Is it just me?

[washishu]

After discovering that I could run SHIII on my Mac, I've been doing just that since April. I've also tried GWX for the first time, and it works just fine. So what's the problem?

Well, without a doubt there are some 'issues' with the standard SHIII***8212;what fool thought that that poxy compass was adequate for example? And without a doubt the GWX mod has some amazing features; the visuals are superb and its adherence to historical accuracy is . . . well, there's my problem. More my issue than problem I suppose.

Yes I know that the U-boats often sailed for days and days without a sniff of another vessel. I know that they described it as days and days of boredom punctuated by hours of intense, life-or-death activity. I think it was Bleichrodt who had such unfortunate luck in finding targets that his boat was know by some as the torpedo transporter and this state of affairs is thought to have contributed to his mental breakdown.

However, I play (emphasis on that word play) SHIII for fun (emphasis on the word fun). I've stuck with GWX for three months or so but I have to own up and admit that it just isn't much fun watching that little grey circle move across or up and down the screen for hour after hour after hour. I have even left it running and watched a movie, waiting for that "Ship spotted". Nothing. I've had a shower, cooked a three-course meal, eaten it, been down the shop for some beer, watched another movie; nothing.

It may be historically accurate and maybe there are just too many available targets in the standard version, but, hey, I want some pleasure out of this; it is a game after all.

So, I've gone back to the standard version and am just cursing at but tolerating its inadequacies. But I'm finding ships to sink.

Is it just me?

[Jimbuna]

Check the GWX mods you've got enabled and if you have the Indian Ocean or Black Sea campaign files installed that is the only area you will have ship traffic in.

Better if you have the Merged Campaign file mod enabled.

[irish1958]

There is a mod called SH3Contacts by Nicholas http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/down...o=file&id=1402 which will increase contacts to your liking.
It is especially useful in the areas South of England and in the Irish sea, where there is a lot of traffic. There is also air cover, a plethora of destroyers and shallow waters, making it dangerous to be there. It is necessary to tract vessels by sonar since you can't run on the surface. When you finally ID the vessel it is often a tug or a fishing boat (as it would be in real life). A contact of a war ship might be a deadly destroyer or an armed motor launch.

[Paul Riley]

washishu,

I trust you use your map at times in your game?,its useful for getting a basic fix on the major convoy lanes out there.
Try and lurk around choke points,such as the area between the Shetlands and the Orkneys (AN14-16).If you still have no luck it may be useful to lurk around a port submerged and wait for outgoing traffic.Follow this traffic by shadowing it until you are in a good spot with deep (if possible) water,and begin your attack.Try and make notes of the co-ordinates of this traffic for future reference.I have literally dozens of ship co-ords in my notepads,so I always have places to stalk if my assigned patrol turns up empty.This does demand high levels of patience and determination mind you,so,if you are after a more 'action packed' (trust me you get these moments and you will know about it!) game this approach may not be desired.
REMEMBER - When you are in an area known to have high traffic stay submerged,at a depth of about 25 -30m,keep speed no higher than 1/3 and you will increase your chances of contacts dramatically.After all,there is a lot of water out there,and you are about the size of a grain of sand in comparison.

Good luck.

[washishu]

Thanks Irish, I wasn't aware of that mod. I've gotten hold of it and will give it a go. Sounds like it could be the one for me.

Paul - I use the map most of the time. I've used the convoy routes map to cruise around the areas where the convoys from (for example) the Med diverge to go north or south. Still nothing. In fact, in all that time - don't know how many hours of playing but quite a lot over three months - in all that time I've not actually encountered one convoy; not one. Some independents and a couple of two- or three-ship groups from time to time, but no convoy.

And I accept all that about big sea-small ship and so-on, but it just gets real boring watching that circle trek across the screen. I'd rather spend the time pushing crayons up my nose like Homer Simpson.

[Sailor Steve]

It's just you.


Sorry, couldn't resist. I actually like the boring aspects, but I realize that's not for everybody (or pretty much anybody except me). If you've run into some singles then it can't be having the wrong campaign enabled. Another thing you can do is go into the Mission Editor (it's in the main SH3 folder) and look at the RND Layer. This will show you where all the convoys actually are, and allow you to stick to those areas. That should increase your fun immensely.

[Jimbuna]

On the contrary, the GWX RND has randomised the convoy spawn rates as well as many of the waypoints (it includes convoys and singles as well as environmentals).

Best money is on confirming or otherwise what campaign files are installed or try installing the SpySat mod even and see what it brings up.

[Paul Riley]

Originally Posted by washishu

Thanks Irish, I wasn't aware of that mod. I've gotten hold of it and will give it a go. Sounds like it could be the one for me.

Paul - I use the map most of the time. I've used the convoy routes map to cruise around the areas where the convoys from (for example) the Med diverge to go north or south. Still nothing. In fact, in all that time - don't know how many hours of playing but quite a lot over three months - in all that time I've not actually encountered one convoy; not one. Some independents and a couple of two- or three-ship groups from time to time, but no convoy.

And I accept all that about big sea-small ship and so-on, but it just gets real boring watching that circle trek across the screen. I'd rather spend the time pushing crayons up my nose like Homer Simpson.

Try and hang in there pal.I know what you mean though as I also spend many hours without much action sometimes.Take tonight for example.Since from about 4pm (I came off the game around 00:15) I have sunk 1 medium cargo.Most of the time is spent patrolling a given area,then moving on to more fruitful areas.
I really suggest,initially at least picking a port,and lurking say,20km out to sea.Some traffic should arrive every day or few days.If not move on,and repeat.This is how it was in real life,and dont forget the missed opportunities (for whatever reason),duds,premature detonations,rerouted shipping lanes,which must have been infuriating.
Really,hang in there,absorb as much info about the real UBoat war and the game as you can,you will be surprised how much can be implemented in your game

[washishu]

Ok, so maybe I should have kept my mouth shut. Got hold of the Contacts tool - thanks Irish for telling me about that. Set things up to generate more convoys and voila! first trip out, just off the north-west coast of Ireland I run into a large convoy. It was also heavily defended too - five escorts.

Two attacks over about 24 hours and then I got just a touch careless. Depth-charged and both rudders destroyed. The escorts eventually left me alone but all I could do was keep going ahead and, eventually, crash into Ireland, or teleport back to base which is a bit of a cheat really.

What's slightly puzzling is how the destroyer knew I was there and started pinging when I was sitting waiting at all stop and silent running. Makes me think that the AI is just too intelligent sometimes.

Also - I guess this could be another Is it just me? - there's a lot of talk about radio messages giving contact reports etc. Never had one of 'em. Not one. So there you go Sailor Steve, you can have another jab. Everybody to their own thing of course, as you say, but to say you like the boring bits!?. . . man, you're weird.

[sublynx]

Originally Posted by washishu

there's a lot of talk about radio messages giving contact reports etc. Never had one of 'em. Not one.

If you hang around a traffic grid like AM52 long enough, you should eventually get a radio contact report about a convoy. And when you find a convoy yourself you should get a contact report about it if you hang around long enough (while reloading, getting into position). I do this at a low TC, like 128, and get lots of radio contact reports. I don't know if the low TC is necessary for it to work, but I play with a laptop and I think the processor might be better calculating events when playing at a lower TC.

Originally Posted by washishu

So there you go Sailor Steve, you can have another jab. Everybody to their own thing of course, as you say, but to say you like the boring bits!?. . . man, you're weird.

Lol, I'm also of the opinion that not finding ships is kind of nice at times. The thing is, that when you hang around your patrol grid in 1943 and get constantly harassed by airplanes and don't see any ships anywhere - and then a convoy appears, you get quite a rush: at last some action, a chance to expend your torpedoes and get out of the range of the airplanes. I guess playing SH3 might make one a bit weird eventually

[Sailor Steve]

Originally Posted by washishu

...man, you're weird.

Yes I am. But how rude of you to notice.

I was in the navy, and one of the things I miss most was the actual idle time, especially in port. I spent a lot of time visiting other ships. But my current predilection came later. I played AOD, and I played SH1. In both cases it was a game - rush, rush, rush, sink ships and get the patrol over. Then along came SH3 and I was the same way. Then along came the Kiel Canal mod and the Harbor Traffic mod. Then along came GWX and LSH3 and WAC, all of which added more and more cool goodies to look at. Now I enjoy the sights, which remind me very much of the real ones I remember.

No, I don't do 1x patrols, because I don't consider that realistic either. But I do go in and out of port at 1x, and I do tend to not use TC during the hunt or escape. I take my time and have fun and pretend it's all real. I go to my assigned grid and stay there, at least for a couple of weeks and even then a die roll tells me whether I've been reassigned or not.

You want weird? I just recently for the very first time set Commander for No Fatigue. I know it's not the captain's job to move the crew around, but with all those quals sitting there doing nothing while their equally qualified buddies did all the work just made me feel...well, weird. So I set it back to GWX 8-hour fatigue. Every four hours I come out of TC, move the crew around, head to the bridge and enjoy the weather for a couple of minutes, and then do it all over again.

For me, that's fun.