SH3 Newbie Guide, FAQs, Tactics & Tips, Links, & other helpful stuff

[robj250]

Hi all.

I have a stupid question.

On the ruler when you draw a line using it, there are numbers along the ruler. What are these numbers?

I have to travel 31.5 nm and then 11.4 nm.

How do I measure this on the Nav Map?

Rob

Yep. That was a stupid question. I test the ruler out on the nav map and the numbers represent kilometres.:damn:

[robj250]

Another link you might put in is where to go to get sub or ship skins.

I have a problem. I have a movie "Atlantic Wolf" (cannot remember where I got it from) anyway, I would like to know the name of this skin and where I can get it.

http://img176.imageshack.us/img176/4779/atlanticwolflc3.jpg

[Bridger]

Hi all, i am a newbie to this forum and ive gotta say its very impressive and helpful, i am a bit sad cos not only am i a submariner full time, i also am SH3 and ww2 submarine history addicted in my spare time, just donated and downloaded GWX 2.0 and what a mod!(well done team). I have a question concerning crew management, what is the most realistic crew configuration?, ive searched the web high and low for historical crew lists(watch and station bills etc) and is there a mod available to automatically change over watches without manually shifting crew on and off watch?(as in SH4), any advice on this subject would be much appreciated.

[KeptinCranky]

Bridger, there is no automatic crew management mod, unfortunately.

As to skills, I've not done any research as such but the ratio officers/petty officers/sailors seems ok, the question is what skills to get for them...

personally I try to make sure I have at least these skills spread among my officers:

Watch officer: to put on the tower when surfaced
Repair: you need it, really
Engineer: need to get those diesels to maximum efficiency all the time
torpedoman: to oversee loading, makes it go faster too
and for early war
Gunner: for accuracy on the deckgun

Petty officers you only need two essentials:
Radioman: get 2 of these asap for hydrophone efficiency
Engineer: the diesels need him for efficiency

it's also nice to have at least two torpedomen for reload speed and a medic because he improves fatigue recovery.

If you use sh3 commander and use the "realistic crew" there will be at least one officer with no specific skill and one duplicate watchman, which is probably realistic but not very practical IMO

[Bridger]

Many thanks Keptin,
I agree with your essentials, what i struggle with is organising the men into equal watches so i can rotate them, i believe historically the u boat arm worked a 3 watch system ie 4hrs on 8hrs off or something close to that and i find it difficult finding space for the off watch men in the quarters, im just being sad really as i like to get things as historically correct as possible.

[Nerazzurri]

Many thanks Keptin,
I agree with your essentials, what i struggle with is organising the men into equal watches so i can rotate them, i believe historically the u boat arm worked a 3 watch system ie 4hrs on 8hrs off or something close to that and i find it difficult finding space for the off watch men in the quarters, im just being sad really as i like to get things as historically correct as possible.

You're going to have problems modelling a 3 shift crew mate. Something to consider would be using the damage repair space as an extra quarters, then moving that shift to rest quarters to regain their fitness before going on duty again.

[KeptinCranky]

I believe the rotation scheme was 8 hours on, 8 hours "free time", 8 hours off, except for the guys on the engines those had 4 hours on

<shameless plugging> there's a whole section in the GWX manual devoted to exactly this</shameless plugging> :D

U boats definitely used hot-bunking and the crews grew larger later in the war.

I find that In a type VII u boat I have 5 crewmen that don't have quarters when surfaced, I put those on the electric engines for "maintenace"

when submerged you have 1 crewmen you can't stash in the diesel room, I store him in the forward torpedo bay, but he will get fatigued.

for a IX u boat it's 6 spares surfaced and 2 surplus when submerged, for the type II there's no such problem, except there's not enough bunks for all the officers to nap at the same time :D, The type XXI is so generally stupendous there's even enough room for the crew :D

you could of course take one or two crewmen less than the maximum, shouldn't impair efficiency too much.

for a rotation scheme, I generally use the well rested guys to replace the tired ones, although after chasing a convoy at the edge of visual range for a whole night you do tend to end up with a boat full of exhausted crew....

[Bridger]

Many thanks for the advice fellas, ive just graduated from the Naval academy and am now awaiting my first command and my first GWX career, my skippers notebook is already full of tactics and helpful notes from this forum.
Does anyone else take their boat on a shakedown/workup for the first patrol to get rid of moss and good german beer out of their system?

[Oldgamer48]

Many thanks for the advice fellas, ive just graduated from the Naval academy and am now awaiting my first command and my first GWX career, my skippers notebook is already full of tactics and helpful notes from this forum.
Does anyone else take their boat on a shakedown/workup for the first patrol to get rid of moss and good german beer out of their system?

I don't think you can do this. When you "go to port", BdU will assign you a mission, and you must do it. They take a dim view of "shakedown" cruises, I'll betcha:D

For myself, I would like a "Shakedown Mod", which allows you to go close to Danzig, and see what Polish ships you can take out. But I don't think there's a way of making this part of your overall career. However, I'm not a modder, so I'll let them answer this question!

As to the German beer, the only answer is time ...

[robj250]

Hi Guys

Yep, it's good ole (just turned 71 yrs) Rob and I have a question as it's been a long time since I've done this.

I want to start with a VIII in the 7th Flotillia. What year, etc do I choose to start my new career so that I can end up in St. Nazaire?

EDIT: I wish to start with a VIII and be able to transfer later to the 7th Flotilla at St. Nazaire. So, where do I start???

Rob

[papajones109]

how do i get the crew to load the external torpedos into the sub

[KeptinCranky]

Rob, start in any flotilla but the 2nd, that's the longrange boats, or start in the 2nd with a VII and when they transfer to lorient you transfer to the 7th which should be in st. Nazaire at that time.

Never have transferd, me, I stick with the original flotilla, but I run several careers in different years/flotillas at the same time so I can do what i feel like at the time :D

Papajones, just make sure there's enough crew in the right torpedo room and then drag and drop the eels from outside to inside.

Personally I uncheck automatic loading because the crew will transfer 1 eel inboard, then load it into the 1st available empty tube, then transfer the next.

Since transfering eels from outboard to in was a timeconsuming and dangerous operation during which the boat couldn't dive to get away from planes you want to get it over with asap :up:

[Von Schmidt]

I have a question about promotions. I have played many careers, but I cant recall ever getting promoted above oberlt. How does the system work.

[Gryffon300]

Hi from a newbie. Thanks for this most excellent string.
I've played SH I and SHII over the years, but I have just been given SHIII because I've been a good boy (or something - maybe they just wanted me out of the way for the next 6 months or so).
I am after suggestions as to which mods/patches I should take up, if any, and in what order.
I note the long list of mods in the download section and without experience or guidance I think it would be easy to get lost in cyberspace, rather than lost in the gameplay.
The DVD is V1.4 (in the bottom right corner when the game loaded - I couldn't find the usual "About" section anywhere, so that's the best I could come up with). Not being sure, I downloaded V 1.4b (Asian/Australian version) and installed - didn't seem to object. So far so good?
Next I found V 1.45 in the downloads, which seemed to be a collection of worthy patches etc. Downloaded & installed OK, it seems. That's where I decided to come to periscope depth and check around. Should I stop at that and just play the game for a month or so to get my sea-legs back before looking for anything else, or would you old salts suggest any other must haves at this beginning stage?
Thanks for any comments or recommendations. (Let me know if you think I have already gone too deep, & need to RTB and start over.)
Gryff

[WildYak]

Welcome aboard Gryffon,

You picked a good day to start over here. The Grey Wolves Expansion version 2.0 just came out yesterday. My advice is that you go back to your stock version, upgrade it to v1.4 and then install the GWX 2.0 files (you can find them on the forum).

I myself just started posting and this is truly an excellent resource for Silent Hunter III. Regarding the GWX specificially: It's like a brand new game. A lot of people put in a lot of hours to completely retool SHIII and created GWX. It's like day and night. Much more historically accurate, more units, smarter bad guys, and much sexier overall.

Try it out and thank them later.


Good luck.

[Bridger]

When finding a convoy, once that rush of excitement settles down, standard practice and BDU dictate that it should be shadowed and position, course and speed reported every 8 hours and not to attack until all boats are in position, does anyone follow this procedure?, and does it have any actual effect in the game? ie do other u-boats within range converge? or am i just wasting time reporting in and should i just attack!

[KeptinCranky]

It will only have limited effect you might cause some Luftwaffe assistance if near a friendly base, but how often does this happen?

If you decide to shadow, I'd only do so until dark, then mount 2 or 3 attacks during darkness, each attack hopelfully followed by a quick evade escorts and end around to get back into optimum position.

I f you have any eels left at that point you could do another end around or shadow during the day and go for it again.

My best so far was attacking a convoy 3 times in a 90km stretch one night, after that there wasn't a whole lot left. I sank 12 out of 20 merchants.


Whoa! look what they did to my Avatar :D

[Bridger]

Good Shooting Keptin!, how well escorted was that convoy?
With the old stock SH3 i used to spend days shadowing and reporting in, before getting fed up with no reply from BDU. Im on my first ever GWX patrol, assigned to 2nd flotilla, U-36, and am patrolling grid BE61, just had a signal, convoy approx 250 km to the sw of me so am plotting intercept course, have a good feeling about this!.

Reference to my previous question about crew management, today i purchased a book: Wolf Pack The story of U-Boats ii ww2 by Gordan williamson, its a fab book and has a complete chapter devoted to U-Boat crews, Lifestyle, training, watch positions, exact no. of seaman, stokers, petty officers etc.

[KeptinCranky]

IIRC that convoy had 3 DDs and a Black Swan or some such, oh and a Dido CL I think, that was first to get sunk :D

I've seen so many different convoys in so many different places in the last few months they all run together, except the memorable ones with something special in them, like an escort carrier.

[Gryffon300]

Yep, I've re-installed SHIII, Patch 1.4b and Downloaded & installed GWX 2.0 - what an amazing effort the team put in! It makes my head ache thinking about the hundreds of man-hours (in reality, more like 1,000's of man hours) put in to create this 1Gb patch! Unbelievable commitment.
Am just doing the Naval Acadamy so far - even enjoying that! Found a couple of excentricities which I will post on the GWX Modder's forum - I'm sure that there will need to be a little patch (to 2.1) in a couple of months once all the little tweaks are known, but to have such a major mod work so well straight up is a real testament to these guys.
Salut!
Gryff

[KeptinCranky]

Come to think of it, I've never done the Naval Academy, at all.:doh:

This is because I started playing SH3 with a friend who was into the whole manual targeting thing, I just watched and played the good 1WO, keeping up conversation during dull patrols, being far better at ship recognition and such, doing the prelimary maneuvering while he did the calculations...

In a way that's how real Uboat captains learned, after having proven themselves capable of handling the theory, then going along as a trainee on a Uboat with an experienced commander.

Good fun :up:

[Samwolf]

Anyone who is having a graphics problem with artifacts in the sky of the GWX2 16KM Mod and is willing to try a test, I have a 16km mod that uses different envcolors and skycolors files.

Use JSGME to enable it after the GWX 16KM mod and let us know if it fixes your problem. I used it to fix a graphic problem I was having with my Nvidea 7800GS. Be aware that this mod will also lighten up your night sky.

It's about a 1000KB zip file and JSGME ready.

http://files.filefront.com/Marhks+Ocean+MADNESS+v2+1mzip/;9289705;/fileinfo.html

[Kraut]

Is there any way to get higher fps in GWX harbors?

[danlisa]

Is there any way to get higher fps in GWX harbors?
Yes. You can enable the Reduced Harbour Traffic mod, which you'll find in JSGME.:up:

[Bridger]

Im using SH3 commander for the 1st time, ive just returned from my 1st GWX 2.0 patrol(Great mod), my 1st WO has done 7 patrols, has a iron cross and he has just been promoted oberleutnant, SH3 is saying i should replace him as he should be given the chance to command his own boat, should i ?, and does anyone else replace crew after a certain number of patrols?

Kptlt Peter von bauer, commanding U-36

[Kraut]

Is there any way to get higher fps in GWX harbors?
Yes. You can enable the Reduced Harbour Traffic mod, which you'll find in JSGME.:up:
Thanks, seems to have worked.

Kiel is still a bit of a frame rate killer. I have a 7900GS.

[astroglobe]

Hi everyone

I'm a newbie on SH III and I'm trying to figure out the nuances of the game.

I've read some of the noob Q&As here, but I'm still having trouble surviving engagements. I seem to be instantly caught by destroyer sonar every time I'm near a convoy and hastily sent to the bottom despite desperate moves with right and left rudder, changing depths and running silent. I'm using GWX 2.0 and I'm wondering if that's just the way it's designed - realistic but maybe too realistic? :huh:

Second, I'm a touch confused navigating to sound contacts. When the S.O. calls out a bearing do you simply set the boat's compass on that bearing to the target? Or is the bearing in relation to my attack periscope compass and I sent the boat in that direction -- or is it the rotating compass rose?

And how does all that square with the sound contact lines on the Torp. Computer map? I notice there are usually several lines on that map, again do you simply heard in their general direction?

Any enlightenment would be appreciated, cheers

[KeptinCranky]

Astroglobe, where to start...umm..:D

Right, it's very late as I type this so let me give you a few quick tips.

Read this thread, all fo it, and many links found in this thread

First evading DDs

Do's:
To ensure silence, press Z and set speed to 2 knots or less, 1 in a type IIa, you can also see this in the F2 screen on the RPm gauges, should be less than 100
Go deep! see the red part of your depth-gauge, that's deep enough, most of the time

DONT's
I'm sure you've found those, the basic trick is to know when it's safe to make some noise

hydrophone hunting, your S.O will tell you wether the contact is closing and how fast it's going. what I do is mark the initial contact point, then wait a minute or 2 and mark the next point, then draw a line along those marks, you now have a basic course for your target as well as approximate speed.

now set a course for the point along that line that is closest to your boat, this is the ideal intercept point.

also, since it's late here and I should be in bed....I strongly urge you to read the proverbial manual, not just the GWX but any you can lay your hands on

good hunting! :up:

[Pisces]

Second, I'm a touch confused navigating to sound contacts. When the S.O. calls out a bearing do you simply set the boat's compass on that bearing to the target? Or is the bearing in relation to my attack periscope compass and I sent the boat in that direction -- or is it the rotating compass rose? All contact directions given by your crew (or seen on scope, sonar, radar) are bearings that are relative to your bow (0 degrees) and thus your course. Between 0 and 180 are on the starboard/right side, all between 180 and 360/0 on the port/left side. To plot them on the map relative to north you first need to add your course to the number. Or to change course to them right away you could turn the scope in the direction of that number and press 'heading to view' button =

[astroglobe]

Folks thanks for the kind replies

One of the fascinating things about SHIII is its technical depth as a simulation - I'm still trying to figure out ship interception based on the wiki instructions for newbies but I'm having trouble following the step-by-step guide (geometry was never my strong suit :oops: ).

If anyone has a quicker and dirtier method of ship interception let me know, I was thinking about trying interceptions based knots per hour, distance travelled of the contact compared to my boat's course and distance and making a rougher guestimate of where they might intersect....rather than the more elaborate protractor angles......

cheers and happy holidays....:up:

[Pisces]

If anyone has a quicker and dirtier method of ship interception let me know, I was thinking about trying interceptions based knots per hour, distance travelled of the contact compared to my boat's course and distance and making a rougher guestimate of where they might intersect....rather than the more elaborate protractor angles......The only way I can think of is if you are better at punching buttons on a scientific calculator, than doing the geometry thing. As with the graphical method you need to know his speed and general course. And do it based on his current position if it is now later than when the contact appeared on the map. So you need to advance the position along it's course based on speed and time since. Then calculate or measure(protractor) the angle between his course and the direction to your Uboot (so target is at the corner), this is known as AOB.

Your lead/intercept angle = arc_sine ( (Sine_AOB * Targetspeed)/Yourspeed )

So you punch in, in this order:

AOB, sine_button, multiply, Target_speed, divide, Your_speed, arc_sine_button

To set course easily: Draw another protractor (last one, honest!), first leg from target position to you (being at the corner), and the other leg to the resulting angle ahead of the target's position. Drag it to also cross the target's course, so you know you won't dig into an island or something along the way. Or takes an absurd long time to reach it. If ok, drag a waypoint over this leg to set course and go.

If the calculator ends up giving an error result, then you will never be able to catch the target at your intended speed. It is going to fast. Go faster if you can, or forget about him. (ofcourse, check you didn't make an error while calculating if you are not sure)

Arc_sine is sometimes called inv_sine or sine^-1 depending on calculator brand, consult the manual; you need to go back from a fraction between -1 and 1 to an angle between -90 and 90 degrees.

[PapaG39]

I'm running the GWX 1.3 & looking into refueling at a nearby milk cow.

I know you can:
sail close to the milk cow and hit esc
end mission
dock at...

However, I am wondering if it is possible to just go in and refuel & start out again while keeping your present patrol number and information intact?

I know from doing it once before that your present mission will end and you will start a new patrol number...

[StevenLohr]

I see the Silent Hunter III Community Manual (http://mysh3.info/shiii) is going to stop being hosted by the end of February. I may be able to arrange hosting through another source, but I need to have the current webmaster contact me. Please email me privately at
SteveLohr@aol.com

[Rip]

I see the Silent Hunter III Community Manual (http://mysh3.info/shiii) is going to stop being hosted by the end of February. I may be able to arrange hosting through another source, but I need to have the current webmaster contact me. Please email me privately at
SteveLohr@aol.com

I am also willing to arrange hosting. I have my own datacenter and would have no problem providing free hosting for such an important resource.

Rip

[Bonfleck]

Ahoy,
After many years as a member I officially became an SH3 player the other day. So far I've completed the Naval academy and had two short Type IIA patrols in 1939. I've only had the game give me 2 problems thus far. One dump to desktop (I may have bumped the windows key because the game didn't crash I just clicked on the icon in the tool bar and was back in action, and one lock up that required a restart. (I was attacking a ship at anchor and had the "lock" button selected in the UZO screen and right when the torpedo struck the game jitterbugged and froze on me). I'm Curious if A: there is an effective way to use the search feature for these forums so I don't have to bother people with questions that have been asked/answered over and over. B: if I should keep playing the stock patched 1.4b version or upgrade to GWX 2.0 right away. Or should I/can I have two versions of SH3 on my system at once. Anyway thanks in advance and if there is a thread of known crash causing issues I can look for right away that would be great to. See you on the high seas.
BonFleck :arrgh!:

[Barbac]

Hi fellows,

Need a little help from experienced Kaleuns ...

Case 1:
Your WO reports you a magnificient target at bearing 344° while you're heading due North on your compass (true bearing). Regarding to the equation given in the GWX2.0 manual, the AoB will be 14° (284 - 90 - 180) therefore 14° starboard

Case 2:
Two hours later ... the same WO reports you another target at bearing 46° while you are still heading due North (still true bearing). Means it comes to port but what AoB will you get then ? :rock:

Thx guys
Barbac

[Abd_von_Mumit]

Case 1:
Your WO reports you a magnificient target at bearing 344° while you're heading due North on your compass (true bearing). Regarding to the equation given in the GWX2.0 manual, the AoB will be 14° (284 - 90 - 180) therefore 14° starboard

Case 2:
Two hours later ... the same WO reports you another target at bearing 46° while you are still heading due North (still true bearing). Means it comes to port but what AoB will you get then ? :rock:
:hmm: Something strange in what you wrote. I suppose you messed with some terminology maybe, but I'm not sure. Fact is it doesn't go together well at all. :88) Possibly it's just because I'm "smart different". :arrgh!:

Case 1:
Just target bearing is too little to know target's course. You'd need one more information: target's course (then you can calculate AOB) or AOB (then you could calculate target's course).

Case 2:
Same as above. Target bearing is never enough, you need more info.

[Pisces]

Barbac:

Since you mentioned the GWX 2 manual, take a good look at figure D-1 on page D1 of Appendix D of the manual. (But ignore the yellow/green/ blue torpedo/gyro angle stuff, consider only the line extending from your uboot's bow) You have only provided the orientation of the uboot (in your both cases due north) and the relative angle the target can be found at (case 1: 334; case 2: 46). The triangle is 'open' until target course or either AOB is given. Do yourself a favour and draw your situations on paper. Draw uboot-point. Draw uboot-course. Draw relative bearing from uboot to target. (at a range if you will, but not important to understand your problem) And here is where you must end because of lack of data. The triangle is not finnished.

With regard to the (284 - 90 - 180) you mention: that 90 degrees is the target course that was determined from 2 position-plots drawn on the map (appendix D page D-11; 1 page before that formula page); the -180 is to reduce the AOB_initial (=284-90) to within -180,180 degrees (port,starboard).

Maybe you are confussed as to who's bow AOB is about, uboot or target: people allways mean the target's AOB although they do not mention it. If an angle on the uboot's bow is meant it is called (relative) bearing.

I hope you are not feeling intimidated by all this. I know this can be confussing as hell for some. But if you persist you'll get the hang of it sooner or later. And like I said, pen and paper are your friend! (or nav-map tools :up: )

[Pisces]

I'm Curious if A: there is an effective way to use the search feature for these forums so I don't have to bother people with questions that have been asked/answered over and over.There's a search option left-under the donation button. I allways use the advanced search link in it to select only the SH3 forums

B: if I should keep playing the stock patched 1.4b version or upgrade to GWX 2.0 right away. Or should I/can I have two versions of SH3 on my system at once. Anyway thanks in advance and if there is a thread of known crash causing issues I can look for right away that would be great to. See you on the high seas.
BonFleck :arrgh!:There is a tool called MultiSH3 (you can download it from the downloads section of subsim.com) that helps to switch between multiple SH3 versions. But I never used it so can't help further. As for your 'torpedo-crash'. Sounds like your graphics drivers didn't like the extra workload and succomed to it. I've never had a crashin that situation, but framerate drop is certainly possible. No known list of frequent reasons of a crash/hang as far as I know. As it very much depends on what SH3 version and mods you are using.

[magicsub]

:lurk: :lurk: :lurk: :lurk: :lurk: :lurk: :lurk: try multiplayer, gives newbies a chance to hunt with the experts! and dont forget to press num lock before chatting!

[Onkel Neal]

First post updated

[strewth]

OK, I have been playing SHIII for some time now between other stuff. As a matter of fact, I have still got the disks for I, II, III and now IV.

One thing that has finally gotten to me and I cannot locate an answer; Is that I keep getting these "Radio Message Recieved" notices which trips out my time compression back to 1x. The messages can come in quite regular which is frustrating enough, but the big problem is after you get "Message" and sent back to 1x time compression, I cannot find a darn message anywhere. I mean I have looked at briefings, orders, searched radio room and cannot find anything to do with this radio message:-?

Any ideas.

And thanks for a great sim / mods / support forum:up:

[Umfuld]

That one stumped me when I first started playing too. :rotfl:



Just press 'M' for message

:up:

[strewth]

You're Kidding me!:nope:

Is that it???:damn:

Man, I would never have guessed that:doh: :huh: :rotfl:

Thanks for the help:up:

edit: By the way. Thanks for the title under my name. Somewhat appropriate atm I think.:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

[Monza]

I see the Silent Hunter III Community Manual (http://mysh3.info/shiii) is going to stop being hosted by the end of February. I may be able to arrange hosting through another source, but I need to have the current webmaster contact me. Please email me privately at
SteveLohr@aol.com
I am also willing to arrange hosting. I have my own datacenter and would have no problem providing free hosting for such an important resource.

Rip

Did anyone arrange hosting? I'm thinking of getting back into SH3, would be good to read this...

[Brentano II]

Let's not lose the community manual. :cry:

[Brentano II]

Looks like the manual is back up:

http://alexbret.perso.cegetel.net/index4875.html?title=Main_Page

... but who knows for how long. ;)

[mino]

yea,,can someone repost the second link as well that works, maybe evn the 3rd,,seem to be offline!

newbies need this info, and maaaan, I love this game!

thnx

[Kapitan_Rookie]

It's a pleasure to find this community, and I am excited to say that I have a brand new copy of SHIII sitting on my desk here at work. Looking forward to cracking it open tonight and embarking on my training missions. I have read a number of the really helpful links on here in the past ten days since ordering, and was left with just a couple of queries -- if people could kindly let me know, or point me to the answer, it would be most appreciated:

1) I plan to play SHIII on a new laptop -- good op specs, but noticed that some keys are bound to the numberpad, which the laptop keyboard lacks. Any way around this?

2) Is there a master list of the Mods that work with the GWX Mod? My initial plan is to patch to 1.4b, play the training missions, and then patch the GWX Mod in. Looks like Subsim hosts some great additional mods, but don't want to end up frying my installation.

So ... in other news, a little bit about myself -- I'm an American lawyer living in the UK, specialized in military history for years, speak a bit of German. Married with two little kids, but still find time for sims and gaming. I hope to become an active member on here, and look forward to many future interesting discussions.

Until later -- look for me in the deep waters.

Kapitan Rookie

[wizardmatt]

just a brief note to say welcome Rookie!
another brief note: the above link to the new address for the Community Manual works fine, but it hasnt been updated as a link at the top of this thread yet. sorry to nag if youre already on the case.
by the way, is there any chance of the CM being a downloadable file, PDF or word or whatever? i'll happily host it as such on FileFront if anyone thinks that would be a good idea

[9th_cow]

i guess this is as good a place to ask as any, ok my crew! ask them to make a cup of tea, and it wears them out for 3 hours.
i know this issue has been discussed to death, however search isnt helping me out here, is there jgmse compatible mod that will put me out of my misery, because the micro management is getting me down. i should have to keep telling them to go to sleep and fidle about iwth dragging them about the screen all the time.
would love for an adjutent to do that for me :)

[airwolf48453]

I recently was pulling my disc out and when i lift my arm up it caught the corner of the desk and put a gouge in it. :damn: Now it would pick up the disc to start. I tried to copy the files but still no good.:o I seen on ubisoft the you can but a replacement disc for $10. plus S/H. :hmm: I was wondering if anyone else has bought one from them or anywhere.

[ReallyDedPoet]

i guess this is as good a place to ask as any, ok my crew! ask them to make a cup of tea, and it wears them out for 3 hours.
i know this issue has been discussed to death, however search isnt helping me out here, is there jgmse compatible mod that will put me out of my misery, because the micro management is getting me down. i should have to keep telling them to go to sleep and fidle about iwth dragging them about the screen all the time.
would love for an adjutent to do that for me :)

Get SH Commander as it allows you to configure your crews fatigue settings, or turn it off all together :D


RDP

[ReallyDedPoet]

I recently was pulling my disc out and when i lift my arm up it caught the corner of the desk and put a gouge in it. :damn: Now it would pick up the disc to start. I tried to copy the files but still no good.:o I seen on ubisoft the you can but a replacement disc for $10. plus S/H. :hmm: I was wondering if anyone else has bought one from them or anywhere.

I have not gone the route you speak of, but recently got a second copy for 9.99 Canadian in a bargain bin. My original is fine, but thought I would pick up a second copy either to give it as a gift, or as a back-up.


RDP

[Mehring1917]

Just got my copy of SH3 and tried to patch it to 1.4b. I get-

This program cannot update the installed version of Silent Hunter III EMEA DVD v1.0 to 1.3 because of the following reason:

path to.... \MissionEngine.dll: unknown version.


Help!!!!

[sharkbit]

Are you sure the copy you have is not already patched to 1.4?

When you start the game, the load screen will have the version in the lower right corner.

That's the only thing I can come up with.
:)

[sharkbit]

Also, you may need to do an uninstall and a clean re-install.
:)

[BulSoldier]

I would try both patches.Other than that i cant help.

[Mehring1917]

Bah!! Call me a drama queen, the DVD is already patched to 1.4. Thanks. wouldn't have known where to look.

[rifleman13]

The link to the SH3 Community Manual seems to be dead!:o

I think this is the new one:
SH3 Community Manual (http://alexbret.perso.cegetel.net/index4875.php)

For the benefit of the newbies here!:arrgh!:

[RoadHazard]

Have mercy on me. I'm just getting my feet wet.

I bought SH3 through Steam and the manual gives only the very briefest of instruction. (It also seems badly translated, but that's another matter.) In particular, I've got these fairly basic questions.

1. Do the sonar/radar men automatically locate other ships or do I need to expressly ask him/them to search?

2. Sonar doesn't work when I'm surfaced. Do I then rely on visual contacts or will the sonar/radarmen still find things as before?

3. I get the "RA: Radio message received" notice periodically. What does that mean and what should I do about it? It doesn't seem to indicate that there's news from HQ.

4. What good is the radioman, anyway?

5. What's the purpose of the horizontal and vertical scales on the observation scope?

6. I'm surprised there's no depth information marked on the big world map/chart. I ran aground a few times before I realized I've got to feel my way through the English Channel. I'm pretty sure nautical charts circa 1938 woulda had depths.

7. Do crew members auto-swap when they get tired or do I need to do that manually? I've watched them over the course of several hours and can't tell for sure.

Well, that ought to do me for a few more days. Thanks in advance for your patience.

[danlisa]

Welcome to Subsim.:up:

Answers:
1)Sonar/Hydrophone stations will automatically conduct search rotations when the station is manned & you are submerged. However, if you take the hydrophone station yourself (press H) you will hear contacts at a greater distance the your AI crew member.

2)When surfaced you rely on visual, radio contacts and radar (if installed). You will need to instruct the radar man to conduct sweeps, which IIRC can be done using the Officer icons in the bottom left of the screen.

3)When you get a Message from HQ press M to read it. These are usually either contact reports or immersive information.

4)The radioman is fairly important. Without a crew member manning that station you will not get radio contact reports (ship & convoy reports indicated on you nav map).

5)Should you attempt 100% manual target & solution gathering, these will be of great use. ;)

6)Yep. This is a huge oversight in the games creation. There should have been depth info. There is a general indication IIRC in the nav map tools (top right cnr) and I think it's attached to the pencil tool (not sure, so long since I played stock SH3).

7)Your crew will not swap if they get tired. You will have to manually move them about. DO NOT use the auto crew configuration (3 small buttons in the crew management screen) for Surface Attack, Submerged Attack etc....the game will probably crash. Unfixed feature.

If you should have any further questions please ask.:up:

Enjoy your stay.

[RoadHazard]

Thanks, that's a big help. Naturally, I have more questions now. :know:

8. Does playing with a higher reality factor (29% or whatever) increase my renown score?

9. Is there any advantage or disadvantage to having the periscope(s) up while I'm surfaced? Will I spot ships more easily? Will they spot me?

10. What is the dashed circle drawn around identified boats in the map/chart (F5) view?

[KeptinCranky]

8 yes, the higher the realism the more renown per sunk ship

9 they'll spot you more easily (I think) and I don't think there's any advantage to having the scope up while surfaced where spotting enemy ships is concerned, i'd advise against it really

10 I'm not quite sure, for merchies I think it's their visual range, as for warships, it's visual, radar and asdic (I think)

[prince_vlad]

I play the grey wolf mod...

1.When u get a message what does it mean exactly "AL 2299" ?...I notice the areas have squares which are numbered from xx to yy. But what does mean the last two figure from a message ?...A imaginary square bulit by closing the two squares ? (22 and 99) or...?

2.I played in the 7/13th flotilla to get the VII B from the begining ...In time I was promoted to kapitanleutnant and then I moved to 2nd flotilla to get the IXB sub.When I came back from the first mission with IXB the game let me know I was promoted to...OBERLEUTNANT, promotion I already "lived" once after my third mission!!! Is this a bug ?


3.The green/red icon of sub detection, what exactly "contains" when is lit green ?:) (depth, speed etc ) or it's not a rule...?

4. How do you pinpoint the latitude and longitude if u don't have the game's map ? (Even the game's map I discovered that is not precised at all).Is there other method to guess lat @ long in game ?

5.I noticed that crew can get , individually, renown.How do they achive that? What should they do?

6. Where do they go the convoys if they are not supressed in the process ? What does the AI when they arrive to the destination? Is there a precise destination for them or not? Also I noticed, in bad weather, that convoys ships can sunk(they leave behind some gray icons od sunk ship).Is it a bug or is something random ?

7. How does the weather system works, gradually or suddenly ?

8. I noticed the radar's icons are gray wether u are submerged or on surface.Why ? How do they work? Do I have to improved the sonar or something first or do I miss something?

[KeptinCranky]

Some of these require greater minds than mine to answer but here goes :D

1 find grid AL22 divide it into nine grids, the bottom right one is al229 repeat the process for that grid and the bottom right one is AL2299. there's a graphic out there on the forum in several threads that explains it visually, and probably also in the GWX manual. which leads me to:

1a RTFM! :D believe me, it's worth it and answers some of your questions in excuciating detail. :know:

2 ah yes, but a sub ubgrade costs renown, see? therefore buying a bigger boat got you demoted back to Leutnant zS, because rank is based on your current renown not renown earned over time. It's a stock thing...:-?

3 Dunno, never used it....

4 Longitude/latitude as far as I know are only used for contact reports that are outside the Kriegsmarine Grid map, and those show as marks. They're also used for GWX radio messages that refer to historical events but not to actual ships at that spot (mostly) they're for flavor

5 if you promote them or give them medals that gets them renown, not sure what else it does though, maybe nothing

6 When they reach their destination they disappear, go loiter off Liverpool sometime, wait for a convoy to appear and follow, you'll see it disappear into thin air... it's the only workable way to do it.
as to ships sunk by weather, yes this happens when you stay near a convoy for a long time in bad weather. This I consider to be very realistic because ships did get lost due to weather, especially since some of them were rusty hulks from the 1890s held together with spit and rubber bands and a lot of hope....

7 Ummm... I think it's based on random chance, the weather has X% chance of changing in one of the variables, clouds, rain, wind speed and direction over Y amount of time. and I think some of nthose variables are linked, but this could be answered by someone with more insight of the workings of the game.
Personally I have never entirely understood the weather in SH3, and I fear I never will, just hate it and live with it would be my advice :doh:

8 They're greyed out because your boat does not have any radar installed, once you do get radar they'll become active, same for the deckgun ina type II

[prince_vlad]

Thank you very much for your detailed explanation!...If I find more question be sure I'll be asking them.:)

[bosco2k]

It is listed as 1.4.0.1, is that 1.4b?

[KeptinCranky]

yes :up:

[barkhorn45]

interstingly enough i have been using the buttons to set the crew from cruise mode to attack mode both surfaced and submerged.granted i've only been using gwx 2.1 for 2 patrols and a couple of single missions and it has'ent given me a problem.until reading these post's i did'nt realize there was a problem.also as for the damaged disc you can go to direct to drive and d/l sh3 that is already patched to 1.4 for $9.95.

[Turbine]

Please forgive me for hijacking this thread from newbie questions but at least I am a newbie. :D
I have only read through about half of this thread so far and I have noticed a distinct lack of meanness towards the noobs. What's up with that? You guys are giving the sim community a bad name! :up:
I recently downloaded SH3 from Steam and I love it. I spent 4 years on a modern sub (SSN-652) and I never thought I would enjoy being on one again. :o
It must be the fact that I can turn it off & go take a shower with as much water as I want. Thanks for being a great community!

[Buczek]

Hello, is there any place where I can lay my hands on Silent Hunter III Community Manual? Wiki site is down, but maybe somone has it copied to .pdf or .rtf file? Or maybe it's hosted somewhere I can't locate it?

Thanks in advance for Your help!

[danlisa]

Welcome to Subsim.:up:

You can download the entire Wiki here - http://files.filefront.com/SH3+Community+Manualrar/;9619539;/fileinfo.html

Very kindly saved by Yamato.

[meduza]

SH3 Community Manual (http://alexbret.perso.cegetel.net/index4875.php)

Welcome aboard!

[danlisa]

@ Buczek
On it's way.:up:

Edit - Weird edit.:doh:

[Capt Sinbad]

Guys i would really love to be able to hunt and kill shipping realisticly as you lot seem to be doing. My problem is i don't have the ability to print off the manuals such as Wazoo's Manual Charting & Targeting Tutorial (http://www.paulwasserman.net/SHIII/).

Is there anyway that i can play the game, then pause it and then look and read the tutorial step by step ingame?

cheers guys

[JHuschke]

These links change often when you click on them seperate times. What is the exact link for the community manual?

[sharkbit]

These links change often when you click on them seperate times. What is the exact link for the community manual?

try this one:
http://alexbret.perso.cegetel.net/index4875.php

:)

[Havokflight]

Great thread and thanks for posting the link to the Community Manual.

[Big Scouse]

I am just about tearing my chuffing hair out and getting thoroughly hacked off with this, I started to play SHIII a while ago, could'nt get my head round it and binned it, recently another player convinced me to give it another try which I did, started to understand more and so played more......in career mode I managed to complete all the Wilhemshaven patrols, gained enough renown to upgrade my boat which I did, and my base port was changed to Brest, sailed on five patrols from there and every time it crashed!, my oppo said something about a snag if there was an A/S Trawler in the vicinity and reccomended that I try downloading GWX2, after much hunting around the net (he never gave me a link :damn: ) I found the homepage, made my donation and downloaded the mod, deleted my SHIII and reloaded it with the 1.4 patch and ran GWX exe.......and some of the files are corrupted :damn: ......now I cannot get back to the download page without making another donation to re-download the corrupt files......I am a bit wary of making another donation when the download was corrupt so am stymied.............


HELPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP :damn:

[TarJak]

Ummmm. The donation period ended a few months ago and was only required to get an early release of the file. You don't need to donate any more unless you really want to. Neal would be glad of the assistance in keeping Subsim going.

Just DL the files again an see if you can get rid of the corrupted DL.

[Big Scouse]

Ummmm. The donation period ended a few months ago and was only required to get an early release of the file. You don't need to donate any more unless you really want to. Neal would be glad of the assistance in keeping Subsim going.

Just DL the files again an see if you can get rid of the corrupted DL.


Thank you.........

[spiltnuc]

While on patrol let's say in grid ET on map I'll receive numerous contact messages from other subs in far away grids such as AL. I'd welcome reports in neighboring areas or ones I could steam to and assist but these others rub me the wrong way.Is there anyway to adjust??? Thanks in advance

[meduza]

While on patrol let's say in grid ET on map I'll receive numerous contact messages from other subs in far away grids such as AL. I'd welcome reports in neighboring areas or ones I could steam to and assist but these others rub me the wrong way.Is there anyway to adjust??? Thanks in advance Most of the messages are for immersion only. When you receive a valid contact report from BdU, the position of the convoy or task force will be marked on the map. And you will receive reports only for contacts that are close to you. Well, at least no more than 300km away. :D

[spiltnuc]

Well when you escelerate time you won't get anywhere fast with all these useless incoming messages what a rankle..:arrgh!:

[A Very Super Market]

You can change what level your TC goes down to with SH3 commander, or you could delete them completely.

[robj250]

I am approaching a convoy with 16 merchants and 7 escorts.

I am using a IXC with Bolds.

I have never used them. When do I deploy them and then what should I do?

Rob

[A Very Super Market]

Press F1 and look for the hotkey.

As for what they do, they create a bunch of bubbles that are noisy and almost solid. The destroyers pick it up, run to depth charge it, and you get a free attack.

Sometimes.

[loreed]

I have had the best luck near 160 meters in the open Atlantic in late 44 on, above that my success rate with bold is bad. Before that the seem to work better at shollower depth if you employ evasive maneuvers along with the bold. It still seems like a crap shoot to me but its better than doing nothing.

[marioa]

I have purchased SH3 and will learn the game.Please i can't find the Hot Keys to save and to load a game in progress.- Any help will be appreciated.
Thanks in advance.
Regards
marioa

[bgey]

Welcome marioa! :yeah:

Pressing the ESC will open a menu from which you can save or load a game. As far as I know, there are no hot keys to save/load.

Cheers!

Benny

[Bis71]

I have purchased SH3 and will learn the game.Please i can't find the Hot Keys to save and to load a game in progress.- Any help will be appreciated.
Thanks in advance.
Regards
marioa

For a nice printable list of hotkeys, go here:

http://www.subsowespac.org/downloads/SHKeys.htm

[john doie]

It's quite late and I'm quite tired so I'n not really thinking right now, but it will be helpfull to know if any one has experimented this.
http://img24.imageshack.us/img24/4053/unknowproblem.th.jpg (http://img24.imageshack.us/my.php?image=unknowproblem.jpg)

That is the main screen of SH3, freshly installed, no mods.
Apparently is due to a video codec.

[Fincuan]

ffdshow installed? Remove it and get one of the newest "nightly builds" versions.

[NeonSamurai]

One of these days I'll have to update the front post with new links when I have some time (probably not until mid April). Not sure I want to know how many are now totally dead with out recourse as it will probably gut the links part of the guide.

[john doie]

"fdshow installed? Remove it and get one of the newest "nightly builds" versions."

That solved the problem...Didn't reboot the pc, though....

[robj250]

If I am in contact with a convoy, and I send out a message, will hq send any help if I'm using GWX?

Rob

[Lzs von swe]

If you have visual contact with the convoy BDU will thank you for your report.
I have seen Luftwaffe planes showing up at the scene in the North sea after reporting convoys. And U-boats have showed up in the Atlantic, but I don´t know if they answered the call or if they just happened to be in the area anyway.

[Kubryk]

Hi guys,

I've been lurking on subsim for one month now and learned a lot thanks to your generosity. Thank you for your help!

I bought Silent Hunter AFAIR in '05 or '06, as soon as it became available in Polish stores. However my computer couldn't deal with this game, so I waited 'till I got a new one and had enough spare time to loose :)

I'm playing stock SH3 v.1.4b (I think :). I've read a lot about mods but I want to finish my first career before tweaking the game. Currently I'm on my 5th patrol, it's April 1940. From the start I play on high realism, I only left external view for screenshots and dud torpedos (I'm not ready for this yet :)

The biggest challenge of my career so far was my stupid raid on Scapa :) After reading Prien's book I told myself 'I can do this'. I waited till night, surfaced, set all ahead (i'm not sure about English terms here), set TC for 1024 and was pretty happy, when my crew shouted 'ship spotted'. To my suprise I was being shot at by a DD so close it was scary. For sure closer than 500m he was. I ordered crash dive, changed depth orders (there wasn't enough space under the keel, water was pretty shallow).

I was pretty sure I was a goner, so I used external view to watch the show. After very short period I was being attacked by 5 destroyers. By cheating (pressing dot to see all contacts) I learned that 5 ships were speeding to my position, 2 additional destroyers and 3 trawlers or something like this.

The funny part is that by running close to the bottom (I don't remember exact depth but it was pretty shallow) and running with speed of 1 knot I managed to escape with more than 80% of hull integrity. It took me at least 2 hours RT, but I was still more suprised than reliefed. :) I mean - this is my first sim, I'm a newbie and 5 DD's cannot kill me? Maybe that's beacuse the year was 1939, I don't know. I was in a VIIB, of course running with top speed on a surface I didn't even get close to port entrance, and that's probably saved me.


It takes me a lot of RT hours to finish a patrol, this game is time consuming. For now I'm somewhat displeased with the game engine - crew fatigue, constant (I mean constant) bad weather, it's virtually impossible to get distance to contact through periscope). I only got one BdU convoy report, of course I was out of torps back then. So after so many days at sea I never saw more than 2 merchants at once. This is dissapointing. The word 'convoy' is still a mystery to me :yawn:

By playing I learned that in AN13 one can find a lot of lonely C2's, rarely C3's. In my game I only encounter C2, C3, DD and some small merchants and trawlers. Nothing big. This is becoming rather dull :down:

And here for my questions:
1. in some post I stumbled upon a place on map called 'tanker alley'. Can someone tell me in which grid this alley can be found?

2. where (in stock game) can I find convoys?

3. what's wrong with this forum? :06: :) When I was lurking everything was OK. Now that I registered (being logged in) I see posts in some wacky order. First post on first page of a thread is always the newest, so in order to find a firstly-posted post in a thread I have to click my way to the last page and then scroll down to the bottom, and, when first post is long, scroll a little up. This IS frustrating :DL
I'm viewing forum in a linear mode. I searched for some options to fix the order but failed. Can someone please help me with this issue? I'm using Chrome.

Greetings from Poland!
Kubryk

PS
Thanks to subsim I learned the silliness of riding with TC 1024 on enemy-infested waters, so please don't point that out :rotfl:

[Pvt. Public]

i just recently realised that its possible to change the pattern torpedo settings. but the only way i know of is that clumsy and frustrating 3d model in the conning tower. is there any other way to set them? please teach me

also i asked this before but nobody seemed to have an answer, does SH3+GWX3 simuluate sonar ranging inaccuracies of some kind? check this thread if you want to see my full question.
http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=151013
i have no idea why it happens, ideas?

[USbsdKiwi]

I see the forums' aren't too active these days, but here goes anyway.

I bought SH3 last week, a cheapie steal at 10 bucks at officemax. I went to update patches from ubisoft this week and found an error message cropped up not recogizing the version of the game...some .dll message.

now, the game installed from DVD, but I was wondering if the cheap version is simply the online version loaded onto a DVD?

btw, this game is freaking cool...I loved it more than subcommander from EA games a few years back.

[Pvt. Public]

well its entirely possible that you have purchased the one that comes pre patched to 1.4, launch the game and look down at the very bottom right hand corner and you should find the version number there.

im pretty new to the game as well but hope this helps. :)

[sharkbit]

As Pvt Public said above-you're probably good to go and already patched to 1.4.
I saw the same thing last year when I got the game and tried to patch it and then noticed the v1.4 at the bottom right of the load screen.

Welcome aboard and enjoy the game!
:)

[USbsdKiwi]

Thanks guys...I'll double check that. The DVD disk itself says V1.0, but I'll look inside the game and see.

Like I said, so far this game is simply magnificent: got my first magnetic detonation of a fast moving destroyer last night...massive detonation just under the engine room. A second detonation obliterated any chance of the ship not sinking.

Skulking about through channels avoiding armed trawlers and destroyers in rough weather etc, a lot of fun...and nerve wracking. Has he seen me? Has he heard me? Have I enough air? Battery reserve?

[Pvt. Public]

its a thrill isnt it. if you havent already go get yourself GWX 3 and SH3 commander. its like a whole new (and 1000% better) game.

now i just need to figure out whats wrong with the sonar ranging and how to set those pattern torps. spoiled from SH4 with the sonar that has and first time running a campaign at anything other than 0% realism (74% now) so im still lost on some things

[USbsdKiwi]

its a thrill isnt it. if you havent already go get yourself GWX 3 and SH3 commander. its like a whole new (and 1000% better) game.

now i just need to figure out whats wrong with the sonar ranging and how to set those pattern torps. spoiled from SH4 with the sonar that has and first time running a campaign at anything other than 0% realism (74% now) so im still lost on some things

I'm really interested in the mods available, so much to learn, so little time to sim...love the realism settings.

[Ancient Mariner]

Finally got Gwx 3 + Commander

Now my problem has to with setting eels up manually,i get the range and speed right(mostly) but im still baffled as to the angle on bow bit.any tips? would like to play at near 100% minus the outside view as i enjoy watching the enemy as they sink

[sharkbit]

Look at AOB as if you were on the target ship looking at your sub, the relative bearing would be the AOB.

Example:
If you see your sub dead ahead, the AOB is 0 degrees. If your sub is dead astern, the AOB is 180 degrees. AOB port 90 degrees=your sub is directly to your left when standing on the target ship.

There are more and probably better explanations around. Do a search and some should come up.


Check out:
http://www.paulwasserman.net/SHIII/


The fast 90 method works great. Once your course is exactly perpindicular to the target's course and you set the scope/UZO as instructed, the AOB calculation becomes automatic unless you or the target changes course.

Hope any of this helps.
And welcome aboard. :salute:

:)

[Ancient Mariner]

will give it a bit of a go,that link cleared up a few things with getting the speed and course of ship too,didnt realis i had to watch them for such a period of time either.

will give it a go tonight

[Ancient Mariner]

sweet gave it a blast and managed to sink the fast moving tanker in the exam,took me a few attempts though,will work on it.....

[sharkbit]

Glad it worked out. :up:
Keep practicing.

That tutorial is probably one of the best out there on manual targeting.

...didnt realis i had to watch them for such a period of time either.


This game is definitely not a point and shoot 'em up game. If you read any material on submarine attacks, you'll see that approaches took a lot of time. Just getting course and speed took time and then getting in the right position could take hours(or even days) before you would even start making the approach.
I think the game mirrors that fairly well and patience is the key.
:)

[Ancient Mariner]

@ sharkbit,Yes this is true,gone are the days of multiple attacks on 4-5 ships at once(well for the time being). I must say that it has added a whole new dimension to the game.

1 other question,Would Kaleuns in the war have used any help from the WO?

I ask this because in my mind if the need arose im sure they would and thus i would like to edit the config file to enable this to be more realistic as i did with the external view,as i only use it to watch the enemy getting sunk.

[johnnyseven]

Help .....I have forgot the keys needed to activate :doh:the free-roaming camera inside my U-57 Kapiteleutnant Schoemer wants to walk about and inspect his sub.

[Bummy]

Help .....I have forgot the keys needed to activate :doh:the free-roaming camera inside my U-57 Kapiteleutnant Schoemer wants to walk about and inspect his sub.
I think you mean shift + f2.
http://alexbret.perso.cegetel.net/index1170.html?title=Shortcut_keys :)

[Melonfish]

chaps, i cannot access anything under the "List of modifs. / mod tools / mod tips (http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showpost.php?p=258604&postcount=100)" link on the main part of this page.
are these all now dead links?

[Crécy]

What means for example BE2234? What are those numbers?

[Melonfish]

do you mean grid ref's?
i.e. BE16
or AM27 etc?

if you hit F5 you will see that your map charts are devided into areas marked by letters AM, AN, AL etc.
each of these is devided into rectangles marked 01 to 99

so if you're told to patrol AL36 simply find AL on your map (marked in bold letters) and zoom in until you find grid 36. this is your patrol zone!

Good Hunting Heir Kaleun!:yeah:

[Crécy]

Yeah, I know that but I don't understand why there are four numbers even the grid shows only two.

[meduza]

Yeah, I know that but I don't understand why there are four numbers even the grid shows only two.
Just as you divided the main grid (i.e. AM) into 9 squares, and these squares into another 9 to get the two digit grid (i.e. AM45), you can also divide it further using the same principle, to get the four digit grid.

[ReallyDedPoet]

chaps, i cannot access anything under the "List of modifs. / mod tools / mod tips (http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showpost.php?p=258604&postcount=100)" link on the main part of this page.
are these all now dead links?

As that thread is very old you would be better off with this one as it was the last one updated before the new downloads section here at SUBSIM. At least as far as mods are concerned.

Here (http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=141242)

[Melonfish]

spot on, thanks rdp! :up:

[Cambaz]

Please I need help !

I cant see my career saves in saved games when I clicked saved career the list is completely empty but SH3 file stays in "My Documents" and looks alright but in game it acts like there was no save, Please I need help I don't want to lost my new GWX 3.0 career

http://img33.imageshack.us/img33/7861/savescreen.jpg

[ReallyDedPoet]

spot on, thanks rdp! :up:

No problem :up:

[ReallyDedPoet]

Please I need help !

I cant see my career saves in saved games when I clicked saved career the list is completely empty but SH3 file stays in "My Documents" and looks alright but in game it acts like there was no save, Please I need help I don't want to lost my new GWX 3.0 career

http://img33.imageshack.us/img33/7861/savescreen.jpg

Maybe post that one as a separate thread in the SH3 Forums. You may get more responses.

[Lzs von swe]

@Cambaz
This thread http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=152247&highlight=saves might help you get it sorted.

[Lzs von swe]

This is from the bible, the GWX 3.0 manual.

Saved Games
• Restoring a game that you saved when your U-boat was submerged can lead to instability. This is a stock Silent Hunter III issue that GWX is unable to address, other than to recommend most strongly that you not save your game while your U-boat is submerged.
　
• Players who have just one career in stock Silent Hunter III will occasionally find their career has no saved games, even though you successfully saved your most recent game, and the save game files are present in their proper career folder. This is a stock Silent Hunter III behavior and seems to happen when you have deleted the career named after your ―player name‖ and replaced it with a name of your own creation), so the GWX team suggests you create a ―dummy‖ career (e.g., for Leutnant z. S. Fubar) before starting your real career to ensure this does not happen.
If this does happen 1. Find the folder that holds your career, e.g., C:\Documents and Settings\Pablo\My Documents\SH3\data\cfg\Careers\Pablo 2. Append ―x‖ to the filename so it is renamed, for example, ―C:\...\Careers\Pablox‖ 3. Exit and restart Silent Hunter III, then verify if Silent Hunter III can now read the contents of the ―new save game‖ save game: if so, you can rename the career back to its original name. If not, you will need to start a new career.

[Cambaz]

Thanks for that helpful information and link Lzs von swe I got my career back, it works thank you again :salute:

[JMV]

There is a brand new Hydrophone tutorial at this post ( for non moving sub ) :
http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=154461
IMHO it's the easiest and most accurate so far. More videos are in in the making for when your submarine is moving and later convoys.

[Cambaz]

Ahoy dear Kaleuns,

I want to ask about multiple and synchronized attacks and tactics, for example when attacking a convoy for taking down 2 ships in the same time is there a way to do that in SHIII? If it is, please could somebody explain this tactics to me ? because I used this synchronized attacking tactics at SHIV with fleet boats with using slow and fast torpedo options...

[malspal]

What means for example BE2234? What are those numbers?

Don't know if you got the answer,but it is simple grid referincing.
BE22 is the area on the map. Imagine the area divided by 10 vertical lines and 10 horizontal lines ie 100 small squares.The 34 gives you a more accurate position.
Remember "you have to go across before you go up" a bit like the sex thing!!
So the 3 is the third square across and the 4 is the 4th square up, where they meet is your position.

[Dissaray]

Synchronized attacks are definatly possible. How best to go about doing this is a little tricky. You could launch torpidos at diferant speeds, i.e. the first torpido at slow speed and then wait x number of seconds and then fire a torpido at fast speed. The trick is geting that time, x, figured right. If you hit F6 you should be able to see at the end of the green trajectory line the time it will take the torpido to travle what ever distance you have put into the TDC. The diferance in the time between a fast and a slow torpido time would be the ammount of time you would have to wait between firing.

Alternitivly you could fire at targets in diferant colums of the convoy. If you shoot at a target in the colum furthest from you the torpido will take longer to get there than one shot at the nearest colum. Again you can find that time diferance with the TDC screen and adjust the timing of yor shots accordingly.

Those are the two best ways I know of geting the desired effect. With the convoy all travaling the same course and speed it should be fairly easy to get the time diferance calculated, just give your self a little extra time in your set up for the attack. If you were looking for an automated method I don't know of any.

[Abd_von_Mumit]

Don't know if you got the answer,but it is simple grid referincing.
BE22 is the area on the map. Imagine the area divided by 10 vertical lines and 10 horizontal lines ie 100 small squares.The 34 gives you a more accurate position.
Remember "you have to go across before you go up" a bit like the sex thing!!
So the 3 is the third square across and the 4 is the 4th square up, where they meet is your position.

Unfortunately this is not correct. The Kriegsmarine grid system is not a coordinate system you know from math classes, it works different. The map is divided into zones (quadrants) named with 2 letter-code. Each zone is then divided into 9 equal size smaller zones, the pattern is like:

1 2 3
4 5 6
7 8 9
Each such zone is divided into 9 smaller zones, and again, and again.

Thus BE22 means: quadrant BE, zone 2, subzone 2, subsubzones 1-9 [all]

[Cambaz]

Synchronized attacks are definatly possible. How best to go about doing this is a little tricky. You could launch torpidos at diferant speeds, i.e. the first torpido at slow speed and then wait x number of seconds and then fire a torpido at fast speed. The trick is geting that time, x, figured right. If you hit F6 you should be able to see at the end of the green trajectory line the time it will take the torpido to travle what ever distance you have put into the TDC. The diferance in the time between a fast and a slow torpido time would be the ammount of time you would have to wait between firing.

Alternitivly you could fire at targets in diferant colums of the convoy. If you shoot at a target in the colum furthest from you the torpido will take longer to get there than one shot at the nearest colum. Again you can find that time diferance with the TDC screen and adjust the timing of yor shots accordingly.

Those are the two best ways I know of geting the desired effect. With the convoy all travaling the same course and speed it should be fairly easy to get the time diferance calculated, just give your self a little extra time in your set up for the attack. If you were looking for an automated method I don't know of any.

Thank you for this helpful information Dissaray after the exams and juries I will return to my career and try that tactics... thanks again :salute:

[KL-alfman]

just wanted to greet all of you out there in rough seas!
i'm new to the game and the forum as well.
just wanted to express my gratefulness for the help a newbie is able to get here. and to jimbuna for his nice welcome!

just one thing i found out at my 2nd mission:
i cannot spot any ships!
was travelling to my designated grid, stayed there for about two days. then thought i maybe should go for the harbours in the near. visited the shetlands, the orkneys, then the east coast of england. but there weren't any ships at all!
just got attacked twice by planes, but they didn't manage to do any harm.

is there something i do wrong??

atm, i'm cruising south to the channel. if i can't track ships there, i nowhere will. :03:

[timwatson]

I'm relatively new to this subsim site. I think someone sent the above message to me, but I haven't figured out how to find their message and reply to them.

Is there a subsim "user manual" available to answer questions?

Am also trying to figure out how to find a subsim "friend" with whom I can correspond.

Thanks for this really informative thread.

kaleun Rolfe Hass

[KL-alfman]

the problems I had (described them in a posting above) were easily to solve:
just had to roll back the "Black Sea missions - mod", then everything worked just fine.

[Terragon]

Might already have been answered, but I read somewhere (maybe in an old navy textbook), that the surest way to sink a ship is to go for a stern shot. Is SHIII accurate in portraying this? Or is a hit a hit?

[Flopper]

Newbie here.

Last sub sim I played was on a Commodore 64. Was snowed in over the holidays, and discovered SH3 on steam. Now fully obsessed.

For some reason the gramophone doesn't play anything. I can play ogg files in win media player with codec, but for some reason the gramophone doesn't work.

C:\Program Files\Steam\steamapps\common\silent hunter 3\data\Sound\Gramophone has ogg files and one mp3 file.

The buttons highlight on hover, but nothing happens when I click. I have installed GWX (nice!), but it never even worked stock.

My OS is XP MCE. Any clues?

** Edit: Yeah. Check the music volume. :doh: **

[danasan]

That path seems to be correct.
C:\Program Files\Steam\steamapps\common\silent hunter 3\data\Sound\Gramophone has ogg files and one mp3 file.

As far as I know, the Gramophone is only able to play .mp3 files. So try to just cut the ogg files out of that folder above.

Maybe check out the awesome collections here to get some stuff:

http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=128841

I hope, it is not a codecs problem in your OS...

[Carve]

Hi, I have just started my 5th patrol and have yet to come across a single vessel. What am I doing wrong?

[sharkbit]

Hi, I have just started my 5th patrol and have yet to come across a single vessel. What am I doing wrong?

First off-Welcome Aboard! :salute:

Are you playing stock or do you have any mods enabled like GWX?

:)

[Carve]

First off-Welcome Aboard! :salute:

Are you playing stock or do you have any mods enabled like GWX?

:)

Thanks very much!

I am playing with GWX mod

[sharkbit]

Check to see if you have the Black Sea and/or Indian Ocean mod enabled. If any of those are enabled, you won't find any ships in the Atlantic/North Sea/Med. Those mods remove ships from those areas.

:)

[Carve]

Im sure I have at least one of the those mods enabled. Many thanks:)

[Carve]

Check to see if you have the Black Sea and/or Indian Ocean mod enabled. If any of those are enabled, you won't find any ships in the Atlantic/North Sea/Med. Those mods remove ships from those areas.

:)

Hi,

Would I just have to move it from the JSGME enabler? Also will I have to restart my career? Thanks for your help!

[sharkbit]

You should be able to disable the mod using JSGME.

I would think that as long as you do it while in port(as with most mods)you won't have to start the career over.

:)

[komoss]

I'm a total newb at subsim games and I just started playing SH3. Can someone tell me which ones of the GWX3 mods I should have activated? Right now everything is turned off.

Also, is there a mirror for the Silent Hunter III Community Manual (http://mysh3.info/shiii) ?

[sharkbit]

I'm a total newb at subsim games and I just started playing SH3. Can someone tell me which ones of the GWX3 mods I should have activated? Right now everything is turned off.

Also, is there a mirror for the Silent Hunter III Community Manual (http://mysh3.info/shiii) ?

Since you're totally new to subsims, I would suggest playing stock for a little bit to get a feel for the game. When you get bored with stock(which probably won't take long :03:), then give GWX or one of the other super mods a try.

To answer your question though, start out with just basic GWX, maybe with light harbor traffic(helps load times), and then just start experimenting with the additional mods out there. Everyone has their favorites. That is one cool thing about this game-you can flavor it with mods to taste.

Welcome aboard! :salute:

:)

[frau kaleun]

I'm a total newb at subsim games and I just started playing SH3. Can someone tell me which ones of the GWX3 mods I should have activated? Right now everything is turned off.

Also, is there a mirror for the Silent Hunter III Community Manual (http://mysh3.info/shiii) ?

Welcome, komoss! :salute:

If you mean the mods that come with the GWX install, the one that I personally wouldn't want to play without now that I've tried it is the Integrated Orders one. It makes a lot of tasks just a little bit quicker and easier to get to. I had it enabled when I first started using GWX, and then I did a complete reinstall and forgot to re-enable it... boy did I miss it until I turned it back on.

But as sharkbit said, YMMV on all of the mods available, so take his advice and try them out one by one to see what you like. There is detailed information on all of them in the GWX manual.

[komoss]

Since you're totally new to subsims, I would suggest playing stock for a little bit to get a feel for the game. When you get bored with stock(which probably won't take long :03:), then give GWX or one of the other super mods a try.

To answer your question though, start out with just basic GWX, maybe with light harbor traffic(helps load times), and then just start experimenting with the additional mods out there. Everyone has their favorites. That is one cool thing about this game-you can flavor it with mods to taste.

Welcome aboard! :salute:

:)
Thanks! Will do :salute:

Welcome, komoss! :salute:

If you mean the mods that come with the GWX install, the one that I personally wouldn't want to play without now that I've tried it is the Integrated Orders one. It makes a lot of tasks just a little bit quicker and easier to get to. I had it enabled when I first started using GWX, and then I did a complete reinstall and forgot to re-enable it... boy did I miss it until I turned it back on.

But as sharkbit said, YMMV on all of the mods available, so take his advice and try them out one by one to see what you like. There is detailed information on all of them in the GWX manual.
Allright, thanks!

I've noticed SH3 is very buggy though.

For example, while doing the Naval artillery training mission, I sunk all 5 boats and yet "Sink all merchant ships" objective said incomplete.

While doing the Flak Artillery mission I shot down a bunch of airplanes and it said mission complete, but when I pressed Escape to end mission and go back to the main menu it says "No exam yet". Hmm.

[frau kaleun]

Thanks! Will do :salute:


Allright, thanks!

I've noticed SH3 is very buggy though.

For example, while doing the Naval artillery training mission, I sunk all 5 boats and yet "Sink all merchant ships" objective said incomplete.

IIRC there are more than 5 ships available to sink. Some can get quite far off while you're busy sinking the ones that are closest to your starting position. I had trouble determining exactly which ships were the "required" ones and which were there for "bonus points." I solved this problem by sinking everything I could find, lol. (Or I might be remembering the torpedo exam, it's been a while. But I think it's the same ships for both exams.)

While doing the Flak Artillery mission I shot down a bunch of airplanes and it said mission complete, but when I pressed Escape to end mission and go back to the main menu it says "No exam yet". Hmm.

I didn't play much stock before GWX so I don't know if there's anything buggy in the Academy setup or not... but I know there are two options when you load one of the Academy tutorial "missions" - Training or Exam. They're at the top left of the screen. Make sure you've selected Exam before you click Start, or your performance won't count as your Exam score because the game will consider it a training run-through. (I think Training is the default). You can redo the Exam so it's not like you're stuck with whatever score you get the first time.

[mchl]

Also, is there a mirror for the Silent Hunter III Community Manual (http://mysh3.info/shiii) ?

I would also like to know this. Did anyone save it?

[Wilhelm Groß]

Found this link to the sh3 community manual.
http://alexbret.perso.cegetel.net/index48e2.html?title=Getting_Started

[Bittenfeld]

I feel like such an idiot for asking this. I don't think I have played a game that has had me banging my ahead against the desk like SH3.

How do you keep from crashing when leaving Kiel harbor and going through the Kaiser Wilhelm Kanal? I have started a career mode five or six times, starting in 1939 with 1st Flotilla. I open the Navigation Map and zoom all the way in so I can see the docks clearly. I plot a course VERY CAREFULLY from my starting location, around the docks and through the Kanal. While it would be so much easier just to click the other side of my Kanal as the final location and let my genius navigator figure out that the submarine cannot go over land, fine, I accept that I have to do the job and plot every point through the Kanal. On top of that, I have to stand on the bridge and make sure that the submarine doesn't run into any bridge pillars or, most annoying of all, stretches of land that don't appear on the map.

I know there are "Kiel Outbound" and a "Kiel Inbound" pre-plotted courses but the former charts a course eastward through land and into the Baltic region. I can only imagine that this is one of the GWX 3.0 mods because I haven't changed anything.

Sorry for sounding snappy but this is really infuriating. The Navigation tutorial did not prepare me for this at all. Please, someone tell me what I am doing wrong because this game is making me feel stupid! :damn:

[BlkGhost]

Just wondering...Does playing the gramophone increase crew morale?

[pickinthebanjo]

I feel like such an idiot for asking this. I don't think I have played a game that has had me banging my ahead against the desk like SH3.

How do you keep from crashing when leaving Kiel harbor and going through the Kaiser Wilhelm Kanal? I have started a career mode five or six times, starting in 1939 with 1st Flotilla. I open the Navigation Map and zoom all the way in so I can see the docks clearly. I plot a course VERY CAREFULLY from my starting location, around the docks and through the Kanal. While it would be so much easier just to click the other side of my Kanal as the final location and let my genius navigator figure out that the submarine cannot go over land, fine, I accept that I have to do the job and plot every point through the Kanal. On top of that, I have to stand on the bridge and make sure that the submarine doesn't run into any bridge pillars or, most annoying of all, stretches of land that don't appear on the map.

I know there are "Kiel Outbound" and a "Kiel Inbound" pre-plotted courses but the former charts a course eastward through land and into the Baltic region. I can only imagine that this is one of the GWX 3.0 mods because I haven't changed anything.

Sorry for sounding snappy but this is really infuriating. The Navigation tutorial did not prepare me for this at all. Please, someone tell me what I am doing wrong because this game is making me feel stupid! :damn:


I Find that keel is not one of the easier ports to start from. But if you don't want to start as 2nd flotilla thats fine (willhelmhaven is easier).
start by engaging engines at 1/3 speed, slowly guide yourself along the middle of the channel. There should be an escort for you to follow out to sea if your playing GWX3. Be carefull though keil is mined and netted. Use time compression to speed things up but don't go faster than 32X or you'll run aground or something.

When your outside port but still got along way to go crack your engines out to 12-18 knots depending how fast you want to leave port. The most important advice i can give you is to do it manualy till your a safe distance from hitting anything before using the navigation map.

[BlkGhost]

I feel like such an idiot for asking this. I don't think I have played a game that has had me banging my ahead against the desk like SH3.

How do you keep from crashing when leaving Kiel harbor and going through the Kaiser Wilhelm Kanal? I have started a career mode five or six times, starting in 1939 with 1st Flotilla. I open the Navigation Map and zoom all the way in so I can see the docks clearly. I plot a course VERY CAREFULLY from my starting location, around the docks and through the Kanal. While it would be so much easier just to click the other side of my Kanal as the final location and let my genius navigator figure out that the submarine cannot go over land, fine, I accept that I have to do the job and plot every point through the Kanal. On top of that, I have to stand on the bridge and make sure that the submarine doesn't run into any bridge pillars or, most annoying of all, stretches of land that don't appear on the map.

I know there are "Kiel Outbound" and a "Kiel Inbound" pre-plotted courses but the former charts a course eastward through land and into the Baltic region. I can only imagine that this is one of the GWX 3.0 mods because I haven't changed anything.

Sorry for sounding snappy but this is really infuriating. The Navigation tutorial did not prepare me for this at all. Please, someone tell me what I am doing wrong because this game is making me feel stupid! :damn:


I use the "Kiel Outbound" and make out just fine. There is a canal there that GWX sends you through. I even TC 32x to make it out faster. I do slow to realtime every time a new ship is spotted.

[pickinthebanjo]

I use the "Kiel Outbound" and make out just fine. There is a canal there that GWX sends you through. I even TC 32x to make it out faster. I do slow to realtime every time a new ship is spotted.

Yeah ive read about that keil outbound, but since i'm out from wilhellmshaven I don't mind the trip. (German ships galore) And yeah I noticed that canal your talking about takes you right to wilhellmshaven right?

Can't wait till st.Nazaire is open

[Bittenfeld]

I figured out was wrong. You have to set the Kiel Outbound course before doing anything else when your mission starts. I was being sent through the Baltic overland route because I was pulling out of the dock and then selecting Kiel Outbound. Once that is done, though, it was smooth sailing, although it did take a long time (even going at x16 or x32 compression) to make it through the Kanal.

Just as a future note for other newbies starting out with 1st Flotilla, when you come back to do Kiel Inbound, make sure you go to the point noted on your map (it should say "Kaiser Wilhelm Kanal Inbound" or something and be near where you exited the Kanal). Also point your submarine at a 90 degree angle facing the Kanal. Only then should you select "Kiel Inbound" and be sure you save the game beforehand!

[Carve]

I am using Dantenoc's guide to manual targeting which is a great help by the way :up: However when I fire at the juciest part of the ship it misses going behind it ?:damn:

I have the toprs set to fast and all the other data loaded into the TDC.

Help:wah:

[sharkbit]

I am using Dantenoc's guide to manual targeting which is a great help by the way :up: However when I fire at the juciest part of the ship it misses going behind it ?:damn:

I have the toprs set to fast and all the other data loaded into the TDC.

Help:wah:

Did you open your torpedo tube doors prior to firing?
If not, there is a few second delay before the torpedo is actually launched which will cause the eel to run behind where you aimed and probably miss.
The Q key opens your doors.

If not that, sounds like you may have misjudged the target's speed.

Oh yeah....Welcome aboard!!

:)

[Carve]

Did you open your torpedo tube doors prior to firing?
If not, there is a few second delay before the torpedo is actually launched which will cause the eel to run behind where you aimed and probably miss.
The Q key opens your doors.

If not that, sounds like you may have misjudged the target's speed.

Oh yeah....Welcome aboard!!

:)

Thanks Sharkbit, Yeah torp doors were open. So you think it will be the targets speed?

Cheers

[sharkbit]

Thanks Sharkbit, Yeah torp doors were open. So you think it will be the targets speed?

Cheers

That would be my first choice. If you're underestimating the target's speed, the eels will pass astern of the target. But, double check you range and AOB as well.

:)

[Carve]

That would be my first choice. If you're underestimating the target's speed, the eels will pass astern of the target. But, double check you range and AOB as well.

:)


It was the AOB not being updated! Will always check that now :know:

Thanks :salute:

[sharkbit]

Have you tried this tutorial on manual targeting:
http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/downloads.php?do=file&id=1080

It helps a ton and gives a good start on the basics. It will help with that annoying AOB.

There's a ton of other really good info on manual targeting on the forum as well.

:)

[xptical]

Where can I find the Community Manual?

Nevermind. It's here: http://alexbret.perso.cegetel.net/index48e2.html?title=Getting_Started

[cptroyce]

Re-posted here from SH4 thread:

"In regard to your suggestion about SH3..I d/l (from direct2drive) and when opening the sim(this is stock no patches or anything yet) I can't get any sound and the graphics are stretched (I have a 24" HD screen and use 1920X1080 and don't see where to change the resolution). Do I need a patch to get SH3 up and running or do I need to reinstall for some reason?

No problems with SH4 at all."

Royce

[frau kaleun]

If you've just downloaded the game it should be fully patched to the last version released by Ubisoft.

The game's native aspect ratio is 4:3 so running it in fullscreen on a widescreen monitor will stretch out the graphics. There are some widescreen mods being worked on in the SH3 Mods Workshop forum if you want to look into those.

You can also try using the Res_Fix mod, which is available here:

http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/downloads.php?do=file&id=1092

I'm using this to run the game at a res of 1400x1050 - I have a 1680x1050 monitor. I didn't like the stretching either so I tweaked my vid card settings so there's no auto-scaling of the game to fill the whole screen even in fullscreen mode. The game runs at the proper aspect ratio and I have vertical black bars on either side which I prefer to to the stretched graphics.

I don't know about the sound issues, sorry - but someone else will probably have some suggestions. Posting your computer specs may prove helpful in that regard. :DL

[cptroyce]

Thanks Frau..That should help with the graphics aspect. The sound issue is still a problem. Maybe I'll uninstall/reinstall and see if that fixes it.

Royce

[frau kaleun]

you're welcome - good luck sorting out the sound. :DL

[firefighter26]

I just started playing SH3; the lone copy of it has been on sale at my local game store for months, decided to finally picked it up.

I am not sure if I have come across a few glitches or if the game is working as it is designed too. I have a few mods installed, Real Uboat and SH3:World (going to download GWX 3.0 as everyone here seems to use it). This is what I have run into on a few tours (career mode)

1) Manning the AA/Flak Gun.

The boat I have, in career mode, has a AA mount (Type VIIB U-boat). When on the surface, close to daylight hours, I want to have the AA gun manned and ready, just in case. However, whenever I ask the watch officer to man the gun, some of my watch crew disappear from the conning tower. When I manually try to reassign them, my AA gun person automatically gets removed.

I could understand if there was an explanation that only so many people can be on deck at a time, but there isn't. 2-3 from the watch crew vs 1 AA gunner doesn't seem like a good trade (still have to keep watch)... well, unless I am actually being attacked by an aircraft!

Is there a way to keep a full watch crew and have the AA gun manned? I have more than enough crew members to fill both positions.

2) Watch Crew not reporting visual contacts.

Cruising up the coast of Norway on the surface, I was checking the various stations. On the bridge, which had a fully manned watch crew, including a watch qualified officer and senior. Doing my 360 and spot a fast moving destroyer bearing down on us. Cash dive, all ahead flank! Get to depth, ask the sonar to report nearest contact. Sonar reports no sound contacts. Slow the boat to give him a better chance to listen. 10-15 minutes go by, still no contact.

Up to periscope depth, do my 360 and the destroyer is on the same course, heading away. Ok, its dark. Maybe he didn't see me. Wait a bit, and surface to continue on my way.

Up on the bridge, double check that my watch crew is manned and again, the officer an senior are watch qualified. I can still see the destroyer moving away. Watch reports no visual contacts. About 10 minutes later, the destroyer is well off now, barely visible on the horizon when the watch officer reports it as a contact.

Makes me wonder how many merchants I have missed contact with...

3) the little boxes that appear randomly on my map. They appear to be hinting about where ships are, but there is no way anyone from my crew could have put them there as they are outside sonar and visual contact range. Is this that "gods eye" mapping option from the realism setting?

It can be pretty distracting, but in light of not trusting my watch crew and sonar operator (see #1) is seems to be a necessary evil to enable it.

I have a few more questions, but I'll leave it at these three for now.

I am definitely enjoying SH3 and I am glad I finally picked it up!

[dfscott]

3) the little boxes that appear randomly on my map. They appear to be hinting about where ships are, but there is no way anyone from my crew could have put them there as they are outside sonar and visual contact range. Is this that "gods eye" mapping option from the realism setting?

It can be pretty distracting, but in light of not trusting my watch crew and sonar operator (see #1) is seems to be a necessary evil to enable it.

I have a few more questions, but I'll leave it at these three for now.

I am definitely enjoying SH3 and I am glad I finally picked it up!

I've never understood the whole "can't watch while manning the guns" either. I'm also not sure what's going on with #2.

But I can help with #3 -- those are contacts that are radioed to you from BDU. The idea is that other ships and/or aircraft have spotted ships and are letting you know. You usually won't get a message, but apparently your radio man relays the info to your navigator, who plots it on the map. They're key to having a successful patrol since they allow you to "see" outside your limited area.

Oh, and welcome, Herr Kaleun!

[frau kaleun]

Ahoy and welcome, firefighter26! :salute:

Item #1 is normal behavior for the game and you will find the same applies in GWX. The watch crew IS your gun crew and vice versa - when you order the guns manned the game will have whoever is already "up top" do the job and the limit seems to be 1 officer and 4 POs/ratings up top at any given time. I do believe I've been able to have both the flak and deck guns manned at the same time, but that's about as much flexibility as there seems to be with it.

Re #3, sometimes you will find that if a convoy or task force appears on the map you will find a message about it has come in if you check your message logs. (I've noticed that this also gets reported to me by the appropriate crewman but if I'm running in TC it won't drop back to real time and give me an audible alert so usually the icon on the map is what first gets my attention.) Single ships, however, just seem to appear without any special notice being given other than the map icon, as you've already noticed.

I'm not sure about #2 either... I've never picked up a visual contact myself that my WO didn't also see and report on immediately. I don't know anything about the mods you're using so have no clue what effect they might have on this... is your watch crew not reporting anything at all, do they miss everything, or is it just an apparently random ship here and there that you can see and they don't? I know I've had ships that I could pick up through the UZO in bad visibility even though the WO had "lost" it and was reporting no visual contacts when asked. But that was always after he initially saw it and reported it.

[Lord_magerius]

I've had #2 happen to me a couple of times, though as it's usually been when I've thought "oh, I should be intercepting such and such now, lets have a look out on the bridge" Probably too far away for my watch crew to see, given atmospheric conditions and the way SH3 works. The only time I've had it bad was when intercepting a convoy in the fog, no hydrophone contact for over 2 hours. I ordered the crew to surface the boat so we could plot a new intercept at full speed. 20 minutes later, "We're taking damage" I went up to the bridge and there I saw the A&B class 50m to port firing away merrily upon us. The watch crew still didn't confirm it as I sat there and awaited my fate, though none of them were killed during the attack.

And ahoy Kaleun Firefighter26 :salute::arrgh!:

[firefighter26]

Yeah, the lack of visual contact concerned me. The destroyer was pretty much on a collision course! However, if the AI didn't see it, I wonder if it would have just passed right over/by me. Oh well, I wasn't going to stick around to find out!

I am really enjoying SH3 thus far. The GWX pack sounds very interesting, though I will have to do a complete re-install of the game. I'll probably do that some time down the road; I'd like to finish my current, and 1st, career!

Further on in the journey, I was cruising at PD when all of a sudden the event camera kicked on showing a plane making a dive bombing run. I was already at PD, but I crash dived and went to flank anyway. Heard a bunch of explosions overhead. Circled out of the area, back to PD to have a look around. Not far off is a tanker low at the stern. No sign of the plane, so I took a solution and finished it off with single torpedo at long range.

I didn't get credit for the kill during the cruise though, so I assume it was still "afloat" when I fired, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to get a solution on it. But during the torpedo travel time the computer decided it had finally sunk.

Oh well, there will be more tankers, I am sure!

[frau kaleun]

Further on in the journey, I was cruising at PD when all of a sudden the event camera kicked on showing a plane making a dive bombing run. I was already at PD, but I crash dived and went to flank anyway. Heard a bunch of explosions overhead. Circled out of the area, back to PD to have a look around. Not far off is a tanker low at the stern. No sign of the plane, so I took a solution and finished it off with single torpedo at long range.

I didn't get credit for the kill during the cruise though, so I assume it was still "afloat" when I fired, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to get a solution on it. But during the torpedo travel time the computer decided it had finally sunk.



Chalk one up for the Luftwaffe, then. :DL

[firefighter26]

Target Identification:

I am playing in the early stages of 1939, so unlimited submarine warfare has not been called for. I was tracking a coastal freighter in the western approaches. It was just starting to become light out, so I kept my distance and moved down its projected course to where I figured it would be. Once I got there, I went to periscope depth and waited for her.

I wanted a good clean shot so I made sure I lined up nicely to present a large profile to shoot at (having wasted two torpedoes the night before at attempted stern shots that narrowly missed the mark). Something didn't look right, so held off and waited.

She got really close. Danger close as far I was concerned as it was now light out. In the light I could plainly make out the Norwegian flag. I checked my messages. Had orders for open hostilities against British ships at sea; and another telling me to avoid British Capital ships unless in self defense. A third message said to be on guard for possible action from French ships.

Nothing about Norwegian shipping. So I went deep and let her move away. I did, however, zig zag across her course and found a nice C3 Cargo ship flying British colours later that day.

So, other than for my own willingness to play by the 'rules' does taking the time to identify the nationality of a ship play any significance later in the game? perhaps at a higher realism level, or with different Mods?

[dfscott]

Ignoring that guy was smart -- sinking neutrals is generally bad.

In general, you only want to be sinking enemies -- enemies sunk will give you renown, while sinking neutral and friends will cost you renown (and can cause ships of that nation to treat you as hostile!). It can be tricky since it's often based on the date -- an enemy early in the war (e.g., France) can turn into a friend later, and then an enemy again!

If you're using map contacts and no special mods (such as GWX), the ships will show up on your map color-coded: red=enemy, blue=friend, green=neutral. In that case, you'll know right away if the target is a good one and won't have to worry about flags.



2) Watch Crew not reporting visual contacts.
Up on the bridge, double check that my watch crew is manned and again, the officer an senior are watch qualified. I can still see the destroyer moving away. Watch reports no visual contacts. About 10 minutes later, the destroyer is well off now, barely visible on the horizon when the watch officer reports it as a contact.

After saying I'd never seen it before -- I just saw this. :06:

I see a merchant steaming along, but my WO says "No visual contacts". I believe this is due to the way SH3 handles zero visibility. When I asked the WO for the weather, he reported zero visibility, so that I think that's his way of saying "I can't see s&*# -- how about we just submerge before we hit something, 'k?" :timeout:

[firefighter26]

After saying I'd never seen it before -- I just saw this. :06:

I see a merchant steaming along, but my WO says "No visual contacts". I believe this is due to the way SH3 handles zero visibility. When I asked the WO for the weather, he reported zero visibility, so that I think that's his way of saying "I can't see s&*# -- how about we just submerge before we hit something, 'k?" :timeout:

As long I wasn't the only one! I never thought about asking for a weather report to check visibility, though that might explain why the destroyer was able to get danger close without detecting me on the surface, then just steamed away when I resurfaced behind him.

[tehuurbij]

First of all my appologies voor my bad English...

I bought Silent Hunter III and I can't find the Mission Editor.
It's a legal copy with key code, map and intstruction book.

I've uninstalled and installed again but no Editor....

Help :oops:

[firefighter26]

I believe the mission editor is a separate program that you run outside of SH3; but it is located in the same main folder. I am not 100% sure, but I thought I seen something that said "SH3 editor" or whatnot in the same folder.

I am sure there are lots of people here that would know better and would be able to confirm or correct me!

[tehuurbij]

I believe the mission editor is a separate program that you run outside of SH3; but it is located in the same main folder. I am not 100% sure, but I thought I seen something that said "SH3 editor" or whatnot in the same folder.

I am sure there are lots of people here that would know better and would be able to confirm or correct me!

Great I found it !! :up:

I thought it was in the game. The booklet is not good because it's not clear where to find the editor.

Tnx !! :up::up:

[firefighter26]

Ok, came across something else that I am sure isn't 100% correct. I have the "real uboat 1.4" mod installed (probably switch over to GWX 3.0 this week).

Last night I was down to my last torpedo. It was a good patrol thus far, managed to put 7 British merchant ships of various size to the bottom, most within the same grid, entering the channel east of Dover were it bottle necks.

Anyway, figured I would take one last sweep through before heading home to re-provision. Found a nice Large Cargo ship. Did a classic end-round to get in front of it, it was early morning and I wasn't sure what kind of visibility she would have, so I submerged just off it what i projected its course to be and waited.

Sure enough, she came into perfect solution. She sailed almost perpendicular to me (90 degrees) at 600m off, moving along at 5 knots. Put my last torpedo into her, midship, good size explosion, visible fire on deck.

But, she didn't slow or sink. Ok, I figured I was going to have to do this the hard way. Surfaced the boat, matched her course and speed, stayed a steady 700m off her and manned the deck guns. Since it was getting light out, I also manned the flak guns.

Over the course of the next 3 hours (in game), probably 45 minutes to an hour real life, she followed the same course with some minor zig zagging, same speed and I just plodding along beside her pumping deck gun rounds into her (thank god for the time compression during reloading...)

Anyway, over the course of the morning (3 hours game time) I put over 40 shells into this ship. I stopped counting at 40. I put at least 10 HE and 10 Armor piercing rounds into her hull and water line (where it splashes just in front of the ship, but still detonates on the hull). Then I put another 10 HE rounds into her superstructure/top deck before randomly placing my shells. Some into her bow, her stern, top side, funnel, cranes, on deck cargo, pretty much everywhere.

At one point I was so frustrated I switched over the my flak gun in between reloading the deck gun and strafed up and down her decks with AA fire (which is probably against the Genvieve Convention, but it made me feel slightly better!).

I switch over and let the AI fire the deck gun for a dozen or so rounds, aimed at her water line. I was going to stay on station and pump every last shell I had into her, but a destroyer was sighted, coming in fast, so I crash dived and moved away (putting the still on fire, swish cheese cargo ship between me and the destroyer).

Any thus, my 8th and final kill of the patrol eluded me!

Are there any secrets to deck gunning that I missed in the tutorial? I know why my crew joined the navy, because they certainly wouldn't cut it in the artillery with reload times like that (I have "realistic reload times" enabled, but it was still pretty awful!)

[Bummy]

Such an small question so I post it here. Will game count it as sink if it takes like 24 hours for ship to actually sink and my sub is by that time already far away?

Edit: Oh, and it's GWX Gold if that matters.

[frau kaleun]

Such an small question so I post it here. Will game count it as sink if it takes like 24 hours for ship to actually sink and my sub is by that time already far away?

Edit: Oh, and it's GWX Gold if that matters.

You need to be close enough to get a "She's going down" message from whichever one of your officers says it (I think the Navigator). When you get that message in-game, you get credit for the sinking.

You won't get that message if you are no longer within contact range of the ship, so if you do move that far away before the kill is confirmed you will not get credit for it no matter how much damage you did, even if it was enough to make a sinking inevitable over time.

[Sgt_Raa]

how do i change my sig?

never mind... i found it

[Hans Uberman]

On March 10th, 1940 I received a radio communication telling me to abandon my current orders, open sealed orders and participate in Operation Hartmut. Is this just fluff that I should disregard or would I be wise to start heading to Norway and/or Denmark? If not "flavor" fluff text, do I have to actually open sealed orders as stated? If so, how?

My apologies if this has been asked before, but I couldn't find any results on the forums, in the official manual or the GWX manual.. I am using the Grey Wolves mod, and have not played much of the game without it.

[frau kaleun]

On March 10th, 1940 I received a radio communication telling me to abandon my current orders, open sealed orders and participate in Operation Hartmut. Is this just fluff that I should disregard or would I be wise to start heading to Norway and/or Denmark? If not "flavor" fluff text, do I have to actually open sealed orders as stated? If so, how?

My apologies if this has been asked before, but I couldn't find any results on the forums, in the official manual or the GWX manual.. I am using the Grey Wolves mod, and have not played much of the game without it.

I think this is probably just a message included for "historical immersion" as there are no "sealed orders" hidden anywhere in the game interface AFAIK.

[Hans Uberman]

I think this is probably just a message included for "historical immersion" as there are no "sealed orders" hidden anywhere in the game interface AFAIK.
Excellent. I shall now resume my regular operations. If by some chance Großadmiral Erich Raeder or teh Fuhrer order my execution or court martial, I shall leave your name out of the matter, Frau. :03:

[HW3]

GWX does model Operation Hartmut, so you could head there if you want to since there will be shipping related to that campaign around. Frau kaleun is right though, there are no sealed orders in the game, and the message is a historical message.:yep:

[Obersteuermann]

Quick question: with nav map updates enabled, what do the various rings/cones/geometric shapes that appear when you click on an escort mean?

Obviously something to do with sensor ranges, but I can't find anything in the various manuals that explains it. Thanks in advance!

[OSU]

I got another quick question. Can you witness the Bismarck battle at all? Does GWX model it into the game, or do you just hear about through radio messages? I'm currently lurking off the British Eastern coast on the 30th of August waiting for the war to start, and I know that the Bismarck was sunk early during the war. Not as early as 1939, I know, but I still would like to find out. Also are there any good places to catch the Royal Navy sleeping at the beginning of the war? I already snuck into Scapa Flow right after September 3. Easier than I thought, then I had a CTD. Oh well. No matter. Scapa isn't going anywhere. Any help would be appreciated.

[frau kaleun]

Can you witness the Bismarck battle at all?

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0a/Rheinuebung_Karte2.png

That's a chart of the real life ship movements for the Rheinübung mission and subsequent engagements, with the route of the German ships in red. The Bismarck left Gotenhafen early in the morning on May 19 1941; the Hood went down on May 24 and the Bismarck was sunk three days later on May 27.

I'm not sure GWX models all of this since I haven't played through those dates yet, but I'm gonna guess the answer is "yes."

Of course you can always start a career around about that time and hang out in the right locations to see what happens. :up:

[Blaumer]

Hi...

Been playing SH III on and off for couple of years but never quite had the time (*COUGH*tenacity*COUGH*) to pick up a career..

Well this time I got around to do that and despite of its slightly repetitive nature I find it ok to play.

Technical: Using GWX 3.0 Gold, no other mods. Career started in 1939 (default time) and it's now May'40

I'm not into open sea hunting, so I've built up reasonable fame as a harbour raider. My usual ports of call are at the mouth of Canal, basically I hit Dünkirchen (Auxiliary Cruiser), Calais (Modern Tanker), Dover (Southampton Class), and Le Havre (Modern Tanker and Large Merchant).

Then to my questions:

1: It seems the harbours spawn same ships every time. Is the respawn tied up to time (calendar), or does it reset only when I return to base and pick up new orders?

2: Couple ..well actually quite a few harbours have Large Troop Ships. However, these are real behemoths in size and it turns out that because of that they are virtually unsinkable (yes, they go down a bit, but then their bottom hits the seafloor and .. well, that's it. Then they just sit there, and it's not enough to bring the waterline up even to the first row of windows :-P ). Is there any reasonable way to sink these pretties IN the harbour, or is it possible only out on high seas?

3: which brings up the next question.. do these standard respawn ships ever leave the harbour during my patrol?

4: and then to a slightly more interesting case... I found HMS Hood sitting in Plymouth.. but she's behind double nets and at an angle that makes it impossible to hit her properly (grrrh!). Does SHE ever leave the harbour during my patrol??

5: And on my most recent (current, actually) patrol I saw a (large? medium? small?) task force of 6 DD's making circles off Dünkirchen (plus a flight of some airplanes crossing over) which made me curious enough to get a bit closer and .. lo and behold, allies are deffo up to something as there is a Ceramic Liner and couple of Troop Ships plus some warships extra in the harbour enclosure. ... any ideas do THESE set off at some point, or will they just sit there no matter how long I loiter around?

6: .. which brings up my last question... how do you "loiter around" as a player? It's a bit difficult to keep an eye on the harbour with all the military activity around and I'm not sure I can pick up the convoy on hydro once it (hopefully!) sets out. Any ideas / suggestions?

hmm.. I think that'll suffice for now. :-)
Cheers
-- Blaumer

[sharkbit]

Quick question: with nav map updates enabled, what do the various rings/cones/geometric shapes that appear when you click on an escort mean?

Obviously something to do with sensor ranges, but I can't find anything in the various manuals that explains it. Thanks in advance!

You are correct-they are the various sensor ranges-visual, hydrophone, ASDIC, and radar.
Visual is the biggest circle. Hydrophone has the section cut out from the stern(the blind spot from the screws), ASDIC is the half circle in the front of the ship, and radar is the smaller circle.

These will change in shape and size as the war progresses showing the changes and additions in quality of the sensors. Or missing if the sensor is not installed.

Oh yeah-use your manual to keep furniture from wobbling or line the bottom of the bird cage. That's all it is really good for. :03:

:)

PS-Welcome aboard!!

[OSU]

Target Identification:
She got really close. Danger close as far I was concerned as it was now light out. In the light I could plainly make out the Norwegian flag. I checked my messages. Had orders for open hostilities against British ships at sea; and another telling me to avoid British Capital ships unless in self defense. A third message said to be on guard for possible action from French ships.

Nothing about Norwegian shipping. So I went deep and let her move away. I did, however, zig zag across her course and found a nice C3 Cargo ship flying British colours later that day.


I just discovered this myself last week. In GWX, when you are in the attack scope or UZO, in the upper left corner there is a grey rectangle with the words "Flaggen" on it. Just click and drag to bring it into view. This shows you a list of all the countries flags in SH3. It will also tell you if they are Allied, Axis, or neutral, and also what dates too, so you know when to attack them. Has been a lifesaver for me on several occasions. I play GWX with the ACM-GUI Reloaded mod, (great mod, I strongly suggest you use that with GWX) so I don't know where the flag book will be in normal GWX, but look in the attack periscope and UZO. Wouldn't hurt to look in the observation scope either. I hope this helps!

[Obersteuermann]

You are correct-they are the various sensor ranges-visual, hydrophone, ASDIC, and radar.
Visual is the biggest circle. Hydrophone has the section cut out from the stern(the blind spot from the screws), ASDIC is the half circle in the front of the ship, and radar is the smaller circle.

These will change in shape and size as the war progresses showing the changes and additions in quality of the sensors. Or missing if the sensor is not installed.

Oh yeah-use your manual to keep furniture from wobbling or line the bottom of the bird cage. That's all it is really good for. :03:

:)

PS-Welcome aboard!!
Excellent reply, thanks very much! :)

[Skunkito]

Hi all,

Well I've been playing for a couple of weeks now after downloading from Steam, I read most of this thread and it gets a bit confusing as it's jumping through time so I just wanted to ask:

1) What the latest GWX mod is and where can I get it?
2) Does it enhance the variability of patrols? At the minute I just keep getting sent to similar grids to hang around. Not particularly exciting.
3) Any other recommended mods that work in conjunction?


Thanks
Eoin

[Herr-Berbunch]

Hi all,

Well I've been playing for a couple of weeks now after downloading from Steam, I read most of this thread and it gets a bit confusing as it's jumping through time so I just wanted to ask:

1) What the latest GWX mod is and where can I get it?
2) Does it enhance the variability of patrols? At the minute I just keep getting sent to similar grids to hang around. Not particularly exciting.
3) Any other recommended mods that work in conjunction?


Thanks
Eoin


I'm sure as I'm typing this in somebody will be answering as well.

IIRC Jimbuna's FileFront page is the only correctly working download, available in some 7 or 8 .bin files and an .exe, or it's available as one massive torrent.

It does change the patrols, but if you use another fantastic mod, SH3 Commander you can even pick your own grid to patrol - just one among many, many tweaks and improvements in the game. You'll need a patch to get SH3 Commander working with GWX but I can't find the link for that one at the moment.

GWX- http://www.filefront.com/user/JimbunaGWX2/

SH3 Commander- http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=147237&highlight=sh3+commander

Other than that, and obviously JSCone's JSGME, then I'd say the Lifeboat and Debris mod is amazing. Then try some skins, turm mods, FM's interiors... just try everything, stick with what you like and what works. :yeah:

Edit: The patch for SH3Commander/GWX is the 'GWX3_CFG_for_SH3Commanders.exe' available from Jim's FF page

[Skunkito]

Thanks for that, just trying to get the full torrent to make sure I'm not doing something stupid.

I downloaded the individual files but when I setup it's saying I have "modded" files. Which as far as I know I don't.

I'll try again with the torrent ver.

Also when I start the game it says ver1.4 in the corner.... is the missing "b" crucial? :)

When I look at the ubisoft patches page there doesn't seem to be a 1.4b update.

Argh.

[Skunkito]

Got it working. Steam's a pain but as I posted elsewhere:

thing is that it installs it away from the location the GWX installer is loooking for, when I pointed it to:

C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\silent hunter 3

It worked fine.

I'm using windows 7 though so yours may be slightly different

if so do a search for SH3.exe and then copy the path...

Good luck.

[Herr-Berbunch]

With Steam you'll be patched ok, and I forgot it installs differently. Glad you've found it.

JSGME comes with GWX, but you should update it to latest version.

Another mod I'd recommend is Sailor Steve's Ships' Names, goes straight in to Commanders files not SH3/MODS folder. After you've finished a patrol open up Commander and select your kaluen, and then select other actions and patrol report, you'll get a better report including any vessels names and crew/pax/survivors(or not). :D

To be honest, there are so many other worthy mods out there but the ones I've mentioned I think are guaranteed to be in everybodys lists!

[Skunkito]

Thanks again. I only got a quick look at it last night after getting it working and it already looks like a different game, the activity in the port was amazing and it just "feels" better all round.

Surprised Ubisoft hasn't poached some of the talent!

Gto me thinking as to where you could go with Submarine sims. I guess for me I'd love there to be a lot more crew interaction over the course of voayge, something almost like Mass Effect where the characters develop and the story combines with the action. I suspect this would offend the purists but would make for a more immersive experience I think.

One last question though - do you ever get sent on actual "missions" I mean with specific goals like "sink HMS xxxxx at dock" or similar?

I'm still only getting "go hang around grid XXXX for a while" assignments.

[frau kaleun]

One last question though - do you ever get sent on actual "missions" I mean with specific goals like "sink HMS xxxxx at dock" or similar?

I don't think you get those in career mode. But you can choose from a wide variety of specific missions in single mission mode.

[MILLANDSON]

Nope, you're only ever given orders to go to certain grids (unless you use SH3Gen as well, though I've never had that send me after a specific target ship either).

[Herr-Berbunch]

Thanks again. I only got a quick look at it last night after getting it working and it already looks like a different game, the activity in the port was amazing and it just "feels" better all round.

Surprised Ubisoft hasn't poached some of the talent!

Gto me thinking as to where you could go with Submarine sims. I guess for me I'd love there to be a lot more crew interaction over the course of voayge, something almost like Mass Effect where the characters develop and the story combines with the action. I suspect this would offend the purists but would make for a more immersive experience I think.

One last question though - do you ever get sent on actual "missions" I mean with specific goals like "sink HMS xxxxx at dock" or similar?

I'm still only getting "go hang around grid XXXX for a while" assignments.

Ubisoft can't afford the talent that's on this site! I always find it amazing what people altruistically do for gaming communities, some of the modders don't even play the game! Maybe that's why the makers only do half the job (Ubisoft Romania - it was a very good half and not your fault things get rushed to be published!).

I don't think you get actual missions, unless you select single missions at the start. GWX includes a shed-load more, obviously, and they are recreations of real life situations (I think). Oh, and if you find yourself in certain areas at certain times then again real life situations occur.

[frau kaleun]

Oh, and if you find yourself in certain areas at certain times then again real life situations occur.

True, and sometimes you get "immersion" radio messages that you can choose to follow if they happen to apply to you at that moment.

I did this when operations in Norway were getting underway. I was still outward bound through the North Sea on my way to an Atlantic patrol grid when I started getting messages about British task forces heading for Norway, and then messages about boats in the North Sea protecting Narvik or certain boats heading for Trondheim, stuff like that. I could've ignored them and gone on to my patrol grid, but I followed them instead.

[Skunkito]

Damn, the GWX mod steps up the difficulty a tad....

So for the first time I start seeing convoys, superb I think, a lot more fun than lurking around the mouth of the english channel picking off lone C3's with little or no stress.

So up to this point I've had one Destroyer duel. I used my external camera and the orange indicator for my boat to slowly move away from him at depth until he lost me. Easy I thought.

so back to the convoy, seems like a lot of contacts 12 or more at least, excellent I think, lets try and get up along side them quickly and then get a periscope look at them, Hmmm but what are those two contacts doing that seem to be coming straight at me? ******* is that 2 destroyers??? How the hell have they spotted me in the dark so quickly.

DIVE....!!

I then spent an hour real time trying to get away from these buggers, but they just bracketed me and took turns with slow depth charge runs, I just couldn't get away. The external view isn't much use as you can't really tell where you are relative to the boats.

Anyway I've saved it and I'm going to continue tonight, is there anyway out of this? Or am I shafted. :)

[HW3]

If you haven't taken any damage, depth is your friend. Go slow 2kts, and go deep.

[I'm goin' down]

the community manual link is down. I want to begin figuring out SH3. How important is the manual? Can I download it it elsewhere? I need to know where to start.

[Cambaz]

So this time I need a different type of help I just build up a new nice system with a ATI HD 4850 gp with a Samsung P2250 21.5" LCD monitor but the resolution and graphics are awful for example:

http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g39/cambazct/SH3Img22-9-2010_51635_688.jpg
http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g39/cambazct/SH3Img22-9-2010_51540_679.jpg

is anybody have any idea whats happening ? graphics are shouldn't be like that...

[reignofdeath]

:arrgh!:the community manual link is down. I want to begin figuring out SH3. How important is the manual? Can I download it it elsewhere? I need to know where to start.

Try getting GWX first man. It makes a world of difference in playability of the game, and Id start at the first post of this newbie guide. Check out the Hunt, (If you are a noob to sub sims) and every other guide which you can understand if youre still confused, post and ask away and we will all help ya. But if your experienced with subsims just not SHIII, definately get GWX 3.0 and SH3 Commander, and just check the guides. Its not too hard to figure out I went from knowing nothing a few weeks ago to knowing alot of basic information, enough to survive my career so far with 34k Grt sunk :rock: Thats only in 2 patrols but its early war so Im luck for now

[JokerOfFate]

Cambaz I think it maybe
1) Your system is too good.
2) Your graphics card is not supporuted by the game

I'd play about with the settings if I were you :DL

[captaindnnis]

Ahoy, Skipper's
Well i got an problem
I still have problems to attack convoy's i dont know what position i need to take or how to follow them and when im attacking them most of the time i get Depth Charge'd :P so
is there an Tut or a Vid that show how you sould do it or can anybody explaining me
btw, i searche'd whole yt for a vid of it the only show something with the bearing:O

Well Cheers..:salute:

[JokerOfFate]

Best thing to do is go out and try and try again, thats the best way to learn with this game, I think anyway.

Try using Fats on convoys I've got tonnes of tactics, but again it's best working tactics out for yourself due to them fitting your playstyle

[captaindnnis]

okay thanks:)

and btw, Now my Mission is done
and im returning to base and when im in the base were do i place my sup to end this patrol? cuz i dont get a clue of it?

[Draka]

Short answer: once within 30km or so of you home port, hit Esc key and choose End Patrol - dock at .....

Longer answer - do the above only AFTER you have properly backed into an empty wharf/sub pen, depending on your base/year! LOL!

[captaindnnis]

Short answer: once within 30km or so of you home port, hit Esc key and choose End Patrol - dock at .....

Longer answer - do the above only AFTER you have properly backed into an empty wharf/sub pen, depending on your base/year! LOL!

Okay thanks:) but when i want to sail out again i get the same GRID the ET25 from La Rochelle?? any clue

[Wulfgar44]

I'm not a computer expert so i do not know what's wrong. I follow instructions as told on Grey Wolf website,... but nothing happens when i try to install the exe file. I use XP .

[Baronbandit]

Right clilck the grey wolves exe file. select change name rename file to GWX.exe Should work from then on.

[Gerald]

:salute:

[Telemon]

Greetings,

I am looking for mods butI have found that every link here where \phpBB\ is included in the address is brokenas an example:


http://www.subsim.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=46679

Recieved message morse sound by Hunetr
http://www.subsim.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=46074

Das Boot diesel sound by Moorhuhn1981
http://www.subsim.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=46009

Sound mod by W_clear
http://www.subsim.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=45892

Sound speed delay by Average Joe
http://www.subsim.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=44372

Life-like diesel sound by W_clear
http://www.subsim.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=43883

Das Boot sychronised officer voices by Reece
http://www.subsim.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=44584

SH3 vanilla sound bug fix by Deckard
http://www.subsim.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=44713

Underwater U-Boat creak sounds by ICBM
http://www.subsim.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=45019

Sound mod-pack by Nippelspanner
http://www.subsim.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=43873

is there a reason doe this or am I doing something wrong?

[frau kaleun]

Greetings,

I am looking for mods butI have found that every link here where \phpBB\ is included in the address is brokenas an example:

Those links might be in posts that were made before some kind of forum update or server change, so the URLs may all be null and void. It doesn't mean the items you're looking for no longer exist, just that the old links to them don't work.

If no one can point you to a new URL for them I would suggest going to the Downloads section and searching for the mods by name or by the name of the modder and see what comes up.

[Telemon]

Sehr dakne Frau Kaleun.

[frau kaleun]

Sehr dakne Frau Kaleun.

Gern geschehen. :DL

[Schiemer]

Hey everyone, this is my first post. anyway i've been playing silent hunter for ages but never installed any mods. i can't seem to find better instruments like a good compass for the navmap. any links ?

[Gargamel]

Hey everyone, this is my first post. anyway i've been playing silent hunter for ages but never installed any mods. i can't seem to find better instruments like a good compass for the navmap. any links ?

If you click the ? and then select a tool on the nav map, it will overlay a compass on your cursor. makes it nice to plot bearings.

[Misosoup]

Hi.
I have a question about wazoo's tutorial. "Manual Charting While Moving" says
that we have to mark where we are now and draw a line to calculate enemy
ship's speed and HDG.but,if i apply real navigation mod,how should i execute
his tutorial?and did real captains do charting while his U-boat is moving?
i think it almost impossible unless they have a exactly accurate
inertial navigation system.
Thanks.

[SeasickSteve]

Hi all!
Having recently bought SL3, and joined the forum – like those before me I’d just like to pay homage to those who have created various mods etc., and to those who help keep the forum running, it’s all above and beyond the call of duty! :up: There is just so much information here it’s hard to take it all in, Thanks! :salute:

However, also like those before me, I’ve a couple of questions before I start to wear my peaked cap backwards & play SH3 for real!!

I’ve installed GWX3 & SH3 Commander, downloaded some gramophone packs, and installed SH3Gen. I was going to download the SH3 Patrol Mod, but could someone just explain a little more on what it does and whether it is a worthwhile installation?

Finally, I read the interesting thread on Neutral ship policies and decided I wanted to change the basic.cfg file settings, but when I go to prog files>ubi>SH3>Data>cfg>basic.cfg and then try to open it, I get this message: “Windows cannot open this file”. :arrgh!: Am I looking in the right place?!

Many thanks in advance for any replies!
Steve.

PS Would it be worth having a “newby question” sticky to save the “newby guide and helpful stuff” sticky getting bogged down with questions like this one?!!

[CherryHarbey]

you should be able to open it with the Notepad application in your Accessories folder

welcome aboard

[Wulfgar44]

SHGen will work with GWX 3?? Can I add it to a campain?? And furthermore how do I do this,...like what folders, or whatever?? I am really enjoying GWX 3 and this Gen Mod seems like it would add alot. Thanks for Your help.

[Herr-Berbunch]

Finally, I read the interesting thread on Neutral ship policies and decided I wanted to change the basic.cfg file settings, but when I go to prog files>ubi>SH3>Data>cfg>basic.cfg and then try to open it, I get this message: “Windows cannot open this file”. :arrgh!: Am I looking in the right place?!

You are in the right place, as previously mentioned using notepad should work fine. Please be very careful what you change here as it's not all as obvious as it seems, copy the original file and keep it somewhere safe. :yep:

SHGen will work with GWX 3?? Can I add it to a campain?? And furthermore how do I do this,...like what folders, or whatever?? I am really enjoying GWX 3 and this Gen Mod seems like it would add alot. Thanks for Your help.

IIRC With Gen you have to start a patrol, go many km out to sea and save (not near land/convoy/etc, just like a normal in-game save) then Alt-Tab out to desktop, start SH3Gen and point it at your latest save, re-enter and load your previous save in SH3 and on your map should be lots of nice juicy (and avoidy :o) things. It definately does work with GWX. Enjoy your hunting folks. :salute:

[Gargamel]

Never seen this mentioned anywhere, and I just noticed this!

If you go up in the conning tower, there should be a box of switches next to the TDC, you can manually open various tubes, without having the previous ones close!! So for us that like to fire off a salvo of manually aimed eels, not relying on a spread of x degrees, you don't have to wait for your tubes to open anymore before firing.

[gi_dan2987]

Hello all, I just joined subsim this morning since I've been wondering what other methods there are besides nefeldamon's (I hope that's how you spell his name) hydrophone hunt tutorial. Of course I have all the basic skills down of evasion tactics, convoy approach, and multiple targeting with the periscope. My question is two-fold. 1. What are some methods to performing night attacks in SH3? 2. Are there any other hydrophone methods? I have been using nefeldamon's method, and it works great as long as the target maintains its speed and heading. There's nothing more annoying than doing all the work to get lined up on the target, only to have her change course and send all my invaluable fish sailing off into the deep blue without even coming close.:damn:
On a side note....I have the Steam version of SH3 and I'm curious to know if I can play GWX on it and how to properly download it.
Thanks for all your help, it's a pleasure to be aboard! :salute:

[sharkbit]

Welcome aboard! :salute:

I don't have any experience with hydrophone attacks, so
I can't help you there and one of the GWX gurus can probably answer your Steam/GWX question.

As far as night attacks go, alot depends on when in the war you are attacking. Late war(late '42 and on) escorts come equipped with radar and get better at using it as time progresses which makes any type of surface attack difficult to say the least.

Early war attacks can be rewarding. The key is patience, slow speed, and run with decks awash. With those keys, positioning yourself ahead of the convoy before you make your attack is very important. Running around at high speed is a sure way to be spotted.
Weather helps. Clear and calm conditions make it difficult. Some wind, light fog, and lowered visibility make things easier.

I don't think there is anything more rewarding in this game than making a night surface attack, watching the escorts search in vain for you while you slip away on the surface, and repositioning yourself for another attack. I've done it a few times and it is a good feeling. :arrgh!:
Those chances dissappear as the war progresses though.

:)

[gi_dan2987]

Welcome aboard! :salute:

I don't have any experience with hydrophone attacks, so
I can't help you there and one of the GWX gurus can probably answer your Steam/GWX question.

As far as night attacks go, alot depends on when in the war you are attacking. Late war(late '42 and on) escorts come equipped with radar and get better at using it as time progresses which makes any type of surface attack difficult to say the least.

Early war attacks can be rewarding. The key is patience, slow speed, and run with decks awash. With those keys, positioning yourself ahead of the convoy before you make your attack is very important. Running around at high speed is a sure way to be spotted.
Weather helps. Clear and calm conditions make it difficult. Some wind, light fog, and lowered visibility make things easier.

I don't think there is anything more rewarding in this game than making a night surface attack, watching the escorts search in vain for you while you slip away on the surface, and repositioning yourself for another attack. I've done it a few times and it is a good feeling. :arrgh!:
Those chances dissappear as the war progresses though.

:)

Nice nice. But I really am curious as to how you see the convoys at night when it's so dark. I've attempted using the TBT at night on multiple occasions, but I can never see them so I usually end up tracking them throughout the night and setting up to intercept them at first light.

[Gargamel]

Steam SH3 + GWX = haven't had any problems at all yet. It seems to be fully moddable, just like from the disk. Can only do one install though.

[Colditz]

thanks for all

[gi_dan2987]

Never seen this mentioned anywhere, and I just noticed this!

If you go up in the conning tower, there should be a box of switches next to the TDC, you can manually open various tubes, without having the previous ones close!! So for us that like to fire off a salvo of manually aimed eels, not relying on a spread of x degrees, you don't have to wait for your tubes to open anymore before firing.

Actually the tubes will still close as you cycle them :cry: That's why you have to open them all up, then fire them in succession. if you click around to the different tubes, the previous ones will close. Stupid I know, just like there are no swastikas in the Kriegsmarine flags :nope: Good gravy Ubisoft! It's a subsim! Don't you think historical accuracy is better than worrying about offending someone?? :damn:

[Gargamel]

Actually the tubes will still close as you cycle them :cry: That's why you have to open them all up, then fire them in succession. if you click around to the different tubes, the previous ones will close. Stupid I know, just like there are no swastikas in the Kriegsmarine flags :nope: Good gravy Ubisoft! It's a subsim! Don't you think historical accuracy is better than worrying about offending someone?? :damn:

I'm not saying cycle the tubes. Click the individual switches, and you can have multiple tubes open at once. Go back to the scope, pick the first tube, fire, and then cycle through. You can fire salvos this way with precise aiming without having to wait for the tubes to open.

And they don't always close after you fire/cycle. Recent thread on this.

[gi_dan2987]

I'm not saying cycle the tubes. Click the individual switches, and you can have multiple tubes open at once. Go back to the scope, pick the first tube, fire, and then cycle through. You can fire salvos this way with precise aiming without having to wait for the tubes to open.

And they don't always close after you fire/cycle. Recent thread on this.

Well I think that Ubisoft could have spent a little more time doing their research before just slapping the game together. It seems to me that many things are not correct. If I just wanted entertainment with little realism, I wouldn't play simulators.

[gi_dan2987]

Oh and by the way... I just finished my first war patrol after starting a new game in the stock version of SH3. I spent a month at sea, sank 5 merchants for a total of 18,500 tons, and then after docking at Kiel, found out that none of my stats were logged :damn: This game has definitely got some issues.

[Gargamel]

Oh and by the way... I just finished my first war patrol after starting a new game in the stock version of SH3. I spent a month at sea, sank 5 merchants for a total of 18,500 tons, and then after docking at Kiel, found out that none of my stats were logged :damn: This game has definitely got some issues.

Try this.... http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showpost.php?p=1591746&postcount=2122 :D

[gi_dan2987]

Try this.... http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showpost.php?p=1591746&postcount=2122 :D
I can't seem to find those folders. Oh well, damn, and that was a hot run too. :damn: Why in the world would it do that? I've never had that problem before... I suppose it could've been anything that triggered that bug. :nope:
Well I suppose I'll just go back to kicking ass in SH4 with RFB1.4 and NSM2.6:rock:

On a side note, I notice that I can only play my stock SH4 with RFB1.4 enabled through JSGME otherwise it crashes....:hmmm: Never had that happen before. Maybe JSGME disables some stock files when I disable RFB?

[Wulfgar44]

Got it now. Thanks for the help. It does add to it even though they ask me to RAID Calis in my IID. I have been enjoying GWX in general. It adds alot to the game.

[KptnLt Eric Karle]

Hi all, been a long time since I was around. I have just recently started playing this wonderful game again and was looking for a copy of Wazoo's Manual Charting & Targeting Tutorial, to brush up my rusty manual targetting skills however the link at the beginning of this threadappears to be dead, does anybody have a copy of the file or knows if it is uploaded anywhere I could get it from. Much appreciated

[FlankSpeed]

Wazoo's guide:

http://www.finael.fr/sh3/charge/charting_&_targeting.doc (http://www.finael.fr/sh3/charge/charting_&_targeting.doc)

And if you like video here is a series of youtube vids called 'The Hunt' which is pretty much the same as Wazoo's method, except he uses the WO for range instead of the stadimeter thingy.

(http://%20http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFm-Ymmyd-E)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFm-Ymmyd-E

[KptnLt Eric Karle]

Wazoo's guide:

http://www.finael.fr/sh3/charge/charting_&_targeting.doc (http://www.finael.fr/sh3/charge/charting_&_targeting.doc)

And if you like video here is a series of youtube vids called 'The Hunt' which is pretty much the same as Wazoo's method, except he uses the WO for range instead of the stadimeter thingy.

(http://%20http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFm-Ymmyd-E)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFm-Ymmyd-E

Thanks Mate, really appreciate this:yeah:

[Mustang01]

Gentlemen,

I'm currently playing GWX 3.0 w/SH3 Commander and loving it. I'm in my first "real" patrol with a Type 7 out of Wil in Dec '39. In playing a few "prototype" patrols before starting my "real" career, I started to feel that the "Opportunity Map Contacts" seemed unrealistic. I felt as if I had an AWACS or JSTARS flying for me that was way too effective at spotting random shipping contacts. My kills skyrocketed but I was nagged by the feeling that I was cheating. As such, I turned the decay time for the Opportunity Contacts to zero so I do not see them (note, this is not the Important Contacts that you get from BdU). This makes quite a difference as I now have to really hunt with the hydrophones and waiting for that fateful BdU message of "convoy spotted" takes on a lot more meaning. Am I the only one who feels this way or have other skippers done the same? BTW, what are the opportunity contacts supposed to represent, reports from other boats, Kondors, SIGINT? I strive for max realism in all things SH3 and have really gotten into manual targeting, trying to learn in the early years in order to survive after '41 if possible. Would appreciate any perspective.

[gi_dan2987]

Gentlemen,

I'm currently playing GWX 3.0 w/SH3 Commander and loving it. I'm in my first "real" patrol with a Type 7 out of Wil in Dec '39. In playing a few "prototype" patrols before starting my "real" career, I started to feel that the "Opportunity Map Contacts" seemed unrealistic. I felt as if I had an AWACS or JSTARS flying for me that was way too effective at spotting random shipping contacts. My kills skyrocketed but I was nagged by the feeling that I was cheating. As such, I turned the decay time for the Opportunity Contacts to zero so I do not see them (note, this is not the Important Contacts that you get from BdU). This makes quite a difference as I now have to really hunt with the hydrophones and waiting for that fateful BdU message of "convoy spotted" takes on a lot more meaning. Am I the only one who feels this way or have other skippers done the same? BTW, what are the opportunity contacts supposed to represent, reports from other boats, Kondors, SIGINT? I strive for max realism in all things SH3 and have really gotten into manual targeting, trying to learn in the early years in order to survive after '41 if possible. Would appreciate any perspective.

Welcome aboard :salute:
Kudos on your quest to maintain 100% realism. Many out there that play SH3GWX3 do not take advantage of the full capabilities of the sim because they play with certain things enabled like Weapon Officer assistance, map contact updates, sonar updates, external camera view (im sure real U boat Kaleuns would have loved having a birds eye view of their sub in relation to attacking DD's during a DC attack). All in all, 100% realism means exactly what it says. You get as real as you can get without physically stepping into a U boat in WW2.

The opportunity contact updates you get are ships that are spotted by any friendly unit that decided to put out an enigma message. Examples of friendly units are: Another U-boat, friendly aircraft, friendly merchant, or friendly naval vessel. Likewise you can radio out map contact updates if you spot a ship or convoy. I'm not sure if you get wolfpack assistance or not in GWX3, but it enhances the realism.

The one thing I have a problem with is doing night attacks against convoys. you really cant see enough on the surface to do visual targeting, and if you go below the surface to use the 4 bearing hydrophone method, your math will be off since you will be picking up numerous contacts. In case you didn't know, the 4 bearing method only works if the following statements remain true: the contact is a single contact, contacts course remains the same, contacts speed remains the same. If any of those variables change drastically at anytime during the hydrophone calculations, you will get false information, and therefore your torpedo solution will be trash. You also will not be able to tell if the contact made any of these changes until you fire and your torps miss. It happens a lot in the dark during stormy weather, as the wind and waves make ships cross drift and change speeds. Also if you can't see, you can't accurately identify your target, so you better not be in an area that is also traveled frequently by friendly or neutral ships too.

Renown in this game is much less than stock SH3, in the way that you don't get credit for merely reaching your patrol sector or returning to port. Merchants carry much less renown value, and if you happen to sink a friendly or neutral, you will watch all your hard earned renown go down the ****ter. Unless anyone has any better ideas of racking up immense tonnage scores, I would say your best bet is to attack during the day AFTER properly ID'ing your target. Good Hunting! :salute:

-Commander, U-65