Kim Rønhof, mission genius over at SubSoWesPac has come up with this marvelous cruise reporting software. Since we have a modder here in Subsim who has announced a similar but not identical project, and with the identical name to this already produced work, it's my duty to get this one out there publically to establish precedent in naming. Sorry, SleightofHand, you're going to have to come up with another (catchy name goes here). Hope your project is going well and I can't wait to see it.
The SH4Report program must be located in the SaveGames directory under the following path ../documents/SH4/data/cfg/SaveGames How do you use it?
When installed correct, the program automatically finds all yours saved SH4 games
(Career or mission games) Do remember to save the game before you enter a harbor – if you don’t you lose ALL data !!
1)The first time you use the program it asks for the path to SH4, this should be the path to the modded version you are using. Find the path and CLICK on it (you can then se the directories under the Silent Hunter directory, and the SH4 path is highlighted. Then press the Set SH4Path button – the button name should change to Change SH4Path , otherwise you will get an error message, just retry.
2)You can always change the path if you change to a different version of SH4.
3)First time: change the SubRon number to the correct Subron. Then change your Rank and name to the correct Rank and name. The program saves all changes automatically, when you leave the textbox.
4)You then simply double-click on the appropriate game which you want to report. 5)Input the correct patrol area, when prompted (this is also saved). Click on the Ok button. 6)Now answer the Special missions popup menu, edit if necessary. End with the end button.
7)The program now generates the report and copies it to the clipboard. Special mission popup
The Special mission popup asks you if you’ve performed a special mission (Picking up pilots, dropping supplies and other COMSUB ordered special missions).
If you have,
1.Click on the Yes button
2.Input time and date on the calendar
3.Click on the mission type and the program adds these data to a special window.
4.You can now edit this window manually.
5.When that’s done, just repeat the process, if you done more than one special mission, when finished
6.Click on the end button.
The data are now transferred to your report.
Is XXXXX a Warship? Yes or No
If the program encounters a ship which type it can’t determine, it asks you to do the job.
Just click on the Yes button if it’s a warship, the No button if it isn’t. Buttons
1.The Help button : prints a small help file in the report window. 2.The Copy to Clipboard : copies the report window information to the clipboard : This enable you to use the report windows as a small text editor – you can write your entire report without leaving the program. Just Copy when you are finished, by clicking this button. This is not need, if you want to edit the report in Word or another text editor, then all you have to do is to insert the initial report, which automatically is copied to the Clipboard. 3.Delete INIFile: deletes the ini-file (SHReport2_1.ini) This is used if an error corups the ini-file. A new fresh ini-file is created. 4.Getdates: this button can be used if you edit your report after it has been created. If you make saves of your game at the strategically right times, you can create the correct time and dates from the report.
All you have do in the game is do something (Like raising and lowering the SD Radar antenna) then save the game using an appropriate name: ex. If you’ve reloaded at Johnson atoll then save the game under a name like “Johnson atoll“: when you need the reloading date in your report : just place the cursor at the correct line where you want to enter the information about the reloading then go to the saved games window click (once only) at the saved game “Johnson atoll” and press the Getdates button : the last entry date time in that file is then generated and put into your report at the position where the cursor was.
Options
1.The Torpedo data option (default off) – this adds specific torpedo firing data to the report – the sums are always added.
This also adds the total number of times the gun is reloaded. And specifies the times the gun is reloaded. NOTE this is NOT the same as the number of times the gun I fired! If you start with 150 shells and fire 26 you have 124 shells left
But you’ve loaded the gun 27 times (it was empty the first time, and there’s one shell left in the gun, when you have finished) If you had used up all your ammo you would have loaded 26 times. Do the math’s yourself.
2.The Section spaces On (default on) –This adds spaces in the report making it more readable, you can turn it off by deselecting it.
3.SetModded (Is only tested with TMO) leave it on; it will work with UnModded use also.
Technical stuff
The autofind function.
The program automatically locates all the subdirectories which are under the SaveGames directory, that are named 00000000, 00000001 …
NOTE : It only searches the first 256 (0 to 255) don’t save more than that !! The following files are used:
SHReport.ini – this is a file that the program generates, if it doesn’t exit’s – the sole purpose is to save the information of the users command name and suborn number + the last patrol area.
Replayinfo.rep this file saves the name of the mission (the name you save the game under in SH4), it is used to generate the list to choose the report from. ActiveUserPlayerUnits.upc - the name of the boat is saved here. SaveData.clg – the ships that have been sunk are saved her with date time and location. This is where the actual information is located. SaveData.crp – many crew remarks are saved her – the last entry date is used to generate the date of the report. The Torpedo firing data is taken from the crew remarks (ex. “Firing tube 2, sir!”) GamePlaySettings.cfg – the information of the level of realism is saved here – the program adds the % of each feature to make up the setting% = the JANAC %. Discriminating ship types:
If the moddedOn checkbox is set the program reads the files in the directory SH4path\data\roster\japan\sea\
And makes a database of all the ships/shiptypes.
TMO uses the single ship names under each type- unfortunately there are usually some ships that are called unidentified in each category – I’ve not seen any of these on my patrols, but that could muck up the system.
The program checks the name of the sunken ship against this database, and classifies it accordantly.
If the ModdedOn checkbox is NOT set or the ships is not found in the database then the program does the following.
In the SaveData.clg file the program searches for the following.
1)If the text contains Destroyer, Gun or Subchaser as a part of the ship type, the ship is classified as a WS (War ship).
2)If the text contains Freighter, Tanker, Small Old, Passenger or Tug as a part of the ship type, the ship is classified as a MS (Merchant ship).
3)If the text contains Fishing, Junk, Sampan, or Life is a part of the ship type, the ship as classified as a MS (Merchant ship).
4)If the text contains Battleship, Fleet Carrier, Escort Carrier, Seaplane Tender, Heavy Cruiser, Light Cruiser, Minelayer or Minesweeper as a part of the ship type, the ship is classified as a WS (War Ship).
5)If none of the above text parts are a part of the ships name, it produces a popup menu asking the user if the ship is a Warship or not. Torpedo data:
In the SaveData.crp file, the program searches for the text:
“Firing tube” to find when a torpedo tube has been fired, I looks for “Torpedo Impact”, “Torpedo missed” and “Torpedo is a dud”, so se when a torpedo has impacted, missed or if it’s a dud – It can’t however see if there is a premature detonation – the program figures this out by subtracting hit + missed torpedoes and dud’s from the total number of fired torpedoes. This is NOT always correct, as missed torpedoes aren’t always registered. The report date:
In the SaveData.crp file, the program searches for the last Key (Date) the value is taken as the report date. And used in the Specials missions calendar, as the default date. The Boat name:
In the ActiveUserPlayerUnits.upc file the value of the key UnitName is the boat name. Dates and time generally:
The dates are in the format YYYYMMDD and time is in the format HHMM (actually it’s hhmM as 00:05 is simply written as 5!) This is transformed to the standard WWII US navy format:
DDHHMM MON YYYY; 07 December 1941 at 09:10 = 070910 DEC 1941 Tons:
The different ship types tons are added the separate categories.
Merchant and warship tons are add to the total tons.
JANAC tons = total tons x Setting% /100.
Setting%:
The program set the JANAC factor to 0 at start and adds realism% as you add function.
The GamePlaySettings.cfg file is read as following,
[Current]
During the installment – and setting the path of the SH4 game files errors can occur.
One these errors are invalid file name – you’ve got the wrong directory or more likely you did not click on the directory before you clicked on the ChangeSH4Path button. Click on the SH4 main directory, and then click on the ChangeSH4Path button.
The other is “”is not a valid integer – same remedy.
That’s all Folks – Kim Rønhof
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D- is hardly a decent rating to give to a very comprehensive and useful utility. If someone wants to trash a program, why not comment on the reasons so I can coordinate with the author to iron out the problem?
I can tell everyone, this is the best outside program for SH4 I've used. It is mucho comprehensive and provides irrefutable evidence of what happened on your cruise. It works flawlessly. This is an A+ program.
