Newbie U-Boat Commander

[Herazio]

Goodevening/Morning !

My name is Bryan, Newbie on the forums. I've bought SH III on Ebay for 20€. The reason I bought the game is because my grandfather was on a U-boat (U-982). I was wondering if the game comes equipped with a tutorial of some sort since I've tried Silent Hunter 2 but I'll tell you it was hard to intercept a convoy and even firing a torp :oops:. However I hope it's money well spend and I hope to hear from you ! When I have the game I'm pretty sure I will become very active on these forums !

Bryan,

[HunterICX]

:D Hi And Welcome.

The game comes with some Tutorials, its some sort of school in the game menu that teaches you how to: Handle the boat , Firing torps , diving etc etc

And hell yes the money is well spent.
if you taste the early 1939, then you cant wait to struggle in 1943 - 1945 :up:

[Pants]

First of all..welcome to the forums :up:
You can play training missions Deckgun/ flakgun, torpedo attacks and Navigation..then a quick mission with a convoy attack combining all the training you have just completed.
There some tutorial videos floating around somewhere that you can download, i'm sure one of the guys in this great comunity can give you the links..enjoy your stay and Happy hunting :rock:

[Herazio]

Thank god :P. I thank you for the reply ! ^-^

[Puster Bill]

There is also a great wiki manual. It's in one of the sticky threads at the main SHIII board here.

[P_Funk]

One thing that is a benefit and a bane of this game is that it isn't as good unpatched and un-modded. Even the casual Kaleun should invest in some modding because the Vanilla game is somewhat limited. The patch addresses many of the issues but the community mods answer the questions that the devs never could. The beauty of the SH3 community is that there are so many mods that you couldn't even use them all. There are mods designed to improve graphics and alter gameplay based on your style (ie. ultra-realistic or just a bit more in depth than outta the box). My setup took a while to perfect. I will tell you that you'll spend a few hours finding a balance of mods that create the right experience for you. You can start with pre packaged multi-mods (RuB or IuB and there are others). They are pretty good but even I changed a few things. This game takes as much effort to run as it takes to play. Which is a fair bit compared to more arcade style games. But ultimately it's a more memorable experience. You will actually remember moments in the game. Enjoy:up:

[Darksun]

There are some fantastic mods. A lot of people here like to play with a stunning amount of realism. I don't think some of them have jobs.

Be sure to start easy enough you don't frustrate yourself. Some of the "realistic" fatigue mods might really make some people happy. But spending 90% of my gaming time moving little people around the ship diagram isn't my idea of fun.

Don't feel "peer pressured" into playing the game too realistically. If the game isn't fun, you won't keep playing.

That said, don't forget to TRY all the realism settings. You might find you really enjoy manually setting up the torpedo attacks. Or you like moving the little men around every two minutes. But learn the ropes with the realism low at first. Once you get the hang of it you can ramp up the level till you get to where you like it.

-D

[Wilko]

LOL Sarksun.. I see you have a bit of a thing for the crew fatigue, I'm the same, it drove me nuts to see them tired every time I looked in the screen, I now play with fatigue turned off as I refuse to play mum and dad to a bunch of idiots that don't have enough sense to go rack out with out my say so. That being said I do take a interest in there developement and promotions.

[Henry Wood]

LOL Sarksun.. I see you have a bit of a thing for the crew fatigue, I'm the same, it drove me nuts to see them tired every time I looked in the screen, I now play with fatigue turned off as I refuse to play mum and dad to a bunch of idiots that don't have enough sense to go rack out with out my say so. That being said I do take a interest in there developement and promotions.

I've not had SH3 very long but I soon turned off the fatigue feature too. In RL all of the hands on watch will have a relief who turns up to let him get to his bunk except for the commander so he is the only one who should suffer real fatigue.:o

[Henry Wood]

Goodevening/Morning !

My name is Bryan, Newbie on the forums. I've bought SH III on Ebay for 20€. The reason I bought the game is because my grandfather was on a U-boat (U-982). I was wondering if the game comes equipped with a tutorial of some sort since I've tried Silent Hunter 2 but I'll tell you it was hard to intercept a convoy and even firing a torp :oops:. However I hope it's money well spend and I hope to hear from you ! When I have the game I'm pretty sure I will become very active on these forums !

Bryan,

Welcome, Bryan.
I have a text file 'walkthrough' by Chris Zawada which I found quite helpful when I first started out with SH3. I'm not sure where I got it from now and maybe it is too big to post in the forum (118kb). I could email it to you if you would like to read it?

[Eichenlaub]

Hi Bryan, welcome aboard!

Did your grandfather ever tell any stories about his time aboard U-982? Anything you'd be willing to share with us?

This is the summary of U-982 - doesn't really say much: http://www.uboat.net/boats/u982.htm.

Kind regards,

Eichenlaub

[Herazio]

Goodevening/Morning !

My name is Bryan, Newbie on the forums. I've bought SH III on Ebay for 20€. The reason I bought the game is because my grandfather was on a U-boat (U-982). I was wondering if the game comes equipped with a tutorial of some sort since I've tried Silent Hunter 2 but I'll tell you it was hard to intercept a convoy and even firing a torp :oops:. However I hope it's money well spend and I hope to hear from you ! When I have the game I'm pretty sure I will become very active on these forums !

Bryan,
Welcome, Bryan.
I have a text file 'walkthrough' by Chris Zawada which I found quite helpful when I first started out with SH3. I'm not sure where I got it from now and maybe it is too big to post in the forum (118kb). I could email it to you if you would like to read it?

That would be very nice ! If you would like you can send it via E-mail or Msn ^-^ HerazioX@gmail.com (Thank you very much !)

Hi Bryan, welcome aboard!

Did your grandfather ever tell any stories about his time aboard U-982? Anything you'd be willing to share with us?

This is the summary of U-982 - doesn't really say much: http://www.uboat.net/boats/u982.htm.

Kind regards,

Eichenlaub

Well I remember it was just a training boat so he didn't really say anything about it. Except for the attack of the Royal Airforce when the boat was lost. He felt horrible about it. His commander was Hartmann he's still alive somewhere in Germany. We've been trying to contact him really he even wrote a book I believe. If I get my hands on a copy I will all tell you ! ^-^.

[Henry Wood]

That would be very nice ! If you would like you can send it via E-mail or Msn ^-^ HerazioX@gmail.com (Thank you very much !)

^-^.

I have sent by email the 'Walkthrough' file and also a single page MS Word doc which has all of the control keys very clearly set out and is ready for printing.

Wishing you every success at the Naval Academy and 'Good Hunting' on your first patrol! :lol:

[Herazio]

I truly thank you ! and I hope that my first patrol will indeed be a success ;). I'm quite sure it will :p

[UnterSeeTub]

Hi Bryan -- I'm a n00b too :lost:

These forums are full of helpful peeps wot will put you on the right course :up:

[Herazio]

that's true :P I've been helped a lot by them already. Hope you enjoy your stay here aswell ! ^-^

[P_Funk]

Indeed. Easily the friendliest game community I've ever been a part of. It's really amazing the warmth with which n00bs are treated.

[Eichenlaub]

Herazio,

That U-982 commander you spoke of is Curt Hartmann. Not much to find on him on Uboat.net, only this: http://www.uboat.net/men/commanders/h.htm. Apparently, he will turn 86 in a few months. It appears he served mostly in training boats, but may have done a single patrol.

Good luck on tracking him or his book down. I should be doing those things too you know. What I wouldn't give to converse with a real U-boot commander, especially a renowned RK winner...:rock:

Kind regards,

Eichenlaub

[Vern_S]

LOL Sarksun.. I see you have a bit of a thing for the crew fatigue, I'm the same, it drove me nuts to see them tired every time I looked in the screen, I now play with fatigue turned off as I refuse to play mum and dad to a bunch of idiots that don't have enough sense to go rack out with out my say so. That being said I do take a interest in there developement and promotions.

I've not had SH3 very long but I soon turned off the fatigue feature too. In RL all of the hands on watch will have a relief who turns up to let him get to his bunk except for the commander so he is the only one who should suffer real fatigue.:o

Well I have to disagree with the the commander being only one to suffer fatigue. I am a 13 year veteran of the US Submarine Force and Fatigue plays a huge roll in Attack Submarines especially when you are in a "Port and Stbd" shift rotation and your off watch time is spent doing preventive maintenance, repairs, training and trying to catch a little sleep before you are back on watch.

When you are in a combat zone the boat is at battlestations and everyone onboard has a specific assigned duty/watchstation and there is no watch turnover or bunk time and you stay at battlestationas as long as there is a threat which could be an awefully long time. Add in the stress of combat, the poor atmosphere on board a U-Boat due to not ventilating the ship like you normally would on the surface and fatigue can set in real quick in a battle situation.

When you are patroling, looking for the enemy, long boughts of boredom can lead to low moral, irritability, stress, anger and fighting amoungst the crew which can wear down the combat ability of the men, IE Fatigue.

The Crew of a Submarine is a very close unit of men much akin to a family environment and yes, the Commander is to a large degree a Father figure for the crew, making all of the "Command" decisions and the second in command is like Mom ensuring the day to day operations of the boat are carried out properly. Part of the Commands responibility is babysitting the crew to ensure combat readiness.

Just my 2 cents worth

[Henry Wood]

[quote=Vern_S
Well I have to disagree with the the commander being only one to suffer fatigue. [/quote]


I did make the comment about the commander's fatique 'tongue-in-cheek', hence the smiley thing and also because he is not the only person on board without a back-to-back relief, the 'ell-ee' (Chief Engineer) being another. To flesh my thoughts out a little bit, having to move crew from duty stations to rest quarters while cruising etc is not part of the commander's job. When the crew are at battlestations for prolonged periods fatigue will occur; then the commander will at some time (hopefully) issue a stand down order. He does not then have to check that each man subsequently released from duty has stood down. Using the SH3 fatique system the player as commander must do this. Things like that take the duties of the commander in the sim beyond the realms of a RL situation. "The devil is in the detail."

[Sailor Steve]

A partial solution might be a rewrite of the 'Station' commands, the ones in the lower right corner. I wouldn't mind them if I could change the presets, so when I hit the 'Submerged Combat' Icon the crew would go where I had pre-programmed them to go.

Of course there's still the problem of those buttons sometimes causing crashes...

[Henry Wood]

A partial solution might be a rewrite of the 'Station' commands, the ones in the lower right corner. I wouldn't mind them if I could change the presets, so when I hit the 'Submerged Combat' Icon the crew would go where I had pre-programmed them to go.

Of course there's still the problem of those buttons sometimes causing crashes...

Yes, I thought it was possible to pre-programme the crew by placing each one where you wanted him to serve, while still in base and after filling any crew shortages from the barracks. This doesn't seem to work for me. :damn: The blighters seem to go wherever they like (almost) when those buttons are pressed. And as for the Watch Officer and his constant refusal to haul himself back up to the bridge when we surface, I don't know what I'm going to do with him. :lol:

And I never knew those buttons could cause crashes either - is there anything special to watch out for there?

[Sailor Steve]

I don't know. I never really used them myself, except to experiment. There have been threads in which players said they had CTDs when using the buttons. More recently someone said he used them all the time with no problems.

I don't know.