Sh3Gen updates and discussion

[GlobalExplorer]

Sh3Gen
Campaign enhancement engine for Silent Hunter III
Version 0.8.2

Sh3Gen 0.8 Tracking Room Edition

Because Sh3Gen was completely relying on ingame visualization, and the dire restrictions of the SHIII map station I decided I want to visualize the Sh3Gen data in an external application.

Sh3Gen 0.8 comes with an option to generate data that can be used with GIS (geographical information) systems.

You will need to download another tool to open the data. I have optimized it for usage with the (completely free) TatukGIS Viewer, a great program.

With Sh3Gen and the viewer you can now review the strategic situation like in a real tracking room. The map contains all the data that you are used to from Sh3Gen, plus a lot more through the data panels, and it's much more readable (I think).

Another great advantage is that you can now review your previous patrols, which was one of the things I really wanted to have.

This should be extremely interesting if you have a two monitor setup or a laptop. I haven't tried that yet, but it should open up a whole lot of new possibilities!!

I would expect this is not the final version of the product, but in any case it should already work fine. As of yet I have not created any documentation for the GIS part. Using the GIS initially requires a little bit of learning, but is also extremely powerful. I hope to be able to provide some advanced tips for using the GIS viewer asap.

I hope some of you catch up in the idea, and help each other getting the most out of it. I would like to discuss the concept before this gets the "final" stamp.

Enjoy,

GE

INSTRUCTIONS

It should be really simple.

1. register and download the free TatukGIS Viewer. Alternative link:
http://www.rockware.com/catalog/page...gisviewer.html

2. Download Sh3Gen 0.8.2 from:
www.global-explorer.de/sh3gen_v082.exe
and extract it

You need DotNET Framework 2.0 to run this software.
You can download and install DotNET Framework 2.0 from:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/d...d-aab15c5e04f5

3. Launch Sh3Gen.exe from the extracted file.

4. Use Sh3Gen as usual until you get to the summary screen

5. After the summary screen a new window pops up which asks you to specify the place where the generator should place the tracking room files. If you click "Export", it will create a new folder and will copy all the required files into it.

6. If you already have the TatukGIS viewer installed, and you have the "Launch" checkbox on, the map opens up instantly. You can launch any map manually by double clicking the corresponding "Sh3Gen Tracking Room.TTKGP" file. But I have set it up so that the map will pop up instantly, and I am finding it myself very convenient to use.

7. The GIS viewer has a multitude of options to change the appearance of the map, which we can discuss later. I have tried to set it up in a way that should be OK for the beginning. There is a lot more you can do with it than just zooming and panning about, and I hope to provide you with tips soon.



If it doesn't seem to do anything, make sure that the "Tracking Room" checkbox under "General Settings" is on (though it should be on by default).

If someone with talent for graphics would like to help me improve the map with little bitmap symbols, that would make my day!

GE

UPDATE 2007-02-23: Sh3Gen v0.8.2 Released

As of today, Sh3Gen Tracking Room is available from www.global-explorer.de. There you will also find the complete documentation for the new Tracking Room Functionality.

OK, that'll do for now - if there is no negative feedback I will finish this over the coming weekend.

UPDATE 2007-03-04: Small bug fix

Fixed a small bug with the handling of player made map markers and ranges that could make Sh3Gen Tracking Room export to fail. If you have downloaded prior to this date you might want to download again (I have replaced the Sh3Gen_v082.exe with a patched file)

Download

Download Sh3Gen 0.8.2 from:
www.global-explorer.de/sh3gen_v082.exe
and extract it

Sh3Gen 0.8.1 can be downloaded here:
Sh3Gen 0.8.1 RC4

Sh3Gen 0.8.0 can be downloaded here:
www.global-explorer.de/sh3gen080.exe

Dont forget that you need to download the viewer too!
TatukGIS Viewer

Test data

If you want to see some test data first, without using Sh3Gen, or if you have trouble running it, I am offering test datasets here:

www.global-explorer.de/Sh3Gen081TestData.exe

www.global-explorer.de/Sh3Gen080TestData.exe

(you still need the viewer of course)

SCREENSHOTS









Screenshot of Sh3Gen TR w. laptop setup ( courtesy of bert8for3 )

[fredbass]

Thanks GE. We always appreciate anybody who wants to make the game even more enjoyable than it is already.

[Samwolf]

Are there any changes to the current SH3Gen version besides than the new GIS capability?

[Jimbuna]

Thanks GE

[GlobalExplorer]

Before a release like this, with substantial new functionality, I need some help in the form of testing. I hope there is any. So please , someone try it in order for the release to be there sooner and better.

Originally Posted by Samwolf

Are there any changes to the current SH3Gen version besides than the new GIS capability?

Small improvements in the core but I was concentrating on the GIS stuff. I actually cannot think of major improvements of the core except a rework of the data files, which I want to optimize for GWX.

This weekend I will make some additions in the form of the basic KM grid and some nice thematic views setup for an easy start. Sh3Gen 0.8 will also have the advantage of saving not only the map, but also you patrol report in a neat folder so you can review it later.

This is not the official release. The purpose of this thread is to get some people to try and report back if everything works.

GE

[mr chris]

GlobalExplorer this is really great stuff cant wait to try it out. Never leave base without SH3 GEN now it just gets better.
It looks to me that you have push it on another level mate take a bow.

[GlobalExplorer]

Thanks mr chris.

It is very important to hear if people can use/understand it. Mind also that any question asked here helps me to prepare the documentation which most people will need with that kind of new technology.

The map generator was going to be my next project for SHIV. It was just that I found recently it would be possible to link the new stuff into Sh3Gen. Better do it now before I might lose interest in SHIII, though that shouldn't happen soon.

As I said, I am going to improve it over the weekend, and I hope to release a "customer" version in a few weeks.

GE

[mr chris]

Great stuff mate i will try it out with the latest GWX version that im beta testing at the moment

[GlobalExplorer]

Originally Posted by mr chris

Great stuff mate i will try it out with the latest GWX version that im beta testing at the moment

I have tested with the first release of GWX and SHIII 1.4b and everything works fine. Now I need to know if it can be deployed like I designed it.

I am not going to be in the forum anymore until tomorrow but I hope everything turns out well.

If you don't get the full package running I recommend you start with the test data which is a tracking room folder I have already generated with Sh3Gen. If you have the viewer installed, which should be not be difficult, could you please open it up and tell me if everything shows up correctly?

www.global-explorer.de/Sh3Gen080TestData.exe

You must then only open this file which is the viewer project:

Sh3Gen Tracking Room.TTKGP

And if you get as far as generating your own maps, the better!

Good night,

GE

[Venatore]

Excellent addition for the realism

[irish1958]

GE
Looks wonderful. I will test it with GWX (with Beta patch) tomorrow. Thanks

[GlobalExplorer]

Thanks mr chris & irish1958 I am awaiting your report.

I cannot upload anything new at the moment but tonight I have completed the basic KM Grid, traffic concentration map and a very nice aircoverage display. I have also made some other fixes to the core generator and Tracking Room, especially the addition of two missing factions: Argentina and Finland.

On my computer everthing runs perfect now and the usage of the generator and Tracking Room station is extremely simple and convenient. All I need to know now is if it runs as well on your computer, and if there is some way this could be made more enjoyable which I have missed.

I have thought about and I believe this should kick ass if you run it on a second computer / monitor. This way you can study the strategic situation while you are on patrol and nothing else is happening.

As this has been asked, while there are no groundbreaking changes to the savegame output, there are several new features in the Tracking Room part that can not be added to the SHIII map station:

- a new device called TrafficAnalyzer that finds traffic concentrations of various ship classes and outputs them as colored zones


http://www.global-explorer.de/wip_sc...nt_traffic.jpg

- detailed target information through the use of the data panel. Enable View->Panels->Selected, select a map marker and you should see a small data table like in left corner of this screen:


http://www.global-explorer.de/wip_screens/data.jpg

- transparent, colored coverage zones for axis and allied aircraft (next release)

As I said before, the will generate a folder with all map / patrol information that you can open later. A nice way to review your previous patrols.

I hope there is some discussion of the mod in practice, and I cannot say often enough:

"Ich verlange anständige Meldungen"

Bye,

GE

[mr chris]

Hi there GE,
have just tryed it out with the latest version of GWX and all seem to work well it is a great addition to the game. It was great to tab out every now and then a use the map as a reffence for intel.
Great stuff matey

[GlobalExplorer]

Thanks mr chris this is excellent news. Did you notice anything missing in the map which I have not yet fixed? This is a list of things that were not working in the first release and which I have fixed so far (will be in next release 0.8.1):

- U-Boat names are now displayed correctly
- airbases looking ugly - are now rendered as nice colored zones
- submarine traffic is now displayed correctly as small blue spots
- asw layer will now show axis destroyers in a color distinguisheable from allied ones
- quadrant map was missing
- Argentina and Finland were not treated as factions

Have you checked the ingame changes as I don`t have time to do that atm?

As a general change from 0.7.1 I am now loading the ports from Locations.cfg and not anymore from internal Sh3Gen data. There is some small strangeness around the Nord-Ostsee-Kanal but apart from that I think it is better because it will update with any new mod, and generally show more ports.

Does the map get launched automatically when you click the "Export" button?

Anything else?

Thanks again for anyone reporting back this is extremely important while I am working on it ..

Stay tuned

GE

[mr chris]

What i did was get out of port then save then load up as normal then GIS launched I Exited and then opened up my Mycomputer/programe files/ sh3 gen/user data then use the map by frist adding terain then ports and then slowly selecting the intel that i wanted to see. It was very easy to use and found it a great help on the intel front. Would it be when you have finshed your patrol to see the course that your boat took on the map? This would be a good for planing future patrols by using pasts intel.
One thing i did notice was that when you selected the submarines tab that it did not add anything to the map. This might have been because of the lack of AI subs.
One last thing though would it be possible to add rings to the map to show the air coverage?
But all in all it is a great addition to your great mod sir and runs very well and easy to use once you get the hang of it.