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Wolfie's Tweek Pak for Silent Hunter III
May 3, 2005
Overview
This pak contains two programs for tweeking SH3. TweekSH3 makes changes to time compression, map settings and auto-identify of targets. TweekSUB makes changes to the torpedo loadout of any or all subs. Each program is described in detail below.
Installing
Obviously if you are reading this then you managed to unpack the archive. Both of these programs require the Visual Basic 6 runtime libraries. These are likely already on your system, if not go to my website and you will find them on my download page. If you run either of my programs and get an error dialog before the program starts saying it is missing some DLL, you need the VB6 runtime files.
This archive contains one folder, Tweek. You can place the programs from that folder anywhere you like provided you have properly installed SH3. If you didn't properly install SH3 (ie, you just copied the files to your computer) you will be missing the registry entries needed to locate your SH3 folder. In that case, copy all 3 files to your SH3 folder (where SH3.exe is) and all will be well. The programs in this archive do not require any further installs. Make sure to copy the xref.ini file along with the EXEs!
To not edit the INI that came with this pak. It contains references as well as default sub loadouts so you can reset them to defaults if you want.
TweekSH3
A screenshot is pictured below:
This program alters the following CFG files when save is clicked, you are advised to back these files up before using the program:
data\Cfg\main.cfg
data\Menu\cfg\maps.cfg
data\Roster\English.cfg
data\Roster\German.cfg
My Documents\SH3\data\Cfg\main.cfg
Please close SH3 before running TweekSH3 or you won't see any changes in the game until you restart it. This program makes no changes until you click Save. You can safely exit the program before clicking save to abandon any changes you might have made. If you wish to discard all changes you made, click Reload and the program will re-read all settings from the game files.
TweekSH3 can push SH3 beyond your computer's ability to run it. For example , you can set the maximum time compression to 4096 and it is quite probable that your computer won't be able to handle it and your frame rates will drop dramatically and the game will become sluggish and unresponsive. If you press it too far, you should exit SH3 and reduce the settings using TweekSH3. From some experimentation I have done, I have found that using the frame rate counter you can tell how your system is doing. If the frame rates drop below 5 or so, it will actually be faster to back off one click on the TC. For example if you jack up your TC to 4096 and you see the frame rates at 4 or 5, the game is actually running SLOWER than if you were to drop back to 2048 and see frame rates back up to 10-15.
There is nothing in TweekSH3 that you can't do by loading the CFG files into notepad, it just makes it easier and puts the typical tweeks all in one place rather than having to find 3 different files in 3 different folders.
Some notes about the settings are in order. First, this latest version now writes to both copies of the main.cfg, the one in the game directory and the one in your My Documents folder. Some time compression settings overlap, for example "Enemy Sighted" and "Prey State" might overlap within the game. If this happens SH3 will choose the lowest of the overlapping triggers. With settings in my screenshot above, if this occurs, the game will drop to 64 in this case since I have 64 for Prey State and 128 for Enemy Detected, 64 being the lower of the two.
What does "Target Auto Identify" do? Well in the game, when you look a ship through the periscope, the notepad on the right will automatically tell you what type of ship it is, for example a Fleet Carrier or a Troop Transport. By setting this option to OFF, the notepad will simply show "-". Turning it back on will restore the default descriptions. In prior versions, German was not supported, this version fixes that, now both English and German identifications are altered by this setting.
TweekSUB
A screenshot is pictured below:
This program alters the following CFG file when save is clicked, you are advised to back it up before using the program:
data\Cfg\basic.cfg
TweekSUB can modify the torpedo layout of any sub for any year. Yes, you can use it to cheat though that is NOT its purpose. It does not restrict you from selecting any torpedo for any year so let your conscience be your guide as to how far you want to push it. I got tired of altering the loadout after every patrol so I wrote this to preset what fish I wanted loaded automatically when I returned to base. If run normally it shouldn't affect the SH3 game at all other than defaulting to the torpedoes you selected when you return to port or you start a single mission. I have not investigated what this may do to multi-player.
TweekSH3 does have a hidden secret though. You can alter the number of reserves, extras and external slots...to a point. If you just run it by clicking on the EXE file, you can't do this. You will have to make a shortcut so you can provide a command line option to it. See the screenshot below
Note that the "Target" box has the name of the exe with "wolfie" after it. There is a secret to this but you must read further to find it. I purposely did this for those of you who don't really read and just look at the pretty pictures.
Once you have the shortcut set up, launch TweekSUB with the shortcut. The boxes will now appear with a black background and a 3D bevel showing that you correctly set up the shortcut. You will now be able to change the numbers for Fore Reserve, Extra and External and Aft Reserve and External. There are limits to which you can set them though but the program makes no effort to limit you. I suggest a maximum of 16 internal reserves (8 Reserves and 8 Extra for example) and 6 external for the forward compartment. For aft, 2 internal and 6 external are my suggestions for maximums. You may find that putting more than that number may cause SH3 to act weird when displaying the inventory screen. Once you change the numbers reselect a year (not a sub type) and the new empty boxes will appear and you may fill them as you wish.
Before you begin, I wanted to let you know the program makes NO changes until you click SAVE or SAVE ALL YEARS. You can safely exit the program at any time without clicking either of them to abandon any changes you made. And here is the cheat enabler. Though the image above says "wolfie", you must use "Wolfie" instead with a capitalized W. Now for what the buttons do:
Change All: This changes all the currently displayed tubes and reserve slots to the torpedo in the box next to this button. This is a quick way to fill all slots with the same torpedo. You still must click Save to commit the changes to the file.
Default All: This changes all the currently displayed tubes and reserve slots to the torpedo that should be there. Basically this resets this year back to factory defaults. You still must click Save to commit the changes to the file.
Save: This writes any changes to the current year and only the current year for the current sub. There is NO confirmation dialog asking if you are sure. I hate those. There will be a beep indicating the save completed. Be warned, if you enabled the cheat to change the quantity of reserves, that setting applies to all years, not just one and those changes are also saved with this button.
Save ALL Years: This writes the currently displayed loadout to all years that are available for that sub (it doesn't add any years) and it only modifies the current sub. This one does have a confirmation dialog since this button can be potentially disastrous. Use this to apply the current loadout to all years. You can then go tweek those years one at a time if you wish. Be warned, if you enabled the cheat to change the quantity of reserves, that setting applies to all years, not just one.
If you change subs or change years before clicking Save or Save ALL Years, all changes you made will be lost. I would rather have it loose changes you made rather than committing changes to file you really didn't want.
Version Changes
TweekSH3 1.0.1 -
Added start-up checking. It now verifies the existence of all the CFG files before loading. Prior to this, it simply looked for the SH3 folder and assumed all files were there.
Added German support for the Auto-Target Identification
Now writes time compression settings to both the main.cfg in the game folder as well as writing to the main.cfg in your My Documents folder.
TweekSUB 1.0.1 -
Added start-up checking. It now verifies the existence of the CFG files before loading. Prior to this, it simply looked for the SH3 folder and assumed all files were there.
Altered the look of the text boxes when the proper shortcut is used to enable the cheat. Prior version didn't show that anything changed and people were confused and thinking their shortcuts didn't work. The boxes now show with a black background and a 3D bevel when the cheat mode is enabled.
You must be registered with this forum to download files. If
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I also have this N\A file issue. However you can still edit the torpedo load out for the present tubes, but you cannot edit the # of reserves, extras, etc like you can if it is working correctly. You can however go to a close (relatively speaking) base to reload & refuel. This ends this patrol so you have to start another. I do not agree with this part however as a real uboat patrol would not end until he returned to his assigned port except in the case of reassignment or dire emergency. I dont think even this would count as the end of a patrol. think a reload & refuel should be just that so you could continue your patrol until BDU called you back or a certain amount of time has passed. Just my thought on the matter, it would not be the 1st time I was mistaken...
