[BUG] Tonnage bar won't fill up (what mod)

[MaMa]

Originally Posted by vdr1981

Check PM Mama...

It seems we do not need to do further searches vdr1981 ... thanks for your help offer but i think i've found a simple solution to this problem ! I will share all the details on my next post (a more detailed one than my previous).

Originally Posted by gap

I will.

Can you please provide us with the message you sent to Ubi hedquarter's technical support (the one in english), as well as their email adress/contact link and the customer name you used for getting in touch with them? I just want to make sure my query to fall into the right hands, and them to understand what I am talking about.

As confirmed above gap... i think we do not need to further insist with UBI . In my next post i will post the detailed procedure to fix this bug.

I made some final checks with a full modded game and it seems all right !

Next step is to confirm this fix as a definitive solution for everyone .

[vdr1981]

Great job Mama!

Just one question...Will the described procedure be necessary every time you enter the game or only once on campaign start?

[MaMa]

Originally Posted by vdr1981

Great job Mama!

Just one question...Will the described procedure be necessary every time you enter the game or only once on campaign start?

The computer automatically apply a low level priority to the OSI process because it is a background application. You need to manually set it to high.

You'll need to do it every time you load the SH5.exe file (the responsible of the OSI application launch). Once the game is launched, and the priority set, you do not need to do anything more (as an example you can load multiple times different saves of different campaigns without problems).

Since the OSI process is strictly linked to the SH5.exe file it is killed when you exit the game, losing the priority setup, which will need to be resetted to high on the next SH5.exe launch.

I hope my explanation answered your question .

I will post all the details within today since i will be out for the entire next week, leaving time to all to do some trials...

[MaMa]

As told in my last post, here it is a detailed explanation about my discovery and the procedure to use for fixing this terrible bug .

Starting from the assumption that something was related to a missing response from the OSI application or the SH5 main game i first started looking inside the OSI executable but with no result. From my knowledge it looked all right and with no apparent problem at all . I excluded the game files since they were the same as ever and the only changes occurred were part of the UPlay updates frequently released (with no apparent communications with the users, it seems... changes to more important games were followed by news or changelogs, for Silent Hunter 5 no informations were given ).

Second important element was that not all users were experimenting this issue, thus leading me to a problem related to single computers with problems on Handling threads or processes flow. The OSI is at all effects an emulator of the old DRM system (or part of it at all, i don't know) and it send pings to the main game every few seconds before releasing further data to the game prior a game response. This timed procedure pointed me at looking at the running processes of my PC and there it came to my mind an old application dedicated on freeing resources of the PC as to have better performances for a game :

This application simply changed the process priority of the game launched and lowered all Others to allow the computer a dedicated amount of resources for the game. Usually a PC handles all the processes automatically aiming to a balanced performance of all the applications running and the priority assigned gives more resources (RAM, CPU usage and so on) to the main applications running... i wondered if it could be our case and there it came the discovery.

Coming to the problem, here is the bug : the OSI application, started each time with the SH5.exe file, is a background application and the PC usually gives little resources to it, however the SH5 game is instead a demanding one and is given a lot more resources than other running processes... now, it seems that this big difference from resources allocated to the SH5 main game and the ones allocated for the OSI is the responsible for the missing communication between the two running processes .

My first idea was to manually raise the priority of the OSI process and it worked !! The DBG Viewer helped me on checking the correct communications between SH5 and OSI and at the moment it works everything correctly . As everyone can note the DBG Viewer is only a tool to check if the game works properly and it is not needed to fix the bug. The only thing to do once is to set the OSI.exe file to be runned with administrator rights because only in this way it can be directed from the Windows Task Manager.

The file is located in the UPlay folder, this is the link where it is usually installed :

C:\Program Files (x86)\Ubisoft\Ubisoft Game Launcher\data\3\osis\13\OSI.exe

After that the procedure to follow is this :

- Start Silent Hunter 5;
- When the game finishes loading and you are in the main menu go to the desktop using Alt+TAB;
- Start the Windows task manager and go to the process list;
- Find the OSI.exe process and right click on it;
- Go to "manage priority" and set it to "real time";
- The computer will ask if you want to do it, click yes. It will then tell you that it cannot enable the real time and instead it will set it to "high", that's ok, click on it;
- Close the task manager and return to the game;
- Start or load a saved game and enjoy it !

That's all ! Be aware that the OSI process is killed each time you exit the main game and it is restarted at each SH5 launch, so it is necessary to raise the priority each time. Since it takes only 30 seconds or less to make the modify i don't think it will be too difficult or long to apply .

At the moment i tried more than 20 sessions with the vanilla game and a modded one and no more issues were found, all campaigns are updated regularly and the infamous tonnage bar is filling correctly . As said in my previous posts, every feedback would help on understanding if this bug can be considered solved or not, feel free to ask about it, i will help if i can !

[THEBERBSTER]

I would like to acknowledge my appreciation for all MaMa's hard work in finding the cause of this SH5 problem.

What does this mean now the tonnage bar has been removed?

Is this new fix without the tonnage bar now the way forward to move from campaign to campaign?

Does this now make Vecko's Silentotto campaign fix obsolete?

Peter

[vdr1981]

Originally Posted by THEBERBSTER

Is this new fix without the tonnage bar now the way forward to move from campaign to campaign?

Does this now make Vecko's Silentotto campaign fix obsolete?

Peter

I certainly hope so...You can test this right now. Your status for all objectives is currently "Pending" (except one, first deployment), right?

You should continue your campaign using Mama's instructions and if OSI app works, when you reach first midnight, status for finished objectives should be changed to "Finished" (exiting screen, Baltic operations, Braking the fortress ect ).
Tell me what you got...

[MaMa]

Originally Posted by THEBERBSTER

What does this mean now the tonnage bar has been removed?

Is this new fix without the tonnage bar now the way forward to move from campaign to campaign?

Does this now make Vecko's Silentotto campaign fix obsolete?

Peter

In modded campaigns without the tonnage bar enabled (such the one in Wolves of Steel as far as i know) the benefit of this fix is only related to a correct updating of the campaign objectives like the game it was meant to be.

For peoples using the original campaign it means having the tonnage bar regularly updated, crosses assigned when objectives are met and correct transition between campaigns.

So far i didn't find any more problem but i didn't complete my first campaign so if someone in the middle or near completion of others campaign could give me a feedback it would be of great help !

If everything will be going well i think we can consider Vecko's Silentotto fix obsolete but first i think we need more confirmations about that.

[Bera]

Thank you, MaMa!

When I select "real time" the computer doesn´t tell me anything about setting it to "high". It is OK to leave it "real time"?

[MaMa]

Originally Posted by Bera

Thank you, MaMa!

When I select "real time" the computer doesn´t tell me anything about setting it to "high". It is OK to leave it "real time"?

There shouldn't be any problem, the real time is an even higher level of priority. In case you can however select "high" in the priority list, it should work fine anyway, at least i have not encountered problems so far .

[gap]

Originally Posted by MaMa

So, i'm a little excited ... but... despite not being completely sure of that... at the moment it seems i've found a solution to the problem !!!!

Hats off man, you brilliant conclusions leave me speechless!

Originally Posted by THEBERBSTER

I would like to acknowledge my appreciation for all MaMa's hard work in finding the cause of this SH5 problem.

What does this mean now the tonnage bar has been removed?

Is this new fix without the tonnage bar now the way forward to move from campaign to campaign?

Does this now make Vecko's Silentotto campaign fix obsolete?

Hopefully.

In vanilla game sunk tonnage is used to determine wether you pass or fail a given campaign. This is hardcoded, and there is no way to change it. Passing a campaign, on turn, makes new campaigns to become available at the right time. If I got it correctly, Vecko has hid the tonnage bar (tonnage is still computed by the game or not -when the tonnage bar bug pops in- but in either case you will be unaware of it) and he has made new campaigns time/triggered, rather than time + pass/fail triggered. Even so, apparently, new campaigns occasionally fail to become available for a reason that is outside my understanding, and you are left with no other chance than using Vecko's silentotto workaround. If MaMa's fix works as promised, Vecko's campaign modifications will still be valid, and new campaigns will become available by date without need of using the silentotto cheat.

@ Vecko

As we are on it: when MaMa's fix will be fully tested and hopefully working, what do you think about:
- keeping the tonnage bare hidden, so to keep the tonnage obsession syndrome away from players;
- keeping campaign pass/fail tonnage requirements hidden, for the same reason;
- setting campaigns tonnage requirements reasonably high (or low). Let's say just a bit over the average tonnage historically scored by u-boat camptains within the same time-frame/scenario.
- restoring OHs' original campaign dependencies, so that the best skilled players will be given more campaign options to choose from than average players?
This is to simulate highly successfull campaigns opening new scenarios, and Ubootwaffe aces being awarded for their achievements with the chance of taking part into them. As I have already said in the past, I like the freedom we get from your campaign modification, but I feel that what matters now is just collecting renown points and killing warships, which (warships) should be our least concern anyway. We could even set all ship's tonnage to zero, and our campaign would be unaffected.

[vdr1981]

Even so, apparently, new campaigns occasionally fail to become available for a reason that is outside my understanding, and you are left with no other chance than using Vecko's silentotto workaround.

Yes, because tonnage bar bug is not JUST "tonnage bur bug". In this case the game has no ability to modify Campaign.cfg file at all and therefore campaign ending can not be triggered...

If MaMa's fix works as promised, Vecko's campaign modifications will still be valid, and new campaigns will become available by date without need of using the silentotto cheat.
Exactly

@ Vecko
As we are on it: when MaMa's fix will be fully tested and hopefully working, what do you think about:
- keeping campaign pass/fail tonnage requirements hidden, for the same reason;
- setting campaigns tonnage requirements reasonably high (or low). Let's say just a bit over the average tonnage historically scored by u-boat camptains within the same time-frame/scenario.
- restoring OHs' original campaign dependencies, so that the best skilled players will be given more campaign options to choose from than average players?
This is to simulate highly successfull campaigns opening new scenarios, and Ubootwaffe aces being awarded for their achievements with the chance of taking part into them.

That would be perfectly OK IF we could find solutions for following issues:

1. If certain tonnage objective is not fulfilled and deadline date of the objective is skipped due to patrol ending, all of the following objectives will be blocked afterwards, until campaign ends...
2. In this situation the game will also CTD when next patrol is started and first midnight is reached...
3. Tonnage objective can be "filled up" even with neutral ships on your score. In this case we would have contradictory consequences, rating penalties and awards in the form of "prize campaign/objective"?!
4. Ship sunk, tonnage bar filled correctly.. Another ship sunk, few kilometers east or west and tonnage bar stays still?! What now? (Tonnage bar zones have invisible borders)
5. If a captain, who plays smart and doesn't chase every fishing boat out there, fails all tonnage objectives, he will not be able to pass to the next campaign even if his overall tonnage score is quite decent...

In this situations even Mama's solution won't help and the issues are directly caused by developers sloppy implementation of a new arcade feature into SH5 (aka TONNAGE BAR*).

As I have already said in the past, I like the freedom we get from your campaign modification, but I feel that what matters now is just collecting renown points and killing warships, which (warships) should be our least concern anyway. We could even set all ship's tonnage to zero, and our campaign would be unaffected.

You've just described Silent Hunter games in general...

The best would be if you could set up one Campaign.cfg to reflect your ideas ... Then we could discus potential benefits and issues...




*- I hope you'll die...

[THEBERBSTER]

In the "Task Manger" and "Processes" I do not see a "OSI.exe" but there is a "SH5.exe*32" is that what I am looking for?

Peter

[MaMa]

Originally Posted by THEBERBSTER

In the "Task Manger" and "Processes" I do not see a "OSI.exe" but there is a "SH5.exe*32" is that what I am looking for?

Peter

Along with the SH5.exe*32 you should have the osi.exe*32 in the processes list. If you do not have it my thought is that the OSI application doesn't launch properly ...

You can do a simple test with the DBG Viewer turned on to check it. Launch the game and when you are in the main menu Alt+TAB to the DBG. If the OSI is launched correctly you should have various strings with the label "SH_OSI.cpp". If it is then you should have the OSI executable running.

Let me know how it goes ...

[gap]

Originally Posted by vdr1981

- If invisible tonnage objective is not fulfilled and deadline date of certain objective is skipped due to patrol ending, all of the following objectives will be blocked afterwards until campaign end...
- In this situation the game will CTD when next patrol is started and first midnight is reached...

That would be a problem indeed, but what do you mean with "deadline date of certain objective is skipped due to patrol ending"?

Originally Posted by vdr1981

- Dont forget that tonnage objective can be "filled up" even with neutral ships on your score. In this case we would have contradictory consequences, rating penalties and award in the form of "prize campaign/objective"?!

I don't see it as a problem. The renown penalty is too heavy for making the sinking of neutral ships worth it. One could exploit this limit of the game and sink maybe a couple of neutral ships if he knew that the deadline of his current campaign is close and its tonnage requirement is not fullfilled yet, but since this information would be hidden anyway, I doubt sinking neutral ships on a regular basis would bring any good

[MaMa]

I see (reading from some user on the Wolves of steel thread) that other users, are experiencing a different behaviour of the game than mine : the OSI process is not running along with the SH5.exe file ...

It is a new scenario indeed, i never had only the SH5.exe file running without the OSI.exe so it could be of help knowing the exact working condition of the game.

- As a first step i gently ask everybody involved with this procedure to do a first trial with the vanilla game, without any MOD installed (make sure to have TDW Generic patcher disabled also). Doing so we can make sure to have the same starting condition for the game. See if the OSI.exe is running or not in this way.

- A second step could be to delete the OSI application in the UPlay folder, this is the usual directory which needs to be deleted :

C:\Program Files (x86)\Ubisoft\Ubisoft Game Launcher\data\3

After deleting this folder start the UPlay, go online and start SH5 game. UPlay should start downloading again the OSI application before launching the game itself. Check again if the OSI.exe is running or not after the game started.

After those first tests we can start addressing other possible situations, let me know !