ME JScones! I think I love you! :rock:

[Sailor Steve]

Late 1943 that's the start of a real challenge. :yep:

None of this 1939 pussy crap for me, 1943 are backs to the wall we must fight in the name of Adolf Hitler are leader. :arrgh!:
We must, someday, also learn the difference between "are" and "our".:dead:

[Jimbuna]

(the ability to automatically continue careers with a new Commander has been added to the next SH3Cmdr release).

MARRY ME JScones! I think I love you! :rock:

Steady on there tiger :oops:

http://img405.imageshack.us/img405/5158/winkbigid2.gif

[siber]

Well, Sir Paul McCartney turned me down in favour of Miss Moneygrabbing Mills... So I'm still technically available... although my girlfriend might disagree. :oops:

[MarkShot]

I just figure out how to:

- Set my next patrol to whatever date I want.
- Set my renown so I may configure the sub independent of past history.

This can all be accomplished by quick text editting of Patrols_0.cfg. What this means is that I can sample the war as I want without having to slog through 6-10 patrols a year with little real risk to my boat.

So, far I have got to early 1942 and once you know what you are doing with GWX2, penetrating the screen is not that hard. Neither is getting away after the attack. So, I think the ability to arbitrarily control how many patrols, when I do them, and not having to worry about accumulating reknown in early and easy years to avoid sailing a coastal sub will really make the game a lot more exciting.

I have found that initially GWX2 is quite challenging for a noob in the early years. However, much of that challenge is static in the sense that once you learn the key skills ... the challenge drops way off. More so than AOD and SHCE, because they are supported by better escort AI behavior. For SH3/GWX, the early years are about learning what calls attention to yourself and gets you detected. Once you understand that, the challenge drops way off.

So, I don't think I will be playing the early war years unless I take an inferior sub a set specifically arbitrary and hard missions to accomplish. Like perhaps to hunt in only coastal waters. Otherwise, I will try the later years of the war. Tonnage alone is not enough to make it worth playing, there must be the real potential of getting killed.

[Avatar]

I have only started my career in 1939. That way I can build up my crew's effeciency for later in the war. On the first patrol, you have to be most careful, because youre crew isnt up to speed. But after you get back you can update their skills via sh3commander
I set my in base after patrol to around a month or so. Im not sure what is a realistic amount of time spent in base. I wish upgrading would be reflected after you get back to base where youre noted as In Base. That way I can get the upgrades that are available after the month has passed before going back out on patrol.
I dont use realistic career length.

[JScones]

I just figure out how to:

- Set my next patrol to whatever date I want.
...

This can all be accomplished by quick text editting of Patrols_0.cfg. What this means is that I can sample the war as I want without having to slog through 6-10 patrols a year with little real risk to my boat.
You can also do this by setting a greater days in base value via SH3Cmdr. ;)

However, keep in mind that no matter which way you do it, if the port you are docked in falls while you are docked in it because you've progressed the date too far, then you can expect a nasty surprise the next time you depart. ;)

[MarkShot]

Yes, I originally started looking to do this through SH3 Commander as I was thinking of just playing the entire war but with a only few patrols/year. However, I think manual editting gives me the absolute greatest flexibility.

Thanks.

[JScones]

Yes, I originally started looking to do this through SH3 Commander as I was thinking of just playing the entire war but with a only few patrols/year. However, I think manual editting gives me the absolute greatest flexibility.
I don't see how, because changing Patrols_0.cfg alone will not give you the outcome that you think. Have you tested it? Sure, the barracks date is the new date, but when you start the patrol it goes right back to the original start date plus the days in base value.

To successfully progress the date *in patrol* you need to adjust the days in base value in Basic.cfg, thus making changes to Patrols_0.cfg a waste for anything other than seeing the new date in barracks (plus adding the potential of backward time travel - another common issue which has been discussed here). You can do this manually, or via SH3Cmdr. I know which way is more flexible for me. ;)

Fwiw to get the right days figure I use another of my programmes (available from my web site) which allows me to calculate the difference in days between two dates. I then plug this figure into SH3Cmdr and voila: the barracks date stays the same (although you can change Patrols_0.cfg if this is a concern, but remember the time travel problem) but the patrol (the important thing) starts on the new date. Even a spreadsheet would do to calculate the days.

Can't get easier than that short of me building a date picker directly into SH3Cmdr.

[MarkShot]

Okay, I see what you are talking about.

Now, here is a problem for me. Suppose it early 42 and I don't want to go back out until early 43. If my barracks date stays in early 42, then I will be unable to apply upgrades to my sub appropriate for 43 despite being able to set sail one year later.

How, can I get the barracks date to reflect the same time period as the patrol date?

Thanks.

[JScones]

Okay, I see what you are talking about.

Now, here is a problem for me. Suppose it early 42 and I don't want to go back out until early 43. If my barracks date stays in early 42, then I will be unable to apply upgrades to my sub appropriate for 43 despite being able to set sail one year later.

How, can I get the barracks date to reflect the same time period as the patrol date?
That's the problem. Changing the career files (Patrols_0.cfg etc) has a habit of upsetting SH3 (understandably - they expect the files to be as they left them).

SH3 takes the last patrol end date and adds the days in base value to give you a new patrol start date. This is "invisible" to the player. In barracks the user will see the date the last patrol ended plus any days added for repairs and/or upgrades.

However, even this simple logic fails when the repairs/upgrades take longer than the days in base setting - under certain circumstances this creates a situation where your barracks date is later than the patrol start date will be!

Now if in the meantime you adjust Patrols_0.cfg so you can get the latest upgrades you're not changing a date that SH3 relies upon. Thus, after adding your new upgrades, you can be well after the date that SH3 calculates for you.

I suppose I'm simply trying to say that the barracks date is not directly connected to the patrol date.

I guess what you could *try* is to take the date you want to start, subtract 40 or so days, write that date to Patrols_0.cfg but the days value between the date you want to start and the last patrol end date to Basic.cfg then apply your upgrades. BUT after applying your upgrades ensure you start the patrol, if you don't then you will travel back in time when you next load the patrol.

I dunno whether this will work, but it's prolly worth a try.

[MarkShot]

This seems to work:

(1) Note, the date back in part of your prior patrol. (Adjust your renown if you don't want to be so constrained.)

(2) Set the Patrol_0.cfg date (bottom of file) to the date you want to start your patrol via a text editor.

(3) Use the date calculator to compute the difference of Date.2-Date.1. Let that be X.

(4) Start SH3 Commander and the DAY IN BASE to X. Launch SH3.

(5) Go to the office. Do your crew work, upgrades, and torpedos. (Note that by toggling back and forth between torpedos and something else you can get an unlimited load out of whatever you want.)

(7) Go back to your office desk. The current date will be beyond your desired patrol date.

(8) Start your patrol. The patrol date will be exactly the date you had set in #2. Effectively, you will upgrade and sail all on the same day. However, you will not move backwards in time or be carrying upgrades upon return which exceed the current sub configurations for that date.

---

Thanks for your help!

[MarkShot]

Nice little data calculator by the way! Thanks.

[JScones]

Yeah, it's all perception.

But as I said above it's not the date that you set at #2 that is determining your patrol start date, it's the days in base value added to the last patrol end date that does. I reckon you could get around the time travelling aspect by writing the same days in base value but writing a date at #2 that's around 40 days less than the actual date you want to start. Then you can add up to 40 days of upgrades and your barracks date won't go past your chosen patrol start date.

Makes no real difference, but for people who care about such things it might remove the distraction.

Nice little data calculator by the way! Thanks.
Thanks. I first wrote it to help with my geneology. Since then it's gone to feeding into Program/Project Management scheduling.

[harzfeld]

This week, I plan to restart new career with my days spent change from 28 days to 1 in GWX2 cuz I missed out many historical events that I didn't get to see. Then in next restart, I will change back to 28 days. My crew are going be robots for now.

[MarkShot]

Well, if you follow the technique outlined above you can sail exactly on any day you want. Then, you just need to factor in sailing time.

[Blue_Ninja63]

I usually start from '39 in Flotilla 2 or 7 for the Type VII boats. I don't use a realistic career length as I'm part of a group and need to keep my career going as long as possible. If my Kapitan dies then I start a fresh career from that date and carry on, haven't been able to make it to '45 yet as I've tried out many mods and combinations of mods until I settled with GWX 1.03 and updated to 2.0 and hopefully soon to 2.1.

I'm thinking of starting a second side career just to get more time in on this great simulation.

I do use SH3 commander as it adds a lot of different factors that make it very interesting like having to replace crew that get killed by "partisans":huh: or are transferred.

[harzfeld]

Well, if you follow the technique outlined above you can sail exactly on any day you want. Then, you just need to factor in sailing time.

Ok will try that. I will still keep my current career aside and create a new career under different name then.

[MarkShot]

It's very easy to copy an existing career and just rename the directory (the player's name) in order to test stuff.