[REL] Improved Empire Freighter *AND* CAM Ship

[iambecomelife]

Two new vessels for your collections: the new version of the Empire Freighter that I posted pictures of earlier AND a Catapult Armed Merchantman based on the same hull. They are easy to install & are compatible with any version of SH3. If there are generic entries for British, Belgian, Dutch, or Canadian ships in the campaign you have a chance of seeing them ingame. Both were tested for the break-in-two CTD bug, and they shouldn't cause any problems. Each comes with seven unique skins. Get them here:

http://files.filefront.com/CAM-Ship.7z/;8479640;/fileinfo.html


http://files.filefront.com/Improved_Empire_Freighter.7z/;8479641;/fileinfo.html

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/iambecomelife/CAM1-2.jpg

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/iambecomelife/CAM2-1.jpg

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/iambecomelife/CAM3-1.jpg

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/iambecomelife/M35-1.jpg

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/iambecomelife/M35-2.jpg

[pontius]

Thank you very much :up:

[JCWolf]

Damn beautiful work mate,

Simply :o :rock:

Thanks for sharing this mate!:up: :yep:


Quetions -

Can both of them be added to Roster files
and into the game at same time?

[bigboywooly]

Nice one Iambecome :up:

[lutzow]

:hmm: :huh: :dead: :huh: :eek: DL:D

YEES - delicious masterwork with thousands of details!!!
Many big thanks Iambecomelife !!!
Preciouss frachters !!! Mniam.

[Jimbuna]

Very nice IABL :rock: :up:

[VonDos]

:rock: Wonderfull! :yep:

great work! :rock: :rock:

[nikbear]

Utterly awesome standard as usual IABL:rock:Can't wait to see them in game on the high sea's:up: and then sink them;)

[poor sailor]

Looks very nice!:up:

[Sailor Steve]

Hard to add anything to the above comments, but I will anyway::rock: :sunny:

[Alex]

+ it has already all text files for german, english, and french language... :huh: :sunny:

Really beautiful, mate, very professional. :rock:

[AOTD_MadMax]

Great Work iambecome !! :up:
I love your work !! :sunny:

Hmm the Old Empire Freighter is also very nice so my question :
Is there any way to let bothe Empire Freighter exist near each other in a game ?

I have made a nice Skin for you first Empire Freighter so a wanne let them drive bothe in a Convoi.

Watch here my Skin for your Old Version !
http://85.25.133.181/Files/mods/MaddisSchiffe2/Empire2.jpg
http://85.25.133.181/Files/mods/MaddisSchiffe2/Empire1.jpg
http://85.25.133.181/Files/mods/MaddisSchiffe2/Empire3.jpg

This Ship is to nice to overwrite it by the new Version, so what is to do to let them bothe exist ?

Best Regards

AOTD|MadMax

[iambecomelife]

Oh, you created a civilian skin. :up: The new ship is meant to replace the old one, so in order to have them side by side you will have to rename all the files - dat, cfg, eqp, and everything else - and then clone it in Pack3d.

[Vader 1]

..Mouth falling to floor...room growing dark...pulse growing faint...unbelievable sir!
Vader

[Kpt. Lehmann]

..Mouth falling to floor...room growing dark...pulse growing faint...unbelievable sir!
Vader

LOL... exactly my thoughts when I heard IABC released some ships...

I thought. "Nahhh, it can't be... The moon isn't blue yet!"

Way to go IABC! Good stuff mate. Especially that Cam ship. :up: :up: :up:

[bruschi sauro]

MAGNIFICO:rock:

[Woof1701]

Beautifully done, and so much little details. Impressive!!
Just one question before I attack one of the CAM ships surfaced: can they launch the Aircraft?

[JScones]

Great stuff as always. :up:

[Cezbor]

Good job, may power be with you:D

[melnibonian]

Great Stuff. I can't wait to see the rest of the ships you're making :up:

[danurve]

Impressive work. :up:

[denis_469]

Excellent work:up: :yep:

[iambecomelife]

Question: are you having any trouble downloading the ships? Filefront lists them as having zero downloads, so let me know if you've downloaded successfully.

The CAM Ship is supposed to spawn aircraft if you provoke it when it's within range of an Allied airbase. (A discussion several months ago revealed that ships in SH3 cannot spawn planes if they are out of range of a land airbase). The default air group is a single Hurricane.

[bigboywooly]

I have them both

IIRC aircraft will only spawn from a type=8 and 9 whether close to land or not
Tried more than a few times with floatplanes on cruisers and battleships to no avail

Have you had a Hurricane spawn close while testing ?
Be interesting if you have

[Woof1701]

I have them both

IIRC aircraft will only spawn from a type=8 and 9 whether close to land or not
Tried more than a few times with floatplanes on cruisers and battleships to no avail

Have you had a Hurricane spawn close while testing ?
Be interesting if you have

So the CAM ships can't launch planes by themselves?
How about aircraft carriers then? Do they also need a land base in close proximity to spawn planes or do they serve as airbases themselves? I actually never observed what carriers were doing when I'm near. I was always too afraid to be spotted. :)

[Alex]

Question: are you having any trouble downloading the ships? Filefront lists them as having zero downloads, so let me know if you've downloaded successfully.

I downloaded them without any problem :up:

[Jimbuna]

Question: are you having any trouble downloading the ships? Filefront lists them as having zero downloads, so let me know if you've downloaded successfully.

FF is traditionally very slow at updating the log/usage files....sometimes by as much as a day :yep:

[3Jane]

I don't know if this issue was caused by the installation of these two mods or if it was just my own game instalation or system. I added the two ships to the game file and the names to the ship names file. Everything went in just as it should, however I found that my career folder in 'my documents' had disapeared. Fortunately I always keep a backup copy of my career folder, so all I needed to do was open the game and start a new career with the same name then paste a copy of the backup into the new career folder. Just in case this issue might arise in other instalations, I would advise a copy/ paste backup of your career folder before you install these mods. Anyone else had this?

[coronas]

Very impresive. Looks perfect in game! I'll be the happiest man in World when the pack is done!
Thanks for your work!

[AOTD_MadMax]

Thanx iambecome for your instructions. :up:
My bothe Versions of your Empirefreighter are working fine after i have cloned one of them and renamed this Unit to M35C.

Now iam waiting for your next Superunits :yep:

Greets

AOTD|MadMax

[bookworm_020]

Alwasy wanted a CAM ship for the game!:yep: Thanks for making one up!:up: Now I'm just hanging out for your Merchant Fleet Mod that you have been working on. This with the final update for GWX have caused me to drool over my keyboard!:doh:

[Heibges]

Holy Jebus!

[sh3rules]

Nice ships! :up:

[madmike81]

Love these ships in game...very nice....but i have two questions.

#1 is anyone have troubles besides me getting a mag detonation on these ships? I usually aim 1 meter under the stated draft of a ship and never have any issues.

#2 Where do you have to hit these things to get them to blow in half?

Thanks in advance.

[iambecomelife]

Love these ships in game...very nice....but i have two questions.

#1 is anyone have troubles besides me getting a mag detonation on these ships? I usually aim 1 meter under the stated draft of a ship and never have any issues.

#2 Where do you have to hit these things to get them to blow in half?

Thanks in advance.

Try subtracting maybe .1 - .2 m from the depth and see if that helps.

To blow the ships in half aim between the #4 hatch and the rear superstructure. For best results the torpedo should hit right between where the weather deck ends aft and where the raised bulwark begins. About 2/3 of the ship will be bow and 1/3 the stern.

[iambecomelife]

I have them both

IIRC aircraft will only spawn from a type=8 and 9 whether close to land or not
Tried more than a few times with floatplanes on cruisers and battleships to no avail

Have you had a Hurricane spawn close while testing ?
Be interesting if you have

So the CAM ships can't launch planes by themselves?
How about aircraft carriers then? Do they also need a land base in close proximity to spawn planes or do they serve as airbases themselves? I actually never observed what carriers were doing when I'm near. I was always too afraid to be spotted. :)

I don't have the link to the actual discussion but the person who studied the problem made it clear: no ships in SH3 can really spawn their own aircraft; the game just uses them as triggers for land air bases. The entry in their cfg file (Avenger, Swordfish or whatever) determines what types of planes the nearby land base will spawn. It's a bizarre system, and unless someone modded it in the meantime (which I doubt) it's still in effect.:dead:

[Woof1701]

I have them both

IIRC aircraft will only spawn from a type=8 and 9 whether close to land or not
Tried more than a few times with floatplanes on cruisers and battleships to no avail

Have you had a Hurricane spawn close while testing ?
Be interesting if you have

So the CAM ships can't launch planes by themselves?
How about aircraft carriers then? Do they also need a land base in close proximity to spawn planes or do they serve as airbases themselves? I actually never observed what carriers were doing when I'm near. I was always too afraid to be spotted. :)

I don't have the link to the actual discussion but the person who studied the problem made it clear: no ships in SH3 can really spawn their own aircraft; the game just uses them as triggers for land air bases. The entry in their cfg file (Avenger, Swordfish or whatever) determines what types of planes the nearby land base will spawn. It's a bizarre system, and unless someone modded it in the meantime (which I doubt) it's still in effect.:dead:

Thanks. That would make escort carriers in the middle of the Atlantic pretty useless. Good to know :)

[Stiebler]

Concerning whether the CAM-ships can spawn aircraft:
I thought I'd try some tests.

Location: just north of Azores, Feb 1943 (therefore no Allied airbase on Azores, and *NO* Allied land airbases within range).
Convoy: 12 merchants, four DEs.
Addition: 3 CAM-ships.
[Extra information: Using NYGM, Single mission, 'god's-eye view' on.]

Results:
1. CAM-ships in convoy as Type 102 ships. NO aerial activity at all, several attempts.
2. CAM-ships in convoy as Type 8 escort carriers (but flag escort=false). LOTS of aerial activity, all by Hurricanes, attacking and bombing my U-boat. The Hurricanes came directly from the CAM-ships, confirmed in god's-eye view. However, the convoy was shown on the map as a 'Task Force'.
3. CAM-ships in convoy as Type 8 escort carriers (but flag escort=true). NO aerial activity, several attempts. However, convoy is shown again as a convoy on map.

I think that settles all discussions, but raises the issue of what to do with the CAM ship in a convoy. Probably best to leave it as a type 102 (default).
Another issue is the apparent worthlessness of escort carriers generally, when attached to convoys as part of the escort. And if they are not part of the escort, the convoy becomes a Task Force.

Nice ships, by the way.

Stiebler.

[bigboywooly]

Interesting Steibler

What was the lead unit in the convoy that showed as a TF
If its a warship then yes it will
Have the lead as a merchant and should show as a convoy

I take it that was a scripted convoy not a RND one ?

[Stiebler]

BigBoyWooly said:
What was the lead unit in the convoy that showed as a TF
If its a warship then yes it will
Have the lead as a merchant and should show as a convoy

I take it that was a scripted convoy not a RND one ?
Good questions.
1. You are right, I must have accidentally made one of the three CAM-ships the lead ship (I made random changes to the convoy) when testing.
I've just re-tested, with three CAM-ships as Type=8, none is the lead ship, escort=false. The convoy appears now as a convoy, not as a task force, and Hurricanes attack the U-boat.
With just one CAM-ship there are fewer air attacks (as one might expect), but otherwise all is in order.

2. I used RndGroups, to simulate actual use in campaign_RND.mis. A little tiresome waiting for the convoy to spawn, but otherwise uneventful.

In conclusion:
Clearly now the best way to use the CAM ship is as a Type 8 warship, with escort=false.
It is also clear that Bogue-type escort carriers can be added as warships to convoys to provide a sort of air protection. (I mentioned in a post, long ago, here on SubSim, that I never ever saw an aircraft flying near a Bogue carrier except in test simulations at very short range.)

Thanks for the advice, BBW.

Stiebler.

[bigboywooly]

No worries Steibler
Thanx for testing

[mr chris]

Fantastic work:up:

Now all i need is some serious free time and a large crate of Beer:arrgh!:

[joegrundman]

Awesome, just Dl'd yesterday, installed it mid-patrol and the very first thing i came across was an Empire Frachter making 3kts.

Just one question: do the Empire and CAM ships share a single page in the recognition manual, As I'm not seeing the entry for the CAM ship. Or have i installed it wrong?

[iambecomelife]

They should both have unique entries since there are slight structural differences. I created a separate manual page for each vessel.