[REL] Silent Hunter 4 Corruption Management System (SH4CMS)
 

Announcing!

SH4CMS v1.5 is hereby released! Some goodies I've added:

• It can now make or fix an Op Monsun installation
• It can make or fix a We Dive at Dawn installation
• It makes or fixes a custom ModTest installation
• It can now repair your original Wolves of the Pacific directory, since many players use that exclusively
• I have substituted MultiSH4 v1.5 for the old version formerly used.

Enjoy everyone and thank you for all the great suggestions!

Rockin Robbins
2/13/2017
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This project is the result of a long conversation between THEBERBSTER, Webster, the FOTRSU Mod Team, Ducimus (in absentia, but a vital part), and some others. With my previous thread, Tutorial: Make an SH4 lockbox and independent game installations, I had worked out the theory of handling mod soup. But the longer the thread got, the more complicated it got, to the point that a few good friends asked me whether it was worth the effort to document something of use to only a few advanced computer users.

And it hit me: what if everybody could use the tools, and those with an interest could also find out how and why it worked? I began working on a collection of scripts that could take a newly installed Silent Hunter 4 installation, make a protected lockbox of pristine game files and use those to eliminate ANY game corruption from ANY SOURCE and ANYBODY could use it! I announced what I was working on and then wondered how I could possibly do that.

So here it is! The Silent Hunter 4 Corruption Management System, SH4CMS for short. Instructions are in the Subsim Download area and complete instructions are in a PDF file included in the download. Read carefully. This is a very powerful system and that means that it gives you the power to do great harm especially if you modify the script files. But it's the end of Silent Hunter 4 game corruption, no matter what the nature, no matter what the cause, mod soup or otherwise. You don't have to understand what went wrong. You don't even have to care. In 10 minutes you load up your last save and continue playing with a guaranteed completely fixed game and as if nothing had ever happened.

Why is it here and not in the mods forum? Well, probably because SH4CMS is not a mod. It's a utility toolkit which does not become part of the game as a mod does. That makes it appropriate to publish the toolkit in this forum in order to avoid confusion.

Excellent work as usual from RR.:Kaleun_Salute:
Highly recommended:Kaleun_Thumbs_Up:
Easy to understand and works like a dream.:Kaleun_Applaud:
Peter

I give Peter a lot of credit for this tool. His incessant carping :Dand noticing obvious things that I somehow couldn't see made a flawed toolbox into a polished and smooth running one. Because of Peter, the first release out of the box works great and the instructions are clear.

I'm just amazed at the lack of any response for what I think is the single most important contribution I've ever made: something that deserves to stand beside JSGME as a cornerstone of how we play the game.

Want to make a protected game file repository? One keypress.
Want to make an independent game installation for GFO? One keypress.
FOTRSU? One keypress.

Your game screwed up, no matter how? Uninstall your mods. One keypress! Reinstall mods, load save and play AS IF NOTHING HAD EVER HAPPENED in less than 10 minutes.

Thread after thread about game corruption. Thread after thread on how to use Large Address Aware and MultiSH4. Well, JSGME, MultiSH4 and Large Address Aware are in this package, installed automatically when you make a new game installation.

The answer to the hundreds of threads on corrupted games is SH4CMS. No responses, user experiences, jeers or attaboys in this thread. A total of 30 downloads, some of which have been my own making sure everything works.

Everybody can now do what a few power users could two months ago and nobody seems to care. It's very entertaining. You gotta just laugh. Well, I enjoy using SH4CMS. :D:D:D

Next place it goes is the SH3 community, after I get some things out of the way.

Honestly, I just dont see the point.

I have a clean copy of the game stored on backup drive. If i have problems i just delete everything in my SH4 folder leaving the MODS folder and JSGME, and just copy over the clean one. No muss, no fuss.

You're the exception that proves the rule. SH4CMS just automates what you and I have been doing for years. Now people don't have to understand the process in order to use it.

I haven't needed it yet but when I do I promise a big "attaboy" to you RR :03:

"Attaboy" from me. I've used it three times now... great stuff... :03:

Good work and much appreciated.
:Kaleun_Salute:

I'm slowly coming back to SH4 after years of absence. I'm already drowning in mod soup.
I have to reinstall SH4 because it is asking me to register online with the defunct Ubisoft service. I'll be sure to use your SH4CMS right from the start. I'm a power user but, with many different games, managing minutiae becomes overwhelming.

Thanks!

one quick question
 

I know I haven't yet read the readme or pdf but I am just starting a new career and IF one has to start from the beginning now would be a good time. OR can you be half way through 1943 and still set this up? Thanx for all you do RR your one of my "go to" on you tube :up:

H gb
SH4CMS is designed to be used with a freshly installed unmodded SH4.
It makes what is known as a "Pristeen" copy of the unaltered installation.
Making copies means you never need to install again.
I am sure RR will give you a more informative reply.
Peter

Hello All, RR I love your CMS! What a snap to keep everything neat and orderly:up:

A couple of questions, once SH4 is installed and CMS makes the pristine directory, is there any need to keep the original SH4 directory (unless you intend to use it that is)? Also if I make a new setup with CMS and use TMO (as an example) but then rename it say Modtest, will CMS recognize it later?

Thanks again for a great piece of software

Once SH4CMS has made your SH4 Pristine directory, then Wolves of the Pacific is free to be used as you wish.

In order for SH4CMS to restore a directory to stock configuration, presently it must be available in the menu. That means if you make \Modtest, SH4CMS can't restore it. Since SH4CMS uses the command line, there is no way for you to browse for a directory. I suppose it would be possible to allow user input to type a directory name to create or restore. It would also introduce possible error scenarios that could curl your toes.:D:D

I am going to add SH4OM1 for Op Monsun games though. Maybe it would be a good idea to add a Modtest directory as well that you could make and restore. I'll be working on it tonight to expand possibilities.

If you're curious about how it all works, all the scripts are simple text files that can be loaded into Notepad and viewed. Modifying is a little hazardous because there is no error trapping built into batch scripts. If you "del *.*" in the wrong place with the wrong environment you will eradicate every file your command can access, with no recalling it from sissy recycle bins.
http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/a...ileys/what.gif

I do think the scripts rise a bit above the cheap and dirty category and show a little finesse and elegance, which I was proud of because it had been so long since I wrote my last batch script.

SH4CMS assumes that your \Wolves of the Pacific Directory contains 100% reliable stock game files to begin with. It uses that file to build your protected game file repository, \SH4Pristine. Once that is made, you can do anything with \Wolves of the Pacific you wish.

Here's what I would do in your position. Use JSGME to print out a list of mods you have installed so you can restore them exactly later. Then uninstall all your mods. Now move your \MODS directory to the desktop. Delete everything from \Wolves of the Pacific and reinstall from disk or download, including U-boat Missions.

You are now ready for SH4CMS. \Wolves of the Pacific is all brand new original files, so when SH4CMS makes the \SH4Pristeen game file repository it will be valid. Now copy the \MODS directory back into your game directory, use JSGME to reinstall your mods exactly as you had them. You can now resume right where you left off, load up your game save and go to town.