Looking for guidance on how to improve my game experience please

treblesum81 · 05-12-10, 08:19 PM

Ok, so after coming back to SH4 after a long break, I'm faced with the same old problem I had before, which was never really resolved, about how much time it takes to find something to shoot at versus how much time it takes to shoot at it, and how all that figures into my ability to play the game.

I just spent the better part of 4 hours today driving around in circles looking for something to shoot. It's December 8th 1941 and the first patrol area I've got puts me right on top of Cam Ranh Bay. Now, I'm not an expert, but from what I've been told, right about this time there is an invasion fleet leaving the bay bound for Luzon which I should be able to catch. I have RFB and RSRDC installed.

Anyway, like I said, I spent about 4 hours (real time) patrolling, moving on the surface at 512x and then diving every hour on the hour to do a 1x sonar sweep. The end result of all of this work was that I found a single destroyer, which I couldn't even really engage. Four hours of game time for one single ship... And even if it had been a merchant, that was all of the game time I had available for the day, so I wouldn't have even really had time to set up a proper shot at it...

Now, as much as I like watching my submarine go, I don't get any enjoyment out of searching endlessly without something to mark down in my "ships sunk" page. I'm not willing to give up either RFB or RSRDC because I want to have the realism that they both provide, however I need to have more action and less wandering. Or else I won't be able to justify the play time... I mean if I have on average 2 hours a day, and it takes me two days to find a target before I can even shoot it, thats two days of wasted game time in my book...

In SH3 there was a mod... more like an add on program that would let you change the probability of a ship or convoy showing up as a contact report when they are updated every few hours. For me this transformed the whole level of enjoyment of the game because instead of running around all day long in the patrol areas, I spent my game time actually hunting ships.

Months ago, I had asked if this same thing would be possible with SH4, and essentially got the response that it wouldn't be as long as I was not willing to give up RSRDC (which I tried and didn't like mostly because it didn't really increase my ship location rates, though I must admit I didn't give it more than a couple of days of trial), so I'm not going to ask for it again here... unless someone managed to come up with it in the months since I was last in here, in which case please point me straight to it

...

Instead, I would like to know if there are any other "cheater" mods out there, such as 100 mile sonar, or something like that, which would help me to find those targets without forcing me to give up the campaign realism offered by RSRDC. Even if they aren't so specific, please let me know if they are out there as any bonus might change things enough to make my game time productive instead of not.

Barring such mods existence, I'm hoping that someone might be able to point me towards information that would help me to make something of the sort for myself, though I'm not all that great at modding so I would much prefer a ready made mod.

Whatever the case, I've found myself right back where I left off last time, with not enough time to devote to playing the game the way it expects to be played (if only sonar worked while surfaced and you could just let it run at like 512x or 1024x until a contact was made...), but a strong desire to play none the less. Any help and/or guidance is much appreciated here.

Thanks

BillBam · 05-12-10, 08:38 PM

I am confused. You want realistic campaign/traffic layers but superman sonar? If memory serves me right Dick O'Kane in "Clear the Bridge" was thrilled when his patrols had one kill for every 11 days of patrol time, the best in the fleet.

It would seem more realistic to me to have a little more traffic even if not totally realistic and have the actual tools available to boat captains.

If I remember right traffic only spawns when it is within 40 miles of your location so 100 mile sonar would not help. You might try a later start date or with a boat that has radar to increase your detection range.

I tried the RSRD campaign layers but found them to be a little too dry, I agree that with limited play time available it sucks to spend 2 hours a night looking for that one long merchant ship. I have run my last two campaigns with TMO and the TMO More Merchant mod that Ducimus came out with. This seems to be a perfect mix of time to target without giving the impression you are in a stock game shooting gallery.

Admiral8Q · 05-12-10, 08:46 PM

Treblesum81, I think you've been drinking!

treblesum81 · 05-12-10, 08:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Admiral8Q

Treblesum81, I think you've been drinking!

Of course I've been drinking... thats why I was able to write a long and comprehensible post

Admiral8Q · 05-12-10, 09:03 PM

If you want action, I'd recommend TMO.

treblesum81 · 05-12-10, 09:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Admiral8Q

If you want action, I'd recommend TMO.

Does that hold true with RSRDC in place?

treblesum81 · 05-12-10, 08:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BillBam

I am confused. You want realistic campaign/traffic layers but superman sonar? If memory serves me right Dick O'Kane in "Clear the Bridge" was thrilled when his patrols had one kill for every 11 days of patrol time, the best in the fleet.

Yes basically, a way to experience the real shipping and traffic in the war without spending days of game time doing nothing. One kill in 11 days might be a great kill record, but for me in game, even taking into account time compression, that means something like one kill every 5.5 hours or so, which is just way too long a time to wait, at least for me, to shoot something.

Quote:

If I remember right traffic only spawns when it is within 40 miles of your location so 100 mile sonar would not help. You might try a later start date or with a boat that has radar to increase your detection range.

I thought it was the other way around? Traffic only spawns when its more than 40 miles away from you so that you don't get a fleet of DD's drop on your head without warning. I may be wrong of course.

Quote:

I tried the RSRD campaign layers but found them to be a little too dry, I agree that with limited play time available it sucks to spend 2 hours a night looking for that one long merchant ship. I have run my last two campaigns with TMO and the TMO More Merchant mod that Ducimus came out with. This seems to be a perfect mix of time to target without giving the impression you are in a stock game shooting gallery.

See the reason I really like RSRDC is because it puts things in the right place at the right time... like the Philippines invasion fleet, before I tried RSRDC, I'd patrolled that area at least 5 times without running into it, with RSRDC (not this time), I find it at least 25% of the time, if I cheat and go wait for it...

I might give the TMO route a try, but I've always had trouble with TMO when it comes to combat as I find myself getting dead a lot, even when I just fired and ran... That being said, I wonder if the increased merchants mod is compatible at all with RSRDC?

05-12-10, 08:19 PM	#1
treblesum81 Frogman Join Date: Apr 2008 Posts: 308 Downloads: 71 Uploads: 0	Looking for guidance on how to improve my game experience please Ok, so after coming back to SH4 after a long break, I'm faced with the same old problem I had before, which was never really resolved, about how much time it takes to find something to shoot at versus how much time it takes to shoot at it, and how all that figures into my ability to play the game. I just spent the better part of 4 hours today driving around in circles looking for something to shoot. It's December 8th 1941 and the first patrol area I've got puts me right on top of Cam Ranh Bay. Now, I'm not an expert, but from what I've been told, right about this time there is an invasion fleet leaving the bay bound for Luzon which I should be able to catch. I have RFB and RSRDC installed. Anyway, like I said, I spent about 4 hours (real time) patrolling, moving on the surface at 512x and then diving every hour on the hour to do a 1x sonar sweep. The end result of all of this work was that I found a single destroyer, which I couldn't even really engage. Four hours of game time for one single ship... And even if it had been a merchant, that was all of the game time I had available for the day, so I wouldn't have even really had time to set up a proper shot at it... Now, as much as I like watching my submarine go, I don't get any enjoyment out of searching endlessly without something to mark down in my "ships sunk" page. I'm not willing to give up either RFB or RSRDC because I want to have the realism that they both provide, however I need to have more action and less wandering. Or else I won't be able to justify the play time... I mean if I have on average 2 hours a day, and it takes me two days to find a target before I can even shoot it, thats two days of wasted game time in my book... In SH3 there was a mod... more like an add on program that would let you change the probability of a ship or convoy showing up as a contact report when they are updated every few hours. For me this transformed the whole level of enjoyment of the game because instead of running around all day long in the patrol areas, I spent my game time actually hunting ships. Months ago, I had asked if this same thing would be possible with SH4, and essentially got the response that it wouldn't be as long as I was not willing to give up RSRDC (which I tried and didn't like mostly because it didn't really increase my ship location rates, though I must admit I didn't give it more than a couple of days of trial), so I'm not going to ask for it again here... unless someone managed to come up with it in the months since I was last in here, in which case please point me straight to it ... Instead, I would like to know if there are any other "cheater" mods out there, such as 100 mile sonar, or something like that, which would help me to find those targets without forcing me to give up the campaign realism offered by RSRDC. Even if they aren't so specific, please let me know if they are out there as any bonus might change things enough to make my game time productive instead of not. Barring such mods existence, I'm hoping that someone might be able to point me towards information that would help me to make something of the sort for myself, though I'm not all that great at modding so I would much prefer a ready made mod. Whatever the case, I've found myself right back where I left off last time, with not enough time to devote to playing the game the way it expects to be played (if only sonar worked while surfaced and you could just let it run at like 512x or 1024x until a contact was made...), but a strong desire to play none the less. Any help and/or guidance is much appreciated here. Thanks

05-12-10, 08:46 PM	#3
Admiral8Q Ace of the Deep Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Prince Edward Island, Canada Posts: 1,077 Downloads: 24 Uploads: 0	Treblesum81, I think you've been drinking! __________________

05-12-10, 09:03 PM	#5
Admiral8Q Ace of the Deep Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Prince Edward Island, Canada Posts: 1,077 Downloads: 24 Uploads: 0	If you want action, I'd recommend TMO. __________________

05-12-10, 08:38 PM	#2
BillBam Watch Officer Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Yuba/Sutter, CA Posts: 347 Downloads: 171 Uploads: 0	I am confused. You want realistic campaign/traffic layers but superman sonar? If memory serves me right Dick O'Kane in "Clear the Bridge" was thrilled when his patrols had one kill for every 11 days of patrol time, the best in the fleet. It would seem more realistic to me to have a little more traffic even if not totally realistic and have the actual tools available to boat captains. If I remember right traffic only spawns when it is within 40 miles of your location so 100 mile sonar would not help. You might try a later start date or with a boat that has radar to increase your detection range. I tried the RSRD campaign layers but found them to be a little too dry, I agree that with limited play time available it sucks to spend 2 hours a night looking for that one long merchant ship. I have run my last two campaigns with TMO and the TMO More Merchant mod that Ducimus came out with. This seems to be a perfect mix of time to target without giving the impression you are in a stock game shooting gallery.