Silent Hunter 4 and Permanent Weather
 

Hi all, I've been playing Silent Hunter for a good long while now (version 1.4 TMO/PE/NSM), and one thing I have noticed is the lack of weather change. I set off from Pearl 22 days ago, the weather being Overcast/Light Fog/Wind Speed 6/Direction 234. Twenty two days later the weather is exactly the same, in every respect.

I wonder if anybody could help me shed some light on this? Is it fixable?

Of course it doesn't detract from the great gameplay too much, but I'm sure you'll agree that having to change your tactics based on the current weather is a very immersive feature. Not having to is, well, not.

I would be very grateful for input :up:

Never had static weather, in stock or modified.

Possibly a mod conflict?

Could be, but nothing reported from others using the same combination. I was on the Ubi forums and one or two said they had had similar troubles, but nothing on the scale that I get them. Don't quote me on it, but it seems that when I start a patrol, the weather is dynamic right up until the first time I save....? :doh:

Do you save over a previus save file? This can cause probelms.:hmm:

Playing without any big mods, it seems the weather stays fairly constant (calm) on the first patrol. But, by the third patrol, I find myself spending a lot of time watching the clouds roll by ... waiting for the seas to settle back down.

:hmm: Maybe the season and location (North or South Pacific) has something to do with the weather. Not unreasonable ... or unrealistic. I've read accounts where skippers had good weather for an entire patrol while others nearly went bonkers trying to make headway in storms that lasted weeks.

Playing TMO and RSRDC for some months now, the wx does change albiet usually slowly, and then it will stay that way for seveal days to a couple weeks. I find the wx is more stable and not as bad as it was in SH3. Probably realistic given the locales.

Have never had a problem with this and I do it all the time. In fact I only have 6 save slots the two 'base' saves and 4 I roll through and overwright.

Well, I understand that realistically some weather is around for a long time on the ocean, but it's only where SH4 simulates exactly the same weather as I had when I started off, right down to the wind bearing and speed, that I begin to think it's got itself stuck.

I do use the same save file, and have only experienced this problem since using the larger mods. Perhaps this is a cause. I wonder whether there's some means to fix it?

Over time I see a variety of weather during a patrol. At some point in these games it would be nice to get some type of weather generator ala Flight Simulator. Plug in historical weather for '41 through '45 and go on patrol. I know I am nuts.

Happy Hunting!

I've never had a problem with the weather changing. Green Fog yes, but never it getting stuck.

If you don't like the weather...
 

Control N

The only weather consistency I've ever noticed is a 100% probabality of 15 MPH winds ,with corresponding heavy swells, whenever I make any surface enemy contact..... which has a duration corresponding precisely with the lenght of time required to sink it...:-?

This seems to have worked. I knew of Ctrl N as a weather "cheat", but it actually appears to be a reset of sorts, and now the weather is beginning to alter slowly. I'll post back with updates so that others can have a solution of sorts.

Control N? CONTROL N?!?

wtf? Why have I never heard of or seen this? What does it do, exactly? :hmm:

Another undocumented 'feature' kind of like the mousewheel working for the sonar :rotfl:

It 'resets' the weather.

And the radar too (good for short sweeps on FOCUS mode).:yep:

I have stock game no mods and up to date on patches and i to have had problems with it being stormy for almost a month anywhere in the pacific....a little annoying after awhile

Maybe it's just that you're in the middle of Admiral Halsey's Typhoon 'Cobra'.

I had a excellent webpage bookmarked but now it is gone:

"Typhoon Cobra and Third Fleet - December 1944"
From Samuel Eliot Morison "History of US Naval Operations in World War II"

However - here's another great read:

"TYPHOON COBRA AND CARRIER TASK FORCE 38
AN UNCOMMON ENCOUNTER DECEMBER 17-18, 1944"

By Carl M. Berntsen, SoM1/C
USS DeHaven, DD 727 1944-45

http://ussdehaven.org/typhoon_cobra.htm

Note: picture at the bottom - a little 'off topic' but may be of interest:
"USS DeHaven (DD727) fueling alongside a carrier"

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also:
"Battling the Pacific's Most Deadly Force"

By Thompson Webb Jr.

"During Halsey's Typhoon, the barometer was dropping like a rock, mountains of water were slamming into the escort carrier, and the wind was blowing a gale. The worst, however, was yet to come."
http://www.usni.org/magazines/navalh...?STORY_ID=1613

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and finally there is:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Typhoon_Cobra

Happy Hunting!

Art