Enemy ships not showing up in SH 4

[propbeanie]

You have your mod list in a bit of a mess with some over-writing each other... Try doing it this way:

Generic Mod Enabler - v2.6.0.157
[C:\Spiele\Ubisoft\MODS]

Nihon Kaigun v1.3a_FotRSU
Nippon_Maru_v1.9b_FotRSU
Combined Roster Add - Enables Nihon Kaigun + Nippon Maru to be installed together with shared rosters.
450_MoonlightzSonarLines
399_NoScrollNavMap
525_StickieCamera
801_UMark Smaller
Fleetboat_Interior-Officers_Quarters_FOTRSU_v1.7_EN
FI-OQ_FotRSU_v1.8f_upcPatch
Improved Stock Environment_v3_TMO&RFB
#1 ISE New clouds+Waves
#2 ISE Realistic Colors
Japanese DD skins correction - Historical
FOTRSU_1.8_SUB_SKINS_IN_4k

Now, the ISE and #1 and #2 might all be incompatible with FotRSU, in spite of FotRSU being based on TMO v1.7 years ago. There have been changes to the mod, and any environmental mod can influence the sensors for ships and your sub, so if you notice any short-sighted planes or ships, that's what is probably the cause. Also note that some of the environmental mods from that time period were included in FotRSU, and you might be overwriting stuff already in there... I am not familiar with the DD Skins mod, and it probably does not cover all the DD in the mod, and some may not fit the changes done to the mod since it was first built, so if you notice some IJN DD that look odd, that would be the issue. The "Combined Roster" is a mod included in the MODS folder with Nihon Kaigun and Nippon Maru, and is needed to allow both mods to work together inside FotRSU.

Other than that, after you re-arrange things, be certain to delete the Save folder, which would be "C:\Users \UserName \Documents \SH4" by default, unless changed by the use of MultiSH4. You can also use the Windows side dialog in Explorer, but be aware that there is a difference in Windows 11 (and sometimes 10, dependent upon config), where the UserName directories are ~different~ from the shortcut directories for some odd, Windows reason... Case in point is this Win11 laptop of mine, where the SH4 directory is NOT under UserName, but is rather a "shared" directory that I can only find from the side dialog window, as here:




YMMV... unfortunately

[cookiemonste]

I've deleted the save folder and re-aranged my mods, I will keep you posted.

[cookiemonste]

I've started a new game after deleting the save folder and re aranging the mods. I've not encountered a single enemy contact on my first patrol starting from Manila. I did run into 2 friendlies but that's it. As if the seas are barren.

[propbeanie]

First patrol will not have much to encounter for some of the boats. Others will do nothing but find all the invasion forces. You don't say where you are going for your patrol, but the boats sent to CamRanh Bay should enventually find something. Hainan won't in Tonkin bay, but might just south of the Island. Formosa by the Pescadores and also Formosa itself in the same area will be where the Lingayen Gulf groups come from. On the north side of Luzon near Aparri and toward Babuyan Islands you'll catch the initial landings from the 8-12, and on the East side there is one in the middle of the month in Lamon Bay. There are several groups on the southeast side near Lagonoy and Albay Gulfs and near the San Bernardino Strait. You will not find much merchant traffic other than friendlies fleeing the area, some escorted, some not. Most of the S-Boats were not trusted to be able to do much, and were generally assigned "quiet" areas, but that's not to say that an H8K won't find you and depth charge you ceaselessly... For the most part, it is very boring because the US did not comprehend how to properly use submarines, and instead of putting them in traffic lanes, instead put them in close-to-shore locations, where ASW efforts were effortless for the enemy... Kind of like the Japanese did with their submarines also... but that's for another story and mod...

[cookiemonste]

I went to the San Bernadino strait on my fist assignment, I figured there wouldnt be much. Then I was ordred to head towards Borneo/Java and again, there was nothing. The whole trip to australia had no shipping either. Even Convoy College, which I was sent to had nothing. I will keep you posted.

[propbeanie]

Now, this is top-secret hush-hush information, and you'll have to be eliminated if you divulge any of this info briefing, but here is an IJN routing chart of the traffic in November and December 1941...

Some of the groups will not show on those routes until after January or February 1942, so this really doesn't disclose much - but it gives you an idea of where things go to / come from. That's Indo-China to the left, Hainan to the upper-left, Hong Kong in the middle of the China coast, Formosa to the top, and of course, the Philippines middle-right. Manila Harbor is lower-left on Luzon, and Lingayen Gulf is middle-left on Luzon, where you see the highly-trafficked black dots for waypoints. The "green" T thingies are US installations to induce the enemy to shoot at the shore when the invasion forces come within range, but do not actually "help" the player. That's San Bernardino Strait in the lower-right of Luzon, where you see anotheer mess of waypoint dots from the invasion forces there early.




Which submarine are you in, an S Class? If you completed the first assignment to San Bernardino Strait, you should be assigned another objective in the Philippines, not sent immediately to Java via Borneo. However, going that way, you would only encounter a few Allied ships (maybe), and minimal IJN, if any, since they are all behind you.

[cookiemonste]

The seas are still barren. Sometimes I find a fishing boat but even that is rare. No merchant ships, even on convoy routes.

[propbeanie]

There are no convoys early. That's the thing. The war is just starting. What submarine are you in?