Sunrise and Sunset shifting

[Tyronster]

Originally Posted by Kapitän

Wow, thanks for that! Very helpful!

I'm in mid-patrol right now and will give the Bandicam-Option a try and if necessarry, the way you described, between patrols.

Just one last question: Does it necessarrily have to be 30 fps or can it be another number, e.g., 40?

Thanks, again!

Originally Posted by Kapitän

Hi Guys,

I activated the FPS Display option in Bandicam and started the game, and get crazy high FPS numbers displayed in top left corner of the screen:

- In the game menue, over 2000
- After the game save is loaded,

- Inside the boat on the different stations (F2 - F9), up to and over 800
- Outside the boat (F10 - F12), up to and over 300

Can this be? I have a 60Hz Screen ...

So what would happen to the game, if I lock the FPS via Bandicam to 60 or lower?

Thanks!

It doesn't necessarily have to be 30 but the sunrise and sunset will be the most accurate if it is locked at 30. Locking at 40 or 60 fps will improve the accuracy a lot. It will probably still not be perfectly correct but it shouldn't deviate as quickly as it does now with your computer pumping out the massive frames it is now.

Lord knows why the developers made a system like this where the day/night cycle is tied to framerates but it is what it is. I think 30 fps was sort of a standard for gaming at the time. They probably weren't anticipating us playing this 15 years later with the hardware we have today.

So about the high framerates shown in bandicam on your second post. So yes, even with a 60 hz monitor your computer will pump out as many frames as it can if you don't restrict it. So it's pumping out 300 fps and beyond but your monitor can on display 60 fps. So basically it doesn't matter if it's 5000 or 60 fps, you will only see the 60 that your monitor can display. By limiting your frames you actual ease the workload of your hardware by not making it it work as hard as possible to give you unnecessary frames.

I do feel your pain. I have a 144hz monitor and I didn't want to limit it clear down to 30. When you are used to the higher framerates it sucks having to give up that nice crisp experience but honestly it's not that bad. I feel like I don't really notice it after playing for a bit. I figure it's worth it to make the time cycles work correctly. Keep in mind that even though it may look like it's nighttime in the game if the time cycles are way off it could actually be broad daylight and the games AI may be able to see you way easier because to "them" it's daytime.

I hope this was helpful. Also remember all my info from this is coming things I've read about SH4. It seems like exactly the same problem people were having with that game so I'm pretty confident it will help you but I guess i can't guarantee it.

[Kapitän]

Originally Posted by Tyronster

It doesn't necessarily have to be 30 but the sunrise and sunset will be the most accurate if it is locked at 30. Locking at 40 or 60 fps will improve the accuracy a lot. It will probably still not be perfectly correct but it shouldn't deviate as quickly as it does now with your computer pumping out the massive frames it is now.

Lord knows why the developers made a system like this where the day/night cycle is tied to framerates but it is what it is. I think 30 fps was sort of a standard for gaming at the time. They probably weren't anticipating us playing this 15 years later with the hardware we have today.

So about the high framerates shown in bandicam on your second post. So yes, even with a 60 hz monitor your computer will pump out as many frames as it can if you don't restrict it. So it's pumping out 300 fps and beyond but your monitor can on display 60 fps. So basically it doesn't matter if it's 5000 or 60 fps, you will only see the 60 that your monitor can display. By limiting your frames you actual ease the workload of your hardware by not making it it work as hard as possible to give you unnecessary frames.

I do feel your pain. I have a 144hz monitor and I didn't want to limit it clear down to 30. When you are used to the higher framerates it sucks having to give up that nice crisp experience but honestly it's not that bad. I feel like I don't really notice it after playing for a bit. I figure it's worth it to make the time cycles work correctly. Keep in mind that even though it may look like it's nighttime in the game if the time cycles are way off it could actually be broad daylight and the games AI may be able to see you way easier because to "them" it's daytime.

I hope this was helpful. Also remember all my info from this is coming things I've read about SH4. It seems like exactly the same problem people were having with that game so I'm pretty confident it will help you but I guess i can't guarantee it.

That is amazing! Thanks a bunch! I will keep it at 60 fps for now and see how it will respond during this patrol and the next one.

Sunrise and Sunset are already off (late) by about 4 hours during this patrol but it seems that since I made the change to 60 fps, it hasn't moved any further ...

If needed, I will work my way down by 10er steps to 30.

I'm not sure, I have noticed a different AI behaviour from how they usually do during day and night time but will keep an eye on that - thanks!

Happy Hunting and Thanks, again!!!

[Tyronster]

Originally Posted by Kapitän

That is amazing! Thanks a bunch! I will keep it at 60 fps for now and see how it will respond during this patrol and the next one.

Sunrise and Sunset are already off (late) by about 4 hours during this patrol but it seems that since I made the change to 60 fps, it hasn't moved any further ...

If needed, I will work my way down by 10er steps to 30.

I'm not sure, I have noticed a different AI behaviour from how they usually do during day and night time but will keep an eye on that - thanks!

Happy Hunting and Thanks, again!!!

Stopping by just for curiosity's sake. Does it still seem like your problem has been fixed?

[Kapitän]

Originally Posted by Tyronster

Stopping by just for curiosity's sake. Does it still seem like your problem has been fixed?

I believe so, thanks for asking! I haven't been able to complete my current patrol, yet but it seems, that the Sunrise/Sunset are not shifting anymore or only very little, since they are out of wack already.

Once starting a new patrol, I will know for sure ...

[Fifi]

Clock going progressively off might be related to high FPS but also to long high TC in my opinion...

[Kapitän]

Hi All,

Just a quick feedback. I started a new war patrol in Jan.1941 with the FPS set at 50.

Seems to work pretty good, merely shifting when changing latitude during travel, as one would expect.

Not quite in accordance with historic astronomical data but still pretty good.

I think, I will leave it there for now and only change again if needed.

Thanks and Happy Hunting!

[Kapitan]

Interesting choice of names

[Orffen]

Originally Posted by Fifi

Clock going progressively off might be related to high FPS but also to long high TC in my opinion...

My understanding of the SH4 thread on this is that high TC is good (within reason), because the game abstracts the time calculations in some way instead of them being so framerate-linked:

Originally Posted by Front Runner

When playing at 1x to 1024x time compression, the game is REMARKABLY accurate when rendering sunset and sunrise! (Compared to Almanac times.) A bit less accurate when rendering moonset and moonrise. However, when playing ONLY at 1x, a cumulative error occurs which offsets the synchronization of the celestial sphere so that the sunrise, sunset, moonset, moonrise times are out of sync with the Base Time clock, even when not traveling outside (east-west) of the Base Time zone.

I think common practice with SH3 though is only 256x TC - which may be low enough that it doesn't kick the engine into the more abstracted clock.

In any case, be aware than in SH4 this is only a graphical effect - the AI uses the "true" base time in determining how easy it is to detect you - so high noon at midnight for you is still just a dark midnight for the AI logic.

But as Front Runner said all that time ago, the important takeaways are:

1. Limit your framerate to no higher than 60 FPS
2. Play Silent Hunter
3. Be more aggressive!

[Texas Red]

What seemed to cause it for me was when I was in an area off Halifax where its 23:00 and its still light out, but when it gets to 0600, it turns dark.
I think the weather is linked to the area you are in but the timezone does not change.