Constant Crashing
 

Hello everyone,

I have started playing Silent Hunter 3 recently and I am encountering constant crashes, sometimes while loading the game, sometimes right after starting a mission or career, sometimes when encountering a plane or a ship. I have tried running SH3 in Windows 7 and Windows XP compatibility modes, neither of which had any effect.
I will attach an image with a complete list of mods I am using if that would help.

Thanks in advance,
Holmes

i would say it is your mods i would remove some and try to run the game but i notice you have both black sea file and indin ocean one i would try to remove one of them first and try running the game again

4Gb patch needed
 

I don't see a 4Gb patch.


The ancient 32 bit SH3 code cannot address enough memory if you add mods. What's worse the memory consumption creeps up during a career and you can suddenly end up with an unplayable game in mid career. The best indication is if the training missions work fine but the game crashes after a while during a real game.



You must apply either the 4Gb patch, or better, the H.Sie or Stiebler patches. These involve running scripts to mod your sh3.exe file and are truly horrible to install, To see if you have done it right look at the version number in the bottom right of the first screen after loading. My Stiebler patched code says "v 1.6B1"


it's a lot easier to use the OneAlex supermod which includes sh3.exe already patched up as well as a very good selection of mods.

MrHolmes 4Gig Patch download link below


https://www.subsim.com/radioroom/dow...o=file&id=5737

It is always recommended to do as blackswan40 recommends with the 4Gig Patch, but I think les green01 has it nailed. Remove all mods, and then start adding them back in one at a time, starting with the "GWX" mods (if you have installed GWX properly). As les points out, you only want to have one set of campaign files loaded, and that should be based upon which area you are playing the game in. By default, GWX loads the Atlantic theatre for you. You also have what looks to be a bunch of mods built for SH5, not SH3. Do not put those back in. I would leave the Alternate Flotillas out, unless specifically using them; the Axis Med Aircraft Skins, unless in the Med; the Black Sea Campaign Files, unless starting in the Black Sea; the Late War Sensors, unless in the late war period; VIIC41 Player Submarine, unless in the correct time period, and wanting to use it; and the Indian Ocean Campaign Files, unless specifically sailing in the Indian Ocean. In most cases of the previous, there are ReadMe files in the mod folders to read for their specific applications - or consult the GWX Manual, which is exemplary, and a font of knowledge...

Also, you do not show where you have the game installed, so I'll assume you have it in the "default" location. You should not have the game installed a "Program Files" folder, including if you have the Steam game and Steam (and the resultant Steam Library folder) are installed in that folder. If you have Steam, they now have a function in the Steam app on your computer to automatically move the game to another valid drive - if you have one. If you do not, then you'll have to do it the old-fashioned way, as found in the Moving a Steam Installation and Games. If you have the Ubisoft download, you would have to re-install and choose a different place to install the game, such as "C:\Games", or any other folder you create yourself, that is not in a Windows 'protected' folder, of which "Program Files (x86)" is...

One last thing, after changing the mod configuration, you sometimes need to empty the Save folder, especially after activating a mod like GWX. That is "C:\Users \UserName \Documents \SH3" or similar. Or just use the short-cut in File Explorer. Another option is to use MultiSH3 and make a new 3-character Save folder of your own naming...

Hello everyone,
Thank you all for the help once again!

I did everything you instructed me to do and and I have been playing for the whole day without any crashes.
I'm still embarrassed that I somehow haven't noticed that I had SH5 mods installed. :oops:
Oh and, is there anything else I should know about saved careers before I mess something up again?

Save sparingly,and try to avoid saving near convoys or land.SH3 is a very unstable game and it is extremely likely that your saves will get corrupted,even if you do everything right.Rarely,corrupted saves will work all of a sudden after you try to load them several times.

If you save the game and it gets corrupted,all of the saves after it will be corrupted too.You must try loading the saves before it until you find one that works.Make some backups of the save files though,since they get deleted after loading an older save.

I think i managed to make the corrupted saves less of a problem.When you want to save,go the saves folder and delete all of them.After you do that,save the game.When you want to save the game again,go back to the saves folder and delete the old save,and then save.Repeat.
If you do this then i think that since the corrupted save file gets deleted,then the save after it will not be corrupted.Also,i think it's better to save when you are viewing the map,not on external camera or inside the sub.When you want to alt-tab from the game,also do it only when on the navigation map,or else the audio gets messed up.

When near land or many ships,play the game at lower speeds,or the game WILL crash.

I spent much more time waiting for the game to load or trying to make my corrupted saves work than actually playing the game.It is so absolutely frustrating,spending hours of your life hunting a convoy,sinking tons of ships and happily plotting a course back to base,only for the game to crash all out of a sudden before finding out that all of your saves do not work.:k_confused:

SH4 is more stable,and perhaps more importantly it loads very fast compared to SH3.Playing SH4 with mods like dark waters can be an alternative to sh3.But i still often find myself enjoying the feel of sh3 more than modded SH4.

Don't let these things discourage you though,maybe i am just extremely unlucky with all these crashes and corrupted saves.Sh3 is a very good game when it works,and i had many fun times with it.
Sneaking into New York and sinking a large ship in front of the statue of liberty,sinking HMS Nelson in the shallow waters of Gibraltar,fighting surface battles with convoy escorts and winning,getting caught by bombers while loading external torpedoes in the Carribean...
SH3 can be a very fun and atmospheric game,it's one of the greatest games in the world,owing in large part to the dedicated modding community.Have fun with it :Kaleun_Cheers: