annoying problem with the game

[Maceaciadh]

hey there people of the ocean, i have recently gotten SH3 and was thinking of getting 4 as well. although i am really unable to get past patrol 6 which is driving me crazy. is there any way to dumb down planes bombing times or accuracy?

here is the problem, i am on the surface about to torpedo a merchant(i like to test my accuracy with readings from 1500M) so i am stationary and planes fly in a bomb me just when i am waiting without warning. this has happened in other times as well eg. i am travelling in long distance across the sea and crank up the time compression. Then they appear and hit me instantly before the warning pops up asking me whether to engage,maintain orders or dive. i have repeated this patrol maybe 10+ times!!!! :/\\!!

if they do not kill me then they at least destroy something vital like rear bow planes so it takes forever to dive and when i do i bob up and down like crazy so i get killed later on by not being able to dive turn etc etc

any help would be greatly appreciated :salute:

[Gargamel]

Try diving.

Your watch crew will warn you with usually enough time to crash dive.

[19Herr_Rapp86]

And use less Time Compression. I run at about 128x. I've tried at 1024x before. It seems like the enemy detects and reacts to you quicker than the computer can slow down when running high TC. I've encountered destroyers at high TC before and been dead within seconds of reacting to it.

[Maceaciadh]

lol garmael, the point is i am not warned early enough by my watch crew to dive and before anyone says i always keep them at max eff. or as high as possible if the officer is resting.

i tried using smaller compressions but it takes wayyyy too long, 124 is what 9 times slower than 1024, i simply cant play the game for 4+ hours waiting while i move through endless ocean

[postalbyke]

Welcome Aboard!!!!

Now that's over with...
Seems to me you have a choice, teammate! Survive slow or get dead quicker...

I try to determine the part of my box that is most likely to be busy, and figure out which direction that traffic will be coming through that part of the box, and set up a search pattern as appropriate. There are some who wait a certain amount of time, then move to a juicier box to get a better score, quicker.
Either way, wait... did I read right? All stop on the surface?...

[Sailor Steve]

Part of the problem is that when an enemy is spotted the TC doesn't drop to 1x, it drops to 8x. They're still coming at you with a fair amount of time compression.

You can use SH3 Commander to reset all TC parameters to whatever you like. You can also do it by hand in the Data/Cfg/Main file in your SH3 main game folder.

[Maceaciadh]

well staying still on the surface was one example lol the rest were me moving using TC etc

thanks for the info, i went to open it there and my computer doesn't know what to use, what program should i download to edit these files?

[Captain Nemo]

Part of the problem is that when an enemy is spotted the TC doesn't drop to 1x, it drops to 8x. They're still coming at you with a fair amount of time compression.

You can use SH3 Commander to reset all TC parameters to whatever you like. You can also do it by hand in the Data/Cfg/Main file in your SH3 main game folder.

Really? In my experience TC always drops to 1x when an enemy is spotted, but only down to 8x when a neutral is spotted. But as you say, I managed to change the TC for neutrals by altering the TC parameters in SH3 Commander.

Nemo

[Captain Nemo]

thanks for the info, i went to open it there and my computer doesn't know what to use, what program should i download to edit these files?

A basic text editor like Notepad does the job.

Nemo

[Shkval]

During the day stay submerged, if you are in range of RAF, and weather is clear, sound checks every hour or so, you will be surprised how many ships passes just beyond horizon, if you know hydrophone plotting then surface only if you need some sprint to get better position for attack, later in '43 stay submerged all the time especially during the night, because they can see you in the dark, reverse tactics with short surfacing during the day, 2 hours submerged - 30 minutes surfaced with minimum TC, until you get snorkel with radar warning...

[sublynx]

Right up to 1942-1943 you can mostly plan your route to the Atlantic so that you won't need to meet any airplanes. Why fight in an area where there are airplanes?

[Sailor Steve]

Really? In my experience TC always drops to 1x when an enemy is spotted, but only down to 8x when a neutral is spotted. But as you say, I managed to change the TC for neutrals by altering the TC parameters in SH3 Commander.
There is no 'Neutral Ships Detected' in Commander; only 'Enemy'.

File from unmodded GWX:
[TIME COMPRESSION]
TimeStop=0
RealTime=1
LandProximity=128
CriticalDamage=1
CrewEfficiency=1
AirEnemyDetected=1
SoundEffects=2
CharacterAnim=4
EnemyDetected=8
RadioReport=8
Particles=32
PrayState=8
HunterState=32
3DRender=32
Maximum=1024

[Captain Nemo]

That is correct, but even though 'When enemy ship spotted' was set to 8x in Commander it only applied to neutrals! My TC settings for enemy contacts always dropped to 1x no matter what. I changed the above setting to 1x and now all contacts drop to 1x TC. The only difference is my watch crew don't verbally shout 'Ship spotted' when they spot a neutral, which is a bit of a give away.

Nemo

Sent from my BlackBerry 9300 using Tapatalk

[marioh99]

i usually only travel on the surface at night when within enemy aircraft range just for that reason. i've found anything above 128x TC runs the risk you're encountering (watch crew will spot at 256x, but usually the aircraft is already in it's attack run). and later in the war, 64x seems to give enough time to evade or crash dive.

and if i plan to attack an enemy merchant during the day (within enemy aircraft range) with the deck gun, i wait submerged and then blow ballast and attack them when they're within range. then it's back to submerged.

the less time you spend on the surface, the better your chances of surviving. especially in the latter part of the war.

[Gargamel]

r as high as possible if the officer is resting.



We'll there's your problem. You won't get any warning without an officer on deck. At least in my experience.

[Maceaciadh]

thanks for all the help guys, glad to see this old game still has a good fanbase. i changed the settings now easily enough so hopefully i have no more problems.

perhaps i am too impatient when it comes to gaming. i will try using slower TC from now on and accept that i will have to play a patrol for 3 days with saves instead of 2 hours lol

i am still quite the noob here so expect to see more mediocre problem posts in the future :up:

[marioh99]

thanks for all the help guys, glad to see this old game still has a good fanbase. i changed the settings now easily enough so hopefully i have no more problems.

perhaps i am too impatient when it comes to gaming. i will try using slower TC from now on and accept that i will have to play a patrol for 3 days with saves instead of 2 hours lol

i am still quite the noob here so expect to see more mediocre problem posts in the future :up:

The career mode tends to have alot of down time with absolutely no action.
I usually play while watching TV due to the down time.
My patrols usually take a couple of days to a week to complete, depending on how much time I have to play.

If it gets too boring, you could always try the single missions.

[Pisces]

The career mode tends to have alot of down time with absolutely no action. ...That's atleast one thing that is realistic about SH3 vs. real-life. :up:

As for the time compression issue, it's like the units take tiny steps every fraction of a second as they move along under normal time. But with high time compression it only makes one update ever so often. Taking giant leaps through the world every time. With normal or low time compression the crew get's a chance to detect the enemy while they are still far away and unaware of you. But with high time compression they suddenly jump on you deep inside your horizon, and they get the first shot immediately with the speed of computer AI. They are instantly aware of you because you are in range. You on the other hand are completely overrun, and slow to react if at all aware. No time to dive or do anything against it.

It's a pain to not be able to play the game in a more speedy manner, but it keeps you alive.

Saving games does come with other kind of restrictions though, as to how and when. Or else bugs infest your games. (reference the GWX manual about bugs/quirks) Which often means you have to resort to fall back to older savegames, loosing precious playing time.

[Andrewsdad]

Gargamel is right. You must have a officer on the bridge or you will get no warnings at all.

Early in my SH3 life I was rammed and sunk by a destroyer and my watch crew just watched :doh: it happen.

That's one reason I use SH Commander and turn off the crew fatigue. Never get caught without an officer qualified as a Watchman on the bridge.

AD

[Gargamel]

Gargamel is right. You must have a officer on the bridge or you will get no warnings at all.

Early in my SH3 life I was rammed and sunk by a destroyer and my watch crew just watched :doh: it happen.



That's why it's called a watch crew!!! Badatsh!

[Maceaciadh]

hahaha sounds very unlucky, i have come across another problem well more of a bug actually, i was sent a message in the game like when command tells you there is a convoy near by etc etc but this one said to:to, message:message anyway to help avoid it in the future? i hear saving near land and ships causes bugs but i dont know what ones.

also any way to save my own voice into the game? or even get different people saying things, i would like to hear some add ons in the game like CON-SONAR, contact... or Engine room-CON, engine room here, ahead flank etc

furthermore, early in the war is there anywhere to find fleets or battleships? i am getting abit sick of sinking endless merchants

[Gargamel]

First question: Huh?


Second q: Don't do it. Youll corrupt the game.


Use the editor to
Find out where Ships are when. Do a search for it too, many threads on this.

[EffingController]

hahaha sounds very unlucky, i have come across another problem well more of a bug actually, i was sent a message in the game like when command tells you there is a convoy near by etc etc but this one said to:to, message:message anyway to help avoid it in the future? i hear saving near land and ships causes bugs but i dont know what ones.

also any way to save my own voice into the game? or even get different people saying things, i would like to hear some add ons in the game like CON-SONAR, contact... or Engine room-CON, engine room here, ahead flank etc

furthermore, early in the war is there anywhere to find fleets or battleships? i am getting abit sick of sinking endless merchants

Not sure what's causing the first issue you mentioned aside from a little hiccup, or possibly a corrupted save game. Hopefully it's the former and not the latter. I've gotten some strange messages sometimes too and they're usually just one-off glitches.

I'd take a look at the modding forum to see about making a custom voice mod.

In regards to your third question, there tend to be task forces in grids AE, AL, and AM early in the game. Oftentimes, you'll get radio reports of task forces that are picketing the coast of Britain on either side of it. Sometimes, these "task forces" are actually just one or two destroyers assigned to kill submarines just like yours. Other times, they have plump, delicious battleships and cruisers. :D

With that said, a caution: if you think convoy and merchant hunting is tricky, task forces are a whole other beast. The ships tend to move much quicker and they're better-armed.

Also, hurrah, first post here!