a number of interesting commands in the en_menu.txt file

[Albrecht Von Hesse]

I've found a number of interesting commands in the en_menu.txt file. Makes me wonder what their purpose was/is, and if there's anyway of activating and/or using them. I'm guessing the reason they aren't working is that to get them to function requires access to the source code?

144=Cannot load this career. The U-boat was destroyed.
380=Quarters flooded!
381=Compartment flooded!
415=Quarters destroyed!
416=Compartment destroyed!
430=Recruits Crew
431=Regulars Crew
432=Veterans Crew
433=Select Crew Configuration
450=Under Construction
481=Stb Creep Electric Engine
482=Port Creep Electric Engine
510=Voice Command
566=You will surrender your U-Boat.
568=U-Boat surrenders.
569=U-Boat lost.
605=Enemy ship on collision course, sir!
606=Enemy ship is ramming us, sir!
651=No more torpedoes on %s, sir!
652=Too much damage on %s, sir!
654=No more ammunition!
655=%s not active, sir!
656=%s not auto, sir!
657=%s not manual, sir!
660=No solution for tube %d, sir!
661=Not enough crew for managing this flak, sir!
662=All torpedoes expended, sir!
663=No torpedoes available for tube %d, sir!
664=Tube %d unloading, sir!
665=Tube %d is firing, sir!
706=Torpedo in the water
710=Torpedo is a dud, sir!
1000=Abandon ship
1773=Qualification can be assigned only to petty officer or officer
1774=Petty Officer can have only one qualification! (which is darn odd, as mine often have two)
1962=Cannot assign radioman qualification to officer (you can; at least I have)
2044=Expert targeting
2045=Casual targeting
2818=Abandon ship (now this is one of the Chief Engineer's orders . . . I wonder if this possible to set/turn on?)
2873=Damage report (one of the Weapon Officer's orders . . . ditto the above)
2907=Send weather report*
2909=Orders*
2910=Air reconnaissance*
2911=Air strike*
2912=Supply*
2913=Escort to base*
2917=Scan enemy frequencies*
2918=Scan friendly frequencies* (*seems as if the radio operator was intended to be busier than the (mostly) disk jockey that he currently is)
4352=Oh, my God!!!
4353=God help us!!!
4354=We’re going to die!!! (I could have used these three on more than a few occassions ::wry grin::)
4517=Pressure hull breached!!!
4518=We cannot stop the flooding!!!
4606=Cannot fire, aiming at dead angle!
4607=We should move beside to supply boat!
4608=Transferring supplies!
4609=Re-supply operation on going!
4610=Re-supply operation interrupted!
4611=Re-supply operation completed!
4612=The escort is ready, sir!
4613=We must follow the escort, sir!
4614=We’ll follow the escort, sir!
4615=We’re docking, sir!
4714=The weather is improving!
4715=The weather is changing for the worse! (I think we can all agree we'd be hearing a LOT more of this one than the one above)
4806=Enemy radio message intercepted!
4812=Could not send report!
4900=Sweeping!
4901=Sweeping ahead!
4902=Sweeping ahead port!
4903=Sweeping ahead starboard!
4904=Sweeping abeam port!
4905=Sweeping abeam starboard!
4906=Sweeping astern!
4907=Sweeping astern port!
4908=Sweeping astern starboard!
4909=Sonar is off!
4910=Ship sinking!
4911=Ship breaking up!

Now, at the very end is this entry:
; last index is given by MaxStrings entry (at the begining of this file)
; if you add new items here, over the last entry, MaxStrings should be updated accordingly

It seems that this file was intended to be able to be added to. My questions are: 1) what triggers were/are needed to get the non-implimented ones to work and, 2) how would you add new items to this list and have them triggered and worked?

[GoldenRivet]

many of them are used, but there is also a great number that were put into the file but never programmed... there are also a lot of voice files that are not used as well

"Dive planes set for steep dive"

"Abandon Ship"

just to name a couple

to get these to work would require the SDK from ubisoft and probably a few months of work.

[Pisces]

I don't think they are commands as such. It just seem to be an index of text strings that can be shown in the message bar or as a tooltip or some other text UI element. This file makes it easier for devs to make language translations by just referencing the number in their code.

[Albrecht Von Hesse]

I don't think they are commands as such. It just seem to be an index of text strings that can be shown in the message bar or as a tooltip or some other text UI element. This file makes it easier for devs to make language translations by just referencing the number in their code.

Although most of them are that, yes, quite a few do not appear to be. Especially when they reside under the "Orders" subsection. For instance, the Chief Engineer's are:

2801=Propulsion
2802=Dive modes
2803=Maneuvers
2804=Emergency orders
2805=Reports
2806=Standard mode
2808=Recharge mode
2809=Rig for silent running
2810=Secure from silent running
2811=Knuckle port
2812=Double knuckle port
2813=Knuckle starboard
2814=Double knuckle starboard
2815=Deploy decoys
2816=Crash dive
2817=Blow balast
2818=Abandon ship
2819=Fuel Level
2820=Battery Level
2821=CO2 Level
2822=Compressed Air Level
2823=Damage report
2824=Rise snorkel
2825=Lower snorkel
2826=Periscope depth

Except for the red marked ones, all of the others are actual orders (or sub-tier reports you get) you can give to your Chief Engineer. The same is for the NO, WO, RO, etc. Those are all actual commanded orders, just not all of them are currently implimented. Now, as to the others? Yep, those are tooltips, menu slections, etc.

[GoldenRivet]

you are partly correct Pisces, there was originally supposed to be commands for abandoning ship and setting steep normal and shallow dive angles and many many other things.

but in the end Ubisoft shafted us a slight bit again but undercutting their product to rush it out onto the shelves.

my stance has always been i would rather wait 2 years for a mind blowing product than wait 11 months for a really good one. but thats just me.

there were a lot of options left out of SH3.

just have a look at the speech folders

"The weather is improving sir"
"The weather is changing for the worse"
"set dive planes for steep dive"
"abandon ship"
"range to target over ten thousand"
"range to target under one hundred"
numerous coughing sounds as if low on air
numerous groans
numerous laughter samples
numerous screams
2 sigh of reliefs
"enemy radio message intercepted"
"ship breaking up!"
"cannot man the flak guns, sea is to rough sir!" (you get the text not the sound file though)
"no more ammunition!"
numerous external storage empty/ready messages
numerous messages regarding target solution plotting

and dozens of other things you will never hear anyone say in the game simply because the files were recorded in a studio and installed with the program... but they were never assigned to any in game action.

[Pisces]

What I meant to say was that those lines (or those numbers really) are not what activates the functionality of what the text implies. It's just text. You could do a search through all the files in the SH3 (sub-)folders for those numbers. And see if there is some link to a functionality in some file (maybe even hex-search a code-file). But I doubt it will unearth much or anything usefull. They certainly look like they are leftover signs of functionality that the devs never implemented. I've found similar 'hidden' things in many other games files too. But don't let me limit your modding desire. ;)

[Blacklight]

"The weather is changing for the worse"

This would be the most common one we'd hear. We would hear this over and over and over again.:rotfl:

I would like a sound file to play on the "YOU ARE DEAD" screen of someone yelling "BERNARD !!!!":rotfl:

[Abd_von_Mumit]

I would like a sound file to play on the "YOU ARE DEAD" screen of someone yelling "BERNARD !!!!":rotfl:
My vote for that! :up:

I had a dream about Ubi giving the community the source code... then all these beautiful text could be reimplemented in game. Wasn't my dream beautiful too? :)

[Blacklight]

Abd_von_MumitQuote:
Originally Posted by Blacklight
I would like a sound file to play on the "YOU ARE DEAD" screen of someone yelling "BERNARD !!!!":rotfl:

My vote for that! :up:

I had a dream about Ubi giving the community the source code... then all these beautiful text could be reimplemented in game. Wasn't my dream beautiful too? :)

*rubs bottle... pink smoke comes out... a face appears wearing a turban*
Hi ! I'm Ubi ! Here's the source code for Silent Hunter III ! Enjoy !!!
*Dissapears in a cloud of pink smoke*
*Wakes up*
Aw crap....:doh: