Probs wth SH3 Commander, Screenshot...
 

I hate for my first two posts to be pleas for help, but, well...dammit, I need some help. I am running SH3 v.1.4b with GWX Gold, mods enabled are 16K Weather, Enhanced Damage, Open Hatch, All Weather Guns, St. Naz and Schluese, VIIC41 Players Sub, and WBNN Mission Orders Lite. I have incorporated the HiRes mod with the d3d9 cfg file and I am using SH3 Commander32.

First, I have problems with SH3 Commander. Certain functions don't work. I can create a career and the program keeps track of him and his accomplishments (or lack thereof) but 1) ticking the skip intro movies option has no effect, 2) I can't customize the number of my sub--I get a random generated number, 3) choosing a specific date doesn't work, I get the stock SH3, or GWX campaign start date, 4) ticking Start Patrol at sea doesn't work, I start in port.
I searched and found the proper way to install SH3 Com32--I downloaded and installed the other files that were indicated. Any ideas on what to do?

My other major problem is that when I try to take a screenshot using PrntScrn as is necessary when using the Hi Res config file (d3d9)thingy the game locks up. It doesn't crash, and the screen shot is saved, but the game just freezes and wont do anything. I have to kill SH3 with Task Manager.

Any ideas on how to fix these issues would be very appreciated.:rock:

Oh well.
 

Guess no one either knows or gives a crap.

I'd say most fall into the "Don't know" category. There are very few people here who don't care, but a lot of us (myself included) get a tiny bit of time, go running through the threads, and if they see one they don't know just keep going. Also, it's Christmas and while you've had a lot of looks I'm guessing they all had very limited time.

On the other hand a simple 'Bump' would have kept it near the top.

I'm a huge fan of Commander, and I don't know. I've never had any of those problems in several years of using it. I have heard a couple of similar complaints about 'Start At Sea', but I don't use that one so I can't help.

The one person who knows the most is of course JScones, the program's creator. He'll see this soon enough and will be able to help.

If you have Vista, you have to 'right click' on the SH3Commander icon, then click on 'run as administrator' in order for it (skip intro and other features) to work.
I have Vista and use the 'run as admin' on all my desktop icons, including JSGME, otherwise, they won't work properly.
If you don't have Vista, hopefully someone else will come up with a solution for you.

Good luck.

Patience my friend ...

Other than the possible Vista issue mentioned, have you considered that your installed SH3 Commander may have a corrupted file(s). Did you uninstall and reinstall SH3 Commander to see if that might be the issue? You may have to consider re-downloading SH3 Commander files as there may be a corrupted file there also.

Good Hunting,
FUBAR295

A 'simple' solution to the Vista-administrator issue (or Windows 7 for that matter) is to NOT install the game aswel as SH3 Commander into the Program Files Default folder. Give it a place by making your own folder (like C:\Games) somewhere else and install it there. Then you can play the game and apply mods with JSGME as a normal user to your harts content. Vista and W7 is very picky about who does what with files in the Program Files folders.

I don't use the high resolution mod as I can't get it to work; perhaps this is screwing things up.
Did you read the readme instructions for the installation and use of SH3CMDR? Most of the issues are covered in there. It is covered and you haven't read it, JScones gets rather cranky about it.

Also, some of the Subsim members have a real life elsewhere, and occasionally like to celebrate Christmas, and other holidays.

Thanks guys.
 

Appreciate the responses. Didn't mean to sound testy, but sixty people had viewed the request for help and no one had even bothered to type--"Sorry, I don't know how to help you." Guess I've been spoiled by IL 2 Sturmovik--the All Aircraft Arcade and Mission 4 Today Forums. You could post a request for help filing your taxes and someone would promptly respond on those forums.

I'm new here. Not looking to make waves.
Anyway, thanks. Jake, I will try the Administrator thing. I do have Vista-32 bit. Hope that works. I have reinstalled the SH3 Commander, and the associated Config files--same thing.

Pices--I am loathe to do a complete reinstall. Although, with all the tinkering I've done over the past two weeks, maybe it might be a good idea in general. If I do, I will try installing to a non-default location.

Fubar--I have redownloaded SH3 Commander and reinstalled it, same issue, so probably not a corrupt download. Usually if I get a corrupt download, it won't extract, or if it does that, I'll get some sort of error message on installation. But if problems persist, I'll probably try the whole deal again on a fresh install of SH3 GWX Gold in a non-default directory.

Irish--I hope that is not the case, because using the Hi Res mod I am able to play the game in 1152x864 rather than 1024x768. The fixed aspect ratio works--no distortion of the game--and the resolution looks much sharper than default. Somehow though, I am sure that this mod is responsible for my screenshot game freeze problem. Another thing that would probably be fixed by a fresh install, patch, and expansion of the game.

Dammit. Guess I'm going to have to reinstall.

Thanks all--for giving a crap. Especially at this time of year. Happy New Year, prematurely to you all.

To fix the problem while taking screen shot set
enableScreenshots=0 in D3d9.cfg and use screen shots capture program like FRAPS instead-works for me.

SC works perfectly on my vista with UAC disabled.
Try reinstall SC as administrator and run it as such.
Don't forget to use the GWX files for SC.

Disabling UAC in vista to may save you lot of headache.

Sorry nedlew, looked at your post and thought - yeah my pc locks up whenever I try to take a screenshot too.:DL
I turned off UAC and it solved all my issues except the screenshot one.
Hope you solve it. :DL

Everything fixed!...almost.
 

Did the reinstall to a different directory, reinstalled the 1.4b patch, GWX (which I had to re-download having stupidly deleted it) and reinstalled SH3 Commander 3.2 and the cfg files--set compatibility to Administrator and Voila! SH3 Commander works perfectly. Moreover, SH3 GWX loads faster and runs more smoothly. I just defragged my HD, that probably helped, also that I knew exactly how to patch, update, and expand the game this time around beforehand. Thanks for all your helps.

Screenshots still don't work, so I'm glad to find some advice about that from Sergei and MH.

Guess I'll just use Fraps, like you say, MH. Don't think I have to disable UAC--installing to a different directory (Program Files\SH3GWX) seems to have...wait, I just saw Pisces was talking about SH3 Commander, not SH3, and he advised installing it somewhere other than program files. Doh!. Stupid, stupid, stupid! Anyway, it works.

Sergei, MH, I hesitate to disable UAC. Yes, it's a royal pain, but I think having that user interaction built in and putting all those hoops in place to jump through before making system changes has got to really help protect a computer from trojans. I only disable it when it won't let me delete a file or something, then I turn it back on. Say what you want about Vista, but I surf some hairy areas of the net and I download indiscriminately--with Vista, Avira, Windows Firewall, and Windows Defender, I have not had any scary trouble with viruses at all and I used to sweat bullets regularly trying to recover from them with XP Pro. Reformatting the computer was a familiar routine for me.

Anyway, thanks all. Problems solved or circumvented, now I can just enjoy the game.

Fraps no good either
 

Fraps version 2.98, whether taking a screenshot or trying to record a movie just instantly crashes the game. :doh:

This, apart from being a giant pain in the ass, is a very instructive clue as to what my problem is. Now I just have to find out what the problem is. Wide screen using fixed aspect ratio? Never had a problem with Il-2. Screen Resolution? Perhaps. But why? Nah....

I suggested both because on some occasions it might be desireable to tweak some files in the Sh3 Commander folder yourself. I've not done it often but it's easier to be preppared. At the very least choose a different location for the game itself, like into c:\games\Sh3GWX. Choosing a different foldername but still in Program Files (like c:\Program Files\SH3GWX ) isn't going to make a difference. Every access to a file inside Program Files is first scrutinized by the OS.

I guess you could disable UAC but I do not like it for the same reasons as you. It helps me keeping tabs on what programs try to do behind my back. I just wished it was a bit more verbose in it's reports.

Got it.
 

Don't feel like reinstalling all over again just this minute. But this is good info to know in general. I did not know that Program Files was such sacred ground. I may make it a policy not to put my games in there from now on.

Idea
 

I'm gonna hunt for freeware screenshot utilities and keep testing until I find one that works.