THIS UNOFFICIAL PATCH IS AUTHORIZED BY UBISOFT
HOWEVER, UBISOFT OFFERS ABSOLUTELY NO SUPPORT.
Destroyer Command remains the property of UBISOFT and is protected under copyright law.
Projekt Messerwetzer © 2003 Subsim Review

All work on this project was performed by Doutel Software Services, LLC, Duane T. Doutel, Principal/Architect, produced by SUBSIM Review, and funded by The Sub Club and Subsim.com Radio Room players with private donations. You are encouraged to CONTRIBUTE to the funding of Projekt Messerwetzer.

INSTALLATION

Begin with an UN-MODDED FULL INSTALLATION of Destroyer Command, patched to the 1.1 interop level.
You can obtain the Version 1.1 Interop Patch. Be patient; it’s a large file and a VERY slow site.

- Double click the Projekt Messerwetzer DC installer.
- The installer will find your installation of Destroyer Command by looking for its’ entry in the registry.
- If you wish to install to this location, then select the OK button.
- If you have more than one installation of Destroyer Command and would like to install Projekt Messerwetzer DC to other than the one found by the installer, use the browse button to select the folder where the other installation of Destroyer Command resides on your hard drive.
-Make sure you select Yes when asked if you want your current files backed up.

** IMPORTANT NOTE **

Testing was performed with the following configuration (DC 1.0 + DC 1.1 interop patch + Projekt Messerwetzer DC). Use of Community “MODS” are the responsibility of the player, and are neither recommended nor supported.

REMOVAL

To Uninstall this product, open the Add/Remove Programs Windows Control Panel applet.

- Select Project Messerwetzer DC from the list.
- Select Uninstall.
- When asked if you would like to do a “rollback” select Yes.
- The game files in use before you installed Projekt Messerwetzer DC will be restored.

FEATURES

1. Converted from RTime to Microsoft DirectPlay. Overall multiplayer stability has increased exponentially.

2. MP game hosting will migrate to another host if host player is disconnected or quits.

3. Time Compression enabled beyond 16x in MP games (but NOT recommended; see NOTES below).

4. Damage to ships may grow worse over time, as in real life this happens to all units in the game, including the player’s ship.

5. Secondary explosions are now enabled.

6. Magazine explosions are now enabled.

7. F1 (help screen) disabled during Multiplay to prevent accidental game pause.

8. If game is paused by a player who quits or is disconnected, remaining players can now unpause the game and continue to play.

9. Torpedoes are now armed at the appropriate times and ranges orignally set in the game code.

10. Destroyer Smokescreen "Eye Candy" now available using the Shift-S key. It currently has no effect on lookout's ability to see or target a ship. After pressing the Shift-S key, smoke will be emitted for 2 minutes, at which time smoke emissions will stop.

For other updates, see the Subsim.com Projekt Messerwetzer center on the web.

HOW TO HOST/JOIN A GAME

Please see the How-To PM.pdf in the Destroyer Command
folder on your hard drive for directions on how to host or join a game

NOTES

1. UbiSoft’s game lobby and other online gaming clients (Gamespy) are no longer supported with this product; DirectPlay is incompatible with RTime. To find online opponents, we recommend the Sub Club Wolfpack League.

2. There is no longer a Dedicated Server option; Connectivity is peer to peer, IP-only.

3. Games saved with Destroyer Command 1.1 and below are not compatible with PM DC. If you are involved in a campaign, and saved a campaign game scenario without finishing it before installing PM DC, you can continue to play that campaign by playing that scenario from the beginning.

4. If you go to the F7 Sonar Station, and it refuses to go active, change screens then change back; this will usually clear it up. Switch screens by hitting F11 then F7. This "wakes up" your sonar operator. This glitch existed pre-PM.

5. Subs will only hear active sonar pings from Destroyers intermittently; this is a Pre-PM bug that will be fixed in the next release.

6. When you select the MP Mission as host, you MUST DOUBLE CLICK the mission or you will only see one side (axis or allies). If you forgot to double click on it, back up a couple of screens and try it again...it should work just fine.

7. To select a ship in the pre-game menu, again, double click. Once you choose a ship, you are locked in.

For other updates, see the Subsim.com Projekt Messerwetzer center on the web.

MULTIPLAYER PERFORMANCE FACTORS

1. Although internet connection speeds are far less an issue than they were with the RTime version of Destroyer Command, it is important that player ping times to the host be as low as possible throughout the game (below 200 milliseconds produces the best results; see the included How-To-PM document for details on how to perform a ping).

2. It has been found that faster host computers (700 MHz or faster) with fast internet connections and memory in excess of 256 megabytes produce the highest quality multiplayer games. We recommend that the computer of a player who is NOT the host be NO SLOWER than a PIII-550 with 256 megabytes of ram.

3. Slower host computers and/or higher ping times will result in the following:
- Unit icons may appear to “wiggle” in the CIC Map screen.
- Units may appear to “jump”, sometimes several hundred or even several thousand meters.

4. Time Compression for long periods can and will produce strange ship positioning anomalies and should be avoided if possible.

5. As with all multiplayer games, there are issues that you may encounter which are beyond programmatic control. The internet is a big place. Slow data transfer can and does happen, and is beyond anyone’s control.

SUPPORT

If you are having any problems, support will be provided by the The Sub Club and SubSim Review. Messages can be posted in the Sub Club Forum. Here you’ll find many knowledgeable and experienced players to assist you with any known problem(s) you may be encountering. For other updates, see the Subsim.com Projekt Messerwetzer center on the web.
 

CREDITS

Programming: Duane Doutel, Doutel Services, LLC

My Other Half
Casey Doutel, my loving wife
I couldn’t have accomplished this without your loving patience and support!

My Right Arm
Nosferato
(60+ builds in 3 weeks, and never a complaint! You’re a good man, Nos!)

My Left Arm
Sharkstooth, AKA Sharkey
(moral support whenever I needed it, newbie tester tutor and Urangutan Wrangler Extraordinaire! What a DOLL!)

My I-Only-Have-So-Many-Arms Arm
GStew
( bleary-eyed, wee-small-hours tester par excellance!)

Chief Patron
Crow
Crow's generous donations are legendary in the subsim community.

Director
Neal Stevens, AKA Onkel Neal, SUBSIM Review
Thank you for giving me the opportunity to do this
without you, this project wouldn’t have happened at all!

Technical Advisor on All-Things-Submarine
Frank Kulick:

Graphics
Cory Burke, John Channing

German Translations
Doc ‘Bleichrodt’ Snyder, Peter Müssig

Cartoonist-In-Residence
Torplexed

Support where it counts
Sub Club members

Documentation done by
Sharkstooth and Nosferato

Special thanks to Mark Kundinger, Troy Heere, Dave Bringhurst and all of Ultimation;
Carl Norman, Shawn Storc of Ubi-Soft.

EARLY TESTERS

These guys tested the single player PM release:

CORE ALPHA TESTERS

These guys were the backbone of my testing team:

RELEASE CANDIDATE TESTERS

These guys beat on the final release candidate:

  Projekt Messerwetzer © 2003 Subsim Review