SH3 style menu in SH4

[XLjedi]

Now that I've upgraded my graphics cards (dual 9600GT's) to something that I can play SH4 with, I need 2 mods...

1) An SH3 style menu on the left side of the screen vertical instead of horizontal.

2) I gotta get rid of those stupid tool icons at the bottom of the nav map and put an SH3 style menu at the top-right of the nav screen. (I do recall seeing this one at some point in the past.)

Anyone worked on these?

...incidentally, these two changes in SH4 really were horrible. They had it right in SH3; not sure why they changed it. :shifty:

[Fincuan]

That's funny because I find the SH4 layout much better than that of SH3. It's just a matter of getting used to it, but each to his own I guess. As far as I know 1) hasn't been done yet, 2) Here (http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=109170&highlight=tools)

edit: Added link

[Rockin Robbins]

Also, arronblood, all the keyboard commands were switched around with the unfortunate consequence that the attack screen is no longer a keystroke away. Fortunately, if you don't want to have Trigger Maru aboard, which fixes the situation, you can download my Trigger Maru Keyboard layout (http://files.filefront.com/Alternate+Key+Bindings7z/;9762884;/fileinfo.html), which has an added command, shift-i for "whoever does such a thing identify target." It's similar to the SH3 layout, while making allowances for the changes in SH4.

Enjoy, but give time for the adjustment to the new boat. It is not a U-Boat. I would MUCH rather evade ashcans with a fleet boat than a U-Boat. And don't expect SH4 to be so superior that you will hate SH3. SH3 stands up very well. I consider them co-equals.

[XLjedi]

Enjoy, but give time for the adjustment to the new boat. It is not a U-Boat. I would MUCH rather evade ashcans with a fleet boat than a U-Boat. And don't expect SH4 to be so superior that you will hate SH3. SH3 stands up very well. I consider them co-equals.

...not a u-boat, I would agree. Don't know about the DC evasion comment though. The Gato dives so freakin slow; air-dropped DC's would probably bounce off the deck or detonate too deep to cause me any damage. :rotfl:

There is something very gratifying about seeing a real hole in the side of a target. :yep: Where SH3 is beginning to fall flat is in its lack of widescreen hi-res support.

For folks like me who will switch between SH3 & SH4, I just find the controls moving around to be a huge pain. :damn:

It seems to me that if you're going to add a menu to a screen, it just makes more sense to put it on the axis that has more room for it.

If someone tells me it's possible, I'll create the mod myself.

Things I wish I had:
1) Navmap tool icons like SH3 (looks like this one has been done!)
2) Vertical Menu System Like SH3
3) TDC input dials on the Attack Map

[kylesplanet]

That's funny because I find the SH4 layout much better than that of SH3. It's just a matter of getting used to it, but each to his own I guess. As far as I know 1) hasn't been done yet, 2) Here (http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=109170&highlight=tools)

edit: Added link

I agree Fincuan. I like the SH4 interface much better. It's probably what one is used to though, My first sub sim was SH4 then I got SH3 and it seemed all backwards.:doh:

[joegrundman]

Enjoy, but give time for the adjustment to the new boat. It is not a U-Boat. I would MUCH rather evade ashcans with a fleet boat than a U-Boat. And don't expect SH4 to be so superior that you will hate SH3. SH3 stands up very well. I consider them co-equals.

...not a u-boat, I would agree. Don't know about the DC evasion comment though. The Gato dives so freakin slow; air-dropped DC's would probably bounce off the deck or detonate too deep to cause me any damage. :rotfl:

There is something very gratifying about seeing a real hole in the side of a target. :yep: Where SH3 is beginning to fall flat is in its lack of widescreen hi-res support.

For folks like me who will switch between SH3 & SH4, I just find the controls moving around to be a huge pain. :damn:

It seems to me that if you're going to add a menu to a screen, it just makes more sense to put it on the axis that has more room for it.

If someone tells me it's possible, I'll create the mod myself.

Things I wish I had:
1) Navmap tool icons like SH3 (looks like this one has been done!)
2) Vertical Menu System Like SH3
3) TDC input dials on the Attack Map

In particular i prefer evading japanese ashcans to british/american ones;)

As for slow diving, TMO has changed that. They go down much faster with that mod. Only 37 seconds for a crash dive, and that's from when you hit the button, not from when the OOD acknowledges the order.

Perhaps a little too fast to be realistic..i don't know..but i rarely feel that way when a plane is coming at me:D

Item1 is possible, i'm sure, although i have come to prefer the horizontal style
Item2 has been done
Item3 is not easily done AFAIK

But for the most part it's just about getting used to it, then the different layouts stop being irritating.

[Rockin Robbins]

Actually diving time is irrelevent and could be twice as long. The American boats have radar. I never crash dive at all. Too much chance of leaving ahead emergency and eating up my fuel supply, and I'm out of sight before they're five miles away as it is.

The superior technology on the American boats makes you rethink everything you thought you knew about submarines from working a U-Boat. The balance of EVERYTHING is changed, and that is part of the fun of learning the two different boats.

I submit that the differences in the games reflects analogous differences in the operating procedures of U-Boats and Fleet Boats and that those differences should be preserved in that spirit (other than things you want to change, like the keyboard command layout. I'm not contradicting myself here even though I am.:rotfl:).

For instance the different locations for the TDC reflect the command structure of the two submarines, and the inherent difference between the two TDC's. Using the TDC while you are looking through the periscope is more realistic anyway, especially if you are using the stock game.

All those torpedo spread angle lines, ship silhouettes and velocity vectors are completely unrealistic. When you set the TDC at the periscope you aren't tempted to take unfair advantage. Load up Trigger Maru and see what a targeting plot SHOULD look like.

So I would say learn SH4 first, then start making changes to suit. I think you'll find that especially in moving the TDC controls it would just be a lot of wasted effort. Just gentle suggestions from the peanut gallery.:arrgh!:

[XLjedi]

For instance the different locations for the TDC reflect the command structure of the two submarines, and the inherent difference between the two TDC's. Using the TDC while you are looking through the periscope is more realistic anyway, especially if you are using the stock game.

Yeah... I'm sure that's exactly what they had in mind... command structure differences...

Is there any gaming value at all in the attack map station?

Why'd they even bother to include it?

BTW, I've owned SH4 since the day it was released, I'm pretty sure I was among the first in S. Florida to install it. I was in the EB Games store when the first copies were being taken out of the shipping box. I just kept walking away from it due to the lack of GPU power and/or control frustration... with my new GPU's it's at least playable. Now it's just the controls that aggravate.

I'm gonna try the uboat missions expansion to see if there's been any improvement.

[joegrundman]

Actually diving time is irrelevent and could be twice as long. The American boats have radar. I never crash dive at all. Too much chance of leaving ahead emergency and eating up my fuel supply, and I'm out of sight before they're five miles away as it is.


until your radar fails you for whatever reason, that is;) . And a big :up: for the rest of your post, as usual, RR


Is there any gaming value at all in the attack map station?


yes, more than in SH3. The attack map shows an overdetailed appoximation of the Dead Reckoning Tracer (DRT). As such it gives a 2d display of your current Position keeper settings, and it can be very useful to help judging your changes of phase from approach to attack. Sometimes looking at the PK itself, it isn't always so clear where things are in the 3d world.

The real DRT was a glass topped table (you can see it in the conning tower of the gato) with a light "bug" that represented your own submarine. it was set such that the light drifted across the table in accordance with your speed and heading.

That, i'm afraid, is all i know. I don't know if it automatically updated for changes in heading, and i don't know if it had other bigs for the target