NorOps News Update for November

[Safe-Keeper]

You may have to go the blog (see sig') and open the pictures there to see them in this thread. I'll host the ones for use in this thread with ImageShack next time I post news.

November News Update

Time for a news update from the one-man NorOps team (I assume that there's at least no need to specify which of us is doing the writing!).

First of all, some bad news. Some time ago, I managed to somehow mess up my installation of Silent Hunter III (I believe a failure to rollback SH3 Commander was involved) and, when uninstalling, managed to accidentally delete everything I had added around Oslo, from the new cities and ports to the Battle of Drobak Sound. This provided me with quite a bit of frustration, a lesson to always back-up my work, and the decision to, quite frankly, screw the capital city for the the time being in favor of my hometown of Bergen (c'mon, where else?).

So currently, the area around my beloved and beautiful hometown now features six forts (with more to be added) and several new village names on the map. It will also soon be the site of a scripted German invasion, complete with accurate fighting and the sinking of the K-Class ship Königsberg. What a lucky little town!

Before NorOps (Grey Wolves 1,1a):

With NorOps (work-in-progress, more elements awaiting addition):

Second off, SH3 Commander users will be glad to hear I'm experimenting with adding Norway-related content to the program's immersion-building files, namely the nightclub and loading screen news bulletins! This means that when NorOps is released, a separate install will be available to 'Commander users operating out of Norway. The result - well, see below (the loading screen, although I like it, is probably is not there to stay):

Loading screen with news of
the Operations Ankle and Archery

NightClub gossip about
the Heavy Water Sabotage

The very last bit of news for now is that two great people at the SubSim site, Seth and danlisa, have been kind enough to sit down and make me some terrific-looking winter skins for use during those freezing Arctic patrols. The in-game result, illuminated in all her beauty, can be seen below. Thanks a lot to the both of you for making future winter patrols a tad bit easier!

VII-B as admired by a GB Destroyer.

That'd be all for this time. See you around the blog and SubSim forums!

Other NorOps resources:
Poor ole Blücher... - Battle of Drobak Sound
"Look to Noh'vay - ve haff doggiez!" - Project Announcement

All screen-shots depict a work-in-progress and are thus subject to change.

[stabiz]

Noooo! I cant see any screens?

This sounds amazing, though. (Ja, vi elsker dette landet)

[Safe-Keeper]

Might be some measure Blogger's devised to keep people from direct-linking pictures. Try reading the update at my blog instead (click my sig' banner). They'll be shown there, after which you'll probably be able to see them here, too.

[stabiz]

Ok, I could see it now. Good luck on this!

[Safe-Keeper]

Bah. They didn't show on my school computer either, even after I'd visited the blog article (probably need to go to the blog article and open every pic' there or something).

This mod' needs more attention. Guess I'm spoiled from that Battle of Hoth mod I led for X-Wing Alliance, where I had a full team only days after project announcement. Maybe I should start a contest - "find an easter egg and get free nude snap-shots of Safe-Keeper and his pets"? Hmm...

[mr chris]

Safe-Keeper this a great pice of work you have here. Cant wait to see it when it finshed. Keep up the great work

[stabiz]

Yes, and that trailer is really good too, why haven`t you posted it in the video thread?

[AG124]

Just curious, do you know about this site? You probably do, but if not, then it might be useful as reference material for your project.

EDIT - Wrong link.

http://www.warsailors.com/freefleet/index.html

[Safe-Keeper]

I'll update the thread tomorrow, hopefully, with screen-shots of the Bergen area. There are at last count, ten seconds ago, 22 new cities, villages, and districts around Bergen marked on the map (yes, that's nearly a quarter of a hundred for the Bergen area alone). The addition of these new neutral "harbours" serves two purposes: First of all, it looks damned sweet. Second, it assists in creating immersion. And finally, it should greatly help in telling the player where I'm referring to in single-player missions and the like. For a theoretical example, saying "two kilometres south of Osøyro" is just so much easier than "roughly so and so many kilometres south of Bergen".

Just curious, do you know about this site? You probably do, but if not, then it might be useful as reference material for your project.

http://www.palouse.net/hobbies/ships.../html/wal3.htm

I get a 404 error.

[stabiz]

Safe-keeper, have you adressed that fact that there is lots of mountains around Bergen? I was really disapointed the first time I left the port of Bergen in SH3, it reminded me more of Denmark.

[Safe-Keeper]

Update updated. Added before-and-after shot of the Bergen area in the mission editor's land layer file.

Safe-keeper, have you adressed that fact that there is lots of mountains around Bergen? I was really disapointed the first time I left the port of Bergen in SH3, it reminded me more of Denmark.

What disappointed me was that there were so low mountains on the sides of Sognefjorden. When it comes to Bergen, I was more disappointed that the harbour didn't look at all like the one in reality.

I guess the low height of the mountains comes from the fact that the world is scaled down in Silent Hunter III. When lenght and bredth is scaled down, height has to be scaled down, too, or the result will look funny. So the developers shrunk the height of the mountains as well as their lenght and width. I don't know if it'll look wrong if I make them realistically high.

[bigboywooly]

You may also find you have problems with aircraft in raising the mountains
Cant say for definate but aircraft spawned from bases cannot have the height set - its automatic

[AG124]

I can get that site to load without any problems, but it was the wrong one anyway. That site was about maritime stamps - here is the correct one on the Norwegian fleet:

http://www.warsailors.com/freefleet/index.html[/URL]

I have also corrected my earlier post. If anyone is interested in the stamp link, it is in the Mod Request for More Ship Types thread.

[Safe-Keeper]

Thank you, AG124.

You may also find you have problems with aircraft in raising the mountains
Cant say for definate but aircraft spawned from bases cannot have the height set - its automatic

How on Earth could I have forgotten about airplanes spawned from air bases?

Yes, you're right, planes in Silent Hunter III don't seem to have much in the way of terrain avoidance A.I. code. They'll slam right into a mountainside if their flight-path tells them to do so.

[Subwolf]

I betraid my fellow Norwegians, fighting them in a seawolves-thread, and causing one of them to end up in the brig

But I still wanna say that this project of yours looks great, Safe-Keeper