Just Bought Silent Hunter III and Installed GWX 3.0

[Jack Cutter]

and I couldn't be happier!

I almost hate to admit it since I started on Silent Hunter IV, but Silent Hunter III seems to be more in-depth, ESPECIALLY with GWX mod.

This is amazing work by an amazing team, thank you all so much.


I am curious to know, however, why it seems evasion tactics WILL NOT work when I'm picked up by escorts...I had the crap pounded out of me by two British Destroyers. Evasive manuevers, diving deep and silencing the boat did nothing.

I'd turn and re-route only when they would make a depth-charging pass, and I'd adjust depth. Those destroyers had ungodly accurate sonar!

Anyways, there's really no point to this post other than to say that I absolutely love the GWX mod, and to wonder if I'm crazy for enjoying this better than Silent Hunter IV?

Anyways, I'll likely be posting about the escapades of Captain "Lukas Wilhelm" and his patrols.

[Gargamel]

Welcome aboard.

Go deep, slow (set your speed to just under 1 knot so your rpm's drop real low), and slowly wiggle waggle at 10' rudder back and forth. Keep em guessing.

That's GWX for ya. It's hell under water.

And I'll try to beat our esteemed JB to it:

BE MORE AGGRESSIVE!

SINK EM ALL!

[Jack Cutter]

:salute: I see. Agression, gotcha.

Also, I'm having a strange issue, and I don't know if it's my lack of experience or if there is a conflict with the mod, but I am constantly being alerted of a radio message being recieved, yet I can never find/view this message.

Any ideas as to what I am doing wrong?

Thanks! :yeah:

[kaleun69]

Jack, what year are you playing in? Just curious, because my escorts seem blinded by their own search lights and have forgotten where they layed thier ash cans. Im also running GWX (its a awesome mod thanks to those who developed it!).

[Jack Cutter]

Jack, what year are you playing in? Just curious, because my escorts seem blinded by their own search lights and have forgotten where they layed thier ash cans. Im also running GWX (its a awesome mod thanks to those who developed it!).

Curiously, I'm playing in 1940 which you would figure would've made the escorts a little less experienced.

[Sailor Steve]

:salute: I see. Agression, gotcha.

Also, I'm having a strange issue, and I don't know if it's my lack of experience or if there is a conflict with the mod, but I am constantly being alerted of a radio message being recieved, yet I can never find/view this message.

Any ideas as to what I am doing wrong?

Thanks! :yeah:
Did you try pressing 'M'?

[HW3]

Press the "M" key to get to your messages.

:salute:

Steve beat me to it.

[Jack Cutter]

Ahh, see I was browsing the manual for this and must've continually missed it. Thank you, gentlemen.


Now, I have one last question: May I ask what the Enigma Flotilla is?

I'm browsing the forum trying to see if I can find more information on it.

Thank you all very much, and happy hunting :up: :ping:

[TarJak]

The trick is to not get detected in the first place.:D If you dive deep and reverse direction as soon as you fire your torps you'll find that the 'scorts have problems in finding you because they make a beeline for the datum where you fired. Hang about there at PD to watch the fireworks and detection is almost assured.

[Tessa]

and I couldn't be happier!

I almost hate to admit it since I started on Silent Hunter IV, but Silent Hunter III seems to be more in-depth, ESPECIALLY with GWX mod.

This is amazing work by an amazing team, thank you all so much.


I am curious to know, however, why it seems evasion tactics WILL NOT work when I'm picked up by escorts...I had the crap pounded out of me by two British Destroyers. Evasive manuevers, diving deep and silencing the boat did nothing.

I'd turn and re-route only when they would make a depth-charging pass, and I'd adjust depth. Those destroyers had ungodly accurate sonar!

Anyways, there's really no point to this post other than to say that I absolutely love the GWX mod, and to wonder if I'm crazy for enjoying this better than Silent Hunter IV?

Anyways, I'll likely be posting about the escapades of Captain "Lukas Wilhelm" and his patrols.

A "feature" that has been built into the game (and from what I am told has remained in sh4 and sh5) is that escorts have sonar that is so advanced it can detect something as small as a pebble getting moved on the ocean floor 1000 feet below. GWX has done more to try and make sonar more resaonable, and it is possible to escape (may take you several hours of your time) from 2 or 3 DD's that are actively hunting you. The stock version is much less forgiving.

This means that tactics that were successfully employed to either defeat sonar or hide yourself don't work. There isn't much in the way of underwater geography, where there is any it isn't of any help like it was irl. Bottoming your boat won't throw the escorts of by thinking you've been sunk (whether you intentionally bottom the boat yourself, or damage bottoms it for you) or hide you from the sonar which irl either made you undistinguishable from the terrain, or the operator would loose you being unable to differentiate between the ocean floor and your sub which became camouflaged by the oceans natural enviroment.

Instead the DD's will get a perfect fix on you and start dumping charges on you like current day smart bombs. Unless you're boat survives a deep enough dive to where the charges won't function (believe its 200 or 225m is the max depth charges will still explode) and can get under them where all they do is explode above you bottoming is one of the worst situations you can be thrust into.

[Axeman3d]

I switched from SHV to SHIII + GWX recently myself, and started a career in 1940 in a type IX. I got word of a convoy a few hundred klicks from me and I raced to intercept, and it was a foul moonless night pouring with rain when I reached their track and submerged to see if I could pick them up on hydrophone.

I raised scope as I reached 10m only to see the bow of a Flower class corvette pass about 3m to the right of me and my sonar guy started screaming. On a night so dark and stormy I couldn't see my hand in front of me, he had spotted and nearly rammed me. It was pure luck I chose to dive right then to stop snd listen, or I was rammed. That little schwinehunde pounded me for an hour like he could see me clear as day, while the huge convoy zigged over the top of me. I couldn't shake him, he only left once the convoy passed out of range.

And yet a week later, I intercepted and infiltrated a convoy in daylight guarded by 4 Flower class and sank 3 ships, as well as hitting and damaging one of the escorts. I immediately went to 155m and headed on the reverse of the convoys course, and two escorts began fishing for me. They got pretty close at first, but I crawled away at 2 knots while they kept circling the same spot, dropping charges all over it. I sloped off with no problem, and even managed to sink a straggler an hour later, causing them to run in and thrash the water to a foam again while I sneaked off again.

Maybe the first guy had radar and superb sonar? Maybe I can believe it was some Johnny Walker veteran guy with leet skills? One thing is for sure, they're not all equal in GWX, and I love it.

[Tessa]

To be at true silent speed you need to manually adjust your speed to 1 knot. If you leave your speed at the default of 2 when you hit silent speed you're still moderately detectable to surface ships. Many times I've told the navigator to return to course after manually maneuvering away and out of range of the DD's only to have the CE screw up and gun the boat to full speed. Even if I catch the mistake instantly, running the engines up to 2 knots for just a few seconds can be enough for them to get a good fix on you and start circling you again.

[Jack Cutter]

I put some of these tricks into action in the field, and they seemed to work pretty well.

I'm still working on my intercept skills...to give you an idea of about how efficient I am: Hand a gerbil a pencil and tell it to draw precise lines on a map, only after you hit said gerbil with a baseball bat.

Actually, scratch that, the gerbil could still plot a better intercept than I can...


Anyways, in the midst of testing my plotted intercept courses I recieved a radio report from U-43 about a large enemy convoy near my area. ALT-Tabbing the hell out of my game...(scary I know :-? ) to read some tuts on plotting the intercept courses, I found it worked...and I came up RIGHT in the middle of what had to be 20+ ships...Not a single one armed! While I was busy picking out the juciest close targets, this corvette comes out of nowhere and runs right over me...thank goodness he began dropping depth charges AFTER his screws tore up my aft deck. I'm 100% sure he damaged his engines on the deck of my boat...

So Narrowly avoiding an express tour to the bottom, I fire my last shot and begin a dive to 70M (Ocean floor is at 80M it looks like)
Rig for silent was already active but after I dove I manually adjusted to 1kt speed as suggested, and I'm happy to say it worked. All four torps hit, taking out 3 ships.

I sustained a hell of a lot of damage though, but not from that corvette. He was off depth charging in a circle in the center of the convoy's columns. The damage was because a ship exploded directly above me...chewed up the conning tower and chipped the paint... hull was reported damaged but no leaks thankfully....

I went back to base with some good knowledge of the destroyers and how they work. This is definitely a great mod...one to keep you on your toes.

[Tessa]

I put some of these tricks into action in the field, and they seemed to work pretty well.

I'm still working on my intercept skills...to give you an idea of about how efficient I am: Hand a gerbil a pencil and tell it to draw precise lines on a map, only after you hit said gerbil with a baseball bat.

Actually, scratch that, the gerbil could still plot a better intercept than I can...


Anyways, in the midst of testing my plotted intercept courses I recieved a radio report from U-43 about a large enemy convoy near my area. ALT-Tabbing the hell out of my game...(scary I know :-? ) to read some tuts on plotting the intercept courses, I found it worked...and I came up RIGHT in the middle of what had to be 20+ ships...Not a single one armed! While I was busy picking out the juciest close targets, this corvette comes out of nowhere and runs right over me...thank goodness he began dropping depth charges AFTER his screws tore up my aft deck. I'm 100% sure he damaged his engines on the deck of my boat...

So Narrowly avoiding an express tour to the bottom, I fire my last shot and begin a dive to 70M (Ocean floor is at 80M it looks like)
Rig for silent was already active but after I dove I manually adjusted to 1kt speed as suggested, and I'm happy to say it worked. All four torps hit, taking out 3 ships.

I sustained a hell of a lot of damage though, but not from that corvette. He was off depth charging in a circle in the center of the convoy's columns. The damage was because a ship exploded directly above me...chewed up the conning tower and chipped the paint... hull was reported damaged but no leaks thankfully....

I went back to base with some good knowledge of the destroyers and how they work. This is definitely a great mod...one to keep you on your toes.

Nice job :up: First time though I've ever heard anyone get damaged from a sinking ship in the manner you did. Numerous times I've been submerged and moving along at 1 knot on intercept and will neglect my flank and a merchant manages to run over me while I'm waiting for my main target(s) to get into firing position. Did you damage the ship (the one that managed to hit you), end up maneuvering and evading the escorts to the point that you ended up under it when it finally floods, exploded and you happen to be right under it then when it starts heading down? Or were you on the bottom and did it come crashing down onto you? Would love to see some external camera shots of what happened if you took any.

[desirableroasted]

To be at true silent speed you need to manually adjust your speed to 1 knot.

Actually, the game interprets everything from 1.0 to 1.99 knots as "1 knot," so you have to be a little careful there.

What you want are engine rpms of around 70-75. To achieve this, you go up into your fire control room (up the ladder), and manually adjust your speed while watching the engine RPM dials. Anything under 80 rpms appears to silence you.

[desirableroasted]

Those destroyers had ungodly accurate sonar!


You probably had the misfortune of running into a couple that had "elite" skills, which sometimes happens early in the war & pretty much becomes the norm by 1942-43.

You are far more likely (in 39-40) to come across escorts who either won't find you (if you are crafty, no blazing away at flank speed) or will find you only briefly. If you are reasonably careful.

GWX 3.0 (may the modders names be celebrated far and wide!) teaches you, if nothing else, how to be as suspicious as a coyote and how to slink shamelessly away like a whipped cur when necessary. It's the only way to get to 1944 (don't even ask me about 1945, never made it that far in 5 years of playing).

Sounds like a depressing game, doesn't it? Maybe that's why we love it so much.

[Jack Cutter]

Nice job :up: First time though I've ever heard anyone get damaged from a sinking ship in the manner you did. Numerous times I've been submerged and moving along at 1 knot on intercept and will neglect my flank and a merchant manages to run over me while I'm waiting for my main target(s) to get into firing position. Did you damage the ship (the one that managed to hit you), end up maneuvering and evading the escorts to the point that you ended up under it when it finally floods, exploded and you happen to be right under it then when it starts heading down? Or were you on the bottom and did it come crashing down onto you? Would love to see some external camera shots of what happened if you took any.

Sadly, I didn't get any extrernal shots...now that I think about it, and since I'm a semi-pro photographer in real life, I should've been clicking away! Damn...

At any rate I was evading the little corvette destroyer after having sent a torpedo into the coastal freighter destroying her engines. The freighter was dead in the water and I passed directly underneath her at 1 knot, and just like you guessed, she must've reached a critical flooding level or the fires in the engine rooms spread to the fuel tanks and she went up like a roman candle...I was at periscope depth, just barely squeezing underneath her rudder when she went up. I was watching my Uboat drive underneath her in external cams, then I went inside to the command room just before the explosion.

At first I thought the destroyer ran a direct depth charging pass over me...the red lights went out, gauge glass went flying, the boat started to roll over, nearly upside down...."We're Taking Damage, Sir!" is being bellowed down the boat...

I panic change course and start to dive to 60m. Then "Hull Damaged, Sir!" Now I'm horrified...But, no flooding or anything is reported. I finally get the sense in me to take a gander outside using extrernal cams (Yes, I'm a cheapskate--I know. :( ) and that's when I realized it was the coastal freighter I was watching my U boat slip under earlier.

By that time the destroyer was still in the center of the columns of the convoy depth charging where he thought I was. The freighter, having exploded, broke amid ships and began going down backwards. This caused her aft end to scrape down the after end of my uboat's port side, since I began to turn away, causing just another little bit of damage. Kinda like an insult to injury sort of deal.

I think the biggest lesson learned would be to maintain a good distance, lol!

[TarJak]

So Narrowly avoiding an express tour to the bottom, I fire my last shot and begin a dive to 70M (Ocean floor is at 80M it looks like)
Well there's your problem! Unless I'm harbour raiding I NEVER attack in less than 300m depth. If you can't got to at least 200m in your escape plan then don't bother. All you are doing is putting your boat and your men in mortal danger.

[Jack Cutter]

Well there's your problem! Unless I'm harbour raiding I NEVER attack in less than 300m depth. If you can't got to at least 200m in your escape plan then don't bother. All you are doing is putting your boat and your men in mortal danger.


Yeah...I thought 70m was fairly deep if you compare feet to meters...I've been raised on Imperial units, not Metric, and so that is also part of my problem.

I need to learn what equates to what from imperial units to metric. I think 1m is equal to 3ft.

At the very least my men can say I'm somewhat ballsy...if they don't muntiny against me for being bat-s*** crazy, lol.

I had another question...I can't say I've run across any neutral units yet, but if I do, aren't we allowed to sink them? I think I read somewhere that you will lose renown...which I find odd, because as far as I understood during the 40's wasn't Germany using unrestricted submarine warfare? I figured everyone was game.

[Draka]

"Unrestricted" means you don't have to follow the Prize Rules - IOW no warnings, stopping to search for contraband, all that rot. It does NOT mean that you destroy everyone - you are still restricted to those you are actually at war with - or you KNOW they are heading there with stuff to help said enemy!

Doubt means err on the side of caution.

[frau kaleun]

I had another question...I can't say I've run across any neutral units yet, but if I do, aren't we allowed to sink them? I think I read somewhere that you will lose renown...which I find odd, because as far as I understood during the 40's wasn't Germany using unrestricted submarine warfare? I figured everyone was game.

Unless you've modded out the renown hit, the game will punish you with loss of renown for sinking a neutral unit.

I'm not sure how this compares to what happened to commanders who did so in real life, although I do know that they were under orders NOT to attack American ships in particular (before Germany declared war on the US), even US warships that were escorting convoys made up of enemy shipping, because Hitler did not want to antagonize the US for fear she would enter the war on the side of Britain and France.

Nevertheless there were some occasions where neutral ships were attacked and sunk in a variety of circumstances but I don't know that any of the commanders involved saw their careers derailed because of it.

As far as unrestricted submarine warfare goes, I always thought that had more to do with the way in which attacks were carried out, and not so much with giving the "all clear" to attack neutral shipping wherever and whenever it was encountered. The exception being neutral ships sailing in an area that had been declared a war zone or under the enemy's protection, the assumption being that any such ships were supplying the enemy and therefore fair game. Since unrestricted SW means attacking without notice and without boarding and inspecting either the ship or her papers, I guess everything would be left up to the commander's discretion in the case of a neutral vessel under those conditions. IIRC even in WWII there were occasions where merchants were stopped and their validity as a target predetermined in the "old school" fashion before a decision was made about whether or not to sink them.

But the game makes no distinction regarding neutral ships based on their location and assumed ports of call - neutral is neutral, war zone or not. I know some people have edited out the renown hit for sinking neutrals, but then will only attack them if they are clearly sailing into or out of an enemy port. They may even edit in a renown reward for sinking neutrals because they only attack them in circumstances where it would be considered acceptable to do so.

The other issue with neutrals is that they will sometimes be sailing in convoy with enemy merchants and under the protection of enemy warships. Even if you don't target them specifically, when you attack the convoy there's always the chance they'll be the ships you end up hitting. I doubt any RL commander would have been penalized for sinking a neutral in that situation.

So - if you leave the renown penalty in the game and sink a neutral, you'll be penalized regardless of circumstance. But you can take it out or modify it and then play the game in whatever feels to you like a more realistic way. It's just a matter of personal preference.

Don't sink any of your Axis comrades though, that one will really hurt. And sinking a hospital ship will get you transferred right out of the Kriegsmarine and sent to the Eastern front! :D

[Jack Cutter]

Thanks guys! That clearifies it much more. I also did a little bit of research on the subject between replies and it just affirms the great info I recieved here.

So, unrestricted submarine warfare means having permission to attack enemy vessels without boarding them and checking their cargo manifests and what-not to affirm them as a viable target. That is much more sensible than what I was thinking...heh. :oops:

[frau kaleun]

From Wikipedia, FWIW:


Unrestricted submarine warfare is a type of naval warfare in which submarines sink merchant ships without warning, as opposed to attacks per prize rules. While such tactics increase the combat effectiveness of the submarine and improve its chances of survival, they are considered by many to be a clear breach of the rules of war, especially when employed against neutral country vessels in a war zone.


The prize rules, I think, were a hold-over from the age of sail when enemy merchants were more likely to be attacked and siezed, rather than sunk, and taken into the custody of the attacker along with their cargo and any survivors. This would have involved engagements between surface ships and certainly was not the best (or even a sensible) way to make effective use of a submarine as a vessel of war - which became pretty obvious once they came into play.

[Draka]

"Sensible" and "Rules of War" tend to not be synonymous!

From
http://www.worldlingo.com/ma/enwiki/en/Unrestricted_submarine_warfare

"London Rules on naval warfare

The submarine sinking of merchant ships without warning is in violation of the 1930 (http://www.worldlingo.com/ma/enwiki/en/1930) First London Naval Treaty (http://www.worldlingo.com/ma/enwiki/en/London_Naval_Treaty), which specifies that "...except in the case of persistent refusal to stop on being duly summoned, or of active resistance to visit or search, a warship, whether surface vessel or submarine, may not sink or render incapable of navigation a merchant vessel without having first placed passengers, crew and ship's papers in a place of safety. For this purpose the ship's boats are not regarded as a place of safety..."
However, the London Rules were obsolete before they were signed (though the Kriegsmarine (http://www.worldlingo.com/ma/enwiki/en/Kriegsmarine) based its Prize Rules on them). The use of disguised guns on auxiliary cruisers increased the risk inherent in stop-and-search rules, but the primary danger came from the wide-spread adoption of radio, which meant that a merchant could call for help as soon as a submarine appeared, even before it could issue its demands. Coupled with the rapidly-growing speed, range, and destructive power of combat aircraft, this technology ensured that complying with these rules would be suicide for any submarine."


I love it when lawmakers try to limit the carnage of warfare - good intentions, usually go by the wayside as the first bullet is fired .....

[Jack Cutter]

Yup, the first casualty is often the carefully laid plans.

Man...those destroyers are lethal as hell, even in 1940! I left in October...made my first perfect intercept of a large enemy convoy! (:D:yeah:)

Turns out to be a huge British convoy with something in excess of 15 ships or so, with four escorts (One in front, one in back, and one on each side) Thanks to the wonderful tutorials I was already well ahead of them, submerged at 'scope depth and creeping along at Silent running. Soon I find myself within the perfect firing distances of some amazingly juicy targets. Don't get me wrong, all of these merchant ships were high value targets, but the nearest ones right off the bow were a tanker, a troop transport, and a few coastal freighters. I'm happy to say I was able to put a torp into each one! Sunk two right off the bat. The others were crippled and sinking slowly (Realistic ship sinking option on)

Now the escorts are pissed. The one running in the front is long gone, but the flankers and rear cover were converging on my spot.

I learned my lesson from my first patrol and now the depth under keel was over 1000m. Feeling confident I dive deep hoping to level at 100m. Well...I was too confident. At about 80m an escort did a perfect DC run. Glass shatters, lights flicker, the boat is tossed about violently, fore end batteries are immediately destroyed, command room is flooding along with the bow torpedo room and the forequarters. HEAVY flooding. The boat is sinking and fast!

I am amazed to say I survived it all somehow. I blew all compressed air and was in emergency reverse. We neared 220m before we finally began to ascend again. I'm pretty sure the nose of the U-boat touched the ocean floor. We were near vertical.

Somehow my crew managed to get the flooding controlled and I took us back up to 120m. The attack took place at 1am and 3 destroyers depth charged me until 4am. I finally gave up and literally stopped the boat. They finally rejoined the convoy at 6:00am.

I'm sad to say that I only sunk three ships that patrol. Something around 9,891 tons. The others I hit (2 more I think) limped away. On a side note, a submarine called out a position about a damaged tanker a few squares away from where I attacked the convoy. The square was directly in the convoys path. The submarine said they couldn't engage and were out of torpedos. Does GWX 3.0 actually have subs that recognize when you've attacked a ship?! Freakin' epic details!!!

Also, to the GWX team...the sounds that were being made by my U-boat while my engineer was screaming about crush depths...absolutely TERRIFYING! I'm ashamed to say that it gave me chills...I never want to experience something like that again...it made me nauseous! I could never do what any submariner does in real life ever!

Absolutely great work. I still can't wait to spot some of the damage modelling for the ships...I'm thrilled to see an oil slick! I wonder though, is that an additonal mod you have to add to GWX 3.0, or is it something that comes with the mod? From what I understand in the manual is says it's included, but I have yet to see an oilslick. I also read it depends on where you hit the ship. Is it a rare occurence?

[frau kaleun]

I wonder though, is that an additonal mod you have to add to GWX 3.0, or is it something that comes with the mod? From what I understand in the manual is says it's included, but I have yet to see an oilslick. I also read it depends on where you hit the ship. Is it a rare occurence?

When you install GWX you also get several optional GWX mods that you can enable or disable using JSGME, which is also installed for you by the GWX setup program. The mods can be found in the MODS directory that it creates in your game folder.

I think it should've put an icon for JSGME (or JoneSoft Generic Mod Enabler) on your desktop when it was installed - if so, doubleclick on it and it will show you all the optional mods that GWX added for you on the left side of the interface under "Available Mods." One of them is Enhanced Damage Effects, which may give you exactly what you're looking for. To enable it, click on it once and then click on the ">" in the middle of the interface to transfer it over to the "Activated Mods" and that will enable the mod in your game.

BUT! Do not do this in the middle of a patrol, with a few exceptions mods should only be enabled or disabled when you are in base between patrols.

Whether or not you see an oil slick may well depend on where the target gets hit, but I think you'll find that damage effects in general are much more impressive with that mod enabled.

[Jack Cutter]

When you install GWX you also get several optional GWX mods that you can enable or disable using JSGME, which is also installed for you by the GWX setup program. The mods can be found in the MODS directory that it creates in your game folder.

I think it should've put an icon for JSGME (or JoneSoft Generic Mod Enabler) on your desktop when it was installed - if so, doubleclick on it and it will show you all the optional mods that GWX added for you on the left side of the interface under "Available Mods." One of them is Enhanced Damage Effects, which may give you exactly what you're looking for. To enable it, click on it once and then click on the ">" in the middle of the interface to transfer it over to the "Activated Mods" and that will enable the mod in your game.

BUT! Do not do this in the middle of a patrol, with a few exceptions mods should only be enabled or disabled when you are in base between patrols.

Whether or not you see an oil slick may well depend on where the target gets hit, but I think you'll find that damage effects in general are much more impressive with that mod enabled.


You were exactly right. I somehow or another, in my sleepy stupor (It was like 4AM when I was finally able to install GWX ) I deleted JSGME. I now have just added the files and will try them out. My career was saved while I was at base after my second patrol, so hopefully I won't run into any troubles!

[frau kaleun]

Gute Jagd und Fette Beute! :yeah:

[Gargamel]

Anyways, in the midst of testing my plotted intercept courses I recieved a radio report from U-43 about a large enemy convoy near my area. .

Was it to or from U-43? I thought the most of the contact reports, unless it's specifically titled "Radio Contact Report" (And those come from BDU), in GWX were just eye candy. Or did the GWX team match the scripted layer to radio reports (or vice versa)??

Cause I've been ignoring those.......

[Jack Cutter]

Was it to or from U-43? I thought the most of the contact reports, unless it's specifically titled "Radio Contact Report" (And those come from BDU), in GWX were just eye candy. Or did the GWX team match the scripted layer to radio reports (or vice versa)??

Cause I've been ignoring those.......


I honestly haven't had Vanilla Silent Hunter III installed long enough to know. All I know is that the message was titled from U-43. Said something about sinking a damaged tanker.

If it's just eye candy it was a hugely awesome coincidence because I hit a tanker that managed to limp away. And from U-43's message, it seems that the area they reported sinking it was the direction the tanker had been going. I couldn't pursue due to the depth charging.

If it is scientifically proven that the messages are just eye candy, I will ignore this, because recieving a message like that just added to my emersion in the game. Made my freakin' day, LOL. :yeah:

[TarJak]

It is eye candy. There is a difference between radio messages and radio reports. You'll know the difference because reports show up as icons on the map and messages only appear in the messages pad.

My first move after firing is to dive to 200m as fast as I dare (usually ahead standard) whilst making a turn to reverse direction or as big an angle from my firing course as possible.

When the torps hit I run to flank speed until I reach about 150m then go silent to get to 200m+ I then hold my course unless I'm getting detected.

Don't forget though your approach must be stealthy otherwise they escorts will be onto you before you have a chance to fire. Once they lock on it is not easy to lose them. The primary goal is to stay undetected from approach through to escape. If you head away from the targets and dive deep immediately after firing you stand a good chance of getting away.

[Tessa]

Nevertheless there were some occasions where neutral ships were attacked and sunk in a variety of circumstances but I don't know that any of the commanders involved saw their careers derailed because of it.

But the game makes no distinction regarding neutral ships based on their location and assumed ports of call - neutral is neutral, war zone or not. I know some people have edited out the renown hit for sinking neutrals, but then will only attack them if they are clearly sailing into or out of an enemy port. They may even edit in a renown reward for sinking neutrals because they only attack them in circumstances where it would be considered acceptable to do so.

The other issue with neutrals is that they will sometimes be sailing in convoy with enemy merchants and under the protection of enemy warships. Even if you don't target them specifically, when you attack the convoy there's always the chance they'll be the ships you end up hitting. I doubt any RL commander would have been penalized for sinking a neutral in that situation.

Sadly the only clue that the game gives to a neutral ship is that its flags will be illumunated by a pair of lights. In poor visibility it can be hard or impossible to see these lights just the silhouette of the ship. The best solution I've seen so far as to how to deal with neutral ships is to set the renown to 0, so you don't get credit or penalized for sinking it.

Also, to the GWX team...the sounds that were being made by my U-boat while my engineer was screaming about crush depths...absolutely TERRIFYING! I'm ashamed to say that it gave me chills...I never want to experience something like that again...it made me nauseous! I could never do what any submariner does in real life ever!

Absolutely great work. I still can't wait to spot some of the damage modelling for the ships...I'm thrilled to see an oil slick! I wonder though, is that an additonal mod you have to add to GWX 3.0, or is it something that comes with the mod? From what I understand in the manual is says it's included, but I have yet to see an oilslick. I also read it depends on where you hit the ship. Is it a rare occurence?

Once the ship hits 200m it can get really eerie. Though it is a bit of a cheat, I'd suggest you take the ship out and set it to dive to 250m (once you hit 180 or so turn the speed to slow). When you actually go beyond your crush depth it will make slightly different noises; which if you do a ballast blow at that moment you might escape getting any damage at all, at the very least it would minimize it.

The damage mod I believe you are refering to is called torpedo damage final. It will show the holes in the ships your eels make or the hits from the deck gun. Cool thing is it also shows models damage on your sub as well. You can come into port looking up really chewed up.

You can't see the magnetic hits from this angle but she wasn't going down so put a slug into the side and then she dropped like a brick.

http://pelsia.files.wordpress.com/2010/12/sh3img24-10-2010_4.jpg

[desirableroasted]

I'm sad to say that I only sunk three ships that patrol. Something around 9,891 tons. The others I hit (2 more I think) limped away.

If you are new to the game (and playing GWX on top), that's nothing to be sad about.

Good going!

I've been on 30-day patrols where I didn't even see 10K tons.

[Jimbuna]

Welcome aboard.

Go deep, slow (set your speed to just under 1 knot so your rpm's drop real low), and slowly wiggle waggle at 10' rudder back and forth. Keep em guessing.

That's GWX for ya. It's hell under water.

And I'll try to beat our esteemed JB to it:

BE MORE AGGRESSIVE!

SINK EM ALL!

Ya cheeky bugga! http://www.psionguild.org/forums/images/smilies/wolfsmilies/pissedoff.gif

http://img142.imageshack.us/img142/2391/bubblegum21.gif

Welcome Aboard Jack Cutter http://www.psionguild.org/forums/images/smilies/wolfsmilies/welcome.gif

[Jack Cutter]

@Tessa: Thanks for the info. I was actually referring to the enhanced damage optional mod that comes with GWX that I, like a dummy, forgot to enable in JSGME...no wonder I couldn't see any damage! That mod that you have though...that looks stunning! No wonder that ship sunk like a brick! Do you know where I can find it, and if it would work with the enhanced damage mod from GWX 3.0?

@desirableroasted:Thanks! I tried really hard. I'm ashamed to say I'm not even attempting manual targeting.. :oops: But I finally got intercepting down!

@jimbuna: Thanks so much, I'm glad to be aboard!

[frau kaleun]

The Torpedo Damage Final only affects the graphics for the damage done at point of impact when you hit a ship (holes blown in the hull, etc.) so it doesn't conflict with Enhanced Damaged Effects (which has to do with the kinds of fireworks and whatnot that happen as a result of the damage you did).

You can find the Torpedo Damage Final mod(s) at Jimbuna's FileFront page, there's a link to it in the sig at the bottom of his posts. I think there are two versions, but they're small so you can try out both and see which one you like.

[Jack Cutter]

The Torpedo Damage Final only affects the graphics for the damage done at point of impact when you hit a ship (holes blown in the hull, etc.) so it doesn't conflict with Enhanced Damaged Effects (which has to do with the kinds of fireworks and whatnot that happen as a result of the damage you did).

You can find the Torpedo Damage Final mod(s) at Jimbuna's FileFront page, there's a link to it in the sig at the bottom of his posts. I think there are two versions, but they're small so you can try out both and see which one you like.


THANKS! I only have a 128MB graphics card, so with the enhanced damage mod smoke and fire, I notice my frame rate begins to stutter, (particularly if I'm viewing through binocs).
I hope the torpedo damage isn't too heavy graphical-wise.

I'll be wandering over there and grabbing those mods!

[TarJak]

THANKS! I only have a 128MB graphics card, so with the enhanced damage mod smoke and fire, I notice my frame rate begins to stutter, (particularly if I'm viewing through binocs).
I hope the torpedo damage isn't too heavy graphical-wise.

I'll be wandering over there and grabbing those mods!
Try hitting CTRL+P when using the binocs. That should clear the stuttering. It's a way old known bug with a simple workaround.

[Jack Cutter]

Try hitting CTRL+P when using the binocs. That should clear the stuttering. It's a way old known bug with a simple workaround.

Oh? Thanks. I'll try it out.


I just got back from an immensely succesful patrol 8 merchants sunk, 28,000+ tons boosting me to 74,000+ tonnage total career, and earned me a metal. Opened my career save files figured the list was getting too long, so I selected a PREVIOUS save, and it deleted the current save! :damn::damn::damn::damn::damn:

I'm so freakin' angry its sickening! There's no chance for me to find and recover the save....:wah:

[frau kaleun]

Oh? Thanks. I'll try it out.


I just got back from an immensely succesful patrol 8 merchants sunk, 28,000+ tons boosting me to 74,000+ tonnage total career, and earned me a metal. Opened my career save files figured the list was getting too long, so I selected a PREVIOUS save, and it deleted the current save! :damn::damn::damn::damn::damn:

I'm so freakin' angry its sickening! There's no chance for me to find and recover the save....:wah:

OUCH. That's a hard way to learn that lesson.

[Jimbuna]

Oh? Thanks. I'll try it out.


I just got back from an immensely succesful patrol 8 merchants sunk, 28,000+ tons boosting me to 74,000+ tonnage total career, and earned me a metal. Opened my career save files figured the list was getting too long, so I selected a PREVIOUS save, and it deleted the current save! :damn::damn::damn::damn::damn:

I'm so freakin' angry its sickening! There's no chance for me to find and recover the save....:wah:

Yeah, when you select a prvious save you lose everything you saved after said save.

[Jack Cutter]

Well....lesson learned like you said.

I guess there's nothing I can do except go and do the patrol again...but better!!! :yeah: