Soooo....is this newbie Captain doing anything wrong?

Heavy Artillery · 10-19-05, 01:26 PM

Hello all!

I pruchased the digital download of SH3 on Sunday and, after a reformat of my PC to get it to work without crashes and lockups, have been enjoying it. Somewhat.

See, I am starting to wonder if I am doing something wrong. I started a brand new career and embarked on my first mission. Now, I understand that the typical life of a submariner was "long stretches of boredom interspersed with brief moments of sheer terror", but I find things getting a little too tedious. In about, oh, I'd say 8 hours of real gameplay on this first mission, I've encountered....no ships. A few allied (German....not "Allies" allied hehe) ships, aye, but nothing I can actually attack. In fact, 99% of my gameplay has been spent swapping out tired crewmembers from one position to another...and this even with the no-fatigue mod which i read about and installed.

I spend a few minutes every few dozen kilmetres or so submerging the ship and stopping the engines so my sonarman can get a good listen but it always seems to be "No sound contact!" for me. When on the surface, I look for ships but see nothing. Well, the one time I did...but it was far, far out of my assigned patrol area.

So here I am, eight hours of my life into the game. I can SEE that, should I ever encounter a ship, it will be thrilling...but is it really always this bad? Investing hours upon hours of your time vainly hoping you *might* get a shot at a single target?

I find myself wishing that something would attack me just to snap me out of my snooze.

The Avon Lady · 10-19-05, 01:32 PM

Are you heading out to areas more likely to contain targets? That would include the UK coast and convoy routes.

Also, try some essential mods, such as the latest versions of the Real Uboat (RUb) and Improved Convoys mods.

I have never experienced 8 realtime hours of nothing in SH3.

wetwarev7 · 10-19-05, 01:33 PM

Two words...

Time Compression

If you go into the nav map, you can speed things up by a factor of up to 1024. Most people use this as they travel towards thier assigned patrol grid, stopping at certain points to make sound checks, or to intercept ships that pop up.

Makes things much more tolerable for me

Serverdaemon · 10-19-05, 01:44 PM

On the subject of time compression, too there is a fix (hopefully someone will help me out here though since I can't remember it...) that will allow you to set the max compression rate. I use 2048 time compression on mine.

As for the crew becoming fatigued, you might try setting your crew to "cruise" mode where most of them are in their bunks. Seems like when I run in that mode, fatigue doesn't become an issue.

S

Twelvefield · 10-19-05, 02:36 PM

WARNING: for many people, pressing the "crew mode" buttons can cause computer crashes and mission corruption. It's better to just move yoiur crew into their bunks manually.

In the early war, where I am playing, I will run the sub at 1/3 speed. That allows me to run submerged all day and surfaced all night. I typically do my hydrophone checks in the morning and evening.

Heavy Artillery · 10-19-05, 02:51 PM

Aye, I'm using Time Compression...although I usually thend to stay at 128x on the nav map, at most.

As for going to areas where there is shipping...I was under the impression that, as part of your career, you HAD to go to your assigned patrol grid. My current grid is AF87, almost straight east from Scapa flow...but near the *other* coastline.

Are you saying I should inject a little Kirk into my captaincy, and ignore orders?

The Avon Lady · 10-19-05, 02:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Heavy Artillery

Are you saying I should inject a little Kirk into my captaincy, and ignore orders?

Discussed many times already.

Did BdU order you to take the straightest line to your assigned patrol grid?

No.

Of course, you could play this diehard and assume that you are only to patrol that given grid. But that would mean that if you encounter enemy ships on the way, you won't fire at them because they are not in the area you were assigned to.

I always play with the assumption that a bird in the hand is worth 2 in the bush. I always aim to reach and patrol my assigned grid but if I've expended my torpedoes beforehand in encounters on the way there, BdU will radio you to return to base anyway once you send in the reports.

If you really want to be imaginative, you can travel enemy coastal areas and when you come across ships, send in the contact report but don't attack them. This would simulate being assigned a particular patrol area elsewhere, which BdU has deemed as strategic, while performing vital surveilence work for the Kriegsmarine at the same time.

It's really up to you.

Serverdaemon · 10-19-05, 03:03 PM

If you follow orders and stay in your assigned patrol area for 24 hours, you'll get more renown upon your return. But you don't have to! It's pretty much up to you, however the THEORY is that BDU knows where the ships are traveling through and are sending you to where you'll find targets. That's not necessarily the case, but it sure sounds nice.

Besides, there's a hack that allows you to change your renown too if you'd like.

Me, I usually do the 24 hour assigned thing just for kicks. And who knows,... Maybe they do know something up top and one of these days I'll get a nice fat battleship to sink!...

S

captainclasp · 10-19-05, 03:18 PM

A couple of points to make your gaiming more enjoyable, if I may. First off - during any transit - use the time compression of over 64 - anything above 64 (which is map only tc) stops fatigue - allowing you to do more than just "swap crew". Next, going to your assigned patrol area is good - it gets you some renown - as does sitting in it for 24 hours... however - if you happen across a few juicy targets on the way and sink them - you have more renown that a "successful" patrolling of your area with no enemy sunk....

You may not have gotten a convoy map since you did the digital dl thing - but if you did get one in electronic format - its a good idea to go over it. If your patrol zone is near it - or if you get to your patrol zone and have the fuel - detour to a high traffic area after you complete your assigned task - do not worry - BDU never reassigns you to another patrol grid - so once you have done what you were told - feel free to swing by the best watering holes on the way home (or on the way out if its on the way)!

If you sit on the west side of britain where the convoy lanes converge - sit for 3 or 4 days - i haven't failed yet to get a convoy report - and its usually heading right for me!

This is, note - with the stock 1.4 patch. If you havent patched yet - do it. Also - there are some great mod's out there if you choose to use them.

Good Hunting.
CC

Heavy Artillery · 10-19-05, 03:28 PM

Thanks for the suggestions all. I'm finding that a few of the added tracks for the gramophone- with period music and news reports -really add to the experience overall!

I only have two torpedoes left right now (started with 5, took 2 to finish off a ship that appeared "red" on my map, but was in fact neutral. Oops!) after accidentally hitting ENTER twice on my keypad instead of the "+" to up the compression, and wasting one.

Oops again.

Next time out, I will make sure I snoop in some areas where I can find some big ol' cargos to sink. Thanks again!

The Avon Lady · 10-19-05, 04:02 PM

There are utilities and mods that change the fire key from just ENTER to CTRL+ENTER or similar. That way you'll stop inadvertantly launching torpedoes like the rest of us used to do when we were new at the game.

Von Scheerbach · 10-19-05, 05:20 PM

Heavy: If you want to find convoys, one of the best places to hang out is in the area of AM27-28-29-02, off the nw coast of Ireland. Lots of Halifax to Liverpool convoys go through there. You'll need to upgrade from that type II first, though!

Good hunting!

10-19-05, 10:41 PM

If you are bored now, then I suggest u DON'T install the mod called RUB. The Stand alone HT Mod by Rubin is very nice and I'd grab that if I was you.

Patrols :As a few have already stated, go to your grid as ordered, do the 24 hour thing on TC, then head off to any of the convoy routes. AM 02,52 and 53 is good for inbound convoys and for outbound convoy's try BF 15,16,18 and 19. When you have a bigger boat, try heading down to Gibralta and go through the pass into the Med. Lots of bits an bobs round there.

Good Luck

Heavy Artillery · 10-19-05, 10:52 PM

Well I went back to good old AN81 and did the 24 hour thing, managed to sink a small merchant ship with a lucky 3,800m shot right in the arse with two torpedos (it was moving in a perfectly straight line and never zig zagged)...both my mission objectives show Complete, but I can't send any status report or exit the patrol...aaaaargh.

But good advice all around here, thanks so much!!

10-19-05, 11:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Heavy Artillery

both my mission objectives show Complete, but I can't send any status report or exit the patrol...aaaaargh.

Status Reports : To Send Status Report these conditions must be met:
a) Surfaced and radio maned
b) Clear of any Hostile contacts and at least 30 minutes has passed since last sinking (game time).
c) At least 1 more event must have taken place after the last Status Report (a sinking).

Contact Reports : To Send Contact Report these conditions must be met:
a) Surfaced and radio maned
b) a VISUAL sighting of either a Task Force or a Convoy.
c) More than 1 ship icon on the Nav map must be RED of either the Task Force or Convoy.

Exit Patrol : To exit a Patrol with the auto return these conditions must be met:
a) All Torps expended
b) Last status report sent.
c) Bdu send msg telling you to "Return to base"
d) NOT playing at 100% realisism.

10-19-05, 01:26 PM	#1
Heavy Artillery Swabbie Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 13 Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	Soooo....is this newbie Captain doing anything wrong? Hello all! I pruchased the digital download of SH3 on Sunday and, after a reformat of my PC to get it to work without crashes and lockups, have been enjoying it. Somewhat. See, I am starting to wonder if I am doing something wrong. I started a brand new career and embarked on my first mission. Now, I understand that the typical life of a submariner was "long stretches of boredom interspersed with brief moments of sheer terror", but I find things getting a little too tedious. In about, oh, I'd say 8 hours of real gameplay on this first mission, I've encountered....no ships. A few allied (German....not "Allies" allied hehe) ships, aye, but nothing I can actually attack. In fact, 99% of my gameplay has been spent swapping out tired crewmembers from one position to another...and this even with the no-fatigue mod which i read about and installed. I spend a few minutes every few dozen kilmetres or so submerging the ship and stopping the engines so my sonarman can get a good listen but it always seems to be "No sound contact!" for me. When on the surface, I look for ships but see nothing. Well, the one time I did...but it was far, far out of my assigned patrol area. So here I am, eight hours of my life into the game. I can SEE that, should I ever encounter a ship, it will be thrilling...but is it really always this bad? Investing hours upon hours of your time vainly hoping you might get a shot at a single target? I find myself wishing that something would attack me just to snap me out of my snooze.

10-19-05, 01:32 PM	#2
The Avon Lady Über Mom Join Date: May 2005 Location: Jerusalem, Israel Posts: 6,147 Downloads: 5 Uploads: 0	Are you heading out to areas more likely to contain targets? That would include the UK coast and convoy routes. Also, try some essential mods, such as the latest versions of the Real Uboat (RUb) and Improved Convoys mods. I have never experienced 8 realtime hours of nothing in SH3. __________________ "Victory will come to us from the wombs of our women." - Houari Boumedienne, President of Algeria, Speech before the UN, 1974

10-19-05, 01:33 PM	#3
wetwarev7 Grey Wolf Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Deep Waters Posts: 871 Downloads: 31 Uploads: 0	Two words... Time Compression If you go into the nav map, you can speed things up by a factor of up to 1024. Most people use this as they travel towards thier assigned patrol grid, stopping at certain points to make sound checks, or to intercept ships that pop up. Makes things much more tolerable for me __________________ Guess I should change my sig since SH5 has an offline mode now

10-19-05, 04:02 PM	#11
The Avon Lady Über Mom Join Date: May 2005 Location: Jerusalem, Israel Posts: 6,147 Downloads: 5 Uploads: 0	There are utilities and mods that change the fire key from just ENTER to CTRL+ENTER or similar. That way you'll stop inadvertantly launching torpedoes like the rest of us used to do when we were new at the game. __________________ "Victory will come to us from the wombs of our women." - Houari Boumedienne, President of Algeria, Speech before the UN, 1974

10-19-05, 01:44 PM	#4
Serverdaemon Loader Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Kirkland, WA. Posts: 81 Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	On the subject of time compression, too there is a fix (hopefully someone will help me out here though since I can't remember it...) that will allow you to set the max compression rate. I use 2048 time compression on mine. As for the crew becoming fatigued, you might try setting your crew to "cruise" mode where most of them are in their bunks. Seems like when I run in that mode, fatigue doesn't become an issue. S

10-19-05, 02:36 PM	#5
Twelvefield Planesman Join Date: May 2005 Posts: 186 Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	WARNING: for many people, pressing the "crew mode" buttons can cause computer crashes and mission corruption. It's better to just move yoiur crew into their bunks manually. In the early war, where I am playing, I will run the sub at 1/3 speed. That allows me to run submerged all day and surfaced all night. I typically do my hydrophone checks in the morning and evening.

10-19-05, 02:51 PM	#6
Heavy Artillery Swabbie Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 13 Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	Aye, I'm using Time Compression...although I usually thend to stay at 128x on the nav map, at most. As for going to areas where there is shipping...I was under the impression that, as part of your career, you HAD to go to your assigned patrol grid. My current grid is AF87, almost straight east from Scapa flow...but near the other coastline. Are you saying I should inject a little Kirk into my captaincy, and ignore orders?

10-19-05, 03:03 PM	#8
Serverdaemon Loader Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Kirkland, WA. Posts: 81 Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	If you follow orders and stay in your assigned patrol area for 24 hours, you'll get more renown upon your return. But you don't have to! It's pretty much up to you, however the THEORY is that BDU knows where the ships are traveling through and are sending you to where you'll find targets. That's not necessarily the case, but it sure sounds nice. Besides, there's a hack that allows you to change your renown too if you'd like. Me, I usually do the 24 hour assigned thing just for kicks. And who knows,... Maybe they do know something up top and one of these days I'll get a nice fat battleship to sink!... S

10-19-05, 03:18 PM	#9
captainclasp Watch Join Date: Apr 2005 Posts: 27 Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	A couple of points to make your gaiming more enjoyable, if I may. First off - during any transit - use the time compression of over 64 - anything above 64 (which is map only tc) stops fatigue - allowing you to do more than just "swap crew". Next, going to your assigned patrol area is good - it gets you some renown - as does sitting in it for 24 hours... however - if you happen across a few juicy targets on the way and sink them - you have more renown that a "successful" patrolling of your area with no enemy sunk.... You may not have gotten a convoy map since you did the digital dl thing - but if you did get one in electronic format - its a good idea to go over it. If your patrol zone is near it - or if you get to your patrol zone and have the fuel - detour to a high traffic area after you complete your assigned task - do not worry - BDU never reassigns you to another patrol grid - so once you have done what you were told - feel free to swing by the best watering holes on the way home (or on the way out if its on the way)! If you sit on the west side of britain where the convoy lanes converge - sit for 3 or 4 days - i haven't failed yet to get a convoy report - and its usually heading right for me! This is, note - with the stock 1.4 patch. If you havent patched yet - do it. Also - there are some great mod's out there if you choose to use them. Good Hunting. CC

10-19-05, 03:28 PM	#10
Heavy Artillery Swabbie Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 13 Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	Thanks for the suggestions all. I'm finding that a few of the added tracks for the gramophone- with period music and news reports -really add to the experience overall! I only have two torpedoes left right now (started with 5, took 2 to finish off a ship that appeared "red" on my map, but was in fact neutral. Oops!) after accidentally hitting ENTER twice on my keypad instead of the "+" to up the compression, and wasting one. Oops again. Next time out, I will make sure I snoop in some areas where I can find some big ol' cargos to sink. Thanks again!

10-19-05, 05:20 PM	#12
Von Scheerbach A-ganger Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Pittsburgh Posts: 79 Downloads: 1 Uploads: 0	Heavy: If you want to find convoys, one of the best places to hang out is in the area of AM27-28-29-02, off the nw coast of Ireland. Lots of Halifax to Liverpool convoys go through there. You'll need to upgrade from that type II first, though! Good hunting!

10-19-05, 10:41 PM	#13
Cdre Gibs Stowaway Posts: n/a Downloads: Uploads:	If you are bored now, then I suggest u DON'T install the mod called RUB. The Stand alone HT Mod by Rubin is very nice and I'd grab that if I was you. Patrols :As a few have already stated, go to your grid as ordered, do the 24 hour thing on TC, then head off to any of the convoy routes. AM 02,52 and 53 is good for inbound convoys and for outbound convoy's try BF 15,16,18 and 19. When you have a bigger boat, try heading down to Gibralta and go through the pass into the Med. Lots of bits an bobs round there. Good Luck

10-19-05, 10:52 PM	#14
Heavy Artillery Swabbie Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 13 Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	Well I went back to good old AN81 and did the 24 hour thing, managed to sink a small merchant ship with a lucky 3,800m shot right in the arse with two torpedos (it was moving in a perfectly straight line and never zig zagged)...both my mission objectives show Complete, but I can't send any status report or exit the patrol...aaaaargh. But good advice all around here, thanks so much!!