[TEC] SH5.exe patches to fix bugs and add functionality

[Trevally.]

Been testing in single missions (over 20 tests) - still no message from BdU

When sending contact report - Is there any diff between the one from the capains log/contact report and the one from the radio officers/reports/send contact report

The reason I ask is that when you send a report from the:-
Captains log - no message appears in the message box - send button is greyed out and can't be used again for 2 hours.
Radio Officer/reports/contact report - message send displayed in message box and in DebugView - you can send as many as you like - no 2 hour resend limit

[Tonci87]

Guys you are forgetting one thing.
If you send a status report, you don´t only send your own position but you also send contact informations like speed and course of the convoy. Therefore friendly subs shouldn´t spawn at the players position or get a waypoint to the players position. BDU should send them to the estimated position of the convoy calculated from the speed and course transmitted by the contact report.

[Trevally.]

Ok - got my first wolfpack

In single mission - using radio officer/report/send contact report.
I am well behind the convoy (8 to 9 km) just out of their sight


Some time later I see a uboat heading towards me from the direction of the convoy.
It sails past me and away to the east - gone.


Some time later another one shows up and it sees the convoy.
It turns and gives chase at 14knots.





When it gets close to convoy (5km) the convoy fires and it dives - convoy moves further away again.
This happens many times and the uboat just can't close the distance.
Even when night starts to fall - uboat can't get close enough.
It then leaves

So - as the patch stands (and just as TDW said) you must be way ahead of the convoy - not behind

[Mikemike47]

Originally Posted by Tonci87

Guys you are forgetting one thing.
If you send a status report, you don´t only send your own position but you also send contact information like speed and course of the convoy.

This is not totally accurate, the contact report sends information like speed and course of the convoy, not the status report. Unless TDW is rewriting the status report code which includes contact information just for the SH5.exe patch, then my mistake.

[Trevally.]

Ok - I try again and this time stay in front of convoy
















So - being in front of the convoy works as the uboats will be able to turn into the oncomming ships.

I am using IRAI v0.0.37
I have watched many campaign scripted wolfpack attacks and never have the boats fired their torps in the wrong direction.
It was like they wanted to attack a preset map point? Perhaps where I was when BdU message said yes to form wolfpack?
After the first salvo all missed - their next attack runs were ok and at the ships

The uboat tactics were good - staying under as soon as they were fired upon.

[TheBeast]

Originally Posted by Trevally.

Ok - got my first wolfpack

In single mission - using radio officer/report/send contact report.
I am well behind the convoy (8 to 9 km) just out of their sight

Some time later I see a uboat heading towards me from the direction of the convoy.
It sails past me and away to the east - gone.

Some time later another one shows up and it sees the convoy.
It turns and gives chase at 14knots.

When it gets close to convoy (5km) the convoy fires and it dives - convoy moves further away again.
This happens many times and the uboat just can't close the distance.
Even when night starts to fall - uboat can't get close enough.
It then leaves

So - as the patch stands (and just as TDW said) you must be way ahead of the convoy - not behind

This actually makes some sense that when you call for wolf pack support, you should be in front of the convoy when shadowing. This would easily enable wolfpack boats joining in on attack to assume attack positions in front of the convoy.

SUGGESTION: (if possible)
Boats coming in one-by-one and attacking does not make sense.
Sinse you are the boat calling for support, you should be the Wolfpack Leader.
All boats joining in on Wolfpack should form up with the Wolfpack Leader (1-3km abrest spacing) and not break formation and attack until the Wolfpack leader gives the attack order.
When attack is done, Wolfpack leader give Disband Wolfpack order.
This would allow several boats to join the Wolfpack prior to engagement.
Also, this would allow you (Wolfpack Leader) to participate in attack as well.

[Tonci87]

Originally Posted by TheBeast

This actually makes some sense that when you call for wolf pack support, you should be in front of the convoy when shadowing. This would easily enable wolfpack boats joining in on attack to assume attack positions in front of the convoy.

SUGGESTION: (if possible)
Boats coming in one-by-one and attacking does not make sense.
Sinse you are the boat calling for support, you should be the Wolfpack Leader.
All boats joining in on Wolfpack should form up with the Wolfpack Leader (1-3km abrest spacing) and not break formation and attack until the Wolfpack leader gives the attack order.
When attack is done, Wolfpack leader give Disband Wolfpack order.
This would allow several boats to join the Wolfpack prior to engagement.
Also, this would allow you (Wolfpack Leader) to participate in attack as well.

^this!

[Trevally.]

Originally Posted by Tonci87

^this!

It did not feel too bad.
The first boat was still attacking as the third and last boat showed up.
I could then have also joined in making four boats attacking from all directions.

There is still more that could make these attacks great.
Messages before boats arrive to set the scene etc

[TheDarkWraith]

If I had the source code I could do many things but alas I only have what OllyDebug shows me and what I have decoded of the assembly. Thus while it would be nice to do the things you all mention and suggest sometimes it's impossible or next to impossible to do.

I've been working on decoding the sh5.exe and it's supporting files (.act files) for over 1.5 years. This is what allows me to do what I currently do with my patch files. I understand much of how the game works from this also. I don't think some of you understand just how difficult it is to add new ideas to an app via assembly. I don't have the luxury of having high-level source code that I can read over or study to know exactly what is going on in a particular function. Instead I have to make guesses and stumble my way around hoping that one or more of my guesses are correct so that I can set a label on them so that I know what they are doing. Over time when you stumble around and add enough labels things start to become more clear and start to make sense (it gets easier to figure out new functions and figure out what some pointers point to). Even then I may not know what a particular function call does 100% but I do know that if I mimmic it or pass certain parameters to it it will do what I want it to do. It's extremely frustrating and exhilarating at the same time working in assembly.

While some of my ideas may not be exactly what you think they should be realize that I'm making something from nothing, something from pure guesses on my part. As I continue to decode more and learn more about the inner workings of the game my patches will evolve to show that understanding

[TheDarkWraith]

Originally Posted by Trevally.

So - being in front of the convoy works as the uboats will be able to turn into the oncomming ships.

I am using IRAI v0.0.37
I have watched many campaign scripted wolfpack attacks and never have the boats fired their torps in the wrong direction.
It was like they wanted to attack a preset map point? Perhaps where I was when BdU message said yes to form wolfpack?
After the first salvo all missed - their next attack runs were ok and at the ships

Your scripted campaign wolfpacks probably had crew as veteran or elite also though. Here the crew level of each dispatched sub is random - they could be totally green or elite - you have no idea.

They (dispatched subs) are not given any preset points to fire upon, they are only given two waypoints to follow. Thus their AI (and crew level) dictate how they engage contacts

I like the fact that not all dispatched subs show up at the same time. I also like the fact that I have no idea when they will show up. Forces me to shadow the contact/convoy until they do (which is realistic).

[gap]

Originally Posted by TheDarkWraith

If I had the source code I could do many things but alas I only have what OllyDebug shows me and what I have decoded of the assembly. Thus while it would be nice to do the things you all mention and suggest sometimes it's impossible or next to impossible to do.

I've been working on decoding the sh5.exe and it's supporting files (.act files) for over 1.5 years. This is what allows me to do what I currently do with my patch files. I understand much of how the game works from this also. I don't think some of you understand just how difficult it is to add new ideas to an app via assembly. I don't have the luxury of having high-level source code that I can read over or study to know exactly what is going on in a particular function. Instead I have to make guesses and stumble my way around hoping that one or more of my guesses are correct so that I can set a label on them so that I know what they are doing. Over time when you stumble around and add enough labels things start to become more clear and start to make sense (it gets easier to figure out new functions and figure out what some pointers point to). Even then I may not know what a particular function call does 100% but I do know that if I mimmic it or pass certain parameters to it it will do what I want it to do. It's extremely frustrating and exhilarating at the same time working in assembly.

While some of my ideas may not be exactly what you think they should be realize that I'm making something from nothing, something from pure guesses on my part. As I continue to decode more and learn more about the inner workings of the game my patches will evolve to show that understanding

Fair enough TDW.

Every time I post a suggestion for improving one of your mods, I try to make some self censorship asking myself: "is this going to be reasonably possible, or rather my post can be catalogued as spam?". I think other members are doing pretty much the same. But, given our little to no knowledge of the game code, we are forced to deduce what can be done and what not from features you have already introduced with other patches. By doing so we can, indeed, misinterpret the "moddable" potential of this game.

On the other hand, it would be a pity if we refrained ourselves from posting a good suggestion, because we erroneously thought that it was undoable. In many cases, the best we can do is to refer it to your judgment, and to cross the fingers in the meanwhile.

This is to say: take our ideas for what they are worth. Do what you currently can, put what you think can be done in the near future into your todo list, and trush the rest. Noone with a gram of brain in his head will complain for you doing so

[TheDarkWraith]

Originally Posted by gap

Every time I post a suggestion for improving one of your mods, I try to make some self censorship asking myself: "is this going to be reasonably possible, or rather my post can be catalogued as spam?". I think other members are doing pretty much the same. But, given our little to no knowledge of the game code, we are forced to deduce what can be done and what not from features you have already introduced with other patches. By doing so we can, indeed, misinterpret the "moddable" potential of this game. On the other hand, it would be a pity if we refrained ourselves from posting a good suggestion, because we erroneously thought that tha it was undoable.

This is to say: take our ideas for what they are worth. Do what you currently can, put what you think can be done in the near future into your todo list, and trush the rest. Noone with a gram of brain in his head will complain for you doing so

Don't get me wrong I love the ideas and thoughts you all put forward I just may not have the current skill level or knowledge of the game to implement at the current time. But like I said my patches will evolve as my understanding of the inner workings of the game grows

[gap]

Originally Posted by TheDarkWraith

Don't get me wrong I love the ideas and thoughts you all put forward I just may not have the current skill level or knowledge of the game to implement at the current time. But like I said my patches will evolve as my understanding of the inner workings of the game grows

We are already stunned with wath your current understanding of the game has rendered possible so far. Just can't wait to see the rest!

[Trevally.]

For those wanting to test the wolfpack patch - I have uploaded a single mission "TestWolf"

You will start 8 km ahead of a convoy (no estorts) heading west at 7 knots. Convoy also heading west at 7 knots.

Report contact and fast forward - If no message within one hour - reload and try again

DOWNLOAD

[volodya61]

Thanks a lot Trevally!