No enemy ships on first few patrols?

[Foggy]

Hey there! Long time player, used to frequent the site some time ago, fell out of playing a couple of years ago, and am just now getting back into it.

I installed the Steam copy of SH3, did the resolution fix to make it work, modded it with GWX Gold and the merchant fleet mod, went through the Academy to brush up on the game again, then started a career.

On the first few patrols, I'm not seeing any ships. Got attacked by bombers twice (was able to dive and escaped damage twice), but didn't spot a single ship, friend or foe.

Is it common in the early stages of the war (1939) to not encounter anything on patrols? On both patrols to AN56 and AN84, I had plenty of fuel left after the 24 hours of patrolling and scoured the British coastline and couldn't find anything.

I never had this problem before when playing the game, but it's been a couple of years, so I thought I'd see if anyone thought it was odd, or maybe I'm just unlucky? :hmmm:

[Kielhauler1961]

Welcome back!

Have you got any 'area specific' mods enabled? The Black Sea Only and Indian Ocean mods delete traffic elsewhere to speed loading and gameplay.

KH

[Foggy]

Good call, Kiel! I checked JSGME and Indian Ocean was disabled, but Black Sea was enabled, so I disabled it as well. That'll probably fix it lol.

Will start the career over again so Donitz doesn't think my guy lacks aggression! :03:

Thanks!

[Kielhauler1961]

You're welcome, glad it was that quick to resolve.

Interesting to know that aircraft are still active when surface ships have been removed by those mods - sneaky swine.:shifty:

Gute Jagd kamerad.

KH

[sublynx]

the only planes spawn near the player. there is no reason to delete them.

[Kielhauler1961]

the only planes spawn near the player. there is no reason to delete them.

Granted, but it's helpful to know that one could be attacked 'out of the blue' by a B-24 from, say, Ascension Island, when en-route to the Indian Ocean and not expecting to meet the opposition on or above the water.:hmmm:

Until this info came to light I would have assumed a voyage south would have been a 'milk run' until the Cape as the Brits would say, but I can see the reasoning behind making it not so. I still think it's sneaky. It's one of the things I love about this game - after nine years there are still many aspects of it that I don't know about...yet.

Just another tick on the 'things to be aware of' list. Thanks for the heads up.:)

KH

[Foggy]

It definitely fixed it, although when I restarted my career and went on my first patrol last night, I still didn't get to sink anything. Saw two tugboats (German), got chased by a destroyer, picked up on two ships (via sonar or reports) in poor visibility and lost them somehow, then saw a really big lone cargo ship, put a torpedo in her side, then realized she was Norwegian (neutral at beginning of war). She turned all of her lights on me and started zig zagging but I didn't fire again because she was neutral. Luckily, she didn't sink lol.

[Kielhauler1961]

The Norwegian was a medium cargo wasn't it? They are difficult to sink with one torpedo even when legitimate targets. Try hitting them with a magnetic pistol (0.5m below keel) at the No. 3/4 hold position and you'll have more one-shot success. This tends to cause uncontrollable flooding aft and drags them down slowly by the stern. Not dramatic but it works.

95% of my patrols are in Type II's in the North Sea and English Channel approaches, the density of coastal shipping (once you get to know the sailing lanes) means you'll be out of torpedoes very quickly and sometimes have several different encounters on the same day. Nine or ten ships (half by gunfire) in one short patrol is not uncommon once you've got the hang of it.:arrgh!:

Be wary of any single ships heading W or SW, more than likely it'll be a neutral. I have found a good position is 40-60 km offshore just about anywhere along the East Coast to intercept the north-south traffic between the Firth of Forth and the Thames Estuary. AN55 is a particularly rich fishing ground and has some patches of deeper water too but you'll have to accept being in shallower water most of the time. The area east of Flamborough Head is a 'convoy junction' from January 1940 onwards.

The flak gun is good for the small fry (anything under 1200 tons except large trawlers so long as you get very close and aim at waterline) and if you listen on the 'phones yourself you'll be surprised how much activity there is going on around you. They may not appear to be individually worthwhile but when you've sunk four or five the tonnage starts to add-up.

No long boring patrols like one can get stuck with in the Atlantic and from November 1939 the coastal convoys start to appear.

KH

[Foggy]

Yeah, medium cargo. Is there a guide that shows you where to aim on certain ship types? I also need to print some kind of flag identification chart but I can probably find that on google...

[THEBERBSTER]

A warm welcome back ‘Foggy’ :subsim:

You will always find someone here to help you. :)

Link to my SH3 – SH4 – SH5 posts: :salute:

Step By Step Tutorials & How To Do It

Also Included Are Some Useful Download Links

http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=211804 (http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=211804)

You can use TDW’Generic File Patcher with STEAM see my Tutorial Post #125

[Foggy]

Thank you, Sir! :salute:

[Kielhauler1961]

...Is there a guide that shows you where to aim on certain ship types?

If you are perpendicular to the target's track, when it gets within 15 degs of dead ahead bring up the ship's recognition page and you will see the various critical zones highlighted against the ship image. Jimbuna has access to a table of these images for most ships, maybe he'll post it (again).:03:

I also need to print some kind of flag identification chart but I can probably find that on google...

In periscope or UZO view, top left of the screen are pull-down tabs for various tables and charts, one of which is 'Flaggen'. This is a summary of national ensigns for merchants and warships of most (all?) nations in the game. If you press 'F1', you'll find a sub-menu with a list of nations and their belligerent and/or neutrality dates. No more excuses for sinking innocent steamers...

KH

[Foggy]

Yeah, I saw the list of dates for when the countries became enemies, I just need the flag listing. I'll see if I can find the Flaggen one. Thanks!