[REL] FOTRS Ultimate Project

[max-peck]

Originally Posted by cdrsubron7

Max Range at Current Speed working on v.05 for me.

Weapons and Sensors Tab is not.

Originally Posted by XTBilly

I confirm the Captain's post. It's working now on my system too!

Nice one Max!!

Cheers,
Billy.

Nice one - thanks for checking fellas

[cdrsubron7]

Originally Posted by max-peck

Nice one - thanks for checking fellas

[max-peck]

Right - last test for tonight
And it involves explosions
The best kind of test

Started a dummy career out of Freemantle in June '42

Was told to go to the Java Sea
The Java Sea makes me nervous as hell - mostly less than 150ft under the keel - screw that

After reaching my patrol area I decide to go east and try to pick up anything transiting out of Surabaya

After a few days got a contact going east hugging the coast

Close to contact and what do I see?









Our old friend the Catapult ship

I am just tooling along at 1 knot at this point



PS Rockin Robins - the underwater scene in this build looks a lot clearer than in earlier builds. Please throw away the clearer scene dat I sent you.
No telling what would happen if someone used my clearer water scene dat that I made with an earlier version of FOTRS .
I am guessing nothing good !

Tracked her for about 30 mins, and decided upon two torpedoes







Don't those torpedo explosions look amazing when you see them???

She sunk about 5 minutes later



Tested in game - the Catapault Ship looks good to me

I am so looking forward to XTBillys sinking model
And also CapnScurvys Optics mod

[cdrsubron7]

First, is the torpedo explosions something that we're working on or is this already ingame?

Second, how did you get a watch and I didn't. What am I doing wrong?

PS......The explosions do look great!

[propbeanie]

Originally Posted by cdrsubron7

Max Range at Current Speed working on v.05 for me.

Weapons and Sensors Tab is not.

It seems like the Weapons & Sensors Tab is working on mine... Let me load it up and do a grab... OK, the tab does NOT work in Fall of the Rising Sun Ultimate 0.5 Alpha on my machine when in a Single Mission. It works fine in Campaign mode. In stock v1.5 SH4, works fine in both, although kind of a moot point in a Single Mission usually, isn't it?

My FotRS U v0.5 Alpha still crashes when trying the museum. I'm going to load v0.4 Alpha up again, because I'm almost certain it worked there... maybe...

I'm wondering if anyone knows if the Sh.sdl file in the Sound folder is "exportable"? In other words, I want to capture the data of all the files, and compare a stock 1.5 versus an FotRSU.5, and see which ones match on the "3D" setting, and "Loop" and "Play". That kind of stuff. If nothing else, I'll just go through the listings one by one and tally them into a spreadsheet...
...

[max-peck]

Originally Posted by cdrsubron7

First, is the torpedo explosions something that we're working on or is this already ingame?

Second, how did you get a watch and I didn't. What am I doing wrong?

PS......The explosions do look great!

I am sure the torpedo explosions are part of the latest FOTRS v0.5 build

To get the stopwatch up press 'x'



PS Love the way she came out of the fog at me
The FOTRS environment looks fantastic

[XTBilly]

These are some personal thoughts I'd like to share.

I've been reading some posts of Rockin Robbins at our thread and others, about FOTRS Ultimate. I truly share his vision about FOTRS. A vision that he revealed to me. Of transforming a relatively old & dying mod, a mod that it's developers first released bugged and untested, and discouraged the majority of people who tried it (including me). A mod that its latest and best version was created... by its developers... to be played in multiplayer... by its developers... Leaving a big portion of what makes SH4 undoubtedly one of the best submarine simulators ever. The option to "taste" the other side, experience the "enemy" view...

I'm not afraid to say that this man inspires me. He gives me confidence that this project CAN be done. It won't be easy, without problems that need to be solved and without some kind of "team intervention" to resolve multiple issues been constantly introduced as the mod progresses. But reading his posts about Ultimate, about what it is now and what it will become, seeing the whole team's efforts, makes me really proud of being in this team that develops such a mod. A team that tries to help building this innovative mod anyway they can.

I see a dedicated team, a team composed of some excellent modders, people who have spent so much time of their lives making beautiful and great mods for all of us to enjoy. And people with no modding experience, sailing in unknown waters, but still trying their best to help make this dream of a mod come true.

I belong to the second ones. I'm not a modder. I'm a IJN fan and ship sinking freak. I can watch the Titanic sink in real time and then press the replay button. I don't like the stock, arcade way, that ships sink in SH4. I hate the "Ship destroyed" message. Increasing the sinking times does nothing as you still get the message too early, the ship stops firing and sinks maybe an hour later. I decided to enter my own Odyssey by creating a ship sinking mod that makes ships sink the way I feel they should be. A couple of months later, after numerous failed attempts, I finally had good results that pushed me to experiment even further into making my own dream mod.

That's exactly what's happening to me with RR's vision of how a super mod should be like. I love his creative ideas. Reading his posts about Ultimate makes me to try even harder, not only to reach my personal Ithaca, but to contribute as much to the whole mod as a totally inexperienced "modder" can, despite making my End of an Odyssey a little too far.

Just take a look at the current state of the mod. I've never seen such a beauty in SH4. Ships, effects, explosions, environment, immersion... I'm ecstatic! Speechless! The FOTRS campaign is a MUST try. The graphics are unbelievable. The "enemy" campaign is fully functioning. More problems will arise, but we don't have a deadline to comply, do we? I'm sure we'll make it work. And the best is yet to come.

The module system in the works, will not only VASTLY enhance this beautiful mod but it will offer the player complete freedom to create his own unique submarine experience, with absolutely NOTHING been enforced upon him. The player will make his own gameplay at will, exactly as he desires. All of this with a simple mouse click on JSGME. If this is isn't creative, I'd love to know what is...

Thank you RR for creating these feelings to me and for giving life to this great mod and extending my favorite submarine simulator's life at the same time.

A big thanks to all of the team for all of your efforts to make this mod alive and kicking. Also for tolerating me, my spam and my mistakes. I'll make it up to you with the ship damage model. That's a promise!

Regards,
Billy.

[cdrsubron7]

Originally Posted by XTBilly

These are some personal thoughts I'd like to share.

I've been reading some posts of Rockin Robbins at our thread and others, about FOTRS Ultimate. I truly share his vision about FOTRS. A vision that he revealed to me. Of transforming a relatively old & dying mod, a mod that it's developers first released bugged and untested, and discouraged the majority of people who tried it (including me). A mod that its latest and best version was created... by its developers... to be played in multiplayer... by its developers... Leaving a big portion of what makes SH4 undoubtedly one of the best submarine simulators ever. The option to "taste" the other side, experience the "enemy" view...

I'm not afraid to say that this man inspires me. He gives me confidence that this project CAN be done. It won't be easy, without problems that need to be solved and without some kind of "team intervention" to resolve multiple issues been constantly introduced as the mod progresses. But reading his posts about Ultimate, about what it is now and what it will become, seeing the whole team's efforts, makes me really proud of being in this team that develops such a mod. A team that tries to help building this innovative mod anyway they can.

I see a dedicated team, a team composed of some excellent modders, people who have spent so much time of their lives making beautiful and great mods for all of us to enjoy. And people with no modding experience, sailing in unknown waters, but still trying their best to help make this dream of a mod come true.

I belong to the second ones. I'm not a modder. I'm a IJN fan and ship sinking freak. I can watch the Titanic sink in real time and then press the replay button. I don't like the stock, arcade way, that ships sink in SH4. I hate the "Ship destroyed" message. Increasing the sinking times does nothing as you still get the message too early, the ship stops firing and sinks maybe an hour later. I decided to enter my own Odyssey by creating a ship sinking mod that makes ships sink the way I feel they should be. A couple of months later, after numerous failed attempts, I finally had good results that pushed me to experiment even further into making my own dream mod.

That's exactly what's happening to me with RR's vision of how a super mod should be like. I love his creative ideas. Reading his posts about Ultimate makes me to try even harder, not only to reach my personal Ithaca, but to contribute as much to the whole mod as a totally inexperienced "modder" can, despite making my End of an Odyssey a little too far.

Just take a look at the current state of the mod. I've never seen such a beauty in SH4. Ships, effects, explosions, environment, immersion... I'm ecstatic! Speechless! The FOTRS campaign is a MUST try. The graphics are unbelievable. The "enemy" campaign is fully functioning. More problems will arise, but we don't have a deadline to comply, do we? I'm sure we'll make it work. And the best is yet to come.

The module system in the works, will not only VASTLY enhance this beautiful mod but it will offer the player complete freedom to create his own unique submarine experience, with absolutely NOTHING been enforced upon him. The player will make his own gameplay at will, exactly as he desires. All of this with a simple mouse click on JSGME. If this is isn't creative, I'd love to know what is...

Thank you RR for creating these feelings to me and for giving life to this great mod and extending my favorite submarine simulator's life at the same time.

A big thanks to all of the team for all of your efforts to make this mod alive and kicking. Also for tolerating me, my spam and my mistakes. I'll make it up to you with the ship damage model. That's a promise!

Regards,
Billy.

It's a pleasure working with you also, Billy.

[cdrsubron7]

To get the stopwatch up press 'x'

Thanks, propbeanie.

I figured out what my problem is, it's the resolution on my new monitor which is 2560x1440. If I go back to 1920x1080 the watch is there.

Actually, I'm getting used to playing the game without the stopwatch.

[Rockin Robbins]

Originally Posted by max-peck

Right - last test for tonight
And it involves explosions
The best kind of test

Started a dummy career out of Freemantle in June '42

Was told to go to the Java Sea
The Java Sea makes me nervous as hell - mostly less than 150ft under the keel - screw that

After reaching my patrol area I decide to go east and try to pick up anything transiting out of Surabaya

After a few days got a contact going east hugging the coast

Close to contact and what do I see?
Tested in game - the Catapault Ship looks good to me

I am so looking forward to XTBillys sinking model
And also CapnScurvys Optics mod

It explodes really, really well! A finer test couldn't be done. And that underwater shot is just breathtaking! It's exactly what I would hope for. It appears that the AOTD team was thinking a lot of the same thoughts we have!

Billy, there's no way I can possibly live up to your portrayal. Here on Subsim for nine years I've been a cheerleader, gadfly, crash test dummy and tweaker, never a modder. Maybe my most frequent role has been as an irritant: someone with a good command of the English language and the power of persuasion and advocacy.

Is that enough to change the course of Silent Hunter modding and make it a player centered experience instead of a modder centered experience? No freaking way! Without you guys this job can't be done.

CapnScurvy, I could no more write OTC than flap my arms and fly to the moon. You have your own supermod and here you are, working on our project. You have more experience with the interconnected weirdness of SH4 than any single person since Ducimus, and you have a more rounded knowledge than he had. The quality of your work is the highest Silent Hunter 4 has ever seen. The only one who has ever complained about OTC has been me! And that's been only on a philosophical basis, not a quality basis.

I've never textured a 3-D model or done any 3-D models, as the Aces of the Deep did so beautifully. Max, your Razzle Dazzle is astoundingly good. Cdsubron, great missions are very, very difficult to produce, and if done right are the only way to draw in the more casual gamer or the one without the time to devote to a career.

Propbeanie, you've been a better crash test dummy than I ever was. Not only do you do great and exacting testing but you report exactly the feedback we need to fix issues and have great ideas on how to pursue them.

Florida Sailor, I've always been an admirer of your positivity, your great relationship with Ducimus (a difficult thing to be sure!) and the choices you made with TMOwTw. As a matter of fact, TMOwTw was my inspiration for interchangeable AI modules to allow the player to control the difficulty of his game far beyond the built-in "realism" controls.

Bleiente, you've led us to know what is possible and that big ideas can be successful with this old game where sometimes it seems no new ideas are possible. We haven't included your stuff yet because we're working on the core mod, which we want to keep as pure Maddy as possible, but in phase 3, where we do plugins we're going crazy.

And other people have joined the discussion and offered help: keltos01, fitzcarraldo, iambecomelife, Rabid Wolverine, Wilcke, Lt Commander Lare, Webster.......hate leaving people out and I'm sure I have.

I don't have the tools, time or knowledge to get this job done. I just had a love for Fall of the Rising Sun and Maddy and the AOTD crew's work. I saw it vanishing from the internet and neglected. I saw their best work inaccessible to most players. I thought if I was not afraid to enlist the help of a team of better modders than I am there was a chance to transform the Silent Hunter 4 experience.

We're gonna do that. We can already see the finish line for the core mod. That alone will be the best supermod SH4 has ever seen and will give Maddy and the AOTD crew the credit they deserve. Then we start the real work!

[Rockin Robbins]

Originally Posted by cdrsubron7

Thanks, propbeanie.

I figured out what my problem is, it's the resolution on my new monitor which is 2560x1440. If I go back to 1920x1080 the watch is there.

Actually, I'm getting used to playing the game without the stopwatch.

2560x1440! The devs never dreamed we'd ever play their game at that resolution. It's a wonder ANYTHING works then.

But as usual, your testing finds another anomaly we need to chase down. Normal player resolutions are going up, not down! We need to be able to handle it.

I fired up TMO2.5 last night and noticed two things: that FOTRS Ultimate loads much faster and that I didn't have access to the weapons and sensors tab there either. I'll have to clean up the install to make sure I don't have any mod soup over there. I don't think I have but the only way to sort it out is reinstalling. Hope it doesn't kill my career there. I had a stupid time compression trick get me bombed at about 1024x. Got 40% hull damage and only halfway to my patrol point. It's a pretty interesting situation and I don't want to lose it.

[CapnScurvy]

Hope I didn't miss a question as I quickly read the last pages of this thread. I though I'd report back on a couple of things. In my "FOTRS Optical and Interior" mod the Weapons and Sensors page works well:



Both "HUD Button" and the "Weapons and Sensors" tab takes you to the above screen. As I pointed out earlier, all "On Boat" equipment will have a description as to what it does when the equipment is clicked. The measurements (like the one above showing 5000 yards for the Active Sonar) are all correct to what the FOTRS game established them to be.

One note on that......FOTRS has Star Shells listed in some of its Deck Gun Ammunition for the American side. The only thing wrong with that is there's no Star Shell showing when at the Deck Gun screen. It just has the three HE, AP, and AA Shells showing. What do you guys want to do, have Star Shells added to the guns (where FOTRS added them), or just forget them entirely? Right now their out of sight.....out of mind.

Also, on the Deck Gun Upgrade Packs.....there's some things that don't seem right. When starting a mission in-port, you have the chance to upgrade equipment for your sub (at the Weapons and Sensors screen). I've run into the issue of seeing the 3" 50 Stern Mount "On Boat", with a 3" 50 Bow Mount as a possible upgrade. That's not the problem (unless it doesn't give it to you after setting sail from port.....didn't try). The issue I see is there's also another 3" 50 Stern Mount offered for the boat. Maybe its there to give you a "change of mind" if you want to go back to the Stern Mount after making the initial change to a Bow Mount (I'm not entirely sure how you can go back, if you want to)? But, I would think an additional Up Grade offer should be for a 4" 50.......just wondering what you guys think?

I've also looked at the Crew Management screen regarding the Medals. I've got them displaying correctly now:



Medals should display correctly for all aspects of the game (Crewmen and Captain), but further testing will tell. I may let you guys test things out after uploading my Optical and Interiors part.

[Rockin Robbins]

I don't recall reading a report of a sub firing star shells before. Anybody see an actual report of them ever being used? If no, then we should just leave them unavailable.

[XTBilly]

Originally Posted by Rockin Robbins

I don't recall reading a report of a sub firing star shells before. Anybody see an actual report of them ever being used? If no, then we should just leave them unavailable.

I agree with the above gentleman.

CaptScurvy, the 4" 50 upgrade you suggested seems a very logical upgrade to me.

Billy.

[Rockin Robbins]

Well the 4" has increased surface area for better heating in the sun so you can dry more laundry.