[REL] A British Med Campaign

[JapLance]

Hi SH4ers,

A few weeks ago I contacted sidslotm about our interest for the British campaign that lurker created with WDAD.

Unfortunately, seems like lurker has given up SH4 modding, and the WDAD project was left unfinished, so after sidslotm created a couple of Singleplayer missions set in the Med, I had the idea of somehow build campaign layers to play a sub out of Malta. A lot of work was already there thanks to what lurker did in the first part of WDAD, but also a lot had to be added. I've sent a PM to lurker to get permission to use his layers, but I'm afraid there's no answer by now. In case he doesn't say a word, I'll have to make from scratch some of them myself (with a loss in quality I'm afraid, but there's no other option). The mod will run in SH4 1.5, on top of the original WDAD mod.

Little by little, reading a lot around the forums here, learning my way in the files of SH4, the Campaign is shaping up. At the start it was a 1941 campaign for a U-class sub out of Malta. By now it lets you use a U or a T-Class starting in Malta, Gibraltar or Alexandria from 1940 to 1943, with patrol zones all around the Mediterranean (from Sardinia up to Syria), and also Flying Carpet missions to bring supplies to Malta or landing Commandos in different spots of the enemy coast. You could even be ordered to transport Chariots to the surroundings of an Italian base.

I got permission from a few SH3 modders to build up the Italian Fleet, which until now had only in WDAD the Soldati Class Destroyers.

VonDos gave me permission to use his ships, which include the Duilio Battleship, and the Trento, Montecuccoli and Barbiano cruisers, as well as the San Giorgio Armoured cruiser and the Gradisca Hospital Ship.

While not 100% secure, because he has dissapeared from SH modding scene, Gerome_73 lends his Littorio-class Battleship Roma. I contacted the person who uploaded that ship to SubSim, and also someone who had recently asked him for a similar thing for one of his works. I'm confident that, as long as proper credit is given, there would be no problem in using it.

Then I've used a couple of ships already in WDAD to act as Italians. That includes a German TB to act as the Italian Torpedinieri, which are roughly similar to an allied DE, and also a Japanese Subchaser, for the Gabbiano class of corvettes. Also added to the Italian roster a few different merchant ships, to have variety.

Right now I'm also trying to contact the creators of the Baltic Mod to get permission to use the nice Zara class cruiser they did. In case that is not possible, the German Hipper is in WDAD and can be quite convincing as a Zara.

Of the main ships, the only class really lacking is proper fleet destroyers, which by now are only represented by the Soldati. If anyone is interested in doing extra DD classes, that would be very welcome.

I'd like to hear your opinions, comments and ideas, and when I have a Beta version, a few volunteers to test would be great. I will also probably ask you for help when I meet unknown stuff.

A few pics:

The Italian fleet at sea:



T-Class boat setting sail from Alexandria:



Patrol zones. The green lines separate the patrol areas for Gibraltar (Left), Malta (Center) and Alexandria (Center and Right)



A Duilio-class battleship about to get into trouble:



Stormy weather off the Tunisian coast. That destroyer foundered two minutes after taking this screenshot.



A Condottieri I-Class cruiser:


UPDATE: 29/7/2011 v2.5 released

Mirror 2: http://www.sendspace.com/file/p5sgjf

Link to WDAD (mandatory download): http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=170639

[etheberge]

Wow, looks very nice, looking forward to it.

[jakla1027]

Man oh man cant wait, sounds great! It'd be nice to try hunting Italian subs along with the rest of the Italian Fleet. Also it'd be interesting to be able to transfer to the Indian/Pacific Ocean later on in the campaign we things slowed down in the Mediterranian, like when Italy surrenders.

Nonetheless great start to a wonderful sounding campaign MOD please keep up the great work!!!

[sidslotm]

Yeah, JapLance man on fire, excellent work, don't know how you do it, but keep it up.

sid

[JapLance]

Thanks for the comments, guys. I was going to do all this for me anyway, but knowing that someone else wants it as well is quite rewarding .

Originally Posted by jakla1027

Man oh man cant wait, sounds great! It'd be nice to try hunting Italian subs along with the rest of the Italian Fleet. Also it'd be interesting to be able to transfer to the Indian/Pacific Ocean later on in the campaign we things slowed down in the Mediterranian, like when Italy surrenders.

The plan is to add a few German and Italian subs on patrol and in and out of harbours randomly. I still would need to check how they are implemented in the original game or one of the big mods, but I think its doable, as German subs are already in WDAD, and Keltos did a nice Italian AI submarine that could be used. Anyway, it would be at a later stage. I've stopped work for a while, to see if Lurker says something about the PM I sent him.

The transfer to the IO is more problematic. There is a gap of about three-four months between the finishing of the Med campaign and the start of Lurker's WDAD, and I'm not sure on how to do it. Perhaps later on, but for now the idea is to focus on the Mediterranean, which I think is more intense.

[JapLance]

Another think I'd like to say is don't expect the level of excellence that other great campaigns offer. I'm a rookie in this, and learn as I'm writing here

[keltos01]

Originally Posted by JapLance

The plan is to add a few German and Italian subs on patrol and in and out of harbours randomly. I still would need to check how they are implemented in the original game or one of the big mods, but I think its doable, as German subs are already in WDAD, and Keltos did a nice Italian AI submarine that could be used.

you are more than welcome to use it, as it was intended for Sidslotm and a med campaign for the U/T class boat.

regards

keltos

[JapLance]

Originally Posted by keltos01

you are more than welcome to use it, as it was intended for Sidslotm and a med campaign for the U/T class boat.

regards

keltos

Thank you Keltos, that's great news .

I've just made a quick layer with a few submarines, both German and Italian, mainly for testing purposes. Anyway, they are hard to meet in that big sea, but at least gives you another thing to worry about (and also another target ).

[Krauter]

Another possibility is to use some of the Italian models from sh5

[JapLance]

Originally Posted by Krauter

Another possibility is to use some of the Italian models from sh5

Hi Krauter,

some of VonDos models for SH3 are actually SH5 models converted. I'm sure the Trento, Barbiano and Montecuccoli cruisers come from SH5. Don't know if there are any other Italian models in SH5 that could be ported to SH3/4.

[HMCS]

THIS is one of the mods I've been waiting for....

[JapLance]

Any suggestions for a cool name for the campaign ?

[Kaleun]

As the RN is known as the silent service why not;

"The Silent Wolves" or "The Silent Service"

or as the submarines that were based at Malta were part of the 10th flotilla why not

"The Mighty 10th" or "The Fighting Tenth" or

The Royal Navy's motto : "Si vis pacem, para bellum" - "If you wish for peace, prepare for war"

Kaleun

[Egan]

I've been thinking about digging SH4 back out again recently - this might well sway me! looks great!

[HMCS]

Originally Posted by JapLance

Any suggestions for a cool name for the campaign ?

"Above Us, The Waves".