New Interface for Uboats

[karamazovnew]

Harder than OLC? It's exactly the same. Actually OLC is harder than mine because sh3 didn't have a proper stadimeter. Having more tools at your disposal makes things easier, not harder. There are no video tutorials, I never had the time to make one. I miiight make one but don't hold your breath. Anyway, if you have specific questions about manual targeting, feel free to ask. It's all about workflow.

And remember: I hear, I forget. I see, I remember. I do, I understand. (chinese proverb).

[Gorshkov]

I have a few questions:

1. Is it better to use stadimeter or green scale to measure range to target?

2. When to switch TDC from auto to manual mode and vice versa? What is optimal measurement sequence? Is this: range, AOB, speed?

3. This trick with intercepting target's course is smart but i cannot fully get it.

4. Were real U-boat crews using identical to your mod technique and hardware (TDC)?

[karamazovnew]

Originally Posted by Gorshkov

I have a few questions:

1. Is it better to use stadimeter or green scale to measure range to target?

2. When to switch TDC from auto to manual mode and vice versa? What is optimal measurement sequence? Is this: range, AOB, speed?

3. This trick with intercepting target's course is smart but i cannot fully get it.

4. Were real U-boat crews using identical to your mod technique and hardware (TDC)?

1. Always use the stadimeter. The green scale is only there to provide more accurate reading of how much the stadimeter has been displaced up.

2. You'll need to switch to manual mode every time you need to input speed/aob/range. Why? Because the devs said so...
The proper order is AOB (either visual estimated or with the AOBF in which case yes, you'll also find out the range at that time). With AOB you can then intercept very preceicely. You then calculate speed as late as possible to have a nice angle. Of course you can also use plotting and do AOB and Speed on the move. Final range should only be calculated and put into the TDC a few seconds before firing.

3. Read again. Once you have the AOB properly set into the TDC, you only need to rotate the periscope until the AOB dial rotates to the intercept angle that you want (90 preferably, 180 to overtake on a parallel course).

4. Depends... Some uboats were indeed fitted with double-split prisms (vertical AND horizontal stadimeters). These scopes had an AOBF even better than the one we're using. Calculating range and AOB was a piece of cake IF you knew the size of your target. The real TDC was a bit more... complex. It also showed you the distance your torpedo had to travel to the point of impact. Some parts of the TDC showed instant results (such as the AOB+Bearing connection). Other parts required a push of a button and a few seconds of computing. I'm not sure if the Gyro angle was one of those parts that required time to calculate.

If they used these techniques? I think they used more complex ones because real world physics are complex. They also had Attack Disks and lots and lots of nautical tables with values for pretty much everything you can think of.

[Gorshkov]

1. OK, so I'll remove green marks from periscope view as you suggested somewhere in the manual or in this thread.

2. So the proper targeting sequence is: AOB (with range by the way), speed and actual range just before torpedo launch. Always set TDC to manual entering each data and then back to auto.

3. I must practice this on moving target.

4. OK, I think your TDC is complex enough as for SH4 sim. As I understand, at those days Attack Discs and Nautical Tables were simply equivalents of present electronic calculators similar in functionality to widely used not so long ago slide rules.

[Ducimus]

I have a couple dumb questions.


First one being, i'd ilke to use this mod, may I?

Second one being, is there a stand alone D/L link? I can't seem to find one.

[Hitman]

If you are interested, I added some time ago the same slide out panels to the UZO and observation scope They are now IIRC included in OMEGU

Downside is you lose the stadimeter in those two stations, but given that none of them had it built in historically, it's no big loss.

[karamazovnew]

Originally Posted by Ducimus

I have a couple dumb questions.


First one being, i'd ilke to use this mod, may I?

Second one being, is there a stand alone D/L link? I can't seem to find one.

Only if I can play TMO for free... (of course you can ).

Stand alone no... Even I don't have my separate files anymore (hard-drive crash). However the only files that were changed by me were the menu_1024_768.ini (the G26 page only) and dials.cfg files which add new items. All graphics that are used can be found in the Karamazov folder. Also used is the technique of changing the Max Speed Value of the recognition manual into lengths. I actually did that for TMO 1.7 more than a year ago, but not many cared http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=153143

[Ducimus]

Lurker passed me the files a couple days ago. Thank you!

[karamazovnew]

Ok peeps, I'm back at home now and I've fixed the 3 issues requested:

1. small fix to remove the extra reticule on the AOBF wheel (considering that the AOB wheel sits on top of the normal reticule, now you have no marks at all but... a request is a request)

2. the aob and stadimeter buttons were a bit to dark in their OFF state... I've made them brighter. enjoy

These 2 are optional, links in the first post.


3. I've done some work to the salvo dial which had errors (visual only, the bulbs and the switch itself were ok) on some uboats. The type 23 is at the moment unfixable. Files sent to the chief, expect an OMEGU update soon.

I've also posted the KiUB files which can be used by modders from now on, without having to ask for permission anymore. FOund at the end of the first post on this thread. Go crazy guys

[ichso]

Hi,

I wanted to use this mod for the standard ATO scenario as well. On which version is the content of the menu_....ini in the link of the first page based on ?

I would just go ahead and replace the [G26 I*] sections in my own menu...ini with the ones from this link - say for the TMO2 version of the menu....ini. Would I need to consider more changes or is it done by that already ?

Thanks, i.

[karamazovnew]

Originally Posted by ichso

Hi,

I wanted to use this mod for the standard ATO scenario as well. On which version is the content of the menu_....ini in the link of the first page based on ?

I would just go ahead and replace the [G26 I*] sections in my own menu...ini with the ones from this link - say for the TMO2 version of the menu....ini. Would I need to consider more changes or is it done by that already ?

Thanks, i.

If you're talking about the "kit for modders" at the bottom of the first post on this thread then yes. Also make sure to add the dials from my file at the end your dials.cfg file and renumber them correctly. It should work nice with TMO as it doesn't affect the US interface. Oh wait... it does, I've just realized.

Silly me. I completely forgot about the background. You see, the game loads files from the Data\Menu\Skins\ folder based on a script. If you're playing the Germans, it will load up the files in Data\Menu\Skins\German, otherwise it will load up Data\Menu\Skins\American. All of the files in both folders have the same names. This not only works with the vanilla files, but with any file that you add. So what I did was to create a new file called \Data\Menu\Skins\American\Gui\Layout\Original_Peri scope.dds which is basically the default american periscope background. Its correspondent in the German folder is a file called Original_Periscope.tga which is a blank image. This (these) files are then used in the G26 page for the actual periscope background. The game treats tga and dds files in the same way, it only looks at the file name, not the extension. So it's one entity but 2 different files. I was forced to do this at that time because I wanted to retain the original periscope background which is also used in the UZO and observation periscopes. And I didn't want to touch those pages in any way. I'll update the resource file tomorrow and put in these files.

There is one problem however when porting my interface to any other mod (or vanilla): the ship lengths... I already did this for TMO and there's a good tutorial on how to do it yourself here http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=153143

This of course means that you need to decide which version to use (feet or meters). The thing to remember is that the AOB wheel only works in meters... If you calculate in feet, it will work, but the range will be given in feet too But at least you get the ship lengths in the american recognition manual too. What I suggest is to write in both values (ex: "128ft 39m" or safer "128.39"). Since the game never uses that value EXCEPT in the mission editor, you can safely write anything you want. Hope they fit. Anyway, thanks for reminding me just how complicated modding actually is

[karamazovnew]

I've updated the "Kit for modders" file. If you've already made progress implementing the interface, simply include the Skins folder and you're ready to go.

[ichso]

Thanks, I will try it out very soon

[Gorshkov]

Gosh! Filefront got crazy today...I cannot download anything.

[Dignan]

Hope its not a problem posting in this thread four months later.

Just started learning how to use this. Great fun.

Two questions:

1. Is the only way to send info to the TDC by manually entering data on the attack map or panel to right of scope? In other words, you can't set the AOBF to the correct settings then hit some kind of "send data to TDC" button right? I ask because it is difficult to accurately input AOB and range on those small tic-mark dials.

2. Did we lose the ability to adjust periscope height with your mod?

Thanks.