[WIP] Changing radio washington to many small stations

[tedhealy]

See http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=108863 for the development and background info on this mod.

Basically the idea behind this mod is to change radio Washington from one station that can be heard anywhere on the map to many smaller stations that will come on line as the war progresses. The content will be shared between the stations, think of it more or less as a rebroadcast of radio washington to the troops near the front. (If someone wanted to script separate events and gather different audio for each station, this mod could easily be changed to broadcast different content at the different stations)

In addition to the new stations, I want to add a lot of news event audio content.

This mod will be released in stages. The first will be just the framework for the new radio stations without any new audio content. The second will be adding the new audio content and scripting it to run on the correct dates. The third will be adding a very simplified radio Tokyo broadcasting scripted Tokyo Rose audio and music. A possible follow up or alternate version would be to even further sub divide the radio stations.

Stage 1 is already complete

Radio washington has been divided into 9 different stations.

Hawaii
Operational: entire war

Midway
Operational: entire war

Manila
Operational: start of war - January 2nd 1942

Australia
Operational: February 1st 1942 - end of war

Guadalcanal
Operational: August 20th 1942 - end of war

Saipan
Operational: June 22nd 1944 - end of war

Philippines
Operational: November 11 1944 - end of war

Iwo Jima
Operational: February 23 1945 - end of war

Okinawa
Operational: April 1st 1945 - end of war

And their approximate ranges are



You'll notice that Pearl Harbor and Midway's range look like a D , not a circle. That is because there seems to be a bug that does not allow a station's range to cross longitude 180, the international date line. If you set the station's range high enough, like the default range of radio washington, this is overcome because the station actually goes around the world in the other direction to the hit the date line from the opposite side. Stations not powerful enough to cover the map in both directions will die at the date line.

The stations themselves may not actually originate exactly from the place they are named for. This was done to maximize coverage and minimize overlap.

I would appreciate any suggestions on radio station names, dates of operation, different locations, ranges, etc.

Ok, now on to the meat. If you want to test this mod out, here's what you'll have to do:

1. Backup your radio.ini file located in \Data\Sound\Radio in case something goes wrong. Specially important if you already are using released radio mods.
2. Make sure you still have a Washington folder in \Data\Sound\Radio. Without that folder, these stations will not work.
3. Delete or comment out the [CHANNEL] for Name=Washington. If you want to comment it out instead of deleting it, just put a semi-colon ';' at the beginning of each line for the channel so it looks like

;[CHANNEL]
;Name=Washington
;Folder=Washington
;Freq=22
;Antenna=01.01.2000.........

4. Now copy and paste the following into radio.ini below the StartCh=1 line

;radio mod begin
;-------------------
[CHANNEL]
Name=Hawaii RB
Folder=Washington
Freq=22
Antenna=01.01.1930-01.01.2000:21.36,-157.96:6000

[CHANNEL]
Name=Midway RB
Folder=\Washington
Freq=32
Antenna=01.01.1930-01.01.2000:28.00,179.00:2800

[CHANNEL]
Name=Australia RB
Folder=\\Washington
Freq=42
Antenna=01.02.1942-01.01.2000:-22.00,133.00:3400

[CHANNEL]
Name=Manila RB
Folder=\\\Washington
Freq=52
Antenna=01.01.1930-02.01.1942:14.40,120.35:1600

[CHANNEL]
Name=Guadalcanal RB
Folder=\\\\Washington
Freq=62
Antenna=20.08.1942-01.01.2000:-10.00,169.00:1100

[CHANNEL]
Name=Saipan RB
Folder=\\\\\Washington
Freq=72
Antenna=22.06.1944-01.01.2000:7.00,155.00:1500

[CHANNEL]
Name=Philippines RB
Folder=\\\\\\Washington
Freq=82
Antenna=01.11.1944-01.01.2000:12.50,124.50:2000

[CHANNEL]
Name=Iwo Jima RB
Folder=\\\\\\\Washington
Freq=92
Antenna=23.02.1945-01.01.2000:24.47,141.20:1500

[CHANNEL]
Name=Okinawa RB
Folder=\\\\\\\\Washington
Freq=102
Antenna=01.04.1945-01.01.2000:30.30,129.40:300

;-------------------
;radio mod end

5. If you already have radio station mods, You'll want to pay careful attention to the Freq=XX line. You do not want to have two stations broadcasting on the same frequency, nor do you want to have them broadcasting within about +/- 5 to 10 frequencies. If you already have radio mods, I'd suggest starting these stations at 122 so they won't conflict with others - Freq=122, Freq=132, and so on up to Freq=202. Do not get them out of order numerically - that is do not have Freq=142 come before Freq=132.

6. Sail around and tune into the various stations!

Some important notes.

Every station, even when not within their operational broadcast dates will show up as you search for stations. So even after Manila falls and the station stops broadcasting on January 2nd, 1942, the radio will still stop at frequency 52 and display Manila RB. You will only hear static on that station after Jan 2, 1942, but the radio will still tune it in. This is how it works for radio stations that will come on line in the future too. I cannot find a way around this. Some more careful picking of the frequency numbers may help this some, I'll be playtesting for this.

Stations that you are not currently in broadcast range of will also tune in on the radio, but also only play static. As you get closer to the range of the station, it will slowly come in (that is of course if you are not in high time compression, then they will come in or fade quickly). EXCEPT for Midway and Pearl Harbor. If you sail west from Pearl tuned into it's radio station, as soon as you cross longitude 180, the station will instantly be lost. Same situation if you are to the west of longitude 180 sailing toward Pearl and tuned into Midway's station. As soon as you cross longitude 180, Midway's station will instantly cut out. If you lose Pearl's station because of this, just tune into Midway's or vice versa. This is because of the longitude 180 bug.

Since there is very little default audio content right now, all you'll really hear when tuned into these stations is that annoying and repeating music file. Every once in awhile you'll get a news report.

If you wanted to mod this mod into music stations rather than scripted news audio stations, you could move or rename the events.ini file found in \Data\Sound\Radio\Washington\Events to a backup location. DO NOT DELETE THIS FILE. Then you would place music files in \Data\Sound\Radio\Washington. Each radio station will then randomly play music from that folder.
EDIT:
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
I just tested out the above in game and it actually works rather well just playing random music at different stations.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

I named the stations with RB at the end to signify ReBroadcast to give you an idea that any station with a RB in it's name will be playing the same content. I'm open to suggestions on the names of these stations, they just can't all be named the same. I would like the name to signify that the stations are all connected though.

I'll be play testing this more to see if ranges need to be adjusted or stations moved/added/deleted. After I'm pretty happy with things, I'll start digging into scripting the news audio events.

[clayton]

So far so good! I am using the CBS mod and just renamed it Washingto. Works like a champ! It's wierd that you come up on Midway and cannot pick it up until you pass it but I understand the 180 line limitations. Great, great work! Am looking forward to Radio Tokyo...but you've earned a well deserved rest and some play time too... Thank you!

[tedhealy]

Glad it's working If you run into any issues, let me know.

One of the things I've found from getting some time in with my hollywood mod is that you can have too much audio content. While I'd like to jam pack this one with audio files, it's really not worth because so much time is spent in time compression meaning you are going to miss the start dates of audio files because earlier audio files are still playing. I'll really have to try and pick the cream of the crop for audio files and try to stick to files that are under 5 minutes in length.

[Barkhorn1x]

Very cool.

Question: I have some "Tokyo Rose" stuff - and I want to make a Tokyo radio station - so what would a good frequency line be?

[Barkhorn1x]

Never mind - figured it out.

[Beery]

Originally Posted by tedhealy

Every station, even when not within their operational broadcast dates will show up as you search for stations. So even after Manila falls and the station stops broadcasting on January 2nd, 1942, the radio will still stop at frequency 52 and display Manila RB. You will only hear static on that station after Jan 2, 1942, but the radio will still tune it in. This is how it works for radio stations that will come on line in the future too. I cannot find a way around this.

Here's a way around it - on the same frequency list another channel - as long as the two channels have different dates of operation there should be no conflict. After Manila falls, the radio should tune to the later-dated channel instead of the earlier one. On this new channel place propaganda broadcasts - Tokyo Rose etc. If there can't be two channels on the same frequency, make the second channel just one frequency higher (i.e. 52 before Manila falls, 53 after) - the radio will tune to 52 but you'll hear 53 fairly clearly, then you click again and it goes to 53, then click again and it tunes to 62, etc. There should be no reason for players to hear static - if we can get some Japanese broadcasts (I already found a few 'Orphan Ann' music show intros and sign-offs) it should be fairly simple to get it all working seamlessly (assuming the SH4 coding has been done rationally - which was not always the case with SH3).

Also, when areas fall to opposing nations it might be fun to leave a gap of a few days so that we just hear static until the new authority gets radio broadcasts back on the air again.

[Beery]

By the way, just an observation: I think it's interesting that the devs made the game's default radio station (Washington) transmit from somewhere in the vicinity of the Azores - quite a distance from both Washington DC and Washington State.

Is it me, or does the Hollywood mod broadcast from Florida?

That is, assuming the last numbers for a channel are longitude and latitude. I could be wrong.

[tedhealy]

Originally Posted by Beery

Here's a way around it - on the same frequency list another channel - as long as the two channels have different dates of operation there should be no conflict. After Manila falls, the radio should tune to the later-dated channel instead of the earlier one. On this new channel place propaganda broadcasts - Tokyo Rose etc. If there can't be two channels on the same frequency, make the second channel just one frequency higher (i.e. 52 before Manila falls, 53 after) - the radio will tune to 52 but you'll hear 53 fairly clearly, then you click again and it goes to 53, then click again and it tunes to 62, etc. There should be no reason for players to hear static - if we can get some Japanese broadcasts (I already found a few 'Orphan Ann' music show intros and sign-offs) it should be fairly simple to get it all working seamlessly (assuming the SH4 coding has been done rationally - which was not always the case with SH3).

Also, when areas fall to opposing nations it might be fun to leave a gap of a few days so that we just hear static until the new authority gets radio broadcasts back on the air again.

I'll play around with your suggestion on stations with the same freq, but different dates. Have you tested this? Sounds like it should work, but quite a few things with this radio don't work the way you might think they should.

It's not where I originally was going, but I like your idea of having the stations be in Japanese hands before they turn over to USA stations.

I have 8 zero hour broadacasts from Rose, each is 30 to 50 minutes long, plus the sign off/on short clips.

edited - helps to read the post before responding to it

[tedhealy]

Originally Posted by Beery

By the way, just an observation: I think it's interesting that the devs made the game's default radio station (Washington) transmit from somewhere in the vicinity of the Azores - quite a distance from both Washington DC and Washington State, LOL.

The Hollywood mod seems to be broadcasting from Florida.

That is, assuming the last numbers for a channel are longitude and latitude. I could be wrong. Anyway, not being critical of anyone's mod - just pointing it out and anyway both are easily fixed.

Hollywood station is in Antenna=01.01.1930-01.01.2000:26.01,-80.09:100000

26.01 north, 80.09 west. Looks like right to me.

[tedhealy]

Lol, hollywood florida. Will change.

[Beery]

Originally Posted by tedhealy

I'll play around with your suggestion on stations with the same freq, but different dates. Have you tested this? Sounds like it should work, but quite a few things with this radio don't work the way you might think they should.

I just did some extensive testing on this. The bad news is that if two channels are on the same frequency the second channel will never work even when the dates are set so that they don't coincide. The good news is that if you set the two channels just one frequency off (i.e. 20 and 21) they will both work, and you'll hear BOTH channels when tuned into either one: i.e. if you have a channel on frequency 20 that ends on December 11th and a channel on frequency 21 that starts on December 13th you can tune to channel 20 and you'll hear channel 20 as usual, then on December 12th you'll hear static and on December 13th you'll hear channel 21 even though you never switched to channel 21. Here's the relevant part of the radio.ini file that I used for the test:

[GENERAL]
RadioRealism=Yes
StartCh=1

[CHANNEL]
Name=Washington
Folder=Washington
Freq=20
Antenna=01.01.1930-11.12.1941:38.53,-77.02:100000

[CHANNEL]
Name=OccWashington
Folder=OccWashington
Freq=21
Antenna=13.12.1941-01.01.2000:38.53,-77.02:100000

The new station clicks in a bit after midnight (which nearly gave me heart failure as I'd worked for over two hours on the thing, trying to test my theory). Anyway it works, so I'm sure it will be possible to figure out a station for the beginning of the war, then a changeover to Japanese control, then a change back when the Allies push the Japanese back. Three concurrent stations (i.e. 20, 21, 22) with different dates of operation and with different files in each should make it seem like stations change hands throughout the war. I haven't tested three channels together, but judging by past tests I've made you should be able to hear channel 22 clearly when you're tuned into channel 20.

The other good news is that all changeovers can happen while the boat is on patrol - i.e. the game knows to load a new station into the game on the fly. This is a big deal, as it won't be like SH3 Commander where a file could only be loaded before a game session and that file was used throughout the game session, no matter how many patrols were done during the session.

[Beery]

Did a bit more testing. A couple of weird things:

1. The time the radio clicks on and off based on the date varies wildly. I set up four stations to run on concurrent days. They switched on on the first date listed for the channel, however one of them didn't switch on until the evening. This may have been due to time compression as I was running pretty fast to get through the test faster.

2. The channels do not switch off on the second date listed for the channel, but the night BEFORE the second date listed. So if you have a station start on December 10th and finish on december 11th (i.e. 10.12.1941-11.12.1941) it will only play through December 10th.

3. With four channels set up right next to one another (i.e. 20, 21, 22, 23), if you listen to channel 20 you'll hear channels 21 and 22 as clear as a bell, but channel 23 will have a little static. This means that if a mod is used to create changeovers from Allied to Japanese control and then back again later in the war, those two changeovers (three stations) would pose no problem, but if an area changes hands three or more times the channels farther away would be difficult to hear: i.e. there will be significant static when listening to channel 24 from channel 20. Of course the player could always fine tune the station. Another issue is that we'd probably want to avoid too many channels right next to one another anyway - clicking twice to fine tune is probably okay, but if players want to get from one end of the dial to the other quickly they're gonna get grumpy if they have to click 5 times to get past a single channel.

4. Interestingly, using two or three channels next to one another (with two of them unused at any one time) makes it possible to fine tune a station as on a regular radio.

[Beery]

One thing that might be worth testing...

What if we put in two channels with the same frequency but listed them in reverse chronological order? My thinking is this - with the channels listed in chronological order the game reads the first one and sets it going, but it can never read the second channel because it always reads the date on the first one and says to itself 'okay that channel is finished'. If the channels were in reverse chronological order it might read the first one (the last chronologically) and not register it because the date hasn't started yet. It might then go on, read the second one and it might just register it. Then, when the date for the first-listed channel comes up it might allow the change to be made because it sees it first in the file.

Not sure if that makes any sense, as it's 4am here so I'm about to collapse, LOL.

[tedhealy]

Originally Posted by Beery

One thing that might be worth testing...

What if we put in two channels with the same frequency but listed them in reverse chronological order? My thinking is this - with the channels listed in chronological order the game reads the first one and sets it going, but it can never read the second channel because it always reads the date on the first one and says to itself 'okay that channel is finished'. If the channels were in reverse chronological order it might read the first one (the last chronologically) and not register it because the date hasn't started yet. It might then go on, read the second one and it might just register it. Then, when the date for the first-listed channel comes up it might allow the change to be made because it sees it first in the file.

Not sure if that makes any sense, as it's 4am here so I'm about to collapse, LOL.

All great testing

I'll definitely look again at having the stations not in chronological order. I briefly tried this out a few a days ago and found stations weren't showing up as I expected, so I moved on. But I'll look at it again.

I'll see what I can come up with.

[clayton]

Interesting... I noticed that the farther I get from Midway the signal de-grades. The closer I get to the cut-off point, towards Japan, static and interference starts to take over until it completely drown it out.