A very empty ocean

[VikingHunter]

Hello everyone,

when i'm playing SH4 the only ships that are around are the friendly ships in the port, When i leave the dock there is nothing around no enemy ships or friendly ships?

is there something wrong with my game? I installed it from a hard copy and set settings to medium as i am a novice at this. But i thought there might have been more activity, does anyone have any suggestions?

thanks

[Hitman]

Are you playing the stock game or a mod?

In any case, your base is normally far from the enemy activity so you have to travel a long distance and go where the enemy traffic lanes (Which depends on the year). But if you want a quick double check to ensure your game is working fine, just sail to the coast of Japan, there should be plenty of traffic around it any time.

[Red Devil]

you wont find enemy ships in any quantity near pearl, brisbane or Fremantle for example, but not knowing the port you refer to. You will meet one or two off Manila though.

The best way for a sub to find enemy ships is to head for known convoy routes, luzon straits is a sort of bottle neck, and the area around formosa is fruitful. Convoys pass Okinawa regularly, not sure though of distance from shore. The straits below Hokkaido is good and near the entrance to Tokyo Bay. Japs already had China ports so a good idea there?

In reality, many subs came home with a full load of tubes as no targets were found. When I go into a game I do not know what I will find as the quantity varies a lot. Sometimes I have been through a whole career and never seen a capital ship, or a large tanker. Then, in another, I am out of torps quickly because of the Task Force(s) I encounter. The only thing I 'edit' in games is enemy plane radius' - they can be everywhere and really ruin a game by making me dive every few moments! Had a zero near to midway once, in 1944!!! I also edit dude torps, real I know, but very very frustrating.

[Rockin Robbins]

Mostly, except for the early war, which is a total crapshoot, if I go to the place I'm assigned I invariably find plenty of action.

[Al Lowe]

Hello everyone,

when i'm playing SH4 the only ships that are around are the friendly ships in the port, When i leave the dock there is nothing around no enemy ships or friendly ships?

is there something wrong with my game? I installed it from a hard copy and set settings to medium as i am a novice at this. But i thought there might have been more activity, does anyone have any suggestions?

thanks

So, which port are you referring to? Generally, you won't run into enemy ships until you get closer to your assigned patrol area. So, don't go looking to see them right away. Also, date is another factor.

[Red Devil]

There is the odd occasion when I dont like where they are sending me, so I shoot off on my own, looking for task fleets mainly out of Osaka or Tokyo. I never get told off!!! :arrgh!:. I always ignore the 'drop an agent near Osaka' - it take so long to get there, due to patrols, relative shallows and escorted convoys, I dont bother. Kawasaki and Yokohama are nearly as bad for photo recces, depends on whether I want to sleep or not!!!

Another port worthy of note is at Java. Enemy ships sail past regularly.

[VikingHunter]

Thanks for the replys sorry it's took so long to say thanks but I've been away with work, On my last outing thanks to all your help I've started to find ships and convoys now I'm hunting in the right areas :salute:

[Red Devil]

Happy hunting!:arrgh!:

[FrontierAL]

My best place to hunt is near Japan, or in the China Sea (Near Japan) Lots of convoys, ships, and task forces. Good Hunting!:salute: