In TMO/RSRDC and I think in some previous versions of FOTARSU I would camp out about 7 Nm North of Rabaul and await shipping. However, this time because of the impact on the fps, we had to move farther out. I found, just like we have for a couple of other locations, that the "interference" occurs pretty much within a 20-22 mile radius of a "busy" place. So I drew a 25 Nm circle around Rabaul and stayed outside of it. That eliminated the fps slow-down completely, just like it does off the south tip of the Japanese main islands.
For the planes, it was hard to stay on the surface to track them because there were enemy fighters coming from the same direction as the Liberators. All planes that were attacking Rabaul came from the NNE down from New Ireland (on a line to the west coast of Lihir Island (on the other side of New Ireland to Rabaul), and returned the opposite way, of course. There was smoke rising from the direction of Rabaul, and when I "flew" there using the free camera I could see burning ships, downed planes from both sides, and plenty of AA mostly from the surviving ships.
I would have expected the Liberators to come from the East, since their bases were supposedly in the Solomans, but not in this case. Perhaps they could have used New Ireland as a rendezvous point. Anyway, they were almost all single planes, spread out in very loose formation, a few pairs but mostly just in trail over a 4-5 mile wide area as they flew in and out, and a constant stream that went on for hours day and night. Naturally every radar sighting dropped the TC to 1, which was irritating, but turning off the radar was worse because of the Jap fighters mixed in with the Liberators. They could be on me in a flash, and were.
Unfortunately, I have since deleted the career and associated Saved Games, so recreating it will take some time for me. The date is the same as the one above describing the dive plane incident, or at worst one day before.
I don't believe using Smart Game Booster 4 has anything to do with the fps slowing down. That program shuts down all unnecessary programs, processes and services. Although you can use it to launch games, I do not start the game from it - I run it, let it minimize to the Task Bar, and then start SH4 from my desktop icon. Before it minimizes, it reports on how much memory has been freed up - usually 42-44% - by closing unneeded processes and services. No, I think this one is caused by the plane traffic when too close to Rabaul, in this case.
I hope some of this is helpful - better to give too much info than not enough.
Btw, I started a new career in Seadragon out of Cavite (12/8/41). 75% realism, turned off manual targeting and event camera, allowing contacts on map, and enabling the free camera. So while heading to the assigned Luzon Strait area, we keep running into an IJN invasion fleet. I've been spotted by Pete's (even with the radar ON) and then attacked by escorts before I can get within 3 or 4 miles of the fleet. Each time (three so far) I've successfully attacked one of the escorts, but the two guys with him have killed us with torpedoes that I forgot to look for. Apparently one cannot stay at periscope depth (or even 80 feet) and tangle with multiple escorts any more. Their torpedoes appear to employ magnetic exploders that can kill within 50 feet or maybe more. They don't have to hit you to kill you. This is HARD!
