No Ship Contacts In Aleutians

[cdrsubron7]

I've been working on a mission that takes place in the Aleutians and have not seen one Japanese ship generated by the game engine. Are there any limitations as to where the game engine generates the ships in SHIV? Almost everywhere else when I slap a submarine in the water and go into the game to see how it works, I'll see ships contacts being generated on the map. Not so, around Attu and Kiska Islands. Sofar the only ships I've seen are the ones I manually place in the mission I'm creating. Anyone got any info on something like this?





cdrsubron7

[sergbuto]

You can easily see all the ship traffic areas when you open campaign files in the mission editor. That's where from the game generates ships.

[cdrsubron7]

Originally Posted by sergbuto

You can easily see all the ship traffic areas when you open campaign files in the mission editor. That's where from the game generates ships.

Thanks for taking the time to answer my question, sergbuto. I've just the last few minutes looking through the Campaign Files and there doesn't seem to be anything for the Aleutians. But from the look off things you could actually add a campaign file to do this correct? Is this possible?




cdrsubron7 :hmm:

[tater]

They grouped ships by year, and by the type of group. 1-2 merchant traffic, convoys, TFs, sub hunter groups, etc.

So for the year (half year in the 42a vs 42b type cases) you open they type you wanyt (these need to be opened as RANDOM layers, BTW) and look at what's inside. You can right click to add a new random group, at which point you'll get a menue to populat the group with ships along with % chance for each ship to happen, etc. Make waypoints to Attu or wherever, and there you go.

tater

[cdrsubron7]

Originally Posted by tater

They grouped ships by year, and by the type of group. 1-2 merchant traffic, convoys, TFs, sub hunter groups, etc.

So for the year (half year in the 42a vs 42b type cases) you open they type you wanyt (these need to be opened as RANDOM layers, BTW) and look at what's inside. You can right click to add a new random group, at which point you'll get a menue to populat the group with ships along with % chance for each ship to happen, etc. Make waypoints to Attu or wherever, and there you go.

tater

Thanks tater for your help. You make it sound so easy, but I've only been playing around the ME for about a week and a half. I haven't fully got the ME totally understood yet. I'm understanding pretty much everthing you mentioned, but the random layer. What are they, so forth and so on?




cdrsubron7 :hmm:

[tater]

Most of the files in the campaign layers (Data/Campaigns/Campaign) are "random layers." That means you should launch the editor and "Open Rnd Layer" then select one. They are the guys with names like:

41a_Jap_Convoys.mis
41a_Jap_SubHunters.mis

The missions with "BattleofXXXX" are "scripted" layers.

Anyway, if you open them up and save them the wrong way, wierd things happen. I saved Campaign_LOC.mis the wrong way and made it disappear, lol. If you are unsure, do what I did, make a copy of the entire Campaign folder someplace safe .

Anyway, you can right click on the random groups (yellow with a ? on them) and select group properties for stuff liek speed, chance of occurence, etc. Alternately, you can select "Define Group Contents" which will give you the ability to edit what kinds of ships are in that group, their skill level, cargo type, etc.

If you right click in the middle of no place, you can add a new random group. To add traffic someplace that's what you'd do.

[cdrsubron7]

Originally Posted by tater

Most of the files in the campaign layers (Data/Campaigns/Campaign) are "random layers." That means you should launch the editor and "Open Rnd Layer" then select one. They are the guys with names like:

41a_Jap_Convoys.mis
41a_Jap_SubHunters.mis

The missions with "BattleofXXXX" are "scripted" layers.

Anyway, if you open them up and save them the wrong way, wierd things happen. I saved Campaign_LOC.mis the wrong way and made it disappear, lol. If you are unsure, do what I did, make a copy of the entire Campaign folder someplace safe .

Anyway, you can right click on the random groups (yellow with a ? on them) and select group properties for stuff liek speed, chance of occurence, etc. Alternately, you can select "Define Group Contents" which will give you the ability to edit what kinds of ships are in that group, their skill level, cargo type, etc.

If you right click in the middle of no place, you can add a new random group. To add traffic someplace that's what you'd do.

Thanks, tater. Appreciate your help.






cdrsubron7

[sergbuto]

I have not done any work on the campaign files yet but by the look of it, it should be possible to add additional layers/files. That is the way I am going to take if I ever work on the campaign. This will likely make my additions compatible with any modifications by other modders and make it easy to do any revisions of those additions.

[eweber]

One trick i found while poking around is to "merge" traffic files from campaign folder into my current mission file. Just be sure not to check the "save merged' box or you'll have big problems.

This allows you to place your ship traffic in a way that doesn't interfere with the default traffic.

Another great help is the merge the "Campaign_LOC.mis" file into you mission file. This will display all the port layouts so you can start at the right dock if you wish.

I.E. i merged "Campaign_LOC.mis" and "US_HarborTraffic.mis" and was able to see all the harbor docks and docked AI ships so was able to place my sub right in the exact spot i wanted...

-ew

[Egan]

Originally Posted by sergbuto

I have not done any work on the campaign files yet but by the look of it, it should be possible to add additional layers/files. That is the way I am going to take if I ever work on the campaign. This will likely make my additions compatible with any modifications by other modders and make it easy to do any revisions of those additions.

Yeah, adding new layers is pretty easy; once you have created a new .mis file you simply add an entry to the campaign.cfgin the campaign folder like this:

[Section 88]
FileName=data/Campaigns/Campaign/SolomonIslands.mis
StartDate=19430101
EndDate=19430801
GameModes=SinglePatrol,Career
InclusionProbability=100
MinimumDifficultyRating=0
MinimumPlayerRating=-3
EntryFocalPointLong=0
EntryFocalPointLat=0
MaximumDistanceFromStartPoint=90000
ExclusiveLayer=No
ExclusiveLayerID=0

Virtually all the variables are the same for every entry, except the name and the dates. Personally, I would like to know what

MaximumDistanceFromStartPoint=90000

Actually does.

Another tip for campaign editing is to do everything to new .mis files and merge with existing layers when you need too. I know it's only a tiny little tip but it has helped me out a number of times.

[Jmack]

when you have that aleutians mission ready ... let us know

oh ... i forgot i found some maps that have some routes of japanese ships around the aleutians in some specific dates

[cdrsubron7]

Originally Posted by Jmack

when you have that aleutians mission ready ... let us know

oh ... i forgot i found some maps that have some routes of japanese ships around the aleutians in some specific dates

Hi Jmack. If your interested in the missions I made in the Aleutians and want to try it you can d/l it at the following location.


It's called "Aleutian Encounter".





cdrsubron7