[REL] RFB/Real Fleet Boat for 1.5

[AVGWarhawk]

Thanks for the reply. Would I install RSRD via the previous instructions? RSRD_v1.5_v395_RCS, RSRD_v395 Patch 4, RSRD_AuxGB Fix. Also do you know if RUIM is included in RFB 1.52?

All that I'm running is RFB, RSRD V1.5_v395. RUIM is included if I'm not mistaken. There is a patch for RFB on the first post in this thread. Get that patch also.

[ancient46]

AVGWarhawk and Flybywire, any reasons why you aren't using RSRDC_RFBv15_v396 that was released for the RFB 1.52?

[Quagmire]

You guys did a great job making the SJ Radar behave erratically, especially in bad weather. However, the SD radar is supernatually flawless. I have never been attacked by a plane since the SD is always faithful.

A quirky SD radar set would add to the suspence. Any way to simulate that?
It just might be possible.

Whoa! That would make me think twice about running on the surface while in enemy waters. Right now I have no fear since the SD always lets me know an aircraft is approaching. An SD radar that wasnt 100% trustworthy would definitely add to the immersion factor! (or the pucker factor!)
.

[cleverusername]

I have a suggestion for those who want to dive deeper than 450 ft.

What about changing the "crash depth"? This is the depth you automatically level off at when you order a crash dive. It's defaulted to 150 feet. If we change that to say 800 feet, would that let the sub dive deeper?

It makes more sense to do it this way than to change the radar depth for example. If you're ordering a crash dive, that means something's gone seriously wrong on the surface. Wouldn't you want to be as far away from there as possible?

[AVGWarhawk]

AVGWarhawk and Flybywire, any reasons why you aren't using RSRDC_RFBv15_v396 that was released for the RFB 1.52?

I am using 396. Typo:-?

[Kaleun]

hi,

Stupid question no doubt, i have used the search function to no avail!!

I've just installed RFB with RSRDC after a long time using TMO. i go to set up a campaign and i'm offered the difficulty choices " easy, normal, hard and very Hard" which one is RFB optomised to work with??

I don't want to remove realism by playing on the incorrect difiiculty setting, i was kinda hoping to find a "Realistic" setting like on TMO and you knew you were playing at the right level.

Regards

Kaleun

[DeepIron]

I usually test and play at the "normal" setting with 100% realism and it's plenty challenging. When I test, I leave the external camera on, but in a personal battle or campaign, I turn it off. It's REALLY scary when you can't "peek" around to see what's happening...

[AVGWarhawk]

I usually test and play at the "normal" setting with 100% realism and it's plenty challenging. When I test, I leave the external camera on, but in a personal battle or campaign, I turn it off. It's REALLY scary when you can't "peek" around to see what's happening...

100% is the way to go IMO. Instead of the God's eye view when DD are dumping ash cans on you, all you can do is look up at the hull, listen and hope you made the correct evasive action.

[Kaleun]

hi,

Ta for that DeepIron! i shall go forth and do battle on normal setting!

Regards

Kaleun

[theluckyone17]

Synopsis: For Pete's sake, stay away from targets that want to ram you. This new DM for the sub doesn't like ramming at all, even glancing blows, rubbing, etc.

In detail: I sighted a 4,800 ton medium old tanker in early '42, just north of Java. He was hauling at 11 knots... apparently he had somewhere to be. I maneuvered into position, fired off three tubes from the rear... and each one went deep, right under the target. I swung around, fired the front four tubes in utter frustration, failing to notice that the target had since killed his speed. Chalk up four misses.

Seein' as he didn't have an armament, I surface and started plunking away at him with the deck gun. We finally settled into a routine with him chasing me down, presumably in an attempt to ram me (brave little bugger). I kept ahead of him without a problem. After thoroughly perforating his bow with 25-30 rounds, I swung to starboard to fire at his stern (and engine room). He swung away, giving up on the ramming bit. As a result, we started opening the gap up.

I just hit the rudder over to port, and circled around... figured I had enough room. Nope. He went from evade mode to ramming mode again. Once I realized he was getting too close for comfort, I centered the rudder, expecting to simply move down alongside the target, just brushing him.

That didn't work out... he kicked the rudder over to his port, and we ended up rubbing his port side (just about at his first mast) with my engine room.

Immediately, the engine room compartment and pressure hull was destroyed, along with damaging the clean fuel bunker and one diesel engine. Flooding commenced, and filled the compartment (presumably because the pressure hull and compartment were fully destroyed, my damage control couldn't do anything about it. She proceeded to slowly sink lower into the water, until she was finally submerged and the sim would let me blow ballast tanks. That failed to do anything, period. Deeper and deeper we went, 'til we finally slammed into the ocean floor at 165 feet. I ordered full stop, but the damage progressed, 'til there was no way we were getting back to the surface.

Lesson: Don't get rammed. Don't get brushed. Both are bad.

[Rockin Robbins]

Synopsis: For Pete's sake, stay away from targets that want to ram you. This new DM for the sub doesn't like ramming at all, even glancing blows, rubbing, etc.

Lesson: Don't get rammed. Don't get brushed. Both are bad.

A great commercial and gripping story about the goodness inside every package of Real Fleet Boat! Thanks!

[IronPerch]

I usually test and play at the "normal" setting with 100% realism and it's plenty challenging. When I test, I leave the external camera on, but in a personal battle or campaign, I turn it off. It's REALLY scary when you can't "peek" around to see what's happening...

Another stupid question: isn't the difficulty choices selection just a quick way to do your realism settings? If not no wonder why i have to work my ass of to get something sunk :p

[Rockin Robbins]

I usually test and play at the "normal" setting with 100% realism and it's plenty challenging. When I test, I leave the external camera on, but in a personal battle or campaign, I turn it off. It's REALLY scary when you can't "peek" around to see what's happening...
Another stupid question: isn't the difficulty choices selection just a quick way to do your realism settings? If not no wonder why i have to work my ass of to get something sunk :p
That's all it is. You can choose easy, go into the realism settings and check all the boxes and get to 100% realism if you want.

[kylesplanet]

I usually test and play at the "normal" setting with 100% realism and it's plenty challenging. When I test, I leave the external camera on, but in a personal battle or campaign, I turn it off. It's REALLY scary when you can't "peek" around to see what's happening...

100% is the way to go IMO. Instead of the God's eye view when DD are dumping ash cans on you, all you can do is look up at the hull, listen and hope you made the correct evasive action.

Not to derail this discussion but when I quit using the external cam, I would catch myself looking up at the ceiling when the DC's started falling. :p

[AVGWarhawk]

I usually test and play at the "normal" setting with 100% realism and it's plenty challenging. When I test, I leave the external camera on, but in a personal battle or campaign, I turn it off. It's REALLY scary when you can't "peek" around to see what's happening...

100% is the way to go IMO. Instead of the God's eye view when DD are dumping ash cans on you, all you can do is look up at the hull, listen and hope you made the correct evasive action.

Not to derail this discussion but when I quit using the external cam, I would catch myself looking up at the ceiling when the DC's started falling. :p


:yep: Yep, I listen to see which side the DD is coming from.

[Laffertytig]

ive got a question about endurance. the optimal speed to travel at is ahead standard (10 knots) right? how come when i travel at a slower speed my endurance actually decreases by almost 1000 miles?

[DeepIron]

ive got a question about endurance. the optimal speed to travel at is ahead standard (10 knots) right? how come when i travel at a slower speed my endurance actually decreases by almost 1000 miles?Optimal speed is dependent on sea conditions. If you're cruising ahead at Standard, and bucking a head sea, your forward speed would be around 6-7 kts typically but your still burning fuel at the Standard setting. Better to drop back to 2/3 ahead or possibly less...

As for your second question... hmmm, I'll have to do some testing as I've never seen that happen unless the sea was very rough or I had a fuel leak from damage.

[AVGWarhawk]

ive got a question about endurance. the optimal speed to travel at is ahead standard (10 knots) right? how come when i travel at a slower speed my endurance actually decreases by almost 1000 miles?

What I do is transit at 10 kts. When I hit my patrol area I cruise at 4 knots. Saves fuel and cruising fast can get you spotted.

[sckallst]

Re: endurance

Make sure that when you push the "remaining range" button to check your endurance, regardless of speed, you are not charging batteries, or you will get the "wrong" answer. As the fuel depeletion rate at that instant is much greater than the plain old 'crusing around" rate, you will get a greatly reduced endurance estimate. On the other hand, even if it seems like you have a lot fuel, make sure when you are heading into heavily patrolled waters that you take into account the effect of potentially recharging batteries freqnetly if you will be spending most of the daylight hours submerged.

Not sure that this is the problem noted above, but probably worth stating nonethless.

[Orion2012]

Re: endurance

Make sure that when you push the "remaining range" button to check your endurance, regardless of speed, you are not charging batteries, or you will get the "wrong" answer. As the fuel depeletion rate at that instant is much greater than the plain old 'crusing around" rate, you will get a greatly reduced endurance estimate. On the other hand, even if it seems like you have a lot fuel, make sure when you are heading into heavily patrolled waters that you take into account the effect of potentially recharging batteries freqnetly if you will be spending most of the daylight hours submerged.

Not sure that this is the problem noted above, but probably worth stating nonethless.

You make a good point about charging and checking your remaining fuel, its good to check with both motors driving the prop.

[:FI:Rabitski]

Any word on a fix for the perscope lock issue, being addressed in a upcomming patch?

[DeepIron]

Any word on a fix for the perscope lock issue, being addressed in a upcomming patch?See http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showpost.php?p=997909&postcount=2245

It will probably be in the next release and not a patch however and the date is not yet set...

[Rockin Robbins]

Wow! Look at the number of hits compared to the number of hits on the abandoned original Trigger Maru thread, which just rose from the grave. Here's the score card:

Real Fleet Boat 2,274

Trigger Maru 1,580
Trigger Maru Overhauled 769
Total Trigger Maru 2,349
And with RFB so inactive for so long, it's amazing that less than a hundred posts now separates the two mods. I have a feeling that TMO will be an orphan not much longer. I hope the unfortunate moniker of "Overhauled" can be amputated and it will resume its rightful place as an actively maintained mod.

But congratulations RFB Crew! There's a new kid in town and you are it!:up:

[Bosje]

i just endured the most savage depthcharge attack i ever encountered in SH4 and I wanted to say the sub damage model made it a brilliant experience

forward flooding, nose pointing down, propelled myself to the bottom. reverse speed sorted it and pulled her backwards up to safe depths. during two hours of realtime damage control and destroyer evasion the flooding was controlled and pumped out. I might even have survived if I hadn't messed it up with time compression :huh:

either way, I noticed the boat suffering very satisfactory damage and flooding effects from the depthcharge onslaught. excellent experience :up:

[DeepIron]

i just endured the most savage depthcharge attack i ever encountered in SH4 and I wanted to say the sub damage model made it a brilliant experience

forward flooding, nose pointing down, propelled myself to the bottom. reverse speed sorted it and pulled her backwards up to safe depths. during two hours of realtime damage control and destroyer evasion the flooding was controlled and pumped out. I might even have survived if I hadn't messed it up with time compression :huh:

either way, I noticed the boat suffering very satisfactory damage and flooding effects from the depthcharge onslaught. excellent experience :up:Excellent! It's really encouraging to hear of these kinds of exploits in RFB. Thanks!:up:

[Piggy]

Hey there, I just moved over to SH4 from SH3 - GWX.

I decided to try out RFB, needless to say Im impressed... (but a little frustrated).

My problem was this... I came across a large cargo ship, she was doing 7 knots and I put two torps from my rear tube into her. One at the front cargo hold, the other at the engine room. She came to a dead stop but wouldnt sink, no problem.

It was too rough for the deck gun so I swung around and fired off a forward tube. The torp veered off ahead of the ship? Tried a second one and the same thing happened. (I had been locked on to the ship and then aimed for the rear cargo comp)

So I look at my TDC settings, its showing the ships speed at 7 knots still? I cant change the speed setting either. (maybe because Im not using manual targetting?) For that matter I cant manually change any of the torp settings except the speed and impact method...

So what's going on? Im very new to SH4 and am awkwardly trying to find my way around....

PS: the graphics are stunning! Wow :up:

[Orion2012]

So I look at my TDC settings, its showing the ships speed at 7 knots still? I cant change the speed setting either. (maybe because Im not using manual targetting?) For that matter I cant manually change any of the torp settings except the speed and impact method...


There are some noted anomalies with the auto-targeting and RFB, for some reason whenever a ship is damaged the game does not update the TDC with the new speed. Hopefully this will be corrected very soon as their are fixes in testing.

[Piggy]

There are some noted anomalies with the auto-targeting and RFB, for some reason whenever a ship is damaged the game does not update the TDC with the new speed. Hopefully this will be corrected very soon as their are fixes in testing.

Ahh, so I either have to guess at where I should be aiming or learn how to do manual targetting? :cry: Im assuming the only way to change the settings is with auto targetting off?

Further to that, coming from SH3 that had a weapons officer to do the hard stuff.. I dont see anything like that in SH4? Is there any way I can cheat in SH4 like you could in SH3 in this regard? I see buttons for sending AOB and Range to the TDC but nothing for speed? I guess speed is fairly easy to judge though...

I just havent got my head wrapped around the manual targetting...

I know I know.... :yep:

[sgtabell]

I noticed a troop ship last night. Put three torpedos in her, she circled a bit, and picked her up again 60 miles or so down the path with her escorts. She was listing greatly when I left, (looking through camera, saw the three big holes).

When I ran into her again, no damage or listing.

Is it possible I screwed something up with the patch when I did a file copy or is anyone else noticing this.

Thanks,

Sgtabell

[tater]

I think this is an engine related issue. Ship groups are abstracted until the player is within ~20nm, at which point they are created by the engine. If a ship you have been watching leaves that radius, it is once again abstracted. To be honest, I'm not even sure if it tracks units removed from the group.

[sgtabell]

That would explain it. With a 12 mile horizon, (not sure what the in-game LOS is, seems about 6-8 with good experienced enemy), that makes it hard to do a "get ahead and finish it off)...however the gamieness side of knowing the AI will still track to the original path....guess it evens it out.;)

Thanks for the answer!

sgtabell

[CaptainHaplo]

Tater - Thank you! You finally explained why we get "zombie" ships on occasion. I always wondered why - now I have an answer that makes sense!

[neron]

got a bit of a problem
i updated to RFB1.52
and now the game CTDs or freezes
ive tried RFB on its own and it gives the same result
i just get a message saying SH4 has stopped working
1.51 works fine and have reverted back to it while i try to sort this out
i reinstalled SH4 re downloaded 1.52 but still no joy
i noticed that the sea and sky colours were a little psycadelic green yellow orange dont know if that means anything
any one have any ideas

[vanjast]

Your graphics card specs... ??
:hmm:

[vanjast]

To be honest, I'm not even sure if it tracks units removed from the group. Quiet possibly is only tracks the reference object (ship) as all other objects are linked to this. And when the reference object 'hyperspaces', so does the whole group.
With a group I'd imagine that the 'hyperspace' radius is larger (~100km) as I've have my game step out of 'Hspace' with a convoy many miles away - more than 20nM as my search took me to Timbuktu and back.

:D

[neron]

i have a geforce 8500gt
1790 total available graphics
512 dedicated video mem
1278 shared system mem

[kwbgjh2]

i have a geforce 8500gt
1790 total available graphics
512 dedicated video mem
1278 shared system mem
The Nvidia 8xxx series and their issues doing to games is an endless story !

This is from a post i made in July 08:

2.) Since 1.5 (U-Boat Misssions) i always had a crappy ingame graphic when i activate a mod. Sometimes i had CTD, sometimes the game was frozen, sometimes no chance to load a savegame. :damn::damn: I installed EVERY nvidia driver that was released no matter if it was only beta. And four weeks ago i hit the jackpot, the beta driver 177.79 solved my problems. I sweare as long as i have this graphic card or the SH4 game i will never change this driver. :up:

My advice: Download all nvidia drivers you can get and test them one by one. If you have Vista use the option to remove all driver software in the deinstall window before you test the next driver. I wish you all luck.

And dude, when you will be lucky and find a driver which solves your problems.... Act like me: NEVER, NEVER, NEVER AGAIN NVIDIA DRIVER UPDATES !

:rotfl::rotfl:

[neron]

Quote:
Originally Posted by neron
i have a geforce 8500gt
1790 total available graphics
512 dedicated video mem
1278 shared system mem


The Nvidia 8xxx series and their issues doing to games is an endless story !

This is from a post i made in July 08:

2.) Since 1.5 (U-Boat Misssions) i always had a crappy ingame graphic when i activate a mod. Sometimes i had CTD, sometimes the game was frozen, sometimes no chance to load a savegame. :damn::damn: I installed EVERY nvidia driver that was released no matter if it was only beta. And four weeks ago i hit the jackpot, the beta driver 177.79 solved my problems. I sweare as long as i have this graphic card or the SH4 game i will never change this driver. :up:

My advice: Download all nvidia drivers you can get and test them one by one. If you have Vista use the option to remove all driver software in the deinstall window before you test the next driver. I wish you all luck.

And dude, when you will be lucky and find a driver which solves your problems.... Act like me: NEVER, NEVER, NEVER AGAIN NVIDIA DRIVER UPDATES !



thanks ill try that need to be at the weekend now
thanks again

[Wilcke]

Unfortunately, this is so true especially for older games. Not that SH4 is old although in the cycle of videocards and driver updates it is. I still run an old 7950GT OC with the 94.xx drivers without a glitch or a hiccup. Smooth and beautiful graphics.

I have yet to try any newer drivers as the old adage is if it is not broken do not fix its. As for newer releases...

T-34 vs Tiger
Steel Fury; Kahrkov
Theater of War

all run great and very smoothly.

Best of luck!

Happy Hunting!

[Kptlt. Neuerburg]

Well I've got a complant too, last time it was torpedos but this time its the deck gun. I've got a Salmon class sub, the problem is that in port I see that I can upgrade the deck gun from an aft to a fore deck gun. But when I do it I can't see a slot for the crew. Is there a way of fixing this, has anyone had this problem?

[JREX53]

Well I've got a complant too, last time it was torpedos but this time its the deck gun. I've got a Salmon class sub, the problem is that in port I see that I can upgrade the deck gun from an aft to a fore deck gun. But when I do it I can't see a slot for the crew. Is there a way of fixing this, has anyone had this problem?

This is a known problem from stock, on the following link, go down to post #14, it tells you how to fix the problem.

http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=121472&highlight=missing+deck+crew

Hope this helps.

[Sardaukar67]

Is there any workaround or fix in patch in near future for us that use auto-targeting? For the position keeper showing damaged ships still doing 10 knots or whatever their original speed was, even when dead in the water. That is causing most subsequent torpedo shots to miss, since one cannot adjust target speed with auto-targeting. It's really annoying. Sometimes I manage to set speed to 0 when fiddling with position keeper, but mostly not.
I have tried to use offset angle to correct the difference..but it's very much guesstimates and most torpedoes still miss.
Any workaround (well..manual targeting..:p, but I am casual submariner) would be welcome while I wait for new RFB patch !

[cleverusername]

Is there any workaround or fix in patch in near future for us that use auto-targeting? For the position keeper showing damaged ships still doing 10 knots or whatever their original speed was, even when dead in the water. That is causing most subsequent torpedo shots to miss, since one cannot adjust target speed with auto-targeting. It's really annoying. Sometimes I manage to set speed to 0 when fiddling with position keeper, but mostly not.
I have tried to use offset angle to correct the difference..but it's very much guesstimates and most torpedoes still miss.
Any workaround (well..manual targeting..:p, but I am casual submariner) would be welcome while I wait for new RFB patch !

How about:

Lock ship
Engage PK
Unlock Ship
Change Speed

Locking the ship should put in accurate values for target range, bearing, and AOB.
Engaging the PK keeps those values and updates them as time goes on.
Unlocking the ship lets the targetting computer use the PK values, and then you change the speed.
The PK will update ship's position based on your new speed.

[Sardaukar67]

How about:

Lock ship
Engage PK
Unlock Ship
Change Speed

Locking the ship should put in accurate values for target range, bearing, and AOB.
Engaging the PK keeps those values and updates them as time goes on.
Unlocking the ship lets the targetting computer use the PK values, and then you change the speed.
The PK will update ship's position based on your new speed.

I have tried that, sometimes it works, but mostly speed just cannot be set.

[Munchausen]

:hmm: Try lowering your periscope and firing blind. Usually, the auto-TDC won't supply information for a target it can no longer see.

[grunf]

Yesterday i had an encounter with Large European Liner on my patrol. Put 3 torps in her (bow to medium) at first, and waited a bit to see what happens. The frontal part went almost aligned with sea level.

Then i put another one in the stern for good measure (same side), and went around for a second spread. The interesting stuff is that in spite of 4 big holes on the same side, she did not list, but went evenly to sea level. Also i was suprised that in spite of the last shot that should have blown her propellers, she was happily continuing at 2 kts :damn:.

I fired a second salvo of torps (4 in total) to the other side and evenly spread, and was insanely lucky (only 1 dud), she still refuses to go down. She is almost completely leveled with sea but still making 2 kts :hmm:.

Now my questions are:

1. How much time does it take for a liner with 8 holes to sink with RFb 1.52(anyone had similar experiences)?

2. Is it possible that the sinking mech mod has affected the "indestructability" of the props ?

3. How many torps did it take you guys to take down a liner ?

Otherwise, with other ships sinking mod works like a charm :up:

*EDIT: Fired 2 more fish at her, and finally down she went

[Malakie]

The last update I have for this mod is 1.51. Do I need to re-download the entire mod then the 1.52 update or can I just download the 1.52 update and install over my 1.51 install?

[CaptainHaplo]

I would say get the full 1.52 and the 1.52 patch - but I am not one in the know - thats just a guess

[Orion2012]

The last update I have for this mod is 1.51. Do I need to re-download the entire mod then the 1.52 update or can I just download the 1.52 update and install over my 1.51 install?

You need the full 1.52 install and the patch.

[Malakie]

The last update I have for this mod is 1.51. Do I need to re-download the entire mod then the 1.52 update or can I just download the 1.52 update and install over my 1.51 install?
You need the full 1.52 install and the patch.


AHH Crap.. Right now I am stuck staying with my daughter who is having pregnancy issues.. and she lives about 20 minutes south of Chicago... and believe it or not, we cannot get TV here, only a few AM radio stations AND NO INTERNET accept via my cell phone! Which means I have no ability to download that large package to update! :-( Crap.

[LukeFF]

2. Is it possible that the sinking mech mod has affected the "indestructability" of the props ?

This issue is being ironed out in the patch being tested right now. Ships will now properly stop when the machinery spaces are flooded, and ships will come to a stop when the decks become sufficiently awash.

[LukeFF]

In related news, we have more goodness coming from conus00, the co-author of the uniform mod released by John W. Hamm. U-boat crews will now wear their proper black-leather foul-weather gear, though the jacket will continue to be the one also worn by US crews and not the double-breasted one issued to the KM:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v258/LukeFF/SH4/SH4Img2008-12-14_195303_375.jpg

Other goodies are coming as well... :know:

[TheBlackHand]

I just bought SHIV last week and the first thing I did was download this mod. Havent gotten to play it yet, but looking forward to starting tomorrow night. Till then, I was wondering what the Uniform_Mod.7z (http://files.filefront.com/Uniform+Mod7z/;12413898;/fileinfo.html) is all about. I downloaded it, but I'm not sure exactly what it is for or how to install it. Is it part of the RFB mods?

[LukeFF]

I just bought SHIV last week and the first thing I did was download this mod. Havent gotten to play it yet, but looking forward to starting tomorrow night. Till then, I was wondering what the Uniform_Mod.7z (http://files.filefront.com/Uniform+Mod7z/;12413898;/fileinfo.html) is all about. I downloaded it, but I'm not sure exactly what it is for or how to install it. Is it part of the RFB mods?

It's not needed.

[Sardaukar67]

Something to add:

Fore deck gun sectors seem to be somehow messed up. I cannot fire deck gun to directions where there are no obstacles. Might be worth checking if there is something wrong with that.

AI merchant ship behaviour when shelled is strange. There is no return fire from merchant at first. After some time, suddenly, all hell breaks loose. Usually when either getting close or, for some reason, when firing merchant with AA gun. Very weird.

Also, repeated direct hits to merchant deck gun do not put it out of action. I tested that by getting very close and hitting merchant deck gun with 6 x 4" shells. It kept on firing.

And before someone says to make clean install..I have clean install fo SH4+UBM1.5+RFB1.5+RFB1.52 patch+RSRDC 396.

Needless to say, this is quite frustrating, making it almost impossible to finish crippled ships with deck gun.

[DeepIron]

Needless to say, this is quite frustrating, making it almost impossible to finish crippled ships with deck gun.US Subs, with few exceptions, didn't "finish off" crippled merchants with their deck guns. This has been hashed and rehashed over and over ad nauseum in the forums and RFB dicussion threads.

For two important reasons:
1. The sub would have to "battle surface", bring the deck watch and guns crews on deck, prepare the gun, get the ammo loading chain in place, etc.... Too much time and risk involved (generally there were either aircraft, escorts or other armed merchants in the vicinity). Besides...
2. The sub was already configured ready to either put another fish in the vessel from either the bow or stern tubes...

Now, for a moment, put yourself in the place of a real US Sub skipper, weigh and consider the options and risks...

Cheers!

[tater]

There are some legit issues there. I suppose guns should be realistically able to knock out. That said, even german reports on u-boat.net list rounds fired to "finish off" ships, and I was stunned at how high there were. 30-60 hits not being at all uncommon—that's in addition to at least one, sometimes more, torpedo hits. Read the narratives there on u-boat sinkings.

[Malakie]

Quote:
Originally Posted by neron
i have a geforce 8500gt
1790 total available graphics
512 dedicated video mem
1278 shared system mem


The Nvidia 8xxx series and their issues doing to games is an endless story !

This is from a post i made in July 08:

2.) Since 1.5 (U-Boat Misssions) i always had a crappy ingame graphic when i activate a mod. Sometimes i had CTD, sometimes the game was frozen, sometimes no chance to load a savegame. :damn::damn: I installed EVERY nvidia driver that was released no matter if it was only beta. And four weeks ago i hit the jackpot, the beta driver 177.79 solved my problems. I sweare as long as i have this graphic card or the SH4 game i will never change this driver. :up:

My advice: Download all nvidia drivers you can get and test them one by one. If you have Vista use the option to remove all driver software in the deinstall window before you test the next driver. I wish you all luck.

And dude, when you will be lucky and find a driver which solves your problems.... Act like me: NEVER, NEVER, NEVER AGAIN NVIDIA DRIVER UPDATES !



thanks ill try that need to be at the weekend now
thanks again
My advice.. get rid of the hardware and drives causing the problem.

About 6 months or so ago, I needed new hardware for the law enforcement agency I was part of (now retired from both military and law enforcement due to injury). I decided to try the newest stuff out there in a small 'test' run before making the large unit purchase that would be a few hundred units at the least. I had been using ATI but for some reason decided to try the new Nvidia cards and motherboards now out. We had some installed Nvidia boards and Video cards but they were a couple years old now. So I purchased 10 main boards and 10 new video cards. BTW, we use them for high end graphics and video processing in squads etc etc... going all digital.


Within 2 weeks of signing up on the Nvidia website about 6 months ago to complain about problems with brand new video cards I just bought, and the drivers, I was banned from the Nvidia forum! The mod named Brian sent me private messages telling me to quit posting negative and untrue comments on the forums. He also made some other personal comments that I will not repeat here. I sent a letter to Nvidia about this and within a day found myself banned completely... reason disseminating negative, false and misleading information about their products on the forum.

Keep in mind none of my posts were false, irate or worded with expletives. I simply stated exactly what was being experienced on our end, what we had tried of course and what actions we were prepared to take should the problem be left unresolved for much longer. And this was after noting thousands of messages regarding the IDENTICAL reports of the same exact problem. None of my posts were personal in nature, threatening, argumentative or false. Keep in mind that at that time I was still active duty and in law enforcement so professionalism is a must. Everything I posted was what we were experiencing which was also exactly like the thousands of other posts.

I informed Nvidia they had just lost more than they realized because I was not a single person being represented.. rather an entire law enforcement agency and the hardware we used in agency locations and in all our squads, on top of it. They tried to call my bluff, or I should say this Brian guy did with another email he sent me. What he did not understand was I was responsible for authorizing all purchases for hardware for the agency, which in laptops, motherboards and video cards averages about $500,000 a year or so...

I think what pushed this Brian guy, the moderator over the edge, was one of my last comments that if we did not see some kind of support within 72 hours, I would be removing ALL Nvidia products and replacing them with ATI. I said that we had noted on the forums that users had been seriously complaining for at least 6 months and so we were not willing to wait another 6 months for some support.... thus the 72 hour deadline of SOME kind of support help or answers to when we would see something. Instead of course we got banned.

As it turns out he attempted to call my bluff. However Nvidia figured out real fast I was not bluffing. After getting banned, I pulled all equipment made by Nvidia and replaced it with competing products. I contacted my sales rep and notified her of this and that we were closing our account purchasing any Nvidia products. They (Nvidia) tried to say sorry and etc etc etc..... I told them what to do with thier apologies...... and with that Brian {insert a swear word here!} moderating the forum and sending me personal insulting letters. (Of course denials occurred until I produced the screenshots! :huh:) I also said he needed to be fired. Dunno what they did or did not do but I no longer do any personal or professional business with them.

The moral of this is, IMHO, get rid of your Nvidia card and get an ATI HD3800+ series at the least.... ALL your issues WILL go away when it comes to the video problems. They did for us at the agency AND it did for me personally.

Since moving to new hardware, I have had NO major video problems at all with exception to me blowing out one of the HD ports on the first card by plugging in a monitor with the power on and a nice static discharge... Thanks to the second port/head that unit continued to work for us until I was able to get a replacement.... two heads are definately better than one they say! yuk yuk yuk!

Anyhow if you really want to fix your video gaming issues, go to hardware and drivers that actually work and are supported by a company that actually responds to tech support requests.

[Malakie]

How do I tell if RFB installed correctly? I could have swore the last version I had showed new loading screens.... I ask because I bit the bullet and downloaded the full 1.52 version and patch on my little wireless modem connection. I did a full clean install of SH4 and UBoat. I then used the mod tool to install RFB and the patch. But when I run the game, all I see are normal loading screens etc.

Is there some way for me to verify that it is indeed installed and running correctly? I would like to do this before I install a couple other mods like RSRD and Environmental 5.0.

Thanks for any help...

BTW what I installed was:

RFB_v1.52_102408
RFB_v1.52_Patch_111608

in that order. Nothing more so far.


EDIT: Nevermind... talk about a brain that shut down... just realized what I did... I simply copied the extracted folder into my mods folder not realizing I needed to actually copy the SUB folder inside to the mod directory... Just happened to be looking through folders and realized what I did... Now they are at the top level and loading correctly... one of those days I guess...

[Fish40]

Glad you got it worked out! As for installing the EE5.0 mod, I'd hold off on that since the latest RFB comes with PE already integrated. Adding a different environment mod may cause problems.

As for your problems with Nvidia, that's unfortunate it had to be that way. Sounds pretty unprofessional on their part if you ask me. I've never used their products, only because my first PC came with an ATI card installed (8mb ram: Christ! How long ago was that!:huh: ) and I never, to this day had any problems with any of their products or drivers. I'm very satisfied with ATI:yep:

[LukeFF]

Also, repeated direct hits to merchant deck gun do not put it out of action. I tested that by getting very close and hitting merchant deck gun with 6 x 4" shells. It kept on firing.

We plan to tweak this in the further work planned for the ship damage mod.

[Dogzero1]

I'm dying to play this mod again Folks, any chance of the new updated version with the fixes soon? Maybe a xmas present?:up:

Thanks

Andy

[Sardaukar67]

Also, repeated direct hits to merchant deck gun do not put it out of action. I tested that by getting very close and hitting merchant deck gun with 6 x 4" shells. It kept on firing.
We plan to tweak this in the further work planned for the ship damage mod.

Great news! Thanks!

[Malakie]

Well after going through all that I realize how the problems do affect game play. I am not a good manual TDC player so I usually let the automated function aim things. And at a convoy of 14 ships, I launched ALL my torpedo's and hit two ships. I then remembered reading about the speed setting bug and realized things were definitely causing an issue to the point it is not playable for someone like me with the mod until that is fixed.

I also found another major problem... is this also part of this mod issue or is this something else? The other problem I found is that I costantly loose my target lock. It will not stay locked on a target. I have a close approach, point either scope at a target, hit 'L' to lock and it does... then in a matter of only a couple seconds the lock breaks. There is not even enough time to fire torps this way. I have tried changing the depth of the sub thinking I was to deep at periscope depth but that changed nothing. So is this also a known issue in this mod as well or something else I am seeing?

BTW as mentioned in a earlier post, this is a brand new clean and patched install to 1.5 and I have only installed RFB and RSRD.

[Orion2012]

Well after going through all that I realize how the problems do affect game play. I am not a good manual TDC player so I usually let the automated function aim things. And at a convoy of 14 ships, I launched ALL my torpedo's and hit two ships. I then remembered reading about the speed setting bug and realized things were definitely causing an issue to the point it is not playable for someone like me with the mod until that is fixed.

I also found another major problem... is this also part of this mod issue or is this something else? The other problem I found is that I costantly loose my target lock. It will not stay locked on a target. I have a close approach, point either scope at a target, hit 'L' to lock and it does... then in a matter of only a couple seconds the lock breaks. There is not even enough time to fire torps this way. I have tried changing the depth of the sub thinking I was to deep at periscope depth but that changed nothing. So is this also a known issue in this mod as well or something else I am seeing?

BTW as mentioned in a earlier post, this is a brand new clean and patched install to 1.5 and I have only installed RFB and RSRD.
There are patches in testing to resolve the issue.

Of the few patrols I've done with the newest beta patch, only 1 failure to generate a solution. (AKA Auto-targetting)

^ Hope no one minds me saying that :D

[Malakie]

Well after going through all that I realize how the problems do affect game play. I am not a good manual TDC player so I usually let the automated function aim things. And at a convoy of 14 ships, I launched ALL my torpedo's and hit two ships. I then remembered reading about the speed setting bug and realized things were definitely causing an issue to the point it is not playable for someone like me with the mod until that is fixed.

I also found another major problem... is this also part of this mod issue or is this something else? The other problem I found is that I costantly loose my target lock. It will not stay locked on a target. I have a close approach, point either scope at a target, hit 'L' to lock and it does... then in a matter of only a couple seconds the lock breaks. There is not even enough time to fire torps this way. I have tried changing the depth of the sub thinking I was to deep at periscope depth but that changed nothing. So is this also a known issue in this mod as well or something else I am seeing?

BTW as mentioned in a earlier post, this is a brand new clean and patched install to 1.5 and I have only installed RFB and RSRD.
There are patches in testing to resolve the issue.

Of the few patrols I've done with the newest beta patch, only 1 failure to generate a solution. (AKA Auto-targetting)

^ Hope no one minds me saying that :D


Just to clarify, is that BOTH issues I mentioned?

[Orion2012]

Malakie, by "speed bug" do you mean the failure to update the speed of a damaged ship?

If so then yes, both issues.

[Nightmare]

I haven’t tried this mod since a very early version so I thought I’d give it a try again. I’m really impressed with everything and looks to be a keeper. My only issue is the hitting “L” to lock on to the cruiser will only hold for a few seconds when doing the torpedo training. Found the “issue” mentioned on page 36 of the RFB manual.

Since I play full manual on my realism settings, I was wondering how do you guys cope with this? I used the lock on to keep the scope centered while I quickly input the range and AOB.

[Malakie]

Malakie, by "speed bug" do you mean the failure to update the speed of a damaged ship?

If so then yes, both issues.



Yes that is the speed bug update on damaged ships that I was referring to... and for the loosing 'lock' on a target as well...

Crap now I will have to play without the mod until this is fixed as I am just not one to manually figure out that stuff... I hate math! :-?

[LukeFF]

I'm dying to play this mod again Folks, any chance of the new updated version with the fixes soon? Maybe a xmas present?:up:

We're still working on fixing some issues with changes we have made to the ship damage mod. No timetable on when this will be done. Sorry. :( It'll be released as soon as it's ready.

[Task Force]

take your time RFB team. Its better to have afiew not buggy patches than a lot of buggy patches.

[Dutch]

Does anyone have a workaround for the scope not locking? Great mod btw guys I'm loving/hating the amount of realism in it. Loving the emersion, hating the duds but hey thats it was. Thanks, please keep up the good work!

[Dogzero1]

I'm dying to play this mod again Folks, any chance of the new updated version with the fixes soon? Maybe a xmas present?:up:

We're still working on fixing some issues with changes we have made to the ship damage mod. No timetable on when this will be done. Sorry. :( It'll be released as soon as it's ready.

OK, thanks. Keep up the great work. I and many more appreciate it.

Merry xmas.:up:

[ancient46]

I have found that staying above 40 feet will help with the lock problem. Of course that is really no help in daylight since the targets can see you and shoot at you

[Rockin Robbins]

Does anyone have a workaround for the scope not locking? Great mod btw guys I'm loving/hating the amount of realism in it. Loving the emersion, hating the duds but hey thats it was. Thanks, please keep up the good work!Why, yes indeed, we have the "problem" handled with the Dick O'Kane, John P Cromwell and Vector Analysis attack methods. None of them call for locking the periscope at any time.

At the very least, those three methods can tide you over until the RFB Team gets the update just right.

[Blood_splat]

I'm having trouble with the sound. When I hit a ship I can only here the explosion when rotating my periscope to the left or right of the target.:damn:

[Flanker15]

:up::up::up::up:
Great mod you guys have made! Could be SH4's answer to SH3's GWX?
Any info you can tell us on the progress with the warship realistic sinking mod?
Also does the realistic sinking for merchants applied for all boats of all countries, I haven't tried the U-boat yet?

[Dutch]

Does anyone have a workaround for the scope not locking? Great mod btw guys I'm loving/hating the amount of realism in it. Loving the emersion, hating the duds but hey thats it was. Thanks, please keep up the good work!Why, yes indeed, we have the "problem" handled with the Dick O'Kane, John P Cromwell and Vector Analysis attack methods. None of them call for locking the periscope at any time.

At the very least, those three methods can tide you over until the RFB Team gets the update just right.
Yes indeed Mr. Robbins I stumbled across your detailed postings of those attack plots after I posted here:oops:. I must say not only was it a fun read but a fascinating one. I might actually need step by step instructions since I am rather slow when it comes to trying something new but it adds a particular spice to the game now. Is it stickied or will I need to dig around for it?


EDIT: :oops: Once again. I see the link in your sig now. Looking into it right now. Thanks for the hard work Robbins! Its dedicated gentlemen like yourself and the RFB team and all the others that continuously mod and tweak this game that have given it a life it would have never had without you! The SH4 community can not thank you guys enough for all that you have done for us!


EDIT2: Quick question what settings do I need to have on? I have no map update or whatever on. Do I need that on?

[Fish40]

Since I tried the Dick O'kane method, I haven't looked back! It works wonderfully:yep: After alittle practice, it becomes so easy, it feels like cheating!

[Covak]

I actually thought the scope locking thing was intentional :) I was confused as to why I had nothing on my map, and confused as to why locking never held. But then I noticed that locking caused the target to appear on my map briefly and I thought "Ohhh, they turned L into a 'mark this position on the map' button."

I use the Dick O'Kane method and thought locking was merely a convenience, so that seemed like a cool change to me, heh.

[Orion2012]

I actually thought the scope locking thing was intentional :) I was confused as to why I had nothing on my map, and confused as to why locking never held. But then I noticed that locking caused the target to appear on my map briefly and I thought "Ohhh, they turned L into a 'mark this position on the map' button."

I use the Dick O'Kane method and thought locking was merely a convenience, so that seemed like a cool change to me, heh.

Well, your kind of right, it wan an attempt to force the player to raise the scope and look around for targets, instead of them all appearing when the scope is raised, unfortunately all of that breaks the lock, completely breaks the auto-targeting as well as cause unusual issues with target spotting while on the surface.

The O'kane method works fine without ever even raising the scope. The whole issue with no auto-targeting made me start using manual targeting and now in my late war campaign, I dont even raise my scope, simply plot sonar positions and figure the speed with a nomograph calculation. I would say 3 out of 4 hit.

[LukeFF]

Any info you can tell us on the progress with the warship realistic sinking mod?
Also does the realistic sinking for merchants applied for all boats of all countries, I haven't tried the U-boat yet?

We've not yet started on the warship side of the sinking mod yet. (Probably won't happen until after the holidays are over).

Yes, the ship damage model for the merchants is applicable for all countries and torpedoes.

[Flanker15]

Awsome work!
Have good Xmas.

[alanschu]

Okay I feel super smart...

I can't seem to find the chronometer button anywhere! Is there a keyboard shortcut or am I just blind!?!



EDIT: TO people having issues with the locking, I find it is more consistent the slower you go (though I have had it stick around when I am going fast, but less consistently). If Ahead 1/3 isn't working, try setting your speed to 2 kts or even 1 kt.

[Fish40]

To bring up the stopwatch, hit the "X" key.:yep:

[alanschu]

Hahaha thanks.


I guess on one other note, Enter no longer fires torpedoes in RFB. I imagine that is WAD?

[Fish40]

Hahaha thanks.


I guess on one other note, Enter no longer fires torpedoes in RFB. I imagine that is WAD?


If I'm not mistaken, you are correct about this. It's just as well, because I can't remember how many times I accidentaly fired a torpedo by mistakenly hitting the enter key.:oops:

[cgjimeneza]

Hahaha thanks.


I guess on one other note, Enter no longer fires torpedoes in RFB. I imagine that is WAD?


If I'm not mistaken, you are correct about this. It's just as well, because I can't remember how many times I accidentaly fired a torpedo by mistakenly hitting the enter key.:oops:

concur, the ENTER firing happende way too often to be a "keeper", better fire on the firing buttons only

[alanschu]

Haha, it almost made me bork a shooting solution one time as I frantically was hitting enter...then spacebar......then swearing. Then I was like "Maybe the big red fire button will work!!!!"


And it did! Whew haha.


I have a question about the damage model while I am here. It seems as though the compartments tend to be all along the ship, without much side to side damage. I have only seen a ship list to the side once, and it was very gradual (an old passenger ship that I hit with 4 torpedoes breaking across what looked like 6 compartments....was sad that she didn't even seem to slow down....stupid passenger ships). It seems to me that focusing on hitting compartments more to the bow or stern will have the best results, rather than a spread (though most ships the spread still works)

I just added RSRDC and I had a great time approaching a megaconvoy of like 30 ships. As I was approaching a shooting solution, I saw a destroyer coming up about 1000 yards starboard, so I figured he'd detect me before long, so I fired blindly with 2 pairs of 2 torpedoes into the convoy, then dove. Two of the fishies hit on the port bow side of what looked like a large modern transport, breaking into the front 3 compartments. Took about an hour of me doing evasion when I learned I had sunk the ship.

Hopefully that will help the troops on the Philippines hold out just a little while longer. Bumped into another convoy later, and hit a large transport with 4 torpedoes (1 was a dud) and she sunk in about 20-30 minutes. I dove deep (was in an S-18) to reload, then surfaced, firing two torpedoes at a smaller transports that missed (they ran low in the choppy seas), and as I was turning, found another bigger transport. Fired my last two torpedoes and one failed to arm and the other hit perfectly in the middle of the ship. She didn't sink unfortunately.

[alanschu]

Hmmmm, what is the minimum depth on the Mk 14?

I tried setting them to as little depth as possible (<5 ft I would presume) but I still ended up having 3/4 torpedoes miss underneath a Small Modern Composite freighter.

Just want to make sure I am not doing anything wrong. Just standard early war low running torpedoes?

[Fish40]

Hmmmm, what is the minimum depth on the Mk 14?

I tried setting them to as little depth as possible (<5 ft I would presume) but I still ended up having 3/4 torpedoes miss underneath a Small Modern Composite freighter.

Just want to make sure I am not doing anything wrong. Just standard early war low running torpedoes?


I set the early war Mk14's to 0'. In reality the depth was off by as much as 10'.

I found this documentation on the problems that plauged the Mk14 torpedo. Good technical explanations. http://rds.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0geu65w_VBJ5sQAv2dXNyoA;_ylu=X3oDMTByamlqaW9 mBHNlYwNzcgRwb3MDMwRjb2xvA2FjMgR2dGlkAw--/SIG=12681o975/EXP=1230130928/**http%3a//www.geocities.com/Pentagon/1592/ustorp2.htm

[Orion2012]

Hmmmm, what is the minimum depth on the Mk 14?

I tried setting them to as little depth as possible (<5 ft I would presume) but I still ended up having 3/4 torpedoes miss underneath a Small Modern Composite freighter.

Just want to make sure I am not doing anything wrong. Just standard early war low running torpedoes?

What type of seas?? Rough seas cause the boat to move up in the water, and I have watched them go underneath as the ship moved up. The maximum error in RFB is 12 feet. So your shot could have been 15-17 feet. The keel depth in the Recog manual is also effected by "the fog of war" meaning, not all entries are 100% accurate.

SLOW setting reduces duds by 50% <--kind of irrelevant but you would be amazed how many people don't know that.

[Fish40]

[quote]: SLOW setting reduces duds by 50% <--kind of irrelevant but you would be amazed how many people don't know that.


Not irrelevent at all, if you understand the problems of the early torpedoes. The link I posted above gives very good technical explanations as to the causes of the torpedo defects.

In reference to the "less duds" with the slower torpedoes, the reason is that the lower inertia at impact did not damage the fireing pins of the Mk6 impact exploder. This is the same reason that the high speed torpedoes would detonate at weird impact angles. A direct 90 degree hit at high speed damaged the pins in the exploder.

[Orion2012]

[quote]: SLOW setting reduces duds by 50% <--kind of irrelevant but you would be amazed how many people don't know that.


Not irrelevent at all, if you understand the problems of the early torpedoes. The link I posted above gives very good technical explanations as to the causes of the torpedo defects.

In reference to the "less duds" with the slower torpedoes, the reason is that the lower inertia at impact did not damage the fireing pins of the Mk6 impact exploder. This is the same reason that the high speed torpedoes would detonate at weird impact angles. A direct 90 degree hit at high speed damaged the pins in the exploder.

Thanks for the info. I knew the firing pins were the reason, but until Luke pointed it out, I didn't know it applied to the game, a nice touch I think.

I have had EXCELLENT success in early war campaigns just by using the slow setting and shooting shallow.

[E.B. Fluckey]

Hello, I have a couple of RFB questions.

What should show up on the attack map when using manual TDC and gameplay option to show unit updates on the map? I expect to see the target ship show up like in stock but instead nothing shows.
Similar question - I've seen manual TDC tutorials that show a white X and line indicating target course. With RFB I don't see this white X or a line indicating target course. Is this expected?Thanks!

[Rockin Robbins]

Hello, I have a couple of RFB questions.
What should show up on the attack map when using manual TDC and gameplay option to show unit updates on the map? I expect to see the target ship show up like in stock but instead nothing shows.
Similar question - I've seen manual TDC tutorials that show a white X and line indicating target course. With RFB I don't see this white X or a line indicating target course. Is this expected?Thanks! Hi, I'm the salesman for TMOplot Final (http://files.filefront.com/TMOPlot+Finalrar/;12584220;/fileinfo.html) and I have something to say about the RFB plotting system. Unfortunately, it's not nice so I'll be very quiet.:p

The RFB Team has much larger fish to fry at the moment.

[alanschu]

It was irrelevant because my torpedoes went UNDER the boat :P


In other news, I got my first ever kill with full manual TDC using the PK! (I should comment that, I recognized the situation was going to be good practice, so admittedly I reloaded the game a few times to practice what I was doing wrong). I had gotten kills in the past with the Dick O'Kane method, but my most recent Dick O'Kane I experimented with the position keeper. Since I ended up stumbling upon this freighter by seeing a huge stack of smoke in the distance when slinking away from a destroyer, I had to do everything underwater.


Getting range is easy (thanks SONAR man!), and AOB is tricksy, but I imagine it will come with experience. I found estimating speed to be a real gongshow though. There was a warship nearby so I couldn't risk surfacing to get some markings on the map to get range and AOB.

I keep hearing about using the aspect ratio to determine the AOB on the fly...but I don't know how to measure the length of the ship. What do the bars (which don't actually cover the entire length of many ships...) below the ship represent? I don't know the increments so I can't determine any aspect ratios to actually calculate an AOB, so I just eyeballed it.

Any tips for calculating AOB and speed? I notice without the ability to lock while submerged it can be a pain to get the AI to report bearings and stuff so I find myself bouncing all over the place to use sonar.

Thanks!

[Rockin Robbins]

After WolfyBrandon set me straight on how to produce decent movies, I cobbed up this one, which just happens to be a bang up promotional flick for Real Fleet Boat. This is the magnificent Real Fleet Boat submarine in a driving thunderstorm (http://files.filefront.com/Real+Fleet+Boat+Storm+andur7z/;12751719;/fileinfo.html) and then a dive with a little tour of the control room and conning tower. Eye candy rules here!

The movie is compressed twice, lastly with 7zip, which you should already have!:yep:

[alanschu]

BTW Rockin Robbins, thanks for posting the tutorial video of the Dick O'Kane method. It made deciphering your text a bit more straight forward :P

I've started using it to practice full TDC control as the most difficult part of calculating manual TDC I find (especially with limited ability to lock while periscoped) is the AOB and speed, which DOK takes care of right away.

Checking out the TMOPlot stuff. Though you're lucky, as salesman you didn't properly sell me on it...but my previous satisfaction with the DOK manual targeting tutorial convinced me I should give it a look see :P

[Orion2012]

Checking out the TMOPlot stuff. Though you're lucky, as salesman you didn't properly sell me on it...but my previous satisfaction with the DOK manual targeting tutorial convinced me I should give it a look see :P

He's unmotivated. All I give him for being the salesman is some dirty cheese and bilge water.

[alanschu]

Hmmm, having problems loading that video clip. Says I am missing a codec.

[alanschu]

I was just assigned the USS Gato (yay).

However, it seems as though in doing so, I no longer have access to the surface radar upgrade.

Given the upgrade chart in the manual, this seems like a bug. I don't think it makes sense to approve SJ Radars for Sargos but not Gato's :P


EDIT: It seems as though reloading the game has fixed this. Whew!

[Fish40]

For me, speed is the trickiest part of the equation no matter what attack method I use. The most accurate method I have used so far, is to head towards the target at slow speed, like you're going to intercept. Place the vertical 0 degree bearing line of the scope or TBT just in front of the bow of the target. Bring up the stopwatch and time how long the targrt takes to cross the line.

Simple math tells you the speed. Obviously this method involves a proper visual ID of the target, and knowlage of the targets length. It's not everyone's cup of tea, but I love the challange of this method, and it works for me:yep:

As for AOB, if you use the DO method, you already know what it is. When useing the PK, I'm able to guess pretty closely just by looking at the ship. I'm not useing the "map updates" option, so contacts don't show up on the map for me. If you use the updates option, just extend a line outwards from the target on it's proposed course. Then useing the protractor, measure the angle formed from the target to your sub. That's the AOB. You know the old saying: Practice makes perfect!:yep:

Merry Christmas everyone!

[cgjimeneza]

Is this for real? is it hardcoded?, That could help get a bit more explosions early on.


: SLOW setting reduces duds by 50% <--kind of irrelevant but you would be amazed how many people don't know that.

[Rockin Robbins]

Hmmm, having problems loading that video clip. Says I am missing a codec. Do a search for and download VLC media player. You'll never see that message again. It's a free media player, a refugee from the Linux world like a lot of other great free software (be on the lookout soon for Amarok 2!). Open source works, not just for modding a game, but for computing also!

While I'm tossing out movies at everybody, check out this one of a mod for a surface boat, called Bamboo. I animated my brother Dave. Unfortunately, we didn't animate the draw bridge and had to abort the test before there was an expensive and regrettable collision. Bamboo Plays Chicken with a Bridge........darn! Another five minutes to upload. We'll pause for station identification.

Five....four....three....two....one.....Bamboo Plays Chicken with a Bridge (http://files.filefront.com/Bamboo+plays+chicken+with4avi/;12754734;/fileinfo.html). What realism!

Merry Christmas everyone!

[E.B. Fluckey]

Hi, I'm the salesman for TMOplot Final (http://files.filefront.com/TMOPlot+Finalrar/;12584220;/fileinfo.html) and I have something to say about the RFB plotting system. Unfortunately, it's not nice so I'll be very quiet.:p

The RFB Team has much larger fish to fry at the moment.

Thanks. Unfortunately the lack of plotting in RFB, especially on the navigation map where are the plotting tools are available, is killing this mod for me. Perhaps it's because I'm a noob and need a crutch or two. Are the veterans ok with the lack of plotting?

Your TMOplot looks like a good answer, I'll install that over RFB and see if things are better.

Thanks RR :cool:

[Orion2012]

[quote=cgjimeneza]Is this for real? is it hardcoded?, That could help get a bit more explosions early on.


[quote]: SLOW setting reduces duds by 50% <--kind of irrelevant but you would be amazed how many people don't know that.



I don't know if its hard coded or not, but I can assure you it holds true for RFB. I average 3/4 detonating in my early war patrol. They avoid them more, so I still fire fast for IJN vessels but not for merchies.

[alanschu]

I typically still fire on fast, just from a RP perspective. I started out using Mag detonators too...until my virtual skipper declared them virtually useless. In fact, I usually avoided setting depth to my torpedoes as well, until I noticed a few explosions wehere I could see the hold above the waterline. Seems as though BuOrd is getting their act together!


EDIT: Hmmmm, seems as though ol' Gato has an issue with not clipping the side of the conning tower when using the AA gun. How can I remedy that? (as a side note, is it possible to damage ships to accelerate flooding...however slowly, with the Oerlikon? I notice it does have an AP value)


Also, wouldn't it make more sense for the first AA gun to be the Browning .50 cal? I thought they were replaced with the 20mm Oerlikon (and later the Bofors)?

[Orion2012]

I typically still fire on fast, just from a RP perspective. I started out using Mag detonators too...until my virtual skipper declared them virtually useless. In fact, I usually avoided setting depth to my torpedoes as well, until I noticed a few explosions wehere I could see the hold above the waterline. Seems as though BuOrd is getting their act together!


EDIT: Hmmmm, seems as though ol' Gato has an issue with not clipping the side of the conning tower when using the AA gun. How can I remedy that? (as a side note, is it possible to damage ships to accelerate flooding...however slowly, with the Oerlikon? I notice it does have an AP value)


Also, wouldn't it make more sense for the first AA gun to be the Browning .50 cal? I thought they were replaced with the 20mm Oerlikon (and later the Bofors)?
I don't know about actual merchies, buy the 20mm will make quick work of lifeboats. (I think any wooden hauled vessel, not sure)

The .50 cal is in the game, just not completed. (Missing a sight I believe) I don't know if/when/is it will be integrated in RFB, all I do is play the wonderful beta's to help work out kinks. Did you notice it inside the Conning Tower?

The only time I fire on magnetic is if the ship is turning and the shot would stand a large chance of deflection without detonation and the sea is VERY calm.

[alanschu]

It seems like it's the same bug from the stock game. Where when you look to port or starboard, you'll find yourself having your view obstructed at a particular elevation, but the side of the "bathtub" conning tower.


Agreed with magnetic (I used it more in SH3 though) fusing. Only in calm seas, close range, and if I think I'll be hitting with a glancing shot. Of course, my virtual skipper didn't know that at first, so when he first got his Sargo sub, he had heard of the new fandangled magnetic torpedo, but had virtually no luck with it (I think maybe 1 or 2 hits). So, now he typically disables it. Though now that the depth settings seem more normal, he might use it a bit more against some of the bigger targets. Still, only in calm seas.

[RFB Team]

Is this for real? is it hardcoded?, That could help get a bit more explosions early on.

It's an editable feature in the torpedo sim files.

[RFB Team]

Also, wouldn't it make more sense for the first AA gun to be the Browning .50 cal? I thought they were replaced with the 20mm Oerlikon (and later the Bofors)?

Like Orion writes, we want to implement the .50 cal as the starting AA gun and make the 20mm a 1942 upgrade, but with the missing sight on the gun we've not implemented it yet. It's on the to-do list, for sure.

[Rockin Robbins]

It's an editable feature in the torpedo sim files. Why would I want to eat a feature in the torpedo sim file?:hmm: Who cares. I AM hungry!:88) Please pass the ketchup.

[LobsterBoy]

Is there any way to model the FM sonar used in late war boats in the Silent Hunter engine?

It sure would help if you think you're in a minefield.

[msalama]

Hello all you fellow RFBers.

I'm sorry if this is old news, but since I'm not following the development all that actively I thought I'd report this anyway. Please take a look at this:

http://koti.welho.com/msalama/RFB_26-12-2008.JPG

I attacked this baby with a salvo of 4 torpedoes spread evenly along her side. All hit and detonated, making her a piece of Swiss cheese sinking pretty rapidly to decks awash as seen in the picture. That, however, didn't stop her engines and even hamper her manouverability all that much, because she still continued at a good clip for almost an hour before stopping and succumbing to the waves.

Now I do understand that a big ship like her doesn't necessarily sink all that fast. But I'd still think her engines should stop when she's flooded that bad, no? And the same thing holds true for the Old Split Freighter as well - sunk one yesterday and she behaved much the same way too.

Once again, my apologies if this is old news. As I said I'm not following the development daily, so I'm not sure what exactly is known and looked into already...

Happy holidays guys and all the best for 2009 :up:

PS / EDIT / FYI: Oh yeah, I'm of course using the latest builds and patches of RFB & RSRDC both.

[Ark]

Is there a replacement water I can use with RFB? The water in the mod seems way too blue. Is there a more subdued version out there somewhere that is compatible with RFB?

Does that Environment Mod 5.0 function with RFB?

Thanks!

[Fish40]

Is there a replacement water I can use with RFB? The water in the mod seems way too blue. Is there a more subdued version out there somewhere that is compatible with RFB?

Does that Environment Mod 5.0 function with RFB?

Thanks!


You may have a problem if you use EE 5.0 since RFB uses the PE Mod. There have been alot of discussions concerning the "blueness" of the water. I have to tell you, I don't have a problem with it at all. From color WWII Pacific footage, as well as modern photos posted in defence of this very issue, the color is pretty close. To each their own I guess.

[mainexpress]

hi im playing the latest RFB mod,is there any way to keep the scope locked on the target,when using manual targeting im not sure if im getting accurate readings on my target when the scope keeps coming unlocked?

[Sardaukar67]

hi im playing the latest RFB mod,is there any way to keep the scope locked on the target,when using manual targeting im not sure if im getting accurate readings on my target when the scope keeps coming unlocked?

It's been said that they'll try to address lock problems in next patch, among other things.

[msalama]

A Hog Island this time:

http://koti.welho.com/msalama/RFB_27-12-2008.JPG

She's still happily chugging along with her propeller merrily turning, bravely resisting the inevitable :o

This is what happened:

I abruptly bumped into her on my way to Fremantle, Australia, for a fresh set of underwear and a keg of brewski. There was no time for an accurate speed measurement, so I just played it by the ear and hastily fired 4 eels. This resulted in 2 misses, one dud and one impact in her forward cargo hold.

As it turned out this hardly upset her, but rather encouraged her to zig-zag at full tilt. Her bow sinking pretty rapidly didn't matter much either, apart from maybe slightly reducing her speed which was clocked at 8.5 knots some 30 minutes afterwards. I then let her dash about in her badly wounded state for another half an hour or so, because I needed time for another attack.

This then commenced, and resulted in 2 more hits as seen in the picture. But even _that_ wasn't enough for her, for she still continued at a good clip for another 10 minutes or so before finally giving up!

Clever buggers those Nipponese with their submersible freighters, aren't they :lol:

PS. Oh yeah, please inform me immediately if you know about these anomalies already, because frankly speaking I'm not sure if posting amusing pictures and stories of submersible freighters actually conforms to anyone's idea of real fun now :lol:

[vanjast]

... because frankly speaking I'm not sure if posting amusing pictures and stories of submersible freighters actually conforms to anyone's idea of real fun now :lol: It's a scenario that's currently emerging.. :know:

It looks like the Compartment model might need reworking, making less of them, with a hits in the engine room and stern shutting down the propulsion system.
I'd think the result would be with the larger comparments is that they will take longer to fill, but not forever, and it should bring down the torps to ship ratio down to what would seem a realisitc level - just a thought.
:)

[Orion2012]

... because frankly speaking I'm not sure if posting amusing pictures and stories of submersible freighters actually conforms to anyone's idea of real fun now :lol: It's a scenario that's currently emerging.. :know:

It looks like the Compartment model might need reworking, making less of them, with a hits in the engine room and stern shutting down the propulsion system.
I'd think the result would be with the larger comparments is that they will take longer to fill, but not forever, and it should bring down the torps to ship ratio down to what would seem a realisitc level - just a thought.
:)

These are known issues. There will be tweaks made to the damage model in a future patch.

[msalama]

Thanks Orion, good to know. S!

[LukeFF]

These are known issues. There will be tweaks made to the damage model in a future patch.

What he said. :) We're aware of this problem and are working on it. It's just that the mod's creator (Observer) is working on some other things right now for both RFB and OM. We'll let you have the fix as soon as it's available.

[LukeFF]

Is there any way to model the FM sonar used in late war boats in the Silent Hunter engine?

It sure would help if you think you're in a minefield.

I wish it was, but no, it's not possible. :( FM sonar is in the game, but it doesn't work (just like ST radar, another one I wished that worked).

[Anvart]

I have forgotten already ... ST radar it's NSS_radar_periscope?
If it so ...
In stock, radar_periscope has no SensorData controller for SensorType Radar (it has it only for SensorType Visual) ... may be it's reason ...?
and ...
In stock NSS_FM_Sonar_Head has no SensorData controller ... may be it's reason ...?
...
Speech about map marks ... i think ...?
... But ...
As Devs have not written these controllers, that and hard-code for their work also is absent ~ 99 % ...
Necessary to try ...

[Rockin Robbins]

Thank you Anvart! Luke, better get the wizards to work to see if those can be activated. ST radar.......my heart beats faster!:rock: Imagine what Eugene Fluckey could have done with ST radar. I'll bet a couple of hundred men died for lack of it.

[NKVD-crazyivan]

Hi RFB team..................


I know there are some issues at present with the tageting system..
I have started a new career in an S-18 out of Manila....after my first patrol i was told to patrol the Luzone stright area,after no succes i decided to take a chance and plotted a course to cover the approches into Tako which shows on my map to be a very heavy shipping lane.

Bingo my first convoy sighted at long distance moving very slow with only 2 small escorts...I submerged and intercepted the big oil tanker came up to peri depth and locked it on.

Befor i go on i am using auto targeting i know shoot me down but i have relisim settings all on full except for this.

Now when i lock the target it read 1800 yards away but no matter what i did as in lock on the ship several times it would not give me the speed on the position keeper even pushing the button to activate the position keeper then unlock it would not up date the ships speed it would just read 00.

I tried the other 4 ships in the convoy with only distances being logged but all ships speed were 00.......after i locked on (which as you know doesent stay locked)to the oil tanker i was about 1600 yards away fired 3 torps and to my disbelief they all took of to the right and died a lonely death no where near were i was aiming.

Is this part of the bug fix coming up or is my install broken(fresh install sh4 plus add on-rfb plus patch-rsrdc plus patch) is there any way i can play this game or do i have to wait.............

Also in TMO there was incorperated alot more map names the current one is very sparce......is there plans to add more map location names.........

I have been a TMO player for a long time and i really want to give this mod a go thank you one and all for your help.....

PS what can i do to get back the plotting toll like see where your torps are going to hit etc.......:up:



in the past it was just a matter of lock then fire and hopfully a nice hit

I also locked on to

[Orion2012]

Hi RFB team..................


I know there are some issues at present with the tageting system..
I have started a new career in an S-18 out of Manila....after my first patrol i was told to patrol the Luzone stright area,after no succes i decided to take a chance and plotted a course to cover the approches into Tako which shows on my map to be a very heavy shipping lane.

Bingo my first convoy sighted at long distance moving very slow with only 2 small escorts...I submerged and intercepted the big oil tanker came up to peri depth and locked it on.

Befor i go on i am using auto targeting i know shoot me down but i have relisim settings all on full except for this.

Now when i lock the target it read 1800 yards away but no matter what i did as in lock on the ship several times it would not give me the speed on the position keeper even pushing the button to activate the position keeper then unlock it would not up date the ships speed it would just read 00.

I tried the other 4 ships in the convoy with only distances being logged but all ships speed were 00.......after i locked on (which as you know doesent stay locked)to the oil tanker i was about 1600 yards away fired 3 torps and to my disbelief they all took of to the right and died a lonely death no where near were i was aiming.

Is this part of the bug fix coming up or is my install broken(fresh install sh4 plus add on-rfb plus patch-rsrdc plus patch) is there any way i can play this game or do i have to wait.............

Also in TMO there was incorperated alot more map names the current one is very sparce......is there plans to add more map location names.........

I have been a TMO player for a long time and i really want to give this mod a go thank you one and all for your help.....

PS what can i do to get back the plotting toll like see where your torps are going to hit etc.......:up:



in the past it was just a matter of lock then fire and hopfully a nice hit

I also locked on to

If you want a plotting system like TMO check my signature and download TMOPlot, and it will replicate the TMO plotting system.

As far as the issue you have with targetting, its one I've never seen. It NEVER gave you any kind of speed read-out? :hmm:

You did make sure and check to disable manual targetting before you started the patrol correct? Not just in the main menu settings.

[LukeFF]

I have forgotten already ... ST radar it's NSS_radar_periscope?
If it so ...
In stock, radar_periscope has no SensorData controller for SensorType Radar (it has it only for SensorType Visual) ... may be it's reason ...?
and ...
In stock NSS_FM_Sonar_Head has no SensorData controller ... may be it's reason ...?


Thanks for the tip. I'll look at it some more and see if it can't be fixed.

[supposedtobeworking]

I downloaded the latest RFB which is supposed to include Kriller2's Pacfic Environment 4 if I read correctly. The problem I am having is that when I use high time compression to get to my patrol area in the campaign missions, the water loses a lot of it's texture and looks really flat and smooth upon returning to 1x time compress. I know this is a bug which has existed before and I hoped that it was fixed by now, but is there still no fix or am I missing something?

[Dutch]

I downloaded the latest RFB which is supposed to include Kriller2's Pacfic Environment 4 if I read correctly. The problem I am having is that when I use high time compression to get to my patrol area in the campaign missions, the water loses a lot of it's texture and looks really flat and smooth upon returning to 1x time compress. I know this is a bug which has existed before and I hoped that it was fixed by now, but is there still no fix or am I missing something?

Your not supposed to go over 2048 it states so in the manuel. Anything more than that and you run the risk of the water texture bug.

[jazzabilly]

Are issues with the old SH4 patched to 1.4 (w/ RFB 1.4) being addressed at all, or should I wait for my SH4 gold to arrive so I can download 1.52?

Thanks!

[msalama]

AFAIR RFB 1.4 is not supported anymore, and its development has stopped.

@Vanjast , LukeFF et.a l. re: freighter sinking mechanics anomalies - As an interim solution I reduced hitpoint values of ships modified by RFB to 25% of their original values. Sucks, I know, and most likely makes mockery of the original design goals, but at least seems to stop a ship's engines quite soon if / when she receives a critical hit...

[Dogzero1]

I have actually gone back to RFB 1.4 for now. Its still the best version for me.


I am also using GWX3 and silent Hunter 3 now again. Wow, tis superb.:up:

[602Sqn_Puff]

running the latest RFB and now a few times I have went to periscope depth and used T/C to let the ship Im tracking get closer and I found this has happened to the stars..anyone any ideas how to fix it { apart from not use TC lol }

http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb48/602RAF_Puff/sh4fault.jpg

[vanjast]

Looks like the 3 wise men have been taking steroids...:rotfl:

[Orion2012]

running the latest RFB and now a few times I have went to periscope depth and used T/C to let the ship Im tracking get closer and I found this has happened to the stars..anyone any ideas how to fix it { apart from not use TC lol }


Did you by chance reset the environment?? I cant remember the key combo, but something does cause that...anyone?

[kylesplanet]

running the latest RFB and now a few times I have went to periscope depth and used T/C to let the ship Im tracking get closer and I found this has happened to the stars..anyone any ideas how to fix it { apart from not use TC lol }


Did you by chance reset the environment?? I cant remember the key combo, but something does cause that...anyone?

It's either "shift N" or "control N" and yes it causes this little defect.

[602Sqn_Puff]

running the latest RFB and now a few times I have went to periscope depth and used T/C to let the ship Im tracking get closer and I found this has happened to the stars..anyone any ideas how to fix it { apart from not use TC lol }

Did you by chance reset the environment?? I cant remember the key combo, but something does cause that...anyone?
It's either "shift N" or "control N" and yes it causes this little defect.

Thank you, I did hit this key to track the nearest target ..:)

[Tube4]

I'm running RFB 1.4 on stock SH4 with the Torpedo fix.

On my first assign patrol area in the Salmon Islands I stay in the patrol area untill it says it's complete, then ocntinue on hunting down merchant shipping. Finally I need to reload torpedos and fuel.

First I go to Java for refueling, then hunting some more on my way back to Midway, but neither places I'm am able to end the patrol??

All my missions are complete. What do I need to do?:ping:

[Tube4]

I'm running RFB 1.4 on stock SH4 with the Torpedo fix.

On my first assign patrol area in the Salmon Islands I stay in the patrol area untill it says it's complete, then ocntinue on hunting down merchant shipping. Finally I need to reload torpedos and fuel.

First I go to Java for refueling, then hunting some more on my way back to Midway, but neither places I'm am able to end the patrol??

All my missions are complete. What do I need to do?:ping:

[Fish40]

First off, I don't think RFB1.4 is supported anymore as most if not all the mods are geared towards 1.5 (the addon). Now let's see. Stupid question, but did you return to the base you started from?:hmm: Also, check your radio messages. You may have received one telling you of a base change. You may have missed it. I know it happened to me before:oops: Also check the "anchor" icons indicating bases. The icon with the anchor slightly tilted is your home base where you may dock and end the patrol. The other icons (straight anchors) are only refit ports.:yep:

[Slimak81]

Hi all !
I have some questions to this mod:
I am running 1.52 ver without patch
a)! why when I am on perescope depth I lock the ship , press position keeper and it locks only for 3-4 sec , then it unlocks!!??
it happens very often especially at distances more then 1500 m .
if target ship is closer 1000 m it locks normaly as it should be .
b) why the reload time om deck gun is so slowwwwwwww?
the destroyer shoots 6-8 times faster ... is it because of time crew ?
My deck gun relods slower then Yamato s main guns ))))))))
Thank you !

PS BTW after installing patch I have every! time unlock ship at any distances ((((((((((((((((

[602Sqn_Puff]

Hi all !
I have some questions to this mod:
I am running 1.52 ver without patch
a)! why when I am on perescope depth I lock the ship , press position keeper and it locks only for 3-4 sec , then it unlocks!!??
it happens very often especially at distances more then 1500 m .
if target ship is closer 1000 m it locks normaly as it should be .
b) why the reload time om deck gun is so slowwwwwwww?
the destroyer shoots 6-8 times faster ... is it because of time crew ?
My deck gun relods slower then Yamato s main guns ))))))))
Thank you !

PS BTW after installing patch I have every! time unlock ship at any distances ((((((((((((((((

{a} Bug, will be fixed next patch..already been mentioned a good few times in the thread.

{b} Realism...deck guns were used only to finish off ships and smaller junks etc..reload times are to simulate the crew working on a rolling deck and bringing shells up to the gun.

[Slimak81]

Hi all !
I have some questions to this mod:
I am running 1.52 ver without patch
a)! why when I am on perescope depth I lock the ship , press position keeper and it locks only for 3-4 sec , then it unlocks!!??
it happens very often especially at distances more then 1500 m .
if target ship is closer 1000 m it locks normaly as it should be .
b) why the reload time om deck gun is so slowwwwwwww?
the destroyer shoots 6-8 times faster ... is it because of time crew ?
My deck gun relods slower then Yamato s main guns ))))))))
Thank you !

PS BTW after installing patch I have every! time unlock ship at any distances ((((((((((((((((

{a} Bug, will be fixed next patch..already been mentioned a good few times in the thread.

{b} Realism...deck guns were used only to finish off ships and smaller junks etc..reload times are to simulate the crew working on a rolling deck and bringing shells up to the gun.


a) if I run manual , will this constant unlock clear my data each time ?
(speed , course , bearing )
B) The reload time of 4 inch gun will never be the same or longer the 18"monster Yammys main guns / I think you shoul reduce it 4-5 times :roll:
c) the malfuntions of early torps where not so ofter as it presented.
really i shoot 6 torps with excellent aiming and angle all in traget and only 1 impact ((((((((
d) if use sonarman and press send bearing to TDC it sends something random and obviosly spoils my calculations .:huh:

[602Sqn_Puff]

Hi all !
I have some questions to this mod:
I am running 1.52 ver without patch
a)! why when I am on perescope depth I lock the ship , press position keeper and it locks only for 3-4 sec , then it unlocks!!??
it happens very often especially at distances more then 1500 m .
if target ship is closer 1000 m it locks normaly as it should be .
b) why the reload time om deck gun is so slowwwwwwww?
the destroyer shoots 6-8 times faster ... is it because of time crew ?
My deck gun relods slower then Yamato s main guns ))))))))
Thank you !

PS BTW after installing patch I have every! time unlock ship at any distances ((((((((((((((((
{a} Bug, will be fixed next patch..already been mentioned a good few times in the thread.

{b} Realism...deck guns were used only to finish off ships and smaller junks etc..reload times are to simulate the crew working on a rolling deck and bringing shells up to the gun.

a) if I run manual , will this constant unlock clear my data each time ?
(speed , course , bearing )
B) The reload time of 4 inch gun will never be the same or longer the 18"monster Yammys main guns / I think you shoul reduce it 4-5 times :roll:
c) the malfuntions of early torps where not so ofter as it presented.
really i shoot 6 torps with excellent aiming and angle all in traget and only 1 impact ((((((((
d) if use sonarman and press send bearing to TDC it sends something random and obviosly spoils my calculations .:huh:

a) no , when I eneter the data, you only have to be aware that it will unlock sometimes just as you are entering the speed angle etc. Just relock with the L key and continue. once data is in the PIK it will track the target.

b) no idea, I'll leave that to the experts on this forum :)

c) US fish were very unreliable up intil the late stages of 1943..very many duds and depth problems.. { my last target was a small oiler..three fish at 700yds, two duds and one impact, she sailed on at a lower speed of 7kts ..she was at 11kts :( , frustrating but true to life! }

d) I don't trust the sonarman, I usually go to the station myself and when I locate the target bearing I send to the TDC myself, then I sometimes use the ranging sonar..but I usually send two or three before I finally send to the TDC...hope this helps

[tater]

The AI guns on ships fire with AI accuracy. Given the stabilization of the deck gun on the sub, a player manning the gun can be more accurate, easily. If the guns could be destabilized, then the ROF could likely increase, because seastate would be taken into account just by the difficulty aiming.

FWIW, I was just reading an account of Midway, and to show the ferocity of Astoria's defense of her charge, Yorktown, it mentions how many 5" rounds were fired. Her 5" gun was an open mount like a sub's.

Astoria fired 204 five inch rounds in 10 minutes. That's 2.94 seconds per round!

Oh, wait, Astoria was a Heavy Cruiser. She had EIGHT of those 5" guns shooting at once. That's 23.53 seconds per round fired. Even if only half the guns were unmasked at any time, that's ~12 seconds per round with 1/2 shooting from a huge, stable platform with more crew, and hoists for ammo, etc.

[Slimak81]

This is a game but not reality.
The sub deck gun should fire the same rate of fire as somers or clemson destroyer even a little bit faster .
Here we see the picture a Mogamy CA fires 4 time whle I am able to make 1 shoot :o

[DeepIron]

This is a game but not reality.
The sub deck gun should fire the same rate of fire as somers or clemson destroyer even a little bit faster .
Here we see the picture a Mogamy CA fires 4 time whle I am able to make 1 shoot :o Don't even go there... This topic concerning the deck gun firing rate has been thrashed to death already. If you want the deck gun to fire faster, check the forums, there's a mod that will increase the firing rate and damage... :shifty:

[Slimak81]

This is a game but not reality.
The sub deck gun should fire the same rate of fire as somers or clemson destroyer even a little bit faster .
Here we see the picture a Mogamy CA fires 4 time whle I am able to make 1 shoot :o Don't even go there... This topic concerning the deck gun firing rate has been thrashed to death already. If you want the deck gun to fire faster, check the forums, there's a mod that will increase the firing rate and damage... :shifty:

thx I will check as actually i like this mod .
Is there any temporary solution for Locking\unlocking trouble ?

[DeepIron]

This is a game but not reality.
The sub deck gun should fire the same rate of fire as somers or clemson destroyer even a little bit faster .
Here we see the picture a Mogamy CA fires 4 time whle I am able to make 1 shoot :o Don't even go there... This topic concerning the deck gun firing rate has been thrashed to death already. If you want the deck gun to fire faster, check the forums, there's a mod that will increase the firing rate and damage... :shifty:
thx I will check as actually i like this mod .
Is there any temporary solution for Locking\unlocking trouble ?Nope... It's a work in progress... The solution most of us realism players use is to learn manual targeting... It's not that tough to learn and there are some good threads in the forums to read that describe in detail a few different targeting methods... :cool:

[Orion2012]

Don't even go there... This topic concerning the deck gun firing rate has been thrashed to death already. If you want the deck gun to fire faster, check the forums, there's a mod that will increase the firing rate and damage... :shifty:

LOL...not again....:doh:

http://www.bergall.org/320/patrol/deckguns.html

^--That should help explain why the deck gun fire rate is the way it is.

[Bosje]

who in their right mind would want to use the gun anyway? i always get killed because a merchant gets a round in while i'm trying to finish it off :D

[Ark]

The blue water is starting to grow on me now. :D

The RFB team did an awesome job! Same with the TMO team as well as the RSDC folks.

Great job to all!

[RFB Team]

We have made a very good breakthrough on how a sub's speed affects how fast it will dive or surface. Before, it did not really matter what speed a sub was moving at, as the boats would dive and surface at same rate. Now, however, speed is very much a factor in how fast a boat can dive or surface. Not to mention, the crash dive times are now much more in line with reality. For instance, while the S boats can now change depth rather quickly (max 2 feet per second), their crash dive time is very bad (about 65-70 seconds). Conversely, the fleet subs will crash dive reasonably well (from 40-50 seconds typically), while their rate of depth change will be sub-par (about 1.25 feet per second).

The same type of behavior will also be applied to the two stock U-boats (keeping in mind the XVIII was converted into the XXI). :cool:

[Fish40]

Looking forwards to the latest installment!:yep: Keep up the great work guys, and have a Happy New Year!!

[Fincuan]

Excellent news :up:

No more 10 second crash dives in the IXD2, yippee!

[cgjimeneza]

just to say Thank You!!! to the RFB team

happy new year!

this game keeps getting better and better all the time.

[Rockin Robbins]

It was a great year for Real Fleet Boat! 2008 began with RFB, the orphan mod and ends up with RFB as the premier fleet boat mod in the game. Shows how the team concept can outperform an individual modder without killing the team's enjoyment of the game. Ducimus was a very driven individual, operating in an environment of self-imposed slavery. The game isn't worth that level of self-mutilation.

Hats off to all modders of the Silent Hunter series. In spite of the personality problems we've experienced at times, the games are tremendously better for your efforts!

[Bosje]

Very pleased to hear that, RFB Team!
Happy new year :up:

[Flanker15]

Just wondering, do I need the 1.52 patch or is it them same version as the 1.52 install?

I also noticed that ships won't break in half any more which is explained in the manual. When the warship damage system is done will warships still be allowed to break apart when they suffer magazine explosions?

[msalama]

:rock:

I'm telling ya, this mod is the dog's cojones :up: And even more so for me personally 'cuz I originally bought SH4 only to see if it really is as bad as many folks claimed, and now with this great mod I wouldn't even _dream_ of going back to SH3...

Thanks for this magnificent piece of work guys, and Happy New Year to you all!

[supposedtobeworking]

hmmm...I have been reading through the manual and cannot find anything on the water texture bug which I seem to have a continual problem with-the bug where the water goes flat like a calm lake. At first my use of high time compression caused it (which btw I did not find a reference to in the manual listed in the first post), and now it's happened again upon loading a saved game where I spotted a convoy in the distance-does loading a saved game cause this bug as well and is there any way to avoid it or work around it (or get the cool water texture back)? thanks.

[Fish40]

hmmm...I have been reading through the manual and cannot find anything on the water texture bug which I seem to have a continual problem with-the bug where the water goes flat like a calm lake. At first my use of high time compression caused it (which btw I did not find a reference to in the manual listed in the first post), and now it's happened again upon loading a saved game where I spotted a convoy in the distance-does loading a saved game cause this bug as well and is there any way to avoid it or work around it (or get the cool water texture back)? thanks.


I'm not sure if the flat calm water is a bug. I get a period of flat calm seas for a few days, and then it turns into a sloppy mess again. There is a texture bug in the PE water though. After useing TC, the water may looked "striated", or have a striped appearance. Saveing and reloading cures it for me.

[Travis Reed]

Such a long thread...and so confusing...

Does the present version (1.52+ patch) include PE4 already?

If not, what installation method should I use?

[Fish40]

Such a long thread...and so confusing...

Does the present version (1.52+ patch) include PE4 already?

If not, what installation method should I use?


The present version plus patch dose indeed include PE:yep:

[Travis Reed]

Such a long thread...and so confusing...

Does the present version (1.52+ patch) include PE4 already?

If not, what installation method should I use?

The present version plus patch dose indeed include PE:yep:

Then there is no need to try installing PE4 a second time...:P

[Fish40]

Such a long thread...and so confusing...

Does the present version (1.52+ patch) include PE4 already?

If not, what installation method should I use?

The present version plus patch dose indeed include PE:yep:

Then there is no need to try installing PE4 a second time...:P


Correct!:up:

[Travis Reed]

This is odd...

After running into the lock problems (while using auto targeting) I managed to sink the target I encountered said problems with (several torpedoes later...).

While enroute to my home port, I encountered another target. Missed with a torp or two, then came in to see what damage I could do with the deck gun. Good news is that the 3' deck gun can sink a Hog Type A if you put enough shells below the waterline. Used about half my shells and she finally slipped under.

During this surface engagement (note that I would not have attempted this in the presence of a DD, aircraft, or an armed merchie), I got too close to my target and took some ramming damage. It wasn't bad. Minimal damage to the aft section. Nos. 2 & 4 engine were damaged slightly (0.19 I think it was). Aft torp room took some damage, but less than 0.5. The engine room itself flooded to 'critical'. There were minor injuries to the crew in the affected sections of the boat (no more than 3 hp).

The odd thing is that none of the damage could be repaired while returning to base, even after I put those with the highest mechanical on the damage control team. And yes, I made sure to put the damage crew on duty (had to keep turning 'em on after they'd get tired and the light would shut off).

So I'm sitting in base and on the crew management screen, it still shows the engine room being flooded...

[CapnScurvy]

I know there has been a lot of posts lately regarding the auto targeting losing the "lock" on targets at long distances (over 1000 yards) and I thought I'd put my two cents worth in. I'm finding this problem while using the stock game!!

Yes, that's right. I just had the problem occur during a test patrol. It was my first encounter with a target on a new campaign from Pearl, Dec 1941. The seas were rough, but at periscope depth I could not keep the target on lock until it came very close. I should point out my campaign settings (at the intro screen where you type your name) was set to "very hard", but back at the Captain's Office I had set all the options for game play to zero realism, giving me auto targeting.

As I said, the seas were rough. On hind sight I may have done better if the sub had been raised out of the water a bit (deck's awash), but it creates the thought that RFB may not be entirely at fault for this noticeable problem. On my next encounter the "lock" seemed to work fine, with a calmer sea state.

I bring this information to the table because so many times there can be inaccurate conclusions drawn about a problem when there may be little we can do about it. The point is the loss of target lock may be inherent to the game itself not to the mod your using.

As a work around (besides using the deck's awash principle; just a couple of feet may make the difference), try to "trun on" the Position Keeper when you do have a "lock" on target. Pointing the scopes verticle center line somewhere on the target and pressing the lock key will snap the scope to the center of the target. Press the grey lower right hand button on the PK, it will turn red when on. You should see the PK dials quickly move to the correct positions for your sub and the targets. If your on auto targeting, lower your scope and go take a powder. The PK will keep track of the target. You won't have to check it again unless the target (or you) makes a course change. When the lower sub dial has the arrow almost front and center; and the top dial shows the target at a 90 degree angle to the sub. Your ready to make boom.

Although it's wise to recheck the target with the scope ever so often, even on auto targeting. If the target has made a course change turn off the PK, position the scopes verticle line on the target again, relock, then turn the PK back on. The new settings will snap to on the PK and your all the more closer to firing.

[Wilcke]

Well put Captain! Yes the lock can be an issue. I have found that in my game play as my tactics evolved and refined especially with O'Kane and Cromwell attacks that the need to "lock" is pretty much moot.

If you become a PK expert, of which I am not and is my next challenge; one as the Captain states will make you very aware of the situation and position and will go a long way in giving you that warm feeling in your tummy.

I think that the lock comes into play in those more random situation where one happens to run into a single merchant in the gloom and you have to setup fast for a quick shot.

Remember, these guys kept the scope up a max of 7 seconds and boom down went the scope. Even though you are doing this a lone, you can collect the data in 7 seconds pause the game and do your charting whether on paper, Whiz Wheel, Is Was or MoBo, develop the firing solution and see if its even worthwhile to take the shot or make an approach.

Nine times out of ten you are bound to be out of position, bad firing solution, or just taking to big a risk. Not every ship you spot is going end up in your log book as sunk. Many will go by and they are just not worth the risk. I know its tough to not attack and/or sink something. If you really need to destroy something there is always COD4 to get it out of your system.

Man I drone on....sorry guys.

[Paul Roberts]

Here's a quick question for the RFB experts. I asked this already over at the OM thread, but I wanted a second opinion from this side.

I see that Operation Monsun can be installed over RFB & RSRD, and the readme information implies that they are compatible. However, OM does overwrite some files from RFB/RSRD in the process, so I'm wondering if OM "breaks" anything in these mods as it installs.

In other words, is it possible to jump freely back and forth between German and US campaigns with OM installed on top of RFB/RSRD? Will nothing on the US-side be broken?

Thanks!

[cgjimeneza]

I recomend to have a separate install for Op Monsun, you can add all the goodies and not go enabling/disabling to play

it will be less than 5 gigas and thats almost nothing considering the size of current Hard Drives, me personally I have:

TMO+RSRD
RFB+RSTD
TMO for our pacific thunder campaing playing
OpMonsun
and:
sh4 v1.4 clean
sh4 v1.5 clean
for restoring.

I suggest you look up multish4 for explanation on multiple installs.

Here's a quick question for the RFB experts. I asked this already over at the OM thread, but I wanted a second opinion from this side.

I see that Operation Monsun can be installed over RFB & RSRD, and the readme information implies that they are compatible. However, OM does overwrite some files from RFB/RSRD in the process, so I'm wondering if OM "breaks" anything in these mods as it installs.

In other words, is it possible to jump freely back and forth between German and US campaigns with OM installed on top of RFB/RSRD? Will nothing on the US-side be broken?

Thanks!

[JackMaga]

Hi all!

I've been playing a career starting with an S boat in Brisbane in '42: everything's well, after the third patrol I've been offered a new command which I accepted but... my old crew got transferred wiht me so now I've got an S-class crew for a fleet boat, which is of course insufficient... just three comminssioned officers, not enough petty officers and so on.
Even if I recruit all the sailors and officers presentiat the base I can't complete my complement! In particular there aren't enough commissioned officers: it fells wrong to sail a fleet boat with just a Lt jg. and four Ensigns!:damn:

I don't remember this happening with the earlier versions of RFB, so is it a bug? Is it intended?
Does some sort of workaround exists?:hmm:

[bertle]

I can't seem to get this mod to activate

I activate it in JSGME but nothing has changed when I run the game. Other mods work so I don't know what i've done wrong :(

[Orion2012]

I can't seem to get this mod to activate

I activate it in JSGME but nothing has changed when I run the game. Other mods work so I don't know what i've done wrong :(

You are running version 1.5 of SH4 correct?

[Husksubsky]

Ive read RFB manual but still hit problems.Is it Always highest funnel on warships xpt carriers?:-? ..I see some numbers in rec manual that make me wonder since ships "similar" seem to have vastly different base height .And(from stock I guess)some ships are completely similar in book but differ in data like Hatsuharu Shigure class DD and Hatsuharu class DD.
Heres a good example that make me unsure:Large modern composite frighter has it s mast top at 115 feet..(weight 7168 tons)
compare with Katori class cl with 6300 tons and given a funnel(a small one) height at 116.8 feet.
just make me wonder:hmm:can this really be funnel height? some guessing is good but I feel like I shoot blind sometimes now.a ..any one knows something?:)

Better example with two similar pics:Minekaze destroyer with height 33.5 ft vs Momi destroyer (with less weight) height 68.9 feet..would think it was the mast height of the Momi..

[Husksubsky]

I can't seem to get this mod to activate

I activate it in JSGME but nothing has changed when I run the game. Other mods work so I don't know what i've done wrong :(

you havent just made an extra folder in the mod folder or something similar?
I did once:oops: ..didn t extract directly and messed up

[CapnScurvy]

I have created a quick fix for the target "lock" issue that has been with RFB 1.52. The thread with the download link is here (http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=146492). As a completed new patch is forthcoming this fix will be included. For now enjoy.

[LukeFF]

I've been playing a career starting with an S boat in Brisbane in '42: everything's well, after the third patrol I've been offered a new command which I accepted but... my old crew got transferred wiht me so now I've got an S-class crew for a fleet boat, which is of course insufficient... just three comminssioned officers, not enough petty officers and so on.
Even if I recruit all the sailors and officers presentiat the base I can't complete my complement! In particular there aren't enough commissioned officers: it fells wrong to sail a fleet boat with just a Lt jg. and four Ensigns!:damn:

I don't remember this happening with the earlier versions of RFB, so is it a bug? Is it intended?
Does some sort of workaround exists?:hmm:

It's a flaw with the way the game is coded and makes itself most present when upgrading from an S boat to a fleet boat. Basically all you can do is add all the crewmen you can, save the game, reload, and then add more crewmen to the boat. It's bloody tedious, and you'll have to do this a couple of times, but it's about the easiest solution out there at the moment.

[LukeFF]

Ive read RFB manual but still hit problems.Is it Always highest funnel on warships xpt carriers?:-? ..I see some numbers in rec manual that make me wonder since ships "similar" seem to have vastly different base height .And(from stock I guess)some ships are completely similar in book but differ in data like Hatsuharu Shigure class DD and Hatsuharu class DD.
Heres a good example that make me unsure:Large modern composite frighter has it s mast top at 115 feet..(weight 7168 tons)
compare with Katori class cl with 6300 tons and given a funnel(a small one) height at 116.8 feet.
just make me wonder:hmm:can this really be funnel height? some guessing is good but I feel like I shoot blind sometimes now.a ..any one knows something?:)

Better example with two similar pics:Minekaze destroyer with height 33.5 ft vs Momi destroyer (with less weight) height 68.9 feet..would think it was the mast height of the Momi..
It sounds like you are running RSRDC, which adds a number of ships to the roster. I've not updated those mast heights yet to be compatible with the stock SH4 ships, but I will make sure it gets done.

[CapnScurvy]

Ive read RFB manual but still hit problems.Is it Always highest funnel on warships xpt carriers?:-? ..I see some numbers in rec manual that make me wonder since ships "similar" seem to have vastly different base height .And(from stock I guess)some ships are completely similar in book but differ in data like Hatsuharu Shigure class DD and Hatsuharu class DD.
Heres a good example that make me unsure:Large modern composite frighter has it s mast top at 115 feet..(weight 7168 tons)
compare with Katori class cl with 6300 tons and given a funnel(a small one) height at 116.8 feet.
just make me wonder:hmm:can this really be funnel height? some guessing is good but I feel like I shoot blind sometimes now.a ..any one knows something?:)

Better example with two similar pics:Minekaze destroyer with height 33.5 ft vs Momi destroyer (with less weight) height 68.9 feet..would think it was the mast height of the Momi..
It sounds like you are running RSRDC, which adds a number of ships to the roster. I've not updated those mast heights yet to be compatible with the stock SH4 ships, but I will make sure it gets done.

Husksubsky (say that three times, fast), you are exactly right with the observation that the Mast Heights are off the mark in RFB 1.52. Intentionally done by LukeFF to make it more "realistic". He didn't bother to tell you that. Hmmmmm


Take a look at this post (http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=146510) for those that are interested.

[Donner]

...you are exactly right with the observation that the Mast Heights are off the mark in RFB 1.52. Intentionally done by LukeFF to make it more "realistic". He didn't bother to tell you that. Hmmmmm

From the RFB 1.52 User's Manual (pages 38 and 39). Please note Distance Measurement Reference Point bullet under 'Bringing it Altogether':


Introducing the Fog of War to Ship Targeting

Throughout WWII, the U.S. Navy’s Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI) produced an extensive series of recognition manuals designed to help commanders identify and target enemy shipping. These manuals included a variety of data, including the estimated height of various points on each ship, the ship’s estimated tonnage value, the ship’s draft when fully loaded vs. empty, armor, weapons, etc. Notes were included in these entries to let the commander know how accurate the data was believed to be. For instance, in the 1944 manual on Japanese merchant shipping, each ship entry had an intelligence value from A to C. These ratings were described as follows:

A: “Excellent source material has been available and drawing believed to be correct in detail.”
B: “Source material limited, some details may be inaccurate.”
C: “Source material very limited, profile believed to be generally correct but proportions and details doubtful.”Bringing it Altogether

Armed with this material from the ONI manuals, extensive changes were made to the way target data is presented to the player in Real Fleet Boat. These changes are detailed below:

Distance Measurement Reference Point: the reference point used for each ship uses the exact values extracted from ONI manuals. Depending on the intelligence information surrounding a given ship, this value may or may not be very accurate.
Tonnage: again, this value is taken from each respective entry in the ONI manuals. The tonnage values credited to each ship reflect those known to the U.S. Navy at the time each respective manual was distributed to the fleet.
Draft: like tonnage values, the draft value of each ship represents the value known to ONI. Where both empty and loaded draft values are presented for a particular ship’s entry, the latter value is used, since Silent Hunter 4 treats each ship as sailing fully loaded. It is important to note here that these draft values do NOT necessarily reflect the ship’s true in-game draft. With the depth-keeping problems present with both German and American torpedoes, it is thus generally a good idea to not fire one’s torpedoes too deep and thus risk having the torpedo run harmlessly beneath the keel of a ship.Determining the Correct Distance Measure Reference Point

In order to reduce confusion while remaining true to the data presented in the ONI manuals, the following reference points are used for each class of ship. Note that one can also find this data when moving the mouse cursor over the check box in the recognition manual:

Merchant Ships: top of the tallest mast.
Aircraft Carriers and Aircraft Transports: flight deck.
All Other Warships: top of the tallest funnel.

[Husksubsky]

Ive read RFB manual but still hit problems.Is it Always highest funnel on warships xpt carriers?:-? ..I see some numbers in rec manual that make me wonder since ships "similar" seem to have vastly different base height .And(from stock I guess)some ships are completely similar in book but differ in data like Hatsuharu Shigure class DD and Hatsuharu class DD.
Heres a good example that make me unsure:Large modern composite frighter has it s mast top at 115 feet..(weight 7168 tons)
compare with Katori class cl with 6300 tons and given a funnel(a small one) height at 116.8 feet.
just make me wonder:hmm:can this really be funnel height? some guessing is good but I feel like I shoot blind sometimes now.a ..any one knows something?:)

Better example with two similar pics:Minekaze destroyer with height 33.5 ft vs Momi destroyer (with less weight) height 68.9 feet..would think it was the mast height of the Momi..
It sounds like you are running RSRDC, which adds a number of ships to the roster. I've not updated those mast heights yet to be compatible with the stock SH4 ships, but I will make sure it gets done.

Thanks for quick help Luke.Right on spot there:up: .Yes I run RSRD ( should have told) with RFB.No other Mods.Now that I know it s easier to relate to the problem.
I m trying the new trigger Maru now, so I cant check, but is it the case that these added ships have a more whiteish color in the book?
anyway I will go back to RFB cause of my preference of gameplay and will look then.
Thanks to you Donner and Scurvy too..:) .Yes I ve read the manual, but wondered if those vast differences I noticed really was intentional (my example)and now it got cleared by luke.hehe I googled navy intelligence to see some pics;) .
would be easy if those who still used mastheight instead of funnel as ref said so instead of baseheight in the book. Would think that s an easy fix:hmm: , but I m no modder hehe.
Thomas
(my real name..easier to say three times fast)

[Paul Roberts]

I recomend to have a separate install for Op Monsun, you can add all the goodies and not go enabling/disabling to play

it will be less than 5 gigas and thats almost nothing considering the size of current Hard Drives, me personally I have:

TMO+RSRD
RFB+RSTD
TMO for our pacific thunder campaing playing
OpMonsun
and:
sh4 v1.4 clean
sh4 v1.5 clean
for restoring.

I suggest you look up multish4 for explanation on multiple installs.


Thanks for detailed response!

But if, say, I just wanted one RFB/RSRD/OM installation, *would* it be possible to play both US and German campaigns without something on the US side being broken?

[Husksubsky]

I have created a quick fix for the target "lock" issue that has been with RFB 1.52. The thread with the download link is here (http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=146492). As a completed new patch is forthcoming this fix will be included. For now enjoy.

Thanks for the fix Scurvy, I ll try tonight.I t was a weird one ..binos maintained lock but never scope..I managed without lock with practice, but I like the lock:)
did you have to compromise with any RFB goodies to make it work?:hmm:
Regards
it s not easy to say capnscurvy three times fast either:smug:

[Husksubsky]

I recomend to have a separate install for Op Monsun, you can add all the goodies and not go enabling/disabling to play

it will be less than 5 gigas and thats almost nothing considering the size of current Hard Drives, me personally I have:

TMO+RSRD
RFB+RSTD
TMO for our pacific thunder campaing playing
OpMonsun
and:
sh4 v1.4 clean
sh4 v1.5 clean
for restoring.

I suggest you look up multish4 for explanation on multiple installs.



Thanks for detailed response!

But if, say, I just wanted one RFB/RSRD/OM installation, *would* it be possible to play both US and German campaigns without something on the US side being broken?

so theres a thread for multiinstalls :hmm: I just tried without reading and couldn t even start installing lol

[Husksubsky]

Ive read RFB manual but still hit problems.Is it Always highest funnel on warships xpt carriers?:-? ..I see some numbers in rec manual that make me wonder since ships "similar" seem to have vastly different base height .And(from stock I guess)some ships are completely similar in book but differ in data like Hatsuharu Shigure class DD and Hatsuharu class DD.
Heres a good example that make me unsure:Large modern composite frighter has it s mast top at 115 feet..(weight 7168 tons)
compare with Katori class cl with 6300 tons and given a funnel(a small one) height at 116.8 feet.
just make me wonder:hmm:can this really be funnel height? some guessing is good but I feel like I shoot blind sometimes now.a ..any one knows something?:)

Better example with two similar pics:Minekaze destroyer with height 33.5 ft vs Momi destroyer (with less weight) height 68.9 feet..would think it was the mast height of the Momi..
It sounds like you are running RSRDC, which adds a number of ships to the roster. I've not updated those mast heights yet to be compatible with the stock SH4 ships, but I will make sure it gets done.

Husksubsky (say that three times, fast), you are exactly right with the observation that the Mast Heights are off the mark in RFB 1.52. Intentionally done by LukeFF to make it more "realistic". He didn't bother to tell you that. Hmmmmm


Take a look at this post (http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=146510) for those that are interested.

Interessting post scurvey thx:).I like the heights to be accurate since I have enough faults just cause of other things.specially far away when I don t use the pinger and graphics **** up some etc etc.anyways those vast differences I noticed was cause of added ships from rsrd if I understood luke correct.
small other thingy..how dangerous is it to ping with ijn around? can I ping a merchant and ijn wont hear it if he s in another direction? know ping is dangerous but not how dangerous.My RL u boat brother said ppl in the toilet of a merchant would hear the ping....
I can t talk for other than myself, but I definatly want correct data.
but to avoid misunderstanding if I sound whining ..I bow my head deeply in grattitude for all the time the Modders spend to make the game nice for us who just play:rock:
Regards
Husksubsky Huskubsy scubsuvsky (damn it s hard)

[CapnScurvy]

I have created a quick fix for the target "lock" issue that has been with RFB 1.52. The thread with the download link is here (http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=146492). As a completed new patch is forthcoming this fix will be included. For now enjoy.
did you have to compromise with any RFB goodies to make it work?:hmm:

No, I didn't. There was a file missing two parameters that needed to be added (well one needed to be changed). I know there may be some changes in an upcoming patch that should have my two cents worth added. But for now, the only difference is having the Lock feature work again.

[Rockin Robbins]

Yahoooooooo! That's a big one. Now we'll have a lot more fun!

[tater]

We have something on the order of 15-20 merchants in SH4 (in RSRDC which adds some).

There are hundreds in ONI-208J.

16 classes of merchants in the ATO is not bad, since there were enough standardized types that chances are you'd be shooting at one of the 16 most popular types. In the PTO this is flatly wrong. In fact, some of the jap merchies we have are 1-off designs.

Roughly speaking, until late in the war, each target was far more likely than not to be a unique, one of a kind ship type, maybe 2-3 of a kind. As a result, when you looked her up in ONI to get a mast height for the stadimeter, you'd end up guessing from perhaps the 10-20 closest looking entries (most guesses were wrong). This results in range issues. That also forgets that the masts were easy to alter—and they were altered—from the ONI values (which came from pre-war insurance records).

The same goes for warships. Particularly as radar was added, mast and rigging changed to accommodate them. 10' plus or minus would be a trivial difference.

For warships, using the ONI values makes perfect sense. You ID a DD as Fubuki in ONI, and you look at the diagram and put in that for the funnel, and take the range. If ONI was wrong, then every single skipper shooting at Fubuki would be wrong. I haven't checked Fubuki vs RL, but if ONI was off by 2m, then SH4 should have the rec manual off by 2m.

IMHO.

Ideally, you'd not ID the target to take a range, you'd set the mast height on the stadimeter in feet, based on what you read in the manual—or what you think it really is.

tater

PS—some of you are gonna hate MY solution to this problem. :D

PPS—I agree on the scope locking thing, however. Locking is required for game mechanics reasons, so it should not break. It has nothing at all to do with your ability to make out the target, it's just that the game requires locking.

[virtualpender]

Tater, thank you for the excellent explanation.

[Husksubsky]

I like the Idea of putting values aswell. anyways..make an accuracyfix for RFB 1.52 capnscurvey!I know you have the urge!I m not a good guesser ..I m a traindriver for christ sake..use so much time to determine speed and aob safely out of sight just to miss target time and time again not knowing if it was my calculation(cause that happens too) or the stad error wears me out:damn: lets just say I had an expert aboard..
Love the RFB in every other way

[tater]

The game is also missing loading for merchants. The difference between fully laden with cargo and riding high for these ships is profound. Less dense cargo can result in any value in between, as well. Take Akita Maru, for example. ONI 208Jclaims the difference between her loaded and light is 15' (almost 5m). The ONI mast height data the real skippers had was considered "A" quality for this ship, but that only reflects her pre-war appearance.

ONI has her mast height as 73'. She's an MFM (Mast, Funnel, Mast) Raised 1-2-3 (counter stern). There are several other ships that match that description that could easily be confused with her. They have mast heights of: 76', 83', 80', 77', UK' (skipper to estimate), 76', 75', UK, UK. I ignored the similar number of ships that had goalposts with masts on top, but they could also be confused from the right angles. I also ignored the same coding but cruiser sterned. The above seem to give a range of 1-3 meters difference in mast heights, and 3 of the similar ships have "C" class data with zero height info, and just an estimate on ship length.

There were 12 Akita's. The similar ships? 31. So you'd be more that twice as likely to see a similar ship to Akita as Akita herself. Of all those ships, though, the Akita type was the single most numerous with 12 built. She also has the shortest masts.

It would be interesting to see if (with a static target ship) you can estimate mast heights using deck heights, visible crew, etc, and get an accurate range by manually setting the mast height in the TDC.

Looks like if the mast height you entered was +-15' you'd be doing pretty well in RL. Fire spreads.

[CapnScurvy]

It would be interesting to see if (with a static target ship) you can estimate mast heights using deck heights, visible crew, etc, and get an accurate range by manually setting the mast height in the TDC.

Looks like if the mast height you entered was +-15' you'd be doing pretty well in RL. Fire spreads.

That's how I make my calibration's for finding height measurements. You didn't think it was guess work did you? :rotfl:

The mission editor comes in handy putting ships at specific distances so a test can be made for range finding. I use a math formula to figure the correct measurement from the Stadimeter manualy found range to what ever reference point you want to set the mark to. The game only allows for one reference point though.

And yes your right, 15+/- meters is right on for the game. Some measurements will not get any closer, no matter what you do. It's in the fact that the game doesn't calculate beyond tenths. That's why I don't understand why RFB has some of their measurements to 10,000ths. Guess the guys didn't know.

[tater]

I said if you got the HEIGHT right to within ~15 feet (~5 meters) you'd be doing GREAT in RL.

Not the target distance, the height.

I should add that it is REALLY useful to know the actual height of the mast/deck/funnel in game so that the number put into the rec manual can be accurately WRONG—or right for those cases where ONI was accurate.

Regarding the extra decimals, if the game doesn't use them, then why fret about it? The likely answer is that ONI was in FEET, and SH4 is in METERS. If they (RFB team) did a conversion, then there you go. The game goes past 10ths for everything else, but assuming that is the case, should your uncertainty be bigger than pixel snap? In RL, there would be maybe a few meter range just in heavy vs light draught for the target ship. Those values add/subtract from the mast height.

What is the error range for the pixel snap you discuss WRT your mod? Error in HEIGHT, not calculated distance? How does that compare with the light vs heavy draughts of the targets, which can produce variations on the order of several meters?

[CapnScurvy]

I said if you got the HEIGHT right to within ~15 feet (~5 meters) you'd be doing GREAT in RL.

In the example you saw with the RFB, Manual Targeting and Realism thread the ship had a 5.4 meter (a little less than 18') HEIGHT difference that when calculated over a 1700 meter distance worked out to be a 857 meter error. Is that what you call doing great?


In RL, there would be maybe a few meter range just in heavy vs light draught for the target ship. Those values add/subtract from the mast height.

What is the error range for the pixel snap you discuss WRT your mod? Error in HEIGHT, not calculated distance? How does that compare with the light vs heavy draughts of the targets, which can produce variations on the order of several meters?


That's real life. I haven't seen one bit of difference to the ship presentation due to cargo displacement. I've tried to make them but it doesn't show.

[tater]

Yeah, it doesn't show, so you add some error bars to height (ie:range) determination.

Regarding the height, YES, I do. I think in RL, if they got the height within 10-15% they were doing GREAT. Fabulous, in fact.

A BB might have a 100-140' mast. If you were +-20 feet, great job.

A ship could easily be a meter or 2 low or high in the water and you could not tell at a feww thousand yards. Add in that the mast was different than the one in the Lloyd's register, and a 9-12' difference in a merchant mast of 75' would be EASY. That's 3-4m.

That could easily happen.

Add in that the MAJORITY of claims were for the wrong size/class of ship, and it is clear that in RL, they could not possibly have had the mast heights as accurate as is possible with your mod on average. Sure, they sometimes did, but rarely since they usually thought the target was an entirely different ship.

[tater]

Damn, edit not working again.


I'm fine with having all the values be within some reasonable range, like +-10% or something, BTW.

[tater]

BTW, there is a simple reason that RFB uses numbers in meters like "6.096."

6.096 meters is exactly 20 feet. If you play imperial, you want integer feet, no ONI entry would say 19.7 feet (which is what it would say if you threw 6m in the cfg).

[LukeFF]

BTW, there is a simple reason that RFB uses numbers in meters like "6.096."

6.096 meters is exactly 20 feet. If you play imperial, you want integer feet, no ONI entry would say 19.7 feet (which is what it would say if you threw 6m in the cfg).

Exactly. I plugged in whatever value ONI gives (in feet) and entered the resultant metric value into each CFG file. It just so happens my unit conversion tool measures out to 14 decimal places.

[tater]

Luke, lest I seem too strident about this, CapnScurvy's arguments do change my mind a little.

The problem with using the straight ONI value is that we are assuming the SH4 model is actually accurate. I have more doubts about that than ever given my current project.

We need to measure the SH4 models, then get the RL data for the ships (not hard for warships, virtually impossible for merchants I bet). We have ONI.

Then compare the real ship to ONI. If ONI is off by 10%, then we make the rec manual 10% off the SH4 model's actual height. See my point?

ONI puts Ise at ~123' to the top of the pagoda fir control director. Guess what? The stock SH4 model has no fire control director up there (it does now ;) ). It's a good 10' high, so if you put i8n 123' for Ise, it's 10' too high based on the SH4 model, assuming the rest of the model is perfect.

IMO, CapnScurvy's work is an already done baseline on the actual height of the SH4 models, at least from waterline. Actually, since the draught is in the sim, we can add the 2 together to get the model's height, then compare to reality.

So I have changed my tune a little. I still want the same inaccuracy as ONI gives, but I certainly do not want to compound it with SH4 model inaccuracies.

[Travis Reed]

Just out of curiosity...can you dive below the max depth on the gauge with RFB (in say, a Balao)?

If 'yes', then how? Is it just using the 'd' (set dive planes for normal dive) key and then leveling out ad the depth you want with the 'a' (maintain depth) key?


I had an experience where I killed myself by running too close to a couple of shore batteries while using TC. (I really should consider firing my lookouts...as they should have seen the guns before they saw me...). Ended up sinking (though I fought tooth and claw the whole way down...). Got to over 750 feet before I decided that there was nothing I could do to save the boat, at which point I loaded from a save and skipped the Marshall Islands entirely...frackin subnets forcing me to go around and get too close to shore guns that should be quite visible on that particular island, yet remained invisible to my lookouts...


This experience demonstrated that crush depth for the Balao is set much deeper than the depth gauge goes...would be nice to actually be able to use that when being DC'd...

[Coolhand01]

I once fought a sinking Balao SE of Makin Island before I got the death screen. And hit bottom at 1750ft. I think hitting the bottom is what done me in. If it was a soft landing I may have been able to pump out the forward torpedoe room and resurfaced. It was the only damage I had after being hit by a shore battery after starting a crash dive....CH

[Orion2012]

I once fought a sinking Balao SE of Makin Island before I got the death screen. And hit bottom at 1750ft. I think hitting the bottom is what done me in. If it was a soft landing I may have been able to pump out the forward torpedoe room and resurfaced. It was the only damage I had after being hit by a shore battery after starting a crash dive....CH

There is delay between your sub having no HP or being crushed. Once the lights start flashing and crew screaming about massive amounts of destroyed equipment, your toast. I've seen what your talking about, and it annoys me, but is unavoidable. It should be quick....just....CRUNCH, your dead.

[Coolhand01]

I know. I didn't get the flashing light's and babies crying until I nosed into the bottom at about 40 degrees downbubble:damn:. Hence the "soft landing" theory. Go figure....CH

[Orion2012]

I know. I didn't get the flashing light's and babies crying until I nosed into the bottom at about 40 degrees downbubble:damn:. Hence the "soft landing" theory. Go figure....CH

You should occur 2 HP of damage per second below crush depth...Crush depth is listed as 330 in the .zon file for the Balao....Hmmmm

[LukeFF]

Luke, lest I seem too strident about this, CapnScurvy's arguments do change my mind a little.

The problem with using the straight ONI value is that we are assuming the SH4 model is actually accurate. I have more doubts about that than ever given my current project.

We need to measure the SH4 models, then get the RL data for the ships (not hard for warships, virtually impossible for merchants I bet). We have ONI.

Then compare the real ship to ONI. If ONI is off by 10%, then we make the rec manual 10% off the SH4 model's actual height. See my point?

I'm all for it if you can use a fail-safe method to determine how well the in-game models scale to the ONI diagrams. Otherwise, I'm just not seeing huge differences in range that are outside of the historical spectrum.

[JackMaga]

It's a flaw with the way the game is coded and makes itself most present when upgrading from an S boat to a fleet boat. Basically all you can do is add all the crewmen you can, save the game, reload, and then add more crewmen to the boat. It's bloody tedious, and you'll have to do this a couple of times, but it's about the easiest solution out there at the moment.

Too bad...
Well not really... just a minor quirk in an awesome mod!:lol:

Keep up the fanstastic work!!!!:up:

[Travis Reed]

Is there an easy way to revert the German XVIII back into an XVIII (complete with working Walter Engine)? Every time I try taking one of these out at present (listed as an XXI) I have to go to battle stations to get the crew to do anything...and there's no snorkel...making the 'XXI' essentially useless.

I'm also still waiting on an answer on how to take a sub below the max depth listed on the large scale depth gauge...TM had a button on the control bar somewhere...

[jazzabilly]

Are there any plans/fixes planned to provide for a forward-firing deck gun? I know that it's a glorified whiffle bat, but it's what most boats had.

[Travis Reed]

I'll have you know that, in the right hands, that 'glorified whiffle bat' is still a dangerous weapon, even the 3". Several of my freighter kills, have been with the deck gun alone. Granted it took a large chunk of ammo for each kill, but it is doable. Hint, it's far easier with the 4"...and likely easier still with the 5"...

And yes...I hate screwing up the initial approach...

Usually I run with TC and let my lookouts and radar operator tell me when there are potential targets (after all, the captain wasn't expected to stand up on the bridge all the time or man the radar screens all the time...). When I detect a target, I mark it. then I turn the TC up for a few minutes, and mark again. I like to make 3 marks, one every five minutes (if I can get away with it). This allows me to easily determine course and speed. Once I have this, I set up to get into position for the O'Kane technique. Sometimes they detect me as I'm moving into position. I don't always have the patience to break contact and try again. When I don't (and I don't see any guns on the target) I'll dash in at flank and sink 'em with the deck gun.

[LukeFF]

Are there any plans/fixes planned to provide for a forward-firing deck gun? I know that it's a glorified whiffle bat, but it's what most boats had.

A new upgrade system is coming in the future that will address when each class is fitted with a piece of equipment. More on this later.

FYI: all fleet subs, for about the first 11 months or so of the war, had the deck gun mounted aft of the conning tower.

[Coolhand01]

Are there any plans/fixes planned to provide for a forward-firing deck gun? I know that it's a glorified whiffle bat, but it's what most boats had.

My Balao has a forward firing 5" deck gun. But then I'm running RFB/RSRDC also....CH

[Travis Reed]

Are there any plans/fixes planned to provide for a forward-firing deck gun? I know that it's a glorified whiffle bat, but it's what most boats had.
My Balao has a forward firing 5" deck gun. But then I'm running RFB/RSRDC also....CH

You're also likely further into the war than I am...I've only got the 4"...and can't get the 5" yet...

[jazzabilly]

Are there any plans/fixes planned to provide for a forward-firing deck gun? I know that it's a glorified whiffle bat, but it's what most boats had.
A new upgrade system is coming in the future that will address when each class is fitted with a piece of equipment. More on this later.

FYI: all fleet subs, for about the first 11 months or so of the war, had the deck gun mounted aft of the conning tower.

Well, you're the expert. I was just asking. Thanks.:D

I was referring to the disappearing deck gun spaces for crew to man the deck gun in RFB (current version); when I switch to forward mount, they disappear. I understand that it's a well documented issue. I'm not sure why the USN thought that aft of the conning tower was a better place for the gun. Perhaps you were supposed to use it on persuers?

[LukeFF]

I was referring to the disappearing deck gun spaces for crew to man the deck gun in RFB (current version); when I switch to forward mount, they disappear. I understand that it's a well documented issue. I'm not sure why the USN thought that aft of the conning tower was a better place for the gun. Perhaps you were supposed to use it on persuers?

Yes, the disappearing slots issue is a very aggravating bug, and it is highly disappointing that no time was spent by the dev team to correct this issue.

As for why the guns were mounted aft of the conning tower, I think it may have something to do with the fact that the gun would be less subject to the boat's pitching (i.e., up and down) motion, though of course in a last act of desperation it could also be fired against a pursuer. Interestingly, most boats that had the 5" gun installed before their first patrol (mainly the Balao class) had it installed aft of the conning tower.

[Flanker15]

Sorry to be a pain but I've got a little problem here.
Ok in RFB your deck armaments start out unmanned (atleast they do for me, are they supposed to?). So they first thing you do is drop some men onto them (otherwise when you click man the guns nothing happens, very bad!). Problem is the control dials partially or completly block the crew slots so I can't man the guns on some boats!
I read the manual pretty thougherly, am I missing something?

[LukeFF]

Sorry to be a pain but I've got a little problem here.
Ok in RFB your deck armaments start out unmanned (atleast they do for me, are they supposed to?). So they first thing you do is drop some men onto them (otherwise when you click man the guns nothing happens, very bad!). Problem is the control dials partially or completly block the crew slots so I can't man the guns on some boats!
I read the manual pretty thougherly, am I missing something?

At what type of resolution are you running the game?

[Flanker15]

1024x768
I do have RSRD for RFB installed aswell.

[ancient46]

Flanker15 there is an easy fix for your problem, just hit the decimal point/Del key on the number keypad to hide the task bar. Hitting it again brings it back.

[LiveGoat]

Hey all,

Love the new RFB. I'm having one problem though: I get assigned to patrol off Shikoku in Dec of 42 and as I approach the patrol zone I get the arrival message and I plot a search pattern, run TC and then it crashes to desktop. Everytime I reload the save, the same thing happens. I don't know if it's a RSRD conflict or Time Compression or my comp or what. I'm running a pretty hefty system.

My Mod list is this:

RFB 1.52 102408
RFB patch 111608
RSRD for RFB1.5 v396
A bunch of FJB's Radio Station files
A bunch of FooFighter's Skins

Anyone else have this happen?

Anyway, other than that I'm in hog heaven.

[flymar]

I'm using RFB + RSRD.

* (crit) When I try to lock while at periscope depth or shallower after 2sec I loose lock. That's very annoying cause I haven't got enough time to set torpedo depth and fire it. I never tried manual targeting, I'm sure it's exciting:) but I want to use auto.

How can I set the lock to be more 'sticky'?

* can't man the deck gun after mounting fore (fwd) deck gun. Deck gun section is divided in two and no slots

* event camera when firing torpedo works only with first one. It doesn't start when next torpedoes are firing. this thing resets after some Time Acceeration. i think it has something to do with the resolution (1920x1180).

[JREX53]

Hey all,

Love the new RFB. I'm having one problem though: I get assigned to patrol off Shikoku in Dec of 42 and as I approach the patrol zone I get the arrival message and I plot a search pattern, run TC and then it crashes to desktop. Everytime I reload the save, the same thing happens. I don't know if it's a RSRD conflict or Time Compression or my comp or what. I'm running a pretty hefty system.

My Mod list is this:

RFB 1.52 102408
RFB patch 111608
RSRD for RFB1.5 v396
A bunch of FJB's Radio Station files
A bunch of FooFighter's Skins

Anyone else have this happen?

Anyway, other than that I'm in hog heaven.


Your CTD's are probably being caused by an error in your events file of your radio mod.

[AVGWarhawk]

Hey all,

Love the new RFB. I'm having one problem though: I get assigned to patrol off Shikoku in Dec of 42 and as I approach the patrol zone I get the arrival message and I plot a search pattern, run TC and then it crashes to desktop. Everytime I reload the save, the same thing happens. I don't know if it's a RSRD conflict or Time Compression or my comp or what. I'm running a pretty hefty system.

My Mod list is this:

RFB 1.52 102408
RFB patch 111608
RSRD for RFB1.5 v396
A bunch of FJB's Radio Station files
A bunch of FooFighter's Skins

Anyone else have this happen?

Anyway, other than that I'm in hog heaven.

Your CTD's are probably being caused by an error in your events file of your radio mod.

Yes, I would remove the radio mod first.

[AVGWarhawk]

I'm using RFB + RSRD.

* (crit) When I try to lock while at periscope depth or shallower after 2sec I loose lock. That's very annoying cause I haven't got enough time to set torpedo depth and fire it. I never tried manual targeting, I'm sure it's exciting:) but I want to use auto.

How can I set the lock to be more 'sticky'?

* can't man the deck gun after mounting fore (fwd) deck gun. Deck gun section is divided in two and no slots

* event camera when firing torpedo works only with first one. It doesn't start when next torpedoes are firing. this thing resets after some Time Acceeration. i think it has something to do with the resolution (1920x1180).

Locking scope, fixed in next patch that is being tested right now.

Man fore deck gun. I believe a hard code problem.

Event camera. Not sure about this one. I do not use that camera. Perhaps LukeFF has your answer.

[Orion2012]

1024x768
I do have RSRD for RFB installed aswell.
With Number lock on, press the delete key on the number pad and the dials will disappear. You can reach all compartments at 1024x768 EXCEPT for one in the Alley.

I don't know about the Event camera at the resolution. It will only follow the first torpedo in every attack. Any TC over 16X I think will cause the event cam to disappear.

[LiveGoat]

Damn, I disabled the radio mods but still get the crash. Is it possible that the files in the radio mods overwrote something?

[Orion2012]

Damn, I disabled the radio mods but still get the crash. Is it possible that the files in the radio mods overwrote something?

Do you mean you just deleted all the music radio files?? Make sure you delete the event.ini as well or the game will crash everytime its missing an event file, or in other words, does it crash at the same time and date everytime?

[LiveGoat]

I just disabled the radiostations in JSGME. It crashes at the same time every time. I'm gonna go in and erase the folders with the radio stations (they each have an event.ini in them)If it works, I'll have to put fred's files on my ipod. Can't live thout the radio.





Damn, I disabled the radio mods but still get the crash. Is it possible that the files in the radio mods overwrote something?

Do you mean you just deleted all the music radio files?? Make sure you delete the event.ini as well or the game will crash everytime its missing an event file, or in other words, does it crash at the same time and date everytime?

[Orion2012]

I just disabled the radiostations in JSGME. It crashes at the same time every time. I'm gonna go in and erase the folders with the radio stations (they each have an event.ini in them)If it works, I'll have to put fred's files on my ipod. Can't live thout the radio.





Damn, I disabled the radio mods but still get the crash. Is it possible that the files in the radio mods overwrote something?
Do you mean you just deleted all the music radio files?? Make sure you delete the event.ini as well or the game will crash everytime its missing an event file, or in other words, does it crash at the same time and date everytime?


I have roughly 5-6GB worth of radio material all from Fred, and it works fine. Did you ever run Radio Station Manager over the stations before loading?? It will look for missing files to prevent crashing.

[LiveGoat]

Downloading Station Manager now. Always wondered what that mod was for. Now I know (I gotta start reading all the mod threads). Thanks!

Got her working! Thanks Orion!


I just disabled the radiostations in JSGME. It crashes at the same time every time. I'm gonna go in and erase the folders with the radio stations (they each have an event.ini in them)If it works, I'll have to put fred's files on my ipod. Can't live thout the radio.





Damn, I disabled the radio mods but still get the crash. Is it possible that the files in the radio mods overwrote something?
Do you mean you just deleted all the music radio files?? Make sure you delete the event.ini as well or the game will crash everytime its missing an event file, or in other words, does it crash at the same time and date everytime?


I have roughly 5-6GB worth of radio material all from Fred, and it works fine. Did you ever run Radio Station Manager over the stations before loading?? It will look for missing files to prevent crashing.

[joegrundman]

I love RFB, but somewhat reluctantly I'm going to post my findings with using the deck gun against a damaged merchant

It's 1943 and the merchant took 3 detonating torpedoes in different areas, but did not sink after 2 hours - fair enough! But i was running low on torps and decided to finish it off with the deck gun, as recommended in the manual

It didn't work out but the results of that engagement matched those of other deck gun engagements - now i appreciate that it's meant to be hard, but deck guns still were used for this purpose right?

What I'm getting is the following: in RFB the deck gun is not a weapon of war.

It takes my crew over a minute to reload, and then most shots miss. But still, even if at close range, even with a half dozen shots all below the waterline up and down the length of the hull, against a badly wounded merchant, it still won't start to sink.

But the merchant deck gun reloads every 10 secs or thereabouts, and they are deadly accurate - i just got hit twice at 6500m range out of 6 shots of theirs fired!

Needless to say the submarine sank.

Basically i'm finding that this happens every time i engage in a surface engagement to finish off a badly wounded merchant, hence my conclusion that the deck gun in RFB is not to be considered a weapon of war.

I guess it's possible that I'm not approaching the problem correctly, but otherwise, is it your intention to render the deckgun a liability against even damaged merchants?

[flymar]

Another issue. Can't lock on while event camera is on screen (little PIP view).

[Travis Reed]

I love RFB, but somewhat reluctantly I'm going to post my findings with using the deck gun against a damaged merchant

It's 1943 and the merchant took 3 detonating torpedoes in different areas, but did not sink after 2 hours - fair enough! But i was running low on torps and decided to finish it off with the deck gun, as recommended in the manual

It didn't work out but the results of that engagement matched those of other deck gun engagements - now i appreciate that it's meant to be hard, but deck guns still were used for this purpose right?

What I'm getting is the following: in RFB the deck gun is not a weapon of war.

It takes my crew over a minute to reload, and then most shots miss. But still, even if at close range, even with a half dozen shots all below the waterline up and down the length of the hull, against a badly wounded merchant, it still won't start to sink.

But the merchant deck gun reloads every 10 secs or thereabouts, and they are deadly accurate - i just got hit twice at 6500m range out of 6 shots of theirs fired!

Needless to say the submarine sank.

Basically i'm finding that this happens every time i engage in a surface engagement to finish off a badly wounded merchant, hence my conclusion that the deck gun in RFB is not to be considered a weapon of war.

I guess it's possible that I'm not approaching the problem correctly, but otherwise, is it your intention to render the deckgun a liability against even damaged merchants?
Which deck gun are you using? Why are you shooting at something that can shoot back? Why aren't you manning the gun yourself?

I've actually had good success with the deck gun (both the 3" and 4"). The trick is to get your crewman with the highest weapons skill to man it (this can cut reload times drastically). Then, you man it yourself so they don't waste shots. Ideally you'll want to place several shots into each compartment not damaged by torpedoes. It takes more with the 3", btw... I've actually sunk completely undamaged freighters ( up to medium tonnage, as I rarely run into larger ships...:( ) with just the deck gun. It takes quite awhile and alot of ammo. Reasonably calm seas help. In rough seas (10+ foot waves) don't even bother as most of your shots will miss. Get up close to reduce your own chance of missing (I hate using the scope, as it won't let you see when your gun is aiming right into the water, or 45 deg into the air as a result of the sub rolling...). I don't surface near anything that can shoot back at me ( as the last time I did, I lost my experienced torpedomen...:cry: ).

For targets that can shoot back, wait longer (I've seen a badly damaged merchie take 4-6 hours to sink, hooray for TC). After about 6 hours, if they still float, hit 'em with one torp into a compartment that isn't damaged and that should finish them. For medium sized targets, 3 torps usually works for me as long as you get one under each mast, and one close to center, or somewhat close to that.

[RFB Team]

A new patch for RFB 1.52 has been uploaded to the server. Check the first post in this thread for details.

Changes:

-Improvements to the damage modeling for all merchant ships
-Improved visual spotting routines for the bridge watch
-Implemented Environmental 5.0. This replaces the PE mod and is the first step towards implementing Kriller/W_Clear's combined environment mod
-Added submarine skins by FooFighters for all US subs
-Fixed a problem where the Salmon and Sargo class boats were without 2 reserve torpedoes for a certain time period
-New camera positions for a number of American subs. This work will be completed in the next RFB release
-Modified the camera parameters for the deck gun view
-Made the lens for the American attack periscope darker than that of the observation periscope

This will be the last update to RFB for a while, as all attention is now being focused on the next release of RFB, which will be known as RFB 2.0.

[Falkirion]

Just a question, does that affect those of us using killflags?

[Orion2012]

Just a question, does that affect those of us using killflags?

Enable the skin for your Killflag last.

[Travis Reed]

Were the locking and speed not being updated problems resolved with this patch?

[LukeFF]

Were the locking and speed not being updated problems resolved with this patch?

They should be improved, yes.

[sckallst]

As always, many thanks guys.

There was talk a while back about 'scope/TBT optics in terms of field of view and scaling with respect to the utility of the calibrations for estimating target size/range.

Was that issue addressed in this patch?

[Paul Roberts]

A new patch for RFB 1.52 has been uploaded to the server. Check the first post in this thread for details.
[...]


Wonderful news! Thank you!

Two things:

1) While the first post has been updated with the link for the new patch, the announcement news "above the fold" still touts October 2008 as the latest version. Many people just glancing in won't see that there is a new update.

2) Is RFB with this latest patch still compatible with the latest RSRDC for RFB 1.5, or do we need to wait for a new version of RSRDC?

Thanks again. Y'all have given SH4 real staying power.

[tater]

The new RSRD patch has been out a couple days now (and is compatible). :)

[jason210]

I prefer to have the sonar controls as they were in RFB 1.4. You could pinpoint sources more easily with that. Also, I would like to get back the home/end camera control.

Is there an easy way to achieve this and still use RFB 1.5?

[flymar]

yeah! lock now works just fine:) Nice you have changed the lenses in deck gun, now is much more convenient. There's something wrong with speeches when underwater. In response to A (mainain depth) or changing to shallower depth I've heard "Dive, dive" speech.
I like new kind of loading and shooting the deck gun during bad weather. Now leaving the shooting to the man make sense. I wonder if their accuracy will raise with gunnery lvl.
New sinking mechanism is great and damages from deck gun looks good too.
Is it possible to add some speeches after torpedo hit and ship sunk? I've recently played SHIII with GWX and miss the joy and excitment of my crew:)
I miss periscope graphics from the earlier RFB. There were some markings on the rubber band around the lense. I know it's not realistic but looked much nicer then plain black screen.
Earlier bearing indicator seemed to me much historically acurate. Large round numbers, with nice green glow at night.

I wonder if you can put in the next version of manual the core SH4 bugs that can't be worked around. Just like in GWX (I do like this mod:))

Thank you very much for your job.

jason210: I think Home/End is for the radar /hydrophone. Home/Del is for height of free camera - it works only with Shift after adding some camera mod fo the RFB in the past.

[sckallst]

Loaded up the new RFB. I started a career with the USS Nautilus out of Pearl,start date was one of teh May '42 dates (I think it was May I wrote it down but now I can't find my notes). Anyway . . .

I checked teh duty roster before heading out. The Deck watch billets were filled, and I had one guy to handle the engines on each watch, but the rest of the crew was AWOL and there were the 18 extra hanging around to fill out the crew. I'm guessing this is a bug.

[scott613]

Hi...

I just had a similar problem on a different mission last night... I have RFB and RSRD loaded... Barely had enough people to flesh out one watch rotation... Man - that last port visit must have been a good one...

[Paul Roberts]

Quick question: Is there any way to remove the occlusion of the binoculars by the crew and the conning tower? I know that it's unrealistic to see through solid objects, but it's also unrealistic to assume that the officer can't peek around an obstacle or move to the other side of the tower to take a 360-degree view.

Of course it's possible to use the arrow keys to change one's position, but this is too slow (and too annoying) for the purpose. It's too easy to end up flying out over empty air with no gain in realism.

If anything, it's the TBT view that should be occluded, since (unlike the captain's foot) it is actually fixed in place and can't look towards the stern.

So are there any mods to remove binoc occlusion? Thanks for any advice!

[tater]

Yeah, I saw this was a discussion. I'm also in the no occlusion camp, myself, since the "walk around" camera doesn't feel at all realistic to me.