No sonar contacts with RFB 2.0

[KaleunMarco]

Originally Posted by WinterMute

I started getting the same problems as D-Jones in this old thread. My mod list:

RFB_2.0=1
RFB_2.0_Patch_23April2010=2
4_RFB_2.0_Patch_06June2019=3
RSRDC_RFB_V575=4
RSRDC_V5xx_Patch1=5
Improved Ship Physics_2.8=6
Improved Stock Environment_v3_TMO&RFB=7

S-boat, Feb '41, Very Hard difficulty. Could difficulty level be the cause? Because I think I didn't have these problems until recently and this is the only thing I changed. Until two careers ago I usually played Normal or Hard.

1st - the sonar.

I started to play U-Boat recently and sonar efficiency seems kinda crazy in this game, so at first I thought that maybe I got spoiled but no. Sonar is definitely bugged in my setup. First time I noticed this during my previous patrol, current carrer. I found myself in the middle of a small convoy and noticed how screw sounds occasionally disappear and then reappear, as if the game just stopped playing them for some reason. But during my second encounter everything was fine, so I forgot about it. Maybe I was not deep enough and to fast.

But now I was playing my second patrol, the game sent me to patrol the Strait of Malacca and I didn't encounter a thing. In my previous careers there was at least some neutral traffic from Celebes Sea but in recent games it's nada. OK, bad luck I thought and set sail to Darwin. Finally in the strait near Port Ambon I encounter a lonely Jap merchant. 0 m/s wind, the sea smooth as a pool table. I dive to periscope depth, put my best boys on the sensors station, max out the efficiency bar, engines stop. I should be able to hear Hirohito scratching his balls in Tokyo in these conditions...

I aim the sonar at the target's bearing and... NOTHING. Like the ship just wasn't there. I tried different depths and bearings by turning the sub. I click Raport Targets button but the AI also can't hear it. Finally, when the target got to about 2000 yds the AI started to raport the contact. But I still can't hear it. The screws sound just doesn't play. Finally I launch torpedoes. THEN I start to hear loud screws but when the last torp hits they disappear again. Just silence. The AI keeps reporting the contact properly but I noticed that the green light on the sensor station, which should light up on contact, lights up only at bearing 0, while the sinking merchant already moved to bearing 40. So there is definitely a problem with sonar.

2nd - lack of traffic.

As I already mentioned I get the same problems with finding any targets as D-Jones. I thought that maybe it's the difficulty setting and I would be actually OK with that but this lack of neutral traffic in choke points makes me think something is off.

I think I'll try another career on another difficulty setting to see if things get better but maybe in the meantime you guys will come up with something. Could it be for example that RFB's sonar config gets wonky at Very Hard?

the sonar thing...i have also experienced this. and then...when i attempted to re-use it...CTD.


i created a fresh installation and applied the RFB mods and the problem went away.

[WinterMute]

OK, I made a clean install, added mods, didn't notice any changes. So I removed all the mods back to stock and lo and behold - it seems to be a problem with a stock game. I kinda can't believe it, since someone surely would have noticed it, right?

I created a small custom mission for testing and hopefully attached it to this post. It's a .zip file renamed to .pdf so I could attach it. After renaming it back to zip one can unpack it to Single Missions folder and and play it. I'll be very grateful, regardless if your game is stock or not.

The mission puts you on a submerged S-boat with 3 freighters in the vicinity. A Small Old Merchant at ~0 deg, an Old Split Merchant at ~305 deg behind the horizon and a Modern Composite Merchant at ~50 deg, also behind the horizon. I can hear the Old Split Merchant at ~305 deg and none of the other two ships. I can swim close to the Small Old Merchant and still not hear it. AI may detect all three ships after a while but this changes nothing. Oddly it will report contacts on the Report Contacts button but will say No contacts! on the Follow Nearest Contact button.

If you launch a torpedo at the Small Old Merchant, it's screw sound will suddenly appear when the torpedo gets very close (like 5 last seconds before impact).

If someone could check this mission and confirm or deny my observations I'll grateful. I hope it's something on my side that I can eventually solve. Otherwise such a bug is a gamebreaker for me, now that I'm aware of it's existence...

[KaleunMarco]

Originally Posted by WinterMute

OK, I made a clean install, added mods, didn't notice any changes. So I removed all the mods back to stock and lo and behold - it seems to be a problem with a stock game. I kinda can't believe it, since someone surely would have noticed it, right?

I created a small custom mission for testing and hopefully attached it to this post. It's a .zip file renamed to .pdf so I could attach it. After renaming it back to zip one can unpack it to Single Missions folder and and play it. I'll be very grateful, regardless if your game is stock or not.

The mission puts you on a submerged S-boat with 3 freighters in the vicinity. A Small Old Merchant at ~0 deg, an Old Split Merchant at ~305 deg behind the horizon and a Modern Composite Merchant at ~50 deg, also behind the horizon. I can hear the Old Split Merchant at ~305 deg and none of the other two ships. I can swim close to the Small Old Merchant and still not hear it. AI may detect all three ships after a while but this changes nothing. Oddly it will report contacts on the Report Contacts button but will say No contacts! on the Follow Nearest Contact button.

If you launch a torpedo at the Small Old Merchant, it's screw sound will suddenly appear when the torpedo gets very close (like 5 last seconds before impact).

If someone could check this mission and confirm or deny my observations I'll grateful. I hope it's something on my side that I can eventually solve. Otherwise such a bug is a gamebreaker for me, now that I'm aware of it's existence...

i was not playing stock.

can't remember if it was TMO(ducimus) or FOTRSU or RFB, but it was not stock.

just for the record, my baseline is version 1.5 Gold with Uboat Missions. DVD.

if i get some time this evening i'll try and play that single mission.



p.s. ok, using a Stock installation, i loaded up Borneo Convoy, which seemed to match your mission description.



we were detected without much delay and i was able to use the hydrophone and get range on one of the merchies as well as the escort who had detected us and was bearing down on our position.

[WinterMute]

i loaded up Borneo Convoy, which seemed to match your mission description.

If you don't want to risk downloading my mission, could you check on Navigation Training mission in S-18 instead? I think it will be a better match. The problem with convoys is that it may be hard to tell if any sounds are missing. Also this may depend on a boat and a year, due to equipment modifications. Basic S-18 would be the best.

Launch the Navigation Training mission and dive to periscope depth. There are five ship in this mission - a huge tanker straight ahead, a coastal patrol boat around 40 deg to starboard, two PT boats and a fishing boat on a horizon. I can hear the tanker only. I dunno about the PT boats and the fishing trawler but I'm pretty sure I should be able hear the coastal patrol boat. The AI will detect it after a while but won't be able to track it, and there will be no sound nor the green light on the hydrophone on it's bearing.

I also play on 1.5 Gold with Uboat Missions DVD.

[propbeanie]

The S-Boats have their sonar mounted on the deck, that "ball" on a stick thingie... you must be submerged, preferably below PD, but anything below the surface generally works, just not out very far. RFB makes them very 'limited' in their range.