if i ever get this game, which mods should i get?

[america person]

ok, by now those of here who somewhat frequesntly come here(me and the other hardcore sub nuts) may have realized i have not been on for a while...cuz i dont ahve dvd drive, and so i cant play sh3, even tho i still really want to. that amy my folks jsut got divorced....im planing on getting it, and trying to run it on my dads pc, and this time(unlike sh2) i'd prefer to keep the mod list down to around 4 or 5. so whitch mods should i get....perhaps the miclh cow mod and the crew vitamin mod, mentioned at gamepsy? anythign else.....also is Sailor Steve Still and Drebbel here? to the new people(new dont bite my head off at this) soem of the oldtimers are funny and valueble info, about computers games and soemtimes life in general. Oi! Oi! miss you guys, im gonna be coming back a bit more often


Travis, america person

[benetofski]

Travis,

You are obviously a sub-sim fan as you refer to SH2 a lot in your post!

SH3 is quite a bit different and you should be aware of the differences:

for a start it is demands much more from your PC - that is not to say that you cannot run it on a lower spec machine ( I have a P3 350MB with 700MB Ram and a 128 MB ATI Radeon 9250) as long as you know how to configure RAM and Drivers and cache for optimum performance. Your dad's machine may or may not run the game to your satisfaction - the main things to check would be system RAM and a good vid card!

The game is btw available as a (pre-paid) download from this site (I believe) and that would negate you having to buy a dvd drive!

As far as mods are concerned, the game runs just fine out of the box but (a cautiion) before adding ANY mods make sure you back up the ENTIRE data folder - this will save you major reinstalls later if a mod causes CTD...

The mods I would recommend are simply the UBISOFT patches first and foremost - most other mods IMHO make little difference to the games enjoyment, but 'each to their own' and I have read so many player-problems caused by adding 'this mod' and 'that mod' and having to reinstall.....

You sound smart enough to figure out a plan (part-time jobs etc) for buying a machine and perhaps you should check out used systems that you can reconfigure yourself?

We look forward to having you join us!

[america person]

Thnxs for the reply benetofski.......yeah now the feelsing whih the this mod / that mod deal, how can i check what is RAM settings are and what is video card is? also how do i do the download thing? is it like a paypal deal? how can a download be prepaid? im not really a tech nut, i just learned enoughtg to kep sh2 from getting too buggy, but it was jsut two much work..keeping track of all my mods-even with them in one folder.

[gdogghenrikson]

improved convoys is a good start

[Gizzmoe]

Originally Posted by america person

how can i check what is RAM settings are and what is video card is?

You can use dxdiag to check both. Click on Start, Run then type dxdiag and click Ok. Under "System" you see the amount of system memory, click on "Display" to see what kind of video card you have.

also how do i do the download thing? is it like a paypal deal? how can a download be prepaid?

You pay by credit card, then you can download SH3 via "Direct2Drive".

http://www.direct2drive.com/193/prod...r-III-Download

[benetofski]

America Person,

You can check the system spec as Gizzmoe suggest via clicking the following:

start/run/dxdiag (this puts you into the directx diagnostic screens.
You cant break anything and can test out your systems performance for example direct draw....

Look for:

'total memory' on the first page under 'SYSTEM' tab (make a note of it!) and note which version of 'directx' is installed!

Next go to 'DISPLAY' tab and note down EVERYTHING under DEVICE and make sure that the directx acceleration features are 'enabled' under following: direct draw, direct 3d, and agp texture...

post your results here and I can tellyou whether SH3 will run on your dad's PC!

[Deep-Six]

Originally Posted by gdogghenrikson

improved convoys is a good start

where can i download this mod?

thanks

[Gizzmoe]

Here:
http://www.subsim.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=39445

[Deep-Six]

Danke Gizzmoe

[america person]

here is what i noted:
TOTAL MEMORy:cant't find one that says total but next to memory it says: 640 MB of RAM

direct x vs: 9.0c

DEvice:
name: radeon 7200 family
manufacturer: ATI technology's
chip type: radeon 720 AGP (0x5144)
APPROX total memory: 32MB
Current display mode:1280x1024 (32bit) (60Hz)
moniter: dell m991
under direct x feature, everything says enabled.



anything else i need
it already has a dvd drive

[Kresge]

Hey, good to see you back!

The only things I have added are the official patches (1.4 is the latest) and the 'crew vitamins' fatigue mod which makes managing the crew much easier. I also have the enhanced explosion mod, but that may be a bit much for your video card. The milkcow mod may also be a good addition.

Happy hunting!

[Gizzmoe]

Originally Posted by america person

640 MB of RAM

That´s enough memory.

name: radeon 7200 family

I´m 99% sure that SH3 won´t work with this card. If it does it´s going to be very slow. Tell us your budget, then we suggest a replacement card.

What´s your CPU? You can also find the information in dxdiag, System tab.

[america person]

budget...i got a birthday and christmas coming up...and i think my dad is gonna get me internet for my room so i may dl it from one of the sites....um really as too budget i've no idea...all get on the cpu info.....and ill also get my pc's (the one i may be getting hooked up to the internet) specs to you to evaluate as well....

dad pc: what do you mean by cpu, i know it means central processing unit...




My PC:
drivers:
name: nivida Geforce 5200
manufacturer: nivida
chiptype: geforce 5200
dactype: intergrated ramdac
approx. total mem: 128 MB
on main page it says 512 next to memory

[DedEye]

Welcome back AP.

I believe the video card has to have at least minimal support for pixel shaders. The Geforce should work nicely.

I like the improved convoys mod a lot. I use that, the harbour traffic mod, Jungman's sensor pack, and I also tweaked the fatigue to my liking. I use the SH3Crush depth tool to randomize the crush depth of my boat. Wazoo's nomogram is very handy. That's 5 okay, you got me, five and a half then; I'm not counting my meddling with the fatigue

The rest I use are basically "cosmetic": ail's dials, moon, and sky mods, hi-res uniforms and medals, radiolog, and I've recently d/l the "internal life" mod, Sailor Steve's sounds, and Beery's new night sky, but I've yet to check them out.

Get the JSGME mod enabler and it's a snap to install most mods and helps keep track of them. It'll save you from having to un/reinstall SH3 over and over in case you make a mistake or run into incompatabilities

I use something similar with skins for Combat Mission; works great.

There's a lot more great mods out there that offer a lot of possiblities. After reading the thread on how to add Leighlights to aircraft, I'm going to have to have a go at that in particular

[Kalach]

CCIPs already released a mod with leighlight/spotlights if you dont want to play with the cfg's yourself