Batch program for movies

[Doolittle81]

Is it possible for an expert Modder to write a batch program so that several movies could be placed in the Silent Hunter\Data\Movies\Intro folder (by default that folder has two movies, "Logo.wmv" and Intro.wmv") so that when one starts up SH4, an Intro movie would be selected at random from all those in the Folder, rather than seeing (or ESCaping/skipping) the same movie over and over again?

[Doolittle81]

Thinking it over, it seems that a batch program could be set up to run before you starts SH4...and the batch program would select at random one of the Intro movies from the Data\Movies\Intro folder...then "link" to run SH4 (SH4.exe), and the randomly selected movie would play. I'd just like to get some feedback from some expert on whether that approach would work. I've not written a batch program in the last 15 years...

[Digital_Trucker]

Your idea sounds a lot like my Girl In Every Port application. I could modify it to do what you are looking for but with movies instead of pictures. The only problem I see would be finding enough intro movies to make it worth doing programmatically.

[Doolittle81]

Your idea sounds a lot like my Girl In Every Port application. I could modify it to do what you are looking for but with movies instead of pictures. The only problem I see would be finding enough intro movies to make it worth doing programmatically.

Yes, GIEP was what got me to thinking about this.
[[[ BTW, while I am at it, I haven't gotten GIEP to work for me. I thought I correctly followed the installation instructions, and set Hot Key as CTRL-ALT-G and run minimized. When I start SH4, go to career, start new career, at what point should I use the Hot Key? ...I've tried right after I get my orders to report to Pearl, before I hit the Proceed button, but when I get to the office, I have the default captain's pic showing.
I've tried starting Giep before I start SH4, but I get an error message saying "error copying picture into game". I've tried starting SH4 and then Alt-ESC and then running Giep from desktop shortcut but I get the same error. Any ideas what i am doing wrong? ]]]


As for the "Movie batch Mod", I can't set a timeline yet, but I have a very good lead on getting a lot of WWII sub footage such as the 1950's "Silent Service" TV series, and excerpts of other Hollywoodized dramatic footage are available. My concept would be to prepare a set of 2-3 minute long clips which could be put in a folder for random selection. If I were to create 15-20 of such clips, that might provide a good bit of variety upon starting SH4...enough to get one's 'immersion-adrenaline' pumping before jumping into the game.

It would be a sizable initial download, maybe 300MB initially, but I could add movie clips a few at a time afterwards as I produce them. Eventually, if there is interest, I could write a tutorial on how to make the clips and others might want to produce some of their own to drop into the "Random" Folder and/or offer for downloading.

This is a long term project...merely in its concept forumulation stage at the moment.... Therefore my question about the feasibliity of batch programming.

[Digital_Trucker]

Easy part first:D I don't see any reason why exactly the same logic as GIEP couldn't be used to accomplish what you're trying to do. It's just going to be a matter of using a different folder for the movies and me changing the code in GIEP to look for the .wmv file extension rather than .tga. Of course, because of the size of the files, it will take a little longer to copy the files into the appropriate folder.

Now, on to the GIEP problem. It sounds like you have an installation problem. Both GirlInEveryPort.exe and the Captain'sGirls folder should be in the same folder as the SH4.exe. In other words, your install should look something like this

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b173/digital_trucker/Screenshots/Install.jpg

If that isn't the problem, let me know and we'll get it right.