Bugged Patrol Assignment? (Philippine Sea Crash)

Nikdunaev · 12-08-20, 02:24 PM

Hi All!

I have recently encountered a very strange technical problem that I do not recall seeing before.

I seem to be stuck on the third patrol since the beginning of my current career.
It is March 42, and I get an assignment to patrol off the east coast of Japan, in the Philippine Sea. The orders literally say "Patrol off Honshu Island".
So, I head out in that direction, and everything seems perfectly fine, may go bite a random convoy along the way, but then, *suddenly*, as soon as I get past the Mariana Islands, and into the sea, it starts lagging and stuttering *like crazy*, at any decent rate of time compression and just crashes.

Like, in the open ocean, it runs liquid smooth at x8000. I can make the trip from Pearl in a couple of hours of real time no problem. But about the time I cross the islands, it becomes laggy at as little as x64 or x128. Barely responding and unplayable at x512. A bit like when you suddenly bump into a bunch sound contacts and it stutters for a second or two before resetting the time compression. Except this effect is continuous and no contacts show up.

Then it just crashes without warning.

It could crash when switching to a different crew station or view, or giving an order, or just completely randomly.
Could crash anywhere between immediately after entering the area, and several days in while roaming around. With or without contacts in sensor range.

But it always does crash within the laggy area.

It is very weird, because during my previous two patrol sorties, I was hanging out in the area extensively, with the only trouble coming from the Japanese escorts.

Initially I thought it was a save game problem, so I decided to load from the home base, and repeat the whole patrol from scratch. The result was exactly the same. And I seem to be stuck on this assignment. Like, even if I load in the office, back at Pearl, at the end of my previous patrol, I still get the same exact orders every time.

I run the latest steam version from the Silent Hunter Collection. (1.5 + UBM)
NO MODS, completely stock game.

What is happening there?
Any ideas?

Update 1

Right, so I tried to load one of my earlier saves, albeit from a different career, with a different boat. This patrol was from December 41 through January 42. I left Pearl Harbor and headed straight for the area of interest to hang out in there for some time.

Guess what, it worked like a charm. Worked the very same way it worked for the first two patrols of my current boat and crew.

Update 2

Then I wanted to somehow test it with my current career.

So I loaded the supposedly bugged patrol, at base, once again received the same orders, but, in order to avoid doing this assignment, I decided to deliberately run the boat aground shortly after leaving and just damage it to have an "excuse" to return to base.

Surprisingly, despite my "poor" seamanship, the headquarters praised my decision, and I even got decorated, I suppose, for bringing everyone home alive. But more importantly, I was offered a new command, a brand new and shiny Gato class boat, and new mission orders.

Once again, I took this boat straight to the Philippine sea, and from there even further, to my assigned area in the Korean Straight.

Once again, it seemed to work perfectly fine. No trouble enroute, or when loitering in either area.

What is this? Could it be, that the *at base* save is, itself, corrupted?

****, I definitely do not want to have to whack my boat and hurt my crew, just to get out of these impassable groundhog days, even if, somehow, I get rewarded for it

KaleunMarco · 12-08-20, 08:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nikdunaev

Hi All!

What is this? Could it be, that the *at base* save is, itself, corrupted?

****, I definitely do not want to have to whack my boat and hurt my crew, just to get out of these impassable groundhog days, even if, somehow, I get rewarded for it

a couple of things, Nik.
1. welcome to SH4
2. what version of SH4 are you running? best thing to do when posting a problem is to include your config by using the JSGME Tasks-Export Mod List -To Clipboard and then pasting that into your post.
3. without knowing your installation location or your mod set, it SEEMS as if your problem is memory usage. you need to install and use Large Address Aware (aka LAA). https://www.subsim.com/radioroom/dow...o=file&id=3634

we will leave the rest until you respond with #2 and #3.

Good Luck!

Nikdunaev · 12-09-20, 06:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nikdunaev

I run the latest steam version from the Silent Hunter Collection. (1.5 + UBM)
NO MODS, completely stock game.

Thank you!

I have no mods and no JSGME. Actually, never had them on this particular installation.

My actual install location is in a dedicated Steam Apps folder, *not* in Program Files, if that is what you are asking.

Thanks again for linking the patch. I remember reading something about it, need to check my memory usage.

Though I think it is very weird that it only happens on this very specific patrol. Is that actually possible, that something happens here, in terms of usage of memory, that does not happen elsewhere?

KaleunMarco · 12-09-20, 04:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nikdunaev

Though I think it is very weird that it only happens on this very specific patrol. Is that actually possible, that something happens here, in terms of usage of memory, that does not happen elsewhere?

yeah...
stop me if i start sounding like PB.
where you patrol controls which convoys/TF/single ships are created and spawn. each of those formations is a single entity, sailing along from start to finish, until it closes within a certain range from you. that range can vary, just like your detection capabilities. so, if Patrol1 took you to the Carolines and there was not much happening, you might not notice.

now if P2 is in the Home Islands, where there is a lot happening, you would experience many formations which are spawning into multiple ships. this is where you can use SH4 with LAA enabled.

add to the above explanation the fact that your Win10 memory may have become fragmented and when SH4 made a call for a certain block of contiguous memory Win10 replied with multiple blocks rather than one block and SH4 went kaput.

so, yes, the memory use CAN be noticed on one patrol and not on another.
keep in mind that you may be have 32gig of RAM on your PC but SH4 is only going to access 2G (4G with LAA). so, you may still experience CTD because Win10 memory has become fragmented.

so, here's your plan: implement LAA, reboot, rerun your mission. the problem should be resolved.
if not, post back again.
if it IS resolved, remember to reboot the next time it happens. (i hate saying that but it is the fastest-best fix)

Nikdunaev · 12-10-20, 06:34 AM

Cool, I am going to try the memory patch tonight, and see what happens.

Yeah, the sudden stuttering thing did feel like I was being overwhelmed with an unholy number of contacts in the vicinity. Even though few contacts actually showed up.

Still kinda find it puzzling how a stock, unmodified game needs such adjustments to, well, work as intended. Does it mean back in the days when it was first released there was no fix for this?
Like, for people running x32 system?

KaleunMarco · 12-10-20, 02:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nikdunaev

Cool, I am going to try the memory patch tonight, and see what happens.

Yeah, the sudden stuttering thing did feel like I was being overwhelmed with an unholy number of contacts in the vicinity. Even though few contacts actually showed up.

Still kinda find it puzzling how a stock, unmodified game needs such adjustments to, well, work as intended. Does it mean back in the days when it was first released there was no fix for this?
Like, for people running x32 system?

probably.
i could never get SH4 (or 3 for that matter) to run on my Win-XP box.
i had to buy a new Dell with dual cores and 32g ram and then use LAA.

Res ipsa loquitur, tabula in naufragio

Nikdunaev · 12-11-20, 06:19 PM

Sorry about the delayed reply, did not have a chance to test it properly yesterday.

So, this is getting interesting.
Now I am not sure whether the fix is working or not as it could be just a coincidence.
For the sake of experiment, I decided to run it just once more *before* applying the fix, and it actually worked. Just magically worked all by itself. No lags and no crashes.

I guess I am going to keep the fix in, just to be on the safe side here...
But overall, it seems to be very random.

12-08-20, 02:24 PM	#1
Nikdunaev Sailor man Join Date: Jul 2014 Posts: 43 Downloads: 4 Uploads: 0	Bugged Patrol Assignment? (Philippine Sea Crash) Hi All! I have recently encountered a very strange technical problem that I do not recall seeing before. I seem to be stuck on the third patrol since the beginning of my current career. It is March 42, and I get an assignment to patrol off the east coast of Japan, in the Philippine Sea. The orders literally say "Patrol off Honshu Island". So, I head out in that direction, and everything seems perfectly fine, may go bite a random convoy along the way, but then, suddenly, as soon as I get past the Mariana Islands, and into the sea, it starts lagging and stuttering like crazy, at any decent rate of time compression and just crashes. Like, in the open ocean, it runs liquid smooth at x8000. I can make the trip from Pearl in a couple of hours of real time no problem. But about the time I cross the islands, it becomes laggy at as little as x64 or x128. Barely responding and unplayable at x512. A bit like when you suddenly bump into a bunch sound contacts and it stutters for a second or two before resetting the time compression. Except this effect is continuous and no contacts show up. Then it just crashes without warning. It could crash when switching to a different crew station or view, or giving an order, or just completely randomly. Could crash anywhere between immediately after entering the area, and several days in while roaming around. With or without contacts in sensor range. But it always does crash within the laggy area. It is very weird, because during my previous two patrol sorties, I was hanging out in the area extensively, with the only trouble coming from the Japanese escorts. Initially I thought it was a save game problem, so I decided to load from the home base, and repeat the whole patrol from scratch. The result was exactly the same. And I seem to be stuck on this assignment. Like, even if I load in the office, back at Pearl, at the end of my previous patrol, I still get the same exact orders every time. I run the latest steam version from the Silent Hunter Collection. (1.5 + UBM) NO MODS, completely stock game. What is happening there? Any ideas? Update 1 Right, so I tried to load one of my earlier saves, albeit from a different career, with a different boat. This patrol was from December 41 through January 42. I left Pearl Harbor and headed straight for the area of interest to hang out in there for some time. Guess what, it worked like a charm. Worked the very same way it worked for the first two patrols of my current boat and crew. Update 2 Then I wanted to somehow test it with my current career. So I loaded the supposedly bugged patrol, at base, once again received the same orders, but, in order to avoid doing this assignment, I decided to deliberately run the boat aground shortly after leaving and just damage it to have an "excuse" to return to base. Surprisingly, despite my "poor" seamanship, the headquarters praised my decision, and I even got decorated, I suppose, for bringing everyone home alive. But more importantly, I was offered a new command, a brand new and shiny Gato class boat, and new mission orders. Once again, I took this boat straight to the Philippine sea, and from there even further, to my assigned area in the Korean Straight. Once again, it seemed to work perfectly fine. No trouble enroute, or when loitering in either area. What is this? Could it be, that the at base save is, itself, corrupted? ***, I definitely do not want to have to whack my boat and hurt my crew, just to get out of these impassable groundhog days, even if, somehow, I get rewarded for it Last edited by Nikdunaev; 12-08-20 at 06:54 PM. Reason: Update 2*

12-10-20, 06:34 AM	#5
Nikdunaev Sailor man Join Date: Jul 2014 Posts: 43 Downloads: 4 Uploads: 0	Cool, I am going to try the memory patch tonight, and see what happens. Yeah, the sudden stuttering thing did feel like I was being overwhelmed with an unholy number of contacts in the vicinity. Even though few contacts actually showed up. Still kinda find it puzzling how a stock, unmodified game needs such adjustments to, well, work as intended. Does it mean back in the days when it was first released there was no fix for this? Like, for people running x32 system?

12-11-20, 06:19 PM	#7
Nikdunaev Sailor man Join Date: Jul 2014 Posts: 43 Downloads: 4 Uploads: 0	Sorry about the delayed reply, did not have a chance to test it properly yesterday. So, this is getting interesting. Now I am not sure whether the fix is working or not as it could be just a coincidence. For the sake of experiment, I decided to run it just once more before applying the fix, and it actually worked. Just magically worked all by itself. No lags and no crashes. I guess I am going to keep the fix in, just to be on the safe side here... But overall, it seems to be very random.