oh no!

[Calapine]

So I am coming back to SH 3 after years of pause:

Doing my first 'real' patrol, north of Ireland...

Running TC of 128 - playing it safe - and reading a spy novel on the side. Very relaxing, good for my day of work...

*4 real time hours later*

12000 BRT sunk, I am out of torps and plot my way home....suddenly SH crashes, my entire campaign is lost.

I sigh heavily and start a new career

*2 1/2 real time hours later*

Patrolling around Ireland again, this time with a TC of 1024 (yes, I am getting impatient...) and doing some more reading.

Suddenly: Sunk by collision (without warning), no survivors.

I sigh heavily, close down SH and open a bottle of wine.


Apologies for the ramblings, am a bit demotivated...

Calapine

[Laufen zum Ziel]

Hope the wine does not crash too

[Brag]

dorry to hear your tribulations.
A glass of wine does fix a lot of things-

[Calapine]

Thank you, I already feel a bit better

On a serious note: I guess TC 1024 was overdoing it a bit so close to the enemy.

What kind of speeds do you think are safe (or a good compromise) during transit and in the patrol grid?

[Raptor]

Edit the following file:
c:/your root directory/SilentHunterIII/data/Cfg/Main.cfg

NOTE that there are usually 2 copies of Main.cfg and both must be changed. Assuming you've started a career and thereby have already created the saved games directory in c:/My Documents/ (by default named SH3 although if you have multiple installs, it will have a different name that you specified), the 2nd copy resides there....c:/My Documents/SH3 (or whatever name you specified)/data/Cfg/Main.cfg

If you have not yet created the SH3 directory, you need change only the copy in your root directory. That will be copied automatically when the SH3 directory is first created


[TIME COMPRESSION]
TimeStop=0
RealTime=1
LandProximity=512 <= SH3 default is 4; that's way too slow - you'll be forever getting out of the harbor
CriticalDamage=1
CrewEfficiency=1
AirEnemyDetected=1
SoundEffects=2
CharacterAnim=4
EnemyDetected=1 <= default is 8; that's what gets you killed
RadioReport=8
Particles=128 <= default is 8; way too slow
PrayState=128 <= default is 8; way too slow
HunterState=128 <= default is 32
3DRender=32
Maximum=4096 <= default is 1024; go as high as your CPU and video card can comfortably handle without stuttering when there's nothing around. No matter your system, frame rates can suddenly drop to single digits when convoys are spawning near you. CTRL+F8 toggles the frame rate display on and off at the top right of your screen, and slightly right of center.

[krashkart]

Originally Posted by Calapine

Thank you, I already feel a bit better

On a serious note: I guess TC 1024 was overdoing it a bit so close to the enemy.

What kind of speeds do you think are safe (or a good compromise) during transit and in the patrol grid?

During transit I go no higher than 128 unless I'm really in a hurry to play. If TC is higher than that for too long the weather turns to pea soup for days on end. Or at worst my patrol ends with a collision like yours did.

In patrol areas I keep TC at 32 to 64... although lately I've been reading while waiting for something to happen in-game, so 16 seems to work better.

Cheers, and good hunting.

[andwii]

depends on what im doing. Before the Flotilla competition I ran at 2048 in transit to america. Normally I run at 128 as when close to land and approaching port to raid (which I like to do a lot, I am usually safe and low lag.)

[Raptor]

A serious danger to running ANYWHERE at high TC is running aground on a small islet or rock.

These nasty little critters do show up on the tactical map, but you have to zoom in fairly tight in order to see them. This is especially dangerous when you've got the map scaled way out to plot a long-distance course to, say, America or the Carribbean. Be sure to zoom in closer and trace your route from the end point back to your boat. You'd be surprised how some islands disappear at low map magnification.

There is a particularily nasty little islet in AM3479 NNW of Lock Ewe that I've hit God only knows how many times because my stupid Obersteurmann didn't re-check the plotted route.. Eventually he'll remember that it's there or I'll feed him to the fishes, whichever comes first.

[krashkart]

Northwest Africa, near the Canary Islands. There are some small islands you'll want to avoid there, too. Zoom in close if you're making passage through there and adjust your waypoints to sail around them. Darn near smacked right into one before I saw it on the map the first time.


@Raptor - On my boat, if the crew needs some motivation, I crack open a can of hákarl during daylight ops. Since we can't surface they have to live with the smell of it until nightfall. Works every time.

[Kapt Z]

I try to stay in the 128-256tc range. Much slower and my patrols would never finish(I only get to play about an hour every couple days) much faster and bad things are bound to happen.

I've lost at least a dozen boats over the years purely to impatience. Either rushing with high tc, or rushing my approach or evasion.

[Captain Nemo]

I have set my max TC in SH Commander to go no higher than 128, which for me seems the best all round max TC setting.

Nemo

[Raticon]

If i'm impatient and crossing the high seas - 2000-ish or 4000-ish TC's the first 50% of the trip, when approaching the patrol zone or enemy coast i get down to 1024 first then 512, and when really close to coasts, patrol areas or just get that stomach-feeling that something is out there - maximum TC is 128.

Why the hurry? Well, i am a pretty impatient guy and i couldn't bother with sailing at slower than 1024 when close to germany or a fair bit out from occupied coasts i frequently pass, simply because it eats up too much time... Call me gamey or stressful but everyone has their own methods.

On the collision-note i have had similar experiences a handful of times, always related to cruising at too high TC in unfamiliar or coastal areas or those darned minefields before i realized i actually had a map where they are located... .

But night-time surface hunting in calm waters outside the british coast or between scotland and the hebrides is great fun at max 32 TC, always a chance of encountering that lone fishing-boat or motor vessel to feed some lead with the AA-gun to save up those oh-so-limited deckgun shells

[RConch]

Before the war, while heading to my first war patrol, I will run 128 speed.
Once it hits 9/1/39 I go to 64 speed and wait for 9/3/39.
Never above 64 speed till death do us part.

[flag4]

Originally Posted by krashkart

During transit I go no higher than 128 unless I'm really in a hurry to play. If TC is higher than that for too long the weather turns to pea soup for days on end. Or at worst my patrol ends with a collision like yours did.

In patrol areas I keep TC at 32 to 64... although lately I've been reading while waiting for something to happen in-game, so 16 seems to work better.

Cheers, and good hunting.

Originally Posted by andwii

depends on what im doing. Before the Flotilla competition I ran at 2048 in transit to america. Normally I run at 128 as when close to land and approaching port to raid (which I like to do a lot, I am usually safe and low lag.)

Originally Posted by Captain Nemo

I have set my max TC in SH Commander to go no higher than 128, which for me seems the best all round max TC setting.

Nemo

Originally Posted by Rconch

Before the war, while heading to my first war patrol, I will run 128 speed.
Once it hits 9/1/39 I go to 64 speed and wait for 9/3/39.
Never above 64 speed till death do us part.

....this is the way Calapine - low TC as much as possible, me too also.
hope the wine was not too high in the TC's aswell

[maillemaker]

I routinely run at 4096 time compression, thanks to SH3 Commander. My computer always drops out of TC just before my bridge crew can actually sight the ships.

Guess I have lots of horsepower.