[REL] FOTRS Ultimate Project

[gutted]

Even though it's just an early beta, I'm playing FOTRSU as my main install and enjoying it greatly. I was never a fan of TMO, so in the past i usually just used various mods to fix what i disliked about the stock game. .ie better persicopes, a useable radar screen, and many many other things that i had to merge together. In FOTRSU it's all there and i don't have to do anything. I've done very very little in the way of customizing the mod.

It's awesome sauce.

[Rockin Robbins]

Originally Posted by gutted

Even though it's just an early beta, I'm playing FOTRSU as my main install and enjoying it greatly. I was never a fan of TMO, so in the past i usually just used various mods to fix what i disliked about the stock game. .ie better persicopes, a useable radar screen, and many many other things that i had to merge together. In FOTRSU it's all there and i don't have to do anything. I've done very very little in the way of customizing the mod.

It's awesome sauce.

I consider yours a very high level endorsement. We still have a ways to go before we can call the base mod parked and can go on to plugins. But we're proud of where we are!

[ValoWay]

Originally Posted by gutted

Even though it's just an early beta, I'm playing FOTRSU as my main install and enjoying it greatly. I was never a fan of TMO, so in the past i usually just used various mods to fix what i disliked about the stock game. .ie better persicopes, a useable radar screen, and many many other things that i had to merge together. In FOTRSU it's all there and i don't have to do anything. I've done very very little in the way of customizing the mod.

It's awesome sauce.

Oh? As long as it doesn't crash often I would then try it out, too! I have had a lot of issues getting sh3 to run without crashes recently which is why I started to toy with TMO. I'm not sure if it is TMO or vanilla but the dark blue water looks really weird to me. It's very nice when it is grey and storming but good weather makes the sea look odd to me. Another thing I have noticed is that the gar class creates very ugly (clunky) bow splashes.

[CapnScurvy]

Originally Posted by ValoWay

As long as it doesn't crash often I would then try it out, too! I have had a lot of issues getting sh3 to run without crashes recently which is why I started to toy with TMO. I'm not sure if it is TMO or vanilla but the dark blue water looks really weird to me.

It's TMO, the stock game kept the water color of SHIII.

Coming from the North Atlantic as you are with SHIII, the water looks grey, washed out........you know you're in the South Pacific with the deep blue water color change!?!

Regarding CTD's........ you've not mentioned what OS your computer uses, or how much memory your system has?

If you have at least 4 gigs of RAM memory, are you using Large Address Aware (LAA)? By all means, follow the threads instruction and put it to use on SH4 (and SHIII). Both of these games are more than cousins....their attached at the hip! Both developed nearly 15 years ago when 2 gigs of system RAM was considered "overkill" in a computer. Put your memory to use with these old games by using LAA.

[Rockin Robbins]

Originally Posted by ValoWay

the dark blue water looks really weird to me. It's very nice when it is grey and storming but good weather makes the sea look odd to me.

The thing about the sea is that it's every color of the rainbow. There IS NO correct color for the ocean. I can show you 50 different photos of completely different-looking sea. And I've seen a lot of times where the ocean looks PRECISELY like TMO ocean. And that's in the Atlantic. We're not going to waste our time fixing something that's unfixable because of lack of variability in SH4 parameters.

And three things are most important about a World War II submarine simulator: gameplay, gameplay and gameplay. Water color, out of the top 3 will never be a priority.

[KaleunMarco]

Originally Posted by Rockin Robbins

The thing about the sea is that it's every color of the rainbow. There IS NO correct color for the ocean. I can show you 50 different photos of completely different-looking sea. And I've seen a lot of times where the ocean looks PRECISELY like TMO ocean. And that's in the Atlantic. We're not going to waste our time fixing something that's unfixable because of lack of variability in SH4 parameters.

And three things are most important about a World War II submarine simulator: gameplay, gameplay and gameplay. Water color, out of the top 3 will never be a priority.

Amen, brother.

[ValoWay]

Originally Posted by Rockin Robbins

The thing about the sea is that it's every color of the rainbow. There IS NO correct color for the ocean. I can show you 50 different photos of completely different-looking sea. And I've seen a lot of times where the ocean looks PRECISELY like TMO ocean. And that's in the Atlantic. We're not going to waste our time fixing something that's unfixable because of lack of variability in SH4 parameters.

And three things are most important about a World War II submarine simulator: gameplay, gameplay and gameplay. Water color, out of the top 3 will never be a priority.

Yea please, continue working on a mod which is trying to reach gwx's greatness! I've played countless of hours sh3 but only a few of sh4 every now and then and compared to sh3 that dark blue water in sh4 looks weird to me but that shouldn't stop you from doing what you think is right! I'm probably just used to the sh3 ocean and subconsciously confused by sh4's, haha

[torpedobait]

I've run the last few patrols with only the single barrel 40MM AA guns. Thinking I really wanted those twins, I experimented as follows:
1. In Port (the Office after my last mission completed), loaded an Aft Twin 40 with a single barrel 40 at the fore position, launched a new patrol from outside the port, manned the Aft Twin 40mm gun and test fired into the air. Worked fine. Reloaded the previous Office.
2. Replaced the Aft Twin 40 with a single and replaced the Fore AA single 40mm with a Twin 40, launched the same patrol (to recon Tokyo harbor) from outside the port, performed a test fire of the Twin 40 into the air. Again, worked fine. So I go back and reload the same Office I started with.
3. Next I replace both fore and aft single 40mms with Twin 40's. I launch the recon patrol for the third time, test fire both AA guns from the patrol starting position, and they work just fine! Ah, sweet victory.
4. Now I load the Office (in Port) that I started with, Add the Twin 40's (at 1,000 renown each time I add one), save the configuration with the twin 40's, start the patrol, and move about 60Nm off Midway, a point I like to use to make a cautionary save before starting across the Pacific. Feeling brave, I have the crew man the AA guns as before, go myself to the Aft gun, and test fire. Immediate CTD! The last time I reported a CTD it was at the point of firing the Fore AA gun, so position doesn't seem to be a factor.

So why should it work at the patrol start position (outside the harbor) but CTD 60 Nm out of port? Sure would like to see someone diagnose this one. You can see my current configuration in my signature.


On the subject of the Tokyo recon mission, while the written orders say to recon Tokyo harbor and take pictures if possible, the actual destination shown on the mission map is quite a bit south of Tokyo. The target destination Star is on Yaizu, about 95 miles south of the entrance to Tokyo Bay. Just thought you'd like to know.

[propbeanie]

Originally Posted by torpedobait

...
So why should it work at the patrol start position (outside the harbor) but CTD 60 Nm out of port? Sure would like to see someone diagnose this one. You can see my current configuration in my signature.


On the subject of the Tokyo recon mission, while the written orders say to recon Tokyo harbor and take pictures if possible, the actual destination shown on the mission map is quite a bit south of Tokyo. The target destination Star is on Yaizu, about 95 miles south of the entrance to Tokyo Bay. Just thought you'd like to know.

CapnScurvy is working on the twin, and hopes to have a solution for the next version. It sounds like it might be at least a two-fold issue - crewing and equipment. We'll see.

As for the Recon missions, those have not been edited at all as of yet. The next beta release, we hope to have those completely disabled. They will be available at a later date as a Mod, after editing. If you choose a Narwhal, you are automatically put in the OPS flotilla, and you'll get about half of your missions as Insert, or Photo kind of missions. There are like 15 or 18 Photo missions, and a regular sub has a chance to get them also, especially that infamous Hiroshima on the 2nd patrol out of Pearl... The Inserts are staying for now... Just be aware that the camera button does not fully light up when it is enabled. You might notice, especially in a really dark envirnment, that it faintly lights up when you are "locked" on a valid target. It practically blinds you when you hover over it with the mouse. Also, the sound the camera button plays when pressed while locked on a valid target is not very loud either. Needless to say, it can be rather difficult to get "positive" feedback, and be aware that you mission might be complete (and again, CapnScurvy is working on this - but don't expect miracles).

[torpedobait]

Originally Posted by propbeanie

CapnScurvy is working on the twin, and hopes to have a solution for the next version. It sounds like it might be at least a two-fold issue - crewing and equipment. We'll see.

As for the Recon missions, those have not been edited at all as of yet. The next beta release, we hope to have those completely disabled. They will be available at a later date as a Mod, after editing. If you choose a Narwhal, you are automatically put in the OPS flotilla, and you'll get about half of your missions as Insert, or Photo kind of missions. There are like 15 or 18 Photo missions, and a regular sub has a chance to get them also, especially that infamous Hiroshima on the 2nd patrol out of Pearl... The Inserts are staying for now... Just be aware that the camera button does not fully light up when it is enabled. You might notice, especially in a really dark envirnment, that it faintly lights up when you are "locked" on a valid target. It practically blinds you when you hover over it with the mouse. Also, the sound the camera button plays when pressed while locked on a valid target is not very loud either. Needless to say, it can be rather difficult to get "positive" feedback, and be aware that you mission might be complete (and again, CapnScurvy is working on this - but don't expect miracles).

Thank you! I really appreciate all the hard work the team is doing on this. I'm still running my first career in the last published version (up to October 1944 now, and having a blast). I was lurking in the Surigao Strait on the 24th and encountered two IJN battle groups, one with 2 Mogami and a Naka, plus 5 DDs, and the other with two Fuso and one Mogami, with too many DDs. Sank two of the Mogamis, the Naka, three DDs, and damaged a Fuso with my last three torpedos. I managed to escape by hugging the shoreline along Leyte until the last of the DDs and the two Fusos cleared the area. Now I'm going to do the photo recon mission, only because it is still there. What fun!

[CapnScurvy]

Originally Posted by torpedobait

SH4v1.5; Large Address Aware; 4 Gb Patch; FOTARS Ultimate Beta v0.52, Lite Fog v2 + 300' Underwater Visibility, and Sub Ambient Interior (All running under GameBooster 4);

Hardware: Falcon-Northwest Mach V, Intel(R) Core(TM) i7CPU 975@ 3.33GHz, 12Gb RAM, Win7 Pro 64-bit, NVIDIA GeForce GTX970

Torpedobait, when I look at your computer specs......why are you using Large Address Aware AND the 4 gig Patch?

You should only use one or the other, not both.

I like LAA, its my personal choice for getting more memory to run in a game/program (like SH4) that wasn't designed to use more than 2 gigs of RAM memory. In the case of thinking doing "more is better"......using both of these memory access app's is not the thing to do. And, the "GameBooster 4"?!? What's it do?

I would do a couple of things.

Completely uninstall/reinstall the game, including the Documents/"SH4" folder. I don't know if using both memory app's causes issues or not with each other, but I'd start from scratch. I'd only use LAA (again my choice), and make sure its configured correctly. Follow this thread "Windows10; Large Address Aware; SH4 Install" to get the game installed in the proper folder, and LAA enabled. Follow the advice to check if LAA is properly installed in the games "sh4.exe". Windows7 and Windows10 is close enough to each other that the difference shouldn't be a problem with the tutorial's instructions.

Secondly, please use only FOTRSU v.52 when reporting on what you find to be issues. Having several other mods running along with FOTRS Ultimate doesn't give us much of an idea what is wrong when an issue pops up. We can't run every mod found, checking their compatibility with Ultimate, before trying to figure what caused an issue.

[torpedobait]

Originally Posted by propbeanie

CapnScurvy is working on the twin, and hopes to have a solution for the next version. It sounds like it might be at least a two-fold issue - crewing and equipment. We'll see.

As for the Recon missions, those have not been edited at all as of yet. The next beta release, we hope to have those completely disabled. They will be available at a later date as a Mod, after editing. If you choose a Narwhal, you are automatically put in the OPS flotilla, and you'll get about half of your missions as Insert, or Photo kind of missions. There are like 15 or 18 Photo missions, and a regular sub has a chance to get them also, especially that infamous Hiroshima on the 2nd patrol out of Pearl... The Inserts are staying for now... Just be aware that the camera button does not fully light up when it is enabled. You might notice, especially in a really dark envirnment, that it faintly lights up when you are "locked" on a valid target. It practically blinds you when you hover over it with the mouse. Also, the sound the camera button plays when pressed while locked on a valid target is not very loud either. Needless to say, it can be rather difficult to get "positive" feedback, and be aware that you mission might be complete (and again, CapnScurvy is working on this - but don't expect miracles).

This new info might help CapnScurvy: I reloaded the last save in the Office, and set out on the recon mission with two Twin 40's. I was able to personally test fire both guns just fine, but later in the mission as I approached Honshu, we were spotted by a Betty. I called for General Quarters and made sure the crew disposition had a gunner for each AA gun slot (there is only one slot available for each, as noted before). However, when I looked at the two guns from the bridge, there were NO visible crewmen manning the guns. At the point the Betty came into range, presumably when the "absent" crewmen opened fire, I got the CTD. My thinking is that it is definitely crew related, but that may not be all, since sometimes the test firing also results in a CTD, and other times it doesn't. Not pressing for a quick solution; just wanted to make the added info available. Thanks.

[CapnScurvy]

Ok. thanks Torpedobait. I'm getting the guns corrected. Lots of trial and error. But, they are getting corrected. You'll have the duel manned guns work as expected, single too.

I'm going to have the main Deck Gun set up for having the "basic" 3.50 cal Stern Mount for all subs, all time periods. As Captain, you'll go to the Equipment Management screen while in the Captain's Office (in port) to make changes to this "basic" setup. Specific time periods will allow for specific upgrades to the Deck Gun such as 3.50 Bow Mount, or the 5.25 Bow Mount, or a 5.25 Twin Mounting. If you want to go back to a Stern Mount gun, it will be there too. The cost will be Renown. My tests have been positive with this kind of structure, so I'll be doing the same for the AA guns.

I've also put a four man crew for all Deck Gun operations. Coupled with adding Gunnery Qualifications to the base crew, you should see a difference with how the armament situation for the subs work. I'm hoping to eliminate issues that stem during mid Campaign Upgrades too, due to crossed dates between the different pieces of equipment.....Radar, Torpedoes etc.

[gutted]

I can't seem to get anywhere near a task force on the surface. Their escorts always peel away and come straight at me when i get within 6-9 miles

Is it my radar or theirs?

[cdrsubron7]

Originally Posted by gutted

I can't seem to get anywhere near a task force on the surface. Their escorts always peel away and come straight at me when i get within 6-9 miles

Is it my radar or theirs?

This has happened to me also, I can't get near a task force. You've probably heard the word super DDs used around here on occasion, this is the meaning. This all stems from FOTRS 2.0 and the multiplayer values they use. We haven't quite figured out what settings need to be changed yet. or if it is some particular ships that are the culprits. I've had the DDs peel off in a binding rain storm and head directly at me. Like we keep saying, FOTRSU is a work in progress.