I know it's only a game, but... (ONLY A GAME!?!?!?!)

[KeybdFlyer]

Like I said last post, I'm very new to SH3 (9th patrol now), so forgive my depths (pun intended) of depression. Just attacked my first convoy and by good fortune got right into the middle of them before attacking. Seas were horrendous and had to target using the observation scope during the times it actually got above the waves. Managed to sink a T3 Tanker, a T2 Tanker and a C2 Cargo (the C2 by applying full rudder and using the stern tube). By the time I'd got back through 270° two of the front tubes were reloaded so tried a long-shot at a C3 Cargo and they broke its back. Nice. 4 ships down and time to give the poor crew a break then head for home. Except.... clicking on the Crew Management icon brought only the flashing of my drive-accessing light and that most dreaded panel "SH3.exe has encountered a problem and needs to exit", lol. I'm stunned, depressed and laughing my head off (hysteria I think). Oh well. Load it in and try again I suppose. Wish me better luck this time please! :cry:

[CB..]

best to leave the crewmanagment shortcut icons alone--just do it by hand from the main interface (drag and drop ) the shortcuts frequently crash the game not worth the risk--

[Skubber]

Oh ... that hurts! :/\!!

I have lost good patrols by computer crashes, but nothing quite as bad as that.

I have not had problems with the crew management shortcuts – but I tend to use pretty heavily modded versions of the game. (IUb, Grey Wolves.) Is it possible they include fixes?

[KeybdFlyer]

Normally, I do use the keyboard shortcuts, but it wasn't only the crew that was tired, lol. The mouse was in my hand the icon only two inches away.... the rest you know. Good job I saved the game at the point where I first got the radio message about the convoy - time to try it again.

[Seminole]

Except.... clicking on the Crew Management icon brought only the flashing of my drive-accessing light and that most dreaded panel "SH3.exe has encountered a problem and needs to exit" :nope:


That was one of the very first "undocumented features" we discovered about this sim after it's release...so you are not all alone here. Just use your mouse to drag your crewmen about and you'll be fine. Use the CM Icon and chances are pretty high you will crash.


There ought to be a big red warning label against using this option. :yep:

[Sailor Steve]

I sometimes lose games to sound problems, so here is my advise: Save after every torpedo hit. That way if the game crashes you're still in the middle of the action.

[KeybdFlyer]

Thanks for the warnings! I've studiously avoided using the pop-out icons on the left of screen ever since! I've also encountered another (no so serious) problem... as I approach base (doesn't matter which), the game just freezes solid. It happens every single time, but the "cure" is simple enough, I just hit the Windows key to force SH3 to minimise and then re-open the SH3 window. The game continues just fine. Wierd or what?
I said I'd have a couple more questions - here's some now...
1) Apart from experiment, how do I find out the ranges of the deck gun? (Short, Med., Long)
2) Is there any way to select a tube other than by clicking on its icon? I always seem to run out of fingers as it is, without having to grab the mouse and move to the next icon along!
3) Any chance of a few links to obtain extra ships? I have AG124's excellent creations, but crave more! (I fly FS9 and have around 2500 aircraft installed, lol)
4) A link to some info on torps? Ranges, speeds etc? I've been on SH3 almost non-stop since I bought it and am now reaching the point where newer versions will be becoming available. Advance knowledge would be useful.
Once again, thanks to everyone (moderators especially) for the friendly & helpful forum.
P.S. reloaded Convoy game (see first post) resulted in the T3 & T2 only. Ah well - at least I got home safely, lol

[JScones]

I've also encountered another (no so serious) problem... as I approach base (doesn't matter which), the game just freezes solid.
That's normal - whenever you get to docking range the game will "freeze" for a few seconds whilst SH3 builds the port/land graphics/features.

[KeybdFlyer]

Loading in the graphics I'm sort of used to (on FS9 - this isn't a fast machine, lol), but the first time it occured I waited maybe 45secs or so which is quite a long time even for this machine! Like I said, no big worry 'cause I can unfreeze it easily enough. Thanks for the heads-up though. :yep:

[bigboywooly]

http://www.subsim.com/phpBB_archive1/index.php?sid=f438a172f9b3374c03ffaead0b847d62

try there for some links to other stuff

[XXi]

Just one thing about torpedos - I prefer either to save when the enemy is within range or moments AFTER the torpedo has left the tube. Saving after hit means if the ship sinks you won`t be credited for that.

[Type941]

i think happened to me before but that was in stock unpatched game.

[Sailor Steve]

Just one thing about torpedos - I prefer either to save when the enemy is within range or moments AFTER the torpedo has left the tube. Saving after hit means if the ship sinks you won`t be credited for that.
I've never had that problem. I get credited for every ship, no matter when I save...at least so far.

[Sulikate]

best to leave the crewmanagment shortcut icons alone--just do it by hand from the main interface (drag and drop ) the shortcuts frequently crash the game not worth the risk--
agreed. This "feature" made me wanna kick my pc quite a few times.

[svenks]

I've studiously avoided using the pop-out icons on the left of screen ever since

It's not the left hand side icons ("sliding doors"), that's the problem - it is the icons in the lower part of the mail crew management screen - stay away from those!

At least, I use the LH icons all the time with no problems... The other icons though :dead:

BRGDS
Sven

[lonehawknz]

Ever since I learned the key shortcuts I've never used the icons. Too much risk of a crash! :damn:

[KeybdFlyer]

I think most of the problems I'm encountering are acceptable, and I'll tell you why, lol. This machine is WAY under spec. for the game, yet it still runs. Amazing :). I have a processor that's too slow and only half the "minimim" memory. Decent graphics card though. Gettings a new machine next week thank goodness. It'll be nice to have things running smoothly for once. On Patrol 19 now and after "bobbing" all the way back to port last patrol (running submerged 'til the batteries were almost shot then surfacing 'til they were re-charged, I was almost out of fuel) I'm not looking forward to having to do that again. Nice to hear about the lockable external view, must give that a try. I still have a few unanswered questions though. Anybody able to shed some light? (Read earlier posts)

[Der Eisen-Wal]

happened a few times to me, but then i just reloaded it and did it again.

i avoid crew management completely by disabling the fatigue factors.... at my stage my crew is pretty decorated and experienced and they dont' tire as much. plus the crew tire too quickly in the stock version anyways, it's more annoying than realistic.

[Brauer]

I've never had that problem. I get credited for every ship, no matter when I save...at least so far.

I sank 3 ships in a convoy, saved and exited, got back in the game and then returned to port happy to have sunk 3 big ships in my first patrol. I get back and even though my map showed they were sunk when I reoaded it, I get no credit for them. SH3 Commander shows I sunk them though. It drove me absolutely crazy!!!!!! I play this game with a couple of friends while talking over Teamspeak VOIP, and I can tell you they had to shield their ears for all the yelling I did.