Okay, what'd I do?

[frau kaleun]

You want to enable mods? Do it before you start a career or when you are at home. And ONLY there.

Yes, thanks - some of my original confusion had to do with whether or not I should be enabling any mods before starting a career and going out on the first patrol. I think I read somewhere that I shouldn't make any changes to what was in the game prior to finishing a first patrol if I was going to play in career mode via Commander. I mistook that to include adding mods when I think now it only applies to the changes you could make in-game to your boat, crew, etc. before going out for the first time.

The game does not autosave anything.

The manual that comes with the game says that in career mode, the game performs two auto-saves: one in base before you leave on each patrol, and one in base after you return there from each patrol. Any mid-patrol saves you have to do yourself.

Also I did a manual save after finishing that first patrol, and when I went back in, there were two save points where I was shown back in base after completing it. After checking the manual I assumed one was the save I did, and the other the auto-save. Is the manual wrong on the auto-save, or does GWX and/or Commander alter something that makes manual save-in-base necessary?

Either way I'm assuming it can't hurt anything to do a manual save in base after a patrol... unless, since there were two "back in base" save points, would clicking on one as opposed to another (and I'm pretty sure I clicked on the last one, chronologically) cause problems with trying to load it after having entered the game through Commander?

[HundertzehnGustav]

The manual that comes with the game says that in career mode, the game performs two auto-saves: one in base before you leave on each patrol, and one in base after you return there from each patrol. Any mid-patrol saves you have to do yourself.

Automatic saves by SHIII

Indeed, SHIII does some autosaving, now i remember.

the first autosave is when you first enter the office, choose your crew and your equipment.
-->"before patrol1"

then you do your patrol, come back and dock at home port
the moment you click "dock at homeport", the game is saved again.
-->"after patrol1"

then you step into your office and check the medals offerd, and get a look at the logbook, and the renown gained. That is the automatic save
-->"before patrol 2"

If you have several patrols, you will see the following saves in a career

autosave before patrol1
(manual save?)
autosave after patrol 1
autosave before patrol2
(manual save?)
(manual save?)
autosave after patrol 2
autosave before patrol 3
autosave after patrol 3
autosave before patrol 4
autosave after patrol 4

Why SHIII does that is beyond my knowledge, and waht purpose this has i do not know.

Maybe some sort of backup function, or
if a "before patrol 5" save bis corrupt,
one can always choose "after patrol4, just a few seconds earlier?

*scratching my head*

You wanna save your actions, and are seconds away from docking back at home port, then an additional save, "escape, save game as" will secure all your deeds and efforts.
(has some optically side effects upon reloading that savegame, but your data is safe)

then you do the actual docking "escape, dock at home port", and SHIII will save the game again.
Never a bad idea to save often.

[frau kaleun]

I am going to go in and just enable the St Naz/Schleuse mod and then WB's thingy with Von Dos' 23 ships and start a new career and see what happens. It was only when I got to the point of disabling those that I was able to load a mission or career save at all. So if I have the same problem now, after a fresh install of everything, I'll have a better idea of where to look for any problems. Then once I finish another shakedown cruise I can start enabling other mods to see what happens from there on out.

On a side note, you know, there really needs to be a fully modeled bathroom off that office somewhere, so I can have a nice bubblebath after I come in from a patrol. Just a thought.

Also a shortcut in crew management for "just gimme all the cute guys" would be nice.



Seriously, though, thanks everybody who replied for all the help and for clearing up some things I still wasn't quite sure about!

[HundertzehnGustav]

Yup, if you enable a Mod mid-patrol, and the thing crashes on you, it is always worth a try, to put in the reverse gear -* disable the mod, the try reloading. Might work. Might not.

Duh, could i ask you a favour?
Just call me when you need someone to gently rub your back
or wash your hair
when you are sitting in that soapy shower, behind that office, would you?

Im gonna put on my Coat and be at your service...


*mmmmh*

[frau kaleun]

Just call me when you need someone to gently rub your back
or wash your hair
when you are sitting in that soapy shower, behind that office, would you?

Sadly, I don't have any openings in my current crew for a... uh... well, let's just call it a "personal assistant" and leave it at that. There doesn't seem to be an appropriate qualification that can be awarded for it either.

However, given the fact that you've already bought the gear, I'll take the suggestion under advisement pending the availability of the GWX Post-Patrol Bubblebath, Rubber Ducky Optional mod.

Anyway, I went in and did the Academy nav tutorial exam again and everything seemed to work fine. Exited the game and enabled the St Naz/Schluese mod followed by WB's Campaign with 23 additional ships mod, and went into Commander and set up a career then started the game from there.

Got the error message again after entering the game, choosing career mode, selecting the new career I'd just set up in Commander -making very sure the date and flotilla were correct - and trying to load it. I don't think it even got as far as the load screen, just went black and then the error came up and that was it - close program. So I disabled the add'l ships mod, leaving only the St Naz/Schluese mod. Was then able to go back into Commander and set up new career yet again, which loaded fine in SH3 that time around. Did first patrol, returned to base, have a save where I'm in base after first patrol. Commander also shows me back in base.

Checked out my crew files, and there's not a Bernard in the bunch. Okay, one "Hans-Bernard" but with any luck he'll only be half as bad as a "full Bernard."

OTOH, one of my petty officers is Peter Weller, so... I figure having Robo-cop on board may make up for having half a Bernard along for the ride.

So - now I'm Gerhard Witte, and I'll just pretend he's the defunct Paul Witte's brother. And I took U-48 instead of U-46, which seemed like a pretty fine boat to have.

Next thing will be to get back in there and start a second patrol - not going to make any changes to mods, just go in and see what happens this time.

I do have one last question from today's successful patrol though - provided anybody's actually read this far, lol. At the end of it, I got a radio message saying I needed to transfer to either the 1st or 2nd flotilla when I was back in base. I couldn't find any option for that in Commander, so I'm assuming that when I resume this career, the first thing I need to do in my office is click on the telephone and request a transfer? Please let me know if that's not correct. I don't want to have to start all over again because I made another stupid n00b mistake - Paul Witte only has so many brothers!

[Wreford-Brown]

Originally Posted by frau kaleun

then open Commander and start a new career from there

Try:
1. Start a new career with no mods enabled and without using SH3 Commander.
2. Complete the first career patrol.
3. At the end of the patrol press 'Esc' and select the 'Dock at...' option on the bottom right.
4. Start your next patrol through SH3 Commander.
5. On completion of that patrol, start enabling mods.

All of the GWX ones have been extensively tested with GWX and all work with no problems. Other mods are tested to a greater or lesser extent, so I tend to install mods from modders I trust straight away but any new mods (or ones that have proven to be less stable on my install) I enable one at a time to see if there are any conflicts.

Ship mods I enable one at a time and don't enable another one until I've seen and sunk it, unless it's one from VonDos or another shipbuilder I trust. Some mods simply don't work on my system but work on hundreds of others - it's just one of those things.

BTW, I think that HZG may have been at sea just a little too long...

[HundertzehnGustav]

Originally Posted by frau kaleun

Anyway, I went in and did the Academy nav tutorial exam again and everything seemed to work fine. Exited the game and enabled the St Naz/Schluese mod followed by WB's Campaign with 23 additional ships mod, and went into Commander and set up a career then started the game from there.

Damn you a tough, dedicated Lady. I did those things once, and once i "got" the concept, except manual targeting, i never went back.
Boah, you got the patience and the persistence, and these are two EXCELLENT properties for a Uboot-Fahrer. Resssspekt!

I couldn't find any option for that in Commander, so I'm assuming that when I resume this career, the first thing I need to do in my office is click on the telephone and request a transfer? Please let me know if that's not correct. I don't want to have to start all over again because I made another stupid n00b mistake - Paul Witte only has so many brothers!

i never heard of that...
You in Königsberg right? If they offe you a new Office (with extras...) in Wilhelmshaven, go for it. Its SO much closer to the Big hunting grounds.

It could be that your training in Königsberg is over, or the flotilla disbanded, some somt of GWX thing.

I have never been there, the Restaurants, the Food and the Countryside around Wiolhemshaven has Choosing me that City for every Career.

Too bad for the Job, i was just about to write up a detailed resumee for that!

[frau kaleun]

Originally Posted by Wreford-Brown

Try:
1. Start a new career with no mods enabled and without using SH3 Commander.
2. Complete the first career patrol.
3. At the end of the patrol press 'Esc' and select the 'Dock at...' option on the bottom right.
4. Start your next patrol through SH3 Commander.
5. On completion of that patrol, start enabling mods.

Since poor Gerhard just bit the big one on Patrol #2, I will be starting another career anyway. Will give this approach a try and see what happens. Although I have to say, once you've done a couple patrols with some mods enabled... going back out without them is kinda Teh Suck.

You modders do fantastic work, and make the game a lot more fun, is what I'm sayin'.

BTW, I think that HZG may have been at sea just a little too long...

I think perhaps he has forgotten that when I'm in the make-believe SH3-created offices of some U-bootwaffe HQ, and therefore when I'm in any make-believe bathroom attached to said offices, I am in fact a 20-something German dude.

But hey, to each his own.

[frau kaleun]

Originally Posted by HundertzehnGustav

Damn you a tough, dedicated Lady. I did those things once, and once i "got" the concept, except manual targeting, i never went back.
Boah, you got the patience and the persistence, and these are two EXCELLENT properties for a Uboot-Fahrer. Resssspekt!

I *like* the nav tutorial. Nobody shoots at me!

i never heard of that...
You in Königsberg right? If they offe you a new Office (with extras...) in Wilhelmshaven, go for it. Its SO much closer to the Big hunting grounds.

It could be that your training in Königsberg is over, or the flotilla disbanded, some somt of GWX thing.

I got the "transfer" message both times I started a career out of Konigsberg. I assumed it had something to do with its location and the outbreak of hostilities with Poland, that the flotilla as a whole was relocated. I don't know if that's historically accurate, though.

I did wonder, though - I started with the 7th because that's the flotilla I wanted to play out the war in, or as much of it as I could survive, anyway. But then I get the thing telling me to transfer to the 1st or 2nd, not that the 7th itself has a new base, so I didn't know if I would be able to transfer back to it somehow, or if the next time I went in it would show the entire 7th flotilla running out of the new base.

Eh, whatever. I'll probably start the new career in the 2nd. I didn't much care for Konigsberg as a starting location anyway.

[Wreford-Brown]

Originally Posted by frau kaleun

I am in fact a 20-something German dude.

The amount of help you get on these forums is going to plummet if you tell everyone that. Watch out for the RTFR comments!

[KL-alfman]

Originally Posted by frau kaleun

....... the flotilla as a whole was relocated. I don't know if that's historically accurate, though.

as you may see here:
http://www.uboat.net/flotillas/7flo.htm
as a combat flotilla the 7th was stationed in Kiel and then transferred to St. Nazaire in Aug/Sep 1940.
there is no entry of the 7th in Königsberg ......

[frau kaleun]

Originally Posted by Wreford-Brown

The amount of help you get on these forums is going to plummet if you tell everyone that. Watch out for the RTFR comments!

*sigh*

Probably true.

The upside is that my new navigator? Has a really cute butt. (What? TMI?)



I started a new career in SH3 with no mods, no Commander, as you suggested. Thanks to TC just completed first patrol.

Nice thing about starting from Wilhelmshaven - got to pass by the Tirpitz on the way out of the harbour.

[frau kaleun]

Originally Posted by KL-alfman

as you may see here:
http://www.uboat.net/flotillas/7flo.htm
as a combat flotilla the 7th was stationed in Kiel and then transferred to St. Nazaire in Aug/Sep 1940.
there is no entry of the 7th in Königsberg ......

Yeah, I looked it up after posting that. i guess Konigsberg is a training thing... all I did was cruise around the bay and blow up transports.

[HundertzehnGustav]

Originally Posted by frau kaleun

I think perhaps he has forgotten that when I'm in the make-believe SH3-created offices of some U-bootwaffe HQ, and therefore when I'm in any make-believe bathroom attached to said offices, I am in fact a 20-something German dude.

But hey, to each his own.

Raaaaah you just took me down from cloud number nine!
That you didnt give me that assistand Job was already Bad, buit this!
Man, ima gonne get a depression now!

[FIREWALL]

Get the prob fixed frau kaleun ?

btw you are a member of SubSim no matter who you are.

You posts add a flavor here and are just as important as anyone elses.

Good Hunting