Awfully quiet around here!

Not to worry, even during the war there were lulls in the action. :yep: :salute:

Roger that! :salute:

Silent running. :salute:

"Scope UP!" "Copy that!" "Target, bearing 16!" "16 degrees!" "Speed - uh... I dunno!" "Copy that, speed is 9 knots!" "Fire ONE!" "Tube one fired! - it's a circle-runner SIR!" "Crash dive, crash dive, ahead FLANK!!!"...

We are still in the process of fighting some nigglies and nargles... For one, the Balao doesn't want to co-operate with us! It shows up when the game wants it to, which probably means the Tench will do the same... oh well. We'll try to slap some lipstick on it, and gussy it up for inspection shortly (just don't forget what the software definition of "shortly" is)... :salute:

i second that motion.
i gave up on .71 late 42/early 43...
trying to make the Balao work was just too much effort.:hmmm:
will play OpMonsun in the Med until .72 is released.
Weiter zum nächsten, mein Herr.
:Kaleun_Salute:

In all of my testing, and most other 'witnesses' experiences, the Balao works fine, even when the game issues it "early", of which I am guessing is something that the devs hard-wired into the game - whether purposeful as a "reward" for 'excellent' game play, or accidental (repeated mission fix??), is hard to say. I don't know why it wouldn't work for you. The problem with getting the boat early, is that there are no missions specifically assigned for it until February, 1943. The only mission available initially would be the game's built-in default of East China Sea. One thing I did discover in the testing, is that the game will reach out and try to find ~something~ to assign to your boat, even if all mission assignments are removed. It will go alphabetically, starting in the "Patrol" folders of the Patrol Objectives, which happens to be an Attu mission :o - The actual mission files themselves have to be removed from the game before you'll get a "No objective found" message from the game - or else there is a typo somewhere... :roll:

All of the equipment on the Balao should function. You might have to move crew members around to their stations, but I was able to immediately purchase upgrades for the deck gun, AA, and improved radar, take the boat out, and use it all to good effect. Of note, is that no matter how much renown you spent on customizing your previous boat to pretty it up, you can't bring it with you to the Balao, but the skipper following you on your old boat sure appreciates your largess. :O:

Edit: A couple of things I've been meaning to ask you mark bonamer about your experience with the Balao, was #1, whether you remember the amount of renown you had, either side of getting the Balao assignment, and #2, whether you looked on your crew screen prior to departure with the Balao, to see if your Watch Crew were in the protected Watch Lounge, or at their Watch Stations? If you don't remember, no biggie, we'll get by. Thanks. :salute:

from what i remember, i started with a Gar in December 1941 and earned enough renown to be awarded a Balao October/November 1942 and could never go on patrol again. so i reinstalled and started a new career in early 1943 with a Balao and, of course, with zero renown but ran into the same CTD. i do not remember completing any patrols. Then i restarted my career with a Gato in early 1943 and still had problems going on patrol. at that point, i chucked FOTRSU, re-installed and went over the Axis side...playing Op Monsun in the Med driving a Type VIIC. i am waiting for the next release of Ultimate and then i'll try it again.
:salute:

Tell you what then mark bonamer, when you go to do FotRSU again, we'll have you do MultiSH4 and put it in its own SH4 game folder, and its own Save folder, and see how you make out. The Balao should have done fine for you, even without missions, it should have let you leave Mare Island on November 11th, 1942, with an assignment to patrol the East China Sea, somewhere between Formosa and Okinawa, then return to Pearl Harbor. All told, it would be February before you returned to Pearl, and you wouldn't have been back out for a 2nd patrol in the boat until after March 1st, 1943. Similar with the Gato, which doesn't have the same issue, since it has the same mission assignments as the Tambor / Gar boats, so there should not have been issues there.... :hmmm:

So, did you CTD, did you get retired, or did the game just hang, and you went to a black screen? In other words, what were the issues with going on patrol? How much of the troubles you had were before having other mods in FotRSU? But you don't recall looking at your renown score prior to, or after getting the Balao? Also, each start in FotRSU should assign you renown, even if we leave it out of the CareerStart 'definitions', the game has a minimum of 500 renown points when you start a new career... Sorry 'bout all of the questions. :salute:

CTD at the start of the patrol
at the end, none...because i was able to sail for almost a year in a Gar. the problems started with the Balao.
ok, i must correct my previous statement, your honor. when i restarted by career in a Balao in early 1943 i would have had something less than 2000 starting points....because i successfully upgraded my deck gun and my AA guns before starting the patrol and immediately CTD.
:salute:

please do not misunderstand my comments on FOTRSU. i.am.not.complaining.:up:
i developed systems and subsystems and interface programs for 30 years. there are always unexplainable and unexpected features when the system goes live. if we ever get together for a beer i can bore you to sleep with stories.:yep:

Ho ho! Let's talk boring computer stuff then! I used to read C Language and Novel Netware books for fun! 'Course, we're talking 'bout the heady days of Netware 3.5 and Win 31 here... Access v2... oh, and "Office" was just a place to work then, etc... :har: I'll take a Sarsaparilla though :yeah: - too many late nights with that other stuff... :doh:

In the meantime, you understand then, the desire for eliminating as many issues as the game engine will allow us, hence the A.R. attitude sometimes of "detail" digging... :arrgh!:

Back to tacks then (them details), the "when i restarted by career in a Balao in early 1943", is that a menu start that did that CTD, or an upgrade from the Gar to the Balao? (Ever wonder why it skipped the Gato?) Also, what date was the start, and were you at Pearl, or Mare (Treasure) Island? The game is more than a little squirrelly between October 19th, 1942 (maybe earlier) & February 14th, 1943 with the Balao, which is why we were trying to stop it happening. I think we'll just have to try a different approach, and "nip it in the bud" a different way. Any details you can supply are appreciated. Thanks! :salute:

New Career Start. Balao Class. Midway. Early 1943.
yes, i know why it skipped Gato.
Midway. Start of an American Career. i do not remember the exact start date but the new career would default to it consistently, i remember that. i would suggest that you select the early 1943 start parameter and go with whatever date SH4 gives you.

as an afterthought, it would be more realistic if a player always picked up his new boat in the States and sailed her out.

The game does not do that, nor does it allow us to, unless you get it "early", then the game sends you to Mare Island. The game also doesn't allow a modder to interrupt it's "flow of logic" for getting new conning towers (sails, turms, whatever)...

What I'm getting at with that Balao you got at Midway, is you're saying "Early 1943" for the start, the Balao isn't available there until March 1943, and FotRSU doesn't have a "start" for it until June of 1943. I do think we've "finalized" our current attempt at alleviating the problem somewhat, and I'll try a couple more ideas as we work toward later versions!... :salute:

i do not remember the exact date.
at the start of the American Career process, as you know, the player selects what time frame he wants to begin his career. i am saying that i selected the early 1943 time and i do not remember the exact date that equated to when the start process finished and we were presented with our boat and crew for the first time. based on what you are saying, that date had to be in March 1943 because i selected Balao as my boat and that boat is not selectable until March 1943. i'm good with that. March 2 or March 3, 1943 is most probable.
:up:

OK, thanks. If you did it from the Career Start menu, then it should have been June 6th, 1943, but the boat did not work for you? You just went to a blank screen when leaving on patrol? :salute: