[WIP] Kriegsmarine Mod

[ivank]

The




Kriegsmarine Mod




Produced by: The Surface Warfare Mod Team (T.S.W.M.T)


The Kriegsmarine Mod, is meant to enlarge the small German nationality already available in the stock Silent Hunter 4: U-Boot Missions game. It will change the starting dates for the German side to August of 1939, add starting bases for all ships in Germany, Norway, and Poland, as well as add refuelling bases and re-supply ships all around the world. The Kriegsmarine Mod will add almost all of the ships Germany had in service during
World War II, as both AI and as playable units. On that note there will be NO submarines in the campaign. The mod will give players the chance to relive the Channel Dash, the Battle of the River plate, the Battle of the Denmark Strait, and others.

Ships that will be playable (at this time):
KMS Bismarck
KMS Tirpitz
KMS Scharnhorst
KMS Gneisenau
KMS Luztow
KMS Admiral Graf Spee
KMS Admiral Scheer
KMS Admiral Hipper
KMS Prinz Eugen
KMS Blucher
K-Class light Cruiser
Type 34 Destroyer
Type 36a Destroyer
*All the ships mentioned above will exist as an AI unit as well

The campaign is almost done! The ships are being worked on. And the textures should be moving along as well

[Task Force]

This looks cool.:D Will it work with the RFB with op monsun. Im pretty sure it will.

[ubootcomrade]

This is gonna be great, will you be adding "what-if" ships as well (e.g H-44 class battleship) because that would be cool :D.

[Task Force]

He might but I think he is going to convert the GWX sh3 ships to Sh4.;)

[Raptor1]

The H-44 couldn't have possibly existed, but the H-39 could've been nice (As well as the O class, P class, M class and all the rest)

But if you do that then give the British them Lion class Battleships too

Kinda reminds me of playing the Plan Z campaign in GNBNA

[Yossarian1943]

Sounds really good. A great idea. :D But please don´t forget the crew bridge placement on the german ships like Hipper, Bismarck and Scharnhorst. We need the ships with this mod.;)

[bigboywooly]

He might but I think he is going to convert the GWX sh3 ships to Sh4.;)

Permission is needed first - PM Privateer

And as GWX are going to be using those ships themselves .................

But I wish you luck whatever units you end up using
Sounds promising :up:

[ivank]

I first need to know which ships are in GWX3, then I will choose them PM privateer for permission. I will fix the crew bridge problem. The H-39 will be here. I might make the H-44. After I finish this mod I will work on my Royal Navy Mod. All my mods; The Hilfskreuzer and AMC mod, The Kriegsmarine Mod, and my Royal Navy mod will be released on my birthday(November 24) if everything goes to plan.

I do need some help with skinners. If anyone can do this please PM ASAP!!

EDIT: It will not work with OM this is a completely new mod, NO SUBMARINES!!

[Jimbuna]

GWX3 ? :hmm:

Your time scales.....November....2008 ?

Even if permission were given.....IMO is extremely optimistic.

[Alex]

GWX3 ? :hmm:

Your time scales.....November....2008 ?

Even if permission were given.....IMO is extremely optimistic.

I second this thought.

[ivank]

I dont know if ill use GWX ships anymore. November 24 2008 is my ETA for the testing version at least

[bigboywooly]

Well I wish you luck
Tis a lot of work in a couple of months
On your own :o

:up:

[ivank]

If you want to help that would be great! And that goes to anyone, if you want to help please PM me for assignments

[gile]

You sir, make me want to bake you a big birthday cake.:up:

[ivank]

Thank you

[ivank]

This mods ETA has been pushed back in favor of making it a Total Conversion Mod. I and my team (if I can get a 3D modeler and a skinner) will be changing everything from the start screen to the start up movie!

Again I will post this:

If anyone wants to become a skinner for my Team please PM ASAP!!!!!
I also could use someone good at making warships playable to speed things up!!!!

[ivank]

Need 3d Modellers!!!!

[ivank]

Thanks for the advice when Im done working on the campaign for all 3 mods and get some more of the ships I already have, Ill get to learning

[bigboywooly]

everyone is looking for good 3d modellers
only so many as Mikhayl said
Even the ones there are can only work so fast

Time is always in the way
As well as RL of course

:up:

Good luck with it
I wish I had the patience to learn it myself

[ivank]

same; with school, the mods, and just life its hard to stick down and learn something like this!

[Madox58]

Most 3d people don't even look at the SH series.
From the perspective of makeing a name in the 3d world?
Silent Hunter is a dead end.
Those that do stay here?
They are so busy you'd be lucky if they answered your post!

80% kit bash
20% build fresh

0% do proper, 100% SH4 versions of anything.
Good luck on your search.

[ivank]

Thank you! All I need is one ship!:damn:

[Gotmilk]

Hello Ivank.

What ship do you need modeled? If you throw me a blueprint of the ship i could model a low poly ship for you. I am not a great modeler, but i know my way around 3dsMax. Of course i have a mod of my own that i want to finish as soon as possible. But there are times when i use laptop and i cannot do any modding for SH4. I could use that time to fire up 3dsMax and make a model for you.

Of course i wont give any promises about deadlines, but i try to make a good model for you.

[Rockin Robbins]

He might but I think he is going to convert the GWX sh3 ships to Sh4.;)
Permission is needed first - PM Privateer

And as GWX are going to be using those ships themselves .................

But I wish you luck whatever units you end up using
Sounds promising :up: Not so fast!http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa293/RockinRobbins13/smileys/WaitaMinute.gif

Why would you assume that he is "appropriating" GWX ships from SH3 and importing them? Could it just be possible that ivank is a capable 3D modder with the ability and inclination to do this himself? Permission is not needed for ships not used. Privateer will not be consulted, although Privateer may wish to consult with ivank and Gotmilk after he sees their work. (you might also notice that Privateer did not pop in with such an accusation. He knows it is not necessary or appropriate) A little less hairtrigger sensitivity (and a little more work getting GWX4 assembled :up:) is called for when people come out with U-Boat related mods. Although the GW has some people of great ability, much great talent works outside the Grey Wolves.

Please be assured that no GWX sips will be harmed during the production of ivank's mod.;) Keep your eye on this mod. Ivank does GREAT work.

The GW people are dead on target when it comes to 3D modelers though. There are plenty of computer wizards--precious few artists and even fewer competent technical artists who know how to work with 3D software. These people name their own ticket and privateer is right: they don't think of SH4 modding for free as career enhancing. What Ivank has produced so far belies his modesty about his abilities. I think his ships so far are breathtaking! Ivank, heed GWX advice on release dates though. They have experience doing very similar tasks.

Here's hoping he has success in finding some 3D modeling talent. GW deserves to have worthy competition. Competition properly self-moderated works to everyone's benefit by putting everybody at their highest levels.

We are at the beginning of the process of seeing what SH4 is really capable of doing. I can't wait to see what all who have posted in this thread produce!

[Rockin Robbins]

You're quoting a one week old post :doh: Not only that but I didn't notice the whole darn thread before this morning! http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa293/RockinRobbins13/smileys/where-am-i.gif

Other than that I'm alert and aware! Full speed ahead.
http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa293/RockinRobbins13/smileys/splat.gif

[ivank]

Thank you Robbin for the support as a modeler but Im not that good! I can do alot but ships and subs are not my modeling best! while I want to go to school for naval architecture, im not ready to make such models

[Nisgeis]

Mikhayl's 100% right there. It's very rare to see someone pick up a modelling request, as most modders mod what is personally interesting to them. To spend countless hours slaving over a hot model, needs some form of personal investment. It's also fairly recent that S3D was able to import the models created with all the features the SH4 engine could handle, so there will also be a bit of a technology lag.

If you download 3DS Max, which is free for a month's trial, there are plenty of very useful tutorials included within. You can contruct a P-38 lightning from scratch using a 3 view plan and set materials, including transparent glass. That's a great grounding in what you need.

Baking occlusion maps and making a normal map for a low polygon model might take a bit longer to learn, but no one will mind the wait. As Mikhayl says if you ask specific questions, you'll get specific answers. General questions don't tend to get responses because they are much harder to answer.

Subsim helps those that help themselves :D.

[Madox58]

There are, infact, very few moddlers working in SH4 or SH3!
Most, as I said before, kit bash.
Not only that has an effect, but there are technical issues.
Do a Normals in any program you wish.
Tell me what happens?
:lol:
I already know the answer!!
;)

[Nisgeis]

What's kit bashing? Changing an existing model?

[ivank]

if i had time i would learn, once I finish the campaign for 3 mods!!!!!!, get my college apps in, and take study for the AP exams!!!

[ivank]

anyone know how to get the map names to change over time? Im rewriting the map in German but want to make it change as time goes on.

I.E. France to FrankReich

[peabody]

anyone know how to get the map names to change over time? Im rewriting the map in German but want to make it change as time goes on.

I.E. France to FrankReich

If you are rewriting them, then you are aware they are 'map locations' so I would think if you added both map locations (Both names) and have a start and end time on the first and a start time for the second one that is the same as the end time of the first one. I never tried it, but if it works anything like the rest of the stuff in Mission Editor it should appear and disappear according to those dates. Put two map locations on the map and try it, see if it works. Put the dates close together and do a time compress and see if they change.

Peabody

[ivank]

will do!

[ivank]

anyone know what type of file is the campaign_LOC.mis in the mission editor, is it a Rnd Data, Landunits data, Scripted Data, or Mapnotes Data? the quicker it takes to answer this the faster I can continue working on the mods!

[bigboywooly]

Opens under any
Though I usually just use
Open ( Normal mission )

[DarkFish]

It's a scripted layer. You can open and save it succesfully as a normal mission, but I don't know if it will work in game unless it's saved as a scripted layer.

[ivank]

thanks

[ivank]

Thought I might do all ya Kriegsmarine hopefuls a favour and inform you about the mod!:up: Right Gotmilk, Slegdehammer427 are working on the models! Darkfish is making the ships already done, or already in the game playable! and Im almost done with the campaign! Im just putting the final touchs!:up::up:

For all you Surface Warfare Mod Team fans: we will start the Royal Navy, Hilfskreuzer mods after the Kriegsmarine mod! Then we are debabting doing a IJN, and USN mod!

[Jimbuna]

Sounds interesting...looking forward to the finished product...any idea re an ETA :hmm:

[ivank]

Thanks!!

as for the ETA: originally it was going to be Nov 24 2008 (my bday!) but since we are re-modeling many ships it has been pushed back along with The Royal Navy Mod. The campaign is almost done for the German side, but the ships are still a WIP

[kondor999]

Um, no offense but you seem to be the "developer" of a lot of simultaneous projects - none of which have anything to show at the moment.

Wouldn't it be better to concentrate on one mod at a time, and not announce until you already have something that people can see?

[tomhugill]

Hey , Im really looking forward to this mod as the whole surface warfare thing really grabs me. I was wondering have you managed to sort the problems with damage control and taking damage?

[ivank]

@kondor999: No offense taken, I know its alot:o, but I'm not working on this alone. I making the campaign for the mods, and making a few ships playable. Im working on them at the same time, thats the way I work; When I add German Naval Bases, I add the British at the same time. Its working great for me!:D Last week I finshed the Kreigsmarine mod! and shut down my computer after 3 days of constant running!:o As my head hit my pillow, it hit me!!!:huh: I FORGOT TO SAVE!!!!!!:damn::huh::damn::stare::huh::dead: NOOO!!!!! I lost all the transatlatic convoys! Im finishing them now.

@tomhugill: Thanks man! we here at T.S.W.S.M.T. are working hard, to get the ships that we already have ready. I dont know whats the ETA on Gotmilks battleships for the SWSM yet. We are going to change alot: Better damage to surface ships, Better controls for ships, Ship and Gun ranges, Fully working bridges!!(the biggest project!) and other stuff that will be released at a later date!

Offical Names:
-Version 1: Kriegsmarine and Royal Navy Surface Warfare Super Mod
-Version 2: United States Navy and Imperial Japanese Navy Surface Warfare Super Mod
-HilfsKreuzer and Armed Merchant Cruiser Mod

Current ETA for Version 1: Mid to Late Jan 09
Current ETA for Version 2: Mid to Late Mar 09
Current ETA for The Hilfskreuzer and Armed Merchant Cruiser Mod: Early to Mid Jan 09

[tomhugill]

Sweet! Im glad some people have taken up the challenge for something that has so much potential!

[ivank]

thanks! I hope subsim likes it

[Jimbuna]

Check out your dates :up:


Current ETA for The Hilfskreuzer and Armed Merchant Cruiser Mod: Early to Mid Jan 08

[ivank]

Check out your dates :up:


Current ETA for The Hilfskreuzer and Armed Merchant Cruiser Mod: Early to Mid Jan 08


sorry didnt see that! corrected!

[Task Force]

Any screen shots yet?;)

[ivank]

theres nothing to take pictures yet. Right now only the German Campaign files are ready. Darkfish and I are making the ships playble, we ran into a few problems:damn:. Gotmilk is working on ships. and S.hammer427 is working on textures. When we get a ship in the game I will post a update

[Task Force]

Ok.;) Cant wait to see the first batch of screen shots.:yep:

[Jimbuna]

Check out your dates :up:


Current ETA for The Hilfskreuzer and Armed Merchant Cruiser Mod: Early to Mid Jan 08


sorry didnt see that! corrected!

;) :up:

[DarkFish]

OK, here are some screenshots of the ships I have (almost) finished so far.


Captain (Buckley) class frigate
http://i525.photobucket.com/albums/cc333/DF_3852/FRBuckley.jpg

Fiji class light cruiser
http://i525.photobucket.com/albums/cc333/DF_3852/CLFiji.jpg

Dido class light cruiser
http://i525.photobucket.com/albums/cc333/DF_3852/CLDido.jpg

King George V class BB (the merchant on the background won't be living for much longer:arrgh!:)
http://i525.photobucket.com/albums/cc333/DF_3852/BBKGV.jpg

[tomhugill]

*Chants we want more* Looking awesome so far , hows the fully functioning bridges idea coming along? Also thoseships look decidedly un german ;)

[DarkFish]

*Chants we want more* Looking awesome so far , hows the fully functioning bridges idea coming along? Also thoseships look decidedly un german ;) You're right, those ships are RN. I'm doing mostly RN ships, the only KM ship i got working so far is the Scharnhorst, but that one has got bad textures and is missing a playable gun.

http://i525.photobucket.com/albums/cc333/DF_3852/Scharnhorst.jpg

Since the RN and the KM mods will be released together I figured I could post these RN ship pics here..

From what I've heared of it the bridge will have working instruments and crewmembers holding the steering wheel and stuff :rock:
Doable but as ivank says it'll be a lot of work...

[difool2]

How's the bug hunting/vanilla feature squashing going? Having done several patrols and setpiece battles in both the pocket BBs and the Bismarck, several aspects of the core engine need to be addressed:

Superstructure damage eventually causes your engines to stop working, and not even a repair specialist can get them working again (there's "nothing" for him to fix in the damage screen).

Rarely are exposed systems damaged, and only a few superstructure bits can be blasted off (like floatplanes). Turrets are never taken out of action or have their turning gears jammed.

BBs (both mine and others) can often take a terrific pounding before eventually sinking. A North Carolina class had my Bismarck, a Yamato, and 3 other Japanese BBs blasting away at it-he must have taken dozens of big gun hits, and over 200 hits from smaller calibers, before he succumbed.

Not to mention that natural sinking mechanics would need to be modeled, as once the game decides they are sunk down they go in less than a minute.

And the AI-the big ships stay in formation and ignore you in terms of their headings, while the DDs rush you. Can the DDs be made to launch torps?

Just curious as to how much progress has been made on the damage modeling front.

[ivank]

I can answer that. The Damage model editing is not being worked on yet. Once the ships are all done, we will start working on that.

[tomhugill]

I have found some strange things with the PBB ive taken none big bang damage which has breached the hull and the lower bbs seem to have a mor eintresting dmg model , fighting them with the PBB I can blow bits off , cause explosions etc. Where as with the NOCAL and IOWA it just seems to chip away with nothing much happening then sinking. Strangly this is the same with torps , I hit the iowa with 5 fish and the was no bangs just eventually sunk. I have tried this afew times always with the same results. PLaying with the playable bismark I seem to chip away at the iowa then it just sinks with no fuss. odd

[ivank]

This mod will include the H-39 BB! H-44 is still on the fence

[gile]

I am very glad to see these supermods coming to life. I wish I could help, but with no time or moding skills, I hope a sincere :up: will show my gratitude.

Like said here below, the damage system needs a serious overhaul. I know its probably hardcoded, but I hope you can improve the damage system.



How's the bug hunting/vanilla feature squashing going? Having done several patrols and setpiece battles in both the pocket BBs and the Bismarck, several aspects of the core engine need to be addressed:

Superstructure damage eventually causes your engines to stop working, and not even a repair specialist can get them working again (there's "nothing" for him to fix in the damage screen).

Rarely are exposed systems damaged, and only a few superstructure bits can be blasted off (like floatplanes). Turrets are never taken out of action or have their turning gears jammed.

BBs (both mine and others) can often take a terrific pounding before eventually sinking. A North Carolina class had my Bismarck, a Yamato, and 3 other Japanese BBs blasting away at it-he must have taken dozens of big gun hits, and over 200 hits from smaller calibers, before he succumbed.

Not to mention that natural sinking mechanics would need to be modeled, as once the game decides they are sunk down they go in less than a minute.

And the AI-the big ships stay in formation and ignore you in terms of their headings, while the DDs rush you. Can the DDs be made to launch torps?

Just curious as to how much progress has been made on the damage modeling front.




One more question, well, maybe more of a request; will the campaign start with smaller ships, like DDs and such, with renown points or something similar, to get bigger ships, guns, better engins...some sort of an upgrade system. I would hate to just jump in my brand new Bismarck and start shooting off...

And here is a thought: taskforce. Can it be done? The big ships rarely fought or sailed alone. Is the game engine capable of "sticking" a few friendly ships to tag along with our own? Now that would bring this idea of surface ships to a higher level. Like I said, a thought...

Anyway, just to show my respect to you guys.

[ivank]

I am very glad to see these supermods coming to life. I wish I could help, but with no time or moding skills, I hope a sincere :up: will show my gratitude.

Like said here below, the damage system needs a serious overhaul. I know its probably hardcoded, but I hope you can improve the damage system.



How's the bug hunting/vanilla feature squashing going? Having done several patrols and setpiece battles in both the pocket BBs and the Bismarck, several aspects of the core engine need to be addressed:

Superstructure damage eventually causes your engines to stop working, and not even a repair specialist can get them working again (there's "nothing" for him to fix in the damage screen).

Rarely are exposed systems damaged, and only a few superstructure bits can be blasted off (like floatplanes). Turrets are never taken out of action or have their turning gears jammed.

BBs (both mine and others) can often take a terrific pounding before eventually sinking. A North Carolina class had my Bismarck, a Yamato, and 3 other Japanese BBs blasting away at it-he must have taken dozens of big gun hits, and over 200 hits from smaller calibers, before he succumbed.

Not to mention that natural sinking mechanics would need to be modeled, as once the game decides they are sunk down they go in less than a minute.

And the AI-the big ships stay in formation and ignore you in terms of their headings, while the DDs rush you. Can the DDs be made to launch torps?

Just curious as to how much progress has been made on the damage modeling front.



One more question, well, maybe more of a request; will the campaign start with smaller ships, like DDs and such, with renown points or something similar, to get bigger ships, guns, better engins...some sort of an upgrade system. I would hate to just jump in my brand new Bismarck and start shooting off...

And here is a thought: taskforce. Can it be done? The big ships rarely fought or sailed alone. Is the game engine capable of "sticking" a few friendly ships to tag along with our own? Now that would bring this idea of surface ships to a higher level. Like I said, a thought...

Anyway, just to show my respect to you guys.

we are workoing on the damage system now. I was thinking of making the player start off with a small ship and work their way up, but I dont know how to make a ships an upgrade! So for now, the player picks a class of ship and starts from there. I trying to get the ships from BC, BB, AC to have at least 1 CA,CL,DD escorts.

[iksoks]

just have to say that i admire and respect u enormously for this effort !!!

Cant wait till its done to try it out. I always wanted to command a BB in a classic naval shoot-out.

Best of luck to you sir !!! :rock:

[ivank]

Thank you! Im almost done with the campaign again! I didnt save the convoy files b4

[Sledgehammer427]

matter of fact, i barely have to do anything to convert those ships

the ship configuration files are pretty much exactly the same, all you really gotta do is modify this file that i can't remember...but all you have to do is add the ships into that file, then convert the textures to .DDS, and thats it.

[tomhugill]

Probably the wrong thread but Ive got the Scharn working with the Graf Spee guns , just need a hand with the gun placement , if anyone could help

[ivank]

Anyone know how to make a ship capsize? I'm sick of the playable ships just sinking on an even keel! How do I edit their sinking behaviour?

[Sledgehammer427]

a few finishing touches on the scharn model, proper screw housings done, and rudders fixed.
I already have the guns on the Eugen done, per history.

Selyditz-or seydlitz, whichever it was, will be tough, but i am trying to figure out how to model a proper flight deck...nvm, new idea!

rudders corrected on bismarck, bulkiness=null

free time...zilch
:rotfl:

[ivank]

glad to see that shammer! cant wait to test them!

[wolf24]

hi guys,

any news about release date?
cant wait to test this great mod.


wolf

[ivank]

hi guys,

any news about release date?
cant wait to test this great mod.


wolf

Hey there, since my computer got a virus and I lost everything, work has been slow for me. Sledgehammer, Tom, and Darkfish are making great progress. But two members just stopped communcating with me, one of which was going to make playable bridges and German Destroyers! So in light of this the release date has been pushed back till Q1 of '09(for V1)

[ivank]

a few finishing touches on the scharn model, proper screw housings done, and rudders fixed.
I already have the guns on the Eugen done, per history.

Selyditz-or seydlitz, whichever it was, will be tough, but i am trying to figure out how to model a proper flight deck...nvm, new idea!

rudders corrected on bismarck, bulkiness=null

free time...zilch
:rotfl:

any screenshots?

[audessy]

This would be a dream come true for me. I wish you the best of luck.

I'm envisioning this as somewhat of a offline navy field on a non stone age graphics engine. PERFECTION

[Admiral Von Gerlach]

i am sorry to hear about the virus. two campaigns that might be of interest....well one to start is the Norway episode, many fine ship actions ..the DD action at Narvik and the ambush of the HMS Glorious by the German Battlecruisers...many other possibliteis come to mind, this is great work and I am very glad to see it happening.

[pomquent51]

hello have you a link to download this mod ( if it is already done )

[Bunkerw0808]

Best mods die fast.......