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[magic452]

I would hold off on the mods for a time. Play stock and get a feel for the game first. Once you get it than go with some mods.

There is one mod for the stock game that will improve some of the bugs, etc. called Game Fix Only Mod, by Webster. This is a good one to add to stock.
Check in the mods forum to find them. EDIT GFO is for V1.5 only.

There is a TMO for V1.4 called TMO1.5 and a patch for it TMO patch 1.63.
I'll see if I can find a link.

RSRD is a great mod but you need to have some knowledge of where the real convoys and task forces were so I would go there last.

Magic

[Caleb141]

Well I've just installed TMO and RSRDC for SHIV, enjoying it so far although i've yet to detect any contacts (im using the hydrophone and radar - im assuming thats what im supposed to do?). What I tend to do is is travel for a while on Time Compression at 1000-2000+, then stop and go down to 80ft and do a hydrophone and radar check, then continue. Would that be along the lines of what is standard procedure here?

Quick question: I read the RSRDC thread but didn't fully understand what it changed, but decided it must be good if it has its own TMo version. Could someone briefly explain what it does?

EDIT: magic452, is that all RSRDC does then? just change the convoys and task forces to how they were in real life?

[BillBam]

Originally Posted by Caleb141

Well I've just installed TMO and RSRDC for SHIV, enjoying it so far although i've yet to detect any contacts (im using the hydrophone and radar - im assuming thats what im supposed to do?). What I tend to do is is travel for a while on Time Compression at 1000-2000+, then stop and go down to 80ft and do a hydrophone and radar check, then continue. Would that be along the lines of what is standard procedure here?

Quick question: I read the RSRDC thread but didn't fully understand what it changed, but decided it must be good if it has its own TMo version. Could someone briefly explain what it does?

EDIT: magic452, is that all RSRDC does then? just change the convoys and task forces to how they were in real life?

Radar (if installed) only works when surfaced, most times you will not have radar early or only the type that detects air contacts and not surface contacts. If you don't have surface contact radar your best method of detecting ships is visual contact which means you need to be surface for best range. Sonar only works when submerged and can have a fairly short range, especially in early war period.

I would not patrol at too high of a TC, I generally keep it to 256 or 512 TC and try to patrol areas called "choke points", this is the narrow straights that traffic is forced to use to move from area to area. Much harder to find the needle in the hay stack in open waters.

RSRD modifies the stock campaign layers to make convoy and task force movement historically correct, it even recreates historical sea battles. In the stock game you will get way more convoys but they are not historically correct and don't make sense sometimes.

[Caleb141]

Originally Posted by BillBam

Radar (if installed) only works when surfaced, most times you will not have radar early or only the type that detects air contacts and not surface contacts. If you don't have surface contact radar your best method of detecting ships is visual contact which means you need to be surface for best range. Sonar only works when submerged and can have a fairly short range, especially in early war period.

I would not patrol at too high of a TC, I generally keep it to 256 or 512 TC and try to patrol areas called "choke points", this is the narrow straights that traffic is forced to use to move from area to area. Much harder to find the needle in the hay stack in open waters.

RSRD modifies the stock campaign layers to make convoy and task force movement historically correct, it even recreates historical sea battles. In the stock game you will get way more convoys but they are not historically correct and don't make sense sometimes.

So how does RSRDC run with the stock games campaigns missions then? As I've just been assigned to patrol the eastern part of the south china sea but if RSRDC changes it so that the convoys are historically correct then has the objectives/missions been changed to compensate for this? After all, I dont want to be told to patrol somewhere and not encounter any ships because its not historically correct.

Also, I started my campaign at the earliest possible date (8th December 1941) , so im assuming that I wont have surface radar or anything of the like?

Thanks for all your help guys, im really really starting to enjoy this

EDIT: Also, could someone direct me to where I could maybe get information on historic patrol routes? thanks

[Bothersome]

How are the guys that are giving the orders to you supposed to know that there won't be targets there or will be at a certain date?

They want you to patrol that area because they have intelligence that puts a probability that some bad guys will be there and doing something. Did someone send them a history book from the future?

That's my beef with RSRD. You're not supposed to know the future. The captains of WW2 didn't know the future. And you shouldn't either.

Knowing that a ship or group is going to be somewhere at a certain time = cheating.

[Caleb141]

Originally Posted by Bothersome

How are the guys that are giving the orders to you supposed to know that there won't be targets there or will be at a certain date?

They want you to patrol that area because they have intelligence that puts a probability that some bad guys will be there and doing something. Did someone send them a history book from the future?

That's my beef with RSRD. You're not supposed to know the future. The captains of WW2 didn't know the future. And you shouldn't either.

Knowing that a ship or group is going to be somewhere at a certain time = cheating.

Good thing I don't know then Well I just sunk 5 sampans but im starting to wonder whether this is all the opposition I'll be getting this early in the war?

[jerm138]

Knowing that a ship or group is going to be somewhere at a certain time = cheating.

I'd call it an advantage gained by learning history... not sure I'd call it "cheating." Many skippers never sunk a single ship during their entire career. While experiencing that in-game may be more realistic, it also makes for a very boring game. Similar to not showering for weeks at a time. On the flip side though, having a list of all the exact dates and locations of convoys and battles and playing based on that list would be pushing it, and would detract from your overall experience... kinda like playing a shooter on "god" mode... it's fun for a couple minutes but gets boring pretty quickly. If you see a convoy every time you play, you'll never experience the thrill of spotting one after only killing stragglers for several weeks.

Maybe a good compromise would be to read up on the history of submarine warfare as you go along in the game... don't read about what happened in '44 if you're still playing in '42. This way, it would be about akin to gaining knowledge from other skippers' experiences as the war progresses.

Welcome to Subsim. I'm just getting through the n00b stage myself. It's a total blast. Just stick with it and keep pushing it... don't get too comfortable with simple auto-targeting... always try to do a little more with a little less and you'll be rewarded handsomely!

[Caleb141]

Well im being attacked for the first time, and im finding that its a bit of a nail biting experience

Just crash dived to 150ft as I was being shelled (I think) from a small boat coming towards me (at least I hope it was, it was coming head on so I couldn't tell ), another destroyer in the far distance, convoy of 3 tankers. Damn, I'll have my work cut out

[BillBam]

Originally Posted by Caleb141

So how does RSRDC run with the stock games campaigns missions then?

RSRD rewrites the missions also based on the flow of the war, although I don't think they necessarily are written just to through you right into big battles. A lot of people do their assigned missions then go off in hunt of the "big" battles and relive history.

[tomoose]

TMO comes with a pull-down map of shipping lanes (top left corner of your map screen) as well as some other pull-down references. Use them.
RSRD is not for the impatient, you will have to go hunting early in the war and move around your patrol area. Later, surface radar will help but early on it's partly patience and good guessing. If no luck in your patrol area then slide over to the nearest shipping lane and try your luck there. Do NOT be surprised if you come back from a patrol empty handed and with most if not all your torps. Not every patrol resulted in finding a cooperative enemy merchant(s). That's part of the challenge IMHO and is a tad more realistic. Finding the enemy easily every single time you go out is kinda pointless and partly defeats the purpose of the game itself.

[Chubster]

Originally Posted by tomoose

TMO comes with a pull-down map of shipping lanes (top left corner of your map screen) as well as some other pull-down references. Use them

Hmm....I have just posted another thread asking for maps and then read this...Does this apply to the current version of TMO as all I seem to have is a pull down conversion chart???

Would really like the shipping lane map

[Nerka]

Originally Posted by BillBam

In the stock game you will get way more convoys but they are not historically correct and don't make sense sometimes.

Too true. On my second or third patrol (without RSRDC), I was off Honshu. I sank about 5 or 6 "Huge European Liners" with my deck gun. They were usually unescorted. It was just a bit too much like an FPS for me.