Most efficient use of Renown?
 

Greetings everyone,

I am new to SHIII but I have to say that I am really enjoying it. What a beautiful game.

As I am just in my first three or four patrols, I am wondering if the experieced Kapitanleutants around here would be willing to dispense a little advice:

What's the best way to use my renown? Should I hold on to it and use it solely for the upgrades/new uboats/transfers? Or do any of y'all "invest" in the available officers/petty officers/sailors? In other words, do y'all just groom your own crew from scratch, or do you go out and get outside talent at the cost of renown?

Any guidance would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks. :D

Personally, I hold onto my established crew. i havent taken a new crew member in 3 sim years. I use all my renown on upgrades. Once you have a loaded boat, I keep racking it back up until I have enough to get a newer/bigger boat, AND outfit it with all the bells and whistles im used to, or better. Nothing worse than trading in your tricked out sub for a better model, only to realize you now cant afford all the good stuff youve grown accustomed to.

Whatever floats you boat :up: No pun intended.

I'm a bit of a hoarder, so...

I only take the lowest ranked men when replacing crew so that I don't need to spend renown on them. I consider them all "fresh recruits straight out of training".

I also only upgrade equipment very sparingly (maybe just the engine or batteries) - I am quite happy to run a basic VIIB until the VIIC comes around. I don't want the extra bells and whistles...I can't imagine that most Kaleuns had a ready supply of what equipment they wanted when they wanted it.

But each to their own.

My most efficient use of renown? That's easy. I edit my kaleun's CFG files to give me as much renown as I need without worrying about the most efficient way of spending it. :smug: :-j

I don't really want to give myself unlimited renown. I feel as if I will appreciate newer boats and upgrades more if I actually have to *earn* them.

What I WOULD like to edit, though, is the ridiculous fatigue model. I think it's a great idea that was poorly executed. How ridiculous that, as the Kapitan, you would have to be actively involved in whether or not each and every crewmember was getting enough rest. In the real world, wouldn't the XO have just established a watch rotation automatically? Why do we have to spend all of our time clicking each and every person in the boat to make sure they are getting rest?

Has anyone come up with a mod that address/eliminates the need to worry about the fatigue? Either something that sets watch rotations automatically, or just turns off the fatigue model altogether?

Seriously... the Kapitan wouldn't need to be personally involved in that, I don't think.

Easiest way to adjust fatigue (outside of using SH3Cmdr) is to edit the SH3 Basic.cfg file (in Cfg folder). Look for the [FATIGUE_COEF] block. Setting all positive values in this block to 0 will eliminate fatigue altogether. That is:

But I would first recommend that you try some of the alternative fatigue models that have been developed. There's a few around! Some are just simple variations of the standard fatigue model whilst others are whole new methodologies.

You bring up an interesting point about trying out some of the mods for this game.

I have to confess that, being new to SHIII, all the available mods are a little overwhelming. Do all the mods work together, or are there some mods that will conflict with each other?

What are the reccomended mods for dealing with the fatigue model?

How long is a piece of string?

I'm aware of a no fatigue model (posted above), a RUb fatigue which wears you down slowly with no rejuvenation when resting (not marketed as fatigue per se but battle stress), there's an 8 hour model, a 24 hour model, plus an NYGM model that focusses more on morale.

Ordinarily I'd say search the forum, but I can't say that at the moment cause it ain't working too well. :( Unfortunately, I have all the various fatigue models imported into my SH3Cmdr, so can't recall/don't know the original file names. You may like to search the downloads at http://u-boot.realsimulation.com/ or wait for more learned "fatigue followers" to respond...

I don't mean to sound ungrateful for your responses, but I'm afraid I don't understand this statement. Please explain. :(

As for SH3 Commander: I have downloaded it and run it and it looks very interesting. I do have a question that wasn't exactly clear as I was looking through the interface... If I want to use SH3 Commander, do I run it every single time I want to play SH3 and then click on the button inside the SH3 Commander interface to launch the game? Or do I just periodically go to SH3 Commander to edit my career, save it, and then start SH3 normally? Or are both possible?

Thanks, ahead of time, for the assistance.

There's no blanket answer. Some mods will work harmoniously together, whilst others will not. It depends on the mods and what they change. For that reason this forum is full of "does x work with y" questions.

Running SH3Cmdr every time is best. That way you are ensuring that you always have the latest SH3Cmdr game files installed in SH3. As files are copied into SH3 primarily based on career date, not running SH3 via SH3Cmdr every time will result in old news messages and the like remaining in SH3. Likewise, your chosen SH3Cmdr settings won't be "forced" into SH3 if you run SH3 direct. Nothing major, just distracting.

I'm another hoarder, I don't spend renown unless it'll make a big difference in my capabilities. For example, I stuck with my IXB until the D2 was available. The 5 extra torpedoes were well worth the 9000 renown to upgrade, plus it came equipped with flak guns that aren't available in the tech tree for almost a year( quad c/38 in early 1942). Bug maybe, but a sweet bonus. All the renown I save up in the early years comes in handy for buying homing torpedoes later. No matter how tough the escort, a Falke will seriously cramp his style.

I try to only recuit seamen, replacing officers and POs by promoting some of my old crew. That way instead of spending renown I can get a qualified officer with a bunch of decorations for free.

And my #1 rule for renown: always keep 30k on hand for that beautiful day when the XXI comes out.

Wow....30K? I can definitely see the advantages of hoarding renown, then! :o

I save renown for boats and equipment. I don't spend it on torpedoes, though (not usually). The XXI is indeed 30k, but you have until early 1944 (in the stock game) to collect that much.

Or you could download the NYGM Tonnage Mod which not only gives you a new fatigue model that was completely revamped from the original system, changes the damage model for enemy shipping so that they flood and (sometimes) slowly sink instead of unrealistically blowing sky high with one torpedo, and (to me) most importantly get rid of renown.

In the NYGM Tonnage Mod, Medals and everything are based off of tonnage which is historically correct, and any upgrades you go for cost you time in drydock, not renown. You want a super boat all tricked out? Fine, but you'll spend 4 months in port.

It really does sound like the mod that best addresses most of your questions.

I spend it as it comes,as for the XXI which costs 30k i never uprgaded yet to that boat always stuck with the IXD2 to wars end.
Iv'e got 137K in renown at the momment and am only in early 43 but them homeing torpedos are darn expensive.

I use to do the same thing. However, having SH3 for over a year now, I'm not into it much anymore to sit down and do patrol after patrol saving up for this piece of equipment or that special upgrade.

I've seen many mentions of the NYGM Tonnage War mod...

First of all, what does NYGM mean? Secondly, where would one download that mod if one was so inclined? :hmm:

Also, it seems as if the two "big" mods that people seem to use are the Tonnage War mod and the Grey Wolves Supermod. I don't ever see people mentioning that they use both so are those two of the mods that don't work together?

And what are some of the opinions as to the benefits of NYGM vs
GW?

Thanks, again, for everyone's imput. :up:

Homing torpedos? Cool! :rock:

I had no idea that Germany had those kinds of torpedos. When do they become available?

As an aside, I just started reading "Iron Coffins", and I'm already about half through. It is a fantastic book if anyone is at all interested in reading about the true life experiences of one of the few U-boat men to actually survive.

I'm not the best one to give a full run down on the mods, but NYGM stands for "Not your grandmother's mod". To check it out go to the forum for SH3 Mods. Right at the top should be a VERY long stickied thread all about the NYGM and GW mods. You can read up on them and decide for yourself which one you might like.

I use NYGM and love it. It's so much better than earning some fake "renown" and instead building up tonnage. It's also nice being able to get whatever additions you want to your boat, but having to wait in drydock to get them and run sea trials and the like. But the best part of it is hitting a ship and wondering if she'll sink on her own in the next hour or two, or if you need to fire off another torpedo and finish the job.