SH3 Commander settings do not "take"

[desirableroasted]

Fellow old salts, before you keelhaul me, let me say a) I would not be posting were I not at wits end and b) I have poured over the forum archives.

I cannot get my SH3 Commander settings to "take". The settings seem to be in place (no fatigue, no intro movies, etc), and they work for 1 session, but when I save and restart they are not working at all (despite still being checked in the options box).

And what is frustrating is that I have used SH3C and GWX for years with no problem.

I recently had to uninstall and reinstall SH3. I did it by the book. Ripped everything out, down to the Reg Files. Ditto with SH3C. Made a fully clean install By The Book... SH3, then GWX, then SH3C, then the GWX/SH3C patch.

Made a "virgin" first patrol in the harbor -- launched from the game, not SH3C, no sub changes, crew changes, no mods, etc. Came back to harbor. Set up SH3C to my liking.

First real patrol: the settings work fine. I launch from outside harbour, crew is happy, no intro movies...

Then bang... when I saved and came back to game, the settings were "right" but not active in the game.

I have installed SH3, GWX, SH3C commander successfully four or five times in the past 8 years. I have never had this problem... but am I forgetting some key step that I used to know?

Advice?

Everything is working otherwise... the careers are being recorded, I can manage the crew, all that. But none of the gameplay or other settings work. Also, I have activated some low key mods, and they work perfectly.