New player getting back into SHIII

[DemonicApe]

Hi guys,
I have played SH3 before but this was about 3 years ago. i am just getting back into it now but i have pretty much totally forgotten how to play.
I was wondering if there was anyone out here who has Teamspeak so they could walk me through a few tips and tricks that i have forgotten over time, and maybe add a few things that i didnt know in the first place.
Just before anyone recommends, i have tried the newbie thread and i think the newbie guide at the top is broken.

I look forward to your reply's.
Thanks
Demon

[Gerald]

look at this link about SH3.http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=96026 :salute:

[DemonicApe]

cheers mate, i appreciate the fast reply but i did say in my post that i have tried that thread and that is why i am posting in here, as the newbie guide is broken.

[Gerald]

OK, have ya tried here?http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/forumdisplay.php?f=182

[DemonicApe]

thats this forum lol... just wanted someone to talk to over TS really, save me reading through mountains of websites to try and find answers at least if i speak to someone on teamspeak i will have some time to actually play the game today lol. if i have to read up on everything relating to mods and patches i will be here all day.

[MantiBrutalis]

Welcome to subsim, mate.

There are tips ALL OVER THE PLACE. Nearly any thread you open, you can find some tips or playing styles. If you keep looking, you will find what you need to know.

Alternatively, you could just post your questions here (like "How to approach convoys, what to aim at, how to set torpedoes, etc.). There are many people who can answer and add some personal tips as well.

[DemonicApe]

thanks mate, are there any sh3 communities out there who are either taking on new recruits... or just willing to help someone out over Teamspeak that you know of? i am sure things will start coming back to me but all i ever played was vanilla, i am looking to start playing a little bit more hardcore when i get back into the swing of things. and hopefully MOD my sh3.
but again like i said someone who is willing to talk me through a few things on teamspeak is what i am really looking for, and i would be eternally greatful.

[u crank]

Welcome to SubSim Demon. :salute:

Sorry, can't help with the Teamspeak thing. Give it a while and someone may be able to help you out. Meanwhile MantiBrutalis gives very good advice. Play the game and any questions can be answered here. This is the place.

Good hunting and again welcome.

:subsim:

[DemonicApe]

thanks crank mate, its good to be here and i am looking forward to playing again, i had to take a break as i had to go to afghan, and then i didnt really get back into it when i was back, then afghan again, so it was kind of a vicious circle. but now i am looking to get the bug back and yeh like you said i hope someone will eventually offer some advice.

Cheers mate

[DemonicApe]

come on people, all i am asking is for 10 minutes of someones day to help me out so i can get playing SH3. 67 people have views this now you cant tell me that not 1 of those people isnt clued up on mods and the game play tips.

Please, i am asking nicely could someone help me out.

[Otto Fuhrmann]

I have TeamSpeak, but I am not as clued into how the game and mods work as other on here are. So I am not sure if I could be of any help.

[Sailor Steve]

I don't have TeamSpeak. As U Crank said, the best thing is to just start the game and come back to this thread and ask questions as soon as you have them. It's really quite easy.

[MantiBrutalis]

Sorry mate, TeamSpeak's ports aren't open at the dorm's router. (my English would be an obstacle anyway).


Just... Start hunting and form some questions... Trial and error is quite an effective metode...

[DemonicApe]

ok , thanks for the replys,

so if teamspeak is out the window the questions i have before i play so fare as follows.



do you use keyboard short cuts to play and mouse, do you people prefer to use just mouse?



how can you plot a course so your boat follows it on the map? (i remember doing this but can remember how to do it if that makes sense)



crew assignments, i am sure i will get back into this but just for starting off what are the best ways for crew management?



Installing GWX3 - i am currently downloading so i can just play straight off with it it should install pretty easy but i have a steam edition on windows 7.... i will post questions if i have any dramas.
do people use auto targeting when attacking ships or turn TDC (i think its called) totally off. i may need some tips on this as again, i havnt sunk anything in years.
any keyboard shortcuts that people use regularly would be appreciated.
and finally any tips for hunting and nautical terms :)

[Sailor Steve]

do you use keyboard short cuts to play and mouse, do you people prefer to use just mouse?
I mostly use the keyboard. For me the mouse is just for looking around, or bringing up pop-out guages. I use a mod that makes everything a pop-out, so my screen is uncluttered, just the opposite of most people who like the good GUI mods.

how can you plot a course so your boat follows it on the map? (i remember doing this but can remember how to do it if that makes sense)
The Navigator has a button (oops, I just used the mouse again) marked "Plot Course". Click that and the cursor will leave a line behind. Click where you want your next waypoint to be. Right-click to turn it off.

crew assignments, i am sure i will get back into this but just for starting off what are the best ways for crew management?
I use SH3 Commander and set "Crew Management" to "Off". I always have a properly qualified petty officer in each compartment.

Oh, Commander also allows you to have as many quals as you need or want. No more giving out one per patrol.

Installing GWX3 - i am currently downloading so i can just play straight off with it it should install pretty easy but i have a steam edition on windows 7.... i will post questions if i have any dramas.
I've heard both good and bad about the Steam version, but I've always used a disc, so I'm not qualified to answer that. The disc version is so cheap these days that I think it's the best way to go, but that's just an opinion.

do people use auto targeting when attacking ships or turn TDC (i think its called) totally off. i may need some tips on this as again, i havnt sunk anything in years.
I have it set for manual targeting, but I use "Weapons Officer Assistance". This makes it actually auto, but it only updates when I ask, which requires me to raise the scope a lot, giving the enemy a fighting chance. I'm lousy at math, so this at least feels realistic to me. Just my choice.

any keyboard shortcuts that people use regularly would be appreciated.
'C' is your friend. Unless the water is shallow.

and finally any tips for hunting and nautical terms :)

Not really. I know all the nautical terms, but there are so many I can't see that throwing them out at random will do any good.

As for tips, they can get very specific. Run silent, run deep is more than just the title of a good book and movie. Never attack an escorted convoy on the surface in daylight. Never let them see you coming. Always count the number of dives with the number of surfacings. If they don't match, don't open the door!

Any real advice will have to be saved for specific situations. Good hunting.

[DemonicApe]

thank you that was very helpful i will keep you posted on how my installation of the MOD goes, do you run this mod? and if so is it any good?
are there any other decent mods out there that anyone recommends?

i dont really like the sound of commander.... it seems like its editing the game files and i am not really into that to be honest but any mods that improve the UI or something like that i am open to suggestions.

Thanks

[Sailor Steve]

thank you that was very helpful i will keep you posted on how my installation of the MOD goes, do you run this mod? and if so is it any good?
GWX? Oh yes, I run it and nothing else (well, I also run a whole lot of little mods on top of it, but it is my supermod of choice). For me it has the best balance of gameplay improvements and eye candy.

are there any other decent mods out there that anyone recommends?
NYGM is more oriented directly toward gameplay. Its adherents feel that it tweaks the way things work better than any other supermod.

LSH3 goes further than any other toward graphics goodies.

WAC has a brilliant campaig system. They claim to have the most and best real events added in.

i dont really like the sound of commander.... it seems like its editing the game files and i am not really into that to be honest but any mods that improve the UI or something like that i am open to suggestions.
Yes and no. It does edit files, but it does so automatically and without any effort on the players part.

It lets you adjust deck gun firing rates and wave height with the click of a button. It lets you give out awards and qualifications much more realistically.

It has a very realistic flotilla management system, including a historic database of u-boat numbers.

It lets you choose the grid you will be assigned to when you start your patrol. This isn't quite realistic, but it helps when the game has a glitch.

It gives your captain a name if you can't think of a good one, and vastly improves the variety of crew names, calling on a database of 42,000 real u-boatmen's names, mixing first and last names for a total of 1.7 billion possible names.

It gives a name, cargo loadout and total crew plus crew killed for every merchant you sink. This is supplemented by Sailor Steve's Ship Names mod, which is updated every month or two. Currently there are over 12,000 real merchant names, each applied to the correct ship type.

I would say that not only is SH3 Commander the perfect companion for any supermod, but it is arguably the most important tool ever made for the game, at least where enhancing the experience is concerned.

[edit] This is a thread full of mods that work well with GWX (and most others). Commander is the first one on the list, and you can see for yourself the kind of patrol reports it generates.
http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=170090

[DemonicApe]

ok thanks :) those 3 mods you listed can you give me links and a brief description of them please so i know 1. what can be expected and 2. where to get it and what to do with it.

just so everyone knows i dont know what people keep shouting about the steam version of SH3 being pish for.... it came already updates to 4b and the install went perfect. i love the real WW2 clips in the top right corner of the menu screen.

[Sailor Steve]

Not Your Grandmother's Mod (http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=139231)

Living Silent Hunter 3 (http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=159165)

War Ace Campaign (http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=128050)

As for Steam, different players have reported problems, while others like yourself have said they use it all the time with no problems. I tried to buy the SH4 U-Boat Missions expansion from them back in 2008. They said they couldn't sell it to me because I lived outside the United States. They may be right. Utah is a pretty strange place. Mostly I just like being able to hold the disc in my hot little hands.

[MantiBrutalis]

Ehmm... I was in middle of writing a looong essay on this, but I kinda missed the fact that you're on page 2 already. Looks like Steve got this covered, so just a little extra from me.

Apart from a few things, I use the mouse... I just don't play the game that often to memorize every shortcut.

GWX has something for everyone, that's why a lot of players go for it. I did, because it gives very "real" experience. It is AWESOME. There is SO MUCH GWX does that it would take a 644 page manual to write (there is a one, it has 644 pages...) And every bit of it is BRILLIANT. I think I could spend an entire day reading the manual and not get bored with it...




I used to be vary of the SH3Commander too. Before I tried it. Two main ideas are forged within the Commander.

First - to addict you to the game when you're not playing it. Contact reports with historical ship names, cargos and number of men killed, captain's personal file with his entire career, stories, random crew tranfers, flotilla management, real U-boat numbers... Lots and lots... And you can choose what you want and what you don't want... You can just tell Commander to do nothing, and it will change all the files back and actually do nothing.

Second - It makes any changes to the game soooo easy. You want to change your fatigue model (quite a lot of them). Easy. Wave height? Deck gun rate of fire? Water opacity??? Easy. It lets you personalise the game, so you can play it how YOU want, no how the devs intended.

[Vince82]

Sh3 commander, I would say it's absolutely a must have.

Other than that (maybe after your first couple patrols) I would higly recommand installing the H.sie patch:

http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=174225

Gute jagd. :salute:

[MantiBrutalis]

Sh3 commander, I would say it's absolutely a must have.

Other than that (maybe after your first couple patrols) I would higly recommand installing the H.sie patch:

http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=174225

Gute jagd. :salute:

Oh, that's what we missed! Good work, have a cookie! I guess H.sie 1.6 patch is such a fundamental part of SH3 for me that I thought it came with the original game.

GWX, Commander and H.sie's 1.6 patch are a solid core, most players won't need anything else.

[Sailor Steve]

I also forgot the patch, but in my case it's because I've never used it. My old computer won't run SH3 with the Merchant Fleet Mod or FlakMonkey's New Interiors, and I've reached a point where I want them to be a part of my experience and won't play without them. H.sie's stuff also requires the 4-Gig patch, and my ancient 32-bit system won't run that, so I'm stuck either with playing without stuff I want or not playing at all.

My mind is so perverse I've stopped playing at all. :dead: