New to SH series, GWX, & SubSimRR

[Angelo Cire]

First off, I'm very new to the SH series, and from what I've seen in the last 3 days (and ~20 hours in SHIII in that time), I love it.

I found this site while looking for mods (which I do for every game I play), and found, installed, and started exploring GWX 3.0 Gold, which I love so far (the sheer number of ships running around is awesome).

So really, I have 2 questions, one very general, and one very specific.

1) I've LOST renown on every patrol since starting GWX. Why is that?
I'm in '39, and I've attacked French and Brit ships, so I can't imagine it's a problem of alignment. Honestly, I'm stumped.

2) This is more of something I've been wondering because of how it seemed like people were talking about playing the SH games themselves:
How do you play the games?

That is to say, I've simply been running out to the patrol area, sinking whatever I see on the way, and then ESC-returning to base.

What, being most likely infinitely more versed in SHIII than me, do you guys suggest as a way to get more fun out of the games?

Also, it's nice to find a community so active for a game this old. Reminds me of my old Fallout 1-2 forum.

Cheers!

[Sailor Steve]

First, WELCOME ABOARD!

Originally Posted by Angelo Cire

I found this site while looking for mods (which I do for every game I play), and found, installed, and started exploring GWX 3.0 Gold, which I love so far (the sheer number of ships running around is awesome).

You're not alone. I found Subsim nine years ago while looking for a fix for the broken parts of SH2. I found that fix, and so much more.

1) I've LOST renown on every patrol since starting GWX. Why is that?
I'm in '39, and I've attacked French and Brit ships, so I can't imagine it's a problem of alignment. Honestly, I'm stumped.

The problem is that you're trying to start a war with friendly - or at least neutral - countries. GWX allows you to start at the first of August, a month before war was declared. The reason is that it gives you time to prepare and practice, and to be on station September 1st, when war starts with Poland, and on the 3rd, when war begins with England and France. Or you can just specify a start date of September 1.

I personally use SH3 Commander to control and define my experience, and do a short shakedown cruise, and then set up my crew the way I like them. I then use Commander to set my days in base to 18, which allows me to start on August 19th, when in reality 14 u-boats were sent to the North Atlantic to await further orders.

2) This is more of something I've been wondering because of how it seemed like people were talking about playing the SH games themselves:
How do you play the games?

I go to my assigned grid and stay there forever. If I see no ships I might change grids after two or three weeks, but I assume I've been sent there for a reason. After the patrol is over I make my way back to my home port and dock the sub. I realize this is boring to a lot of people, but I've been playing subsims since Silent Service back in 1985, and I long since stopped having fun just running around sinking everything in sight, especially since every single subsim gives you way more encounters that any real captain ever had. I use all the latest harbor mods, and actually enjoy just sightseeing on my way out and in. Occasionally I have an empty patrol. I complain about it in my patrol log, but I actually enjoy doing that too.

What, being most likely infinitely more versed in SHIII than me, do you guys suggest as a way to get more fun out of the games?

The problem there is that what is "fun" differs from person to person. A better approach might be to describe what you want from the game. It is possible to play SH3 as an arcade shoot-em-up or as an almost perfect simulator. Of course the simulation is far from realistic, but you can get the feel there.

Also, it's nice to find a community so active for a game this old. Reminds me of my old Fallout 1-2 forum.

The adaptability and flexibility of SH3 is what keeps it going. SH4 and SH5 lack some of that, but they also have their fan followings.

[Paulie76]

Originally Posted by Angelo Cire

1) I've LOST renown on every patrol since starting GWX. Why is that?
I'm in '39, and I've attacked French and Brit ships, so I can't imagine it's a problem of alignment. Honestly, I'm stumped.

When in '39 are you? GWX starts in August unless you choose otherwise (IIRC), before war is declared. First patrol is generally just a shakedown cruise unless you're in the 7th flotilla where they give you a few target dummies in a bay somewhere. (again...IIRC...I haven't been in the 7th). If you're still in August you're hitting neutrals, even if they are brits. Hence the renown loss.

I'm in August right now myself in an type II out of Kiel. My first patrol/shakedown has me going right next to the coast of England and I'm not even allowed to shoot anything. Passed a few nice juicy freighters, used them to practice my manual targetting and then let them continue on their way never knowing how close they came to the bottom of the sea.

I'm itchy for the war to actually start...

[Fish In The Water]

Originally Posted by Angelo Cire

First off, I'm very new to the SH series, and from what I've seen in the last 3 days (and ~20 hours in SHIII in that time), I love it.

Glad you're enjoying it and welcome to the pack!

[HW3]

I use the August 39 time to explore what will soon be enemy ports, to see what is in them. I call them "good will" visits.

[Fubar2Niner]

@Angelo Cire

Welcome aboard the good ship SH3, and too this merry band we call subsim. Enjoy your stay

Best regards.

Fubar2Niner

[Angelo Cire]

Thanks everybody for the words of welcome.

You guys were indeed correct - I had been sinking ships before 9/1. Thanks for the heads-up. I had assumed that neutral would simply gain you less prestige than enemy, rather than negative prestige.

Originally Posted by Sailor Steve

A better approach might be to describe what you want from the game.

I've only played it so far as a sink-fest, and while it's awesome as that, I don't use a high realism setting because that seems to make it nearly impossible if you insist on attacking everyone.

I just wanted to know how others played the game so I could try out whatever sounds interesting. Like for instance, do people go hunting specifically for convoys or capital ships, track enemy subs, etc.

I haven't tried playing it as a true sub sim, mainly just because in '39 there aren't many allied ports to refuel at, and they keep sending me to the BF grid, departing out of Kiel.

I played the single mission of attacking the group of 3 battleships, and that was a blast, full realism and all, but that was vanilla, not GWX, and I heard that GWX improves the AI to specifically prevent subs from slipping past forward escorts undetected so easily. Which realism settings do you guys play SHIII with?

[Dogfish40]

Welcome aboard Angelo!!
I'm so glad I'm not the only one who started sinking ships in Augest of '39!!
I came back to port with like 50 renown points and I started my research...
Anyway, I'm playing GWX3 Gold as well and yeah, it's a long wait for the war to start (Appx ,1 month), but I used the time to sneak up on everything, practice crash diving (which I emphasize "crash" here as there is alot of shallow water all over the coast of europe and it's easy to hit bottom) and firing deck guns, ect.
This is a great game along with SH4 as well. I restarted my career and Germany just went to war with Poland so I'm trying to find a Polish ship at the moment.
Good Hunting!
D40

[Fish In The Water]

Originally Posted by Angelo Cire

I just wanted to know how others played the game so I could try out whatever sounds interesting. Like for instance, do people go hunting specifically for convoys or capital ships, track enemy subs, etc.

I like to play different ways at different times, but one thing you can do is set up shop along the Western approaches, (map grid AM51 for example), and intercept juicy convoys as they sail on through.

The convoy hunt adds an extra element to the game where the tables can turn in a hurry as the hunter becomes the hunted. Always good for a quick adrenaline rush!

[Jimbuna]

Welcome and...SINK EM ALL!!

[Brag]

Welcome aboard.

Yeah, SH3 with GWX is anything but a sinkfest. Most satisfying when returning to harbour.

[The Dean]

Ever since I picked this game up I've been obsessed with lowering my tonnage into a quasi-realistic range. To me, its no fun to be the master of the universe so early in the war.

Unfortunately, I only play with the basic GWX configuration at 84% realism (I'm too lazy right now to learn how to manually calculate attacks; perhaps once I'm done breaking my brain with the RL aviation calculations I have to learn). However I try to play in a manner that limits this large advantage. I like taking Steve's approach of remaining in a given patrol grid as long as possible, only responding to radio reports that are within reasonable range and/or headed in my direction. I also usually take the time to drive myself back to the harbour, or at least within a range that would put me in to dock on that same day before I ESC.

While we're sort of talking about this stuff, on the subject of Mid Patrol Orders (Which I REALLY want to play with): Do I need to install Commander to run a version of this mod? Is there any alternative?This aspect of the game really intrigues me but I don't know if I want to become immersed in Commander right now.

[Sailor Steve]

Originally Posted by Angelo Cire

I've only played it so far as a sink-fest, and while it's awesome as that, I don't use a high realism setting because that seems to make it nearly impossible if you insist on attacking everyone.

That's cool. I play at higher realism levels because I've been playing one form of subsim or other for 26 years. After awhile you start looking for something different. Just keep playing the way that makes you happy.

I just wanted to know how others played the game so I could try out whatever sounds interesting. Like for instance, do people go hunting specifically for convoys or capital ships, track enemy subs, etc.

I go to my assigned grid and stay there, sometimes sinking a few ships, sometimes never seeing one for an entire patrol. If I get a report of a convoy nearby, or heading my way, I'll go after it, but for the most part I just take what comes along.

I haven't tried playing it as a true sub sim, mainly just because in '39 there aren't many allied ports to refuel at, and they keep sending me to the BF grid, departing out of Kiel.

BF is an easy journey if you don't travel faster than the second speed setting. In a type VII this should be about 7 knots, and leave you plenty of fuel for a round trip journey at that speed plus weeks of patrol time. While on patrol only cruise at the first speed setting (4 knots) unless you're chasing something.

I played the single mission of attacking the group of 3 battleships, and that was a blast, full realism and all, but that was vanilla, not GWX, and I heard that GWX improves the AI to specifically prevent subs from slipping past forward escorts undetected so easily. Which realism settings do you guys play SHIII with?

I keep the AI and physical realism settings (fuel, torpedoes, reload etc) on, but use the WE assistance because I'm too lazy to learn manual targeting. I also use external views because I like looking at all the pretty ships and the sights around the harbors.

[Fish In The Water]

Originally Posted by The Dean

...on the subject of Mid Patrol Orders (Which I REALLY want to play with): Do I need to install Commander to run a version of this mod?

In a word, yes.

If you try to install it directly into SH3 (without Commander) it won't work.

[Sailor Steve]

Originally Posted by The Dean

I don't know if I want to become immersed in Commander right now.

Trust me, you do. It's very easy to use, and it is even more essential than any supermod. It lets you control several in-game parameters with one mouse-click, and the auto-benefits include every ship you sink getting a historical name as well as the cargo it was carrying and how many crew were aboard. You also get crew names that never repeat, because there are more than 1.7 billion possible names. The selectable choices include deck gun reload rate, whether or not you want to risk malfunctions and sabotage, a patrol log you can write in (after the patrol, not in-game), and a great many more things, all for free!