Testing Question - Career vs. Single Mission Results Vary?

[panthercules]

I've been toying with getting back into some serious SH3 playing again soon, but have gotten somewhat confused reading through the threads on GWX 3.0 and LRT trying to figure out whether they can be used together or what the repair experience is likely to be like with GWX these days. I figured the best way would be to just run some tests and see for myself, but the thought of cruising around in career mode trying to get damaged consistently enough to test (but not too damaged) is just too daunting.

I figured I could probably set up some sort of test single mission with just me and one enemy escort nearby (assuming I can figure out how to limit the number of DCs it carries - can somebody tell me how to do that?).

BUT, I remember from reading some other threads and doing some testing in SH4 that sometimes things happen differently in single missions than they do in career mode, in which case it might not do me much good to do this repair testing in single mission mode if the results will be different in a career. Does anybody know for sure whether the repair process and times results are likely to be the same for single missions and career mode in SH3 or whether there's typically much variation between the two modes?

[HW3]

Here is the readme from LRT 2.03 Lite which is for GWX 3.0.

Longer Repair Times v2.03 Lite mod 'LRT' for use with GWX v3.0 Gold mod
modded by Nvdrifter, aka ZMC
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The goal of this mod is to 'hopefully' make SH3 more realistic, challenging, and fun.
Main features of Longer Repair Times v2.03 Lite mod include:

a) Much longer U-boat repair times than vanilla SH3-
This was implemented because the usual one or two minute equipment repair times in vanilla SH3 game is just plain ridiculous, and borderline cheating. Real U-boat damage could take up to a day or more to repair, or couldn't be repaired at all, and the U-boat would have to abort back to base early. This is what I am trying to model with this mod. It will now be very rash to run in attacking convoys recklessly without considering the consequences. Also, it is highly recommended that you qualify some crew with the repair skill. Expect heavily damaged equipment to take up to 16 hours+ to repair. Also expect to abort more often back to base due to unrepairable equipment, just like it was in real life.

b) Much slower U-boat compartment flooding times-
This was implemented for two reasons. First, due to the decreased crew efficiency (to make the repair times longer), I had to slow down the flood times because the crew couldn't ever stop the flooding before the compartment filled up. Now, this isn't an issue. Second, when a compartment completely fills up with water, you are dead- game over. I think this is also ridiculous. With LRT v2.03 Lite, the compartments fill up much slower with water, sometimes taking more than 1000 minutes to completely fill up. This will give your crew more time to battle the flooding, without always getting the instant flood death game over screen. So realize that there is a good chance that you will die from being crushed at extreme depths due to pressure hull failure, and much less likely to die from actual complete compartment flooding.

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I am excited about this mod and have put a lot of time and effort into it. Hours of playtesting and tweaking, trying to get the right balance. I hope you enjoy this mod as much as I have. I also wanna say a big thank you to everyone on the Subsim message board for their support, feedback, and great ideas. The awesome movie 'Das Boot' inspired me to make this mod. Hopefully, you too will experience your own Das Boot moments and live to tell about it. ;)
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What's new in this version of Longer Repair Times Lite Mod v2.03:

-updated and merged all LRT files to be used with GWX 3.0 Gold

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This mod is a work in progress, and is by no means finished. It is far from perfect, but I hope it enhances your gameplay.

***You must install all files for this mod to work correctly. Be sure to back up all files before replacing.***

***The crew efficiency bars will not show green on the U-boat repair screen. This is expected.***

***Please install Longer Repair Times v2.03 Lite mod using JGSME installer ONLY!***

**VERY IMPORTANT!!!!!!**

To get the full effect of this mod, two things are STRONGLY recommended:

First-
Change the 'Land Proximity' setting to a higher limit for time compression, because frequently you might find yourself sitting on the sea bed floor repairing for many hours. The stock game is set to 8x max compression. This is way too slow when making long repairs on the sea bed floor. I recommend at least 1024x, or 2048x. Here is how to change it:
Set the 'When Near Land' time compression option in SH3 Commander to at least 1024x or 2048x.
If you aren't using SH3 Commander, then you will have to manually adjust the 'Land Proximity' time compression option by hand. Look for the file in:
C:\Documents and Settings\***\My Documents\SH3\data\cfg
You are looking for the main.cfg file. The section you need to change will look something like this:
[TIME COMPRESSION]
TimeStop=0
RealTime=1
LandProximity=2048 <<<<<----- **change this line to at least 1024 or 2048**
CriticalDamage=1
CrewEfficiency=1
AirEnemyDetected=1
SoundEffects=2
CharacterAnim=8
EnemyDetected=8
RadioReport=4096
Particles=16
PrayState=8
HunterState=32
3DRender=32
Maximum=4096
Be very careful when sailing your u-boat at high time compression near land, because you will have no warning if you have a land collision. Usually instant death.

Second-
Set the 'When being hunted' time compression option in SH3 Commander to at least 512x. This way, you still won't know if you have been detected and are being hunted. But if you think you are being hunted, don't go too high on time compression when playing the game. You might meet a quick and unexpected death.
If you aren't using SH3 Commander, then you will have to manually adjust the 'When being hunted' time compression option by hand. Look for the file in:
C:\Documents and Settings\***\My Documents\SH3\data\cfg
You are looking for the main.cfg file. The section you need to change will look something like this:
[TIME COMPRESSION]
TimeStop=0
RealTime=1
LandProximity=512
CriticalDamage=1
CrewEfficiency=1
AirEnemyDetected=1
SoundEffects=2
CharacterAnim=8
EnemyDetected=8
RadioReport=4096
Particles=16
PrayState=8 <<<<<----- **change this line to at least 512**
HunterState=32
3DRender=32
Maximum=4096
Change PrayState to at least 512 to make the game realistic. That way, you won't know for sure if you are being hunted or not.
Always be sure to make backups first!
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Longer Repair Times Lite v2.03 Lite mod created by Nvdrifter, aka ZMC. Special thanks to the GWX Team for making such an awesome mod.
**And finally, the GWX programming team in no way endorses or supports any versions of the LRT. And they are in no way responsible for any gameplay problems you may have when using Longer Repair Times v2.03 or Longer Repair Times Lite v2.03 and GWX at the same time.**
With Special thanks to the following playtesters for all their help, feedback and support:
Rango
The Bad Wolf
Samwolf
anzacmick
Philipp_Thomsen
Uber Gruber
And of course thanks to all members on the Subsim message board for your ideas and comments.
I decided to come out of modding retirement one last time to update LRT so it could be used in conjunction with GWX 3.0 Gold. I am now retiring again- for good this time, so this will surely be the last version of LRT. Again, thanks everyone for using LRT these past few years! Good luck and happy hunting!
-ZMC
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[panthercules]

Thanks, but your reply highlights part of the reason for my confusion/uncertainty - you excerpted parts of the readme for LRT ver.2.03, which got me wondering what version I had loaded up this time around. In checking my JSGME log, I found the following:

LRT - No Collision Damage for GWX 3.0
LRT v2.04 Full for GWX3.0
EDE- LRT 2.04 Full patch
Integrated Orders- LRT 2.04 Full patch
Open Hatch - LRT 2.04 Full patch

And I'm still not sure if that's everything (or the right things) LRT-related that I need. And between the "WIP" type statements in the readme and the (understandable enough) backpedalling of the GWX team about compatibility of anything else with GWX, I thought some testing would probably be in order before diving into a career - I really don't want to get several patrols into a career before realizing that something's screwed up about my repair situation, because the great impact of the earlier LRT was such a crucial part of my playing enjoyment last time around.

So, back to my original question - does anybody know whether the results from testing in single mission mode are likely to be consistent with behavior in career mode or are the single-mode test results likely to be irrelevant/useless for predicting career mode results?

[NGT]

. Does anybody know for sure whether the repair process and times results are likely to be the same for single missions and career mode in SH3 or whether there's typically much variation between the two modes?

I know for sure that this mod change the Basic.cfg and Zones.cfg, and the game MUST use them for single missions, for career and for academy. And I know for sure that there are only one Basic.cfg and one Zone.cfg

Yes, repair process and times result are the same for single missions and career mode (and academy).

Try to do a mission in date before 1.8.1939. Like that will be loaded very quickly (no campaign before this date). The destroyer will be neutral, but after shooting against him (from long distance, to have enough dive time), will be definitively enemy. Or, just take the empty campaign files from download sector (I thing they are here).

[panthercules]

I know for sure that this mod change the Basic.cfg and Zones.cfg, and the game MUST use them for single missions, for career and for academy. And I know for sure that there are only one Basic.cfg and one Zone.cfg

Yes, repair process and times result are the same for single missions and career mode (and academy).

Try to do a mission in date before 1.8.1939. Like that will be loaded very quickly (no campaign before this date). The destroyer will be neutral, but after shooting against him (from long distance, to have enough dive time), will be definitively enemy. Or, just take the empty campaign files from download sector (I thing they are here).

Cool - thanks for the info :up:

I'll give that a try as soon as I sort out the little horizon problem I've been having with my current GWX install.