After reading two discussions about reporting contacts a thought came to me. GWX is made with realism in mind. As "real realism" is a thing we could only dream about, we just try to make the gameplay tougher. I've read a few posts by GWX team members, where they refused to do something because it would then be "too easy to win". And I like the approach. :)

So I'd like to suggest removing exact course (and possibly speed) from contact reports. When I report a convoy, I must try really hard not to read what I've just sent. :88) But the temptation is strong. :oops: (now I just use these reports after my attacks, just to check how precise my observation was).

I would never suggest that solution, if not the reports we usually receive from BdU, that never give away exact convoy's course, they only give a general one, like NNW.

Now, is that really... real?:) IRL, these convoy reports came from other uboats, which were instructed to shadow the convoy for a certain time before launching the attack. The purpose of this shadowing was mainly to report... guess what? Speed and course, obviously. Thus, I think a convoy report must include three elements: location, speed and course.
Don't misunderstand me, mate. Not the slightest intention to flame you, just the way I understood the battle of Atlantic.

Well, you see... we've given convoys random waypoint changes and random speed changes.

Therefore, when you arrive at your intercept point many hours later, and they are nowhere to be found... how good was your radio report?:arrgh!:

Your partly right, the location, speed and course were fundamental requirements of the primary reason for shadowing......to guide other U-boats in for the kill http://www.psionguild.org/forums/ima...ies/pirate.gif

Im curious to know if GWX implemented any of CB's and Surg's wolfpack & shadowing contact reports concept that was in an old post from way back?

From some of the older posts I gather GWX devs ran into some conflicts ?

Im guessing that for some convoys CB's idea has been used or discarded ?

The random way points (again from reading old posts) seems it was a NYGM feature which was much harder to implement CB's ideas since he dealt with a stock game ?

Curious cause im thinkin about setting up a Vanilla install to tweak around with.

:o

Anyways GWX crew im enjoying GWX 2.0 and lookin forward to the 2.1 update

:up:

This game just keeps getting better! :rock:

Howlin'!
 

Well, I've been lost at sea since installing GWX2.0. I've worked up to 87% realism (haven't wanted to take time out to learn how to manually calculate torpedo attacks, but I will, soon. Promise.)

The beard's long & straggly and I'm bleary eyed & oxygen deprived, so I'm getting some time off for good behaviour while in port for repairs, so I'll take time out to say thanks to all you nutters that put your body & souls on the line to develop this great experience.

I see that even then, you are not satisfied. Thank you all for your dedication to excellence. We salute you.

I've had a few frustrations - like the screen going black, followed by 'SH III has encountered a problem and has had to close. Sorry for the inconvenience'!!!
Ahhhggg! The first time this happened I was closing in on a task force with the Hood and two other Renowns in my little ol' Fleet 1 Type IIB. Never could make contact with them again. Probably just as well as a couple of missions later the Fuhrer said not to engage enemy capital ships as it would jepoardise negotiations. I wonder if sinking the Hood would have upset anyone in Whitehall?

I eventually learned to keep making saves whenever I was about to go into action. Saved me a lot of grief after a 4 hour setup on a convoy.

Glad to hear there may be some possibilities of curing the triangle problem. If not, I find panning down slightly reduces frequency.)

Anyway, seeing as how you blokes seem to be likely to be forever willing to tinker, can I offer a wish-list for future Mods/Patches?

Some of these may be not worth doing or impossible and I know I'm only a Bilge Rat, but here goes (in no particular order).

1. It would be nice to have submarines included in the ESB Recognition Manual. Don't want to open up on a neutral or friendly. I've encountered two subs that I didn't know at the time what 'brand' they were, so left them alone.
2. "Light ships" don't show up. I don't know their correct name, but they have two bright lights on tall masts fore & aft. Not light-house ships, but course markers I suspect. I've come across two - one off Liverpool in AM 93 and the other at the upper end of the Hebridies channel in AM 38. They are there. I can see them, but they don't register on the map, on Hydophone or on visual contact report from the watch officer. Regular Mary Celestes. (They are handy to hang around though - convoys like passing close by.)
3. Unlike SHII, I don't know how maps can be toggled to Lat/Long versions (if they can be). This is a little frustrating, as messages sometimes come in or are intercepted, giving Lat/Long co-ordinates. I don't know if they are right next door or on the other side of the planet.
4. It seems that the maximum wind velocity is 15m/s. If my calculations are correct, this would equate to about 50k/h??? If so, this seems way too low for the North Sea. Some great storms would peak at over 200k/h?
5. I really miss having a calender. On some long intercepts I lose track of my transit time and projected ETA. Also nice having moon & tide info. Some orders come in for operations with date specific start & finish times, which I can't easily work out. Also I'd like to see if there is a pattern to regular convoy runs (like down England east coast to London.) There's space above the Kapitan's bunk??
6. I seem to have a problem with the calculations in Navigation. For example, I ran an intercept using waypoints. I was running at Standard in a Typre VIIB at 15 knots. 'Distance to course end' was 75km; 'Time to course end' was 2 hours. For that to be right, 15 knots would have to be around 30k/h. I know its faster, but that much? I probably just don't understand how to use a knotts to k/h conversion chart (on the right of the map?).
7. 'Rig for Silent Running' should turn the gramophone off. Its a bit weird everyone whispering while the music blares away.
8. Any likelihood that we could request refuelling? Or arrange to rendezvous a-la SHII?
9. Some messages ask commanders to open their secret orders. Is this possible?
10. Finally, the DC's under ASW situation. One solution would be to never allow setting the DC's for a depth of less than 15m. Then, with variations in depth trigger accuracy, you will only lose the occasional ASW with a blast radius of 10m.

My father was a Chief ERA during the Korean "Police Action". I think he was on a frigate (the HMAS Condamine) when he recieved an order for full astern after a full pattern of depth charges had been released. As the Chief Engineer was not in the engine room (he never was, except once a month for Captain's Inspection). Dear ol' Dad questioned the order on the tube, got an earful, so reluctantly & slowly implemented the order. His tardiness prevented them being in the worst of it, but observers on other ships in the group reported the propellers coming fully out of the water. Two stokers received broken ankles as the ass end of the ship tried to immitate a rocket and attain orbit, and no-one could access the engine room to render aid for about 10 minutes as all the lights had broken and the air was so thick with asbestos lagging particles shaken off the pipes that it was a white-out. One A-frame and shaft were bent and she had to limp back to Japan for repairs. The skipper was 'promoted' to a desk job. Interestingly, as recently as two years ago the Australian Navy was denying the Condamine had ever been in action in the Korean thing. Ain't life at sea grand? So. Losing the odd ASW to self-inflicted destruction is not out of the question!

Thanks again :up:
Gryff

Gryff, I was playing this sim for nearly a year like that. In the end I shelled out for a new graphics card, the cheapest 512Mb one I could find. Solved the lot. Cost me GBP40 or thereabouts. Now I'm thinking about joining the discussion on 1TC patrols :ping:

Best of luck mate.

:hmm: But the reason why the water is turquoise is because that's what is included in GWX (core and/or the 16km atmosphere mod). All SH3Cmdr does is correct a broken file reference. This has the effect of forcing SH3 to utilise the correct env files (both sea and sky) for the region the player is in *when playing careers*. Therefore, if the Med water that shipped with GWX was pink with purple polka dots with the sky being green, then that's what will appear in game whenever a Med single mission is played (with or without SH3Cmdr), or when SH3Cmdr is used with 29 Flot careers.

So, assuming that there is an issue with the Med water colours (not for me to comment on), then the appropriate solution would be to correct the env files (both sea and sky) in GWX, even if this means no more than replicating the Atlantic files. This way you are not compromising something that a) isn't broken in missions and b) is fixed by SH3Cmdr in campaigns.

GWX players can then benefit from the correct colours in missions, regardless of whether they use SH3Cmdr, and SH3Cmdr users can benefit in campaigns. Everyone wins.

Cool. Will do. Lots to remember.
[Edit: Sorted via replication in 2.1 build]

I asked a question about it a few pages earlier, but still no answer. :)

GWX II.1 Manual
 

Please, please, don't do a new manual for GWX II.1.

Instead do an amendment for the GWX II Manual, to upgrade it, by way of adding pages like p 215.1, 215.2, etc.

I used soooo much ink printing off the GWX II Manual, I really don't want to have to do it all again for the GWX II.1 amendments.

On another note, a little while back I mention I was doing a plan of the Wilhelmshaven Naval base a la WW II. Haven't heard back from anyone.

It shows all the inner harbours, berths, docks, canals, bridges etc,. naming all of them, and gives some depths. It also gives details of prevalent winds and tides. Is it possible to put the correct harbour into the game instead of the "nothing like it was" one that is there now?

Once Wilhelmshaven is done, I will be looking at Kiel.

Let me know, as the drawing is almost finished.

I have a question regarding this:

"Addenda: 1/14/08 ALL destination based renown removed from GWX. You will now only get renown for sinking stuff. (This also makes sense in relation to operational areas outside the Kriegsmarine grid system in GWX. In SH3, renown is not awarded for reaching destinations outside the KM grid anyway.)"

Does that mean that the patrol grid has no meaning whatsoever anymore? Or does it still affect some other things in the game, like awards/medals?

The patrol grids are there to give you an indication where the U-Boats of the relevant flotilla were operating during the war. If you want to go to a different grid area you can always do it without losing (or gaining) any renown. I think promotions and medals are still linked with renown, but this time to actually get them you need to sink some (or a lot) of ships. Just as it happen during WWII