Hey i just had an idea. USing the "Retirement" system of ending patrol careers after a certain time there should also be a period in which your boat goes through an "Extended Overhaul". Say after 3-6 patrols, a message should come up similar to that of a crew tranfer etc saying "Your boat has been selected for refit and extended overhaul. 2 Months until completion". So here is a scenario..

Johaan Kepler
VIIC U=371
Career Start Date 5/10/1940
Patrols 4
Current Date 3/7/1941
At Patrol 5 A window comes up "U-371 needs refit and overhaul. Time till completion 5.23.1941"

I think that would add a degree of realism to SH3. And i dont know if sh3 commander can do this, but maybe they select refit/overhaul based on # of patrols plus # of ships sunk. Ships sunk usually lead to evasion tactics afterwards so it assumes that u took damage. Or maybe u modding guys can think of something better

I guess so. Never seen Arctic water myself.

Yep.

Good to know. I'm sailing again tonight, 2200 hrs.

Question on Crush depth randomization:
 

Will the randomizer automatically set a new crush depth each time you start a new patrol, or can the user chose when to randomize i.e. if he switches to a new boat?

Hi Jaeson! Cant test myself due to not being at home for a while, but I hope that the hardcore Sh3Cmdr users will. I think thats the least you can expect right now.

I take that the fix for Sh3Gen will be included? Can I now officially claim the two mods to be compatible?

GE

I would love to, but I may have to move at the end of this week. If my job situation works out, I may volunteer in a couple of days. If not, I may not be playing SHIII or anything else for a while, possibly weeks.

I'll know in a day or two.

Yes.

Re: Question on Crush depth randomization:
 

The randomisation occurs whenever "Launch SH3!" is pressed. It means that yes, if you launch SH3 and you're in a VIIC but then upgrade to a VIIC/41 in SH3 before starting your patrol, your crush depth may reflect that of the VIIC, not the VIIC/41 (ie 50m less). But remember, this is the case now with SH3 - regardless of what variant of VIIC you are in, the crush depth remains the same (unless you have been using SH3Cmdr, which has always corrected the VIIC/41 crush depth).

However, this is only an issue where you upgrade within the VIIC class - ie VIIC->VIIC/41->VIIC/42 - after you launch SH3 via SH3Cmdr. It is not a problem if you upgrade a VIIB to a VIIC, an IIA to a IXB, or even an IXC to an IXC/40, which will always use the correct crush depth base.

Apart from the randomisation aspect, the main advantage is that when you are in your VIIC/41 or VIIC/42 you'll always get the correct base crush depth, and not the standard VIIC one.

Anyway, you cannot effectively adjust the value at any other time.

Note that in SH3Cmdr you can adjust the randomisation range and if you set both Upper and Lower to 1, you can remove randomisation of the depth altogether. As with eveything else, the data file is fully user configurable. ;)

Re: Question on Crush depth randomization:
 

Excellent news, JS! :up: I consider the "crush depth" concept one of the immension factors for subsims in general. :lurk:

Thanks JS,

My worry was to always have the same boat with different crush depths each time I leave harbor. But if I can set it to 1, there's no problem with that. So each time I upgrade, I'll randomize, and otherwise, I just set it to 1.

Thanks a lot.

"If a tree falls in the forest and there is nobody around, does it make a sound?"

In other words, what difference does it make? The crush depth is not something you're going to "test" each patrol, so you are not going to know what it is, or even whether indeed it does vary. It's only an issue when you see yourself sinking uncontrollably...but by then, it's prolly too late...

In a way you're right of course. However sometimes I tend to push the boat pretty far, and if I really once sank because I went too deep and then revive myself (no I don't start a new career each time I die :-) ) I tend know how far to push the boat, or better how far NOT to push it ;-) Of course some variables like damage play into that too. A while ago I had my Typ XI C brake apart at 80 meters due to damage ...

Jscones
A bit of positive feedback for you
A fresh career starting Feb 1945/Bergen/Type VIIC.
Using Unified NYGM/HT
Artic Waters look good. Thermal Layers working as advertised. I'm trying a late war campaign also using Random/Sabotage files. So far everything working as it should. Just attacked an EB convoy N of Ireland. Five fish fired at long range scored one large tanker sunk, minor damage to a C2 cargo + a DE taken out with a T5 acoustic torpedo. 5 - 6 DD's rotating above for some time but a thermal located at 180m saved my boat. We managed to slink away @ 205m/2kts/SR with minor damage.
Currently running surfaced at flank in process of regaining contact.
Every save/exit/ re-launch gives something different. No more taking anything for granted.

Re: Question on Crush depth randomization:
 

So technically if you are on the same patrol and each time you save/exit/reload you could have a different crush depth in the same boat during the same patrol. That is unless you adjust (or turn off) that part of the randomization after you start your patrol.

This is all great stuff. I was use SubCom a lot and then kind of drifted away from it. I've since drank the Cool-Aid and have come back again. :)

Quick question: Does Sub Commander adjust the settings of the various radar/sonar systems of the U-boat? There is a radar fix out there that I use and I read that starting the game with Sub Commander changes it. (I forgot the name of the person who created the radar fix).

Re: Question on Crush depth randomization:
 

No, but it can with a small amount of SH3Cmdr cfg file tinkering. Unless you are talking about Hemisent's Thermal Layers mod, which is included in the next SH3Cmdr Release?