How do you keep the game interesting?

[Mittelwaechter]

I love to sink ships only with hydrophone data. I don't see them and they don't see me. Friday I sent a volley of four eels into a stormy, foggy, midnight convoy from estimated 7000 meters range and sunk a tanker and two freighters.

[pickinthebanjo]

Yeah I suggest slapping the game on 100% and doing a harbor raid. Scapa Flow and Gibraltar are the two where I've sunk the most tonnage.

[Zedwardson]

for me, it is survival, followed by sinking stuff and coming across new ships. If your getting bored, go do one of the other GWX settings (med, black, arctic, ect...)

If you get really bored, sneak into a port and sink some stuff... of course, surviving say, 1943 is a lot tougher then 1939, my two previous guys didn't make it to 1941...

[musides]

Thanks everyone for the great responses. It is very impressive to see such a lively forum for an old game! You have given me some good things to think about, and I'm going to stop trying to be so damned efficient, and just flow with the stream of gameplay. I just put out to sea again tonight, and this method is working well, along with using the real time more often. I can now see that using time compression too much and you miss the forest for the trees.

Mittelwaechter: That is very impressive. I've listened to the hydrophone before (I love my Sennheiser cans!), and have spotted things my Sonar man missed... but I can't begin to imagine "flying blind". How interesting.

I'll put some sub books on my reading list. Interesting about the survival goal, particularly that 1943 is so elusive. Now I have a goal. Yet -- with save games -- why would it be hard to eventually get there? Do you not go one with a game if you die?

[pickinthebanjo]

When I'm sunk I start a new file, everything goes well unless I get a CTD then I usually just end that patrol and try to find out why it crashed. I use to continue my old files but I realised that I tend to be more cautious when I know that I can't re-load after I get destroyed. It causes me to be more weary and careful like in my current career I usually only get 15000-20000ton per patrol but when I used to load old saves I would get at least 50k

[Sailor Steve]

Hydrophone-only attacks were pre-war doctrine for the Americans. The quickly abandoned it, because it never worked. The Germans never did it either.

[HW3]

Yes when you play DID (dead is dead), you trend to be much more careful. Another way to play is to name each member of your crew, they then tend to mean much more to you.

[Jimbuna]

Originally Posted by Sailor Steve

Hydrophone-only attacks were pre-war doctrine for the Americans. The quickly abandoned it, because it never worked. The Germans never did it either.

Pretty pointless whether it worked or not because early on the torpedos didn't anyway.

[RConch]

Originally Posted by Canovaro

That's right. The challenge is to survive as long as you can.
In order to survive, you need the best equipment and technology. To get that, you need renown. To get renown, you need to sink ships. But the longer you survive the more dangerous it becomes to attack ships.

You see, SH3 is like zen.

Reading about U boats and crews and applying those principals in the game.
I agree with Canovaro, this is what I work for-survival.

[Zedwardson]

Yes, a lot play "Dead is Dead" (DiD) which in some games is called the "Hardcore" mode. For example, Karl Myer was a very good sub captain of mine who on his ninth patrol went to scope depth to start his attack run on a Convoy, as he was a "Wolf in the hens house" and the escort came right behind his boat, so he never even had a sonar warning that the boat was coming, and when he heard a loud ping and the blades of the DD coming, He didn't have enough time to scream "ALAAARRRM!" before the DD ran over his Uboat and sunk him with all hands.

I just blinked, said dang, and saluted the men lost and went to figure out the name of the new guy.

My next guy now makes sure to check his blind side when he surfaces, even if there is a Juicy Tanker right in front of him at 1200 meters. When 1943 rolls around, you can barely get out of harbor, on a GOOD day, before planes are bombing you...Thus if Otto Van Graf (my current guy) survives to 1943 (a big IF) he will most likely try to go to Norway and hunt in the North.

[gord96]

yeah. DiD is key for SH3 in my opinion.

[Sailor Steve]

When you play DiD and don't use external views (at least not to cheat) you quickly learn one of the real tactics: every time I raise the periscope I ALWAYS do a 360-degree sweep just to make sure there's nothing bad sneaking up behind me. Saved my hide more than once.

[PappyCain]

I typically sink around 10 ships per patrol

Hmmm. Re-check your realism selection options, play through each year and return to base with your boat and crew. I am surprised you have not had white knuckle experiences with escorts and or aircraft or for that matter Q-boats, bad weather, and boat management issues, not to mention identifying neutral ships properly .. played to the fullest this is NOT an arcade game IMHO! this sim maximizes U-boat strategy and tactics.



PS: last night in a storm, dark, pelting rain, high seas, I raised my periscope near the convoy to see the steel hull and bottom paint on an escort that was two meters from shearing it off - and then the concussions ... hot diggety dawg, I dropped my hamburger (dinner) and had to pull off a quick maneuver!!! Dead is dead is the only way to go. Fortunately we are alive and well and tracking that convoy today ...

[Brag]

Among other things, I play DID. At the end of a patrol I reward myself with time in port for about a week or so.During this time I stay away from the game and treat myself to something special.

Once on a type IX boat, there are some exciting patrols chasing after the Freetown convoys, operation Paukenschlag.

The more realism you have, the more exciting will be your patrol.

Due to a move, I've not played SH3 for over a year. Getting a new computer shortly, I'm looking forward to get back into the fray. And, umm, drive people nutz with Balz stories

[frau kaleun]

Originally Posted by Brag

And, umm, drive people nutz with Balz stories

*claps hands*

YAAAAAAY!