Have a question about Time Compression...
 

I just bought SH4 with the U-Boat missions. Guess that's version 1.5 as far as I can tell.

I noticed that going out on Career mode I can easily use time compression up to 2048 or above. However, when coming back from a few missions on my 1st patrol, I can't get above 128k coming back.

It takes just over 2 hours of real time just to get back to Pearl Harbor and that pretty much sucks the life out of the game.

I have downloaded a few of Webster's Mods that have corrected some bugs in the game. I really doubt any of his fixes degrades performance, so what is going on with the eternity of getting back to base?

I notice that when I leave base the file size upon saving is like 375K, when I'm coming back from a patrol it's about 2MB.

I also notice that if I go over 128 Time Compression returning to base it just gets slower and slower as I go up in TC. WTF???

I have played alot of simulator games from flight, train, and boat simulators with no issues of performace. I don't understand why this game has so many issues.

Is there a fix or mod to correct this problem?

Having to wait 2 hours to get back to port really sucks the life out of this game and it quite frankly very fustrating.

I appreciate any help that is available to correct this annoying problem.

Also, I'm not sure why there are so many people on this site correcting major problems with this game free of charge that Ubisoft should have fixed before they ever released the game. It's crazy that they are now on their 4th edition with substandard programming and rely on dedicated players to fix all of their problems free of charge on the backs of dedicated players like yourselves. I don't know how many hours you guys spend every year to fix this game, but it is a shame they don't compensate you for your time to fix their problems.

Congrats to you guys, but it'd be nice to find out if there is a fix for the crazy time it takes to get back to base.

Thanks guys!!!!

Need larger amount of ram. U are probably playing off of ur hard drive to much. Just guessing...

how close are you to the game requirements?

are you getting any radio traffic or map contacts?

this game will stop TC every time a mouse farts so keep that in mind too.

try this, save your game then go to start / control panel / internet options and select delete all and check the box for offline content.

that should clear up some ram space then reboot the computer.

now reload your game and head home, if that solves your problem then you know what to do and its computer upgrade time.

Well I'm a systems engineer, so my PC is fairly decent. 2.4 Ghz cpu, 3 GB ram, and I have 51% free space on my hard drive, I built it myself so it's not a generic PC. I did what you mentioned but to no avail. I also looked at my ram consumption and I'm only peaking at 428MB.

Like I said before, I can run all kinds of games with no issues whatsoever, so I don't know why this game is so slow going back to port. Going out on a mission is flawless as I can run the TC as fast as I want, usually I can go faster than I want. The problem is always coming back.

So, I'm still at a loss.

As a system's engineer you know there is a lot more to it then just CPU and RAM. I have never heard of anyone with this problem as a "bug". It is usually something with the computer and usually a combination of things. Could your machine be overheating? I am running a 3.4 dual (Pentium D) and 3GB Ram and when I have a problem it is usually the video card but I do have problems near areas with a lot of ships.
You may be running into a lot of 'traffic' that is not close enough for you to see, but the computer has to track it. If you sank a lot of ships, that is more info for the computer to track. Try different things, like go to your mission but don't do anything, just turn around and go back, see what that does. Try going towards South America and back, very little traffic there, see what happens.
I know on some fairly fast machines getting near Midway can grind the computer to a halt. I know somewhere on this forum there is a post from someone that can play without many problems, but he can always tell when he is near a big Task Force because his machine starts getting jerky.
Try different routes going back, see if there is any difference. It's a hard thing to pinpoint but it is usually the computer not a bug. Also shut off any other programs you may have running. Also are you running any MODs other than Webster's that you mentioned?
The reason the machine goes slower when you go higher on the TC is the computer can't keep up. So even though the number is bigger, the computer is fighting to try to keep up.
One big thing to try is lowering the graphics settings. I know everyone wants the eye candy, but it's no good if you can't play the game, and most of the time you are underwater looking through a periscope.

Personally if it only happens on the way back, I would suspect overheating first.
Peabody

I can't help you here other than to say it shouldn't be happening. I have much less of a system than you and I can TC to 8000, although I don't think I get gain much above 5000. Somethings haywire in your system. One thing you can try is to turn off graphic options one at a time and see if that helps.

New one on me, I can select TC much higher than 128 pretty much anywhere but anything over 2048 is diminishing returns for me.

One thing is as you approach a base there will be alot of traffic which will slow the system down. Try turning off your radar that helps some.

Time Compression
 

An interesting problem. What time period was it? What patrol zone were you in, or does it matter? What boat were you running? Was there damage to the boat or injured crew? Do you mean you cannot get the meter above 128k or the results (faster movement) above 128k? Do you have the same problem returning from a mission to a refit base or just home port?

I have had a lot of trouble increasing time compression (it does increase but slowly) when the sub has taken damage and I have injured crew but that was in areas where sonar and radar was picking up traffic. Those problems usually went away after a refit.

I have done upgrades my ram and CPU but it really didn't help that much. I suspect the best upgrade would be a much better video card. I can tell the difference in mouse and window response within the game depending on the amount of graphics being used. Still this should not block someone from getting the time compression to indicate a setting above 128k.

Please let us know what else you find out.

Thanks
Tony

It does seem that TC does fine steaming to the patrol area. For some reason far more contacts come up when i am done and heading back to port. When a contact is made by either sonar or radar this will cut TC down until you are clear of that contact. It is the only explaination I can figure especially if TC works great heading to the patrol area.

Clayp the time compression (TC) meter is in the lower right corner of the HUD.
0 is paused, 1 is normal time, and each time you press the + key it doubled the time compression. 2,4,8,16, etc. it will go up to 8,000 or some thing like that. I personally never go above 3,000 so I don't really know what the upper limit is. The - key slows TC down the same way.

As far as Daretopeek goes, I never heard of this problem. Hope he figures it out.

Magic

Peabody, thanks for all the ideas.
First off, being a systems engineer means I know networks from Unix, Novell, Windows, and have experience with Cisco and Seimens products. It doesn't mean I know about programming or making MOD's for games. So, don't belittle me about something I didn't claim to know.

However, I did spend ALOT of time covering your suggestions. I even loaded SH4 with the U-Boat Mission on my laptop that is even beefier than my desktop to see if I would get better results. I didn't, so it seems it's with the game itself.

Below I'm addressing all of your great ideas so I could nail this down to what's going on...

1. Overheating: No, not the problem I have an automatic fan control to make sure it never overheats and I don't over clock my CPU. This I'm sure of.

2. Video Card: Well, I don't run any graphics mods, and have SH4 set to medium of graphics. Also, I can run MS Flight Sim with add-ons without issue as well as Nascar 2008 at its highest graphics level without any problems. I don't know off hand what my graphics card is at this time but I did spend around $200 for it at Tiger Direct. It had 5 out of 5 stars and assume it is a great card.

3. Traffic: That I can confirm. When leaving port or going into enemy ports the speed definately slows down. I can understand that.

4. Sinking Many Ships: Well this is an interesting one. I went out and sank about 170K worth of ships in ports. That definately slowed everything down. I ask why? Even if I save it should be stored on the HD, not in my RAM. If this game doesn't know how to use a page file, then it truly lacks and misutilizes the advantages of computer processing.

5. Sailing in Enempy Exempt Areas: Yes, I can do that without effort and speed is always good. However, I do notice that once I get my saved file above 2 MB it starts to slow, and once it gets to 3 MB it drags like a dog.

6. Running other Programs and MOD's: Like I mentioned before, I only have 270 MB of RAM being used. No extra programs going. As far a MOD's, I only run a few of Webster's. Air patrol, Mouse, Draft, Clock, and Rain fixes.

7. Lowering Graphics Settings: Tried that but I am still fast going out of port. I know for sure I have no over heating issues.

I believe the problem lies in sinking too many ships and/or allowing the saved file to increase up to or exceed 3 MB. This seems like an adsurb problem that should be fixed.

Like I mentioned above, I can run MS Flight Simulator on it's highest graphics settings, Nascar 2008 on the same, and no issues with performance. But from a 2D view in SH4 with a saved file of 3 MB it can't even do TC over 128 in open water with no enemies around. The same happens if you sink too many ships, so what's that all about?

I truly like the idea and realism this game offers, but the degraded performace surely leaves alot to be desired.

I don't know if this game attempts to use a page file or not, but it sure doesn't seem like it since so many other games out there don't have this problem.

Just my 2 cents, and I'm sure this isn't something that's going to have a fix.

I also wanted to thank:

Banjo
SteamWake
Tony845
ClayP
Frame57
Magic452

I think I addressed much of what you suggested in the last post.

Tony asked:
What time period I was in. It was at the start Dec. 09, 1941.
I'm not sure if that matter but maybe. And my zone was from Pearl to Japan, Osaka. Boat was Gar Class with no damage to boat or crew at the time. The slowness was going anywhere whether it base another port or open seas.
At the start of the campaign I only had SD radar, so I think that's something I don't have control over. If I do, I don't know how to lower it.

Frame57:
Yes, I confirmed that you are totally correct on contacts and TC. That is something I can live with because I know the AI is working while you are in the area.



Lastly, I should mention that I have done all the tests on the easy setting for an American Career. I do realize that Sub Comanders didn't sink 175K worth of ships in their career let alone one mission, but that shouldn't have anything to do with degraded performace in the game.

Anyway I thank all of you for sounding off and offering help.

You completely misread that, I did not in any way mean to belittle you!! If you read it that way I apologize, I did not mean it like that at all. It was simply a comment that there is no "simple" answer to the question. I just meant that you are familiar with computers and know there could be a lot of different things involved, but we will try to help if we can. In other words you are not someone that just bought your first computer. You understand that there could be 100 different reason for something like this, so we are just trying to give ideas or suggestions about what 'may' be causing the problem.

We have all had slowdowns at one time or another for different reasons, but I have never heard of one like this at all, especially the 128x part. I have had times with ships in the area that I could only go 128 then it would spot another ship and go back to 8x then I could go back up to 512x or 1024x and bang back to 8x but I have never heard of a problem with 128x max for an entire trip back to base. So just trying to throw out ideas to see if we can find a solution.

Again I apologize for the misunderstanding.
Peabody

Time Compression
 

To me, the time compression problem seems unsolvable. If you are still having difficulty, do what I did when in a similar situation. Start a new career. I was running a career where I was based in Perth, Australia and was sent to patrol the Luzon Strait. There was no way I could get there and back to base without running out of fuel no matter what speed I used or route I took. At 10 knots, a Gato class boat should have made the trip with ease. I started a new career, deleted all the saved missions and have had no further fuel shortage trouble. So, you may have a corrupted file that is loading each time you restart your career. Not knowing how the program uses saved game data, that is just a guess. The game can be frustrating at times but is still worth playing.

Best of luck.
Tony