SH3 COMMANDER

Release 3

USER GUIDE
 SH3 Commander User Guide – Release 3

Contents

Contents ............................................................................................................................... 2
Introduction ........................................................................................................................... 3
SH3 Commander minimum requirements ............................................................................. 3
Mod compatibility .................................................................................................................. 3
Installation............................................................................................................................. 3
Microsoft Vista Users ........................................................................................................ 3
Rolling back SH3 Commander .......................................................................................... 3
Running SH3 Commander .................................................................................................... 4
Customising SH3 Commander and Silent Hunter III .............................................................. 4
General Settings ............................................................................................................... 5
Career Options .................................................................................................................. 6
Text Settings ..................................................................................................................... 7
Gameplay Settings ............................................................................................................ 8
Time Compression ............................................................................................................ 9
Personnel Files ............................................................................................................... 10
Starting A New Career ........................................................................................................ 11
Starting A Single Mission .................................................................................................... 12
Playing An Existing Career ................................................................................................. 13
Changing your career status ........................................................................................... 14
Changing your next patrol grid ........................................................................................ 14
Actions ............................................................................................................................ 15
Crew Manager .................................................................................................................... 16
The Nightclub ...................................................................................................................... 18
General Features and Inclusions ........................................................................................ 19
Features .......................................................................................................................... 19
NewsMod/RadioMod ....................................................................................................... 19
Random Ship Tonnage Mod............................................................................................ 20
General Mod Inclusions................................................................................................... 20
Version History.................................................................................................................... 21
License Agreement, Copyright and Release Information..................................................... 28
Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................. 28
Troubleshooting .................................................................................................................. 29

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Introduction
SH3 Commander has been developed to serve several purposes. It:
• provides an historically-based framework around Silent Hunter III, such as adding
Commander retirements, crew inward/outward transfers, and crew medal availability
based on real criteria;
• removes static gameplay behaviour by allowing changes to be made to game files based
on the career date - ship skins, aircraft roundels, sensor settings etc etc can all be
changed as the war progresses, just like they did in real life;
• reduces gameplay certainty by supporting randomisation of any game setting in addition
to simulating real life events such as malfunctions and sabotage;
• extends Silent Hunter III by giving your Commander a true identity. SH3 Commander
builds a full profile of your Commander, including date and place of birth, enlistment
date, promotion dates, and other key attributes, which are all including in the Personnel
File feature.

SH3 Commander minimum requirements

To run SH3 Commander you must have installed:
• Windows XP, 2000 or Vista;
• Silent Hunter III with patch 1.4b.

Attempting to run SH3 Commander on other operating systems or with earlier versions of
Silent Hunter III is not supported and will result in game instability.

Mod compatibility
SH3 Commander can be used with all known mods. However, some mods may require
replacement of certain SH3 Commander files, and/or may recommend specific settings. Be
sure to check the associated mod readme files. You do not need to have any specific mods
installed to use SH3 Commander.

Installation
To install SH3 Commander click on the installation file and follow the instructions. SH3
Commander can be installed anywhere and is totally independent of Silent Hunter III.

Microsoft Vista Users

If you intend running SH3 Commander on Microsoft Vista and have installed Silent Hunter III
in your Program Files folder, then you must run SH3 Commander as administrator. To do
this, after installing SH3 Commander, right-click on SH3Cmdr.exe in Windows Explorer and
select "Run as Administrator". Alternatively, right-click on SH3Cmdr.exe and select
"Properties". In the properties window select the "Compatibility" tab and check "Run this
program in compatibility mode" and in the box below select "Windows XP (Service Pack 2)".
In some instances you may need to apply both solutions.

Rolling back SH3 Commander

Rolling back SH3 Commander, or Rollback, are terms given to removing from Silent Hunter
III the modifications that SH3 Commander has made. This can be achieved by clicking the

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 SH3 Commander User Guide – Release 3

icon from within SH3 Commander. This icon will only be visible if there are SH3
Commander modifications present in Silent Hunter III.

In order to avoid any potential file integrity problems, it is imperative that you
ALWAYS perform a rollback BEFORE:
• enabling or disabling any mods, either via JSGME or manually;
• uninstalling or reinstalling Silent Hunter III;
• uninstalling SH3 Commander.

Your Commander career history information and SH3 Commander options are stored in a
file called 'SH3Cmdr.ini'. If you want to preserve this data, you must never delete this file.
Uninstalling SH3 Commander through Windows’ ‘Add or Remove Programs’ will not delete
this file.

Running SH3 Commander

Prior to running SH3 Commander you must have run Silent Hunter III at least once in order
to set up your Silent Hunter III data files.

To run SH3 Commander, click on the icon installed on your desktop, or click on
SH3Cmdr.exe located in the SH3 Commander folder.

Customising SH3 Commander and Silent Hunter III

When you open SH3 Commander you will see the below screen.

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To customise SH3 Commander and Silent Hunter III click on the icon. The SH3
Options screen will appear:

General Settings

SH3 Path: By default SH3 Commander will connect to your default installation of Silent
Hunter III. You can change this by clicking the ‘…’ button and selecting any other valid Silent
Hunter III installation. If you change the path, SH3 Commander will refresh when you click
‘OK’ or ‘Apply’. This may take a second or two.

To ensure maximum flexibility and compatibility it is recommended that you have a

dedicated installation of SH3 Commander for each installation of Silent Hunter III.

Skip intro movies: Select this option to skip playback of the introduction movies when loading
Silent Hunter III.

Rollback automatically after exiting SH3: Select this option to automatically remove from
Silent Hunter III the SH3 Commander-based mods when Silent Hunter III is exited. If

unselected you must manually click the icon to remove the files.

Use system fonts: SH3 Commander installs and uses a font titled “Desyrel” that emulates
the handwritten nature of original Wehrpasses. Should you find the font hard to read, then
select this option to force SH3 Commander to use native system fonts. Note: you should not
delete “Desyrel” from your system’s font folder, however if you do, you can find a copy in
your ..\SH3 Commander\Fonts folder.

Show tips on startup: Select this option to show handy tips on using SH3 Commander each
time SH3 Commander is opened.

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Career Options

Start patrols at sea: Select this option to start your patrols just out to sea, away from the port
itself. You can still dock in your port with this option selected. See "General Features and
Inclusions" section for more detail.

Simulate a realistic career length: Select this option to automatically retire the Commander
after a random number of patrols (based on the number of days spent at sea and the
minimum and maximum number of patrols completed by real commanders). If you select this
option, please be aware that the randomisation occurs every time you launch a career using
SH3 Commander, but not when your career is mid-patrol. So, if you like to tinker between
patrols without actually starting a patrol be aware of this and uncheck this option prior to
launching Silent Hunter III.

Simulate realistic crew transfers: Select this option to simulate the transfer of crewman in to
and out of your U-boat. At the beginning of each patrol, 0, 1 or 2 crewmen may be
transferred out of your U-boat for various reasons and a similar amount may be transferred
in. Note that you may still be required to "top up" your crew from time to time, as not all crew
procurements can be done through the usual bureaucratic paperwork. Like the 'realistic
career length' option, randomisation occurs every time you launch a career using SH3
Commander, unless your career is mid-patrol.

Use historic U-boat availability dates: See "General Features and Inclusions" section for
more detail.

Randomise number of days spent in base: Select this option to randomise the number of
days spent in base between patrols. The randomisation is based on actual averages. You
can alter the parameters by editing the 'RNDDAYSINBASE' block in 'SH3 options.cfg'
located in your SH3 Commander\Cfg folder.

Set number of days spent in base to: Select this option to set a specific number of days that
you would like to spend in base between patrols.

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Use real ship names in patrol logs: Select this option to replace the generic Silent Hunter III
ship names (ie ‘C3 Cargo’) in the patrol logs with real ship names and (where known) cargo
and crew details. Ship names will be added whenever you generate a Personnel File.
Generate a Personnel File after each patrol and you'll always be up-to-date with real ship
names. These ship names will display in both the SH3 Commander Personnel Files and
Silent Hunter III itself. More ship names and classes can be added to SH3 Commander - see
the instructions outlined in 'Ship names.cfg', located in your SH3 Commander\Cfg folder.

Note that if you've changed your Silent Hunter III language preference at any time, this will
impact the insertion of ship names. Only logs created using the current selected language
will be updated.

Unfortunately, Silent Hunter III isn't flexible enough to record different ship names during a
patrol, so the standard names will always be recorded.

Randomise gramophone tracks: Select this option to randomise the playing order of your
gramophone tracks. Each time you load a career your tracks will be played in a different
(random) order.

Text Settings

“Hull Integrity %” text: Some mods remove the Hull Integrity percentage figure from the
game. This option allows you to show or hide the text regardless of what mods you install.

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Gameplay Settings

Use fatigue model: SH3 Commander comes with five different type of fatigue handling
models, with the ability to add your own fatigue models. To add you own fatigue model, open
up 'Crew fatigue models.cfg', located in your SH3 Commander\Cfg folder. Copy one of the
existing blocks of values and paste at the end of the file. Update the number of this new
block (the value contained between []) to be the last number plus 1. Then change all the
values accordingly or add new keys as required (keys must be valid Basic.cfg CREW_*
keys). What you enter for 'Desc' will be what is displayed as an option in SH3 Commander.

Adjust water clarity: Select this option to make your water more opaque or transparent. 0 is
opaque, 20 is transparent. The stock Silent Hunter III setting is 18.

Set wave height: Select "Seasonal" for wave height to be set based on the time of the year -
higher waves during winter and lower waves during summer. Seasonal wave heights can be
edited through 'SH3 options.cfg' located in your SH3 Commander\Cfg folder).

Min. 88mm deck gun reload time: Select this option to adjust the reload time, in seconds, of
your 88mm deck gun. Note that the time you choose is the minimum reload time. The actual
reload time is dependant on crew efficiency so may be slower than what you choose.

Min. 105mm deck gun reload time: Select this option to adjust the reload time, in seconds, of
your 105mm deck gun. Note that the time you choose is the minimum reload time. The
actual reload time is dependant on crew efficiency so may be slower than what you choose.

Model effects: Select this option to model the effects of equipment malfunctions and/or
sabotage. With this option selected you will need to make decisions like a real Commander if
you identify faulty equipment, which can include damaged lens seals, damaged
clutching/transmission components, leaking fuel tanks, worn batteries, faulty valves and
seals, to name a few. Can you continue the patrol, or should you abort? The choice is yours.

Randomise ship tonnage: See "General Features and Inclusions" section for more detail.

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Randomise U-boat crush depth: SH3 Commander will set the theoretical crush depth, with
minor randomisation, for all U-boat types and variations. Editable through 'SH3 options.cfg'
located in your SH3 Commander\Cfg folder.

Time Compression

This screen allows you to adjust Silent Hunter III’s time compression settings. Please read
the Troubleshooting section first as certain settings have adverse impacts on Silent Hunter
III.

Press the ‘Reset’ button to return the selected event’s time compression value back to the
default Silent Hunter III value.

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Personnel Files

This screen allows you to change the fonts and background of your Personnel Files (see
“Actions” section).

Press the ‘Reset’ button to return all fonts and images back to the default SH3 Commander
settings.

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Starting A New Career

By selecting 'New career' from the list presented on the left hand side of the main SH3
Commander screen, you can enter details in preparation for the commencement of a new
career in Silent Hunter III.

Enter a new Commander name or click the ‘RN’ button to have SH3 Commander generate
one from over 1.7+ billion possible combinations based on the names of actual U-boat
crewmen and Commanders.

Select your preferred start month and year, which can be any time during the war (this is
dependant on what mods you have installed). Select a Flotilla and a U-boat type/variant,
which can be any one that was available in your selected flotilla up to the selected career
start date. Enter a U-boat number or leave blank to use one generated by Silent Hunter III.
Select a crew configuration model to use, and click the check box if you wish to use unique
(random) German crew names plus randomised crew experience. Enter a patrol grid or
leave blank to use one generated by Silent Hunter III.

When finished setting up your new career, click and Silent Hunter III will load. When
you start your new career in Silent Hunter III, your new career name should already be
highlighted. Simply select it and then select the same year and Flotilla as you did in SH3
Commander and you're away! Your career will start on the first day of the same month as
selected in SH3 Commander.

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SH3 Commander includes a “Realistic” crew configuration that is based on actual U-boat
crew composition. In addition, you can import your own crew configurations for using with
new careers and missions. To import your own crew configurations, simply add your crew
configuration files into a descriptively named sub-folder under the SH3 Commander\Crew
folder. For example, to add the real crew of U-97, create the following structure: SH3
Commander\Crew\U-97\data\Cfg and then add the appropriate crew_config_*.cfg files. U-97
will then appear as an option in the "Use Crew" list box.

You can alter the randomised crew experience parameters by editing the 'CREW SETUP'
block in 'SH3 options.cfg' located in your SH3 Commander\Cfg folder.

Starting A Single Mission

By selecting 'Single mission' you can prepare Silent Hunter III in anticipation of undertaking
an individual mission. If you choose to play a single mission, select the month, year, Flotilla
and U-boat type that are relevant to the mission that you wish to undertake. Select a crew
configuration model to use, and click the check box if you wish to use unique (random)
German crew names plus randomised crew experience.

When finished, click and SH3 Commander will load up the necessary files and Silent
Hunter III will automatically start. Then simply select the corresponding mission, year and U-
boat type.

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Playing An Existing Career

Selecting an existing career will provide a snapshot of that career. From here, by clicking on
the various links and actions you can: change your U-boat number, remove your deck gun,
change your next patrol grid, update your Personnel File, enter the Crew Manager, go to the
Nightclub to catch up on gossip, or delete the selected career from your hard drive.

Once you're ready, click and SH3 Commander will load up the necessary files based
on the details of the career, and then Silent Hunter III will start, automatically defaulting to
the Commander that you selected. Once in the game, just load up the saved campaign for
the career that you selected in SH3 Commander and you're ready to go on patrol!

Notes:
1. SH3 Commander loads files based on the current career date and anticipated next patrol
start date, so make sure that you exit the game after every patrol. Then, when you want
to start a new patrol, just launch SH3 Commander and choose the career or mission that
you want to play. But don't worry if you forget to launch the game via SH3 Commander
once in a while - it won't cause serious problems. It just means that you may see a news
file from the wrong date, or your boat may have deeper crush depth characteristics, etc.
These problems are minor, temporary and will disappear as soon as you update the
game by running SH3 Commander again.
2. To avoid conflicts, game instability or other unexpected behaviour, always ensure that
you select the corresponding career when Silent Hunter III has loaded.
3. SH3 Commander automatically recognises when you are docked at a milk cow or other
friendly base and will automatically adjust the number of days spent in base to 1 without

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you needing to manually change via the SH3 Options screen. You can click on the label
to toggle status. *Note that extra days will be added if damage needs to be repaired; this
is a limitation imposed by Silent Hunter III.
4. SH3 Commander allows you to change the next patrol grid within an existing career,
including auto-selection based on your Flotilla and date. Note: NULL patrols grids are
given by Silent Hunter III whenever you dock at a milk cow or other friendly base. These
grids can only be changed during a patrol, not when you are in base. Accordingly, SH3
Commander will only allow NULL grids to be changed with mid-patrol save games.
5. You can replace the current Commander image with another by double-clicking on it. To
use your own image, save it to your SH3 Commander\Images folder in jpg format. The
image size should be 100 x 150 pixels to avoid stretch distortion.

6. If you want to return Silent Hunter III to its pre-SH3 Commander state, just click the
icon. This will uninstall all the SH3 Commander-based mods.
7. Limit the changes you make in SH3 Commander to when you are in base between
patrols. Making changes mid-patrol is not recommended and may cause game
instability.
8. New careers will appear in SH3 Commander at either the completion of, or saving
during, the first patrol, whichever occurs first.
9. With SH3 Commander you no longer need to load Silent Hunter III directly. You can load
Silent Hunter III via SH3 Commander on all new, existing, in base, or mid-patrol careers.
SH3 Commander recognises the status of each career and disables or enables your
realistic settings based on "where you are" at that point in time. You will not be retired
nor will you lose crewmen if you start a mid-patrol career (assuming those two realistic
options are set).

Changing your career status

As Silent Hunter III does not support surrendering within careers, SH3 Commander gives
you the ability to mark “Lost at sea” careers as “Surrendered at sea” if you were surfaced
with crew on the bridge when your U-boat was destroyed.

If your career is “Retired”, you can return to active duty and continue from where you left off.
Note that due to Silent Hunter III limitations, the ability to return on a later date, with new
crew etc, is not possible.

To change your career status, simply click on the status text.

Changing your next patrol grid

If you click on your next patrol grid, the following screen will be displayed:

Here you can manually enter a preferred patrol grid, or, by pressing the ‘R’ button, you can
generate a random patrol grid based on your Flotilla and career date. The grid generated is
sourced from the same files that Silent Hunter III uses.

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Pressing the ‘M’ button will display the Silent Hunter III grid map. Should you wish to view a
more detailed grid map, simply replace SH3_MAP.jpg, located in your Silent Hunter
III\documentation\ folder, with a map of your choice.

Actions
When playing an existing career you have numerous actions that you can perform. The
actions that are available at any given time are based on the status of your career.

Update your Personnel File: You have the ability to create a Personnel File for viewing (html
format) and printing. The Personnel File includes a full Commander profile, including details
of the Commander's career prior to commencement of his first U-boat patrol. Where a
Commander has been retired by SH3 Commander, details of his post campaign and post
war career are also included. SH3 Commander uses the language preference stored in
Silent Hunter III, meaning that the summary will print in English, German or French
depending on the text language selected in Silent Hunter III. Like with Silent Hunter III, users
can modify the language files (SH3Cmdr_*.txt) to allow for the summary to be generated in
any language required. A Personnel File can be generated for active, deceased/surrendered
and retired careers. The Personnel File also includes links to each individual patrol
summary, U-boat Aces List (which includes both real Commanders and other player
Commanders) and U-boat Crew Lists (provided that U-boat Crew Lists have been created
prior to creating the Personnel File). If printing, it is recommended that you change the page
orientation for the Personnel File and Crew List pages to landscape. Personnel Files are
saved in your "My Documents" folder, ready for easy moving or uploading to the internet.
Re-generate whenever you want to update one for your selected career. The default fonts
and background image can be changed through the ‘Personnel Files’ option screen.

SH3 Commander will recognise user-added patrol log text and will include it in your
Personnel Files. Refer to “Review Patrol Logs…” below for more information on adding
unique patrol log entries.

Continue career with new Commander: This action allows you to continue a retired career
with a new Commander. The ‘New Career’ screen will be populated with the necessary
details and any equipment upgrades will be applied once you launch Silent Hunter III (due to
Silent Hunter III constraints, “specials” such as your emblem and sonar/radar coatings
cannot be transferred). Note that if you change any element other than the Commander
name or patrol grid you will "break" the continuity and SH3 Commander will no longer treat
the new career as a continuation. Also remember that tonnage and renown is linked to a
Commander, so these elements are not transferred to your new career.

Review patrol logs…: This action allows you to review your patrol logs and provides the
ability to add, edit and remove patrol log entries. Please refer to the SH3 Patrol Log Editor
on-line help for more information. Any changes you make will be reflected in your Personnel
Files and within Silent Hunter III.

Manage your crew…: See “Crew Manager” section.

Go to Nightclub: See “The Nightclub” section.

Delete this career: The action allows you to delete the current career game files from your
hard drive.

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Crew Manager

By selecting the 'Manage your crew…' action, players can:

• alter the displayed head image of their officers. Doing so also determines the body
image and whether the officer wears a hat;
• promote and demote within type (ie Officers, Petty Officers and Sailors);
• dismiss or replace crewmen (replacing crew costs renown);
• change crewmen names;
• give and remove medals based on historic criteria;
• give and remove badges based on historic criteria;
• give, adjust and remove qualifications (3 for officers and senior petty officers, 1 for petty
officers and 1 for sailors);
• create a crew list for viewing (html format) and printing.

Another feature of the Crew Manager is that it will automatically find and return “lost” officers,
such as those left in the Repair compartment when a patrol ends.

The Crew Manager warns if certain conditions are met, such as a crewman receiving medals
before they are historically available, or if a crewman might be entitled to specific medals or
badges and allows a "one click" auto fix.

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To use the Crew Manager, select a crewman. Then:

• to award medals, badges or qualifications, click an image in the "Available Medals,
Badges and Qualifications" panel and drag and drop into the corresponding "Medals",
"Badges" or "Qualifications" panels;
• to promote or demote, choose a rank from the scroll list;
• to change an officer’s head image, click the < or > buttons. The in-game 3D
representation will reflect the image selected;
• to change the Commander's name, overtype the current name or click the 'RN' button to
create a random Germanic name.

Click 'Apply' to save the changes. You can also build a crew list, saving the details of your
crew and their accomplishments to an html file.

Note that if you award medals using Crew Manager some medals may accumulate in the
game that can't be awarded. Either ignore these, or award medals in the game before doing
so in Crew Manager.

A common question raised through forums has been "will my Crew Manager changes be
recognised within Silent Hunter III?". To answer this question:
• awarding *any* qualifications to officers impacts compartment efficiency as if they were
awarded via Silent Hunter III;
• awarding the *first* qualification to a Chief Warrant Officer impacts compartment
efficiency as if awarded via Silent Hunter III;
• awarding subsequent qualifications to a Chief Warrant Officer, whilst being recognised in
Silent Hunter III, has no effect in Silent Hunter III;
• awarding a qualification to a Petty Officer impacts compartment efficiency as if awarded
via Silent Hunter III;
• awarding a qualification to a seamen, whilst being recognised in Silent Hunter III, has no
effect in Silent Hunter III;
• awarding any medal or badge has the same effect as if awarded via Silent Hunter III;
• promoting/demoting has the same effect as if awarded via Silent Hunter III (although
there is no demotion via Silent Hunter III);

So, only qualifications awarded to seamen or extra qualifications awarded to Chief Warrant
Officers are, despite being recognised in the game, not effective in the game.

Now, whilst these qualifications are not effective in Silent Hunter III, they are still handy
"markers". Also, some people believe that despite not being recognised towards
compartment efficiency, Silent Hunter III tends to align these qualified seamen to their
respective compartments.

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The Nightclub

The Nightclub is where you catch up on the latest gossip and news with your fellow Kaleuns
when you are in port. Remember though, not everything you hear is true!

You can add, remove or alter comments by editing 'Nightclub_*.txt', located in your SH3
Commander\Nightclub folder. You can also automatically randomise Nightclub images by
adding more .jpg files to the SH3 Commander\Nightclub folder. Images display in 16:9
(widescreen) ratio. SH3 Commander will also randomly play any .wav files found in the
folder.

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General Features And Inclusions

Features
• 'Date' folders that can contain folders named for any date in YYYYMMDD format. Inside
these can be placed files and folders in the game's standard folder structure. The Flotilla
and U-boat folders work in a similar way, but instead of dates, these folders have sub-
folders named for the Flotillas or U-boats used in the game. Mod-makers can simply
place files that relate to a specific date, Flotilla, or U-boat inside the relevant folders, and
they will be inserted into the game appropriately. Date based variable menu text can be
included by appropriately modifying the 'Menu variable_*.txt' files, located in the SH3
Commander\Cfg folder. There is no need to include multiple copies of full game setting
files in the Date folder structure!
• Original Silent Hunter III files are backed up for easy and speedy restoration by clicking
the 'Rollback SH3' icon.
• Dynamic inclusion of Commander/crew names and birth places. By default the first and
last names used by SH3 Commander are sourced from a list detailing (almost) every
Commander and crewman to serve in a U-boat during WWII, and the birth place list
reflects the birth places of actual U-boat Commanders. There are 1.7+ billion possible
Commander/crew name combinations and 1,375+ birth places! The three lst files located
in your SH3 Commander\Cfg folder can be edited to include more names and birth
places if you desire.
• Ranks, medals and qualifications are labelled in SH3 Commander using the same
language preference as stored in Silent Hunter III.
• A random folder feature - by default up to 5 similar sets of files can be included under the
Random folder with one different set randomly copied across to Silent Hunter III every
time a career is loaded. Useful for randomising skins. Further random folders can be
added and will recognised by SH3 Commander should you require them.
• Added ability to randomise essentially any value in any data file used by Silent Hunter III.
Refer to the instructions in 'Randomised events.cfg' located in your SH3 Commander\Cfg
folder. You can randomise values for any period of the war!
• Added ability to set essentially any value in any data file used by Silent Hunter III
Refer to the instructions in 'Static settings.cfg' located in your SH3 Commander\Cfg
folder. You can set values for any period of the war!
• The values used by most options and settings are contained in user configurable text
files stored in the SH3 Commander\Cfg folder. By following the instructions at the top of
each file, you can adjust, add or remove these values from your game.
• Modders can use a /nolaunch switch to stop Silent Hunter III from loading when the
'Launch SH3!' icon is clicked. Useful for mod testing purposes.

NewsMod/RadioMod
This mod works via SH3 Commander to give the player:
• Monthly news reports that appear when loading a patrol, and during the patrol.
• A map of Europe and the Mediterranean which updates based on the progress of the
war.
• Historical radio broadcasts that appear at their correct dates. These play via the
gramophone.

NewsMod maps and text by Beery.

German translations by Nico71.
U-boat losses source: 'Iron Coffins' by Herbert Werner.

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Random Ship Tonnage Mod

This mod is based on an analysis of merchant ships sunk, damaged or totalled from
3 September 1939 through to the end of the war. The results are randomised to provide a
variation in ship tonnage during each patrol. The variations are limited in order to keep the
tonnage as close to historical accuracy as possible, within the limitations of the Silent Hunter
III engine.

Not all current tanker, cargo ship, passenger liner and transport tonnage is randomised. New
ships can be added as required - see instructions outlined in 'Ship displacements.cfg',
located in your SH3 Commander\Cfg folder. When using the Museum feature in Silent
Hunter III you can get an idea of the new tonnage values for the different types of ships, but
keep in mind the tonnage values will vary from month-to-month and year-to-year.

Random Tonnage Mod by Observer.

Re-developed for SH3 Commander by Jaesen Jones with tweaks by Beery.

General Mod Inclusions

• Correct 1939 Flotilla names (1st Flotilla is named 'Weddigen', 2nd is 'Saltzwedel' and 7th
is 'Wegener') – by Beery.
• Correct available U-boat numbers for all U-boat types – by Beery.
• Correct availability dates for U-boats based on the historical date each Flotilla (1st, 2nd,
7th or 11th) received the boats – by Beery.
U-boat availability dates by Flotilla are outlined in the table below. Should you not wish to
observe historic U-boat availability, ensure that the "Use historic U-boat availability
dates" option is not selected and that you've performed a rollback to remove any residual
dates from Silent Hunter III. You can edit 'U-boat availability.cfg', located in your SH3
Commander\Cfg folder. Follow the instructions outlined in the header of the file. This
feature is turned OFF by default.

Flotilla 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945

VIIC–Mar
1st IIA–Sep IID–Sep VIIC/41–Jun
VIIB–Jun
VIIB–Sep
2nd IXC–Jan IXC/40–Jul
IXB–Oct
7th VIIB–Sep VIIC–Aug VIIC/41–Jun
VIIC/41–Jun
11th VIIC–Jun
XXI–Jul

• Adjusted medal award criteria for improved historical accuracy – by Beery.

• Adjustments to allow selection of U-boat emblem at start of career – by Rubini.
• Fix which forces correct Mediterranean water textures when playing career in 29 Flotilla
– concept by Marhkimov.
When undertaking careers in 29 Flotilla it is recommended that you disable the 'Adjust
water density' option, or initially change the setting to 8 and adjust *up* from there to
your liking. This is to cater for the lighter Mediterranean water textures.
• Fix which forces correct Arctic water textures when playing career in 11 Flotilla.
• Randomisation of the time Escorts and Destroyers spend looking for U-boats after losing
contact.
• Simulated thermal layers – by Hemisent.
Randomly adjusts active/passive listening device values to simulate the impact of
thermal layers. Editable through 'Randomised events.cfg' located in your SH3
Commander\Cfg folder.
• Simulated equipment malfunctions plus damage caused by sabotage – by Hemisent.
Simulates the effect of equipment malfunctions plus damage caused by sabotage by
randomly reducing default equipment specifications. Editable through 'Randomised

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events.cfg' located in your SH3 Commander\Cfg folder. Should you not wish to
experience equipment malfunctions or sabotage, ensure that the "Model effects" option
is not selected. This feature is turned OFF by default.
• Adjustments that allow patrols to be started at sea – concept by Rubini
With the “Start patrols at sea” option selected you will start your patrols just out to sea,
away from the port itself. The locations have been chosen so that you can still dock in
port if you choose. Silent Hunter III imposed limitations: 1) changes will not be made
when loading mid-patrol careers. In such cases, when returning to port, simply dock
once you get within 25kms of the port as you normally would; 2) when you start a patrol,
your crew will just stand (as they do in the dock) until after you pass 450m from the start
point, when they will start to scan the horizon; 3) if you start a patrol from a base that is
not your home base, Silent Hunter III may revert you back to the port location. The
coordinates are editable through 'Start at sea.cfg' located in your SH3 Commander\Cfg
folder.

Version History
3.2.0
• Added Tip screen
• Added ability to dismiss or replace crewmen through the Crew Manager
• Crew Manager now "finds" and returns missing officers
• Now records more detail--such as cargo, crew and crew lost--when real ship names
option is selected - thanks to "Sailor Steve", "bigboywooly" and "iambecomelife"
• Updated real ship names list - thanks to "Sailor Steve"
• Now includes the latest version of the SH3 Patrol Log Editor plug-in
• Personnel Files now display as intended in non-IE browsers
• Other minor enhancements

3.1.3
• Improved handling of old, dead careers (no more "List index" error)
• Now correctly sets the U-boat type when continuing a career with a new commander
• Now correctly randomises crewmen names and experience for all U-boat types
• Minor improvements to "Start patrols at sea" feature

3.1.2
• Reverted back to using "N/a" as the current date with lost or surrendered careers
• Posting dates in Personnel Files now more accurate
• Personnel Files now report U-boat as lost in all instances where the U-boat is lost at sea

3.1.1
• HTML file names for Personnel Files now conform to UNIX standards
• Crew Manager screen now lists the compartment each crewman is in
• Internal code modifications to better support third party added playable boats
• Medal images now only display in the Crew Manager when they were historically
available

3.1.0
• New option: "Start patrols at sea"
• Removed options to set preferred rank or medal language. SH3 Commander will now
reference whatever rank labels are in the game (refer to User Guide for potential
compatibility problems)
• Now prompts to save outstanding changes if another crewman is selected in the Crew
Manager screen

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• Added ability to change the Patrol Log "Grid" column title through SH3 Commander, in
the same manner as the other two column titles (via SH3Cmdr_*.txt file)
• Added ability to modify date format used in Patrol Log (via SH3Cmdr_*.txt file)
• Demotions now recorded in Personnel File

3.0.0
• New graphical interface
• New user guide
• Added ability to continue career with new commander
• Now transfers crew IN to u-boat as well as out (when realistic crew transfers option is
selected)
• Added ability to recognise user-added patrol log text and include in Personnel Files
• Added link to the FAQ on the TC adjust screen reminding users to read the FAQ first
• Added ability to start careers anytime during 1939. For this feature to be available,
players must have installed a mod that adds pre-September 1939 start dates
• Improved handling of SH3's NULL patrol grid problem. When in port, users will not be
able to adjust NULL grids because SH3 will just overwrite it again with NULL. However, if
saved in-patrol SH3 Commander will support NULL grid changes in exactly the same
way as it supports any other grid change
• Personnel File fonts and background image can now be changed through SH3
Commander Options
• Replaced hard-coded absolute offsets to binary files with dynamic searching. Note
however that offsets will still be required for the randomised and static events files (less
chance of ambiguity and confusion)
• Removed SS## patrol grid masking providing compatibility with non-gridded theatres
• Submarines now included in "Use real ship names" feature
• New option: "SH3 Path". Previous /l: switch no longer supported
• New option: "Skip intro movies"
• New option: "Rollback automatically after exiting SH3"
• New option: "Randomise ship tonnage"
• New option: "Randomise U-boat crush depth"
• Randomised renown linked to randomised tonnage
• Personnel File Postings now list each back-and-forth Flotilla transfer
• Added rank, medals, badges and qualification graphics to Crew List
• Many internal code enhancements

2.7.0 (9 Dec 2006)

• Now reminds player after exiting SH3 to rollback SH3 Commander
• Modelling the effects of malfunctions or malfunctions+sabotage are now Gameplay
settings under SH3 Options
• Enhanced crew fatigue model functionality to include other related Basic.cfg file settings
• Now groups Personnel Files by save data folder name
• Added new ship classes and names to Ship names.cfg
• Removed fatigue model - Grey Wolves 24 Hour
• Removed UpdtCars.exe (no longer required)
• Minor adjustments to main interface
• Minor adjustments to most Cfg files

2.6.1 (18 Sep 2006)

• Read-only attribute now automatically removed from any file that SH3 Commander
modifies
• Number of days spent in base can now be between 0 and 2075 (ie the length of the war
in Europe)

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• Title bar now displays the full path to the SH3 installation (for easier recognition)
• Double clicking the "Existing careers..." entry no longer collapses the careers list
• Now supports save folder names other than the default "SH3" (the save folder name can
be changed via TheRealPotoroo's MultiSH3)
• Clicking the "Existing careers..." entry now displays the full path to the SH3 save folder
(for easier recognition)
• Now excludes "before patrol 1" careers from the careers list (such careers don't actually
exist)
• Now checks if SH3 is running and advises user to exit SH3 first

2.6.0 (6 Jul 2006)

• Added ability to change crew officer faces (includes automatic 3D head and hat wearing
alignment)
• Crew transfer message now includes crewman's main qualification
• Added new "Static settings" feature
• Changes to "Randomised events.cfg" file - refer to instructions in header of file
• Added ability to recognise when docked at a milk cow or other friendly base and
automatically adjust the number of days spent in base to 1 (plus any extra days required
to repair damage)
• Improved backup mechanism for scene.dat and Basic.cfg files
• Improved copy mechanism for unique crew configurations
• Randomising new crew names now includes number of patrols, certain medals and
experience (ie you're no longer limited to a purely "green" crew everytime you start a
new career)
• US rank labels are now the same as stock SH3. SH3 Commander does not support rank
"bumping", that is, changing your starting rank to anything higher than the SH3 default
• Crew Manager now warns where crewmen have been awarded the U-boat War badge
prior to 13 October 1939
• Crew Manager now warns where crewmen have been awarded the Wound Badge but
not the U-boat War badge
• Now looks for and runs SH3Weather if it exists just prior to launching SH3 (when in base
during or at the start of a career)
• Added new fatigue model - Grey Wolves 24 Hour
• Added ability to randomise main screen banner - refer to "!!BANNER
INSTRUCTIONS!!.txt" under the Banners folder
• Minor adjustments to main interface
• Minor adjustments to all Cfg files

2.5.0 (7 Apr 2006)

• "Simulate a realistic career length" parameters now editable via "Career options.cfg" file.
Retirement is now based on the number of completed patrols multiplied by the total
number of days spent at sea
• "Randomised days spent in base" parameters now editable via "Career options.cfg" file
• "Simulate realistic crew transfers" parameters now editable via "Career options.cfg" file
• Added ability to randomise essentially any value in any data file used by SH3
• Added ability to set the first patrol grid when starting a new career
• Added ability to randomise next patrol grid based on Flotilla and date
• Added ability to view SH3 Grid Map from "Change" screen
• Added ability to play (random) .wav files in Nightclub
• Added French translation to the Nightclub and NewsMod plus corrected other minor
typos in the French language files (by Martin)
• New "RenownAwardedEqualsRandomTonnage" key added to "Ship displacements.cfg"
to provide support for NYGM Tonnage War mod

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• "Medals and renown.cfg" file renamed to "Basic changes.cfg" to reflect true scope of the
file
• Added new fatigue model - Grey Wolves 8 Hour
• Minor code revisions

2.4.1 (special release)

• Now filters out non-SH3 added entries in the Log_x.cfg files

2.4.0 (21 Jan 2006)

• Added new career action - "Go to Nightclub..." and slightly renamed other existing
actions
• Added ability to remove the deck gun from your U-boat
• When starting a new career a U-boat can now be selected from any U-boat type and
variant available to the selected Flotilla up to the selected career start date
• Added ability to set U-boat number when starting a new career
• Selected Flotilla and U-boat type no longer reset when year or month is changed
• Use of historic U-boat availability dates is now a selectable option
• Now rolls back changes made by the "Randomise gramophone tracks" option
• Now saves Personnel Files to user's "My Documents" folder
• Added ability to import user defined crew configurations for using with new careers and
missions
• Added ability to modify the renown awarded in "Ship displacements.cfg"
• Added new wave height selection - "Seasonal"
• Added an extra 40,454 first names and 41,786 last names to the names lists to reflect
the names of (almost) every person to serve on a U-boat. Now provides 1.7+ billion crew
name combinations!
• Added an extra 1,300 towns to the birth place list to reflect the birth places of almost all
U-boat Commanders
• Realistic crew now has more voice and complexion variety
• Minor interface tweaks and code improvements

2.3.0 (6 Nov 2005)

• Crew Manager component updated: promoting, demoting or awarding any medal or
badge now has the same effect as if awarded via SH3
• SH3 ship class labels now included with real ship names in patrol logs
• Added ability to randomise gramophone tracks (based on original concept of JXP's)
• Added ability to adjust wave height (based on original concept of TimeTraveller's)
• Now uses EnglishNames.cfg for comparing ship labels when French language is
selected
• New surrender feature added for "dead" careers
• Now recognises new careers which are mid-first patrol
• Now works around the SH3 bug which in some instances writes career start dates as 0's
• Added ability to adjust time compression values
• Added ability to modify Basic.cfg renown, medals and promotion values (via editable cfg
file)
• When starting a new career, selected year and Flotilla are added to the SH3 new career
screen
• Now uses correct date for copying files when continuing careers mid-patrol
• Health status of crewmen now included on Crew Manager screen and in Crew Lists
• Added "Summary" title to Personnel File
• First names, last names and place names now sourced from .lst files in cfg folder.
Unlimited names can be added (SH3Cmdr.ini listed names no longer used)
• Captain's Log reformatted to look more like a real Kriegstagebuch

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• Improved HTML code

2.2.0 (18 Oct 2005)

• Improved insertion of date based variable menu text. No more need to include
*_menu.txt files in the Date folder structure
• Now recognises when a career is "mid-patrol" and ignores realistic career length and
realistic crew transfer options accordingly
• "U-Boat Aces" listing now includes other player Commanders (marked with single
asterisk)
• Added "Use real ship names" option which if selected replaces standard SH3 ship labels
in patrol logs with real ship names
• Improved random tonnage calculations
• Now randomises the time Escorts spend looking for U-Boats after losing contact
• "Randomise crew names" renamed to "Use realistic crew configurations". Functionality is
unchanged
• Moving the mouse cursor over text "hidden" under the Commander's image now shows
the text
• Improved the robustness of recording a Commander's pre-career history
• Improved the insertion method of Basic.cfg modifications
• Modders can now use a /nolaunch switch to stop SH3 loading (ie for mod testing
purposes)

2.1.0 (2 Oct 2005)

• Now allows for the Silent Hunter III installation path to be forced via a /l switch, or
manually entered if SH3 Commander cannot find it
• To accommodate future growth, career options are now contained in a pop-up menu,
retitled "Actions"
• Now recognises and supports French text language setting in Silent Hunter III
• Added realistic crew transfers option; you may lose up to one crewman per patrol
• Added ability to force (corrected) ranks, medals and badges to display in Silent Hunter III
in English (with American or British ranks) or German, regardless of in-game language
setting
• Added ability to adjust deck gun reload times
• Added ability to adjust water density
• Now displays last patrol end date on existing career screen to allow for easier "specific
days in base" calculations when wanting a specific next patrol start date
• Added new fatigue model based on RUb's 1x TC model
• Added new background image for generated HTML files
• Added new banner image

2.0.0 (20 Sep 2005)

• New interface
• Now provides better integration with Silent Hunter III by linking Date/Flotilla/U-Boat
selection to that allowed by Silent Hunter III when starting a new career (no more
selecting XXI U-Boat in 33 Flotilla in 1939)
• Added ability to start new careers in any month between 9/39 and 5/45
• Added ability to randomise or set specific days spent in base
• Added ability to include (or remove) the "Hull Integrity %" text
• Added ability to use any one of three different types of fatigue handling models, with
ability to add your own fatigue models
• Added ability to change next patrol grid
• Added ability to delete selected career from the hard drive
• Added ability to return Commanders from retirement

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• Career Summary now retitled to Personnel File

• Now generates Personnel Files and Crew Lists in HTML format
• Now specifically advises if required information can not be found in career files when
generating Commander history
• Added ability to check the internet for updates
• Many (interface) tweaks and code improvements

1.1.3 (6 Aug 2005)

• Improved Career Summary to be compatible with commander histories generated by
earlier versions of SH3 Commander
• Minor tweaks to interface

1.1.2 (31 Jul 2005)

• Added random feature - up to 5 similar sets of files can be included with one different set
randomly copied across to Silent Hunter III every time a career is loaded. Useful for
randomising skins etc
• Added ability to generate Commander name for new careers
• Now sets career (new and existing) in Silent Hunter III prior to loading, thus providing
more integration with Silent Hunter III
• "Realistic Length" preference now saved between uses
• Now correctly inserts tonnage information in Career Summary regardless of user's
country
• Now removes empty folders from \BACKUP! folder after Rollback
• Incorporated further enhancements to the Career Summary
• Added ability to print Career Summaries and Crew Lists for dead and retired
commanders
• Removed IC2 and Front Clasp from the Auto Fix routine (suggestions are still provided)
• Incorporated the appropriate en_menu/de_menu text labels for ranks, medals,
qualifications and dates (based on user's game settings)
• Added realistic U-boat number selection by type and flotilla
• Provided a German language version of the Crew List and Career Summary (based on
user's game settings and customisable to any language)

1.1.1
• Corrected Silent Hunter III promotion dates in the Career Summary
• Added number of days to the Patrol History in the Career Summary

1.1.0 (1 Jul 2005)

• Added "Crew Manager" component, which allows user to:
• promote and demote within type (ie Officers, Petty Officers and Sailors);
• change crewmen names (including auto generation of typical Germanic names - 46,000+
different combinations);
• give and remove medals and badges based on historic criteria;
• give, adjust and remove qualifications (3 for Officers and Chief Petty Officers, 1 for Petty
Officers and 1 for Sailors);
• create a crew list for viewing (txt file) and printing;
• auto-fix identified problems with medals, badges and experience.
• Improved rollback performance. Now much quicker - original Silent Hunter III files are
backed up under the SH3 Commander structure
• Added ability to change sub number
• Added "realistic career length" option (based on Beery's "roll of the dice" logic)
• Excluded completed or "dead" careers from the career selection box
• Added ability to create a career summary for viewing (txt file) and printing

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• Added ability to replace default crew configuration files with historically accurate crew
including realistic ranks, qualifications and unique names (ie no more "Adolf Carlewitz" in
your new careers)
• Added unique commander images and other personal details, such as date, place of
birth and full commander life history
• General code improvement
• New icon

1.0.0 (3 Jun 2005)

• Added ability for user to select date, U-Boat type and Flotilla

0.0.0.13 (24 May 2005)

• Initial Release (no prior version was released)

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 SH3 Commander User Guide – Release 3

License Agreement, Copyright and Release Information

The following files are included in the SH3 Commander License Agreement and copyright,
outlined in the accompanying JoneSoft.txt file.

• All files in the SH3 Commander root folder

• All files in the \Cfg sub-folder, excluding the three names lists
• All files in the \Gui sub-folder
• All text files in the \Nightclub sub-folder

Any questions relating to these files can be sent by email to JoneSoft at

[email protected] or [email protected].

All other files and included mods remain the copyright of their respective developers.

More information on SH3 Commander and included mods can be found by searching the
Subsim Silent Hunter III forums.

Try out other JoneSoft products, including the JoneSoft Generic Mod Enabler, at
http://www.users.on.net/~jscones/software or www.jonesoft.jaennahre.com.

Acknowledgements
Thanks and credit to:
• Ian "Beery" Cooper for original concept and development input.
• Boris for R3.0 interface graphics
• www.ubootwaffe.net for allowing the use of their U-boat crew lists and Gizzmoe for
reviewing.
• Observer for ship tonnage randomiser input as well as the initial exhaustive list of real
ship names.
• Bigboywooly, Sailor Steve and AG124 for more real ship names.
• BladeHeart for collating the list of U-boat numbers by type and flotilla.
• Nico71 and Thomas Penz for German translations.
• Martin and Perdu for French translations.
• Columbia Pictures for "Das Boot" images.
• Kalach for selected Nightclub entries.
• Beery, jcwolf, JonZ, Tikigod, iblitz for the main screen banners added to R2.6.
• irish1958, ToySoldier, rod_oil, Mil_tera, NealT, Gouldjg, Hemisent, lurker_hlb3 and U-
Bones for pre-release testing.
• The many Subsim forum members that have provided continued feedback and
suggestions.

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Troubleshooting
When I open SH3 Commander I get a screen full of "Error!" labels and/or error messages
saying that SH3 Commander cannot write to, or access, certain game files.
This usually occurs if:
• you attempt to run SH3 Commander on an unsupported operating system;
• you attempt to run SH3 Commander on Microsoft Vista, but have not elevated file
permissions - to do this right-click SH3Cmdr.exe in Windows Explorer and select "Run as
Administrator". Alternatively, right-click SH3Cmdr.exe and select "Properties". In the
properties window select the "Compatibility" tab and check "Run this program in compatibility
mode" and in the box below select "Windows XP (Service Pack 2)". In some instances you
may need to apply both solutions.
• you are not logged in under your Computer administrator account - ensure you have logged
in as the Computer administrator (check under Control Panel|User Accounts);
• you have a firewall, antivirus or other system monitoring software that intercepts attempts to
modify files - turn off all such applications and test again. If all is then fine, switch each
application back on individually, noting the one which is causing the conflict. You may be
able to adjust settings to allow compatibility.
• in an attempt to create a shortcut to SH3 Commander on your desktop, you actually moved
the SH3Cmdr.exe file - in this case you will receive at some point a "file not found" error
message which will include your desktop folder location.
• you have any game configuration files open - ensure that all game files are closed prior to
running SH3 Commander.

I've just installed a new mod and since running SH3 Commander again my game is
crashing/not working/acting strange.
In order to avoid any potential file integrity problems, ALWAYS perform a rollback in SH3
Commander BEFORE enabling or disabling any mods either via JSGME or manually - this
includes uninstalling and installing SH3. If you do not rollback before installing new mods, SH3
Commander may simply overwrite the updated files with the backup files it created the last time
that you used SH3 Commander, thus potentially causing game instability.

When I press the "Launch SH3!" icon SH3 Commander seems to hang or take a while to
integrate the changes I want before loading SH3.
Slowness usually occurs if you have a firewall, antivirus or other system monitoring software that
intercepts attempts to modify files - turn off all such applications and test again. If all is fine,
switch each one back on individually, noting the application which is causing the conflict. You
may be able to adjust settings to allow compatibility.

Since using SH3 Commander I can no longer hear speech or most sound effects.
This problem will occur if you set the "Character animations", "Sound effects" and/or "Particle
rendering" Time Compression events to 1. Reset each event back to the default value and try
again (a Rollback is not sufficient to reset these settings). If your problem persists, scrutinise any
new mods that you have installed since you last had full sound.

I've modified some of my game files like Basic.cfg and en_menu.txt. Will SH3 Commander
overwrite them with its own versions? Does it back up files first before modifying them?
SH3 Commander only modifies specific sections of files based on your selected SH3 Options
and Cfg file settings. If, for example, you choose a fatigue model, only the relevant fatigue values
are written to Basic.cfg. All other values remain unchanged. Every file that SH3 Commander
modifies is backed up first and can be restored by pressing the "Rollback SH3" icon.

What is a 'Weddigen'?
Prior to 1 January 1940, the 1st Flotilla was known as U-Flotilla 'Weddigen', the 2nd Flotilla as U-
Flotilla 'Saltzwedel' and the 7th Flotilla as U-Flotilla 'Wegener'. SH3 Commander includes a mod
which ensures that these correct names are used prior to 1 January 1940.

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I keep getting allocated the same patrol grid.

SH3 Commander does not interfere with the allocation of patrol grids.

When you complete a patrol, SH3 will allocate the new next patrol grid relative to the month of
the last finished patrol, not relative to the month of the next patrol. So if your patrols are short, or
you have docked at a milk cow or other friendly base, it is quite possible that SH3 will allocate
you the same grid again.

SH3 Commander works around this problem by providing you with the ability to manually or
randomly set patrol grids.

The dates displayed in SH3 Commander are different to the dates in SH3 - I keep going
back in time!
This will generally occur if you revert to a previous save game. SH3 does not handle reverting to
previous save games very well.

You may also go back in time if you upgrade equipment after completing a patrol and prior to
exiting the career.

I've just finished the first patrol in a new career. However, despite sinking ships, none
show up in my game summary or Personnel File.
This is one of the biggest bugs in the regular game. If you upgrade your U-boat equipment before
going on your first patrol it may not record any tonnage for that patrol. To avoid this problem, do
not upgrade equipment until *after* completing your first patrol. Likewise, if you save whilst "in
the heat of battle", ships which you thought you sunk, but which haven't actually sunk, will not be
recorded. To avoid this problem, do not save until you have fully disengaged from battle and are
sure that you have seen all "She's going down" (or variation) messages.

I have just started a new career, but my new career does not appear in the SH3
Commander career list.
In SH3 a career does not actually exist until *after* the first patrol is completed. This is because
SH3 creates some files when you start a new career but does not create all files until after your
first patrol is finished. However, enough files exist to continue if you save mid-first patrol.
Accordingly, SH3 Commander will only list careers that are either mid-first patrol or finished the
first patrol.

I want to start my career at a rank higher than Leutnant (rank bump). Will SH3 Commander
allow me?
SH3 Commander reads whatever ranks are in SH3. However, when creating a Commander’s
pre-SH3 history, SH3 Commander assumes the starting rank will be as SH3 originally set it. It
needs to do this for maximum compatibility. Thus, any “rank bumping", that is, changing your
starting rank to anything higher than the SH3 default, will create gaps between your pre-SH3
history and your SH3 career. This will be evident only if you generate Personnel Files, where you
will notice missing promotions. You can alleviate this somewhat by adjusting the pre-SH3 rank
labels in SH3Cmdr_*.txt, or simply ensuring that you always start careers at the default rank of
Leutnant.

I am now getting “Invalid argument to date encode” errors when I select an existing
career. Why does this happen and how can I fix it?
This error may appear after you delete save games through SH3. Sometimes, SH3 does not
clean up after itself well, resulting in a data integrity problem. To avoid getting this error, always
reload your career in SH3 (only needs to be to the barracks screen) after deleting any save
games, as doing so allows SH3 to correct the problem.

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