Doubts about Sonar, Radio, Radar and TAI

[Jamesphillip]

Hello there mates, skippers, captains :up:
First I'd like to introduce myself, I am new around here, just bought the game about 1 week ago, and been playing everyday since.
So I have some questions about the game. I've already been looking for these answers around in the forums but would like some of you guys to answer as well and give your opinion.

1 - How does the hydrophone / radio work? Do you need to be using them to detect more ships more easily and often, or you can leave it alone and the radio/sound guy will find them easily as well? Since I've been doing the British Supplies mission and rarely seen a Merchant ship, leave alone a convoy, what's the best way to patrol an area? Always at surface or submerge a while? Circle around a large area or a smaller one?

2 - What is the best way to approach a warship and then evade them? I caught 3 destroyers patrolling and got behind their backs, but couldn't get the angle right without being at their backs. Anyways I managed to sink two of them and then submerged into the deep and got away. Is that the best way to leave the area? Just submerge and hope for the best?

3 - What does the orange circles, red semi-circles and black circles around enemy ships mean in TAI? I've been looking for a legend in the forums and googling it, but found nothing about it. Does black circles mean visual range? And what about the other two?

4 - I've been playing without any mods, and do not like the game to be 100% realistic, been playing at 87% realism, with external view (just for eye candy) and map contact updates, but I would like to play without map contacts, altough that can be hard and most of the mods add a whole lot of things that I don't want to add to my game, and many mods don't have a full description of the mod itself in the forums page (believe me I've been looking around the forums.) So what are the best mods for a begginer like me without adding too much realism to the game?

5 - Is there anyway to have 2 or more data in the TDC? Or it's only possible to have one target in TDC? I caught a large convoy in their backs, manage to sneak around to the middle-rear and had to shoot one by one, introducing data ship by ship after firing a torpedo, it would be much better if I could target 2 or 3 ships at once. I don't have much practice so I use Pause a lot, but I see that as cheating and I'm looking to stamp this out.

6 - What's the best/realistic range to engage a ship? 500m? 1000m? 2500m? Sometimes it happens that I can't hit a warship because they evade my torpedoes at the very last second, what can I do to avoid that?
Is it suicidal to engage 7 or 8 ships and then submerge into the deep?

7 - I've noticed that everyone in the sub doesn't react to the environment, doesn't matter if I'm being attacked, crash diving or attacking someone, everyone just seems to be standing there without doing nothing and reacting to nothing. Is there any mod that changes this?

8 - When does the radar become avaiable? It's December 1939 and still no good.

9 - Is there any way to control the rudder by clicking or setting the rudder to X degrees, instead of having to click 100 times and having to listen to "rudder 5 degrees to starboard" a zillion times as well?

Thanks for the help :up:

[phil82]

Hello there mates, skippers, captains :up:
First I'd like to introduce myself, I am new around here, just bought the game about 1 week ago, and been playing everyday since.


Hello and welcome, :)

I can help with most of your questions, although I'm fairly new myself. First, you are going to want mods, but I'll say more about that below.

This is the link to the guides thread in the SH 4 forum, whenever I've said below to look for a guide this is where you'll find it:
http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=146795


1 - How does the hydrophone / radio work? Do you need to be using them to detect more ships more easily and often, or you can leave it alone and the radio/sound guy will find them easily as well? The radio is just for communicating with base, it'll tell you when a contact has been spotted by a friendly ship (usually on the other side of the map :D), other than that don't worry about it at the moment. The hydrophone is great for finding ships when you're underwater, the main advantage of it is you can find ships before you can see them (although from what I understand its buggered in the stock game). Once you get it working the sonar man will do a good job of giving you contact reports.


Since I've been doing the British Supplies mission and rarely seen a Merchant ship, leave alone a convoy, what's the best way to patrol an area? Always at surface or submerge a while? Circle around a large area or a smaller one?This is a really big topic, if you look in the SH 4 forum there is a great sticky with loads of guides which will tell you everything you need to know.

In short though:

When hunting I prefer to stay on the surface in good weather and go to periscope depth at night and in bad weather (when visibility is bad). Stick close to your patrol area, usually they are situated on shipping lanes and give the best chance of finding a target. If you really can't find a target then try waiting 20km or so outside of enemy ports, ships follow real paths in silent hunter so most of the traffic is concentrated around ports.

When you do spot a ship you should dive to periscope depth and mark the ships position on your map. Then use the stop watch to mark off some time (I use five minutes) and then take another position mark. Form here you can calculate the ships course, by drawing a line between the marks, and its speed, by measuring the distance between the marks and calculating the speed using one of the handy speed charts (which may not be in stock... thats why you need mods!), or by knowing how to cnvert metres per minute into knots (which I don't).

Once you have the targets course and speed you can intercept him. You know where he's going and when he's going to be there, so you just need to get there first. There are plenty of guides that show you exactly how to do this so I wont go into any more detail.



2 - What is the best way to approach a warship and then evade them? I caught 3 destroyers patrolling and got behind their backs, but couldn't get the angle right without being at their backs. Anyways I managed to sink two of them and then submerged into the deep and got away. Is that the best way to leave the area? Just submerge and hope for the best?How do Porcupines have sex...CAREFULLY :D

Joking aside, destroyers are designed to find and kill submarines, they can also run faster than you, so two kills is phenominal for a newbie! I actually asked this question in the SH 4 forum not long ago, look for a thread called 'evading destroyers' there is loads of info in there.


3 - What does the orange circles, red semi-circles and black circles around enemy ships mean in TAI? I've been looking for a legend in the forums and googling it, but found nothing about it. Does black circles mean visual range? And what about the other two?Can't help you with this I'm afraid as I've never played stock, I upgraded from SH 4 recently so I started modding the game straight away.


So what are the best mods for a begginer like me without adding too much realism to the game?
This is really a personal thing, however at the very least you want the TDW_UI mod. It adds so many things that should have been in the stock game that its basically essential. You'll also want TDW's SH 5 patcher, which fixes the hydrophone station. Those are the only absolute essentials although a couple of very nice mods are:

Open Horizons 2 - Improves the campaign, well worth a look.
Dynamic environments - A graphical overhaul.

I just took the mod list from mia389 (http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/member.php?u=248353)'s signature and picked the ones I liked the look of. You'll also need JSGME to install most of the mods.



5 - Is there anyway to have 2 or more data in the TDC? Or it's only possible to have one target in TDC? Nope, sorry. But as you get used to the game you'll figure out how to set up attacks without using the TDC, once again you can find a guide in the SH 4 forum for this stuff


6 - What's the best/realistic range to engage a ship? 500m? 1000m? 2500m? Sometimes it happens that I can't hit a warship because they evade my torpedoes at the very last second, what can I do to avoid that?Generally speaking you want to get as close as possible (although anything below approx 400m and your torpedo wont arm), warships are harder because they can spot you easier and are always on the lookout for torpedos, so it's a trade off between getting close enough that they can't get out of the way of your torpedos and staying far enough out so that they don't spot your periscope. For me the perfect attack position is about 800m out and at 90 degrees angle to the enemies course, but really whe you are up against a task force you have to take what you can get, finding the best position is a big part of the game.


Is it suicidal to engage 7 or 8 ships and then submerge into the deep?If you mean trying to take out 7 ships at once then wow, you sir are crazy :DL But if you mean taking on a task force and just attacking the big, juicy targets then no. Although it is hard. Still, if you dont spend a couple of hours getting depth charged every now and then, you're not taking enough risks.


7 - I've noticed that everyone in the sub doesn't react to the environment, doesn't matter if I'm being attacked, crash diving or attacking someone, everyone just seems to be standing there without doing nothing and reacting to nothing. Is there any mod that changes this?As far as I know there aren't any mods that fix this, just pretend that they're all too scared to move.


8 - When does the radar become avaiable? It's December 1939 and still no good.No idea, sorry.


9 - Is there any way to control the rudder by clicking or setting the rudder to X degrees, instead of having to click 100 times and having to listen to "rudder 5 degrees to starboard" a zillion times as well?TDW_UI mod should help with this.

Hope that helps :salute:

[Jamesphillip]

Thanks a lot for your help! :yeah:

I'm thinking about using TW_UI, Open Horizons 2, Dynamic Environments, Realistic Ammo for AA & Cannon plus Critical Torpedo Hits. Thing is I'm afraid that mods will conflict. I'm using the JSGME tool.

[0rpheus]

Hello there mates, skippers, captains :up:
First I'd like to introduce myself, I am new around here, just bought the game about 1 week ago, and been playing everyday since.
So I have some questions about the game. I've already been looking for these answers around in the forums but would like some of you guys to answer as well and give your opinion.

1 - How does the hydrophone / radio work? Do you need to be using them to detect more ships more easily and often, or you can leave it alone and the radio/sound guy will find them easily as well? Since I've been doing the British Supplies mission and rarely seen a Merchant ship, leave alone a convoy, what's the best way to patrol an area? Always at surface or submerge a while? Circle around a large area or a smaller one?

2 - What is the best way to approach a warship and then evade them? I caught 3 destroyers patrolling and got behind their backs, but couldn't get the angle right without being at their backs. Anyways I managed to sink two of them and then submerged into the deep and got away. Is that the best way to leave the area? Just submerge and hope for the best?

3 - What does the orange circles, red semi-circles and black circles around enemy ships mean in TAI? I've been looking for a legend in the forums and googling it, but found nothing about it. Does black circles mean visual range? And what about the other two?

4 - I've been playing without any mods, and do not like the game to be 100% realistic, been playing at 87% realism, with external view (just for eye candy) and map contact updates, but I would like to play without map contacts, altough that can be hard and most of the mods add a whole lot of things that I don't want to add to my game, and many mods don't have a full description of the mod itself in the forums page (believe me I've been looking around the forums.) So what are the best mods for a begginer like me without adding too much realism to the game?

5 - Is there anyway to have 2 or more data in the TDC? Or it's only possible to have one target in TDC? I caught a large convoy in their backs, manage to sneak around to the middle-rear and had to shoot one by one, introducing data ship by ship after firing a torpedo, it would be much better if I could target 2 or 3 ships at once. I don't have much practice so I use Pause a lot, but I see that as cheating and I'm looking to stamp this out.

6 - What's the best/realistic range to engage a ship? 500m? 1000m? 2500m? Sometimes it happens that I can't hit a warship because they evade my torpedoes at the very last second, what can I do to avoid that?
Is it suicidal to engage 7 or 8 ships and then submerge into the deep?

7 - I've noticed that everyone in the sub doesn't react to the environment, doesn't matter if I'm being attacked, crash diving or attacking someone, everyone just seems to be standing there without doing nothing and reacting to nothing. Is there any mod that changes this?

8 - When does the radar become avaiable? It's December 1939 and still no good.

9 - Is there any way to control the rudder by clicking or setting the rudder to X degrees, instead of having to click 100 times and having to listen to "rudder 5 degrees to starboard" a zillion times as well?

Thanks for the help :up:


Phil's done an admirable job already so I'll just try to fill in the blanks:

1. To manually activate/use the hydrophone, click on the hydrophone station and use Home/End keys to rotate it (as Phil said, this is where you'll need the .exe patcher as the stock keys will make it move too far in either direction, making it hard to retain the contact). Bear in mind that the first hydrophone you get is mounted on the sides of the sub, with a small angle of 'deaf' area in front/behind, but will work while surfaced. Later versions offer 360 degree coverage, but will only work underwater - so adapt your patrol styles to suit. Also bear in mind that the hydro has more range the deeper you go, to max range at about 30 metres, and is affected by your own engine noise to an extent.

But yeah. you can leave it alone and the sonar guy will find targets, which will appear as black/blue lines on the nav map. Phil's description of hunting is spot on - I'll only add that to calculate the target's speed manually, as he describes, simply place one mark on the TAI at the bow of the target, start the stopwatch, then place another mark exactly 3 minutes 15 seconds later, also at the bow. Divide the range between the two by 100 = speed. :up:


2. Destroyers are dangerous, even in stock. Shallow waters are also dangerous. If you've not got 150m of depth to use, it's shallow! ;) Enemy Destroyer AI works as described in the link below:

http://www.ducimus.net/sh415/ai.htm

Basically get deep and get quiet. Activate silent running, keep engine rpms below 50 (use the rpm gauge in the conning tower or engine room, and the 'advanced' speed control (hold shift I think) to select 0.25 knots or so) and get under their sonar. Since you don't know how deep they go, the deeper the better - and it'll only get harder the later in the war you get. If a Destryoer goes right over you on a DC run, slam it to ahead full for a few seconds to get out of the way of the depth charges, then drop to 50 rpms again.

As a general rule, unless it's a high-value target like a Carrier or Battleship, stick to the merchants - and even they'll fire back if they catch you on the surface. When attacking, try to get in front of the target (known as an 'end around') and let them cross your path, so you've got plenty of time to set up the shot & avoid escort screens.

3.

Black circles = visual range.
Orange circles = passive (listening) sonar range (surfaced/submerged). If you're in this zone and making noise, they can probably hear you.
Red semi-circles - active (pinging) sonar range. See AI link for info.

4. Don't worry about mods adding too much realism. With TDWs UI mod you can swap between manual and arcade (numbers on TAI torpedo track) targeting at will, mid game. Mia has an excellent list, I've also got one in my sig, with links to the exe patcher, D3D antilag for better fps etc. Magnum Opus, Open Horizons campaign mod and Dynamic Environment are all good choices - as for the rest, see what you like and what you don't! Use JSGME and you can swap them in/out as required.

6. 1000m or less is 'optimum' range for a torpedo shot, at 90 degree angle to the target. Destroyers are very fast and will often evade torpedoes even at ranges under 1000m - and firing on them will nearly always alert them to your presence - so attempt it at your own risk ;) 7 or 8 targets in a convoy very early war is quite possible (go in with the torps, then with the deck gun), but this will only work for the first few months of 1939 - after that Merchants start arming themselves and deck-gun actions against convoys become very risky. Even single merchants can put a big hole in the pressure hull if they get a lucky shot. But 'submerging into the deep' is your best way of getting away, nearly every time. Depending on the weather/time, you can sometimes get away on the surface if you're quick - but underwater is safer.

7.

There's a mod called 'more crew' by Paris_England in the mods section. It'll add more crew, and I think some more animations. You'll also see more overall animations in Magnum Opus, because it has another mod (Mighty Fine Crew Mod) incorporated. But as a rule, this is something that's still being modded, so progress is limited at this stage.

8. I forget when the first Radar becomes available, but not until at least 1940.

*goes to check*

http://www.uboat.net/technical/radar.htm

Aha. Above link is handy. First radar is the Fumo in 1941. It only has a small angle, you won't get a 360 degree one until even later. If you see a plane, crash dive - don't risk it! :D

9. As Phil says, TDWs New UIs with TDC 6.7.0 allows you to swap between a heading dial and a rudder angle dial. Of all the mods, it's the most essential. ;)



I'm thinking about using TW_UI, Open Horizons 2, Dynamic Environments, Realistic Ammo for AA & Cannon plus Critical Torpedo Hits. Thing is I'm afraid that mods will conflict. I'm using the JSGME tool.


That's fine. Some things to remember when installing mods.

File structure is important - the first folder in a mod folder should be a folder called 'data'. If this isn't the case, then the mod itself is often found deeper in the folders. Dynamic Environment is a good example of this; it has many different variations within the main mod pack - it's those you need to move to your main mod folder and activate (for example, Dynamic Environment Basemod (normal) V2.1 - first folder in this is called 'data').

Install order is also important. Remember that whatever you install later will overwrite any earlier version that uses the same files (e.g if you had two different wave mods, you'd only see the effect of the last one). For the mods you list above, install in this order:

TDWs New UIs with TDC 6.7.0
Open Horizons II (Full, or Base + Environment depending on your preference)
Dynamic Environment basemod (normal, or your preference)
Dynamic Environment optional mods (your preference)
Realistic Ammo
Critical Hits


Also recommended, if you want a little extra oomph, to fit with your theoretical order above:

Magnum Opus (general megamod with better damage screens, no splash intro, no silly yellow bubbles etc)
Magnum Opus Patch 2 (check file structure on this one and make sure first folder is 'data' as above, or merge files with the main Magnum Opus)
IRAI (better, harder AI with editable difficulty )
FX_Update 0.19 (better in game FX, explosions, bailing out pilots, distress flares etc)
TDWs New UIs with TDC
Open Horizons II (Full, or Base + Environment depending on your preference)
Dynamic Environment basemod (your preference)
Dynamic Environment optional mods (your preference, recommended list in my sig)
Realistic Ammo
Critical Hits
KZS Hull Wetness
Vorkapitan's Enhanced Caustics


Shout if you get stuck & welcome to the site! :salute:

[Jamesphillip]

Many thanks for your help! :yeah: As soon as I get home I'm going to try it. (I'm at work slacking off ehehe :D)

So to have the mods in that particular order it means I have to "install" the first one on the list first or the last one on the list first? :up:

[0rpheus]

Many thanks for your help! :yeah: As soon as I get home I'm going to try it. (I'm at work slacking off ehehe :D)

So to have the mods in that particular order it means I have to "install" the first one on the list first or the last one on the list first? :up:

[First]TDWs New UIs with TDC 6.7.0
Open Horizons II (Full, or Base + Environment depending on your preference)
Dynamic Environment basemod (normal, or your preference)
Dynamic Environment optional mods (your preference)
Realistic Ammo
Critical Hits [Last]

The exe patcher and D3D antilag do not use JSGME - follow the instructions included in each. :)

:salute:

[Jamesphillip]

Once again, thanks for all your help. I have the following mods:

Critical Hits Torpedo & Gun
Dynamic Environment
Equipment Upgrades
FX Update 0.0.19
IRAI 1.0.0
KZS Hull Wetness
Lifeboats 2.0
NewUIs TDC 6.7.0 (and several other add-ons)
Open Horizons II
Real Sink 1.0
Realistic Ammo Amount

I have the mods folder in JSGME and all this mods installed there (Checked and all mods start at folder Data). I use JSGME to enable the mods but when I start the game I see no differences. Do I have to start a new campaign or no need to?

[0rpheus]

Once again, thanks for all your help. I have the following mods:

Critical Hits Torpedo & Gun
Dynamic Environment
Equipment Upgrades
FX Update 0.0.19
IRAI 1.0.0
KZS Hull Wetness
Lifeboats 2.0
NewUIs TDC 6.7.0 (and several other add-ons)
Open Horizons II
Real Sink 1.0
Realistic Ammo Amount

I have the mods folder in JSGME and all this mods installed there (Checked and all mods start at folder Data). I use JSGME to enable the mods but when I start the game I see no differences. Do I have to start a new campaign or no need to?

Hopefully not in that order? ;)

IRAI 1.0.0 is a single unit test version (as stated in the mod thread), get the main one in the first post & replace.

To see the OHII additions you will need to start a new campaign. The rest should be pretty obvious, you should see the options for New UIs on the periscope views etc. Dynamic Environment should also be reasonably obvious.

In JSGME, go 'tasks' and select 'export mod list to clipboard' and post it here so we can check the order etc.

Don't forget JSGME needs to be in the main SH5 folder (and the 'MODS' folder that it asks you to create should be there too) to work. We'll check your list (don't forget to replace IRAI with the proper version) and see how we get on. :salute:


EDIT: Proper install order for your above list should be:

IRAI_0_0_30_ByTheDarkWraith
IRAI_0_0_30_No_hydrophone_on_surface_No_Aircraft_s potting
FX Update 0.0.19
NewUIs TDC 6.7.0 (and several other add-ons)
Open Horizons II
Dynamic Environment Basemod (of whatever type)
Dynamic Environment optional mods
Equipment Upgrades
Critical Hits Torpedo & Gun
KZS Hull Wetness
Lifeboats 2.0
Realistic Ammo Amount
Real Sink 1.0 [Last]

[Jamesphillip]

Ok then, redownloaded the 0.0.3 IRAI version and deleted the other one. Put the Generic Mod Enabler and all it's files in SH5 main directory plus the Mods folder. I have all that mods plus those two you mentioned before and installed them separately as specified. I already have the NewTDC Ui no airplane spotting and no surface hydrophone installed in the New TDC ui folder.
Is there any problem in starting a new campaign and play the tutorial mission so I can get that 18 experience points or should I skip it? ehehe

EDIT: Sorry I misread the above post and I didn't see that you already posted the mod load order. BRB

[0rpheus]

Ok then, redownloaded the 0.0.3 IRAI version. Put the program and all it's files in SH5 main directory plus the Mods folder. I have all that mods plus those two you mentioned before and installed them separately as specified.
Now what load order should I use for this Mods? :hmmm:

Install JSGME to C:/Ubisoft/Silent Hunter 5
Run JSGME
When asked to create 'MODS' folder, create it in C/Ubisoft/Silent Hunter 5
Put all mod folders in new 'MODS' folder in C/Ubisoft/Silent Hunter 5
Run JSGME
Install in the order I gave you in the last post.

Start new campaign & enjoy :)

*2 minor things. You must have completed the tutorial before installing mods, but sounds like you've done that. Also game must be at version 1.2.0(in top right of main game menu) - which I'm assuming it is. :D

EDIT: my dumb fault, didn't fully read your post lol. If you've done the tutorial once, skip it. Also, if you want to try out the various campaigns without going through in order, type 'silentotto' on the campaign screen. ;)

[Jamesphillip]

Thanks once again for your help. Something must be wrong with the installation. I tried starting a campaign, skipped the tutorial, but when the game starts I see the image with weird colour patterns (mostly white, some red and green squares and some visible spaces where I can see the environment but were very small). As soon as I exit the game it shows the game report and all is fine. I see the submarine port and houses, no more weird image.

EDIT: I merged the add-ons from NewTDCui and Open Horizons to their main folders, gonna try installing them separately through the generic mod enabler :cry:

[0rpheus]

Thanks once again for your help. Something must be wrong with the installation. I tried starting a campaign, skipped the tutorial, but when the game starts I see the image with weird colour patterns (mostly white, some red and green squares and some visible spaces where I can see the environment but were very small). As soon as I exit the game it shows the game report and all is fine. I see the submarine port and houses, no more weird image.

EDIT: I merged the add-ons from NewTDCui and Open Horizons to their main folders, gonna try installing them separately through the generic mod enabler :cry:

Ok yeah the merging might not work with OHII - I wouldn't recommend it. I only mentioned it for Magnum Opus as that's confirmed to work for MO Patch 2, though I installed mine with JSGME anyway for easy add/remove. As a general rule never merge mods - that's what JSGME is for.

That sounds like New UIs going wonky and it's been encountered a lot by new chaps getting their installs slightly wrong. Always install them separately. :) One thing to try might be to just install IRAI, FX & New UIs, then start the game and check you get the new UI options - then exit and install the others. :)

[Jamesphillip]

I got it working finally, now to try this thingie :haha: thanks a lot once again :salute:

EDIT: It's not working again! Suddenly all went white for no reason! I had to restart the game and when I started playing it went all white and yellow again... oh darn it

[0rpheus]

Did you have any success in the end? Only thing I can really suggest is remove every mod and maybe reinstall, then try adding them again! Fingers crossed for you mate :salute:

[Jamesphillip]

yep i got it working, now the only problem seems that my crew and XO stay in their stations while I dive... I didn't have this issue before!

[0rpheus]

yep i got it working, now the only problem seems that my crew and XO stay in their stations while I dive... I didn't have this issue before!

You mean staying on deck when you dive? Think that's related to alt-tabbing out of the game... I did hear that going to the control room, then alt-tabbing in & out again solved it, but I've not tried it myself. Save/load should do it if not.

Glad you got it all working! :salute:

[Jamesphillip]

Finally got it working! You're right, it only happens when I alt-tab out of the game! :yeah: Thanks for all your help!

With these mods the aircraft seems much more agressive, had to crash dive at the very last second multiple times to save my boat from airborne attacks. There are a lot more fishing boats, never seen one before, first time I got one I didn't know it was one when I spotted it, so I spent around 20 minutes repositioning only to find it was a mere fishing boat :damn: I managed to finish british coastal waters and breaking the fortress by Oct 7, now I haven't got more missions, just patrolling.

[dunum]

No doubt I am being stupid but having trawled through the SH5 download catagories I can't find the DarkWraith mods named

IRAI_0_0_30_ByTheDarkWraith
IRAI_0_0_30_No_hydrophone_on_surface_No_Aircraft_s potting

Have these been renamed to something else or am I looking in the wrong place?

[0rpheus]

No doubt I am being stupid but having trawled through the SH5 download catagories I can't find the DarkWraith mods named

IRAI_0_0_30_ByTheDarkWraith
IRAI_0_0_30_No_hydrophone_on_surface_No_Aircraft_s potting

Have these been renamed to something else or am I looking in the wrong place?

The link to the main mod thread is here:
http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=171973

But you're right, the Filefront link seems to be down. I've also noticed another post about this, so I guess it's not just us. This could mean that TDW is about to release another version, or maybe the link just died. Either way keep an eye on that thread and I'm sure it'll be back very soon. :salute:


Finally got it working! You're right, it only happens when I alt-tab out of the game! :yeah: Thanks for all your help!

With these mods the aircraft seems much more agressive, had to crash dive at the very last second multiple times to save my boat from airborne attacks. There are a lot more fishing boats, never seen one before, first time I got one I didn't know it was one when I spotted it, so I spent around 20 minutes repositioning only to find it was a mere fishing boat :damn: I managed to finish british coastal waters and breaking the fortress by Oct 7, now I haven't got more missions, just patrolling.

Glad to hear it mate. :D Aircraft will be much more nasty - you can usually tell what it'll do by the attack pattern it takes. If it goes low over the waves it's going for an air-launched torpedo run, if it goes high it'll be going for a bomb-drop. :O:

The fishing boats are a sod, but the further you get from the coast the less likely you'll see them. You'll probably also encounter schools of dolphins, and icebergs in the far North in OHII Full (or at least you should; I didn't but I think it was a bug with an older version of Full, and now I'm using Base + Env. If you get the odd CTD in Full, swap to Base + Env too for a more stable campaign).

Missions in OHII are timed and will appear via radio message on the appropriate date. If you run out, just free-patrol until the next one turns up. :salute:

[dunum]

Orpheus - The link was much appreciated - I'll try agian later:)

[Jamesphillip]

Thanks again for your help :yeah:
I've been playing for a while patrolling on my own and by November got the northwestern approaches mission. In vanilla game it was hard to sink an escort, now it's even worse, they always dodge my torpedoes at the very last second. Even merchant boats in a convoy usually avoid my torpedoes at the last second, I manage to sink the first with ease but as soon as I try to sink the other ones they are already alerted and avoid the torpedoes. And as I said before, aircraft are a lot more agressive and they are usually flying next to convoys so it's a bit harder to sink a full convoy without being harassed by those flying brats. I managed to do the 'Breaking the Fortress' mission with relative ease, got there by night through the western passage and avoided escorts and sunk HMS Hood and HMS Queen Elizabeth plus one escort and one merchant (I only managed to sink all these ships because they were anchored). Since there was little sea depth to maneuvre, I just set the engine to Extreme Speed and got out of there before I was caught by convoys, which were patrolling at the south exit of Scapa Flow. but I found that mission quite easy really. Good show :up:

[0rpheus]

By November, you might as well give up on the idea of taking out a whole convoy ;) Convoys get quite large and usually well escorted out there.

If you find you're missing the second target because the convoy is pulling hard left/right to evade torpedoes, try timing your attack better. What I mean by that is time the shots so your four front tubes all hit around the same time.

Take the longest shot first - whichever is furthest away. When you've got two fish heading for the more distant target (say 2000yds), wait until the torps are halfway there or so, then fire the remaining two at a closer target (at say 1000 yds).

Experiment with torpedo speeds to help time detonations close together - this gives them no time to evade and makes sure your first salvo does as much damage as possible. If you can, swing the boat around and get off a shot with the bow tube(s), then get deep and quiet. If you slip away, you can go high speed to get in front of the convoy again (depending on weather/time of day etc) for another attack.

Good hunting!:salute:

[Jamesphillip]

That is probably a beginner's mistake, I already thought of that, but I was shooting the closer one first. And warships (only found moving destroyers yet) are very hard to hit, even if I'm undetected and fire the first torpedo.

EDIT: Am I very unlucky, or the weather is clear most of the time? Even with Dynamic Environment all I see is clear/cloudy skies. Only got rain once, and it was vanilla.

[0rpheus]

That is probably a beginner's mistake, I already thought of that, but I was shooting the closer one first. And warships (only found moving destroyers yet) are very hard to hit, even if I'm undetected and fire the first torpedo.

EDIT: Am I very unlucky, or the weather is clear most of the time? Even with Dynamic Environment all I see is clear/cloudy skies. Only got rain once, and it was vanilla.

Remember destroyers have both active & passive sonar, and can hear your torpedoes approaching them (so can other subs, if you're using IRAI). That's why they're so hard to hit - I've caught one or two with outrageous bow-shots when they've been chasing me hard at 300 metres off my screws, but generally I don't play with destroyers :) Try and keep torps out of their sonar circles when attacking convoys too as they'll still hear it even if it's not aimed at them.

Re the weather, my guess would be unlucky. What DE mods are you using? My loadout is:

Dynamic Environment SH5 Basemod (realistic version) V2.1
Dynamic Environment SH5 Atlantic Floor V2.1
Dynamic Environment SH5 Undersea (temperate and polar) V2.1
Dynamic Environment SH5 Waves (realistic version) V2.1
Dynamic Environment SH5 Sleet For Winter Campaigns V2.1


I've just moved from the North Sea to the Med, and for the last two, three weeks of my North Sea operations I had nothing but thick fog the whole time! And then when I got the Med, expecting clear skies... the damn fog followed me there too! Last patrol I had a massive rain storm and it started to brighten up after that. Basically these things go in cycles - and it can often take the weather engine a little while to catch up (same with the seafloor after high TC, it can often render wrongly on first look) - so unless it stays that way for an entire campaign, I wouldn't worry. :salute:

[Jamesphillip]

I only have Dynamic Environment basemod plus realistic waves. Let's see how it rolls out, but haven't seen nothing but bright skies...

Other question, what mods add the kriegsmarine flag to the sub? have seen some screenies with the flag in the tower, and would like to have one as well :O: And would subs in real world war II carry the flag? Or is it ahistorical?

[0rpheus]

I only have Dynamic Environment basemod plus realistic waves. Let's see how it rolls out, but haven't seen nothing but bright skies...

Other question, what mods add the kriegsmarine flag to the sub? have seen some screenies with the flag in the tower, and would like to have one as well :O: And would subs in real world war II carry the flag? Or is it ahistorical?

Er.. pretty sure it's FX_Update that adds the Kriegsmarine flags, though I could be wrong as I manually edited them out a while ago and can't quite remember (if someone else could confirm this it'd be a help!). FX_Update should be installed after IRAI but before New UIs with TDC.

As to the historicity of the flags, I'm not sure - but at a guess, I'd expect Uboats to fly the flag when entering/leaving port, rather than all the time at sea (which is why I edited mine out).:salute:

[Jamesphillip]

Yup, I have FX update before NewTDC and after IRAI, but no good. No problem though. :yeah:

[0rpheus]

Ah maybe it's not then, I'm sure it was one of TDW's mods though... my memory is awful ;) :O:

Edit... might be the Magnum Opus megamod, I remember editing the subs .eqp files to remove the flags.

[Jamesphillip]

November 15th and still no rain, besides that I haven't seen mines anywhere, maybe some mods have overlapping files. I will try to reinstall all the mods. :up:

I'm giving magnum opus a try as well eheh

Edit: Magnum Opus download link broken... This mod will have to wait a while

[0rpheus]

November 15th and still no rain, besides that I haven't seen mines anywhere, maybe some mods have overlapping files. I will try to reinstall all the mods. :up:

I'm giving magnum opus a try as well eheh

Edit: Magnum Opus download link broken... This mod will have to wait a while

Yeah one or two of TDW's mods have gone down, not sure why, but I'm sure he'll sort it soon. Not sure which version of OHII you're using but (i think) after about 1.2/1.3 mines become invisible to sonar without an extra patch. I assume your watch crew will still spot them (just at much closer range I guess) - or at least I'm hoping that, as I'm not using the spottable mines patch for 'realism' reasons and I could be in trouble if not!! :D

If weather still doesn't change, ask in the DE thread and see if the makers can help. :)

[Jamesphillip]

Thanks once again :D

I'm using OH II base mod. I'll stop the whining and start playing fo'real :D. Just reinstalled all the mods and downloaded 6.8-0 New UI TDC's.

A newbie like me with all these questions must be a real pain in the buttocks... :doh:

[Jamesphillip]

BTW I need help with the northwestern approaches missions, I can't find squat, only found a single merchant ship and a fishing boat. Enemy convoys seen by other subs are reported and appear on the nav map but I can't seem to catch up with them, nor find them. Where are the best places to patrol and how should I patrol? I've been alternating between surface and submerged patrols, but no good either way. No visual contacts nor through the hydrophone. I updated my hydrophone to the 360 degree one. Already posted on the OHII thread... Let's see what happens :yeah:

[0rpheus]

BTW I need help with the northwestern approaches missions, I can't find squat, only found a single merchant ship and a fishing boat. Enemy convoys seen by other subs are reported and appear on the nav map but I can't seem to catch up with them, nor find them. Where are the best places to patrol and how should I patrol? I've been alternating between surface and submerged patrols, but no good either way. No visual contacts nor through the hydrophone. I updated my hydrophone to the 360 degree one. Already posted on the OHII thread... Let's see what happens :yeah:

Anywhere West/SW of Ireland (this is Happy Times, right?) should work, though if you're seeing fishing boats you could be too close to land. To catch the contact reports, make sure your game is set to TC1 on new contact report (radio message options in TDWs UI). Set your waypoint in the direction of the convoy and you should see the convoy icon move on the map, relative to your speed. Crank it to ahead full and if you get to the spot too early, head in the direction the convoy's coming and dive to pick them up on sonar earlier.

For general patrolling, if you're far from the coast you can stay on surface in daylight, but the weather (lots of fog and rain - how is your weather now by the way?) can often make this difficult, so dropping to 30m and using sonar (especially when your TC lags a little due to proximity to shipping) can help.

:salute:

[Jamesphillip]

Yes, I'm playing happy times and finally caught a little rain :yeah:

I've been patrolling north of Ireland, maybe that's why I haven't seen many ships. Gonna try west and northwest. :arrgh!:

How far should I be from the coast? I've been trying and really can't find anything. Only north of Scotland. As for convoys reported I never ever seem to catch them anyhow. Weird.

[Jamesphillip]

I just realized that my hydrophone ain't working. Just finally sighted a Task Force, submerged and had no contacts. what the... :damn: I normally go to periscope depth and get contacts, but this time I got nothing.... Maybe the 360º one is broken?

[0rpheus]

Hmm.. a quick glance through the thread and I can't see any mention of it, so try this:

http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=181433

This exe patcher fixes the broken hydrophone station (and lets you change the colour of ruler marks etc, which can be handy). Use is fairly self explanatory - extract, run it and point it first to the config file that comes with it, then at your SH5.exe and click the options you want to change. Hydro fix is the first option shown.

If you've done that already, it could be a number of things. The 360 sonar is on the front deck (you'll see it spinning) and sometimes, 11m isn't enough for it to be able to 'hear' properly. Sonar range increases with depth, so if you hear nothing at peri depth, try dropping to 20m, or 30 for the longest range.

Sonar is also affected by your engine speed - running at flank, it's a lot harder to hear over your own engine noise - so try slowing down and seeing if that helps. Optimal sonar position is all stop at 30m or below, any speed or depth above that and variance starts to occur (especially with 'realistic sensors' enabled).

Finally it could just be a bug. Some people have trouble with the imported ship sets in OHII Full but you're using the base mod so that shouldn't be it. That doesn't mean it couldn't be a random bug however - if none of the above works and it happens more than once, then we start to worry ;) :salute:

[Silent Steel]

November 15th and still no rain, besides that I haven't seen mines anywhere, maybe some mods have overlapping files. I will try to reinstall all the mods. :up:

I'm giving magnum opus a try as well eheh

Edit: Magnum Opus download link broken... This mod will have to wait a while


Hi JP,

Here are links to the MO mods that I've loaded up. :up:


/

[Silent Steel]

Other question, what mods add the kriegsmarine flag to the sub? have seen some screenies with the flag in the tower, and would like to have one as well :O: And would subs in real world war II carry the flag? Or is it ahistorical?


Here you find the flags

http://www.gamefront.com/files/20467126/SubFlags__0_0_8_byTheDarkWraith_7z

:up:

[Hannibal85]

I updated my hydrophone to the 360 degree one

I think thats the fault. I did the same and got no contacts for hours and hours in the middle of the convoi routes where i had hundred contacts with the first hydrophone. So i just replaced it again with the first one and everything worked again, also on surface and no matter how much speed my boat had.
When you dont want to install something to fix the 360 one just replace it and enjoy your map contacts :-)

[Jamesphillip]

Thanks a lot for the feedback :salute:

I already discovered the conning tower flags before and already using them :yep:

About the 360º hydrophone, it is working, only thing is I have to dive to 20-30 meters for it to function properly and reduce the speed to ahead slow. I'm getting contacts now and just sunk an entire convoy of 16 ships yesterday with 2 destroyers :yeah: (with a load or two in the middle because of CTD's.)

BTW, have another question, I said before I was in Happy Times campaign but I was wrong, I am in the first one before Happy Times. I have Open Horizons II installed and already finished British Eastern Supplies, Northwestern Approaches and Breaking the Fortress. I am at 15th February and still no new missions (the last one I finished was Northwestern Approaches around 15th January). When does Operation Wesenrubung and the another mission become avaiable?

Also, when I finish this campaign, does the game continue normally and the game continues automatically into Happy Times, or do I have to start a new campaign? Will my crew retain all its abilities and skill points, or will I have to restart from zero?

[0rpheus]

Thanks a lot for the feedback :salute:

I already discovered the conning tower flags before and already using them :yep:

About the 360º hydrophone, it is working, only thing is I have to dive to 20-30 meters for it to function properly and reduce the speed to ahead slow. I'm getting contacts now and just sunk an entire convoy of 16 ships yesterday with 2 destroyers :yeah: (with a load or two in the middle because of CTD's.)

BTW, have another question, I said before I was in Happy Times campaign but I was wrong, I am in the first one before Happy Times. I have Open Horizons II installed and already finished British Eastern Supplies, Northwestern Approaches and Breaking the Fortress. I am at 15th February and still no new missions (the last one I finished was Northwestern Approaches around 15th January). When does Operation Wesenrubung and the another mission become avaiable?

Also, when I finish this campaign, does the game continue normally and the game continues automatically into Happy Times, or do I have to start a new campaign? Will my crew retain all its abilities and skill points, or will I have to restart from zero?



Op Weserubung begins around April 10th iirc, patrol as you like until then. You'll get an order to head to Norway just before OW starts, when you get it rearm & refuel before you head out or you'll struggle to complete it in time.

Re the hydrophone, do run the exe patcher to hugely improve hydro performance. I think the stock game has a much smaller detection cone that the patch fixes so you'll get close contacts from the sonar man even at periscope depth and much better manual control to boot. TDW would be able to explain better but it really is a must have, and won't affect any save games etc.


@ Hannibal - running the exe patcher will improve the 360 hydro for you too - you'll still have to be at at least periscope depth to use it, but you should get better contacts.

:salute:

[Jamesphillip]

I already have the exe patcher and TDW UI, :yeah: I was having trouble with the hydrophone working because I only went to periscope depth :damn:
Thanks a lot though :salute:

BTW, after finishing Total Germany campaign, by which I mean completing all its missions, will the game continue by itself onto the Happy Times campaign, or will I have to start from scratch and choosing that campaign on the menu, and subsequently all of my crew will lose all of their skill points and abilities?

[Trevally.]

BTW, after finishing Total Germany campaign, by which I mean completing all its missions, will the game continue by itself onto the Happy Times campaign, or will I have to start from scratch and choosing that campaign on the menu, and subsequently all of my crew will lose all of their skill points and abilities?

When you finish a campaign (Coastal Water - 1st campaign in OHII) you will get a result screen. After this you will get the campaign tree screen.
here you pick your next campaign. You crew will stay with you and keep the upgrades/training you gave them:up:

[Jamesphillip]

Ehehe, good thing then :yeah:

I'm sinking a lot of ships, which may be unrealistic, already sunk 101 ships (90 merchants and 11 warships) for a total of 405000 GRT by February 18th 1940. The most successful uboat in WWII sunk around 250000 GRT (without warships). My patrols last for around a week/week and a half, then imagine what I would do if I made longer patrols for 2 or 3 months; the Germans would only need me and my crew to win the war at sea with the Tommies :haha:

Other thing, I'm getting a lot of CTD's when fighting convoys, dunno why. I don't own a high spec computer, it's already 5 years old, but I can run the game with medium-low graphics. It's a Pentium IV 3.0 x 2 with 2GB of RAM memory and a Nvidia GeForce 9400GT.

[0rpheus]

Other thing, I'm getting a lot of CTD's when fighting convoys, dunno why. I don't own a high spec computer, it's already 5 years old, but I can run the game with medium-low graphics. It's a Pentium IV 3.0 x 2 with 2GB of RAM memory and a Nvidia GeForce 9400GT.

Hmm, does it happen when you hit a ship with torps/gun, specifically a freeze, then crash? The emergency flares in FX_Update made my system lag like hell, so I manually edited them out. I think they cause CTDs on some older systems... could be that?

[Silent Steel]

Try the d3d Anti Lag mod:

http://www.gamefront.com/files/user/BadgerFinn (http://www.gamefront.com/files/user/BadgerFinn)

:up:

[Jamesphillip]

I already have the d3d anti lag installed.

It seems to me that it is random, sometimes it's when a torpedo hits a ship, sometimes is while I'm in periscope sight, sometimes it's when I'm in the conning tower with the binoculars, I don't seem to find a specific pattern here. I have to save a lot, normally after sinking one ship and it only happens when attacking a large convoy (6 or more ships).

[mobucks]

I already have the d3d anti lag installed.

It seems to me that it is random, sometimes it's when a torpedo hits a ship, sometimes is while I'm in periscope sight, sometimes it's when I'm in the conning tower with the binoculars, I don't seem to find a specific pattern here. I have to save a lot, normally after sinking one ship and it only happens when attacking a large convoy (6 or more ships).
Saving while among any size shipping traffic, or near port of any nation is not advised. I know it sucks, especially if you're like me and would love to re-load so every damn fish hits ect.
It's been a problem since the last game. Ideally, save only when in the middle of nowhere, surfaced, at 0kts. I even check the hydros and make sure nothing is nearby.
In the end, if you stop getting crashes so often, the game becomes more stable, and a lot more tense as well, since you know if you mess up you may have to reload way before your present action took place. Good luck!

PS: Disabling the FX mods flares also is a good idea.

[Silent Steel]

I already have the d3d anti lag installed.

It seems to me that it is random, sometimes it's when a torpedo hits a ship, sometimes is while I'm in periscope sight, sometimes it's when I'm in the conning tower with the binoculars, I don't seem to find a specific pattern here. I have to save a lot, normally after sinking one ship and it only happens when attacking a large convoy (6 or more ships).


To me it sounds like a memory issue. Right? :hmmm:
Try turning down your graphics settings, especially shadows.

What GPU are you running ATI, nVidia?

[Jamesphillip]

nVidia GeForce GT9400 :up:

BTW, what does the request supply from the radio guy do? I've tried using it but it says all the times that my request has been denied.

[Silent Steel]

nVidia GeForce GT9400 :up:

BTW, what does the request supply from the radio guy do? I've tried using it but it says all the times that my request has been denied.

An nVidia GPU you say. Do you run the nHancer as well?
If yes, turn it off. (It messes the settings up, at least it did for me).

The AA and shadow effects can be very demanding.

I had an nVidia GPU but now I run an ATI instead without any extra 'tweaking' software like the CCC that comes with the ATI cards.

Well, so far I haven't seen anything else from that radio operator than you do.

Cheers

[Silent Steel]

...

[Jamesphillip]

Thanks for the help, actually I have no shadows already and nHancer disabled :haha:. My game must be played on medium low because of my RAM memory. Although I have 2gb, it's still ye'olde DDR-2, so most of modern games which require high specs will only play on my computer at medium/low graphic settings, and even so some games lag a bit.