[REL] Submarine Draft and Periscope Depth Mod

ancient46 · 02-10-09, 03:34 PM

This mod will set the depth of each of the American subs in the game to match the US Navy Official Photographs of the boats at sea. The pictures were evaluated and a representative was chosen to match. Screen shots were compared to the reference and small adjustments were made until they matched.

This led to a look at the periscope depth and it did not natch photographs either. All the subs in the game will now go to a periscope depth that matches the picture as shown. Care has been taken to match each class for a consistent height above water in the game. Only the black upper portion of the tube and head is above water.

The Draft fix modifies the SIM file for each sub. The periscope fix modifies the CFG file. This release covers the stock game for versions 1.4 and 1.5, and the latest release of TMO . I have been advised to hold off on a RFB release as there are major changes coming soon. However for those intrepid captains familiar with modding I have included my Open Office spreadsheet with the numbers for RFB 1.52, TMO, Stock and my fix. The game used the confusing and hard to work with metric system, instead of the easy to use imperial system so both systems are displayed. I had to evaluate the position in the screen shot, decide how much to change and convert to metric to put in the game.
I hate the confusing mess the world has made of measurement, I much prefer cubits, spans and stones.

The files for the stock game are offered free and anyone can use and modify them in any way if credit is given for the original work. The TMO files are subject to the terms of use in its readme file.

Download Location: http://home.comcast.net/%7Eancient25/Files/Draft_Fix.7z

virtualpender · 02-10-09, 06:03 PM

Great job. I've been following your threads about this with much interest and am happy to see the final release. Can't wait to load this one up. And thanks for making it compatible with TMO.

Sailor Steve · 02-10-09, 07:20 PM

I know it's only one picture and you've probably got a lot more, and you've probably done your research, but I have to ask the bad question: is Skipjack's periscope fully extended in that picture?

I do agree that the hulls while surfaced are definitely odd-looking. On the other hand of course external views are hardly realistic either.

Not arguing, and I'm looking forward to your progress with interest. I just had to ask.

ancient46 · 02-11-09, 01:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sailor Steve

I know it's only one picture and you've probably got a lot more, and you've probably done your research, but I have to ask the bad question: is Skipjack's periscope fully extended in that picture?

I do agree that the hulls while surfaced are definitely odd-looking. On the other hand of course external views are hardly realistic either.

Not arguing, and I'm looking forward to your progress with interest. I just had to ask.

That picture represents what I saw in movies and in pictures, not all were the same but all were similar. I don't really know what is exactly right, but absolute correctness was not the true aim. The real aim was consistency. Every sub in the stock game and other mods has a different height above water, ranging from 1.25 Feet higher than my mod to over 2 feet lower. I wanted each sub's periscope to be the same height above the water. When we hit the PD button we will always know how much periscope can be seen in every class. However I am still searching for a engineering reference that explains the parameter of periscope depth.

Well the S class is not modeled very well buth the fleet boats seems to be pretty good. When I resized my screen shots and layered them on to the official photographs the matched up decently. They got the basic shape right and some skilled 3D modders are making them loook even better.

Capt. Shark Bait · 02-11-09, 03:23 AM

how realistically accurate is this?

Sailor Steve · 02-11-09, 02:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ancient46

The real aim was consistency.

Good answer. Consistency is one of my favorite things.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Capt. Shark Bait

how realistically accurate is this?

Yes and No. Not at all, and very much so.

Not at all, because the game is always accurate to the inch, and real life never is, especially when dealing with things like water pressure and salinity. Very much so, because they did know how high the periscope was above the top of the boat, and they could judge depth quite accurately. I don't know if American submarines had a device like the German Pappenberg, which told the operator exactly how high the periscope head was above the water, but adjusting the trim by just a few feet must have taken some skill. But that they had that skill is certain, because nobody talks about having problems with it.

In a perfect game there would be a constant adjusting of the planes to maintain an accurate depth, but then that would be handled by the Diving Officer and the planesmen, and the captain would only need to give the occasional complaint when it wasn't handled to his liking. And that would get old rather quickly.

For what we have I think ancient46 is onto a worthy cause.

02-11-09, 08:20 PM

Great job Mad Max with FOTRS. How do I get the attack map?

clayp · 02-12-09, 12:18 PM

Does this work for 1.4?

ancient46 · 02-13-09, 02:56 AM

For clayp: I reinstalled the game and kept a copy before updating it to 1.5. I looked at the files and they have remained the same in both versions. So I enabled the mod in the 1.4 version and it worked fine.

clayp · 02-13-09, 10:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ancient46

For clayp: I reinstalled the game and kept a copy before updating it to 1.5. I looked at the files and they have remained the same in both versions. So I enabled the mod in the 1.4 version and it worked fine.

Thank you...

Sledgehammer427 · 02-14-09, 09:15 PM

beautiful mod! taking it home to try it out!

Vorkapitan · 02-16-09, 11:39 PM

Nice mod....we need more like this! Thank you!

02-24-09, 12:19 AM

speaking purely about the periscope only, while the "look" is spot on the "seeing" is another story. im having trouble seeing over the waves even in calm conditions.

this can be remedied by staying above periscope height but then that undoes the whole purpose of the mod.

im bringing this up because i think (im just guessing here) you might be able to adjust the camera position (periscope view) for a slightly higher and better view that matches up with the viewing head position. the way it is now the viewing head is well above the waves but your view is right at wave top level.

i know with just about everything else you can adjust camera peramiters on things so im sure its fixable.

i love the mod, i just think it could use a tweak.

pythos · 02-24-09, 12:36 AM

The periscope tube was divided into two sections as far as color was concerned. The unpainted upper part was all that was seen above water, at PD. However, only a fraction of it was seen if the boat was at correct trim, and waters were calm.

Another funny point, some scope heads were painted PINK. That's right, pink. It supposedly blended better with the sea...somehow. Apparently it did work, and well.

Go fig.

ancient46 · 02-24-09, 02:29 AM

I can see pretty well in seas with wind up to 6M per sec, and move the boat up to see in heavier seas. The camera idea is a good one and I will see if I can get results.

Presently I have a my own camera file with a lot of tweaks that suit me. I wanted the object view camera of the boat and other ships to be centered and run parallel to it. I also wanted the sub to fill the screen on first view. I made the camera run free and removed the collisional object node to allow me to see inside a ship. I have been considering making the free camera follow the sub.

Something interesting showed up after using this camera. the ships have no visible compartments until the hull is breached. Put a torpedo in one and the compartments appear otherwise they exist in an alternate dimension.

02-10-09, 03:34 PM	#1
ancient46 Officer Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Pennsylvania Posts: 239 Downloads: 108 Uploads: 1	[REL] Submarine Draft and Periscope Depth Mod This mod will set the depth of each of the American subs in the game to match the US Navy Official Photographs of the boats at sea. The pictures were evaluated and a representative was chosen to match. Screen shots were compared to the reference and small adjustments were made until they matched. This led to a look at the periscope depth and it did not natch photographs either. All the subs in the game will now go to a periscope depth that matches the picture as shown. Care has been taken to match each class for a consistent height above water in the game. Only the black upper portion of the tube and head is above water. The Draft fix modifies the SIM file for each sub. The periscope fix modifies the CFG file. This release covers the stock game for versions 1.4 and 1.5, and the latest release of TMO . I have been advised to hold off on a RFB release as there are major changes coming soon. However for those intrepid captains familiar with modding I have included my Open Office spreadsheet with the numbers for RFB 1.52, TMO, Stock and my fix. The game used the confusing and hard to work with metric system, instead of the easy to use imperial system so both systems are displayed. I had to evaluate the position in the screen shot, decide how much to change and convert to metric to put in the game. I hate the confusing mess the world has made of measurement, I much prefer cubits, spans and stones. The files for the stock game are offered free and anyone can use and modify them in any way if credit is given for the original work. The TMO files are subject to the terms of use in its readme file. Download Location: http://home.comcast.net/%7Eancient25/Files/Draft_Fix.7z Last edited by ancient46; 02-13-09 at 02:57 AM.

02-10-09, 07:20 PM	#3
Sailor Steve Eternal Patrol Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: High in the mountains of Utah Posts: 50,369 Downloads: 745 Uploads: 249	I know it's only one picture and you've probably got a lot more, and you've probably done your research, but I have to ask the bad question: is Skipjack's periscope fully extended in that picture? I do agree that the hulls while surfaced are definitely odd-looking. On the other hand of course external views are hardly realistic either. Not arguing, and I'm looking forward to your progress with interest. I just had to ask. __________________ “Never do anything you can't take back.” —Rocky Russo

02-11-09, 03:23 AM	#5
Capt. Shark Bait Ace of the Deep Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: in a convergance zone Posts: 1,186 Downloads: 3 Uploads: 0	how realistically accurate is this? __________________ Leiser und tödlicher edler Ritter der Tiefe Corsair Vengeance M70; ASUS Crosshair V Formula-Z; FX 8350; Asus 7870; Samsung SyncMaster 2243SWX; coolmax CUG950B 950w psu; 8GB Kingston HyperX DDR3; Corsair M4 SSD 128GB, WD 1TB; x18 DVR212D; 7SP1

02-11-09, 08:20 PM	#7
dimwit Stowaway Posts: n/a Downloads: Uploads:	Great Job Great job Mad Max with FOTRS. How do I get the attack map?

02-12-09, 12:18 PM	#8
clayp The Old Man Join Date: Mar 2007 Posts: 1,554 Downloads: 340 Uploads: 0	Does this work for 1.4? __________________ clayp

02-10-09, 06:03 PM	#2
virtualpender Sonar Guy Join Date: Apr 2007 Posts: 381 Downloads: 281 Uploads: 0	Great job. I've been following your threads about this with much interest and am happy to see the final release. Can't wait to load this one up. And thanks for making it compatible with TMO.

02-13-09, 02:56 AM	#9
ancient46 Officer Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Pennsylvania Posts: 239 Downloads: 108 Uploads: 1	For clayp: I reinstalled the game and kept a copy before updating it to 1.5. I looked at the files and they have remained the same in both versions. So I enabled the mod in the 1.4 version and it worked fine.

02-14-09, 09:15 PM	#11
Sledgehammer427 PacWagon Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Drinking coffee and staring at trees in Massachusetts Posts: 2,908 Downloads: 287 Uploads: 0	beautiful mod! taking it home to try it out! __________________ Cold Waters Voice Crew - Fire Control Officer Cmdr O. Myers - C/O USS Nautilus (SS-168) 114,000 tons sunk - 4 Spec Ops completed V-boat Nutcase - Need supplies? Japanese garrison on a small island in the way? Just give us a call! D4C!

02-16-09, 11:39 PM	#12
Vorkapitan Samurai Navy Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 594 Downloads: 1367 Uploads: 0	Nice mod....we need more like this! Thank you! __________________ __________________________________________________ ________ __________________________________________________ ________ Joe

02-24-09, 12:19 AM	#13
Webster Stowaway Posts: n/a Downloads: Uploads:	speaking purely about the periscope only, while the "look" is spot on the "seeing" is another story. im having trouble seeing over the waves even in calm conditions. this can be remedied by staying above periscope height but then that undoes the whole purpose of the mod. im bringing this up because i think (im just guessing here) you might be able to adjust the camera position (periscope view) for a slightly higher and better view that matches up with the viewing head position. the way it is now the viewing head is well above the waves but your view is right at wave top level. i know with just about everything else you can adjust camera peramiters on things so im sure its fixable. i love the mod, i just think it could use a tweak.

02-24-09, 12:36 AM	#14
pythos Grey Wolf Join Date: May 2005 Location: Somewhere over there Posts: 834 Downloads: 46 Uploads: 0	The periscope tube was divided into two sections as far as color was concerned. The unpainted upper part was all that was seen above water, at PD. However, only a fraction of it was seen if the boat was at correct trim, and waters were calm. Another funny point, some scope heads were painted PINK. That's right, pink. It supposedly blended better with the sea...somehow. Apparently it did work, and well. Go fig.

02-24-09, 02:29 AM	#15
ancient46 Officer Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Pennsylvania Posts: 239 Downloads: 108 Uploads: 1	I can see pretty well in seas with wind up to 6M per sec, and move the boat up to see in heavier seas. The camera idea is a good one and I will see if I can get results. Presently I have a my own camera file with a lot of tweaks that suit me. I wanted the object view camera of the boat and other ships to be centered and run parallel to it. I also wanted the sub to fill the screen on first view. I made the camera run free and removed the collisional object node to allow me to see inside a ship. I have been considering making the free camera follow the sub. Something interesting showed up after using this camera. the ships have no visible compartments until the hull is breached. Put a torpedo in one and the compartments appear otherwise they exist in an alternate dimension.