'Fix My SH5' Issue Compilation Thread

[Takeda Shingen]

Here is the thread for issue compilation regarding Silent Hunter 5. This thread is intended to list the features in the game requiring attention in a manner that is easily digestible for the company and development officials. Post below and I will compile in information here in the first post of the thread, which will relieve the afforementioned parties of the need to search through hundreds of pages of text.

Understand that this thread is for constructive puproses only. Rants, fits and anything that does not serve the ends of game improvement will be deleted without warning.

Finally, please be specific. Don't just say that the AI is broken. What specifically is broken? 'AI ASDIC is able to detect surfaced submarine at 30nmi' is a far more valid observation. If we want our concerns to be taken seriously, and want to cut through the noise of idle complaining, we will have to be very thorough in our work. Along those lines, if you feel that any of the included items are in error, by all means feel free to question and discuss it.

AI and Game Object/Mechanics Issues

• Q Ship AI data incomplete
• Ships not saving their damage when saving, so they are at full health when a game is re-loaded
• Cannot use ladders if looking up
• Sonarman doesn't report any contacts
• Obs scope always raises itself when starting a mission
• Stadimeter: Sends the default mast Height of 20m instead of the actual height in cfg files
• Deck Gun Crew will fire on a new target after the current target is destroyed of their own accord (fire at will enabled permanently)
• When dragging the waypoint on the navmap of TUI, dragging over a ship makes the waypoint stick to the ship
• Stock AI will ignore you, unless you are definately classified as a Submarine contact. Unknown contacts will be ignored
• You can be assigned to a new base, without being radioed about it
• TDC gets out of synch if you train the torpedo speed special ability
• Incorrect types of AI recon planes flying at night
• Occasionally either a friendly or enemy unit will get 'attached' to you and follow you everywhere
• Sonar man does not warn about depth charges being dropped
• The crew AI 20mm AA gunners aim far too low to hit any aircraft
• Task force presence fails to drop player from time compression
• Some ships cannot be heard if they go slower than 6 knots
• TDC's speed entry is rounded to a whole number, instead of letting us put in 5.5 knots etcetera
• Engine tuning resets to zero after diving and surfacing. E.G> before diving you can make 20 knots, but after surfacing, you can only make 15 knots
• Ships take no damage from the fires on them
• Ye Olde Co2 bug, where the Co2 keeps rising, although you are surfaced
• Reports of enemy ships being spawned in the Kiel Canal, or trying to transit up it
• Torpdo autoloading option not saved as part of a game save, so you have to turn it back on each time
• AI Torpedo planes do not enter into an attack run
• AI air dropped torpedoes are dead and sink, instead of running
• AI Torpedo planes even if fixed cannot aim ahead of a target and will usually miss
• Moving external torpedo to internal stores takes only one minute
• Starshells are not fired by the AI. When scripted to fire, they neither illuminate the area or enhance the DDs visual range
• If you load a saved game without the game having focus (currently active window in Windows) then the player's U-Boat will steam in circles, instead of following waypoints
• Problems with the magnetic detonators, even with duds turned off
• Can't get through internal hatches into another compartment if the boat is in a steep dive or climb
• AI wolfpacks sail too close to convoys and fail to attack
• When TDC is on and you use the stadimeter, the AOB is always reset from the value you had input
• Contact Detected function of all AI is broken
• Depth setting on magnetic warheads is incorrect
• Increased torpedo speed results in bugged gyro settings
• Occasional problems docking in-base
• Cannot man or un-man deck gun

Cosmetic Issues

• Requires Kriegsmarine map grid
• Requires Kriegsmarine Stadimeter
• The radio room is lacking all labels, including those on the radar
• The two communication tubes in the command room are transparent
• Gauge labels are incorrect
• Crew turn their backs on you when you click on them to talk, then they turn to face you again
• Crew on the conning tower whilst underwater after a loading a game
• Crewman near the UZO will point at nothing every now and again
• Torpedoes are absent from the torpedo room, if you have them and appear when you have none left
• The torpedo reload action gets out of synch if you train reload speed ability
• Sub will hover above the sea bed, rather than sitting on it
• Internal model of the Radar set is installed, even if radar is not installed on the boat, which causes confusion
• Interior dials and switches are not clickable
• You can see rain drops on the visor of the captain's mototrbike helmet, which he wouldn't have been wearing
• You can see lens flares, when the captain is not looking through a lens (with his eyes on the bridge)
• Reflections of the player submarine is all distorted (and possibly for other ships too)
• No reflections for any new imported ships in .dat format as the reflection controller doesn't work
• Engines increase in volume, instead of pitch when RPMs are increased
• Sunken ships vanish as soon as they touch the sea bed
• Ship's reflections are visible in fog when the ship itself is not
• Ship's wakes can be seen through waves
• Particle smoke from distant ships is not rendered, so you cannot see 'smoke on the horizon'
• Captain walking effects skewed
• Crew will not switch to rain gear in bad weather
• Ships sink into the sea in order to simulate a horizon, except the horizon is visible behind them, which just makes it look like the ships are sinking
• AA Gun ammo bar is directly in the line of sight for the sights, so you cannot see what you are shotting at
• Shadow does not fall correctly on wakes
• Fall when climbing ladder to deck in VIIB
• VIIB and VIIC conning towers are switched
• Conning tower shadows have gaps
• Incorrect German Spelling

Modding Issues

• Requires support for Import of ship/Air Models/Dials/Needles without the need for a GR2 Licence
• Internal submarine texture file sharing prevents detailed modding
• Lack of instruction regarding in-game modding tools

[reaper7]

Thanks Takeda Shingen for starting this Thread. I hope it will be used in the manner it was set up for.

I haven't played the Game much (Have spent all my time Modding it ) so can't comment on AI or such but what I have come across so far that need attention are.

1. Stadimeter (Send the default mast Height of 20m instead of the actual height in cfg files)

2. KM Grid has been removed from SH5. I have attempted to Mod it back in but results always give a CTD

3. A proper working u-boat stadimeter - not the Paciffic Sub one that is currently used.

4. Support for Import of ship/Air Models without the need for a GR2 Licence.

Will post anything alse I can think of again.

[SteelViking]

There are a large number of things on the interior of the sub which simply have the wrong textures assigned to them, or the textures are oriented improperly. The errors I am referring to are not correctable by editing the textures themselves, it would take editing of GR2 files. I am sorry that I cannot get screen shots of everything that I am talking about, as there are simply too many little problems for one man to try to collect them all.

Here is a list of just some of the things I am talking about:

- Gauge labels are incorrectly set up and assigned.

- The radio room is lacking all labels, including those on the radar(it does not even have a designation for the on/off switch).

- The two communication tubes in the command room are see through.

- Also, the way that all the textures for the interior(meaning the walls, pipes, wires, machinery, etc.) is not set up very well to be modded. The way it is now makes it very hard to make the sub look historically accurate since so many different things share the same textures. For instance, the TDC shares the same textures as the pipes around the sub.

There are many more, but these are the ones that I can think of right off the bat. I know these are just graphical problems, and that a lot of people disregard graphics as unimportant. However, graphics are my specialty, and these are some of what I cannot fix, so I figured I would bring them to the publics attention.

[stoppro]

I just would like the destroyers to stop spining around in circles and sticking with me where ever i go.

What would be an easy and big help right now would be the information on how the tools provided with SH5 are used.
Playing the Guessing Game is no fun.

Some of the issues SteelViking posted,
- Gauge labels are incorrectly set up and assigned.
- The radio room is lacking all labels, including those on the radar(it does not even have a designation for the on/off switch).
- The two communication tubes in the command room are see through.

we can take care of the problems.

The issue with support of Unit imports in Dat format is the total lack of
the effects.
Such as Shadows,
don't see the sub underwater as viewed from above,
Etc.

I doubt we would see the effects added without GR2 file format.
That would take a major rewrite of code most likely.
So it is important to address the GR2 situation.

[BIGREG]

Idem Privateer and SteelViking

- requires .GR2 editing to :

- add mouse mask to use directly in game the knobs,levers and wheels

- add the missing needles ( echolot,co2,batterie level in control room,needles of elec engines in VIIa ... )

- correct the missing needles textures ( hours,minutes in rear room VIIa and sonar room )

- add led light in submarines

ps: i have see a light bug in subarimes,the light rotate with the curse !?

[SteelViking]

Originally Posted by privateer

What would be an easy and big help right now would be the information on how the tools provided with SH5 are used.
Playing the Guessing Game is no fun.

Some of the issues SteelViking posted,
- Gauge labels are incorrectly set up and assigned.
- The radio room is lacking all labels, including those on the radar(it does not even have a designation for the on/off switch).
- The two communication tubes in the command room are see through.

we can take care of the problems.

I agree, tools are something that we definitely need more info on/need better versions of/or better tools altogether.

@Privateer,

I know that we CAN fix that stuff, but I would much rather have the devs do it for multiple reasons. They could probably do a cleaner job then we can, since they have access to the GR2 files they would have an easier time of it, and the things I mentioned should have been included from the start.

Edit: BTW, Takeda, thanks for setting up and overseeing this thread. I hope it does not get too out of hand.

AI issues:

Documentation beyond what we have is needed now.
This should be an easy thing to do.
And no patch is needed to do this.
It would assist those working in the AI field right now.

For any possible patch?
Fix the AI!
And finish the incomplete code.
(I refer to the Q-Ship code not finished!)


Mines and Anti-Subnets need fixed!
As more and more U-Boats are found to have been sunk by Mines?
This is a MUST!

[Takeda Shingen]

Let's make sure that this is a thorough list of current problems and bugs, and not a wish list of things that we feel have been omitted. That is beyond the scope of this project.

[Méo]

Originally Posted by privateer

Fix the AI!
And finish the incomplete code.
(I refer to the Q-Ship code not finished!)

...and about Wolfpacks.

Sorry, couldn't resist.

[BIGREG]

Radio antennas ( round and rod ) - schnorkel ( workable )

[Nisgeis]

Originally Posted by Takeda Shingen

Let's make sure that this is a thorough list of current problems and bugs, and not a wish list of things that we feel have been omitted. That is beyond the scope of this project.

• Crew on the conning tower whilst underwater after a loading a game.
• Ships not saving their damage when saving, so they are at full health when a game is re-loaded.
• Deck Gun Crew will fire on a new target after the current target is destroyed of their own accord (fire at will enabled permanently).
• Crew turn their backs on you when you click on them to talk, then they turn to face you again.
• Cannot use ladders if looking up.
• Crewman near the UZO will point at nothing every now and again.
• Sonarman doesn't report any contacts.
• Obs scope always raises itself when starting a mission.
• When dragging the waypoint on the navmap of TUI, dragging over a ship makes the waypoint stick to the ship.
• Stock AI will ignore you, unless you are definately classified as a Submarine contact. Unknown contacts will be ignored.
• Torpedoes are absent from the torpedo room, if you have them and appear when you have none left.
• The torpedo reload action gets out of synch if you train reload speed ability.
• Your can be assigned to a new base, without being radioed about it.
• Sub will hover above the sea bed, rather than sitting on it.
• TDC gets out of synch if you train the torpedo speed special ability.
• Internal model of the Radar set is installed, even if radar is not installed on the boat, which causes confusion.
• Incorrect types of AI recon planes flying at night.
• Occasionally either a friendly or enemy unit will get 'attached' to you and follow you everywhere.
• Sonar man does not warn about depth charges being dropped.
• The crew AI 20mm AA gunners aim afr too low to hit any aircraft.
• You can come out of time compression in the middle of a Task Force and then it's game over.
• Interior dials and switches are not clickable.
• Eye Candy, not bugs, but are not strictly correct either:

1. You can see rain drops on the visor of the captain's mototrbike helmet, which he wouldn't have been wearing.
2. You can see lens flares, when the captain is not looking through a lens (with his eyes on the bridge).

• Some ships cannot be heard if they go slower than 6 knots.
• TDC's speed entry is rounded to a whole number, instead of letting us put in 5.5 knots etcetera.
• Reflections of the player submarine is all distorted (and possibly for other ships too).
• No reflections for any new imported ships in .dat format as the reflection controller doesn't work.
• No KM Grid in the nav chart.
• Engine tuning resets to zero after diving and surfacing. E.G> before diving you can make 20 knots, but after surfacing, you can only make 15 knots.
• Engines increase in volume, instead of pitch when RPMs are increased.
• Sunken ships vanish as soon as they touch the sea bed.
• Cosemtic: Ships take no damage from the fires on them.
• Ye Olde Co2 bug, where the Co2 keeps rising, although you are surfaced.
• Reports of enemy ships being spawned in the Kiel Canal, or trying to transit up it.
• Torpdo autoloading option not saved as part of a game save, so you have to turn it back on each time.
• AI Torpedo planes do not enter into an attack run.
• AI air dropped torpedoes are dead and sink, instead of running.
• AI Torpedo planes even if fixed cannot aim ahead of a target and will usually miss.
• Particle smoke from distant ships is not rendered, so you cannot see 'smoke on the horizon'.
• Moving external torpedo to internal stores takes only one minute.
• Ship's reflections are visible in fog when the ship itself is not.
• Ship's wakes can be seen through waves.
• Starshells are not fired by the AI. When scripted to fire, they neither illuminate the area or enhance the DDs visual range.
• Captain constantly practices for riverdance competition (possibly two walking effects being played at the same time).
• Crew don't switch to rain gear in bad weather.
• Ships sink into the sea in order to simulate a horizon, except the horizon is visible behind them, which just makes it look like the ships are sinking.
• Auto Navigate through Kiel canal would be nice, at the moment people just sail round it, as it's quicker to do that than go through the Kiel canal, which is the opposite of what should happen.
• Very limited selection of merchant ships. Generally the ships available are all very large tonnage ships and also used for all sides (e.g. liberty ship being used at the start of the war by Germany).
• Wrong range with the stadimeter.
• If you load a saved game without the game having focus (currently active window in Windows) then the player's U-Boat will steam in circles, instead of following waypoints.
• Reportedly there are problems with the magnetic detonators, even with duds turned off.
• No option to invert Y axis on mouse.
• AA Gun ammo bar is directly in the line of sight for the sights, so you cannot see what you are shotting at.
• Can't get through internal hatches into another compartment if the boat is in a steep dive or climb.

I'm not so sure of these:

• Torpedo Tube opening/closing problem problem - you have to open the tubes twice. After firing a torpedo, the doors stay open.
• Periscope and UZO bearing tape is not illuminated, making night attacks problematic.
• Reports say 'Ship course 135', instead of 'Ship bearing 135'
• Morale dots don't synch with the morale score (e.g. 3 dots, but morale says 4/5) - appears to be related to upgrading maximum possible morale.
• Internal clocks and dials are not correct inside the sub.
• AI subs have no watch crew.
• Map annotations do not save.
• No Speech confirmation of various commands after loading a saved game. E.G. after ordering course change.
• Nav officer reports wrong info when you plot a waypoint.
• Depth keeping problems at depth and low speed 180m. Need to maintain high speed in order to not die.
• No reports of depth changes
• Range ticks too closely packed on the TAI at certain zoom levels.
• Full realism = map contacts still there, but just invisible. It's still possible to mouse over the invisible contact and get the tooltips which gives type speed and course.
• Game CTDs with an enemy submarine in proximatey (sometimes reported as related to manning the hydrophone). Also this has been noted as a problem in multiplayer and also perhaps has caused problems with games saved in the presence of an enemy sub.
• Speed indicator in GUI is incorrect, e.g. it shows 8.1 knotsm but indicated speed is 9. Possibly related to engineer engine tuning ability.
• Can see internal parts of the conning tower, when external camera is higher than the conning tower hatch from outside.

Aaaand... breathe.

[John Channing]

Can't see if this is here yet but just in case...

- Damage to ships that have been torpedoed or atacked with deck gun is not saved when you quit and re-start the game.

JCC

[Takeda Shingen]

Originally Posted by Nisgeis

• Torpedo Tube opening/closing problem problem - you have to open the tubes twice. After firing a torpedo, the doors stay open.
• Periscope and UZO bearing tape is not illuminated, making night attacks problematic.
• Reports say 'Ship course 135', instead of 'Ship bearing 135'
• Morale dots don't synch with the morale score (e.g. 3 dots, but morale says 4/5) - appears to be related to upgrading maximum possible morale.
• Internal clocks and dials are not correct inside the sub.
• AI subs have no watch crew.
• Map annotations do not save.
• No Speech confirmation of various commands after loading a saved game. E.G. after ordering course change.
• Nav officer reports wrong info when you plot a waypoint.
• Depth keeping problems at depth and low speed 180m. Need to maintain high speed in order to not die.
• No reports of depth changes
• Range ticks too closely packed on the TAI at certain zoom levels.
• Full realism = map contacts still there, but just invisible. It's still possible to mouse over the invisible contact and get the tooltips which gives type speed and course.
• Game CTDs with an enemy submarine in proximatey (sometimes reported as related to manning the hydrophone). Also this has been noted as a problem in multiplayer and also perhaps has caused problems with games saved in the presence of an enemy sub.
• Speed indicator in GUI is incorrect, e.g. it shows 8.1 knotsm but indicated speed is 9. Possibly related to engineer engine tuning ability.
• Can see internal parts of the conning tower, when external camera is higher than the conning tower hatch from outside.

Nice work, Nisgeis. If we can confirm the above, I will add them.

[Takeda Shingen]

Originally Posted by John Channing

Can't see if this is here yet but just in case...

- Damage to ships that have been torpedoed or atacked with deck gun is not saved when you quit and re-start the game.

JCC

Got it.