[REL] FOTRS Ultimate Project

[yyzBegonia]

Originally Posted by fitzcarraldo

Did you try the Webster´s mod for pigboats? Using it in GFO, the times of diving and surface seem accurate (as real as gets...).

Regards.

Fitzcarraldo

Hi Fitzcarraldo! What's that mod's exact name? I search it but didn't find anything related......

[fitzcarraldo]

Originally Posted by yyzBegonia

Hi Fitzcarraldo! What's that mod's exact name? I search it but didn't find anything related......

Here:

http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/show...=157608&page=4


http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=152897

All the Webster´s mods:

http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/show...utorial&page=5


Regards.

Fitzcarraldo

[yyzBegonia]

Originally Posted by fitzcarraldo

Here:

http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/show...=157608&page=4


http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=152897

All the Webster´s mods:

http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/show...utorial&page=5


Regards.

Fitzcarraldo

Got it! Thanks a lot!

[Gewehr 43]

Good morning, everyone. I'm getting back into SH4 after a very long hiatus and am using FOTRSU. So far, on my third patrol as the skipper of the Harder, I'm having a grand old time.

I have a couple of questions with respect to the mod and its functionality.

1. My play style is "dead is dead" and I've left a couple of early-war boats on the bottom of the Pacific thanks to aircraft. Without radar, is there a reliable way to avoid aircraft?

2. In reading this thread, I see that minefields and torpedo nets are modeled in the game. I know the Navy had at least partial information on minefields during the course of the war. Do we, as captains have any intel on them?

3. My damage control team doesn't seem to do anything. I've got the team staffed with fresh people, the damage control team is activated (or I'm at battle stations), and I've prioritized a lightly-damaged subsystem, yet the damage never gets repaired. Is there something I'm missing?

4. Do promotions and/or medals actually mean anything?

Thanks for the team's efforts on this mod. It strikes a pretty perfect balance of gameplay, realism, and challenge for my play style and I'm really enjoying it!

[propbeanie]

OK Gewehr 43,

1. No... put the best "Watchmen" on the deck-watch team. On the crew page, find the "qualified" fellows with the highest Watchman and Leadership abilities (without "Leadership", they are apparently mutes). The game doesn't always give you the best watch crew, and sometimes they're downright incompetent, not warning of an aircraft until the dropped bomb has landed in your bunk and exploded, and you get the now-infamous "We're under attack, sir!"...

2. At this time, intel on the nets and minefields is sadly lacking, but we do expect our "spies" to be able to update things, hopefully soon, on some of that intel. We do have to get some portable radio sets out into the field. Be prepared for a Spec Op mission next... Trying to figure out a useable way to display it is a bit of a problem. If we use one of the in-game pull-out maps, we can't show changes over the course of the war, and trying to draw on the Navigation map is NOT the easiest thing I've tried to do... We'll work something out.

3. Are you on Silent Running? That will bring all noise making to a halt, including the pumps. Also, bulwark damage is not repairable by your team. If you're leaking, and the pumps can't keep up, sometimes the only option is to come up in depth a little, to lessen the pressure on the leak. Anything external is not repairable from the interior, so you might have to surface to fix certain things, and even then may not be able to do so. Also, several "systems" can't be fixed if they're damaged beyond a certain percentage, like 80% or more.

4. Yes, they do (in theory). Supposedly, you'll get a newer boat sooner, if you score high and / or get promotions. Promotions can also happen just over the course of time. I haven't been promoted very often in the game, since I seem to "die" every career, sometimes not even finishing one patrol... I'm also not real familiar with this aspect of the game, but CapnScurvy or someone else might have more details. Just remember, pinning those medals on your shirt pocket can be hazardous. Do be careful of the "sharipies"...

[yyzBegonia]

I just manage to attack a huge task force..... Range was pretty long away and I only got two hits on the CA, the obsolete MK10 torpedo failed to sink it but made it dead in the water. Then it's time of revenge. I suffered a 2 hours DC attack by 3 DDs, however, I'm still alive, but things becomes weird when the whole task force was totally stopped for the CA and all ships just wait in place dumbly in the 2 hours......
The AI of task forces or convoys still seem have to be improved..... If they do the same thing in reality the commander of this TF will be kicked on his ass and been cursed as Baka by his superior. This would make the TF fall in to risks of been attacked by possible other subs and defer their stipulated arriving times, as we all know that Japanese guys concern it a lot. They should keep on their voyage, leave 1 or 2 DDs to expel my sub and shuffle the lost-powered CA, shouldn't they?

[yyzBegonia]

Ummmmmm..... Why I posted an image in my last post but it doesn't shows up?

[propbeanie]

@ yyzBegonia: For pictures, it seems it's easiest to use an external site, such as imgur.com, to host your pictures, and post a link to them here. You might have to edit the image to a more manageable size, such that they fit on a 1024 or maybe 1280 screen, at least until I get me a screen bigger than 1280 across... I'm not familiar with using a SubSim personal folder for your pictures, but a few folks have managed to accomplish the task, so maybe one of them could reply.

As for the Task Forces, truth be known, we have a few of them set pretty "dumb", which the game refers to as "Poor" and / or "Competent", while we experiment with other different aspects of the AI. As a side note to that, we're hoping to have a mod available in a few weeks that would allow you to choose the overall enemy ships' "competency" as another step toward the player being in control. There is still the overall AI settings to work-out yet for the detection and attack AI.

Thank you for the report, btw. Did you happen to notate the approximate location and date of your "dum-dum" group encounter?

[propbeanie]

Originally Posted by yyzBegonia

... Just give an example, I order the boat 'new depth 65 ft' and the it begin to dive, then I order periscope depth before the sub fully submerged, it would bounce up and back to the surface again immediately....

Originally Posted by fitzcarraldo

Did you try the Webster´s mod for pigboats? Using it in GFO, the times of diving and surface seem accurate (as real as gets...).

Regards.

Fitzcarraldo

I've studied and then tried the mod in FotRSU v0.63, and it does seem to function fine. The skins are nice too. What Webster changes in the SIM file is the engine power for both diesel (quite a bit) and electric, and some of the "drag" settings (just a pinch). He also changes the flood rates. Also changed are the PD level (not on the meter, just the depth setting). The armor level in the ZON file is just as high, but the hit points are less than 1/2 what they were, and the crush depth is set about 2/3 what it is in FotRSU, so the boat is definitely more "delicate" in certain situations. Don't let too many DC fall close. Be sure and read Webster's ReadMe, so you are aware of what you're dealing with. Big Thing - it may not work with the next version of FotRSU. This is, after all a "beta" version of a mod, not final, so the functionality may change... I'll try to remember to compare and test it again after the next release comes out.

[yyzBegonia]

Originally Posted by propbeanie

@ yyzBegonia: For pictures, it seems it's easiest to use an external site, such as imgur.com, to host your pictures, and post a link to them here. You might have to edit the image to a more manageable size, such that they fit on a 1024 or maybe 1280 screen, at least until I get me a screen bigger than 1280 across... I'm not familiar with using a SubSim personal folder for your pictures, but a few folks have managed to accomplish the task, so maybe one of them could reply.

As for the Task Forces, truth be known, we have a few of them set pretty "dumb", which the game refers to as "Poor" and / or "Competent", while we experiment with other different aspects of the AI. As a side note to that, we're hoping to have a mod available in a few weeks that would allow you to choose the overall enemy ships' "competency" as another step toward the player being in control. There is still the overall AI settings to work-out yet for the detection and attack AI.

Thank you for the report, btw. Did you happen to notate the approximate location and date of your "dum-dum" group encounter?

Ok the image works.... The choosable AI mod sounds fascinating!
As for the TF, it was encountered on April 14 1942, Lombok Strait near Java

[yyzBegonia]

BTW, is it possible to rework the Kana ship names texture on Japanese destroyers? They are totally inaccurate and weird ....
Just give two image examples:

"Dadaba"????

"Gutsuze"????
They're both Shiratsuyu-class destroyers. Apparently there were no such strange names among Japanese destroyers in history Actually Japanese destroyers have very literary and poetry names. Of course it's no need and impossible to import all the Japanese destroyers' name in to game, but at least they could be accurate...
For instance, you can import some typical names of the class,
such as シグレ (時雨, Shigure) or ユフダチ (夕立, Yudachi). BTW, those Kana names were written from right to left on the hull, for example Yudachi would be written as "チダフユ" on the hull.
Both the names are Shiratsuyu-class destroyers.

[J0313]

Originally Posted by yyzBegonia

BTW, is it possible to rework the Kana ship names texture on Japanese destroyers? They are totally inaccurate and weird ....
Just give two image examples:

"Dadaba"????

"Gushize"????
They're both Shiratsuyu-class destroyers. Apparently there were no such strange names among Japanese destroyers in history Actually Japanese destroyers have very literary and poetry names. Of course it's no need and impossible to import all the Japanese destroyers' name in to game, but at least they could be accurate...
For instance, you can import some typical names of the class,
such as シグレ (時雨, Shigure) or ユフダチ (夕立, Yudachi). BTW, those Kana names were written from right to left on the hull, for example Yudachi would be written as "チダフユ" on the hull.
Both the names are Shiratsuyu-class destroyers.

Wow, you are quite the stickler for accuracy aren't you.

[yyzBegonia]

Originally Posted by J0313

Wow, you are quite the stickler for accuracy aren't you.

Excatly

[Rockin Robbins]

Originally Posted by yyzBegonia

BTW, is it possible to rework the Kana ship names texture on Japanese destroyers? They are totally inaccurate and weird ....
Just give two image examples:

"Dadaba"????

"Gushize"????
They're both Shiratsuyu-class destroyers. Apparently there were no such strange names among Japanese destroyers in history Actually Japanese destroyers have very literary and poetry names. Of course it's no need and impossible to import all the Japanese destroyers' name in to game, but at least they could be accurate...
For instance, you can import some typical names of the class,
such as シグレ (時雨, Shigure) or ユフダチ (夕立, Yudachi). BTW, those Kana names were written from right to left on the hull, for example Yudachi would be written as "チダフユ" on the hull.
Both the names are Shiratsuyu-class destroyers.

This is the stuff so amazing you can't possibly anticipate it before you're eyeball deep in kaka. Thank you! This is something that has to happen!

[propbeanie]

Tell ya what yyzBegonia, the files are in the Data / Sea / ShipName folder, which in this case, is "NDD_Shiratsuyu". Be forewarned that this is not the only DD (or any vessel for that matter) that has "writing" on the side. I have no idea how accurate the drawings are - and that's what those are, is drawings. Done by hand by the "ship skinner". As an example, here's the whole #1 skin:



That is a 1024x1024 72dpi file (re-sized for posting), editable in PhotoShop, or any graphics app that is able to edit DDS files. There are five different skins (10 files including the "LR" versions, which are 512x512) in this particular folder, of which, four have these "emblems" on them. Such as:

#3.

#4.

#5.

You'll notice some "shakiness" in the drawings, since it is done by hand, maybe with a digital pen, but probably with a mouse up close. The "resolution" also "stair-steps". Skin number 2 in this particular set has no drawings on the side, and would be a good "base" for a person to start doing their own artwork with (hint-hint)... |;^) - A person could make multiple copies of the original file, and just paste their "artwork" over the top in that center area. Make the 1024x1024 file, and then re-size it to 512x512 and "Save As..." for the LR version...

For an example "research" hit, here's the link to the wikipedia page with the Shiratsuyu Class
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shirat...lass_destroyer

and an example of one of the ships' side paint jobs:



Dates come into play as to when the ships have those side characters on them. Now, member max-peck was looking into doing some skins for war vessels, but he was thinking about the "dazzle" schemes, or camouflage "measures", and not "decorations" such as those characters
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dazzle_camouflage

From what I know of the currently active fellows on this team, none of us care one whit about "authenticity", so long as Mickey Mouse isn't drawn on the side of an IJN vessel and lit up with holiday lights - but it wouldn't surprise me any to see that they did in fact do something along those lines. Just so long as it looks like it's real is what matters most. The usual player doesn't know "orthography", much less how to read and interpret kana or kanji. However, since you are familiar with it, you are an excellent candidate to "mod" the skins... (hint-hint again )

In other words, if you're inclined to make a skin for any of the vessels, you are more than welcome to, either for your own personal use, or submit a sample to the team for consideration of incorporation into the mod, or as an add-in mod. Anyone else inclined to do similar is more than welcome also - seriously. Just let Rockin Robbins know that you're volunteering (PM is probably fine) and what you're doing, so we don't have four people doing the same thing (unless you're a "sub-team" - sorry, bad play on words ). The FotRSU team continually grows and shrinks. We've got "full-time", "part-time" and "consultant" people that are part of the team, and help is always appreciated. Right now, the team is busy getting ready for the next release, and really don't have time for "skiinning", as much as I want to do more of the USN "Measures" for various Classes, they're on the back burner, probably for a ~long~ time (hint-hint ). This also applies for getting existing mods ready for FotRSU. If you're so inclined, consult RR, get permission and do it. Your name will flash in lights on Broadway as tribute. In Wittenburg, MO, population 9 (I know it's more than 5, since Missy was pregnant last year!), but hey, Broadway!... ~SALUTE!!!~ (Hee-Haw style)

A word of caution though - Once you start modding, it is difficult to stop. I actually like doing it more than I like sailing the sea in my S18... ~sacrilege!~