Quote:
Originally Posted by CapnScurvy
About the ST radar, or radar in general.
The ST radar "antenna head" is in the Night (Observation) Periscope. If you're not at Periscope Depth, or don't have the Night Periscope raised above the water line, you'll not have the SJ Surface Search station units work at all. Why would they........the radar antenna is below the water line, and/or still in the conning tower shears?? Raise the Night Periscope for ST Radar use. If the sea state is rough......meaning you're at 10 mph wind speed, you may have to raise your depth of the sub to compensate for waves breaking near, or over, the radar antenna. This is true with all radar usage. For SD and most SJ radar antennas use the "Radar Depth" key for calm sea states (zero to five mph winds), but plan to fudge the depth in higher winds resulting in rough sea conditions. With the ST periscope antenna, make sure its above the water line (whatever the wave action is) and have it extended out of its shears.
Secondly, we have no control over what "Gameplay Options" a player may have set up for his game. If you've set the option of "Realistic Sensors" to control Hydrophone/Sonar; Radar output, you'll get radar blips to appear, disappear, reappear, with every sweep of the radar signal. This is a stock game feature that's supposed to mimic a radar signal that comes and goes with the rocking of the boat.....even in calm, zero wind conditions. When you find yourself in a 10 mph wind speed (which is the third of four weather conditions/sea states), you'll really have a tough time getting the radar to be productive. This isn't something we can change. The game sets the degree of difficulty with the "options". We either use them or we don't.
This particular "option" isn't the only factor in having radar work as expected. Crew skill/experience also plays a part when relying on radar detection.
With the many variables available, you can't expect us to know what each players "option" settings he's using, or what other factors like weather conditions, or crew experience may play a part in why does a particular thing seem to work or not? The very fact players decide to add mods to Fotrs Ultimate, then complain about outcomes, and game behavior, is beyond our scope of explanation. How a player uses his game is his business, but when they don't know that adding mods together, or how to keep their game clean with "saved" information, may make a game unstable........it's beyond our control.
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I do think there may be another reason for not seeing equipment applied as expected when using a Campaign game. It's my belief that the game has a flaw with keeping "dates" correctly when applying them over longer periods of time (which is exactly what is expected of a Campaign game that extends beyond one set of equipment's "existence" date into another). I think this may also come into play when you push a Campaign game from one year into the next.......the game actually loses tract of where it is, or know what new equipment is supposed to be applied to the sub when requested......so it doesn't!
For a long time I've seen the stock game having trouble with "dates"......it uses dates like September 31, April 31, or February 29......THEY DON"T EXIST! Yet, these dates are throughout the stock game! Or, having one piece of equipment "end" on the same date as a newer version "start" date......the game can't decide which to use if they are both "active" on the same date!!
With Fotrs Ultimate we've tried to eliminate these kinds of issues, but there may be more to this "date" problem than just fixing their obvious stock game errors........it may be the game engine can't keep a running account of where it is from one year to the next!!! I've not proposed this before, but it may very well be we can not rely on the game to keep tract of a Campaign game beyond a certain point of time. Requiring us to play in short periods of time, then restarting a new Campaign from a new date of time, with new upgrades already installed. We may be expecting the game to keep tract of time, when it really can't figure out which day it is!!
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Captain, I sense the frustration in your response, but please consider this:
I am running an unmodded installation with the exception of FOTARS Ultimate v0.63. I did have 3 minor environmental-type mods implemented, but I removed them via JSGME in the interests of analyzing the radar issue I am experiencing. I did my Periscope radar test with my boat on the surface, the Night periscope at full height, and the SD Radar switch confirmed to be in the ON position. The sea state was calm and the ocean surface essentially flat. I believe my crew is sufficiently experienced and rated after 24 patrols to operate the radar effectively.
The radar does not come on. There is no sweep. There is no blip for a known target. Both radar screens are dead and the scopes' on/off switches are not functional. The only time the periscope radar works as advertised is in the Single Mission version.
Apparently the only way I am going to convince you there is a problem in the mod is to wipe everything, do a clean install from a pristine copy of SH4, apply only the FOTARS Ultimate mod, and run a career until the Periscope Radar feature becomes available in January 1945. I can do that and I will, since there is nothing else in the offing. Be aware that the above process is exactly how I got to that date in my career. The only save games I loaded were taken from the Office. Nothing wild or unusual. The radar mod simply does not work in my career.
The 3 mods I added at various points have nothing to do with radar. Those include one that removes the surface mark for my sub when submerged, one that increased underwater visibility (clarifies the water), and one that eliminates the shouting crew after the boat takes a little damage. The periscope radar does not work, with or without those mods.
I am well aware of the how the radar is supposed to sweep, and can see all the happenings you describe with any other radar except the periscope mounted system. With the SJ-1 I see the sweep, the blips appear and fade depending on conditions and distance to the target, and the map contact updates correspond to the blips on the screen. My crew reports all radar contacts, surface and air.
Sorry to be a pest. If I'm the only one who experiences this issue then I'll shut up and live with the SJ-1 radar. It has a better range anyway. But if there is a discrepancy between the available upgrade and the version in the single mission shouldn't that be discoverable? It's beyond my skills to do that.