SH3 Commander Real Ship Names

[Solyom2]

Hello!

I play the GWX 3.0 with the Commander, I really like reading the subk ships' name in the patrol log. A few days ago I found a good website: uboat.net

I dont know how many ships are registered in the Commander mod, but there are a lot of allied merchant and warships on their list, and as I checked, there are names, that aren't in the Commander's database.

So, I would like to add these new ships (merchant- warships), but I dont know how it works.

As I see, there are classes like:
NECT=GenericMerchantsAndTankers
NACG=GenericMerchantsAndTankers
NACG_early=GenericMerchantsAndTankers
NKSS_CAT=M36B
SVTugBoatA=NSVA

But I dont know what it means. These are "Empire-type freighters", or ships between 3000-5000 BRT?

Is it important what was the ship's "nationality". It would be funny to sink the "SS Washinton" under british flag.
Or the names and flags are assigned by the game full random?

Thx for your help!

[Aktungbby]

Solyom2!on the surface after a long silent run.

[Sailor Steve]

Originally Posted by Solyom2

A few days ago I found a good website: uboat.net

Uboat.net has been a valued resource for many years now. It is my primary source for WW1 captains lists in the '100 Years Ago Today' thread in General Topics, and is well known here. It doesn't get mentioned a lot these days, so congratulations on finding it and thanks for bringing it up.

I dont know how many ships are registered in the Commander mod, but there are a lot of allied merchant and warships on their list, and as I checked, there are names, that aren't in the Commander's database.

About 3,500. If, however you use my Ship Names Mod, which I worked on regularly from 2008 until 2012, you'll find more than 12,000 names organized into categories representing real ship types as well.

Is it important what was the ship's "nationality". It would be funny to sink the "SS Washinton" under british flag.

That is exactly why I started the Ship Names Mod eight years ago. I sank as small British tanker and it was given the name 'SS President Jefferson', of which there were only two - a C2 freighter and a big passenger liner. I created my mod with the express purpose of reducing the chances of that. With my newest update I created new class names for all of IABL's Merchant Fleet Mod so there wouldn't be class names like 'M10B'.

I have been meaning to go back and do the same for the classes that came with the game, but I've been too busy with new projects. Maybe someday.

Or the names and flags are assigned by the game full random?

For the classes that came with the game they are indeed assigned at random. Jaesen Jones (creator of SH3 Commander) tried to create individual classes for all nations, but it was too big and the game would crash every time. SH4 could handle that nicely, but Jaesen had no interest in making a new version of Commander for that game. In SH3 we work with what we have.

[Solyom2]

Aktungbby

Thank you! I just downloaded mods yet.

Thanks for your answer!

Can I have 2 other question?

1. Do I need the Merchant Fleet Mod to use your mod? Is it possible with GWX?
2. How can I install it? Do I need to copy-past the list of the ships (that is in the readme file) and put it in the Englishnames.cfg in SH3 folder?

[Sailor Steve]

Originally Posted by Solyom2

1. Do I need the Merchant Fleet Mod to use your mod? Is it possible with GWX?

The Ship Names mod requires SH3 Commander, and will work with any supermod or no supermod at all. It does not require the Merchant Fleet Mod, but most of the new ship names are meant for ships in that mod. If you're not using it you're missing out on a lot of cool ship models.

2. How can I install it? Do I need to copy-past the list of the ships (that is in the readme file) and put it in the Englishnames.cfg in SH3 folder?

The readme that comes with the mod explains it. Just open the SH3 Commander/Cfg folders and replace the existing Ship Names.cfg file with the one from my mod.

The Englishnames.cfg file in the SH3/Sea is only useful if you're using the Merchant Fleet Mod, as it only changes the class names for ships in that mod. If you don't use the MFM you don't need to replace the Englishnames file.

[Solyom2]

I downlaoded and instaleed the MFM and skin packs with JSGME, but I have few problems.

I copypaste your ship list into the Englishnames.cfg

When I found parities like:

M02B=Medium Cargo 2
M02B=Brandanger Class Merchant

I delete the first origin one, so only yours remained.
But when I open the ingame Ship Handbook, there are few unassigned classes:
M39A
M02X
Q01B
MLaunchB1
MLaunchB2
SLaunch01

I see the picture about ship, but there is no name. I was looking for these classes in every (old and new) cfg. files, but I didn't find them.
They are in MFM as I see, but they arent in any cfg

The other thing: When I load the Museum, the game crashes

Here's my mod list:
http://s33.postimg.org/fetenwpan/sh3.jpg

I hope Im'not so annoying with my complains.

[Solyom2]

Would you upload your englishnames.cfg file somewhere? 7
I suppose you have the right version, cause I totally made something wrong, my game always crashes with MFM.

[Sailor Steve]

Originally Posted by Solyom2

When I found parities like:

M02B=Medium Cargo 2
M02B=Brandanger Class Merchant

I delete the first origin one, so only yours remained.

That is correct. You need to delete all the original ones, or the game will get confused.

But when I open the ingame Ship Handbook, there are few unassigned classes:
M39A

I have found no American ships that looked like this model, so I couldn't assign names to it. Unfortunately that happens sometimes. There may not have been any.

M02X

Good catch! I tied M02X to M02B for naming purposes, but forgot to give it a class name. I've added it to my listing here.

Q01B

That is Jimbuna's Q-Ship mod. I think it has names enclosed within the mod itself, but I'll have to do some more research.

MLaunchB1
MLaunchB2
SLaunch01

Those motor and steam launches have nothing to do with me. They are too small to have names, and I don't believe I've ever even looked at them.

I hope Im'not so annoying with my complains.

Never. I like to get things right, and the only way to find out I'm wrong is to have someone else point it out. Never be afraid to ask any questions you have.

[Solyom2]

Finally, I managed to make it work.

Are there more neutral ships in MFM? I found a merchant ship, heading to a british port. There was no flag on it, only an irish flag painted on her hull. I dont know if its enemy ship, but the max accelarate was 32x, so I figured out.

I suppose, in MFM, I can sunk neutral ships without penalty? Or these are enemy ships, that look like neutral (no flag for example).

It's a little tricky to figure out what is the ship's nationality.

[Sailor Steve]

Originally Posted by Solyom2

Are there more neutral ships in MFM? I found a merchant ship, heading to a british port. There was no flag on it, only an irish flag painted on her hull. I dont know if its enemy ship, but the max accelarate was 32x, so I figured out.

That's something I would never do. It just doesn't feel right to me.

Are you playing GWX? If so, there is a pull-down chart in the periscope station that lists all the nations, shows all their flags and when they are friendly, enemy or neutral.

I suppose, in MFM, I can sunk neutral ships without penalty? Or these are enemy ships, that look like neutral (no flag for example).

MFM doesn't change the penalty for sinking neutral ships. You have to figure it out, or guess.

There is a way to change the penalties and rewards. In the folder SH3/Data/Cfg there is a file called Basic.cfg. It will open with NotePad. Right at the top is this line:

[RENOWN]

In that section you will see the following lines:
NEUTRAL=-1
ALLIED=1
AXIS=-10

Of course that is to discourage you from sinking neutral and especially friendly ships. If you change those numbers you will change the reward/penalty for sinking those ships. Some people change it to give themselves a reward no matter what they sink. I'm not quite that easy on myself. In real life captains who did sink neutral ships were never punished, and the couple of times they accidentally friendly ships it turned out that those ships were where they weren't supposed to be (i.e. Allied shipping lanes) or disguised as Allied ships and flying one of those flags, no kaleun was ever punished for sinking those ships either.

For this reason I changed mine to read:

NEUTRAL=0
ALLIED=1
AXIS=-1

While I don't get punished for sinking a neutral ship, I also don't get rewarded, so those torpedoes or gun shells are wasted. That's enough to get me to try to avoid neutrals without suffering unduly for a mistake.

[nissa23]

Originally Posted by Aktungbby

Solyom2!on the surface after a long silent run.

what is it.?

[Solyom2]

So, I finished my 1st aptrol. These neutral ships seem too much lucky for me.

I encountered 7 ships, most of them haven't got any flag. Is it okay? It seems ahistorical for me, however, Im not an expert.

Anyway, I met 3 ships, without any flag, or even hull paint, they were darkened. They were headingtoward english ports, so I sank them. They were 2 allied, and 1 neutral ship.
But I don't know how I should figure it out.

There's any way to put national flags on these MFM ships? Any setting in the files?

Do you have some tricks to recognize the neutral ships?

Anyway, nice mod, and You did a good job with those ship names!

[Sailor Steve]

Originally Posted by Solyom2

So, I finished my 1st aptrol. These neutral ships seem too much lucky for me.

I encountered 7 ships, most of them haven't got any flag. Is it okay? It seems ahistorical for me, however, Im not an expert.

You don't say what period you're playing in. If it's the beginning of the war then there will indeed be a lot of neutrals. Part of the problem was that German High Command were still unclear on their policy. One day the U-boats would receive orders to sink only British warships. The next day it would be merchants, but not passenger liners. They were still hoping they might convince Britain to stay out of the war. The policy on French shipping was even worse. It took awhile for them to decide on one thing or the other, and the kaleuns received a lot of conflicting orders.

Basically, if it has a flag and a name painted on the side, leave it alone.

Anyway, I met 3 ships, without any flag, or even hull paint, they were darkened. They were headingtoward english ports, so I sank them. They were 2 allied, and 1 neutral ship.
But I don't know how I should figure it out.

Nor does anyone else, myself included. I consider it to be part of the fun. By and large, if I can't identify the ship from the periscope I let it go. There will always be others. Then again, I've been playing subsims since 1987, and I no longer feel the need to beat the game. A great many U-boat skippers never even saw an enemy ship, let alone sank one. If I come home with only one kill, or sometimes even none, I live with it. That's what feels realistic to me.

But that's just me, and I don't expect anybody else to feel that way.

There's any way to put national flags on these MFM ships? Any setting in the files?

Not that I know of, or IABL would have put them on his ships. That said, I know next to nothing about how the game does what it does, so it may just be that no one has ever bothered.

Do you have some tricks to recognize the neutral ships?

Nope. Other than what I said about the flags on the hulls, I can't think of a one. As I said, if I don't know for certain it's an enemy, I let it go.

Anyway, nice mod, and You did a good job with those ship names!

Thank you. I still have several thousand names in my lists, and I do mean to get back to it someday. I've just been so busy the last couple of years that I haven't had time.

[HW3]

Sailor Steve; Thanks for the explanation on the englishnames.cfg list. I either missed it the first time you mentioned it, or didn't understand it. I have now fixed mine.

[Solyom2]

I play in 1939 yet.

I like this mod?
Are there any other mod which add new ships and skins to the game? And compatible with GWX 3.0 and the Ship Names?

I read about a GWX Unit pack and a GWX skin pack. Are they good?