Struggling to stay interested

Kurt Alden · 01-25-06, 04:40 AM

Hey all

It's a shame but I think my interest is waning. I don't get a lot of time to play games and the long load times are really getting on my nerves. Plus, every time I load, I get frame rates of around 1 frame per second for two or three minutes until everything settles down.

I started a new career mid 1943 hoping things would get more interesting btu it's still the same old "travel to x, patrol for 24 hours, return to base" with nothing more interesting to do. It's fun enough sinking ships but the missions are so samey that I'm finding it hard to keep interested.

I crept into Scapa Flow last mission and managed to take out a couple of more interesting ships but that was not particularly exciting.

As you progress more, do you get more interesting missions with specific goals instead of just going to a certain patrol position? There seems to be lots of room for more orders but the orders never change.

The Avon Lady · 01-25-06, 05:01 AM

Consider a career at WaW. Just click on my sig's WaW banner pic to go there.

Ducimus · 01-25-06, 05:29 AM

Dont pay much attention to the orders. I consider them a formality.

When i do a patrol, the first thing i do is plot my course to the grid assigment (assuming i do it, and 90% of the time i do). While im sitting there for the alloted 24 hours, im planning out where im REALLY going to go.

But to rewind a bit, certain mods help the game alot. one of those is harbor traffic. Raiding harbors is one of my favorite pastimes, albiet a dangerous one.

One thing i like about IX boats is im not limited by range or short torpedo stores. If i want to go chase a convoy, i can do that, just like a VII boat. If i go raiding a harbor, well, some of the far off ones are a bit lucrative. Early war, ill raid casablanca. Once drumbeat starts rolling, ill go shoot fish in a barrel in caracco.

Another lovely thing about IX boats is you can get heavy flak a bit earlier then an VII. One highly unrealistic pastime i have is quite frankly, not diving when a plane attacks and watch my flak gunners shred him to bits, or man the guns and do it myself.

Deck gun action is another past time. Ill occasinally dabble in "running gun battles" with armed merchantman. THeir aim sucks so the odds are usually in my favor. To be honest thoguh, im too chicken to attempet this with any escort, to include an armed trawler. So i have my limits as to how much risk ill take.

Running gun battles and shooting down aircraft are on the gamey side of things, but its things like that, that keep my intrest. Modding the game is a big perk. You can do it for realism or for fun. If you get bored, you can do wierd stuff. Like... making a IID boat have a 35 kt surface speed and try running the gibralter singleplayer mission on the surface.

Just ideas, sometimes taking a break helps alot and you can come back with a fresh perspective.

01-25-06, 06:29 AM

1. Get a good ship (Type VII , or Type IX)

2. Check the wiki manual for some hunting grounds. Direct link below.
http://www.communitymanuals.com/shii...unting_Grounds

3. Learn how to safely use TC, go surfaced as much as you can (in this case put some watch men on the tower). If you use unlimited fuel, go ahead flank (surfaced) most the time.

4. Have a good sonar man, give him medals. Go 20m or 30m once in a while to check for contacts, go slow in this case for better hydrophone range. If you find nothing, surface and cruise some 30Km.

5. Install the convoy routes map mod. It shows you the convoys routes on the map when you zoom out.

ps. In the 2 hunting areas of the wiki manual, i had no trouble finding lots of targets.

SmokinTep · 01-25-06, 07:19 AM

I have 2 careers going. One that I follow orders with and another where I just do what I want, mostly try and go into enemy ports. Also found if you leave the game for a while, coming back is sweeter.

davidaspy · 01-25-06, 09:24 AM

where can i find the harbour traffic mod? I looked in the list on ths scripting forum but couldnt see it.

Gizzmoe · 01-25-06, 09:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by davidaspy

where can i find the harbour traffic mod?

http://www.subsim.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=46447

01-25-06, 02:32 PM

What does this mod do ??!?

More Ships ??

Wolfram · 01-25-06, 02:39 PM

Oh yeah more ships and if you not careful some collisions with friendlys too.

Capt. of a type 34 still waiting for me to return to port for summary review board and courts martial...

Yup a very good mod - try mines and nets also and see how often you sneak into an enemy harbor to get all those extra ships.

With mod enabler I swap out mods like those to vary things - but you have heard the best advice - moderation and even a break from the game...or if you are realistic actually do things like eat, sleep, read, etc...leave in it reduced or x1 TC....let your crew run the boat for a while

Mike 'Red Ocktober' Hense · 01-25-06, 02:52 PM

... and to help your performance out a bit, open the task manager (ctl/alt/del) and shut down some of those processes that aren't doing anything but wasting resources...

... if you've got qttask.exe, realsched.exe, that ipod iTunes crap running... just shut em down... either from the task manager, or the task bar at the bottom of your screem...

don't shut down everything now... just the processes that you know you surely aren't gonna be using during a SHIII session...

that should help a bit...
good hunting

--Mike

Panama Red · 01-25-06, 03:13 PM

Google and find a program called "EndItAll". Download, install and it will close all unnessary programs that are running in the background. It's a smart program, so it will not close anything that you PC needs to operate.

Crop-Duster · 01-25-06, 03:47 PM

Play the sim in the nude

Panama Red · 01-25-06, 03:49 PM

Crop-Duster:
:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

Marhkimov · 01-25-06, 04:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Crop-Duster

Play the sim in the nude

Ya know... That will make anything interesting.

:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

DMarkwick · 01-25-06, 05:47 PM

I got this sim a couple of weeks ago, I'm still having a ball. I take it you've tried all the game derivatives - total manual solves, using a stopwatch & drawing tools only etc? That can rack up the difficulty and add a new element.

I went onto Ebay & purchased a Junghans stopwatch circa 1950 or so, and also made an angle-on-bow calculator from 2 printable CDs of different sizes:

01-25-06, 04:40 AM	#1
Kurt Alden Swabbie Join Date: Dec 2005 Posts: 14 Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	Struggling to stay interested Hey all It's a shame but I think my interest is waning. I don't get a lot of time to play games and the long load times are really getting on my nerves. Plus, every time I load, I get frame rates of around 1 frame per second for two or three minutes until everything settles down. I started a new career mid 1943 hoping things would get more interesting btu it's still the same old "travel to x, patrol for 24 hours, return to base" with nothing more interesting to do. It's fun enough sinking ships but the missions are so samey that I'm finding it hard to keep interested. I crept into Scapa Flow last mission and managed to take out a couple of more interesting ships but that was not particularly exciting. As you progress more, do you get more interesting missions with specific goals instead of just going to a certain patrol position? There seems to be lots of room for more orders but the orders never change.

01-25-06, 05:01 AM	#2
The Avon Lady Über Mom Join Date: May 2005 Location: Jerusalem, Israel Posts: 6,147 Downloads: 5 Uploads: 0	Consider a career at WaW. Just click on my sig's WaW banner pic to go there. __________________ "Victory will come to us from the wombs of our women." - Houari Boumedienne, President of Algeria, Speech before the UN, 1974

01-25-06, 09:24 AM	#6
davidaspy Mate Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: North of the South Posts: 56 Downloads: 25 Uploads: 0	where can i find the harbour traffic mod? I looked in the list on ths scripting forum but couldnt see it. __________________ Eagles may soar, but weasels dont get sucked into jet engines.

01-25-06, 03:47 PM	#12
Crop-Duster Medic Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Up the line in Canada eh Posts: 162 Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	Play the sim in the nude __________________ Sir! What was that noise? Ironically the Shorts Sunderland is code letter U of No. 461 Squadron, and the submarine is U-461.

01-25-06, 05:29 AM	#3
Ducimus Rear Admiral Join Date: May 2005 Posts: 12,987 Downloads: 67 Uploads: 2	Dont pay much attention to the orders. I consider them a formality. When i do a patrol, the first thing i do is plot my course to the grid assigment (assuming i do it, and 90% of the time i do). While im sitting there for the alloted 24 hours, im planning out where im REALLY going to go. But to rewind a bit, certain mods help the game alot. one of those is harbor traffic. Raiding harbors is one of my favorite pastimes, albiet a dangerous one. One thing i like about IX boats is im not limited by range or short torpedo stores. If i want to go chase a convoy, i can do that, just like a VII boat. If i go raiding a harbor, well, some of the far off ones are a bit lucrative. Early war, ill raid casablanca. Once drumbeat starts rolling, ill go shoot fish in a barrel in caracco. Another lovely thing about IX boats is you can get heavy flak a bit earlier then an VII. One highly unrealistic pastime i have is quite frankly, not diving when a plane attacks and watch my flak gunners shred him to bits, or man the guns and do it myself. Deck gun action is another past time. Ill occasinally dabble in "running gun battles" with armed merchantman. THeir aim sucks so the odds are usually in my favor. To be honest thoguh, im too chicken to attempet this with any escort, to include an armed trawler. So i have my limits as to how much risk ill take. Running gun battles and shooting down aircraft are on the gamey side of things, but its things like that, that keep my intrest. Modding the game is a big perk. You can do it for realism or for fun. If you get bored, you can do wierd stuff. Like... making a IID boat have a 35 kt surface speed and try running the gibralter singleplayer mission on the surface. Just ideas, sometimes taking a break helps alot and you can come back with a fresh perspective.

01-25-06, 06:29 AM	#4
canimo Stowaway Posts: n/a Downloads: Uploads:	1. Get a good ship (Type VII , or Type IX) 2. Check the wiki manual for some hunting grounds. Direct link below. http://www.communitymanuals.com/shii...unting_Grounds 3. Learn how to safely use TC, go surfaced as much as you can (in this case put some watch men on the tower). If you use unlimited fuel, go ahead flank (surfaced) most the time. 4. Have a good sonar man, give him medals. Go 20m or 30m once in a while to check for contacts, go slow in this case for better hydrophone range. If you find nothing, surface and cruise some 30Km. 5. Install the convoy routes map mod. It shows you the convoys routes on the map when you zoom out. ps. In the 2 hunting areas of the wiki manual, i had no trouble finding lots of targets.

01-25-06, 07:19 AM	#5
SmokinTep Ace of the Deep Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Suffolk, Virginia Posts: 1,027 Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	I have 2 careers going. One that I follow orders with and another where I just do what I want, mostly try and go into enemy ports. Also found if you leave the game for a while, coming back is sweeter.

01-25-06, 02:32 PM	#8
canimo Stowaway Posts: n/a Downloads: Uploads:	What does this mod do ??!? More Ships ??

01-25-06, 02:39 PM	#9
Wolfram Weps Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: periscope depth Posts: 354 Downloads: 5 Uploads: 0	Oh yeah more ships and if you not careful some collisions with friendlys too. Capt. of a type 34 still waiting for me to return to port for summary review board and courts martial... Yup a very good mod - try mines and nets also and see how often you sneak into an enemy harbor to get all those extra ships. With mod enabler I swap out mods like those to vary things - but you have heard the best advice - moderation and even a break from the game...or if you are realistic actually do things like eat, sleep, read, etc...leave in it reduced or x1 TC....let your crew run the boat for a while

01-25-06, 02:52 PM	#10
Mike 'Red Ocktober' Hense Commander Join Date: Sep 2001 Posts: 445 Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	... and to help your performance out a bit, open the task manager (ctl/alt/del) and shut down some of those processes that aren't doing anything but wasting resources... ... if you've got qttask.exe, realsched.exe, that ipod iTunes crap running... just shut em down... either from the task manager, or the task bar at the bottom of your screem... don't shut down everything now... just the processes that you know you surely aren't gonna be using during a SHIII session... that should help a bit... good hunting --Mike

01-25-06, 03:13 PM	#11
Panama Red Ensign Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Irmo, SC, USA Posts: 229 Downloads: 40 Uploads: 0	Google and find a program called "EndItAll". Download, install and it will close all unnessary programs that are running in the background. It's a smart program, so it will not close anything that you PC needs to operate.

01-25-06, 03:49 PM	#13
Panama Red Ensign Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Irmo, SC, USA Posts: 229 Downloads: 40 Uploads: 0	Crop-Duster: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

01-25-06, 05:47 PM	#15
DMarkwick Shore leave Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 70 Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	I got this sim a couple of weeks ago, I'm still having a ball. I take it you've tried all the game derivatives - total manual solves, using a stopwatch & drawing tools only etc? That can rack up the difficulty and add a new element. I went onto Ebay & purchased a Junghans stopwatch circa 1950 or so, and also made an angle-on-bow calculator from 2 printable CDs of different sizes: