Q #01: Can I talk to somebody and discuss my questions?A: Yes!
HERE's a Teamspeak-place where active players meet and talk. A
calendar indicates when.
Q #02: Does SH3 from Steam require the 1.4b patch by Ubisoft?A: No. It already is updated to that.
Q #03: Does SH3 from Steam require the 4GB-Patch?A: Yes, but you can't use the common 4GBPatch.exe to patch Steam's SH3! SH3 from Steam requires to take some extra steps. Only the Steam-Fix actually takes these extra steps! I'm not too much into the tech background, but you can read details here:
Why you can NOT use the old 4GB-Patch.exe on a STEAM-versionQ #04: For what do I need to run the STEAM-FIX?A: You must remember that with an original STEAM-version you can only play the unmodded game flawlessly. So before you can engage in the wide wild world of mods and game patches you must first apply the Steam-Fix using
SFSF. The Steam-Fix activates the 4GB-Tuning specifically for SH3 from Steam, configures it to run in necessary compatibility-mode etc. and thereby solves all of the constantly recurring issues that users post here (regularly, almost on a weekly basis). It helped me to get going, too, because I've had the very same issues. I found the fix only very coincidentally myself when having a read of this thread and following the links therein:
[TEC] Installation of SH3 on anything later than WinXP (Vista, 7 / 8 / 10...)Q #05: How can I properly install GWX?A:
How to run STEAM-SH3-V1.6b-GWX-WIDESCREEN on Win10Q #06: GWX can't be installed. Says it finds modded files.A: You've overlooked an important detail that is explained in
How to run STEAM-SH3-V1.6b-GWX-WIDESCREEN on Win10Q #07: Error "Can not initialize 3D engine"?A: Read:
[HOWTO] solve the error "Can not initialize 3D Engine"Q #08: Error "Game starts PAUSED"?A: Read:
[HOWTO] Fix error "game stuck on pause"Q #09: How can I get Silent Hunter to run in 1920x1080 resolution?A: Simple. Install a Widescreen-Mod. Here you can find them:
[SH3RES]_Widescreen-Resolution-Fixes. I gave two working examples in my instructions:
SIMPLY FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS! IT'S VERY EASY!How to run STEAM-SH3-V1.6b-GWX-WIDESCREEN on Win10Q #10: Where can I find mods?A: Read:
[S3G] The Silent Hunter III Guide - Not Only For Beginners of [SH3],
there section 02 - Resources - What You Really Need!
Q #11: Which mods do you recommend? Is ABC the best mega-mod for SH3?A: Everybody's got his own prefs and favs. Read:
Recommended ModsQ #12: Does the mod xyz work with Steam?A: All mods do! But you must remember that with an original STEAM-version you can only play the unmodded game flawlessly. So before you can engage in the wide wild world of mods and game patches you must first apply the Steam-Fix using
SFSF.
Q #13: How do you install a mod?A: Download and unpack the mod. Every good mod has instructions included.
"JSGME UserGuide.pdf" has a good chapter named "Adding mods".
Q #14: SH3, SH4 or SH5? Is SH3 the best submarine simulation?A: Definitely yes, and here's why:
Silent Hunter III - and how it compares to SH4 & SH5Why We Choose to Play SH3 Instead of SH4 and/or SH5Q #15: Does STEAM's SH3 run on Windows version xyz?A: Please read the first 3 sentences in
How to run STEAM-SH3-V1.6b-GWX-WIDESCREEN on Win10. So a definite yes. It runs on all versions of Windows. Folks who state otherwise have either completely improvised and thereby messed it all up, not applied the Steam-Fix(
SFSF) or ignored to stick with the detailed instructions that I've provided.
Q #16: Game crashes on load at 90% or freezes seemingly".A: Consider that in 99% of the times players say the game has crashed when it hasn't only because they're not patient enough to have it load properly, i.e.the loading bar stops moving for some moments. That is normal! The game has mostly
not crashed! Leave it running! Especially savegames take ages to load. Be patient!
Q #17: Game crashes on load like "Black Screen after intro movie".A: This is a compatibility-problem. You can have this repaired quite easily by applying the Steam-Fix:
SFSF.
Q #18: Game crashes on load of a previously created savegameA: Never change your mod setup when your Uboot is still out at sea! Also keep the few basic rules to
avoid CTDs And Savegame CrashesQ #19: How can I avoid SAVEGAME-crashes?A: Keep some basic rules:
[HOWTO] Avoid CTDs And Savegame CrashesQ #20: LSH3 install problem ! [no valid SH3.exe]A: You can have this repaired quite simply by applying the Steam-Fix:
SFSF.
Q #21: Application Load ErrorA: This is an error given by the Steam-Launcher that indicates you haven't run the Steam-Fix:
SFSF.
Q #22: Bad weather in SH3A: There seems to be new knowledge about SH3 WEATHER, it causes crashes and there're obviously better alternatives available. See:
[HOWTO] Fix the "Always-Bad-Weather-Bug" in SH3. You don't have this issue if you followed the instruction provided in
How to run STEAM-SH3-V1.6b-GWX-WIDESCREEN on Win10.
Q #23: How do I backup my saved career (to another computer)?A: SH3 puts is savegames into
C:\Users\YOUROWNNAMEHERE\Documents\SH3, while 'SH3' can also be GWX, in case you run GWX. And so on for other mods. You can see all that data if you use Frontend.
Run the windows command: %UserProfile% and navigate to the folder: Documents
Here, locate the directories that are 3 letters short.
SH3 is your game data for the stock-game, GWX is for GWX and so on.
Copy these folders and paste them to same location on new computer.
Q #24: Silent Hunter 3A: Please! Find a better suiting subject of your topic! Will ya! Many others will not even read a question when it's obvious that the OP hasn't even spent the time to find a better, suitable subject.
Q #25: Is multiplayer/coop still possible with SH3?A: Yes.
The Death of Evolve is not the End of Multiplayer. Read what you need to play SH3 - MultiPlayer-Wolfpack-missions
here.
Q #26: Where can I download mission files to play?A: Here:
[S3MA] - THE SILENT HUNTER III - MISSION ARCHIVEQ #27: Can I somehow write own mission files?A: Yes. Use the mission editor that's included with the game. An updated version that also functions in widescreen-resolutions (the original doesn't) can be downloaded here:
[S3MT] - The Silent Hunter III-Mission Toolkit. You can also write your own missions if you dislike the available ones and have them archived and hosted.
Q #28: How to make screenshotsA: The Steam-overlay doesn't function with SH3. In all standard game resolutions you can make a screenshot by using CTRL+F11 - but only as long as you're using the standard resolution!
As soon as you change your mind and run any Widescreen-Mod, this very often ceases to function, i.e. you'll need a different way then, because many widescreen-mods disable the CTRL+F11 function.
[S3G] The Silent Hunter III Guide - Not Only For Beginners of [SH3] > Recommended Tools And Addons For Players... is where you can find screenshot tools that circumvent that limitation.
Q #29: Where to find juicy targets like Passenger Liners, Large Troop Ships, Big Convoys?A: An interactive map (no game-modding necessary) is
Operation Spinnennetz. There, click on 'THE MAPS' and when that page's loaded 'CHOOSE MAP: CONTACT'. The big pro is that everyone can also report in their own finds and discoveries. Very big map and public! You can also find a convoy map in your documents folder. With the mod 'convoy routes on map' you can also have that info in game.
Q #30: Are there any good manual targeting tutorials?A: Read:
http://www.donitzeliteflotilla.com/forum/index.php?topic=20Q #31: Who are the best players?A: There's still one TONNAGE-TABLE around, and it's still updated:
Go to:
www.donitzeliteflotilla.com/forum/index.php?topic=74Then: POINT TABLE
Q #32: S3F isn't recognising my version of JSGMEA: Only people who refuse to follow instructions exactly and in the order they're written in are having such problems! Do a rescan in S3F, if that doesn't help, redo the instructions from scratch - and this time follow them exactly, the steps are in an order for a reason! If S3F doesn't recognize your JSGME......
- that simply isn't JSGME 2.6.0.157 or you took the file from somewhere else than I've indicated. As you can also read in the S3F-instructions the coder has programmed a checksum-verification so only the original version 2.6.0.157 is accepted.
- or you haven't followed my instructions which say that you must do things in order, e.g. install JSGME *BEFORE* S3F does its scan.
- or you've put it somewhere else than the area that you're running the scan on. So if you unpack JSGME 2.6.0.157 to c:\ but you then choose to scan on d:\ it's only logic that it can't be found. That's why I gave colored example paths in my instructions, you know...
Q #33: My torpedoes bounce off, why?A: If this happens to you irregularly often outside the historic torpedo-crisis of 1940 and the usual T2-(M)-duds, you're either you're too close so your torpedo couldn't arm yet or you fired at the enemy ship in a bad angle or the depth-setting was wrong
a) 300+ meters at least for any torpedo
b) perfect angle is 90 +/- 10 degrees, i.e. broadside for (I)mpact
c) depends on the draft of the enemy ship if you fire (M)agnetic pistol
Q #34: I don't like the political correct graphics, I want my game historically corrrect!A: The historically correct signs are in the compressed textures, so all you have to do is delete the politically correct versions in the override folder and you're good to go. Open subdirectory "data\Textures\TNormal\". There are 3 files. Rename the files in the folder. Of course you may also delete them.
Q #35: When I install the mod xyz nothing is different in the game.A: You should check the folder structure to see if its correct. The mod must be unpacked into MODS\MODNAME and contain a folder called "data".
Q #36: Why not the "Resolution-Fix"? It's recommended in a guide...A: Really? And how old is that guide? That old crap called "Resolution fix" is a "solution" from more than 10 years ago that only STRETCHES the whole screen (and all graphics thereon). What comes out of this is that your game is going to look really ugly (especially the dials) as soon as you attempt to use ANY widescreen resolution. The reason is logic: SH3 was released in 4:3 (1024x768)
Better solutions are available since long time: True Widescreen mods where modders have often even repainted the graphics and I gave two working examples in my instructions:
SIMPLY FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS! IT'S VERY EASY!How to run STEAM-SH3-V1.6b-GWX-WIDESCREEN on Win10
