[REL] FOTRS Ultimate Project

[Jeff-Groves]

I'm not that good with Missions files.
One thing I don't know is if the MS loads all the different mis files so that could have something to do with weird settings.
SH3 you had 3 files to look at.
SH4 you have a bazillion!

[Jeff-Groves]

Is there a list of Units and what Roster files they go with?
I have 24 suspect Ships that I need to put in a JSGME folder to test.
Over all I have 222 Ships to test and track!

Then the Air folder!

And I'm running up a big list of misspellings.

[Jeff-Groves]

Tried some of the 15 suspect ships in stock SH4. Crashed big time.
Guess that narrows the list some.

Took it back to just the Bismark.
CRASH!!

I'll test my version next.

[Jeff-Groves]

OK.
I'm positive bad spelling is the main cause of crashes in the Museum.
Go with the Bismark and see all the misspellings!!

It's Bismark NOT Bismarck!!!

Attention to details is critical in a way I can not express strongly enuff.
Several small spelling errors cost me half a day to track down.

[cdrsubron7]

Originally Posted by Jeff-Groves

Is there a list of Units and what Roster files they go with?
I have 24 suspect Ships that I need to put in a JSGME folder to test.
Over all I have 222 Ships to test and track!

Then the Air folder!

And I'm running up a big list of misspellings.

Will this list help you any, Jeff? It's something made by s7trikback for his work on the Roster and Sea files.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/do32osec1z...ames.xlsx?dl=0

[Jeff-Groves]

Perfect!! Thanks Mate!

I've got the Bismark fixed and runs fine in the Museum now.
It's all in how things are named in the different files.

We have to be very aware of names!!

[propbeanie]

Isn't the Bismark an import from SHIII?... There's some mis-spellings in stock too, isn't there, but the mis-spellings are the same way throughout the game? I can't remember where though...

[Jeff-Groves]

What might be miss spelled in SH3 may not work in SH4.
That misunderstanding has bitten a lot of people in the stinky part.


So I'm going to keep testing Ships one or more at a time in a stock SH4 until I cure the 24 'suspect units'.
Then I'll test the whole group in the Beta.

[John Tigers]

Hi FOTRS-Ultimate-Modders,I want to know,how big (Mb or GB) is your FOTRS-Ultimate now? Maddys FOTRS v.2.0 german has unpacked with 1,80 GB and now ?? And the Text´s and Speechvoices in english in new version only.I´ve heard about it from anywhere,that this big mod could be built for SH4-V1.5 with the U-Boatmissions),is me right ? If yes, i´m enjoing for that!

[s7rikeback]

Originally Posted by Jeff-Groves

Tried some of the 15 suspect ships in stock SH4. Crashed big time.
Guess that narrows the list some.

Took it back to just the Bismark.
CRASH!!

I'll test my version next.

tried the Bismark fix - runs like a charm.. It did not dawn on me to check spelling between the main.cfg and the roster files.

This ship OLSchliemann=Schlieman Tanker is also a mess regarding naming, it seems to be two mods merged into one.

I'm now looking more closely at my older work.

Regards,
s7rikeback

[CapnScurvy]

Originally Posted by cdrsubron7

[RndGroup 1]
GroupName=43a_Jap_Subhunters_004
Category=0
CommandEntry=0
Long=15881500.000000
Lat=3883500.000000
Height=0.000000
DelayMin=60
DelayMinInterv=9060
SpawnProbability=75
RandStartRadius=0.000000
ReportPosMin=-1
ReportPosProbability=15
HighPrioContact=false
Heading=188.427994
Speed=8.000000
ColumnsNo=1
Spacing=595
DeleteOnLastWaypoint=true
CurrentInstanceID=0
GameEntryDate=19430901
GameEntryTime=0
GameExitDate=19440531
GameExitTime=0
MaxInst=10000
MaxUnitsCreated=100
DockedShip=false
TacticalGroup=false
AvailStartDate=19430901
AvailEndDate=19440531
ControlZoneRadius=100.000000
NextWP=0




Looking at the mis.files as per CapnScurvy. This is from the '43a mis.file from FOTRSU. Looking at the MaxUnitsCreated line, it says 100 units. This is the way it reads in the stock version, but not in RSRDC the same entry is blank. Would changing the number to 1 make a difference.

I think you've found it!!!

Sorry to not read this yesterday (still up to my ears in sensor testing), but I'm pretty sure that parameter is the culprit.

One nice thing about looking at the .mis files in a good text reader is you get all sorts of ways to look at the file entries. Notepad is one that gives you very little access to ways to work with the file. Windows Word on the other hand can allow you to input a specific text phrase (like..."MaxUnitsCreated=") and it will highlight all such entries in the entire document. My wife is the Word specialist, so I asked her to remind me how I did some things a year or two ago with the .mis files. In Word, by hitting "Ctrl+F" you'll bring up a search box that will search for your specific text. You can even change a text entry to something else automatically just by using the "Replace" function of the search box. I remember doing that with some of Lurkers "Speed=" entries.....he's got some ships slowing down to 0.1 between waypoints!?!

Anyway, the entire .mis file can be searched with a proper tool like Word for issues like putting 100 spawned ships into the convoy.

==================

On another note, I'm going to upload what I've been doing with the additions. Since I know some of you guys have been trying to open the Museum, and my additions should allow you to do that....I'll have it on the Google site in just a bit. It's not done....still working with the sensors just for the sub (with some interesting findings!!) but the assets should be good for at least showing up in the Museum and game.

[Rockin Robbins]

Oh, man! The stuff that will run smoother when you guys are done! There's a difference between working and working right. I seem to remember this guy cdrsubron saying "I don't know what I can do on this project. I'm not too good at modding but I'll do what I can." Some others said the same thing too. Yikes! You're at ground zero of why a mod puts smiles or frowns on people's faces. Finding "MaxUnitsCreated=100" is absolutely HUGE!

Hey, a question, probably for our interface guy, CapnScurvy. We have a radar depth key. We have a periscope depth key. We have a surface key. Could we have a decks awash key, where decks awash is defined as water over the decks but diesels still running?

I'm aware that the different kinds of subs have slightly different decks awash settings: the Gar is a couple feet shallower than a Gato and later, but we could set it up for the Gato and let players do the depth tweak that turns the diesels on.

[cdrsubron7]

Originally Posted by Rockin Robbins

Oh, man! The stuff that will run smoother when you guys are done! There's a difference between working and working right. I seem to remember this guy cdrsubron saying "I don't know what I can do on this project. I'm not too good at modding but I'll do what I can." Some others said the same thing too. Yikes! You're at ground zero of why a mod puts smiles or frowns on people's faces. Finding "MaxUnitsCreated=100" is absolutely HUGE!

Just a lucky find on my part, boss. The main question is though, now that we found it, what do we do with it? This "MaxUnitsCreated=100" is a common denominator through out all mis.files in every major mega mod. From the stock mis.files, TMO, OM, right on up the list to what we're working on. I've not checked RFB, but I'm willing to bet the mis.files are the same.

Kinda curious why it's never been brought out before from guys like Ducimus and some of the other great modders we've had around here over the years.

[cdrsubron7]

Came across this while looking in the RFB folders of the mod. Found it interesting and decided to post it.

////////RFB2 VISUAL SENSORS REWORK 1.0///////////

This set of files will make certain changes to the RFB visual sensor and the 3D scenary in order to have a more realistic result.

The existing problems so far -which this mod attempts to minimize- were as follows:

-Crew sighted in good visibility conditions far located ships that were invisible to the player
-Crew had too much good vision at night
-Fog was too dense except in excellent visibility conditions
-Crew could not see under foggy conditions ships the player could

First thing that should be noticed is that there is no perfect solution for all situations, owing to these hardcoded limits:

1- Visual sensors in the game are mostly independent from what is actually rendered on screen, except light level (To a certain extent)
2- Visual sensors in the game are not hindered by horizon, nor by ships been "hull down". For the crew ships are entirely "visible" even if completely hidden below the horizon. THis is specially true for small vessels, which can be completely hidden
3- Visual sensors in the game differentiate between night and day, but night is a more or less fixed percentage of vision from the day, and there are major problems with twilight situations.
4- Visual sensors in the game differentiate between overcast and clear skies, but NOT based on what is rendered on screen. Hence the vision of your crew worsens a lot in overcast weather no matter if the other vessels are still clearly visible to you. Which is specially true when seing them against the mild grey background of the overcast sky
5- There is a certain simplification of sensors when running higher time compression
6-Many settings tend to interact with others because you rarely get perfectly test conditions during a campaign (literally dozens of different mixes of fog, light, clouds, etc. are possible, and you must add to rgar the different monitors and monitor settings for all players!).
7- Sensor efectiveness also depends on your crew's experience.

To adress those problems as possible, a compromise had to be made with the main objetive of NEVER having a ship sighted by the crew that is actually invisible to the player. The opposite however is true, i.e. if you would stay in the bridge at 1x time compression and scan the horizon, you would find ships your crew will not see until they are closer/the light level raises. The areas in which I have worked are following:

1- Earth radius: While in true life it is 640000 metres, I have set it to 800000. The reason is that you see ships better in the horizon, specially small ones.
2- Horizon fog: Has been lowered considerably to improve visibility in excellent weather conditions, up to nearly 20000 metres.
3- Environmental Fog: There was a major bug in the environment file, where fog settings were equally dense for heavy, medium and light fog
4- Sensor range settings: I limited the maximum range of visual sensors to better match the moment when ships are actually rendered in screen at extreme ranges. Now when the crew calls ship sighted you should be always 4able to see tips of masts in the horizon
5- Sensor sensitivity settings: This is the most delicate and tricky part, I did my best but of course it won't be perfect for all situations.Expect green crews to spot enemy ships only at closer ranges at night, but so far I have never had the problem of being detected by them before I saw them. In general, though, sensitivity at night has been toned down considerably, so those guys with darker monitors should be pleased.

IF YOU FEEL THAT YOUR CREW IS SEEING ENEMY SHIPS TOO LATE AT NIGHT, USE THE GAMMA SETTING IN THE GAME OPTIONS TO MAKE THINGS DARKER UNTIL YOU SEE THE ENEMY BARELY WHEN YOUR CREW CALLS IT. Dark gamma settings are actually great to make the game look better, so it's a win-win situation.

The final AVERAGE results I have had so far are more or less as follows:

Clear/cloudy day:

-Excellent visibility (No fog): Crew will spot ships up to 16-18000 metres
-Good visibility (Light fog): Crew will spot ships up to 10-12000 metres

Clear/cloudy night:

-Excellent visibility (No fog): Crew will spot ships up to 8-9000 metres
-Good visibility (Light fog): Crew will spot ships up to 8-9000 metres

Overcast day:

-Excellent visibility (No fog): Crew will spot ships up to 16-18000 metres
-Good visibility (Light fog): Crew will spot ships up to 10-12000 metres
-Medium visibility (Medium fog): Crew will spot ships up to 6-7000 metres
-Bad visibility (Heavy fog): Crew will spot ships up to 1500 metres

Overcast night:

-Excellent visibility (No fog): Crew will spot ships up to 8000 metres
-Good visibility (Light fog): Crew will spot ships up to 8000 metres
-Medium visibility (Medium fog): Crew will spot ships up to 5000 metres
-Bad visibility (Heavy fog): Crew will spot ships up to 1000 metres

In any case, I think that in all situations you will actually SEE what your crew does. Bear in mind in any case that I have limited time to test, and this all is very time consuming, so I wellcome any feedback based on repeated situations (Don't raise your hands to the sky and yell because in one specific situation sensors didn't work as expected, OK?).

Hitman, March 2010

[CapnScurvy]

Originally Posted by cdrsubron7

Just a lucky find on my part, boss. The main question is though, now that we found it, what do we do with it? This "MaxUnitsCreated=100" is a common denominator through out all mis.files in every major mega mod. From the stock mis.files, TMO, OM, right on up the list to what we're working on. I've not checked RFB, but I'm willing to bet the mis.files are the same.

Kinda curious why it's never been brought out before from guys like Ducimus and some of the other great modders we've had around here over the years.

Looking through the Stock game Campaign .mis files I see a lot of instances where the MaxUnitsCreated=100 is used. Now, I'm not so sure this is the parameter that causes the issue.

Although there is one thing that maybe I'm not understanding. The Maximum Units figure might not be the number of "Groups" that's allowed in the particular .mis file...but the actual number of units (individual ship units) allowed within the time frame of each subhunter group.

I'm suspecting you looked in this particular .mis file due to the date you encountered the huge convoy? I'm curious what was that date? When I'm looking through the stock game Campaign files, something of interest is that there is a 42b_JapSubhunters folder (creation date 2/19/2007) with nothing in it? Although, this might be just fine as long as the previous and next groups fill in the gap....and they do

The 42a_JapSubhunters "GameEntryDate" is 19420301; its Exit Date is 19430831.

The 43a_JapSubhunters "GameEntryDate" is 19430901.....just one day after the 42a groups exit date. The exit date for the 43a group is 19440531. The next group, 44a starts 19440601. Seems the entry/exit dates are correct and in order (you have to look out for wrong dates like 19440931...no such date. Sept. only has 30 days in it, yet this error crops up in the stock game many times). So, even though there isn't a 1942b_Subhunters group, the dates match up between the 42a and the 43a.

One other possibility is if the MaxUnitsCreated=100 means no more than 100 ships can be spawned within the 1943a time frame of 19430901 to 19440531.....I counted 70 different groups of two ships each within this time frame. The first group is numbered 001, the last group is 070. I didn't look at them all, but if all groups of two are all spawned together, that's over the 100 unit maximum for the 1943 sub hunter file. I gave a quick look at 41a, 42a, 44a....none of them exceed their max limit of 100 units if they were to all spawned together within their respective time periods.

Is this the issue? I think I'd check the rest of the files for this kind of possibility. If it seems plausible, change the 43a maximum unit created figure to 150 and see what you test out.