[propbeanie]

Well, I've got a third "pristine" install of SH4v1.5, and have put all the latest files in once again for FotRS Ultimate v.1beta, and I am still barely finding any merchant vessels, and so far, about 75% of them have been friendly (encountered in previously installs)... I have had another half-dozen encounters with sub hunter groups. My latest escapade was while enroute to area 6 ("Proceed to Area 6 and once there, receive new orders."). I am trying out max-peck's altered mission orders, and have YET to get an actual "Patrol Area" assignment, in like a half-dozen tries, so this is the closest, and I was going to see what it gave me once I got there. For whatever reason, in this install, I've been assigned three photo recons, and 2 insertions... New skipper, in a Porpoise boat, going to Hiroshima for a photo op... This is like the third time with that mission - all in different "career" starts, but still. And the number of times I've encountered 2 and 3 destroyers, with and without DE and patrol craft for support - it's wearing thin on me. No merchant vessels in all sorts of starts now. Does the game track any of the other activity one does? Like, does it know that I've done some duck-shooting Single Missions, just so I can see max-peck's ship skins?

This latest incident is really weird. I picked up a sonar contact while doing Standard on the surface. Coming at me from initial looks, bearing 20. So I turn on the radar and have a look-see... It's three of 'em, coming right for me, with a little lead to allow for my Ahead Standard. So I go to Full, and turn away from them a bit, to 270. They follow. The date is supposed to be June 18, 1942, we're several hundred miles off the Japanese Honshu coast, Sofu Gan is in the rearview mirror, quite a while back. These guys are making a bee line for my position, so I turn off the radar, and turn more away, to minimize my profile some. They close in more. I eventually went to 172 for a while, away from my destination, in order to try to open the gap. Should I dive and duke it out with them? I mean, it's 0640 with the initial contact, and it's now getting on toward 0700, and the sun is definitely coming up... They'll be able to see me shortly. So I hit Flank and turn a bit more. Thankfully, there's a bit of morning fog, and I did finally slip away from them by staying on the surface. If it had been a clear morning, I would have had the DD on top of me once again... It's now 0750, and I finally lose the sonar contact. Mind you, I'm still doing Flank, and could maintain the sonar contact - to my rear... They didn't have radar in June of 42 on Japanese DDs, did they?...

At 0910, I've got two airplanes closing directly on me. Surprise surprise surprise... I watch them for a bit, and then crash dive when they're still bee lining for me at 6nm out. I went ahead and used the free camera here, and sure enough, flew right over my position... Now, I've got cdrsubron7's #3 AI level, running on the game's "Normal" difficulty from a brand new career, on the first patrol. I'm almost to my "Area 6 destination" max-peck, and we'll see if I get one of your modified patrol briefings later this evening...

Sorry about the verbosity, but it seems that the AI is a bit more dogged than even TMO at my current settings. The DDs can see my every move. That wouldn't be so bad, but I've encountered and sunk only one enemy merchant vessel in over two dozen patrol assignments. Yet I've encountered over a dozen Sub Hunter groups. No other capital ships. The one patrol in January of 1945 has been 4 ASW groups, and I'm still enroute to assignment. I think I'm going to back out the AI settings mod, and see what happens after this patrol...