My first patrol: what am I doing wrong? - Page 2

CCIP · 02-15-15, 02:06 AM

The mission tasking comes from RSRDC, not TMO. For some mission types, you need to radio a status report for a new assignment to arrive. For "sink tonnage"objectives, you are not tied to an area and can move out further in search of ships.

Oh, and a tip about the radar: TMO and most other major mods include an extending SD radar antenna that allows the radar to be used down to periscope depth. You can patrol at periscope depth with it out if you wish. The SJ (surface) radar can also be used submerged, but only down to about 2/3 of periscope depth (you have to set that depth manually).

Also, TMO is a great mod, but it's geared towards experienced players, making the game intentionally more difficult than might be considered realistic so that even veterans find it chchallenging and interesting. For a similarly realistic but less unforgiving mod, you can always try RFB or FOTRS.

fireftr18 · 02-15-15, 05:32 PM

Every one has a different opinion. I say play stock for until you feel like you've mastered how the game engine works. Then start adding the mods. Like others have said, TMO makes the game more difficult. TMO by itself actually makes the game so difficult it is not realistic that way, and that's the purpose. RSRDC's main purpose is to render traffic and routes as close to historic accuracy as possible within the game engine. You will not get much traffic in the beginning of the war, and may even return without a sighting.
After reading the previous replies and your replies to them, it sounds like the mods didn't correctly install or are not working properly. To make sure, don't install SH4 into the "x-86" directory. I put it in it's own directory. When you unpack the mods, make sure they're not in the dreaded double directory (mods/tmo/tmo). The directory structure won't recognize it, and no changes will be made. Make sure, you have the correct version of SH4. You will need version 1.5 (or Gold, or the U-boat add on). You can tell by looking at the lower right hand corner of the loading screen.
The supermods don't take effect in middle of a career. You have to start a new career for them to take effect.

I think I already welcomed you the forum, but just in case I didn't, welcome aboard!

And the last group of newbies, I've been assigning them to polish the props, so you're not there already, then get to it.

FredMSloniker · 02-16-15, 01:02 AM

Okay, running into a little bit of an issue. Clean install of SH4 with the U-Boat addon, added RFB 2.0 and RFB 2.0 Patch 23 no problem. Tried to add RSRDC RFB V575 on top of that, and the game crashes when I try to get a view outside the boat. (Only once was I able to reach the bridge, and then only for a fraction of a second.) Adding the RSRDC patch doesn't help. This is starting a fresh campaign with all the default options. Any idea what the issue might be? I was able to get the game to run successfully with TMO+RSRDC and stock+RSRDC...

TorpX · 02-16-15, 02:26 AM

Your mod list should look like this:

RFB_2.0 .................................(Real Fleet Boat)
RFB_2.0_Patch_23April2010
RSRDC_RFB_V575 ...........(Run Silent Run Deep Campaign)
RSRDC_V5xx_Patch1

Next, I would make sure that the mods do not have the frequently encountered double folder problem. This occurs when there is an extra folder like this:

Mods\RFB_2.0\RFB_2.0\Data\......

instead of this:

Mods\RFB_2.0\Data\......

Next, I would ask what are your computer specs? If they are marginal, there could be problems there.

I assume you started a new career. This should always be done when installing a complex mod like TMO, RFB, etc.

FredMSloniker · 02-16-15, 01:30 PM

I've made sure the mods were installed in the correct order and without the double-folder problem, and I've started a new career. I'll try a completely clean install next and see if that helps. As for computer specs, I bought my computer just two years ago--a Dell Inspiron 660 with a Radeon 7700 added--so it should be up to running SH4. What else might be the problem?

FredMSloniker · 02-16-15, 03:46 PM

Okay. Fresh install of SH4 U-Boat. Added mods. Started campaign without changing anything, and going to the bridge worked fine... except that the nearby islands were a solid lime green. Exited the program, changed settings to windowed, tried again, crash. Deleted my settings folder, tried again, crash. I don't know what's going on here, but my computer does not seem to like the combination of Real Fleet Boat and Run Silent Run Deep.

FredMSloniker · 02-16-15, 04:19 PM

I figured it out! I was running out of memory. I used the tip in the SH4 master thread since I have 64-bit Windows 7 and eight gigs of RAM, and problem solved! Now I can go shoot things.

Maybe.

Sailor Steve · 02-16-15, 05:43 PM

CybrSlydr · 02-16-15, 07:10 PM

Whew! Glad to see TMO is purposely harder - these DD escorts are brutal - I counted last time and evaded something like 82 depth charges from two DDs. Unfortunately, my luck eventually ran out and two of them connected and sunk me.

I just could not evade - not at test depth, not changing depth, not running silently... Nothing. Bastards just wouldn't leave poor 'ole me alone! lol

FredMSloniker · 02-18-15, 11:20 PM

So it looks like fuel going from Pearl Harbor to the first mission is... tight. How should I be handling this? Go slow so the fuel lasts longer? Refuel at Midway and... some base near Japan before going on station? (I thought I was clever plotting a route to Manila once, but it wasn't ours anymore by the time I got there, and I didn't have enough fuel to get to somewhere we did have...)

TorpX · 02-18-15, 11:58 PM

If you have forward bases where you can top off, there is no reason not to. The cost of the fuel doesn't come out of your pay, after all.

If fuel is tight, go at one-engine speed, but if you have enough, I would go faster. It really depends. Planning is important.

razark · 02-19-15, 12:11 AM

I'll usually use higher speed runs from base to the patrol area. Once in the patrol area, drop your speed to the most efficient. You can check this by setting various speeds (use the actual speeds, not 1/3, 1/2, etc.), and checking maximum range at that speed. I'll also vary speed by time of day. During the day, I'll run at a higher speed, in case of aircraft. At night, I'll drop back down to the most efficient speed. I often do this on the return to base to stretch fuel.

raygamhu · 02-19-15, 02:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FredMSloniker

Okay, so I started a fresh map, set out from Pearl Harbor, headed to the destination point, and patrolled.

And patrolled.

And patrolled.

My orders were to patrol the area for 72 hours, but it's January now, and I still haven't received objective complete. Do they expect me to sink something--anything--before I can come back? Am I misreading the map somehow, circling the star that marked where I was supposed to go? Or what?

With TMO 2.5 + RSRDC, the radius of patrol zone is specified( 50/100/150 nm), stay within that circle for the requested time.
Is the objective an orange binocular or flag sign?
If it is a binocular, you must patrol inside the given circle for 72 hours.
If it's a flag, on getting inside the circle, makes the objective completed, and after that usually you receive an other objective saying, patrol 72 hours and sink ships.
It is up to you, where you go hunting, sink more than approx 3000 tons, and you will get objective completed.

FredMSloniker · 02-19-15, 11:16 PM

Things I've learned so far in my efforts just to get to my first patrol in one piece:

When the boat gets to the end of a plotted course, it turns the engines off. It does not attempt to stop the boat at the last waypoint. It doesn't attempt to stop at all; it just turns the engines off when it hits the waypoint. And subs slow down very slowly on their own. Which means I pulled into Midway to refuel, looked away for a few minutes, and crunch
Indeed, there doesn't seem to be any good way to come to a full stop. I can reverse engines and get close to a full stop, but I still drift for a good long time. Maybe if I put the boat into a tight turn? Or is there an anchor button I'm missing, silly as that sounds?
I shouldn't rely on the game to step down time acceleration when I'm close to land in general. Not only does it tend not to do so, getting close to a harbor will lag the game at high accelerations, making it difficult to manually turn them off.

Maybe in the next few days I can actually get to the point of shooting something!

FredMSloniker · 02-20-15, 02:37 PM

Oh, quick question. The RFB key commands thing mentions 'snorkel depth'. Are any of the subs actually equipped with snorkels?

02-15-15, 02:06 AM	#16
CCIP Navy Seal Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Waterloo, Canada Posts: 8,700 Downloads: 29 Uploads: 2	The mission tasking comes from RSRDC, not TMO. For some mission types, you need to radio a status report for a new assignment to arrive. For "sink tonnage"objectives, you are not tied to an area and can move out further in search of ships. Oh, and a tip about the radar: TMO and most other major mods include an extending SD radar antenna that allows the radar to be used down to periscope depth. You can patrol at periscope depth with it out if you wish. The SJ (surface) radar can also be used submerged, but only down to about 2/3 of periscope depth (you have to set that depth manually). Also, TMO is a great mod, but it's geared towards experienced players, making the game intentionally more difficult than might be considered realistic so that even veterans find it chchallenging and interesting. For a similarly realistic but less unforgiving mod, you can always try RFB or FOTRS. __________________ There are only forty people in the world and five of them are hamburgers. -Don Van Vliet (aka Captain Beefheart)

02-15-15, 05:32 PM	#17
fireftr18 Ocean Warrior Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Kentucky Posts: 2,528 Downloads: 77 Uploads: 0	Every one has a different opinion. I say play stock for until you feel like you've mastered how the game engine works. Then start adding the mods. Like others have said, TMO makes the game more difficult. TMO by itself actually makes the game so difficult it is not realistic that way, and that's the purpose. RSRDC's main purpose is to render traffic and routes as close to historic accuracy as possible within the game engine. You will not get much traffic in the beginning of the war, and may even return without a sighting. After reading the previous replies and your replies to them, it sounds like the mods didn't correctly install or are not working properly. To make sure, don't install SH4 into the "x-86" directory. I put it in it's own directory. When you unpack the mods, make sure they're not in the dreaded double directory (mods/tmo/tmo). The directory structure won't recognize it, and no changes will be made. Make sure, you have the correct version of SH4. You will need version 1.5 (or Gold, or the U-boat add on). You can tell by looking at the lower right hand corner of the loading screen. The supermods don't take effect in middle of a career. You have to start a new career for them to take effect. I think I already welcomed you the forum, but just in case I didn't, welcome aboard! And the last group of newbies, I've been assigning them to polish the props, so you're not there already, then get to it. __________________ Of all the forms of Martial Arts, Karaoke causes the most pain!

02-16-15, 02:26 AM	#19
TorpX Silent Hunter Join Date: Sep 2010 Posts: 3,975 Downloads: 153 Uploads: 11	Your mod list should look like this: RFB_2.0 .................................(Real Fleet Boat) RFB_2.0_Patch_23April2010 RSRDC_RFB_V575 ...........(Run Silent Run Deep Campaign) RSRDC_V5xx_Patch1 Next, I would make sure that the mods do not have the frequently encountered double folder problem. This occurs when there is an extra folder like this: Mods\RFB_2.0\RFB_2.0\Data\...... instead of this: Mods\RFB_2.0\Data\...... Next, I would ask what are your computer specs? If they are marginal, there could be problems there. I assume you started a new career. This should always be done when installing a complex mod like TMO, RFB, etc.

02-16-15, 05:43 PM	#23
Sailor Steve Eternal Patrol Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: High in the mountains of Utah Posts: 50,369 Downloads: 745 Uploads: 249	__________________ “Never do anything you can't take back.” —Rocky Russo

02-16-15, 07:10 PM	#24
CybrSlydr Lieutenant Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Beverly, OH Posts: 263 Downloads: 13 Uploads: 0	Whew! Glad to see TMO is purposely harder - these DD escorts are brutal - I counted last time and evaded something like 82 depth charges from two DDs. Unfortunately, my luck eventually ran out and two of them connected and sunk me. I just could not evade - not at test depth, not changing depth, not running silently... Nothing. Bastards just wouldn't leave poor 'ole me alone! lol __________________

02-16-15, 01:02 AM	#18
FredMSloniker Watch Join Date: Feb 2015 Posts: 23 Downloads: 11 Uploads: 0	Okay, running into a little bit of an issue. Clean install of SH4 with the U-Boat addon, added RFB 2.0 and RFB 2.0 Patch 23 no problem. Tried to add RSRDC RFB V575 on top of that, and the game crashes when I try to get a view outside the boat. (Only once was I able to reach the bridge, and then only for a fraction of a second.) Adding the RSRDC patch doesn't help. This is starting a fresh campaign with all the default options. Any idea what the issue might be? I was able to get the game to run successfully with TMO+RSRDC and stock+RSRDC...

02-16-15, 01:30 PM	#20
FredMSloniker Watch Join Date: Feb 2015 Posts: 23 Downloads: 11 Uploads: 0	I've made sure the mods were installed in the correct order and without the double-folder problem, and I've started a new career. I'll try a completely clean install next and see if that helps. As for computer specs, I bought my computer just two years ago--a Dell Inspiron 660 with a Radeon 7700 added--so it should be up to running SH4. What else might be the problem?

02-16-15, 03:46 PM	#21
FredMSloniker Watch Join Date: Feb 2015 Posts: 23 Downloads: 11 Uploads: 0	Okay. Fresh install of SH4 U-Boat. Added mods. Started campaign without changing anything, and going to the bridge worked fine... except that the nearby islands were a solid lime green. Exited the program, changed settings to windowed, tried again, crash. Deleted my settings folder, tried again, crash. I don't know what's going on here, but my computer does not seem to like the combination of Real Fleet Boat and Run Silent Run Deep.

02-16-15, 04:19 PM	#22
FredMSloniker Watch Join Date: Feb 2015 Posts: 23 Downloads: 11 Uploads: 0	I figured it out! I was running out of memory. I used the tip in the SH4 master thread since I have 64-bit Windows 7 and eight gigs of RAM, and problem solved! Now I can go shoot things. Maybe.

02-18-15, 11:20 PM	#25
FredMSloniker Watch Join Date: Feb 2015 Posts: 23 Downloads: 11 Uploads: 0	So it looks like fuel going from Pearl Harbor to the first mission is... tight. How should I be handling this? Go slow so the fuel lasts longer? Refuel at Midway and... some base near Japan before going on station? (I thought I was clever plotting a route to Manila once, but it wasn't ours anymore by the time I got there, and I didn't have enough fuel to get to somewhere we did have...)

02-18-15, 11:58 PM	#26
TorpX Silent Hunter Join Date: Sep 2010 Posts: 3,975 Downloads: 153 Uploads: 11	If you have forward bases where you can top off, there is no reason not to. The cost of the fuel doesn't come out of your pay, after all. If fuel is tight, go at one-engine speed, but if you have enough, I would go faster. It really depends. Planning is important.

02-19-15, 12:11 AM	#27
razark Ocean Warrior Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Houston, TX Posts: 2,731 Downloads: 393 Uploads: 12	I'll usually use higher speed runs from base to the patrol area. Once in the patrol area, drop your speed to the most efficient. You can check this by setting various speeds (use the actual speeds, not 1/3, 1/2, etc.), and checking maximum range at that speed. I'll also vary speed by time of day. During the day, I'll run at a higher speed, in case of aircraft. At night, I'll drop back down to the most efficient speed. I often do this on the return to base to stretch fuel. __________________ "Never ask a World War II history buff for a 'final solution' to your problem!"

02-19-15, 11:16 PM	#29
FredMSloniker Watch Join Date: Feb 2015 Posts: 23 Downloads: 11 Uploads: 0	Things I've learned so far in my efforts just to get to my first patrol in one piece: When the boat gets to the end of a plotted course, it turns the engines off. It does not attempt to stop the boat at the last waypoint. It doesn't attempt to stop at all; it just turns the engines off when it hits the waypoint. And subs slow down very slowly on their own. Which means I pulled into Midway to refuel, looked away for a few minutes, and crunch Indeed, there doesn't seem to be any good way to come to a full stop. I can reverse engines and get close to a full stop, but I still drift for a good long time. Maybe if I put the boat into a tight turn? Or is there an anchor button I'm missing, silly as that sounds? I shouldn't rely on the game to step down time acceleration when I'm close to land in general. Not only does it tend not to do so, getting close to a harbor will lag the game at high accelerations, making it difficult to manually turn them off. Maybe in the next few days I can actually get to the point of shooting something!

02-20-15, 02:37 PM	#30
FredMSloniker Watch Join Date: Feb 2015 Posts: 23 Downloads: 11 Uploads: 0	Oh, quick question. The RFB key commands thing mentions 'snorkel depth'. Are any of the subs actually equipped with snorkels?