[BUG] Tonnage bar won't fill up (what mod)

[THEBERBSTER]

Hi jibouil

Seconded
64 TWOS manual game saves so far with no problems.

Peter

[vdr1981]

Check PM Mama...

[MaMa]

Originally Posted by vdr1981

Check PM Mama...

It seems we do not need to do further searches vdr1981 ... thanks for your help offer but i think i've found a simple solution to this problem ! I will share all the details on my next post (a more detailed one than my previous).

Originally Posted by gap

I will.

Can you please provide us with the message you sent to Ubi hedquarter's technical support (the one in english), as well as their email adress/contact link and the customer name you used for getting in touch with them? I just want to make sure my query to fall into the right hands, and them to understand what I am talking about.

As confirmed above gap... i think we do not need to further insist with UBI . In my next post i will post the detailed procedure to fix this bug.

I made some final checks with a full modded game and it seems all right !

Next step is to confirm this fix as a definitive solution for everyone .

[vdr1981]

Great job Mama!

Just one question...Will the described procedure be necessary every time you enter the game or only once on campaign start?

[MaMa]

Originally Posted by vdr1981

Great job Mama!

Just one question...Will the described procedure be necessary every time you enter the game or only once on campaign start?

The computer automatically apply a low level priority to the OSI process because it is a background application. You need to manually set it to high.

You'll need to do it every time you load the SH5.exe file (the responsible of the OSI application launch). Once the game is launched, and the priority set, you do not need to do anything more (as an example you can load multiple times different saves of different campaigns without problems).

Since the OSI process is strictly linked to the SH5.exe file it is killed when you exit the game, losing the priority setup, which will need to be resetted to high on the next SH5.exe launch.

I hope my explanation answered your question .

I will post all the details within today since i will be out for the entire next week, leaving time to all to do some trials...

[MaMa]

As told in my last post, here it is a detailed explanation about my discovery and the procedure to use for fixing this terrible bug .

Starting from the assumption that something was related to a missing response from the OSI application or the SH5 main game i first started looking inside the OSI executable but with no result. From my knowledge it looked all right and with no apparent problem at all . I excluded the game files since they were the same as ever and the only changes occurred were part of the UPlay updates frequently released (with no apparent communications with the users, it seems... changes to more important games were followed by news or changelogs, for Silent Hunter 5 no informations were given ).

Second important element was that not all users were experimenting this issue, thus leading me to a problem related to single computers with problems on Handling threads or processes flow. The OSI is at all effects an emulator of the old DRM system (or part of it at all, i don't know) and it send pings to the main game every few seconds before releasing further data to the game prior a game response. This timed procedure pointed me at looking at the running processes of my PC and there it came to my mind an old application dedicated on freeing resources of the PC as to have better performances for a game :

This application simply changed the process priority of the game launched and lowered all Others to allow the computer a dedicated amount of resources for the game. Usually a PC handles all the processes automatically aiming to a balanced performance of all the applications running and the priority assigned gives more resources (RAM, CPU usage and so on) to the main applications running... i wondered if it could be our case and there it came the discovery.

Coming to the problem, here is the bug : the OSI application, started each time with the SH5.exe file, is a background application and the PC usually gives little resources to it, however the SH5 game is instead a demanding one and is given a lot more resources than other running processes... now, it seems that this big difference from resources allocated to the SH5 main game and the ones allocated for the OSI is the responsible for the missing communication between the two running processes .

My first idea was to manually raise the priority of the OSI process and it worked !! The DBG Viewer helped me on checking the correct communications between SH5 and OSI and at the moment it works everything correctly . As everyone can note the DBG Viewer is only a tool to check if the game works properly and it is not needed to fix the bug. The only thing to do once is to set the OSI.exe file to be runned with administrator rights because only in this way it can be directed from the Windows Task Manager.

The file is located in the UPlay folder, this is the link where it is usually installed :

C:\Program Files (x86)\Ubisoft\Ubisoft Game Launcher\data\3\osis\13\OSI.exe

After that the procedure to follow is this :

- Start Silent Hunter 5;
- When the game finishes loading and you are in the main menu go to the desktop using Alt+TAB;
- Start the Windows task manager and go to the process list;
- Find the OSI.exe process and right click on it;
- Go to "manage priority" and set it to "real time";
- The computer will ask if you want to do it, click yes. It will then tell you that it cannot enable the real time and instead it will set it to "high", that's ok, click on it;
- Close the task manager and return to the game;
- Start or load a saved game and enjoy it !

That's all ! Be aware that the OSI process is killed each time you exit the main game and it is restarted at each SH5 launch, so it is necessary to raise the priority each time. Since it takes only 30 seconds or less to make the modify i don't think it will be too difficult or long to apply .

At the moment i tried more than 20 sessions with the vanilla game and a modded one and no more issues were found, all campaigns are updated regularly and the infamous tonnage bar is filling correctly . As said in my previous posts, every feedback would help on understanding if this bug can be considered solved or not, feel free to ask about it, i will help if i can !

[THEBERBSTER]

I would like to acknowledge my appreciation for all MaMa's hard work in finding the cause of this SH5 problem.

What does this mean now the tonnage bar has been removed?

Is this new fix without the tonnage bar now the way forward to move from campaign to campaign?

Does this now make Vecko's Silentotto campaign fix obsolete?

Peter

[Putera aditya]

Originally Posted by MaMa

As told in my last post, here it is a detailed explanation about my discovery and the procedure to use for fixing this terrible bug .

Starting from the assumption that something was related to a missing response from the OSI application or the SH5 main game i first started looking inside the OSI executable but with no result. From my knowledge it looked all right and with no apparent problem at all . I excluded the game files since they were the same as ever and the only changes occurred were part of the UPlay updates frequently released (with no apparent communications with the users, it seems... changes to more important games were followed by news or changelogs, for Silent Hunter 5 no informations were given ).

Second important element was that not all users were experimenting this issue, thus leading me to a problem related to single computers with problems on Handling threads or processes flow. The OSI is at all effects an emulator of the old DRM system (or part of it at all, i don't know) and it send pings to the main game every few seconds before releasing further data to the game prior a game response. This timed procedure pointed me at looking at the running processes of my PC and there it came to my mind an old application dedicated on freeing resources of the PC as to have better performances for a game :

This application simply changed the process priority of the game launched and lowered all Others to allow the computer a dedicated amount of resources for the game. Usually a PC handles all the processes automatically aiming to a balanced performance of all the applications running and the priority assigned gives more resources (RAM, CPU usage and so on) to the main applications running... i wondered if it could be our case and there it came the discovery.

Coming to the problem, here is the bug : the OSI application, started each time with the SH5.exe file, is a background application and the PC usually gives little resources to it, however the SH5 game is instead a demanding one and is given a lot more resources than other running processes... now, it seems that this big difference from resources allocated to the SH5 main game and the ones allocated for the OSI is the responsible for the missing communication between the two running processes .

My first idea was to manually raise the priority of the OSI process and it worked !! The DBG Viewer helped me on checking the correct communications between SH5 and OSI and at the moment it works everything correctly . As everyone can note the DBG Viewer is only a tool to check if the game works properly and it is not needed to fix the bug. The only thing to do once is to set the OSI.exe file to be runned with administrator rights because only in this way it can be directed from the Windows Task Manager.

The file is located in the UPlay folder, this is the link where it is usually installed :

C:\Program Files (x86)\Ubisoft\Ubisoft Game Launcher\data\3\osis\13\OSI.exe

After that the procedure to follow is this :

- Start Silent Hunter 5;
- When the game finishes loading and you are in the main menu go to the desktop using Alt+TAB;
- Start the Windows task manager and go to the process list;
- Find the OSI.exe process and right click on it;
- Go to "manage priority" and set it to "real time";
- The computer will ask if you want to do it, click yes. It will then tell you that it cannot enable the real time and instead it will set it to "high", that's ok, click on it;
- Close the task manager and return to the game;
- Start or load a saved game and enjoy it !

That's all ! Be aware that the OSI process is killed each time you exit the main game and it is restarted at each SH5 launch, so it is necessary to raise the priority each time. Since it takes only 30 seconds or less to make the modify i don't think it will be too difficult or long to apply .

At the moment i tried more than 20 sessions with the vanilla game and a modded one and no more issues were found, all campaigns are updated regularly and the infamous tonnage bar is filling correctly . As said in my previous posts, every feedback would help on understanding if this bug can be considered solved or not, feel free to ask about it, i will help if i can !

I cant change OSI Priority to realtime, my Windows 7 says unable, any ideas?

[MaMa]

Hi to everyone !

Sorry if it's been awhile since my last post but i was out due to my job ...

Just a quick update on the situation :

I can confirm that in any way this bug is related to the campaign files. I checked everything inside them and, despite various errors, there isn't anything related to the problem (remember that i'm talking about the vanilla game, without any MOD or changes made).

Everything is related to this damned OSI application loaded when the game first load a save or when a new game is started. I even tried to check the OSI.exe file with a decompiler but my knowledge is too limited to understand the data flow of this "DRM emulator"... it's sure that is something related to the virtual DRM management now handled locally by this application, it seems like the application can't communicate with the game correctly most of the time but not always...

Using a debug viewer and running it in the background allows everyone to know if the game is correctly loaded : simply check if all the elements are loaded correctly (as shown on my first post) but is real painful to load a saved game several times or to re-launch the Whole game to make it run correctly...

And last : Ubisoft answered to my question about a possible timing for a solution of the problem. They aknowledged it but they told me that is a low priority issue due to the small number of queries received (i guess they are interested on making money with something else at the moment )... thus i ask to everyone interested, forward a query to the UBI customer support hoping that it helps bringing some pressure on the issue.

[THEBERBSTER]

Is it ok for Ubisoft to say it is a "low priority"?

Ubisoft are currently selling a game knowing that it does not work properly.

They have a legal obligation like any other seller who sells a product that it has to be "fit for purpose", and it is not.

Peter

[MaMa]

Originally Posted by THEBERBSTER

Is it ok for Ubisoft to say it is a "low priority"?

Ubisoft are currently selling a game knowing that it does not work properly.

They have a legal obligation like any other seller who sells a product that it has to be "fit for purpose", and it is not.

Peter

+1 !

[vdr1981]

Originally Posted by THEBERBSTER

Is it ok for Ubisoft to say it is a "low priority"?

Ubisoft are currently selling a game knowing that it does not work properly.

They have a legal obligation like any other seller who sells a product that it has to be "fit for purpose", and it is not.

Peter

Ubisoft is bunch of unscrupulous guys who managed to kill every simulation related to this company. Dont expect official fix because that will probably never happen.
Most of deceived customers are not aware that there's SH5 version out there which is "tonnage bar bug" free, but something like that is not allowed to be discussed so I should better stay silent...

[THEBERBSTER]

Hi Vecko

Like you, I do not expect Ubisoft to do anything about this even though I believe there is a legal and if not, a moral obligation to do so.

You would not buy a car with 3 wheels on it as you can see there is a wheel missing.

To the unsuspecting SH5 buyer they do not know they are buying a flawed game.
Unless the gamer can find Subsim quickly it will end up in the trash can.

Peter

[gap]

Originally Posted by MaMa

Just a quick update on the situation...

Thank you very much MaMa, your contribution to track down the DRM/tonnage bar issue is very much appreciated here

Originally Posted by MaMa

...And last : Ubisoft answered to my question about a possible timing for a solution of the problem. They aknowledged it but they told me that is a low priority issue due to the small number of queries received (i guess they are interested on making money with something else at the moment )...

Originally Posted by MaMa

thus i ask to everyone interested, forward a query to the UBI customer support hoping that it helps bringing some pressure on the issue.

I will.

Can you please provide us with the message you sent to Ubi hedquarter's technical support (the one in english), as well as their email adress/contact link and the customer name you used for getting in touch with them? I just want to make sure my query to fall into the right hands, and them to understand what I am talking about.

Originally Posted by THEBERBSTER

Is it ok for Ubisoft to say it is a "low priority"?

Ubisoft are currently selling a game knowing that it does not work properly.

They have a legal obligation like any other seller who sells a product that it has to be "fit for purpose", and it is not.

Peter

Yes, they have two fair ways to deal with the issue: fixing it or admitting that SH5 is abandonware and stop making money with it.

Originally Posted by vdr1981

Ubisoft is bunch of unscrupulous guys...

Originally Posted by vdr1981

Dont expect official fix because that will probably never happen.

Originally Posted by THEBERBSTER

Like you, I do not expect Ubisoft to do anything about this...

So do I, but as stated by Peter it's a matter of principle. I bought their game fully aware that it was full with bugs. I didn't expect Ubi to fix them, but I can't accept them to even add new ones to the collection. Are they serious?

Originally Posted by THEBERBSTER

Most of deceived customers are not aware that there's SH5 version out there which is "tonnage bar bug" free, but something like that is not allowed to be discussed so I should better stay silent...

Well, until they release an official fix I am not afraid mentioning any SH5 anti-DRM crack (crack or fix?), as using it is the only way to bypass the problem and play a game I legitimately bought, without having to mod it heavily. I am aware your modifications to OH's campaign are a good alternative, but neither Trevally nor TWoS are on Ubisoft's pay roll so, if you ask me, if they decide not to deal with the problem they are liable of fraud.

[MaMa]

So, i'm a little excited ... but... despite not being completely sure of that... at the moment it seems i've found a solution to the problem !!!!

Further testing needed but so far i made a 100% success rate over 5 trials... still testing but since i have no time during the next week to continue my tests i wish to share this with everyone, so if someone can try this procedure in the meantime and check if it works it would be of great help !!

So, here we go ! :

First of all, an information on the test made. Tried with the vanilla game with no MODS installed (version 1.20), therefore if someone could test it with configured MODS or something else enabled he would be more than welcome !

Firstly i recommend to have the DBGViewer enabled (it can be found in the TDW applications directory of TDW UI MOD) and make sure to have the OSI.exe file in the UPlay folder set to run with administrator rights.

Start the game and when it finishes loading go to desktop (Alt+TAB). Start the Windows Task Manager and go to the "process" list. You should have the OSI application in the list running.

Go to the OSI process and click with the RMB, select "priority" and click on "real time". The PC will tell you that it is not possible but it will set the priority to "high".

Go back to the game and start a new game or load an existing one. After the loading is completed wait 10 or 20 seconds then pause the game and with Alt+TAB go to the DBG viewer. Check if all the elements needed for the campagin updates are loaded (check my first post to see which ones are needed for the game to run correctly) and continue playing.

Check if everything is working correctly ! So far my games worked fine, with all objectives updated and the tonnage bar filling correctly...

As stated at the start of my post : i cannot confirm if it could be a solution to the problem since i made only few tests but i want to share this with all of you interested as to have some feedback ! It could be a hint for the right direction to follow for my future testing, thanks in advance for every possible incoming information !

Good luck and fingers crossed !