Looking for guidance on how to improve my game experience please

[treblesum81]

Ok, so after coming back to SH4 after a long break, I'm faced with the same old problem I had before, which was never really resolved, about how much time it takes to find something to shoot at versus how much time it takes to shoot at it, and how all that figures into my ability to play the game.

I just spent the better part of 4 hours today driving around in circles looking for something to shoot. It's December 8th 1941 and the first patrol area I've got puts me right on top of Cam Ranh Bay. Now, I'm not an expert, but from what I've been told, right about this time there is an invasion fleet leaving the bay bound for Luzon which I should be able to catch. I have RFB and RSRDC installed.

Anyway, like I said, I spent about 4 hours (real time) patrolling, moving on the surface at 512x and then diving every hour on the hour to do a 1x sonar sweep. The end result of all of this work was that I found a single destroyer, which I couldn't even really engage. Four hours of game time for one single ship... And even if it had been a merchant, that was all of the game time I had available for the day, so I wouldn't have even really had time to set up a proper shot at it...

Now, as much as I like watching my submarine go, I don't get any enjoyment out of searching endlessly without something to mark down in my "ships sunk" page. I'm not willing to give up either RFB or RSRDC because I want to have the realism that they both provide, however I need to have more action and less wandering. Or else I won't be able to justify the play time... I mean if I have on average 2 hours a day, and it takes me two days to find a target before I can even shoot it, thats two days of wasted game time in my book...

In SH3 there was a mod... more like an add on program that would let you change the probability of a ship or convoy showing up as a contact report when they are updated every few hours. For me this transformed the whole level of enjoyment of the game because instead of running around all day long in the patrol areas, I spent my game time actually hunting ships.

Months ago, I had asked if this same thing would be possible with SH4, and essentially got the response that it wouldn't be as long as I was not willing to give up RSRDC (which I tried and didn't like mostly because it didn't really increase my ship location rates, though I must admit I didn't give it more than a couple of days of trial), so I'm not going to ask for it again here... unless someone managed to come up with it in the months since I was last in here, in which case please point me straight to it :D...

Instead, I would like to know if there are any other "cheater" mods out there, such as 100 mile sonar, or something like that, which would help me to find those targets without forcing me to give up the campaign realism offered by RSRDC. Even if they aren't so specific, please let me know if they are out there as any bonus might change things enough to make my game time productive instead of not.

Barring such mods existence, I'm hoping that someone might be able to point me towards information that would help me to make something of the sort for myself, though I'm not all that great at modding so I would much prefer a ready made mod.

Whatever the case, I've found myself right back where I left off last time, with not enough time to devote to playing the game the way it expects to be played (if only sonar worked while surfaced and you could just let it run at like 512x or 1024x until a contact was made...), but a strong desire to play none the less. Any help and/or guidance is much appreciated here.

Thanks

[BillBam]

I am confused. You want realistic campaign/traffic layers but superman sonar? If memory serves me right Dick O'Kane in "Clear the Bridge" was thrilled when his patrols had one kill for every 11 days of patrol time, the best in the fleet.

It would seem more realistic to me to have a little more traffic even if not totally realistic and have the actual tools available to boat captains.

If I remember right traffic only spawns when it is within 40 miles of your location so 100 mile sonar would not help. You might try a later start date or with a boat that has radar to increase your detection range.

I tried the RSRD campaign layers but found them to be a little too dry, I agree that with limited play time available it sucks to spend 2 hours a night looking for that one long merchant ship. I have run my last two campaigns with TMO and the TMO More Merchant mod that Ducimus came out with. This seems to be a perfect mix of time to target without giving the impression you are in a stock game shooting gallery.

[Admiral8Q]

Treblesum81, I think you've been drinking! :o

[treblesum81]

I am confused. You want realistic campaign/traffic layers but superman sonar? If memory serves me right Dick O'Kane in "Clear the Bridge" was thrilled when his patrols had one kill for every 11 days of patrol time, the best in the fleet.

Yes basically, a way to experience the real shipping and traffic in the war without spending days of game time doing nothing. One kill in 11 days might be a great kill record, but for me in game, even taking into account time compression, that means something like one kill every 5.5 hours or so, which is just way too long a time to wait, at least for me, to shoot something.

If I remember right traffic only spawns when it is within 40 miles of your location so 100 mile sonar would not help. You might try a later start date or with a boat that has radar to increase your detection range.I thought it was the other way around? Traffic only spawns when its more than 40 miles away from you so that you don't get a fleet of DD's drop on your head without warning. I may be wrong of course.

I tried the RSRD campaign layers but found them to be a little too dry, I agree that with limited play time available it sucks to spend 2 hours a night looking for that one long merchant ship. I have run my last two campaigns with TMO and the TMO More Merchant mod that Ducimus came out with. This seems to be a perfect mix of time to target without giving the impression you are in a stock game shooting gallery.See the reason I really like RSRDC is because it puts things in the right place at the right time... like the Philippines invasion fleet, before I tried RSRDC, I'd patrolled that area at least 5 times without running into it, with RSRDC (not this time), I find it at least 25% of the time, if I cheat and go wait for it...

I might give the TMO route a try, but I've always had trouble with TMO when it comes to combat as I find myself getting dead a lot, even when I just fired and ran... That being said, I wonder if the increased merchants mod is compatible at all with RSRDC?

[treblesum81]

Treblesum81, I think you've been drinking! :o

Of course I've been drinking... thats why I was able to write a long and comprehensible post :O:

[Admiral8Q]

If you want action, I'd recommend TMO.:03:

[treblesum81]

If you want action, I'd recommend TMO.:03:

Does that hold true with RSRDC in place?

[Admiral8Q]

Does that hold true with RSRDC in place?
I can't say, but I like the old random stuff, like in SH1 back in the 90's.:hmmm:

[treblesum81]

Random is all well and good, especially if you haven't gotten any kills in a while, but I also want to be able to be in place for the big actions without them being incorrect, if that makes any sense...

I'll give TMO a try with the other stuff as well to see if I can get it to where I'm getting a good return on my time. The worst I have to lose is a few days of playing I guess...

[BillBam]

Does that hold true with RSRDC in place?

No...RSRD will always overwrite the stock or Supermod campaign layers.

[Diopos]

Regardless of modes applied the answer is:
- stalk known shiping lanes
- do your own sonar and (later on) radar work

but I think you know that already ....:hmm2:



.

[treblesum81]

Regardless of modes applied the answer is:
- stalk known shiping lanes
- do your own sonar and (later on) radar work

but I think you know that already ....:hmm2:



.

Therein lies the problem, even doing my own work, if there is nothing to be found within the range of my sensors, I can't find it to shoot at it. This is why I want something like a catalyst mod that will even my game. I don't even want a shooting gallery, just a fairly reliable find rate on enemy ships / convoys. Hence the desire for a sensor boost so I can canvas a larger area, it may not be contact reports, but even those only gave me a location, direction, and approximate speed so I could try to set up a shot. Sure all of this isn't realistic, but all the realism in the world won't do me any good if I don't have anything to shoot at....

PS: I know that there are some superboat mods out there, so maybe one of the creators of those could chime in here about how to get a more limited upgrade going? Thanks.

[Admiral8Q]

It's this
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jlf---13Q0g

[treblesum81]

:haha::har::up:

[Admiral8Q]

Treb, are you in the Asiatic fleet or the Pearl?

[CaptianT]

Billbam,

Can you please point me to where the TMO more mercahants mod by
ducimus is located at?

Best regards.

[BillBam]

Billbam,

Can you please point me to where the TMO more mercahants mod by
ducimus is located at?

Best regards.

I will look for the link today, I believe it is in the [REL]TMO 1.9 thread, probably towards the end.

EDIT: OK here is the the post by Ducimus with the link for TMO More Merchant Traffic.

http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showpost.php?p=1358281&postcount=2213

[treblesum81]

Treb, are you in the Asiatic fleet or the Pearl?

The Asiatic of course... You can only make that crossing so many times without anything to show for it before you move your starting point...

[treblesum81]

Ok, realistic or not, I want something to make finding ships easier... I just spent an hour tracking a small convoy of two cruisers and a battleship along the north side of samar. I had a whole attack station set up and everything, then I had a CTD... lucky I saved...

When I loaded up the game again, the convoy, which was about 5nm away and heading my direction was nowhere to be found, as if reloading the game reset the convoy's path of travel. This is just another chalk mark under the heading of way too much time wasted for no reason at all... At least if I had contact reports or super-sonar, I could immediately relocate them, or at least something else to shoot at....

[orangehat44]

TMO clean, with out RSRD has led to many more encounters for me. I love it!

[CaptianT]

I will look for the link today, I believe it is in the [REL]TMO 1.9 thread, probably towards the end.

EDIT: OK here is the the post by Ducimus with the link for TMO More Merchant Traffic.

http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showpost.php?p=1358281&postcount=2213


Thanks Billbam for the link. Much appreciated!

Best regards.

[treblesum81]

The problem I've got though, is that RSRDC keeps putting me in the right place to find stuff (Cam Ranh Bay around Dec 10-14, etc) but I'm having trouble actually finding the targets I know are there, which is why I want to get better sensors so that I can find them, or at least some better way of searching.

[Admiral8Q]

TMO clean, with out RSRD has led to many more encounters for me. I love it!
Same here:salute:

[diesel97]

I'm running RFB 2 and things were a little scarce for awhile - most I ever saw were 2 ships together. Was patrolling south of Peliliu when fox traffic advised a convoy heading from there to Wewak, arriving on the 10th April '43, pm.

By hanging around a little longer north of Wewak my radar eventually picked them up early on the 11th and I'm closing in !. BTW have a look at the RSRDC convoy movement documentation - there were several convoys in the area around those dates so historically it's on the money. Great stuff.

[Armistead]

If you know your history, you'll find the better stuff using RSRD. RSRD also has a lot of random traffic, just not the levels of stock. Having played RSRD, I could engage one large TF or convoy on almost every patrol.
Nothing is better than running into a 30-50 ship invasion force.

What makes RSRD fun is the correct battle scripts...Get involved in the battles during the Solomon campaign..watch large surface fleets duke it out, mass planes, ect.. The battle of GC goe's on for 3 nights in a row with more TF than you can figure what to do with.

Another good point about RSRD is convoys and TF are more spread apart, not bunched up. Some spread over 20nms...

[Platapus]

I think I understand Treblesum81's position and find myself in that same position.

I like the simulation aspect of SH. I like manual targeting and I want realism in how the sub operates and to some extent looks.

But it is still a game. Games are meant to be fun and be a good way to pass the time.

Yes, it is very realistic and a sign of a good simulator to accurately simulate the weeks of boredom that made up WWII submarine life. Reports of subs coming back after 60 days and never seeing a single ship was not a rarity.

When I play SH4, I like to complete a full patrol in 4-6 hours of game play which is about how much I can dedicate for my video gaming. I too wish there was some way to bypass the simulation of weeks of nothing or at least speed it up so that the game becomes more enjoyable.

No I don't want a point and shoot arcade game, but why do we have to choose between two extremes?

I am not fooling myself into believing that I am actually experiencing what a real WWII sub captain experienced. Of course not, it is a video game!

I want to PLAY this GAME to have FUN.

I do wish the SH games had a type of "jump to action" when it comes to TC. Let me explain what I mean

Once I get to my patrol area, I would like the ability to lay out my patrol pattern and tell the computer that I intend on patrolling this area for 1 week (or what ever time I choose). Then I select "jump to action". The computer does what it normally does in calculating the probability of intercept. But in this case, the TC jumps temporally to that time of intercept (note, time not jump to position). Or it jumps to the end of the week and tells me "hey chump, you just wasted one week of your patrol time looking at water".

Oh well, part of the wartime experience. But it would only take about 5 minutes instead of 78 minutes of game time at 128X TC.

Naturally I would want this functionality to be optional so that those who want the more realistic waiting aspect of simulation can get what they want, but those of us who prefer the simulation of the attack can save some time.

[Armistead]

You on a laptop Plat...I can get from Midway to Japan in about 5 minutes using about 3000 TC.

Yea, sometimes it gets long and boring, I get that, but you never know what you may miss on the way. I never or seldom dock at Pearl or Midway, the other bases get you much closer to the action and at the beginning of the war the best action heads south from Japan down to Surabaya

[Platapus]

I don't use a laptop.

And yes, maxing out the TC to 4K does help, and that is just what I do. :yep: