I have given up on SH3

[3catcircus]

Originally Posted by MENTAT

Sadly I am fed up with CTDs and Sh3.exe stopped working messages..

I am a veteran player, returning to SH3 over and over for over 12 years. But on my most recent return, I am truly disappointed and frustrated. I have tried to make it work for over 4 days spending hours and hours.

First I tried GWX 3 Gold. But random CTDs, it starts with "stopped working" during exiting game, and then after a couple of missions, CTDs increase in frequency. Sometimes it CTD when I tried to switch to the 3D world (external view) and sometimes, on the map view and once I was repairing the damage.

I did everything I could, applied compatibility modes for win7, Win XP, did the DPI setting also applied administrator rights..

removed mods, re2moved GWX and installed Vanilla SH3, applied 4Gb patch, also applied S.hie's hard code patch, updated SH3 commander, re-installed it, and JSGME.

Applied widescreen mod, installed & removed d3d9, tried different resolutions (1920x1080 is unbearable because of mouse lag so I lowered it as low as 1280x800) but I think I have a feeling that it is related more with the resolution.

I even thought about switching to an older laptop to play it thinking my Razer Blade-15 could be the problem. (Maybe SH3 is overstrained to work with newer powerhouse laptops)

It crashes and crashes again. I missed so much playing SH3 but at the moment all my precious time is being wasted trying to figure out the problem with it rather than playing it. Any suggestions would be welcome.

Several unanswered questions:


1. Where was it installed? Keeping away from \Program Files or \Program Files (x86) is critical.
2. Vanilla SH3 *must* be run and then shut down before doing anything else to establish the save directory unless using MultiSH3.
3. Direct X *must* be installed as part of the SH3 install process.
4. You *must* take ownership of the SH3 folder and all of its files and make sure they are not set to read only before installing GWX3.
5. GWX3 *must* be installed as admin.
6. You absolutely have to cleanly uninstall SH3 if it isn't working and you intend to reinstall.
7. SH3 Commander *must* be installed and run as admin, and the GWX3 config files must be installed.
8. The *only* widescreen mods that work for me are Ahnenerbe's and ARB's. Every other WS mod crashes for me.
9. SH3 *must* be installed in a folder with no spaces in the folder name.
10. SH3 Commander should *always* be set to automatically roll back when exiting SH3.



My current install seems to work well:


Generic Mod Enabler - v2.6.0.157
[C:\SilentHunterIII-GWA\MODS]

GWX - Alternative Flotillas
GWX - Axis Mediterranean Aircraft Skins
GWX - Enhanced Damage Effects
GWX - Late War Sensors Snorkel Antennas
GWX - Merged Campaign
GWX - No Medals on Crew
GWX Turm Lights fix
OLC's Modified Searchlight Beams for GWX3
Torpedo damage Final ver2.0
M.E.P v6
Optional - FSF for MEP v6
Optional - ShipVanishingHull for MEP v6
M.E.P v6- VisualSensors for GWX3
Waterstream+Exhaust Combi V2.3 for GWX3
Waterstream+Exhaust Combi - Single Exhaust for TypeII
Tribal Class Mod
Southampton and Fiji
Dido Class
Hunt I-III
A_to_I_class_mod
J to Z Class Mod
J_to_Z_Class_visual_fix
Torpedo_HAHD_1024_GWX
TMT v2 with EFS (GWX3 version)
Convoy-Routes on Map - BL!TZKR!EG Edition
LifeBoats&Debris_v4
GWX 3 Wilhemshafen,St Naz,Schluese and xtra ships V7
WAC4.1 SubPen_animated_18.02.2010
New Lorient v1 - GWX3 Merged Campaign+Wilhelmshafen_et_al_V7
Q Ship mod GWX3.0
GWX_DFa-Flag&Pens_2010
TKSS18 German U-Boats Compilation No Eagle
New U-Boat Guns Fixed Reworked (for German U-Boats Compilation)
German U-Boats Compilation FuMO_Fix_SNS
German U-Boats Compilation 2 (only VIIB & VIIC models by WISE)
FixAllSubGWX
TheDarkWraith_Ship_Plane_Fire_Damage_v1_4_SH3
Conus' Historically Accurate U-boat Emblems 1.0
Conus' Historically Accurate U-boat Emblems 1.1
Conus' Historically Accurate U-boat Emblems 1.2
Conus' Historically Accurate U-boat Emblems 1.3
Destroyers&Corvette
Thomsen's Sound Pack V3.2cg
Evan82's Uniforms II
ARB WideGui 1920x1080
Color Dials with Dark Compass
Adaptation for English & Deutsch
ARB WideGUI 1920 x 1080 v0.3.1 HotFix
MFM-Improved
MFM v3.3 Silhouettes by Izgud
Ship Names
S3H-H.sie-Patch-V16B1
MFM-v3-US+UK_Skins19390901

[stork100]

Many thanks 3catcircus for those excellent points on installation. I have saved them for my own future reference for when I might have to reinstall someday. Cheers.

[MENTAT]

Originally Posted by 3catcircus

Several unanswered questions:

1. Where was it installed? Keeping away from \Program Files or \Program Files (x86) is critical.
2. Vanilla SH3 *must* be run and then shut down before doing anything else to establish the save directory unless using MultiSH3.
3. Direct X *must* be installed as part of the SH3 install process.
4. You *must* take ownership of the SH3 folder and all of its files and make sure they are not set to read-only before installing GWX3.
5. GWX3 *must* be installed as admin.
6. You absolutely have to cleanly uninstall SH3 if it isn't working and you intend to reinstall.
7. SH3 Commander *must* be installed and run as admin, and the GWX3 config files must be installed.
8. The *only* widescreen mods that work for me are Ahnenerbe's and ARB's. Every other WS mod crashes for me.
9. SH3 *must* be installed in a folder with no spaces in the folder name.
10. SH3 Commander should *always* be set to automatically roll back when exiting SH3.

Catcircus, you sir, a savior. Neither have I known the majority of the items below to be fulfilled nor have I found similar information online.

I will definitely try them and respond here.

[3catcircus]

Originally Posted by MENTAT

Catcircus, you sir, a savior. Neither have I known the majority of the items below to be fulfilled nor have I found similar information online.

I will definitely try them and respond here.

No problem. These will depend, somewhat, on whether you have a Steam, DVD, or digital download install, and on which OS you have.

My own experience is with a digital download from UBI and Windows 7. With Win10, you probably don't have the version of DirectX already that SH3 installs.

Installing everything to an unprotected location as an admin and running it as an admin is the easiest solution to a lot of issues - it generally won't hurt even if it doesn't help.

Taking ownership means your user account is always allowed to modify files and folders. Do a search on "Win7 take ownership" or "Win10 take ownership."

You may have luck using other WS Mods (I *really* wanted to install the latest MaGUI WS mod), but it may involve messing with dll files, manipulating your screen resolution, etc. For me, the other WS Mods either crash SH3 or they aren't 1920x1080 and result in not taking up the whole screen.