FOTRS mod crashes...

[driver]

I hope some one can help me with this strange issue (asked about it at one post her, but no one probably sees it).
I've downloaded FOTRS v1.5 and after game is loaded its crashes right before the start. I even tried FOTRS v1.3 with the same result.
It's the only one activated by JSGME without any other mods. All other SH4 mods are playing fine. Only this one refuses to start. My computer has plenty of memory and a great video card. Not sure if I need any patch for SH4 v1.5 or the way this mod must be extracted, or it's install location (though, no issues with other mods). Very frastrated and want to try it out after reading so much about it. Please suggest something!
Thank you in advance!

[fitzcarraldo]

I hope some one can help me with this strange issue (asked about it at one post her, but no one probably sees it).
I've downloaded FOTRS v1.5 and after game is loaded its crashes right before the start. I even tried FOTRS v1.3 with the same result.
It's the only one activated by JSGME without any other mods. All other SH4 mods are playing fine. Only this one refuses to start. My computer has plenty of memory and a great video card. Not sure if I need any patch for SH4 v1.5 or the way this mod must be extracted, or it's install location (though, no issues with other mods). Very frastrated and want to try it out after reading so much about it. Please suggest something!
Thank you in advance!

For SH4 1.5 you need FOTRS 1.3. The new version FOTRS 2.0 is for SH4 1.4 in german.

Also...Do you use the 4GB patch?

And apply the mod in a fresh installation of SH4. If you had others supermods and activate-reactivate they, JSGME probably left some "residuals" in the vanilla SH4. It is an issue of JSGME: you can not use it after many activations-deactivations. Better reinstall SH4 15 and after FOTRS 13 with JSGME.

Regards.

Fitzcarraldo :salute:

[merc4ulfate]

If your not sure what you need then I would read the documentation with the mod.

[driver]

Thank you for replies.
I have a cd- rom game, so my question would be: Do I need any activation code again for it after re-install? And also, what about GSJME, is that one needs to be reinstalled as well?
Thank you for your help!

[Webster]

Thank you for replies.
I have a cd- rom game, so my question would be: Do I need any activation code again for it after re-install? And also, what about GSJME, is that one needs to be reinstalled as well?
Thank you for your help!

read this: http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=133290

[merc4ulfate]

read this: http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=133290





This ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

[driver]

This is great. The link answers all my questions, including saving the MOD folder. As far as the 4gb patch, can someone post a link too it's download please?
Thank you all!

[merc4ulfate]

Before you get the 4gig patch are what system are you running and what version of OS do you have and how much Ram?

[driver]

My system is:
Windows 7 64 bit, 3.3ghz intel, 4gb Ram. Would it run a patch?

[merc4ulfate]

To my knowledge that patch is only for 32 bit systems running XP

[fitzcarraldo]

To my knowledge that patch is only for 32 bit systems running XP

4 Gb Patch works fine in my W7 64 bits. And it is needed to run any supermod if you have more than 2 Gb RAM.

Regards.

Fitzcarraldo :salute:

[driver]

I was trying to find out what this patch really does, but found not much. Here is one link to a patch 1.4 info. Don't know if this is the one we are talking about.

http://patches.ubi.com/silent_hunter_4/silent_hunter_4_1.4.exe

Just in case if link doesn't work, here is what the patch does...

"CHANGES:



· Rendering distance increased to 20km, with appropriate improvement for visual sensors capabilities
· Dynamic loading of game units has been implemented, considerably improving loading times
· Improvements to Water rendering
· Improvements for enemy ships detection of steam torpedoes
· Damage taken by hulls submarine is shown in the damage interface
· Entries in Captain's Log are now limited for better performance
· Screenshot names now contain the date they were taken on
· End patrol ports are now displayed on the map
· Objectives on the navigation now change color when completed



FIXES:



· Destroyer/Submarine collisions always leading to the destroyer being sunk
· Fix the periscope animation problem
· Save & Load issues with the submarine crew
· Magnetic/Contact Detonator switch now working properly
· Improper display of the TBT interface for widescreen resolutions
· Loss of torpedo aiming track when crossing the International Date Line
· Deck gun Metric/Imperial system issues
· Repeating objectives bug
· Correct date when loading a save from career"

Is the right patch link can be found on Subsim?

[merc4ulfate]

The 4 gig patch is only for version 1.5 of SH4.

The issue is that SH4 pretty much stops using anything over 2 gigs. Now first off your video card should be set up so that it is handling all the functions and using it's own onboard ram and not your system ram. Many people think you put a card in and it will simply use it but many cards are set by default to use the CPU and main board ram to handle GPUs so you have graphics capabilities until the card is installed and turned on through it's own software.


Here is basically what the 4 gig patch is doing but this will discuss it better and allow you to do it yourself without using the 4 gig patch.



http://www.subsowespac.org/the-patrol-zone/give-silent-hunter-4-a-memory-boost.shtml

[driver]

So, how do I check which memory am I using, RAM or my G-Force video card?

[merc4ulfate]

Through your Nvidia Control Panel.

If your using the latest version:

Open the panel
Select 3D SETTINGS
Under that select SET PHYSX CONFIGURATION

In the right panel now you should see a diagram of your physical connection to the GPU.

Under SELECT A PHYSX PROCESSOR there is a drop down arrow make sure your video card is selected and not the CPU. Do not allow it to select AUTO. On automatic the computer will sometimes revert to using the CPU to process video images and this is what you DO NOT want. Manually put it on your GeForce card.

You should also read this thread:

http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=128517

To get the best settings out of your Nvidia card for playing Silent Hunter 4.

[merc4ulfate]

BY THE WAY

All the 4 gig patch or the work around from the web site does is tell the OS to use only 1 gig RAM for OS operations and 3 gigs RAM for applications. This increases application performance but will decrease OS and network performance.



http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb613473(v=vs.85).aspx

[driver]

Ok, with the help of everybody I made it work!If someone would have the same issue, but knows not much about computers (like me) here is what I did:


1, I checked if my game using more than 2GB ram by the small software suggested here. To my surprise the >2GB box was already checked. I left it as is.


2, I checked if my video card is using its own and not onboard memory. It was.


3, Knowing now that the culprit of crashes can be now resolved by reinstalling SH4 I procced with that.
To uninstall SH4 manually looked to complicated to me. I knew that either I will do something wrong, or I will not remove every file of SH4 from the system. I used suggestion here the "uninstaller" software. I used the same version only 2014 release (It's free for 30 days trial).
After completing "uninstall" using this software it vacuumed every tiny SH4 file from the system. When I looked at the list I knew that I would not be able to delete them all manually. It was A LOT!


4, After installing fresh SH4, and JSGME I followed the proper steps by moving mod files arround (don't forget to save your MOD folder with all add-ons before uninstalling SH4!). The only little problem I had was unable to activate the mod from JSGME. The problem was in this really strange "wodoo" trick I had to with that (opening JSGME first time and closing it rightt away without any work). It solved the problem.


After that FOTRS lunched and runs smoothly.


Now, the only question I have is do I need to reinstall SH4 every time I want to play a new mega mod?


Thank you again to all for your help!

[TorpX]

Now, the only question I have is do I need to reinstall SH4 every time I want to play a new mega mod?


You shouldn't.

That said, it is better not to be making frequent mod changes, if you don't have to. JSGME will do a good job of enabling/disabling mods, but it isn't perfect. People report files being corrupted on occasion. And loading up a saved game with the wrong mod scheme is sure to cause problems.

[merc4ulfate]

Many skippers actually run cleam installs after large mod changes. There is no guarantee that all files will be back to normal after removing one set of mods and adding another.

Sometimes you get left over file changing that you do not notice for a while.

[TorpX]

I should have added, that with JSGME, you can take a 'snapshot' of the game files and later use it to compare to your game files, and verify everything is as it should be. But, of course, you must do this before you start modding things so the 'snapshot' is a stock condition standard.