How to find more action?

[treblesum81]

Hi all,

I recently upgraded to a new computer, which means I can finally really run SH4, but I've found it severely lacking in action compared to SH3. I've been running a career out of Pearl Harbor in a Gar class to the coast of Japan and southern Japanese islands and I've found only **one** Japanese merchant over the course of two full patrols. Now I know that the Pacific war is much more spread out than the Atlantic, but somehow I think this is kinda ridiculous... especially considering that running a whole patrol sucks up several hours of gameplay due to the time it takes to stop TC every hour (never really go over x256 anyway because I read you're guys won't spot over that), dive, listen, and then resurface.

Here is what I'm running as far as mods:

SH4 + UBM = v1.5
REL_TriggerMaru_Overhaul_152
TMO_SBoat_engine_Patch
RSRDC_TMOv15_V371
RSRDC_V371_Patch10
RSRDC_AuxGB_Fix
OpsMonsun_V400
OM_V400_Patch5
TMO_Enable_Uboat_ver3
#1 E5.0 Install main
#2 Other Clouds
#3 Submarines Splash Sound
#4 Ships Reflect
#5 Depthcharge Sound

So I guess I have 4 questions:

1: Is there a utility similar to "SH3Contacts.exe" for SH4 that will up the quantity and quality of received enemy contact reports to pursue?

2: Am I doing something wrong in my search procedure that could be causing many enemy ships to be slipping through my fingers, or conversely, is a career based out of Pearl in the early war just not very active?

3: Is there something wrong with SH4 that needs a specific patch or mod which I haven't got in place?

4: Is SH4 just like this on purpose to make the hunting aspect of the sim more realistic and there really isn't any way to increase the level of action?

Hopefully its not the last one there, as I really just can't afford the time to spend several hours doing little more than watch my boat ride through the waves. Anyway, if anyone can help me figure this out, I'd greatly appreciate it as I love the new graphics, but I just need more action to justify playing the game.

Thanks,
Greg

[donut]

In a GAR,out of PEARL,If it wasn't for duds,stock 1.5 .you should get 100K fish bait/patrol,out of Convoy college, Luzon straits,or Hit Parade,South 50-100 Nm. areas of home isles. Boat got radar ?

[treblesum81]

its early war (w/ TMO, starting Dec. 6th 1941), so far as I know, there isn't radar other than the low quality air search radar at that point.

Did those areas get changed in TMO and/or RFB? I ask because I've had the same results for both mods as far as how much tonnage is even made available to shoot down.

From reading though, I've found that the AI watch crew and sonar operators are pretty much crap, often only reporting contacts long after you've spotted them, if at all. So I wonder if anyone's made a mod to fix this issue, or if there is a work around for this that I don't know about. Seems there has to be one, because no one has months of free time to play a game so I'm guessing that at least most of you have been able to rely on your AI crew to spot ships and hear sonar contacts.

[donut]

Oh,convoy collage,Luzon Strait should provide targets.Capt.should monitor Sonar hourly,you will get a green lite on contact.Mark sonar line end,& plot course to intercept.Close to range,Cheese-it :sunny: ! BTW.RADAR,won the war.
Get a Chief w/high elect./watch on duty in conning tower.

[ancient46]

In RSRDC the ships follow the established trade routes and ship schedules of the war. You will need to use the game's Pacific map detailing those routes if your version came with one or download it from the web. Do your patrolling in the shipping lanes and you will find targets. There is a MOD available to install this as a pull down map in the game.

On your first patrol from Manila try hunting around the southern tip of Formosa. There are usually convoys of four merchants with two escorts. Later in early 1942 out of Freemantle, try off the southern tip of Mindanao in the Celebes Sea. You might find a lot large tankers and medium merchant ships with nary an escort in sight. These two spots will earn you some medals and have you wishing for more torpedo storage room.

[Seminole]

How to find more action?

The short and unpopular answer is to ditch the "realism mods." Without them you will find more ships than you have torpedoes and deckgun ammo for.

It is all a matter of what you prefer.....like it was or like you want it.

I strip out the parts of the major mods I like and use them while discarding the things that bore me.....like patroling seemingly empty oceans.

Life is too short to play by someone else's rules...if it feels bad don't do it...to paraphrase a counter culture catchphrase...;)

[wetwarev7]

How to find more action?
The short and unpopular answer is to ditch the "realism mods." Without them you will find more ships than you have torpedoes and deckgun ammo for.

It is all a matter of what you prefer.....like it was or like you want it.

I strip out the parts of the major mods I like and use them while discarding the things that bore me.....like patroling seemingly empty oceans.

Life is too short to play by someone else's rules...if it feels bad don't do it...to paraphrase a counter culture catchphrase...;)
Agreed. Try SH4 without mods first, to see what you like and don't like about the game. It seems the going trend for new players is to load up all the super mods because they 'fix' SH4, then complain about something they don't like which is very often a mod by-product.

These mods do fix some issues, but also add alot of 'preference fixes', such as realism, etc. If you read the readme files, the author usually points this out as well. I myself just rip out the changes I want from the super mods because, well, that's just the way I like to play the game.

The super mods are great pieces of work, but if you don't know what it's changing, then how could you possibly appreciate it? :up: