[REL] Merchant Skinpack v1 - Page 2

Fish40 · 09-09-09, 08:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sergei

Hi Fish

Earlier today I created another SH4 install. Enabled RFB 1.52 then the skinpack.
Checked out the museum and everything seems to be where it is supposed to be. Did career starts in Pearl, Manilla and Brisbane - no problems noticed.
I'd say you're good to go mate

Oh thanks for the link btw.

That's good news! Already D/L, just waiting to finish patrol and return to port.

tater · 03-20-10, 03:30 PM

Actually, the "stock" nature of the skins in SH4 would not really be much of a problem had they picked the right skins, lol.

The prewar japanese merchant marine effectively was divided roughly into thirds before the start of the war. The IJN took a third, the IJA took a third, and a third remained commercial ships.

2/3 then, got military paint on them, and many of the remaining 1/3 as well, I think most after some point in 1942.

The RL colors tended towards greenish gray, or outright light green with many sporting dazzle paint in IJN/IJA service.

The palette seems to have been a darker green, lighter green, dark gray ("battleship gray," or darker), light gray (like "haze gray"), black, and white.

Images below from Iwashige's excellent site (his book is great, too, though I cannot read most of it

):
http://ww6.enjoy.ne.jp/~iwashige/modellist.htm

Gray:

(IJN aux transport)
Most all oilers early in the war had been commandeered by the IJN, and took gray paint. I saw 1 in Iwashige's book that was green.

Dazzle:

(IJA transport)

Green:

(IJA transport—note the dazzle paint on the inset image)

wartime standard merchant ship (not sure who she belongs to, they came from the yards in this paint, though, I think).

Overall, I like variation, but it should IMO be somewhat rare, and really rare by 1943.

The green and dazzle paint would be the neatest thing to see

I tried some reskins, but clearly I lack your skill, sergei, cause I gave up quickly in utter frustration.

tater · 03-20-10, 05:13 PM

Here's a sample page from the excellent book I referenced. There are hobby stores that sell it for around $45. It's worth every penny.

Note the color chart in that image, BTW.

Another thing is that the ships were heavily armed by SH4 standards, least the IJN/IJA ships. Even in 1942, the Nagara sized units were far more heavily armed than Nagara is.

cdrsubron7 · 03-20-10, 07:29 PM

Very nice job, sergei. Shooting at merchants that look the same all the time is kinda boring. So far, these skins are working very nicely with RFB.

McHibbins · 03-20-10, 07:40 PM

Is it possible to make this as an addition like the "merchant variety pack" once for SH3, not only as an replacement ?

sergei · 03-21-10, 01:29 PM

Sorry Tater, I totally missed your posts in this thread.
There hadn't been any activity on this thread for months, so I stopped checking on it a while back.
Some very interesting stuff you have posted here, and some very good pics.

Unfortunately, as we have already discussed, the dazzle camo is beyond my ability to do. Unless we can find someone who knows how to edit the occlusion maps, we're stymied on that one.

However, I would be happy to redo the skins to be more in line with what you have posted.
Keep about a third of my civillian skins in there for the early part of the war.
Do the rest in a mix of greys and greens, with maybe the civillian skins being phased out as the war progresses.

Thoughts?

EDIT: Oh yeah, and remove the kanji from the ships that have them. I thought it was super cool when I first did it. Now it just annoys the hell out of me whenever I see one.

sergei · 03-21-10, 01:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by McHibbins

Is it possible to make this as an addition like the "merchant variety pack" once for SH3, not only as an replacement ?

Just to clarify, you mean the game would have all the stock skins plus my skins for all ships?
If so, then yes, entirely possible.

tater · 03-21-10, 02:03 PM

I'd certainly be willing to help.

Really, with the roster files all that matters is that there be a lot of skin choices (is there a max number?) and then have almost all end with certain cfg dates.

Alternately, all the "civilian" schemes could be given pre-war cfg dates. They'd have to be specifically chosen in the campaign then to show up, unless the campaign used default cfgs.

IJN paints:

Looks like most prewar schemes had all black hulls (with stripes, etc). Some have a hinomaru on the side, too (I tried that once myself, hard to do).

tater · 03-21-10, 02:11 PM

Many of the dazzle schemes are shades of gray, some are greens.

I think the O-map method can work, but ideally via some sort of template that would allow painting something that looks like a ship, THEN breaking it into all those tiny bits.

Perhaps spraying the paint on a 3d model in some modeling app?

Dunno how that works, it's way out of my league.

sergei · 03-21-10, 02:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tater

Dunno how that works, it's way out of my league.

Mine too I'm afraid. And I don't have access to any 3d model apps.

I don't think there is a max number of entries in the roster file for the skins.

Give me a couple of days. I'll take one ship type and knock up some skins for it.
A few civillian with black hulls, and also one in grey and one in green.

I'll post screenies back here to see what you think.

McHibbins · 03-21-10, 06:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sergei

Just to clarify, you mean the game would have all the stock skins plus my skins for all ships?
If so, then yes, entirely possible.

All stock + yours
Sounds good man

Now I´ll have to find out how

virtualpender · 03-21-10, 08:54 PM

Woohoo! Good news. Can't wait to see the additions. Thanks Sergei and Tater.

tater · 03-21-10, 11:25 PM

Ugh, now I need another japanese book for the library.

$200. Ouch.

I'll have it by next weekend

McHibbins · 03-21-10, 11:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tater

Ugh, now I need another japanese book for the library.

$200. Ouch.

I'll have it by next weekend

And $100 for the translation ?

sergei · 03-22-10, 08:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by McHibbins

All stock + yours
Sounds good man

Now I´ll have to find out how

Sorry McHibbins, I didn't actually mean 'Yeah sure it's possible, now you go figure out how to do it!'

I can knock it up today, just requires some tinkering with the roster files.
I just wanted to make absolutely sure of what you meant before I started work.
Should be ready tomorrow.

03-20-10, 03:30 PM	#17
tater Navy Seal Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: New Mexico, USA Posts: 9,023 Downloads: 8 Uploads: 2	Actually, the "stock" nature of the skins in SH4 would not really be much of a problem had they picked the right skins, lol. The prewar japanese merchant marine effectively was divided roughly into thirds before the start of the war. The IJN took a third, the IJA took a third, and a third remained commercial ships. 2/3 then, got military paint on them, and many of the remaining 1/3 as well, I think most after some point in 1942. The RL colors tended towards greenish gray, or outright light green with many sporting dazzle paint in IJN/IJA service. The palette seems to have been a darker green, lighter green, dark gray ("battleship gray," or darker), light gray (like "haze gray"), black, and white. Images below from Iwashige's excellent site (his book is great, too, though I cannot read most of it ): http://ww6.enjoy.ne.jp/~iwashige/modellist.htm Gray: (IJN aux transport) Most all oilers early in the war had been commandeered by the IJN, and took gray paint. I saw 1 in Iwashige's book that was green. Dazzle: (IJA transport) Green: (IJA transport—note the dazzle paint on the inset image) wartime standard merchant ship (not sure who she belongs to, they came from the yards in this paint, though, I think). Overall, I like variation, but it should IMO be somewhat rare, and really rare by 1943. The green and dazzle paint would be the neatest thing to see I tried some reskins, but clearly I lack your skill, sergei, cause I gave up quickly in utter frustration. Last edited by tater; 03-20-10 at 05:27 PM.

03-20-10, 05:13 PM	#18
tater Navy Seal Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: New Mexico, USA Posts: 9,023 Downloads: 8 Uploads: 2	Here's a sample page from the excellent book I referenced. There are hobby stores that sell it for around $45. It's worth every penny. Note the color chart in that image, BTW. Another thing is that the ships were heavily armed by SH4 standards, least the IJN/IJA ships. Even in 1942, the Nagara sized units were far more heavily armed than Nagara is. Last edited by tater; 03-20-10 at 05:28 PM.

03-20-10, 07:29 PM	#19
cdrsubron7 Sink'em All Join Date: Mar 2001 Location: Naperville, IL Posts: 2,150 Downloads: 305 Uploads: 1	Very nice job, sergei. Shooting at merchants that look the same all the time is kinda boring. So far, these skins are working very nicely with RFB. __________________ Head Deep and Keep'em Astern" - LtCDR Samuel D Dealy SHIV Guide \| Imperial Japanese Navy \| US Submarines

03-20-10, 07:40 PM	#20
McHibbins Seasoned Skipper Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Good old Germany Posts: 739 Downloads: 80 Uploads: 0	Is it possible to make this as an addition like the "merchant variety pack" once for SH3, not only as an replacement ? __________________

03-21-10, 01:29 PM	#21
sergei Sea Lord Join Date: May 2008 Location: London UK Posts: 1,788 Downloads: 405 Uploads: 29	Sorry Tater, I totally missed your posts in this thread. There hadn't been any activity on this thread for months, so I stopped checking on it a while back. Some very interesting stuff you have posted here, and some very good pics. Unfortunately, as we have already discussed, the dazzle camo is beyond my ability to do. Unless we can find someone who knows how to edit the occlusion maps, we're stymied on that one. However, I would be happy to redo the skins to be more in line with what you have posted. Keep about a third of my civillian skins in there for the early part of the war. Do the rest in a mix of greys and greens, with maybe the civillian skins being phased out as the war progresses. Thoughts? EDIT: Oh yeah, and remove the kanji from the ships that have them. I thought it was super cool when I first did it. Now it just annoys the hell out of me whenever I see one. Last edited by sergei; 03-21-10 at 03:29 PM.

03-21-10, 02:03 PM	#23
tater Navy Seal Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: New Mexico, USA Posts: 9,023 Downloads: 8 Uploads: 2	I'd certainly be willing to help. Really, with the roster files all that matters is that there be a lot of skin choices (is there a max number?) and then have almost all end with certain cfg dates. Alternately, all the "civilian" schemes could be given pre-war cfg dates. They'd have to be specifically chosen in the campaign then to show up, unless the campaign used default cfgs. IJN paints: Looks like most prewar schemes had all black hulls (with stripes, etc). Some have a hinomaru on the side, too (I tried that once myself, hard to do).

03-21-10, 02:11 PM	#24
tater Navy Seal Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: New Mexico, USA Posts: 9,023 Downloads: 8 Uploads: 2	Many of the dazzle schemes are shades of gray, some are greens. I think the O-map method can work, but ideally via some sort of template that would allow painting something that looks like a ship, THEN breaking it into all those tiny bits. Perhaps spraying the paint on a 3d model in some modeling app? Dunno how that works, it's way out of my league.

03-21-10, 08:54 PM	#27
virtualpender Sonar Guy Join Date: Apr 2007 Posts: 381 Downloads: 281 Uploads: 0	Woohoo! Good news. Can't wait to see the additions. Thanks Sergei and Tater.

03-21-10, 11:25 PM	#28
tater Navy Seal Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: New Mexico, USA Posts: 9,023 Downloads: 8 Uploads: 2	Ugh, now I need another japanese book for the library. $200. Ouch. I'll have it by next weekend