[WIP] Wolves of the Kaiser:1914-1918 Mod [Archive] - Page 4

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messageboy101

07-19-12, 02:34 AM

:o:o:o:o
i need to buy the uboat add-on
:o:o:o:o

Admiral Von Gerlach

07-25-12, 09:15 PM

Wonderful work on the uniforms, very nice indeed. thanks for sharing those pics

Cybermat47

08-06-12, 05:59 PM

Holy crap I need this. You guys should make Silent Hunter 6!

Kongo Otto

08-18-12, 08:32 PM

:haha::woot::haha:

http://thomashunter.name/batman-comic/gen/20120818182635_503040cba8995.jpg

http://thomashunter.name/batman-comic/gen/20120818183140_503041fcac559.jpg

Forensicman101

08-20-12, 01:24 PM

The pictures posted look good. Looking forward to the finished mod.

Sepp von Ch.

08-25-12, 02:43 PM

Can you show please some screenshots of sailboats and other vessels - targets?:Kaleun_Periskop:

http://s16.postimage.org/tvnt8o5r5/image.jpg (http://postimage.org/image/tvnt8o5r5/)

iambecomelife

08-26-12, 10:00 PM

Can you show please some screenshots of sailboats and other vessels - targets?:Kaleun_Periskop:

http://s16.postimage.org/tvnt8o5r5/image.jpg (http://postimage.org/image/tvnt8o5r5/)

Sorry. Although there will be sailing vessels I haven't created any yet.

Screenshots of changes to the environment. The base mod is Improved Stock Environment, which I hope to use with permission. I increased the sun's intensity and made the colors less intense to make it seem like a non-Pacific environment. I really want to get away from the bright blue, tropical feel and give a sense of Atlantic gloom. :cool:

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/iambecomelife/Untitled-4-29.jpg

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/iambecomelife/Untitled-3-27.jpg

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/iambecomelife/Untitled-2-27.jpg

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/iambecomelife/Untitled-1-24.jpg

Some improvements to the U-9 skin. Note the load line markings added to the submarine's bow.

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/iambecomelife/Untitled-5-27.jpg

WWI propaganda posters from Allied and Central Powers, featuring both pro and anti-U-Boat propaganda. These will be featured in the interface and main menu montage, along with many other WWI naval images.

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/iambecomelife/WOTK-Posters.jpg

One of the main themes of this mod will be NOT shooting up every enemy unit you encounter. Sink anything that moves and you'll provide valuable propaganda for the enemy (and, more importantly, hurt your renown).

iambecomelife

08-29-12, 11:04 PM

More work on the "Albion" class pre-Dreadnought. Almost complete:
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/iambecomelife/Untitled-10-15.jpg

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/iambecomelife/Untitled-13-12.jpg

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/iambecomelife/Untitled-14-7.jpg

Hitman

08-31-12, 06:39 AM

Askesim

09-01-12, 07:51 AM

That looks awesome ! :huh:

Way to go........... -->

Have a nice day

iambecomelife

09-01-12, 08:49 AM

Great looking as usual IABL; but just a Q: Why are you basing it on the american side, instead of the german one (With already all voices in german and the correct nations alignement in alliances)? Maybe you plan to do it for v 1.4 of the game also?

Eventually I will port everything over to the German side but I jusst find modding the US side convenient for now. I don't like the SH4 Type IX interior and I also don't like some features of the U-Boat Expansion crewmembers' bodies. Among other things. I will probably use a heavily modified S-boat interior for most of the WWI boats (German gauges, German color scheme, and various WWI props to make it seem less WWII - American).

Hitman

09-02-12, 11:07 AM

Ah I see. Yes, the S boat is probably the best candidate, though the Type II Uboat ported to UBM by modders probably would do well also. :up:

Railgun

09-28-12, 08:15 AM

Have learned how to do multiple SH4 installs ( and just in case dug out my ols SH3 ) in anticipation of this fabulous looking long term effort.

Toll !

Rg.

Sepp von Ch.

10-28-12, 04:16 PM

Any monthly update (new screenshots) iambecomelife?:D Some news about WWI merchant fleet for this mod? Would be possible to adjust some merchant ships from Steel Fury?

Admiral Von Gerlach

10-31-12, 09:12 PM

Looking good as always....i have more posters and images i will get to you.

Xall

11-02-12, 04:12 AM

Sailor Steve

11-02-12, 06:43 AM

WELCOME ABOARD! :sunny:

Wow I'm really excited about this mod, I hate to ask but when can we expect it, any general idea?

I know I should not ask but it just looks so amazing!
It's fine to ask, but there have been so many mods here that we came up with a stock answer many years ago:

When it's done! :D

iambecomelife

11-04-12, 07:09 PM

Wow I'm really excited about this mod, I hate to ask but when can we expect it, any general idea?

I know I should not ask but it just looks so amazing!

I tried shells of fury, what I missed form that is the Type U - 9 u-boot I#m really glad its going to be in here.

Keep up the amazing work guys, its a honor to see a WW1 mod being made, I think there should be allot more WW1 games it was such a fasinating era with the introduction of so many new things such as a drastic change of warefare with the newly introduced machine gun, the u-boats and submarines, airplanes...

I littlery can't wait for this mod! It looks amazing! Good job :D

No news is good news. :D

Seriously, since my last post I have been working on the following tasks:

1. Gathering sources for modeling the U-51 class. Not 100% satisfied with the volume of material but at least there are good plans and conning tower pics out there.

2. Destructible land targets for bombardment missions (a common task for U-Boats early in the war). These will also be attacked by both friendly and enemy non-player units in accordance with history. When you sortie out you may see British pre-dreadnoughts shelling your base, or German battlecruisers shooting up British towns:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raid_on_Scarborough,_Hartlepool_and_Whitby

I intend to create a world where you're not alone and other units, friend and foe, are going about their business day by day. :)

3. Environmental improvements. I can't emphasize enough how important it is to me to get the skies, waterm, and terrain to look like Northern Europe. No hula girls or coconut trees, thank you! It's all part of developing the cold, gritty, "North Atlantic" ambience that Silent Hunter III and Silent Hunter V have. In my next update there will be comparison pictures of unmodded SH4 and the European terrain textures, trees, and ocean coloring I have modded in.

4. Designing merchant shipping. I'd like to go into detail on this last bit. The Merchant Fleet Mod ships are being "scrapped". :rotfl2:Instead, there will be higher poly-count, scratch-built vessels with different destructible parts. This last bit has exceeded my expectations. Based on my work with one small freighter over the past week, I will be able to do almost everything I wanted to do. My big concern was "flicker" from overlaid 3d objects - miraculously this has not been a problem. Civilian ships will no longer be hollow shells. Instead, get ready for:

-real cargo holds. Visible cargo and passengers when hatches or deckhouses get blown off by your guns.

-3d portholes, life rings, & deck machinery

-breakups at different portions of the ship hull, like Silent Hunter V. No more automatic splitting in half.

-real, 3d torpedo holes when a ship is hit - not just transparency over a damage layer

Not to mention new particle effects for damage and texture improvements like actual ship names on the bow, home port on the stern, load lines, & more.

The main setback is that there will be fewer different hull sizes than in the Merchant Fleet Mod - however, that's a small price to pay in my opinion. To compensate there will be more different funnels, superstructures, and deck components added to each basic hull variant.

I have not posted screens yet because I am planning for a major update, unlike the smaller ones that have been posted earlier. Thanks to all for your help, and I can assure you that the recent silence is a good sign - not a bad one!

Char

11-04-12, 07:57 PM

Thanks for the update man.This is one of the only mods im looking forward to!

Also like the Different Hull componets instead of different sizes.Alot of the ships in SH4 look the same with a Different Paint Scheme. :up:

Admiral Von Gerlach

11-05-12, 12:11 AM

Very impressive. I concur in all of your decisions. Good calls on the merchants and esp on the environment. Also the dynamic world idea is very good, agree on that too.

Glad you are moving forward at your own pace on this, that is always the best

Thanks for the posting and the update.

Xall

11-07-12, 06:29 AM

This is going to be a real major mod then...!

Sounds like incredible fun, but also sounds like sure allot of work and dedication, I can't begin to imagine the scale of the project, but by the sounds of it and as far as what I have seen its going to be one of a kind, I am esspecially excited about this since it will be one of the few games based on world war one :03:

The features which you plan to include is all the sweeter, I didn't think there will be so much remade/changed.

My thanks iambecomelife (http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/member.php?u=215754), keep up the amazing work, sure something to be proud of, of yeah a film tipp if you have not seen yet: Morgenrot 1933 a World War One U-boat Movie :) Just saw that yesterday actually, it may also give you some ideas as well as some interior view of the u-boat... I think it was a...Type U 19 U-boat but its hard to say since it was not mentioned which kind it was but the looks of it and it had 4 forward tubs.

Thanks again and good luck with any challenges you may be facing.:salute: (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U-boat)

CCIP

11-19-12, 11:59 AM

Great news then! The feature set sounds more outstanding by the day. I know it's a long wait, but you proved beyond all doubt with the work on MFM that it's going to be worth it.

I really like the idea of shore bombardment missions. I'm in fact puzzled that these never made it into SH 3/4/5 in any way - not that they were common, bur really no less common than the spy insertions etc.

Admiral Von Gerlach

11-27-12, 03:26 PM

Shore attacks occured quite commonly in WWI, in the Med, along the Channel and in Afrika to mention a few areas....they were a normal way for Naval force to be projected...however with the advent of air attacks later in the war, it was less safe for a surface fleet to steam back and forth attacking a shore target when they would be sitting ducks ..for bombardment takes careful plotting and correction and requires a constant and predictable base course and speed.

Gerald

11-27-12, 03:36 PM

:sunny:

Admiral Von Gerlach

11-29-12, 05:09 PM

The bombardment of the Turkish Batteries at Gallipoli is an excellent example of the changes in naval doctrine that were required by new weapons and tactics, up until them bombardment was quite often used by fleets in aciton, but during that engagement a number of ships were sunk including some capital ones partly by mines and partly by return fire from the shore. So it was a transitional time for many aspects of naval warfare.

Submarines are actually an extension of a very old tactic, that of the floating fort idea, they contain heavy armament for their size, ie torpedoes which can sink a capital ship with a single hit.... however the submareine is literally a floating "gun" which fires along its axis...and is very vulnerable to the sides and to the wider environemnt. Due to the in line demands of the machinery of that era, and even WWII, the entire ship was literally a floating engine with main armament fore and aft, at each end. So it was difficult to develop new tactics and even new strategy for it.

The USN was innovative in that they developed boats that would cruise at sea for six weeks successfully and project force into formerly 'safe" territory, and used with unrestricted attack, were quite deadly. WWI was an interesting era for many aspects of naval warfare and war in general were tested and developed from very early beginnings and often at a high speed. The pay off of speed of production of a new model of ship was often paid for in losses due to incompletley tested aspects of the new classes, so literally sea trials were carried out in action, and some nations did not have the industrial base to turn things around fast enough to really benefit from design innovations that they themselves made, as in the case of Austro Hungarian advances in submarine design which they themselves could not really manufacture in time, also same for Italian innovations, the British fleet which could have developed new ship types fastest of anyone was conservative due to the theory held by the highest ranks, which also happened to the Japanese fleet during WWII, so that capacity was not matched by results.

Admiral Von Gerlach

12-09-12, 03:42 PM

Might be fun to add some missions for the eastern Med and the Black Sea, between the Turkish/German/Austro Hungarian forces and the Allied British/French/Italian and later on American forces... there were some exciting submarine encounters in that theatre.

would be fun to add the Goeben and her cruiser escort...in their race for Constantinople with a submarine assisting her flight seeing to reach safety.

horsa

12-10-12, 06:11 AM

:salute::salute:

iambecomelife

12-15-12, 12:03 PM

@ Admiral VG: The Mediterranean will be included. Too many interesting missions to overlook, such as U-35 sinking over 50 ships in one patrol, the attacks on the battleships at Gallipoli, and the sinking of the "Danton".

To anyone with expertise I have a question about submarine armament: how many rounds per gun were carried on U-31 and U-51 class submarines when there were dual deck guns? I understand that they sometimes had two 88 mm guns or one 105 mm and one 88 mm gun together.

Also, how many rounds of 88mm were carried? Uboat.net says that most submarines of the time carried 300 rounds of 105mm ammo, so I assume that they carried more rounds of 88mm due to its smaller size.

I am preparing a Christmas update with at least one new submarine type revealed, as well as before/after comparisons of the scenery. Stay tuned.

bidius

12-15-12, 03:13 PM

Wow, Really looking forward to this mod, keep up the good work!

Admiral Von Gerlach

12-25-12, 12:35 PM

Herr I...

I am asking for help on your request. but here is first info:

The 88 mm had ammunition that weighed about 30 lb (14 kg) and was of the projectile and cartridge type. It had the same controls on both sides of the gun so that the two crewman that were in charge of firing it could control it from either side. The 105 mm evolved from the 88 mm in the sense that it was more accurate and had more power due to the 51 lb (23 kg) ammunition it fired.

80 rounds per gun later increased to 120 rounds per gun.

a very good source about WWI and subs

http://www.vlib.us/wwi/resources/mymysteryships.html

By 1914, the British Royal Grand fleet consisted of 28 dreadnoughts, 9 battle cruisers, 8 armored cruisers, 26 light cruisers, 77 destroyers, 1 seaplane carrier, and 1 minelayer for a total force of 250 warships. The Imperial Navy’s High Seas Fleet consisted of 99 warships that consisted of 16 dreadnoughts, 5 battle cruisers, 6 pre-dreadnoughts, 11 light cruisers, and 61 destroyers. [19] A young navy officer, Lieutenant Eric Woodruff, wrote a letter to his brother in September of 1914 stating, “There is a great enthusiasm and recruits are flocking in daily. If only the German fleet would come out, we would wipe them out in a few minutes.” [20]

http://www.militaryhistoryonline.com/wwi/articles/jutland.aspx

some significant errors in this but a good overview.and i am contacting the authour to help with corrections.

iambecomelife

12-25-12, 03:53 PM

SCENERY MODIFICATIONS

Some more changes to the land textures...within the game's limitations. Beyond a certain size the textures will crash the game on startup, so changing the look of terrain is a bit tricky. I got rid of the tropical look, and added European/temperate textures - including some very high-res trees.

BEFORE:
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/iambecomelife/B-02.jpg

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/iambecomelife/B-01.jpg

AFTER:

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/iambecomelife/A-07.jpg

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/iambecomelife/A-06.jpg

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/iambecomelife/A-05.jpg

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/iambecomelife/A-04.jpg

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/iambecomelife/A-02.jpg

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/iambecomelife/A-01.jpg

iambecomelife

12-25-12, 03:58 PM

DESTRUCTIBLE VILLAGE

Examples of the buildings that can be attacked by surface ships and aircraft. The textures are from RoF, except for the church, but I will be making my own versions soon.

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/iambecomelife/Village-03.jpg
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/iambecomelife/Village-02.jpg

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/iambecomelife/Village-01.jpg

SEASONS ARE CHANGING...:sunny:

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/iambecomelife/Village-Summer.jpg

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/iambecomelife/Village-Autumn.jpg

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/iambecomelife/Village-Winter.jpg

iambecomelife

12-25-12, 04:19 PM

THE BOATS.

The submarines I have been working on for the past several weeks: UB-II Class, U-51 Class, and U-66 Class.

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/iambecomelife/Mixed-02.jpg

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/iambecomelife/Mixed-01.jpg

Civilian vessel being tested ingame. The model has since been improved...

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/iambecomelife/Steamer-01.jpg

UB-II Class Submarine.

Displacement: 263 t (259 long tons) surfaced
292 t (287 long tons) submerged
(UB30 group 274/303 tonnes)
Length: 36.1 m (118 ft) o/a
Beam: 4.4 m (14 ft)
Draught: 3.7 m (12 ft)
Propulsion: 2 shafts
Körting, Daimler or Benz diesel engines, 270–284 hp (201–212 kW)
Siemens-Schuckert electric motor, 280 hp (209 kW)
Speed: 9 knots (17 km/h; 10 mph) surfaced
5.8 knots (10.7 km/h; 6.7 mph) submerged
Range: 6,650 mi (10,700 km) at 5 kn (9.3 km/h; 5.8 mph) surfaced
45 mi (72 km) at 5 kn (9.3 km/h; 5.8 mph) submerged
Test depth: 50 m (160 ft)
Complement: 22 men
Armament: • 2 × 50 cm bow torpedo tubes, 4 to 6 torpedoes
(2 external stern tubes fitted in some boats)
• 1 × 50 mm or 88 mm deck gun

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/iambecomelife/UBII-03.jpg

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/iambecomelife/UBII-01.jpg

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/iambecomelife/UBII-02.jpg

U-51 Class Submarine.

Displacement: 712 tons surfaced, 902 tons submerged
Length: 65.2 m (213.9 ft)
Beam: 6.4 m (21.0 ft)
Draught: 3.6 m (11.8 ft)
Speed: •33.1 km/h (17.9 kn) surfaced
• 16.7 km/h (9.0 kn) submerged
Armament: •four 50 cm (19.7 in) torpedo tubes (two bow, two stern, 8-9 torpedoes)
•1 or 2 x 88 mm (3.46 in)[9] or 105 mm (4.1 in) deck gun

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/iambecomelife/U51-Overall.jpg

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/iambecomelife/U51-CT.jpg

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/iambecomelife/U51-CT2.jpg

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/iambecomelife/U51-CT3.jpg

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/iambecomelife/U51-CT4.jpg

Hunter and prey...:D

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/iambecomelife/Freight-04.jpg

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/iambecomelife/Freight-02.jpg

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/iambecomelife/Freight-01.jpg

iambecomelife

12-25-12, 04:27 PM

U-66 Class Submarine.

Displacement: 791 t (872 short tons) surfaced
933 t (1,028 short tons) submerged[1]
Length: 228 ft (69 m)[1]
Beam: 20 ft 8 in (6.30 m)[1]
Draft: 12 ft 6 in (3.81 m)[1]
Propulsion: 2 × shaft
2 × Germania 6-cylinder four-stroke diesel engines, 2,300 bhp (1,700 kW) total
2 × electric motors, 1,260 shp (940 kW) total
Speed: 16.8 knots (31.1 km/h) surfaced
10.3 knots (19 km/h) submerged
Range: 7,880 nmi (14,590 km) @ 7 kn (13 km/h), surfaced
115 nautical miles (213 km) @ 4 knots (7.4 km/h), submerged
Test depth: 50 m (160 ft)
Complement: 36
Armament: 5 × 45 cm (17.7 in) torpedo tubes (four bow, one stern); 12 torpedoes
1 × 8.8 cm KL/30 (3.45 in) deck gun
Test depth: 50 m (160 ft)
Complement: 36
Armament: 5 × 45 cm (17.7 in) torpedo tubes (four bow, one stern); 12 torpedoes
1 × 8.8 cm KL/30 (3.45 in) deck gun

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/iambecomelife/U66-Full.jpg

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/iambecomelife/Untitled-10-16.jpg

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/iambecomelife/U66-back.jpg

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/iambecomelife/U66-CT1.jpg

Sorry for the multiple posts. Statistics shamelessly stolen from Wikipedia, with some corrections.

CCIP

12-25-12, 05:14 PM

Great updates! I really love those European land textures, they look fantastic from a distance (which is how you'll see them 99% of the time anyway). The boats are shaping up very nicely too.

Reichsjager

12-25-12, 08:59 PM

Its...beautiful..

So keen to earn the Kaiser His place in the sun!

Hitman

12-26-12, 09:57 AM

Awesome IABL, those textures do so much for the game :up:

Admiral Von Gerlach

12-26-12, 04:34 PM

Superb work, the ships are very good. they each show very accurate hull shape and detailing, i esp like that small steamer, very common type and nicely done. All the subs are well done as well, very very promising.

the land textures are spot on. so so much better, and well matching to the sim and the subject. superb.

ROF just released their channel map it may have some good ideas re textures and structures. ...if you havent seen it yet..i havent myself :)

great work keep it up as you can!

Railgun

12-27-12, 03:45 AM

Im really looking forward to this !! great work .

Toll !

Sepp von Ch.

12-30-12, 10:14 AM

Ah, I love your excellent work for SHIII and 4 iam! Thank you very much for these pictures!

Can´t wait!

iambecomelife

12-30-12, 12:37 PM

Thanks AVG for your help with the gun rounds issue. I am buying even more rare books on WWI submarine warfare (late Christmas present!) that might also help clear up the issue. Thanks to everyone else who's been following the mod.

Not a modeling update, but I took a break from Wings3d to practice my artwork - here's a reproduction I sketched of a First World War painting. Torpedoed survivors in the Atlantic, December 1917:

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/iambecomelife/Survivors-Small.jpg

ReallyDedPoet

12-30-12, 06:09 PM

Very nice iambecomelife :yep::up:

Admiral Von Gerlach

01-12-13, 11:09 PM

And you can Draw..and quite nicely :)

Merrry Christmas and Happy New Year.... here is hoping for good progress on the mod.:up:

Sailor Steve

01-12-13, 11:46 PM

I hope your friends appreciate how talented you are. :rock:

iambecomelife

01-13-13, 07:44 AM

Some winged equipment for our worthy foes. :rotfl2:

It will make an interesting change from dodging Zeroes and Bettys. This
was the first time I ever built an aircraft for the Silent Hunter series with no parts from an existing model. Now for texturing, and adding the Lewis Guns.

Researching WWI naval aviation is a job in itself, because I am not very familiar with what naval airplanes were used on either side during the various phases of the war. I also need to find out what squadrons would have patrolled the Channel & North Sea, what aerodromes were near the coast, etc. I might ask some of the "Over Flanders Fields" team for recommendations - they are a brilliant group.

Based on my research so far I will be adding the Felixstowe F.2A and the Short S.184 Seaplane to the Allied roster. However, I still need ideas for German planes. Any suggestions welcome!

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/iambecomelife/Cockpit.jpg
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/iambecomelife/Front-view.jpg
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/iambecomelife/Rear.jpg

Sailor Steve

01-13-13, 10:34 AM

Researching WWI naval aviation is a job in itself, because I am not very familiar with what naval airplanes were used on either side during the various phases of the war. I also need to find out what squadrons would have patrolled the Channel & North Sea, what aerodromes were near the coast, etc. I might ask some of the "Over Flanders Fields" team for recommendations - they are a brilliant group.
You could also ask somebody right here who has made a thorough study of all facets of WW1 naval combat, including aviation. For instance, you may not be familiar with the interesting fact that the Be.2c you're working on had the observer/gunner in the front cockpit, and his field of fire was limited to arcs of about 45 degrees to either side of the pilots head. It couldn't fire directly aft, and it couldn't fire down at all.

Admiral Von Gerlach

01-15-13, 08:21 PM

I will be happy to help with that aspect Sir, if you need specific data please PM me or post it here. I have contacts in both the RN, the RAF, the modern KM, and family that flew back then. Happy to lend a shipmate a hand as always.

igor7111

02-14-13, 12:32 PM

As a retired college professor who specialized in WWI, I must say that this mod looks spectacular. You guys are doing a great job. I just hope it comes out while I'm still alive (mostly joking :)

Thanks for doing this.

U505995

02-14-13, 02:30 PM

Another great mod, ambitious, but it will never be fully completed or released just like some of the other mods that had been promised. Modders simply have too many RL issues to deal with.

AVGWarhawk

02-14-13, 02:52 PM

iambecomelife

02-22-13, 03:44 PM

Another great mod, ambitious, but it will never be fully completed or released just like some of the other mods that had been promised. Modders simply have too many RL issues to deal with.

Well, I can't guarantee completion but I can do my best! Below are just some of the things that I've worked on in the past weeks. When things go quiet, rest assured that there's lots of hammering and sawing behind the scenes. If I reach the point where I need to "lay up" the mod, I'll say so.

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/iambecomelife/Seaplane-BW.jpg
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/iambecomelife/Seaplane-03.jpg
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/iambecomelife/Seaplane-02.jpg
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/iambecomelife/Seaplane-01.jpg
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/iambecomelife/Be2-v2.jpg
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/iambecomelife/Be2-v1.jpg
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/iambecomelife/Fee-1.jpg
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/iambecomelife/Fee-2.jpg

AVGWarhawk

02-22-13, 04:22 PM

:D:yeah::up:

iambecomelife

02-27-13, 09:36 PM

Early screenshots of the "HMS Beagle".

No, it's not Darwin's "Beagle". :doh:

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/iambecomelife/Bea1.jpg

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/iambecomelife/Bea3.jpg

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/iambecomelife/Bea2.jpg

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/iambecomelife/Bea4.jpg

werwil0

03-08-13, 07:03 AM

iambecomelife

03-08-13, 09:03 AM

Hallo Ihr Spezialisten, Ihr moddert nun schon seit langer Zeit an diesem Addon. Für viele dauert es nun schon zu lange, bis Ihr fertig werdet, z.B. ich. Ich bin nun 77 Jahre alt und hätte dieses Spiel noch gerne erlebt.
Nun beeilt Euch mal ein bißchen.
Mit freundlichen Grüßen, Werner Willmann

Hallo. Ich arbeite auf dieser von mir. Ich seit kurzem eine neue Karriere, und manchmal habe ich nicht viel Zeit zu arbeiten. Ich versuche, die mod abgeschlossen Mai 2015, pünktlich zum 100. Jahrestag der "Lusitania". Ich bedauere, dass es eine lange Zeit dauert, aber Beruf und Familie müssen an erster Stelle. Sorry für mein schlechtes Deutsch!

(Any native German speakers, feel free to post a better translation).

jhapprich

03-09-13, 06:18 AM

ich bin mir nicht ganz sicher wie man sowas in papenburg sieht, aber bei mir gilt so ein post als einigermaßen unhöflich! vollständiges umarbeiten des spiels ist -vorsichtig formuliert- eine intensiv zeit-und nervenstrapazierende mammutaufgabe. vielleicht richten sie ihren dank lieber an die damen und herren von ubisoft, deren krönung bis jetzt nur die x-te auflage des WK II in sachen uboot-simulation war. Dankeschön

Admiral Von Gerlach

03-11-13, 09:39 PM

iambecomelife

03-14-13, 04:22 PM

Very nice Beagle..those were sure wet boats and you can see why with the smallest freeboard around. But they made it to sea in just amazingly bad conditions, Kippling wrote several fun short stories about life aboard them. Nice work as usual I...keep it up. And we do have faith in the success of this, naysayers beware...we are stoutly supportive and broke no doomsayers :):arrgh!:

FYI, a HUGE UPDATE is coming - those who expect a "dead" mod are going to be quite disappointed! It will focus on Destroyers and other escort craft of WWI. After all, a subsim is not a subsim without an "ocean greyhound" circling above, out for your blood! Worthy adversaries, these destroyer men!!! :D

In addition to escort craft I am working on one of the more interesting features mentioned before: real 3d damage to ships. I found some truly excellent textures on the internet and I can't wait to use them. Forget the standard SH4 ship holes - picture destructible boilers, engines, & shell rooms getting torn open by your weapons. Along with real high-resolution pictures of ships' internal components. Not just generic pieces of metal. Just wanted to let you know I haven't forgotten about this feature, and it's not "pie in the sky". :yep:

Later!

AVGWarhawk

03-14-13, 04:34 PM

Good to hear sir!

Hitman

03-15-13, 09:19 AM

Great news IABL :rock:

Sepp von Ch.

03-17-13, 04:53 PM

Great news, thanks for info iambecomelife:salute:

iambecomelife

03-31-13, 03:16 PM

Profile pictures of some of the British destroyer classes that will be included in the mod, along with notes. A lot of work on small details / accuracy still remains...

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/iambecomelife/Destroyers-01.jpg:original
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/iambecomelife/Destroyers-02.jpg:original

iambecomelife

03-31-13, 03:43 PM

Close-up shots of British destroyers.

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/iambecomelife/XIX.jpg:original
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/iambecomelife/Shark-1.jpg:original
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/iambecomelife/Tippy.jpg:original

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/iambecomelife/Dest01.jpg:original

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/iambecomelife/MaryRose.jpg:original

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/iambecomelife/Tippy2.jpg:original

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/iambecomelife/Ith01.jpg:original

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/iambecomelife/Beatrice01.jpg:original

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/iambecomelife/Twins.jpg:original

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/iambecomelife/L-gurl.jpg:original

Sailor Steve

03-31-13, 04:03 PM

Looking good! :rock:

I just recently acquired a copy of Norman Friedman's British Destroyers: From Earliest Days to the Second World War. His notes on the whats and whys of destroyer development are good reading for the fan of the period. :sunny:

AVGWarhawk

04-01-13, 10:45 AM

:yeah: Very nice!

GilligansBoat

04-02-13, 06:40 PM

About how far into the mod are you (percentage wise?) i'm very excited and would like to help out if i can in any way. :salute:

Hitman

04-03-13, 08:27 AM

iambecomelife

04-03-13, 05:52 PM

About how far into the mod are you (percentage wise?) i'm very excited and would like to help out if i can in any way. :salute:

I'd say maybe 15 - 20%.

Right this moment I need the following:

- Line drawings of the "Active", "Chatham", and "Birmingham" class light cruisers. Conway's Fighting Ships does not have drawings of them.

-Interior photographs of WWI U-Boats.

-Information on U-Boat emblems. I have only discovered two so far.

-Sources dealing with WWI maritime aircraft.

- Maps of the ports listed below, from the late 1890's - early 1900's. I know I could use Google Earth, but there's no telling how much towns have changed in 100 years.

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/iambecomelife/Map.jpg:original

iambecomelife

04-03-13, 06:08 PM

Lovely :rock:

How many classes are planned? I guess you will give lots of importance to armed trawlers too, right? In WW1 they were almost as, if not more important that fleet DD, and it wasn't till WW2 that the concept of the smaller, dedicated ASW frigate matured.

Armed trawlers will be designed very soon - as you probably know, Britain had thousands of them, and I don't want to have convoys with too many 1st-rate escorts; DD's were in short supply early in the war. Nevertheless, in this mod even a converted trawler can ruin your day. I will tweak damage values so that one shot from anything above maybe a 2pdr will damage the pressure hull & keep you from diving. I also plan to make the conning tower crew much more vulnerable to small arms fire. Surface gun-duels will be out of the question.

As for the # of destroyers: only a few more British DD classes will be made. There will be a reasonable selection of German destroyers. The USA, France, & Russia will have just 1-2 classes at most.

Hitman

04-04-13, 08:28 AM

Right this moment I need the following:

- Line drawings of the "Active", "Chatham", and "Birmingham" class light cruisers. Conway's Fighting Ships does not have drawings of them.

-Interior photographs of WWI U-Boats.

-Information on U-Boat emblems. I have only discovered two so far.

-Sources dealing with WWI maritime aircraft.

- Maps of the ports listed below, from the late 1890's - early 1900's. I know I could use Google Earth, but there's no telling how much towns have changed in 100 years. I had some WW1 pictures of the interior of UBoats, which unfortunately were lost in my HDD crash :88) but I will try to find some more for you :cool:

EDIT: I already posted some here: http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?p=1170191

LGN1

04-04-13, 03:56 PM

Hi,

I don't know whether it helps, but in the 'Deutsches Museum' in Munich one can see the interior of U-1. See, e.g., here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6mK--F2FfE

There are more pictures on the web.

Regards, LGN1

Admiral Halsey

04-07-13, 09:42 PM

Will you be making the Lusitania for the mod?(I was wondering because It was an important moment.)

iambecomelife

04-09-13, 12:10 AM

Will you be making the Lusitania for the mod?(I was wondering because It was an important moment.)

All I can say is I'll try to include as many historically significant ships as possible! The "Lucy" is a higher priority than the Death Star right now, so I'll see what can be done. :rotfl2:

Preview of one of the larger units is below. By the way, if anyone has a line drawing of "HMAS Sydney" it would be welcome.

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/iambecomelife/CL-001.jpg:original

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/iambecomelife/CL-002.jpg:original

padmack

04-09-13, 05:52 AM

Admiral Halsey

04-09-13, 03:52 PM

All I can say is I'll try to include as many historically significant ships as possible! The "Lucy" is a higher priority than the Death Star right now, so I'll see what can be done. :rotfl2:

Thanks for the response.(If I visit the area around Old Head of Kinsale on May 7th, 1915 I want to be able to sink the Lusitania.)

Hitman

04-10-13, 12:59 PM

IABL, I just received this book: http://www.amazon.com/Vom-Turmsehrohr-Optronikmast-Harry-Schlemmer/dp/3813209318

And it has pictures of how the WW1 periscopes looked like, lots of technical detail, and even diagrams of the reticles :)

When the time comes and you get busy with the GUI and the interiors, it will be a pleasure for me to collaborate with you and do the part of the optics if you are interested :salute:

iambecomelife

04-10-13, 06:43 PM

Iambecomelife: I dont know if its an area your planning to include at this stage of your mod but if the Atlantic becomes an area of focus, may I suggest oyou might spend some time representing Cork on the South coast of Ireland.

http://corkshipwrecks.net/historypage.htm

Part of Great Britain then, it was a pivotal area for Atlantic operations for the Royal Navy it being that bit further west. Queesntown (now Cobh) was also a stopping point for tranatlantic liners such as the Titanic, for example. Within the scope of this mod, perhaps a representation of the US Navy subchasers stationed there could be done, or at least armed trawlers of some sort?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/33577523@N08/6785985797/

Also see this: http://corkshipwrecks.net/Qships.htm

Unfortunately, from a modelling point of view, the old survey maps of Cork Harbour I have access to are incomplete but im sure detailed information must be published online somewhere.

Also, I found good line drawings of armed trawlers from this era (im sure you must have come accross, as i found them through a google search).

Regards and good luck - I really like the look of this mod and I admire your efforts so far.

The Irish ports will clearly play an important role in the mod. Various escort craft will patrol nearby and there will be many merchant ships, due to how close the Western Approaches are. This will be a big change for players used to WWII games, I suppose, because during 1939 - 1945 you only have to deal with enemies operating out of Northern Ireland.

Thank you for your links. I liked the pictures of the "Q" ship and the information about how ordinary ships were converted.

And thank you too, Hitman - pictures of instrumentation for WWI subs are even rarer than external shots. Any sources you can dig up would help.

iambecomelife

04-16-13, 03:52 AM

Adding to the modern light cruiser classes - in this case, a ship that survived Jutland, only to be sunk by a submarine a few months later.

This weekend I will create more detailed 6" guns for the model and continue to do research.

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/iambecomelife/WIP-cruiser02.jpg:original

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/iambecomelife/WIP-cruiser01.jpg:original

Admiral Von Gerlach

04-24-13, 04:39 PM

ah i love those cruisers. Is that the Arethusa? there were so many classes of them, it was a huge fleet.

Admiral Von Gerlach

04-24-13, 04:59 PM

This fellow has ship plans of some early 1900s ships..

http://www.viribusunitis.ca/plans.html

Christian also has plans for many:

http://www.christian-schmidt.com/

good references here:

http://www.cityofart.net/bship/dreads_directory.html

general sourses but plans as well:

Great War at Sea;

http://www.gwpda.org/naval/n0000000.htm#swt

Blue prints for free here:

http://www.the-blueprints.com/blueprints/

ONI (office of naval intelligence) WWII including some WWI ships:

http://www.coatneyhistory.com/drawings.htm

iambecomelife

04-28-13, 03:13 PM

ah i love those cruisers. Is that the Arethusa? there were so many classes of them, it was a huge fleet.

The one posted on 4/19/13 was meant to be the "Arethusa" class. The ship posted on 4/14/13 was HMS "Nottingham". Right now I am making as many light cruisers all at once - the designs were so similar that I can re-use a lot of parts, which is exactly what the Royal Navy architects did in real life. :cool: Here's another future enemy for you!

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/iambecomelife/Trusty-01.jpg:original

MGR1

04-29-13, 08:55 AM

Coming along nicely!:up:

Mike.:)

Lymeartist

05-01-13, 07:45 PM

Is the Wolves of the Kaiser mod released? If so, where can I find it? It looks great!!

Thanks!

iambecomelife

05-01-13, 08:22 PM

Is the Wolves of the Kaiser mod released? If so, where can I find it? It looks great!!

Thanks!

No. It is not close to complete, but it's a little closer as of tonight. When it is finished, an announcement will be made on the forums and links to the hosting site will be added if it cannot be hosted on Subsim.

iambecomelife

05-01-13, 08:26 PM

Yet another revision to the effects based on TMO. I have not yet modeled medium-sized WWI merchants, so the WWII Victory Ship is used as a target for now.

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/iambecomelife/FX-01.jpg~original
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/iambecomelife/FX-02.jpg~original
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/iambecomelife/FX-03.jpg~original
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/iambecomelife/FX-04.jpg~original

iambecomelife

05-01-13, 08:45 PM

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/iambecomelife/FX-05.jpg~original

Okay, so I may be headed for an "M" rating here... I decided to experiment with graphic representations of wounds tonight, and everything appeared OK in game. For now the wound textures will automatically appear on some of your crewmembers when your submarine is damaged. However, I may be able to link this feature to the "wounded" state for crewmembers, which would be ideal. Just three types of injuries have been made so far, but I have plans for lots more. There's basically no limit to how many different injuries you can assign to one of the body types, so I'm pretty much limited by my [sadistic] imagination. :-? In between researching wounds I'm also wrestling with S3ditor. If I do manage to crack this puzzle, the results could be ... interesting. :rotfl2:

Of course, there will be a patch to remove this feature, rendering things kiddie friendly. If you want to kill thousands of Entente sailors without having to see a drop of blood between 1914 - 1918, that's fine with me.
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/iambecomelife/INJ-01.jpg~original

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/iambecomelife/INJ-02.jpg~original

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/iambecomelife/INJ-03.jpg~original

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/iambecomelife/INJ-05.jpg~original

Officer on the deck! Some more changes to the Officer outfits...

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/iambecomelife/OOD-01.jpg~original

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/iambecomelife/OOD-02.jpg~original

Sorry for multiple posts but I could not get all the images in one post.

Cybermat47

05-01-13, 10:19 PM

This looks like a very promising mod! I'm looking forward to playing it!

Admiral Halsey

05-11-13, 01:43 PM

The explosions look good.

Admiral Von Gerlach

05-11-13, 10:50 PM

Yes the ship explosions are excellent very well done.

I agree the cruisers were very similar..they were trying improvements all the time and some of the changes were small amazing how many they had. It is wonderful to see the detail you are achieving. Truly fine work.

Admiral Halsey

05-14-13, 11:40 AM

Any idea when this is going to be released?

iambecomelife

05-16-13, 09:01 PM

Any idea when this is going to be released?

No, but as I like to say - it's a little closer to completion as of tonight. It's hard to develop a mod with a staff of one. For instance, 100% of the "Wolves of the Kaiser" staff is about to adjourn for a taco break. Who will research British Armoured Cruisers tonight? :/

Anyway, expect another surface ship update fairly soon. And no, the submarines themselves are not being neglected. More news later.

Cybermat47

05-16-13, 09:32 PM

Who will research British Armoured Cruisers tonight? :/

Just tell me their names, and I'll get you their specs, commissioning and decommissioning dates :arrgh!:

Admiral Halsey

05-22-13, 01:45 PM

I hope you make a Battle of Jutland single mission.(In all honesty I would just end up watching the ships fighting though.)

Bunkerw0808

05-27-13, 12:39 PM

I hope this will at least go to a beta:up:

Don't die..... don't die.....:dead:NOOOOO!!!:/\\!!:/\\!!:/\\!!

Admiral Halsey

05-28-13, 11:45 AM

I hope this will at least go to a beta:up:

Don't die..... don't die.....:dead:NOOOOO!!!:/\\!!:/\\!!:/\\!!

Don't worry I doubt it will die.(He would at least tell us if he couldn't work on it any longer.)

GlobalExplorer

05-29-13, 03:33 AM

SCENERY MODIFICATIONS

Some more changes to the land textures...within the game's limitations. Beyond a certain size the textures will crash the game on startup, so changing the look of terrain is a bit tricky. I got rid of the tropical look, and added European/temperate textures - including some very high-res trees.

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/iambecomelife/A-04.jpg

Great. I always detested the cheesy "holiday" look of Silent Hunter IV. This finally looks like a foggy, damp Irish or Scottish coastline.

Just a question IABL. Have you thought about releasing the terrain as a separate part? As far as I know terrain is just a few files, so it makes for a compact mod.

I think the main mod is still far off and perhaps people could already enjoy some part of it. Besides this could also help fine tuning the look, because I am sure people would use all available tricks to make this look right. It could free you up somewhat for the other stuff.

LGN1

05-29-13, 12:39 PM

...and please release your SH3 landscape mod, too :D

Regards, LGN1

iambecomelife

06-06-13, 07:52 AM

Don't worry I doubt it will die.(He would at least tell us if he couldn't work on it any longer.)

Look - if this thread ever goes cold, send a search party to my house. They'll find a skeleton sitting at the computer desk, with one hand clutching a mouse and the other holding a copy of "Conway's Fighting Ships".

This weekend I will post an update showing some of the armored cruiser classes that I'm including. Afterwards I will be continuing work on submarines & other units.

iambecomelife

06-09-13, 04:43 PM

Some of the Armored Cruisers you will encounter...
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/iambecomelife/HMS-Duke-of-Edinburgh-05.jpg~original

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/iambecomelife/HMS-Duke-of-Edinburgh-04.jpg~original

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/iambecomelife/HMS-Duke-of-Edinburgh-03.jpg~original

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/iambecomelife/HMS-Duke-of-Edinburgh-02.jpg~original

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/iambecomelife/HMS-Duke-of-Edinburgh-01.jpg~original
A model representing the "HMS Duke of Edinburgh" and "HMS Black Prince". Main armament was 6 9.2" guns in a diamond layout, with 10 6" guns in casemates. After complaints about the 6" guns being unusable in heavy seas, six of them were remounted in the position shown on the main deck. "Black Prince" was destroyed during the night action at Jutland on 5/31/1916 after wandering into the German battlefleet (no survivors). HMS "Duke of Edinburgh" made it through Jutland unharmed, spending 1917 and 1918 as a convoy escort. If I have the time I will do an updated variant to represent "Duke of Edinburgh" after modernization, with a tripod mast and dazzle camouflage.

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/iambecomelife/HMS-Warrior-01.jpg~original

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/iambecomelife/HMS-Warrior-03.jpg~original

The model for "HMS Warrior", "HMS Natal", "HMS Cochrane", and "HMS Achilles". "HMS Warrior" was sunk at Jutland in 1916; "Natal" was destroyed by an accidental explosion in 1915, and "Cochrane" was wrecked in 1918. "Achilles", like other armored cruisers, was considered obsolete after the war, and scrapped in 1921.

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/iambecomelife/HMS-Antrim-01.jpg~original

Model for "HMS Hampshire", "HMS Argyll", "HMS Roxburgh", HMS "Carnarvon", "HMS Devonshire", and "HMS Antrim". The most famous member of this class was probably "Hampshire" - mined in 1916 with over 600 killed, including Lord Kitchener.
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/iambecomelife/HMS-Cressy-02.jpg~original

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/iambecomelife/HMS-Cressy-01.jpg~original

Replacement for the "Cressy" class model that I did a couple years ago - far from perfect but I like it much better than the old one. As you probably know, "Aboukir", "Cressy", and "Hogue" were sunk in 1914 in a single morning by submarine U-9 - 1400 men were drowned.

So, yeah, these Armored Cruisers didn't exactly have a pleasant war. They suffered from many design flaws, such as too many turrets (large area of the hull was vulnerable to ammo explosions) and centerline bulkheads (trapped water on one side and caused them to capsize). :-? Nevertheless, they would have been a common sight patrolling in the North Sea and escorting convoys, so I wanted to make sure there was a good variety of them. The models are still incomplete & need hatches, railings, ancors, & more - just wanted to show some progress.

Next I'll be focusing on textures & details for the existing submarine models, as well as maybe some work on new ones.

LGN1 and GlobalExplorer, I have compressed the texture files - PM me your email addresses if you're interested in working with them. Sorry I took some time to respond.

Char

06-09-13, 04:48 PM

Look - if this thread ever goes cold, send a search party to my house. They'll find a skeleton sitting at the computer desk, with one hand clutching a mouse and the other holding a copy of "Conway's Fighting Ships".

:hmmm: Don't know whether to Laugh at that mental image or not.:haha:

These Armored Cruisers look amazing man,Keep up the good work!

GilligansBoat

06-15-13, 12:11 PM

I hope you make a Battle of Jutland single mission.(In all honesty I would just end up watching the ships fighting though.)

You can get the SMS Schasen, the SMS Konig and the AI Dreadnaught mods on subsim and they come with a battle of Jutland quick mission :salute:

iambecomelife

06-18-13, 06:39 PM

You can get the SMS Schasen, the SMS Konig and the AI Dreadnaught mods on subsim and they come with a battle of Jutland quick mission :salute:

You'll have to be satisfied with that for now. I may design a "Jutland" single mission but I'm leaning towards not doing it unless I have time to model a reasonable selection of the ships that were there. I know I could use the "Invincible" model to represent all the British BC's, for example, but that would irritate me - it's better to have the exact units involved.

What's more, the Silent Hunter series does not really provide for proper surface ship behaviors, like shadowing targets, fire control policy, avoiding superior forces, and breaking off engagements when damaged.

For WWI - era surface ship battles I recommend you buy "Jutland" from Storm Eagle Studios if you haven't already - the AI is superb, with different classes of ships acting according to their type and the combat situation they find themselves in.

Admiral Von Gerlach

06-28-13, 06:37 PM

iambecomelife

06-29-13, 03:47 PM

re Storm Eagle,And they have added a Falklands add on that allows you to do the Battles around the Far East squadron of Von Spee, and they even added a map for it. The only drawback is the series is VERY expensive, really beyond reasonable limits i feel, tho that wont change i doubt. Too bad for it is the only other sim other than your mod that does deliver WWI naval well.

Your AC are top drawer! very well done. I love that class even tho by WWI as a class they were becoming a puzzle as to what their role should be, as they could not stand up to the main battery fire of most BB and BC but were too large and too massive an investment to just abandon. Both sides had them, but the UK has the most. All the profiles and details look accurate and well done. I esp like your textures. In spite of constant maintenance ships of that era were darkened by coal dust, weather and the North Sea and your textures are accurate in their portrayal of that. Well done all round.!!!!

Yes, I like these ships, even though they had no business being in the front line. It's often forgotten that at Jutland, nearly one third of the British losses came from the Armored cruisers - two of which had no survivors ("Defence" with 903 dead, "Black Prince" with 857 dead, and "Warrior" with 71 dead). If I'd been in charge of the fleet I would have disbanded the old cruiser squadrons in 1914 and used their crews as manpower for destroyers & trawlers. Of course, I have the benefit of hindsight, whereas in 1914 everyone ignored submarines & still believed that the naval war would be decided by a big surface battle.

Regarding the mod, I tried skinning the U-53 model with little success - I will be creating a new hull form, possibly based on one of the armored cruisers, since their skins seem to be more than adequate. With Wings3d it's a bit of a gamble whether or not a particular model can be skinned easily.

Once again, the emphasis will be back on the submarines themselves in the weeks ahead.

raymond6751

06-29-13, 04:17 PM

Great stuff! I am following your progress with eager anticipation.
No summer holidays for you, though! :salute:

peterthegreeksailor

07-02-13, 01:11 PM

I hope that the mod will come out soon.
Keep up the good work!!!!!!!!!!:up:

Sepp von Ch.

07-02-13, 02:28 PM

For me is the most expected Silent Hunter 6 this mod. I'm waiting for him with great expectations.

My german WWI officer hat waiting for his virtual U-boat...http://s13.postimg.org/bez5duxir/0102_076_056_350x215.jpg (http://postimg.org/image/bez5duxir/)

Iambecomelife, have you been working on merchant sailing ships please? One of the most common targets:Kaleun_Periskop:
http://s8.postimg.org/pq9grao1d/AAAAAAAAA.jpg (http://postimg.org/image/pq9grao1d/)

Admiral Von Gerlach

07-03-13, 11:44 AM

Yes i agree re the ACs they were noble and lovely ships most of them, but sadly they were obselete and dangerously so by the start of WWI as the loss of the three to the German U Boat and then the losses later on. ..on both sides. I think it was hard for the Fleets to give up on some of the older ships and there were old style BBs on both sides at Jutland that should not have been there either.

the decisive fleet action actually was not possible i think by the time the war came because of the limits of Command and Control, radio was still in its infancy and iffy, flag and signal light and semaphore which were heavily relied up on were heavily impeded by funnel smoke which grew immensly in any area of intense fleet action, and the air services on both sides were not able to communicate with the flag ships well enough to really help. In some ways the investment in Captial ships became unaffordable in a number of ways, esp if you look at the HMS Agincourt and some of the most outlandish ships that had as many turrents on one ship as a small fleet yet having a single hull made them so vulnerable. It will be interesting indeed to see what we can do with your mod once it is done and working.

Here are some pics of fleet action for reference...from my collection...

http://imageshack.us/a/img529/6244/smalldardenelles.jpg

http://imageshack.us/a/img529/682/smsfrauenlob.jpg

http://imageshack.us/a/img529/6024/hmslionandbcsquadron.jpg

http://imageshack.us/a/img39/6825/800pxbattleofjutland.jpg

http://imageshack.us/a/img34/9113/jutland.jpg

http://imageshack.us/a/img34/8426/imagedkd.jpg

flag4

07-08-13, 01:44 PM

...I wish the team great success and it will be worth the wait, it looks great :up:

Jawohlherrkaleun

07-11-13, 09:09 AM

Hi, i am really looking forward to playing this mod, everything you have done so far is awesome!

If your message posted page 55 (04-04-2013) still counts,
then concerning maritime aircraft, this link could help :
http://www.wwiaviation.com/toc.html
concerning british ports, there are maps including scapa flow and portsmouth here :
http://www.naval-history.net/WW1NavyBritish-Shipbuild03.htm

Admiral Halsey

07-15-13, 04:06 PM

Any news from the Western Front?

c13Garrison

07-19-13, 01:04 PM

I am new to the Subsim community, but have been studying the 1890-1918 Anglo-German naval building race for 25 years. My immediate repository of knowledge is no greater than most, but I would eagerly research specific needs if a few hours a week would be helpful.

Regardless, my most enthusiastic encouragement for the project. I hope progress is steady and setbacks are few.

-garrison

iambecomelife

07-20-13, 11:31 AM

Any news from the Western Front?

All is quiet! Just kidding....

She needs a lot more details, such as lights, bow planes, aft planes, more rigging, torpedo tubes, the net cutter, and anchor. Still, I guess it's a start.

As I said, I'm trying to focus a bit more on the submarines themselves, because they are the heart of the mod. Aside from skinning, I also made quite a few changes to the hull of this sub from the original, which I posted screenshots of (unskinned) in December. You will be able to add detailed camouflage with different textures Port and Starboard, along with symmetrically correct conning tower logos and a hull number. Full disclosure - this model includes some textures from "Shells of Fury", but most of the skin is by me. I hope to start skinning more submarines this weekend. I'm also developing a list of merchant ships to model, researching naval aviation, SH4's damage system, and sea creatures. :D

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/iambecomelife/Turm-02.jpg~original
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/iambecomelife/Kanone-1.jpg~original

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/iambecomelife/Stern-1.jpg~original

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/iambecomelife/Turm-01.jpg~originalhttp://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/iambecomelife/Overall-02-1.jpg~original

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/iambecomelife/Turm-03-1.jpg~original
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/iambecomelife/Untitled-11-14.jpg~original

Admiral Von Gerlach

07-20-13, 03:04 PM

This boat he is looking very good indeed.!:up:

iambecomelife

07-20-13, 04:01 PM

FYI people; I've been getting requests for a link to the mod. For the record, it is INCOMPLETE, and will not be finished for many months. You can NOT download it now, because there is nothing for you to download. As soon as it is finished, I will post a link in the forum. That will not be for a long time. If you want it finished sooner, rather than later, offer to help.

To c13Garrison, thanks for your offer; I will msg you later.

That's all!

Admiral Halsey

07-21-13, 05:51 PM

Wow she looks beautiful.

Admiral Halsey

08-03-13, 01:11 PM

I assume that since asdic/sonar wasn't developed until after the war that surviving the whole war will be a lot easier?

Admiral Von Gerlach

08-03-13, 09:33 PM

Back then, signalling was with flag hoists or semaphore, lights at night, and primitive wireless, often disrupted. So the hunt for and evasion and attacks by submarines were done by brute strength, fortitude and seamanship. There was NO radar, LORAN, and all navigatoin was by star and time fix, and the skills of the crews. Command among units was very slow, and based on very ponderous group and formation tactics. Sort of like two heavy weight boxers with blindfolds boxing in the dark.

Subs were a new weapon, and for much of the early war, the British, who had the largest fleet, tried to ignore them. They learned the hard way it was not possible.

So the missions for this mod will be interesting and may be based on FINDING the targets as well as sinking them. There were shipping lanes but after the convoy system was imposed later on in the war, it was not easy for a small frail U boat to do much more than attack and run. Will be fun to see what our Mod Master comes up with.

Admiral Halsey

08-03-13, 11:14 PM

Like I stated before I want a mission that requires you to sink the Lusitania.(Or at least have her off the Old Head of Kinsale on May 7, 1915.)

c13Garrison

08-05-13, 06:37 PM

I would like to see someone add to the Mod once 'Iamb' is satisfied with his finished product. It would be awesome to enable the player to take over command of any of Germany's "at large" cruisers at war's start, and lead them on commerce raiding missions such as Emden did.

However, given this will be very complicated, I will be quite happy with a 1914 U-Boat for a long, long time. :up:

I wonder if non-scripted surface encounters could even be accurately reproduced with the SH4 engine...

iambecomelife

08-05-13, 10:07 PM

I assume that since asdic/sonar wasn't developed until after the war that surviving the whole war will be a lot easier?

It really won't be that much easier. Rather, it will be nearly as terrifying as World War II combat. About 40% of World War I Kaiserliche Marine submariners were killed in action. Not as bad as the statistics for WWII, but pretty close. Consider that you will be facing several disadvantages:

-Poor propulsion technology. Many submarine classes had very limited range, both surfaced and submerged - especially the old kerosene boats, which will be included in the early years of the mod. Planning an attack without factoring in your above or underwater range will be suicidal. Not much fun, facing a British destroyer with drained batteries or an empty tank after you've torpedoed one of his merchantmen.

-Unlike WWII, the Germans never completely conquered France. The Biscay ports were held by the enemy - and there was also another large enemy navy to deal with throughout the war.

-Ireland was still occupied by England. Again, more unfriendly waters, as well as more facilities for the opposing navy to dispatch anti-sub craft from. Cruise within sight of the Irish coast in SH3 and nothing happens - do the same in "Wolves of the Kaiser" and an observation post WILL report you to British escort vessels. Yes, you can script this in SH4.

-The Great Northern Barrage. Once the Allies began to copy German mines, their mining operations became every bit as lethal as the Axis powers'. The Barrage made it extremely difficult for U-Boats to navigate around the North of the British Isles. In the end, mines proved to be one of the most deadly anti-U-Boat weapons of the war. To this day they're still finding WWI sub wrecks where the mine barrages once were.

-No effective wolfpacks. Due to primitive communications and operational stubbornness, German subs never had the same success with multi-submarine attacks that they had in World War II. There were a few notable achievements, like the sinking of the "Justicia" by UB-64 and UB-124 on 07/20/1918; however, these were exceptions. Attack a convoy and most of the time you will be on your own.

Admiral Halsey

08-05-13, 10:42 PM

Well since I play SH4 not having wolfpacks is something i'm accustomed to. I also don't really see how bad the mining can be as I have yet to run into one after nearly a year of playing SH4. Heck there was only a 20% of even running into one of the mines in the North Sea surfaced and just a measly 10% submerged.(Though I most certainly won't miss cruising at periscope depth and suddenly get bombed by a plane.)

Cybermat47

08-05-13, 11:33 PM

What planes will be in the mod?

iambecomelife

08-06-13, 05:20 AM

What planes will be in the mod?

The roster's still not 100% decided. Here are screens posted earlier of some of the Allied craft:

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/iambecomelife/Seaplane-BW.jpg
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/iambecomelife/Seaplane-03.jpg
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/iambecomelife/Seaplane-02.jpg
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/iambecomelife/Seaplane-01.jpg
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/iambecomelife/Be2-v2.jpg
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/iambecomelife/Be2-v1.jpg
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/iambecomelife/Fee-1.jpg
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/iambecomelife/Fee-2.jpg

Admiral Halsey

08-13-13, 05:26 PM

I retract my previous statement about not getting bombed by planes.

Jawohlherrkaleun

08-15-13, 09:41 AM

ambecomelife : Does Gulf of Finland operations interest you for the mod? If yes, then I have found some russian warships which operated in this area :

-4 Gangut class dreadnought battleships : Gangut, Petropavlovsk, Sevastopol, Poltava
401

-3 Bayan class armoured cruisers : Admiral Makarov, Bayan, Pallada (sunk by U-26, 11 october 1914)
398

-2 Bogatyr class protected cruisers : Oleg, Bogatyr
http://www.the-blueprints.com/blueprints-depot/ships/ships-russia/russia-bogatyr-1902-protected-cruiser.png

-16 Orfey class destroyers
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d8/Letun.jpg@I
(Sorry, I couldn't find any blueprint)

There are many others but I know this is a minor fleet (in terms of importance) for this mod.

iambecomelife

08-15-13, 05:27 PM

@Iambecomelife : Does Gulf of Finland operations interest you for the mod? If yes, then I have found some russian warships which operated in this area :

-4 Gangut class dreadnought battleships : Gangut, Petropavlovsk, Sevastopol, Poltava
401
-3 Bayan class armoured cruisers : Admiral Makarov, Bayan, Pallada (sunk by U-26, 11 october 1914)
398
-2 Bogatyr class protected cruisers : Oleg, Bogatyr
399
-16 Orfey class destroyers
400 (Sorry, I couldn't find any blueprint)

There are many others but I know this is a minor fleet (in terms of importance) for this mod.

I do, actually, want to model the "Bayan" class (to recreate "Pallada's" sinking in a single mission). As usual, it's all a matter of time - no guarantees!

iambecomelife

08-18-13, 11:05 PM

I tested shore bombardment this weekend, and was mostly satisfied with the results. I used the existing oil tank mod but made many changes to it:

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/iambecomelife/sh42013-08-1713-15-33-58.jpg~original

-It has fewer hitpoints, and can be detonated by light weaponry.
-The 3d model is new, and can be skinned with company logos etc.
-The flames in the old model were inside the 3d object, so I moved them out to make them visible.

Now, shore bombardment will be much more dramatic. Ideally, this object will be the basis for lots of other destructible items, like troops, bridges, & towns.

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/iambecomelife/sh42013-08-1713-25-17-38.jpg~original

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/iambecomelife/sh42013-08-1823-12-58-25.jpg~original

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/iambecomelife/sh42013-08-1823-15-53-74.jpg~original

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/iambecomelife/sh42013-08-1823-14-24-90.jpg~original
The skinned model of the U-93 class boat, with an older model attack boat (U-51) in the background.

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/iambecomelife/MWSnap0092013-08-1823_33_11.jpg~original

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/iambecomelife/MWSnap0082013-08-1823_32_59.jpg~original

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/iambecomelife/MWSnap0102013-08-1823_36_31.jpg~original

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/iambecomelife/MWSnap0112013-08-1823_37_05.jpg~original

c13Garrison

08-19-13, 09:53 AM

Iambecomelife, I am so enthusiastic about your project. Please tell me you're in perfect health for at least however many years it will take to complete!

Seriously, I do have a question though. I understand Jutland is too big to attempt to model (I would think), but what about Dodger Banks? How "realistic" could ship to ship combat be in your mod? Would it be entirely scripted, or could the game AI resolve such a test uniquely & intelligently?

Your work thus far as I have seen is fantastic. I am grateful you have the skill & energy to embark upon such a project. Good luck!

G

Bubblehead1980

08-19-13, 10:09 AM

Char

08-19-13, 08:03 PM

That's it,I've decided. I'm building a Time machine and going about a year into the future to play this...and if it's not done then,I'll keep going in yearly Increments until I get to play it,or I hit Morlocks...

Admiral Halsey

08-19-13, 08:27 PM

I have a quick question. Did any of the German WW1 subs have comparable performance to any of the WW2 German subs?

iambecomelife

08-19-13, 10:00 PM

I have a quick question. Did any of the German WW1 subs have comparable performance to any of the WW2 German subs?

Several classes were roughly equal to the Type VII series of WWII. The U-87 and U-93 class, for instance, had 4 bow and 2 stern tubes, along with 12 torpedoes and a top speed of 15 - 17 knots. The Type UB-III were extremely similar to the Type VII's externally - to the point where some photographs misidentify them as World War II boats. They, too, had a similar configuration, with 4 bow tubes and 1 stern tube, although only 10 torpedoes were carried.

Some World War I classes were even better (on paper) than the Type VII's and Type IX's. The U-139 series (shown here) were huge submarines with armor plating, 19 torpedoes, a displacement of 2,000 tons, and a 13,600 mile range, and could still reach about 16 knots. They also had two large 150mm deck guns, and were supposed to be able to fight escort ships on the surface. The problem with them was that they were built with the prize warfare concept in mind, and diverted resources from the medium-sized attack boats that Germany really needed to win the war. As it turned out, the war was almost over by the time they went into service, and they sank less than 50,000 tons of shipping.

It would be interesting to see how large cruiser submarines would have performed in the Atlantic in WWII. I imagine it wouldn't have gone well for them, due to factors like air attack & slow diving time. Plus, even with 150mm guns I can't see a cruiser sub winning against a hunter-killer group attacking from multiple directions. Any thoughts? It's fun to speculate.

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/iambecomelife/U139-sm.jpg~original

Admiral Halsey

08-19-13, 10:29 PM

Thanks. I can't wait for this mod. I even have my captains name picked out. Lothar von Arnauld de la Perière is what he shall be called.(I figure using the name of the highest scoring U-Boat ace ever would bring me some good luck.) Oh I nearly forgot. I honestly think if a U-139 type sub was going against a Flower-class corvette the sub would win.(Though any more then 2 and the sub better dive.)

c13Garrison

08-19-13, 10:40 PM

@Char

That is the best idea I've heard in years. I'll call HG Wells.

Hitman

08-21-13, 10:28 AM

It would be interesting to see how large cruiser submarines would have performed in the Atlantic in WWII. I imagine it wouldn't have gone well for them, due to factors like air attack & slow diving time. Plus, even with 150mm guns I can't see a cruiser sub winning against a hunter-killer group attacking from multiple directions. Any thoughts? It's fun to speculate.

No need to speculate at all. :) The americans borrowed the plans as it fitted their doctrine of the time and almost cloned the concept in their Nautilus/Narwhal classes with 6 inch guns. You can see that those big US usbs had even a similar bow and on some pics you could mistake them easily for an U-cruiser. They were more or less a big failure in WW2, and that even if the japanese navy was technically lagging a lot behind the allies. Pitting those subs against the allied forces in the north atlantic would have been plainly disastrous.

On the other hand the big Type IXD/2 was also quite similar and it gave some moderate success in remote waters, so it's still food for thought.

Regarding the shore bombardment, is there any way to get renown for that?

andycts

08-24-13, 04:42 AM

This mod looks great,thanks for all the hard work and time that's going into it.By the way-please give plenty of warning when it will be released so i can book a weeks holiday off work to play it lol-and send wife to visit her mother for a week.

good luck

in_vino_vomitus

08-24-13, 06:40 AM

@Char

That is the best idea I've heard in years. I'll call HG Wells.

I have an idea about this - If it works, I'll pick you up last week.....

iambecomelife

08-25-13, 12:42 AM

I'm replacing the hat for the "Matrose" (sp?) "Obermatrose", and "Bootsmannsmaat". Three of the twelve heads for crewmen can now accept this modification.

Old model is on the first page of this thread.

New model is below. Question for anyone familiar with Kaiseriche Marine uniforms: did any Chief Petty Officers or men of similar rank wear caps with brims, like the ones that officers had? Or did they all wear caps without brims like this model? Thanks.

EDIT - SEE MOST RECENT POST (09/01/2013)

Admiral Halsey

08-25-13, 11:27 AM

Looking good.

Sepp von Ch.

08-26-13, 04:59 PM

Looks nice. Weather will also "European" or the stock game?

Admiral Von Gerlach

09-01-13, 01:29 PM

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c4/Bundesarchiv_Bild_116-424-042%2C_China%2C_Tsingtau.jpg

Petty Officers were men who selected the Navy as a career and were considered under or officers in training. So their uniforms were differnt from the men, i am asking about your question about caps. above is one of the best remaining crew pictures. Remember tropical and colonial uniforms were differint.

here is regular navy saillor from the SS Goeben.

http://s400910952.websitehome.co.uk/germancolonialuniforms/photos/Sailor%20Henry2.jpg

http://s400910952.websitehome.co.uk/germancolonialuniforms/photos/Ludwig.jpg

This is a studio photograph taken in Kiel, Germany about 1907-08. It shows a sailor ("Matrose") named Ludwig Krauss.
He wears standard German naval uniform as worn by other ranks from the 1870's until 1918. He has a dark blue woollen cap (see right) with an imperial cockade and black cap tally with a yellow (or white) metallic inscription showing the name of his ship- "S.M.S. PREUSSEN". His shirt is the blue woollen winter naval top ("Wollenes Hemd" or woollen shirt) with removable naval collar in a lighter shade of blue with three white stripes (see right). The collar is tucked into a black neckerchief at the front, tied with white cord. He would almost certainly have been wearing matching dark blue trousers worn loose over black boots.

here is the NCO cap:

http://s400910952.websitehome.co.uk/germancolonialuniforms/militaria/photos/W1.JPG

and U boot crew cap

http://s400910952.websitehome.co.uk/germancolonialuniforms/militaria/photos/U1.jpg

here is very good source for WWI German Fleet uniforms of all kinds with very good detail..

http://s400910952.websitehome.co.uk/germancolonialuniforms/militaria/navaluniforms.htm

it is mostly about Colonial German Service uniforms but covers regular too.

http://www.germancolonialuniforms.co.uk/

a little known source was cigarette cards which were widely made and collected of uniforms of the period and ships and much more..here is a classic example of such in a book

http://www.saxoniamilitaria.com/page4/page32/page49/index.html

iambecomelife

09-01-13, 02:54 PM

Petty Officers were men who selected the Navy as a career and were considered under or officers in training. So their uniforms were differnt from the men, i am asking about your question about caps. above is one of the best remaining crew pictures. Remember tropical and colonial uniforms were differint.

here is regular navy saillor from the SS Goeben.

This is a studio photograph taken in Kiel, Germany about 1907-08. It shows a sailor ("Matrose") named Ludwig Krauss.

He wears standard German naval uniform as worn by other ranks from the 1870's until 1918. He has a dark blue woollen cap (see right) with an imperial cockade and black cap tally with a yellow (or white) metallic inscription showing the name of his ship- "S.M.S. PREUSSEN". His shirt is the blue woollen winter naval top ("Wollenes Hemd" or woollen shirt) with removable naval collar in a lighter shade of blue with three white stripes (see right). The collar is tucked into a black neckerchief at the front, tied with white cord. He would almost certainly have been wearing matching dark blue trousers worn loose over black boots.

here is the NCO cap:

and U boot crew cap

here is very good source for WWI German Fleet uniforms of all kinds with very good detail..

http://s400910952.websitehome.co.uk/germancolonialuniforms/militaria/navaluniforms.htm

it is mostly about Colonial German Service uniforms but covers regular too.

http://www.germancolonialuniforms.co.uk/

a little known source was cigarette cards which were widely made and collected of uniforms of the period and ships and much more..here is a classic example of such in a book

http://www.saxoniamilitaria.com/page4/page32/page49/index.html

Thanks! That answers my question. The Petty Officers would apparently not have worn caps with brims. In "Murder on the Atlantic" I noticed several of the U-20's lower-ranking officers (PO's?) wore them, but that was probably just another one of that movie's inaccuracies.

I will tweak the caps so that the lettering & details look better. Maybe I can implement cap ribbons by attaching a 3d object node to the cap object in MARINE.dat? We'll see...

Based on my research there were a lot of ranks that could be on a U-Boat of WWI. UB-123 (a small attack boat of the UB-III type) had the following ranks on board when she was sunk in 1918:

-Oberleutnant zur See (Lieutenant)
-Leutnant (Sub-Lieutenant)
-Steuermann (Helmsman/Navigator)
-Marineingenieur (Marine Engineer)
-Maschinist (Chief Petty Officer, Engines)
-Bootsmannsmaat (Petty Officer)
-Maschinistenmaat (PO Engines)
-Funkmaat (PO Radio)
-Obermaschinistenwarter (Able Seaman Engines)
-Maschinistenwarter (Ordinary Seaman Engines)
-Funngast (Ordinary Seaman Radio)
-Obermatrose (Able Seaman)
-Matrose (Ordinary Seaman)
-Heizer (Stoker)

To simplify things I will probably only use the following ranks:

-Oberleutnant zur See (Lieutenant)
-Leutnant (Sub-Lieutenant)
-Bootsmannsmaat (Petty Officer)
-Obermatrose (Able Seaman)
-Matrose (Ordinary Seaman)

Your men will be able to get specializations, of course, as they gain experience, but they will not get a new name for their rank like "Maschinistenmaat". They will still be petty officers (Bootsmannsmaat).

Re: Dogger Bank: If I can finish the "Lion" battlecruiser model and a few German battlecruisers, then Dogger Bank will probably be modeled as a scripted event in career mode.

Re: weather: The weather and lighting will be changed to reflect a North Atlantic environment. One of my main concerns is that the entire ambience of the mod has a more "grim", cold, Atlantic feel - not the cheerful tropic ambience that the stock game seems to have. Fog, weather patterns, process filters, and even the game menus themselves will reflect this.

c13Garrison

09-01-13, 03:45 PM

Excellent attitude & direction Iam, bravo.

Sepp von Ch.

09-01-13, 04:15 PM

iambecomelife

09-01-13, 04:54 PM

Yes, but the german standard WWI U-Boats crew clothing under combat conditions looks different as parade or standard "in port" clothing.

http://s16.postimg.org/cn2rnml6p/image.jpg (http://postimg.org/image/cn2rnml6p/)
http://s2.postimg.org/iho6livvp/image.jpg (http://postimg.org/image/iho6livvp/)
http://s24.postimg.org/ynau9sg6p/image.jpg (http://postimg.org/image/ynau9sg6p/)

I understand. But based on movies, paintings, & pictures I've seen, they did wear the formal navy uniform on board submarines, especially towards the beginning of the war (note the officer seated in the painting below, for example). Despite looking nice it was not very comfortable, especially due to the extreme heat and cold you'd experience on your typical WWI U-Boat. Later in the war they were much more likely to wear waterproof pants/jacket, or warm civilian clothes.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c6/Felix_Schwormstadt_-_Illustrierte_Zeitung_081_-_03.jpg

I will be adding some less formal clothing to represent what U-Boat crews would have worn from around mid 1915 - 1918. I have already set some of the crew figures to wear the American stock waterproof coat, which you'll notice in some of the latest screenshots. It's a surprisingly good match for the WWI German gear.

iambecomelife

09-01-13, 10:35 PM

Changed the 1914-1915 uni's AGAIN - please excuse the repetitive pics, but I really wanted to get rid of the "Boyscout" style neckerchiefs. Now they are draped along the sailors' backs. Adding a 3d neckerchief to the crew model crashes the game, so I added it to the uniform skin.

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/iambecomelife/interior2.jpg~original

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/iambecomelife/Exterior.jpg~original

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/iambecomelife/Untitled-17-6.jpg~original

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/iambecomelife/Untitled-18-7.jpg~original

Adding tattoos to make the crewmember skins more diverse. Not sure his mother is going to be pleased, eh? :oops: Maybe add a couple clamshells, for the sake of modesty..? :hmmm:

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/iambecomelife/Untitled-19-5.jpg~original
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/iambecomelife/mermaid.jpg~original

Admiral Von Gerlach

09-02-13, 01:03 PM

Superb work on those latest ones. And yes ship board working outfits were developed later on in the war, and shortages of materials led to some drastic changes but for the first three years, officers would wear what we would think of as formal kit, it was unthinkable for a gentleman of that era to be underdressed..and even in the tropics they worse such. My grandfather who was a captain of a torpedo boat destroyer in 1916 said that coaling ship was dirty work for all hands for 30 hours but once over officers went right back into their full outfits or got severe reperemand from the Kapitain. Hands, ie sailormen were very proud of their uinforms and wore them with pride even in the roughest conditions. The U Boat arm was considered an elite of sorts even tho it was somewhat looked down upon by the big ship sailors and often fights and the right arm argument was used between the branches of the service ashore...but they were firecly proud of their ranks and selves and served with fierce determination partly because of the very rough conditions.

Iron/steel ships of that era had minimal comforts, remember NO air conditioning of any sort, so they were very cold, or hot, alwasy clammy from humidtiy and rough to live in and work in. Get into a large iron storage container and have someone beat on the outside with large hammers, and do that for days at a time and you will have some idea of what it was like to serve on those boats.

the cap ribbons were a small way of showing ship and rank pride, hardly known about now, but such things were very important to sailormen of that era, their lives were hard hard hard work with very few frills at all. That was very nice of you to notice that and think about it.

Dogger Banik was a very important event, if you can do the Blucher that would be great, and any of the birtish BCs could do at a pinch there were only two main ship types for them. Same for the German side, The Seydliz can stand in for most of the rest. They were all lovely ships, called the Greyhounds of the Sea back then and much envied and admired by all afloat and ashore. They had their weaknesses as we found out in action with the vulnerabiltiy of the magazines to flash danger but the German fleet was lucky to have had an accident aboard ship with that and put in flash doors which saved their ships but the UK did not and suffered for it.

You continue to do wonderful work. We will keep helping however we can, PM me if you have urgent need as i cannot get back here as often as i would like due to other duties.

some photos i found doing research..

http://www.battle-of-jutland.com/gallery/jutland-battleships/battleship-images/german-fleet-01.jpg

http://www.battle-of-jutland.com/gallery/jutland-battleships/battleship-images/ww1-uboat-02.jpg

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/13/German_UC-1_class_submarine.jpg

SM U-118, minelaying German U Boat, 1919

http://cdn1.spiegel.de/images/image-521750-breitwandaufmacher-ksia.jpg

some interesting news about wrecks found

On the old game show "What's My Line?" Briton Mark Dunkley might have been described with the following words: "He does what many adventurers around the world can only dream of doing."

Dunkley is an underwater archeologist who dives for lost treasures. His most recent discoveries were anything if not eerie. On the seafloor along the southern and eastern coasts of the UK (http://www.spiegel.de/international/topic/united_kingdom/), Dunkley and three other divers have found one of the largest graveyards in the world's oceans, with 41 German and three English submarines from World War I (http://www.spiegel.de/international/topic/world_war_one/). Most of the submarines sank with their crews still on board, causing many sailors to die in horrific ways, either by drowning or suffocating in the cramped and airtight submarines.
Several U-boats with the German Imperial Navy are still considered missing today. Lists provide precise details on which of the U-boats the German naval forces had lost by the time the war ended in November 1918.
But it was completely unclear what had happened, for example, to UB 17, a subway crewed by 21 men under the command of naval Lieutenant Albert Branscheid. Neither was it clear where the 27-member crew of UC 21 -- a minelayer commanded by naval Lieutenant Werner von Zerboni di Sposetti -- had perished.
Securing British and German Heritage
But now things have changed.
Dunkley and his team of divers found UB 17 off England's east coast, near the county of Suffolk. UC 21 sank nearby. The fate of many other submarines, especially those that had suddenly disappeared in the last two years of the war, can now be considered known.
All of the sunken U-boats are relatively close to the coast, at depths of no more than 15 meters (about 50 feet). The diving archeologists will undoubtedly find the remains of sailors with the German Imperial Navy inside the wrecks. In the language of archeology, such finds are referred to as "disaster samples." In any case, the divers will be searching for signs of the crewmembers that died inside the U-boats.
"We owe it to these people to tell their story," says Dunkley. He works for English Heritage, a public body that is part of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. Its primary mission is to secure Britain's cultural heritage.
The British could see it as a peculiar irony of history that these measures are now benefiting the heritage of their former enemy. Since the Germans attacked civilian targets in World War I, British propaganda derisively referred to the submarines as "baby killers."
"Many have forgotten how successful the German U-boat fleet was for a time," says Dunkley -- an assessment that is by no means intended to glorify the German attacks. In fact, one of the goals of the most recent English Heritage project is to remind people that, although they might be more familiar with submarine warfare from World War II (http://www.spiegel.de/international/topic/world_war_ii/), the ships also caused considerable devastation in the previous world war.
A Slowly Embraced Weapon
Indeed, it had practically vanished from popular memory that the Germans caused great losses to their main enemy, Great Britain, in World War I through targeted torpedo strikes against the British Merchant Navy. At the beginning of the war, there were only 28 U-boats under the supreme command of Kaiser Wilhelm II, a tiny number compared to the Allied fleet.
At first, many political decision-makers in Berlin were unclear about exactly how the military devices, which were still novel at the time, could be used. Grand Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz had such a low opinion of the importance of the steel diving vessels that he even referred to them as a "secondary weapon."
An operations order signed by Kaiser Wilhelm on July 30, 1914 also assigned a secondary role to the U-boats at first. Under the order, they were to be used primarily to engage hostile ships in naval battles with the Imperial High Seas Fleet, which had been upgraded at considerable cost.
But after a German U-boat sank three English armored cruisers, an unbridled enthusiasm erupted in the German Empire for this still relatively untested form of naval warfare. A large number of volunteers signed up for submarine duty, even though serving in the cramped cabins was practically a suicide mission at the time, especially in comparison with the types of underwater vessels used in World War II and, even more so, today's submarines.
The conditions inside the boats were claustrophobic and extremely hot. There were cases in which entire crews were wiped out when a torpedo misfired. Likewise, since aiming torpedoes was still such an imprecise science, the submarines had to come dangerously close to enemy warships. And if spotted, they became easy prey: Early submarines moved through the water so slowly that enemy warships could easily take up pursuit and sink the attackers, either with depth charges or by ramming. In fact, some 187, or almost half, of the 380 U-boats used by the German navy in World War I were lost.
A Race Against Time
Dunkley and his colleagues examine the wrecks with ultrasound sonar devices they wear on their wrists like watches. The devices allow them to measure wall thickness and determine the extent to which corrosion has already eaten away at a ship's hull.
Measures to secure the vessels are urgently needed, says Dunkley. Since the U-boat graveyard at sea is gradually disintegrating, time is of the essence for the archeologists. Under the strict guidelines of the UNESCO Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage, the World War I wrecks sitting on the seafloor are currently not even considered archeological artifacts deserving special protection.
The disintegrating war machines are currently just shy of the 100 years required to attain this status. For this reason, Dunkley's team is trying to wrest as many secrets as possible from the wrecks in the coming months.
In cases where mines or torpedoes have torn large holes into the vessels, the archeologists can even peer inside. When this is not the case, robotic vehicles will cut open the hatches of the steel coffins and go inside.
"We divers only approach the boats with great caution. Venturing inside would definitely be extremely dangerous," Dunkley says.
It is hard to determine how almost a century of lying in place, as well as sedimentary deposits, have changed the structural integrity of the wrecks. If a U-boat turns over as a result of the divers' movements, its narrow corridors could become deathtraps.
The treatment of the crews' remains is also complicated. By law, the sites are considered inviolable gravesites. Nevertheless, the archeologists don't want to miss the opportunity to try to recover other signs of the erstwhile sailors in the underwater crypts. "Perhaps we'll find a cup or a sign with a name on it," Dunkley says.
Attacking and Sinking in Groups
The marine archeologists were struck by the fact that sometimes two or three German U-boats were found lying in close proximity to one another. For historians, this serves as evidence of a certain German combat strategy in an especially drastic phase of the U-boat war.
In February 1917, the Imperial Navy had altered its strategy and was now torpedoing and firing guns at British commercial ships on a large scale. The Royal Navy reacted by providing the freighters with warship escorts, as well as using airships and aircraft to spot enemy submarines from above.

German military strategists devised a plan to break up these massive convoys: attacking the naval convoys with several U-boats at the same time. But the strategy was difficult to implement because it was very difficult to coordinate such complex maneuvers at the time. Historians are divided over whether the convoy system ultimately saved the United Kingdom from defeat or whether it was the United States' entry into the war on April 6, 1917.
Before then, the British had relied on creativity to fend off U-boats and other enemy ships. The hulls of their own ships were painted with confusing patterns designed by artists at the Royal Academy in London. But there is no historical evidence to prove that this measure saved even a single ship from the German torpedoes.

http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/british-archaeologists-explore-wwi-submarine-graveyard-off-uk-coast-a-911648.html

very good close up of German Destroyer showing the engine vents...

http://www.naval-history.net/WW1z12Cox-02.JPG

german u boat gun by Krupp

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d1/Bundesarchiv_DVM_10_Bild-23-61-04%2C_Versenkbares_7%2C5cm-U-Boot-Gesch%C3%BCtz.jpg

iambecomelife

09-02-13, 08:10 PM

Thank you very much for your reply! A font of information, as always! Fascinating bit about the uniforms, and how you were expected to dress like a "gentleman" regardless of discomfort...my own grandparents lived in a tropical climate, and it amuses me to see old photographs where they're in coats/ties/long dresses even though it's likely 90 degrees Fahrenheit!

That's a very interesting family connection. Do you know if your grandfather was at Jutland, Dogger Bank, or anywhere else?

Also, do you know what caliber the gun below is? I'm guessing well below 88mm...?

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d1/Bundesarchiv_DVM_10_Bild-23-61-04%2C_Versenkbares_7%2C5cm-U-Boot-Gesch%C3%BCtz.jpg

iambecomelife

09-02-13, 08:18 PM

Had the day off, and continued to work on the crewmembers. There's tremendous room for modding with SH4,
and it surprises me what hasn't been done. Like adding more crewmember faces, for instance. I'm far from expert at skinning,
but some of the newer software tools have been a big help to me. The skins below are what can be done for Head#12
alone (blonde haired skins). Young men, grizzled vets, and salty sea dogs with tattoos. :rotfl2:

Haven't even started on the redhead & brunette skins yet. Once again, that will be a chance for more variety.

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/iambecomelife/Crewmember-Faces.jpg~original

Hopefully this will give your crew a little more individuality - seeing the same old heads is a little boring.

Madox58

09-02-13, 08:37 PM

Also, do you know what caliber the gun below is? I'm guessing well below 88mm...?

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d1/Bundesarchiv_DVM_10_Bild-23-61-04%2C_Versenkbares_7%2C5cm-U-Boot-Gesch%C3%BCtz.jpg

I'm thinking I gave you a link to a file that explained several WWI era guns like this once?
:hmmm:

7.5cm gun made by Krupp. Was made to fold away under the deck.

iambecomelife

09-02-13, 08:54 PM

I'm thinking I gave you a link to a file that explained several WWI era guns like this once?
:hmmm:

75mm gun made by Krupp. Was made to fold away under the deck.

Thanks! It's an interesting little weapon - the barrel's much shorter than most of the WWI submarine guns I've seen. The USN shortened the barrels of sub-mounted weapons in WWII to improve accuracy (at short range, I guess?) Maybe the same principle was applied here.

Madox58

09-02-13, 09:00 PM

Thanks!
I'll see if I still have the file but I know it had an image of that same gun being fired from a prone position!
It was folded down to the deck I remember that much!
:D

And it was back around page 45 that I sent a link to stuff.

Admiral Halsey

09-02-13, 09:08 PM

I just had a thought. Shouldn't this be in the SH4 ATO forum or is that only for when the mod is done? Also did WW1 U-Boats have conning tower upgrades?

Madox58

09-03-13, 04:05 PM

Here's a couple more images of the Krupp 7.5.
http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n12/privateer_2006/SH4/deckquickfire_01.jpg

http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n12/privateer_2006/SH4/deckquickfire_02.jpg

iambecomelife

09-03-13, 07:11 PM

I just had a thought. Shouldn't this be in the SH4 ATO forum or is that only for when the mod is done? Also did WW1 U-Boats have conning tower upgrades?

Originally, I was considering adding Pacific action to this mod (yes, the German Navy was active there in WWI). Also, this forum gets more traffic than the ATO forum.

WWI U-Boats did get conning tower upgrades. If you look at the original plans for U-20 (which sank "Lusitania") and photos taken after May 1915, you'll notice a lot of changes to the conning tower. Other well-documented U-Boats like U-35 also show changes to their conning towers over time.

Thank you for your pictures, Privateer. It will be easy to use a controller via S3ditor & make this gun invisible underwater, so I may even model it!

Admiral Halsey

09-03-13, 07:36 PM

Originally, I was considering adding Pacific action to this mod (yes, the German Navy was active there in WWI). Also, this forum gets more traffic than the ATO forum.

WWI U-Boats did get conning tower upgrades. If you look at the original plans for U-20 (which sank "Lusitania") and photos taken after May 1915, you'll notice a lot of changes to the conning tower. Other well-documented U-Boats like U-35 also show changes to their conning towers over time.

Thank you for your pictures, Privateer. It will be easy to use a controller via S3ditor & make this gun invisible underwater, so I may even model it!

Thank you for the response which brings up another question. If you can get the conning towers to upgrade with out breaking the game like Op Monsun did do you think you'll ever fix that mods conning tower upgrade bug?(I really like the mod but the fact that when you get a conning tower upgrade it completely breaks the game ruins the fun of it.)

Madox58

09-04-13, 01:13 PM

Thank you for your pictures, Privateer. It will be easy to use a controller via S3ditor & make this gun invisible underwater, so I may even model it!

I believe the Modders here have done things that fold away when you dive the boat.

This Gun may have only been a design idea along with the retractable 8.8 around 1913. All the images I've seen of both were always a technical type shot for techie manual type print.

It would still be Cool to be able to start with this type gun and work up to the bigger guns as an option.
:yep:

Look for the 7.5 mountain guns for images that show details of the base gun breach and such. I can find the links again if you need them.

Rockin Robbins

09-04-13, 02:50 PM

I just had a thought. Shouldn't this be in the SH4 ATO forum or is that only for when the mod is done? Also did WW1 U-Boats have conning tower upgrades?
Who cares? I just want to see this mod come to fruition! If I have to go to the Atlantic to do it that's a small price to pay.:D

c13Garrison

09-04-13, 05:18 PM

I just want someone to wave a magic wand or use a genie wish to give iamb a staff of 20 and budget of millions to complete this, With the option to play the German East Asia Squadron!!

It would be so awesome to commerce raid with the squadron, defeat or avoid British hunters, and spend your renown to restock with ammo or coal, and eventually have to make your break back to Germany- where if you had been specTacularly successful you could spend renown on adding new ships to your squadron, and then going out again!

...ah well, I can dream. :) and I will be terribly pleased just to operate in a WWI environment.

Admiral Halsey

09-04-13, 08:35 PM

c13Garrison

09-04-13, 09:39 PM

It would be awesome if profound success or failure could alter the way the game played, but everything I've read or heard says that would be tantamount to writing a whole new game.

When I have my millions I'll get to work on that.

TorpX

09-05-13, 01:04 AM

When I have my millions I'll get to work on that.
Fortunately, it doesn't cost us anything to dream.

Admiral Von Gerlach

09-05-13, 01:58 AM

Mr Privateer has answered yes it was 7.5 cm, and very handy weapon indeed, it was called the milk maid by the crews for reasons lost in time perhaps because it kneeled down? who can know now?

We can add some pacific action, would love to see the Far East Squadron do its work under Von Spee ...but we wont ask you to do more than you can for now. so far it has been amazing to watch.

Von Spee's Squadron leaving Valapriso:

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_lEtkuz8ScYM/SZGJzPutEtI/AAAAAAAACEE/Vh4AFEkQvto/s1600/Scharnhorst+2.jpg

German Vice Admiral von Spee's cruiser squadron leaving Valparaiso, Chile, circa 3 November 1914, following the Battle of Coronel. The German ships are in the distance, with the armored cruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau in the lead, followed by light cruiser Nürnberg. Chilean Navy warships in the middle distance include (from left to right): cruisers Esmeralda, O'Higgins and Blanco Encalda and old battleship Capitan Prat.

Grandfather did action in the pacific as well, the German fleet had radio stations all over the Pacific and he was servicing them until things got hot. His ship was VERY hot in the tropics, they rigged wind scuttles to bring in air but imagine what the poor sub men suffered in the cold. they were hardy men indeed back then. He knew Scheer, was friends with Count Von Luckner, and some of the other admirals of those actions, and he had their books in his collectoin and i was raised on stories from then so if you have specific questions i may be able to help.

the sailormen are very good, i agree the modablity of SH4 is very good, it lies just before technical upgrades to both computers and software made it harder and harder to mod things.

I have contacts in Germany who can help us get you info when you have questions, so keep posting them as they come up and we will do what we can.

Rockin Robbins

09-05-13, 09:28 AM

and spend your renown to restock with ammo or coal,
The whole concept of "spending renown" is bogus. You think that when a sub returned to port they said "you don't have enough renown to be resupplied with torpedoes?" Or maybe they would give you old torpedoes instead of the best available just because you didn't have enough renown? They going to refuse to give you enough fuel and just park your boat? Don't make me laugh.

That's why I use my Cheap and Early Torpedoes mod. Unfortunately it does change the dates torpedoes are available (I have to change that back and re-release as Cheap Torpedoes and include the new Mark 23s in there too!

I was never much for modding but I seem to be nibbling around the edges now...

Admiral Halsey

09-05-13, 09:39 AM

That's a good thing. The more modders making the game realistic the better. Maybe you, Bubblehead and Armistead can finish that Battleship Campaign Mod?

Rockin Robbins

09-05-13, 09:47 AM

I want to see Wolves of the Kaiser!:salute:

Admiral Halsey

09-05-13, 09:57 AM

I want to see Wolves of the Kaiser!:salute:

So do I it's just I want even more great mods as well.(Though once this is released I doubt i'll do anything on SUBSIM except check for updates to this mod for awhile.)

Admiral Von Gerlach

09-05-13, 03:02 PM

The secret to success for a fine project such as this is focus and keeping it simple ..tho not the details..they must be as accurate as possible. one step at a time, and keeping the elements of the action solid and based on what we know SH can do.

Rockin Robbins

09-05-13, 03:22 PM

The secret to success for a fine project such as this is focus and keeping it simple.... one step at a time, and keeping the elements of the action solid and based on what we know SH can do.
Pfffft!! I can quit worrying about whether this mod will succeed or not. That's an attitude I wish were around SH4 a lot more in 2009. I give you my absolute respect sir!:salute:

Admiral Von Gerlach

09-06-13, 03:16 PM

Danke and thank you. Respect passed on to iambecomelife (http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/member.php?u=215754) It is a great pleasure to support this fine project, shows what one man with great determination and focus can achieve and we can all be glad of the chance to help as we can. This sim platform and engine remains very workable with devotion and care..and I have great faith we will see him deliver this project to launch and success.

Hitman

09-08-13, 05:56 AM

I can quit worrying about whether this mod will succeed or not

You can quit that at once. If it were someone else in charge I would not be so sure, but IABL has shown how he has the patience, will, dedication and skills to do mammouth mods like the MFM. Of course it will take time, as the MFM took, but we are not going anywhere, are we? :D

Admiral Halsey

09-08-13, 08:48 AM

What is the MFM?

agrims

09-09-13, 01:11 AM

Merchant Fleet Mod. :D

iambecomelife

09-09-13, 08:01 PM

For a change in subject, here's some work on improving the menu screens. I threw this together over the weekend in between volunteer training - not 100% satisfied but it's a start, and shows you what changes you can expect.

Before:

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/iambecomelife/CrewPageBackground.jpg~original

After:

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/iambecomelife/menu-01.jpg~original

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/iambecomelife/menu-02.jpg~original

Of course, the final product will have WWI themed decoration and rank icons, German names for the men, and will not use the Trigger Maru - themed menu bar or American gauges. I am working to locate Kaiserliche Marine depth gauges and compasses etc.

As a side note, it has really bothered me how sometimes the interface is neglected in modern games. I remember that the IL2 series, despite all its great graphics, just didn't seem fun to play due to the sterile menu bars. On the other hand, the "Over Flanders Fields" WWI flight sim mod has always had some of the best interface artwork ever - easily as good as what any paid team of developers could put together. Here I hoped to capture what a U-Boat commander might see on his desk after a long day - wondering how the crew on his old boat is doing, or perhaps whether the wife & kids have enough to eat, considering England's blockade. (IRL that's a picture of the Royal Family, so I imagine they dined quite well. They still make a good stand-in for an "ordinary" officer's family!)

Admiral Halsey

09-09-13, 08:11 PM

Good job IABL. I love the new crew photos.

iambecomelife

09-09-13, 08:36 PM

Good job IABL. I love the new crew photos.

Thanks; they were designed using stills from "Murder on the Atlantic". Unfortunately, I don't know of any other recent movies that show a World War I submarine and its crew.

Admiral Halsey

09-09-13, 08:58 PM

Thanks; they were designed using stills from "Murder on the Atlantic". Unfortunately, I don't know of any other recent movies that show a World War I submarine and its crew.

Really? From the way the photos look I thought they were from the game.

joefremont

09-10-13, 12:03 AM

While I really like the graphic, I worry its too busy and would make the admin screens harder to user.

iambecomelife

09-10-13, 05:36 AM

While I really like the graphic, I worry its too busy and would make the admin screens harder to user.

I am adding a spotlight effect so that the items are darker and contrast more with the text.

Admiral Von Gerlach

09-10-13, 11:37 AM

It looks indeed good.

U 135

http://imageshack.us/a/img268/2642/dtx1.jpg

Sadly this boat and I assume most of these crew were lost in the Med.

I keep looking at this amazing photo ..it is haunting..and crossed the years between them and us in some kind of way....i guess it is very moving to me to see, as i had three cousins who were U boat commanders in the next war and none of them came home...i see in these faces personalities, lives, families and people who's history your mod can bring to life and honour. It is worthy work being well done.

http://www.ww1medals.net/unreseeboot%20hal%20555.jpg

http://imageshack.us/a/img10/7135/q75d.jpg

Which of these Kapitan's would you choose to serve under? :)

http://imageshack.us/a/img845/9919/0beh.jpg

U 100 Sinking Allied Merchant Ship at sea

Found some new information if you do not know this site, it has uniforms, insignia, badges and much more in good photos:

http://www.ww1medals.net/UC-35.jpg

also found some very good summary from a fine book, Germany High Seas Fleet:

here

http://www.livebinders.com/play/play/92290

re navigation insturments best source is here:

http://landandseacollection.com/id415.html

they carry authentic such, and just sold a WW I German Kaiserliche Submarine Gyro Type III Undeseaboot surrendered Harwich, England in March, 1919

Before 1918, there were outstanding timepieces which the German Navy used for navigation purposes. To that category belong ship chronometers of Hamburg (Brocking, Ruediger Nieberg), Altona (Kessels), Luebeck (Carl Stein), Bremerhaven (W.G. Ehrlich), Nienburg (J. May) and Berlin (F.L. Loebner) and certainly of Glashuette (DUS, Lange) in Saxony, to mention a few. For the Bureau of Ships, the Deutsche Seewarte of the Kaiserliche Marine, there were established reference clocks like the regulator clock by Strasser and Rohde, Paul Stuebner and, of course, Lange & Soehne of Glashuette.

http://landandseacollection.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/.pond/robtlovetelltalegly.006.jpg.w300h296.jpg

also try the Compass Museum..they have many fine German instruments:

http://www.compassmuseum.com/images/nautical/hechelmann_compass_kl.jpg
http://www.compassmuseum.com/nautical/nautical.htm

High seas Fleet info

1916 many additions were made to the U-boat fleet
The U 19 would carry 9 torpedoes of 50 cm. calibre
Improvements were made in all U 40 and U 80 their number of torpedoes increased to 12.
The U 90 would be increased to 16 torpedoes.
The 50 cm. calibre had an explosive charge of 200 kilos.
The minelayer submarines never carried torpedoes, but they did carry 34 to 36 mines.
The small U-boats carried four torpedoes and was armed with just one 5 cm. guns but later they had an increase in demands for more guns and increased the guns to one to two 8.8 cm. They were placed on U-boats, U-B-boats, and U-C-boats.
The 15cm calibre gun was placed on the submarine cruiseres.

February 1, 1917 the U-cruisers were taken over by the Navy and altered for use as a war ship. They were fitted with two 15 cm. calibre guns and two torpedo tubes. It would cary 30 torpedoes.

citation
"Germany's High Sea Fleet in the World War." The Red Fighter Pilot. Web. 28 Apr. 2011. <http://www.richthofen.com/scheer/scheer14a

Germany's High Sea Fleet in the World War
Chapter 14a - Our U-Boats and their Method of Warfare

IN the year 1916, up to the time of the Battle of the Skagerrak, the following additions had been made to the U-boat fleet: 38 large U-boats, 7 large submarine minelayers, 34 U-B-boats. Two large submarine minelayers, 3 U-B-boats and 3 U-C-boats had still to undergo steam trials; 53 large U-boats, 10 large submarine minelayers, 27 U-B-boats and 66 U-C-boats were under construction. Since the outbreak of war we had lost 21 large U-boats, 1 large submarine minelayer, 6 U-B-boats, 7 U-C-boats, and 2 U-B-boats had been handed over to the Bulgarian Government. The distribution of all the U-boats was so arranged that half were under the orders of the Admirals of the Fleet, and of the rest one half were stationed in the Mediterranean, while the other half, the last quarter, were assigned to the Naval Corps in Flanders. For the sake of quick construction the new types of so-called "U-B "-boats and " U-C "-boats had been introduced, in addition to the main type of large U-boats similar to "U 19," the first one fitted with Diesel engines.

The chief characteristics of the different types were as follows:

"U 19," surface displacement, 650 tons; highest speed on the surface, 12 knots; under water, 9 knots; number of torpedoes, 9, of 50 cm. calibre. Improvements were made in the type. From " U 40 " onwards the displacement was raised first to 700 tons, and from "U 80 " onwards to 800 tons, the speed was raised to 17 knots on the surface, the number of torpedoes increased to 12, and from "U 90 " onwards to 16. The torpedo of 50 cm. calibre had an explosive charge of 200 kilos. The first large submarine minelayers were not armed with torpedoes. They had a displacement of 760 tons, a surface speed of 9.5 knots, and under water 7.5 knots; they carried 34 to 36 mines.

Of the U-B-boats, at first a small number with a displacement of 125 tons was built for use in Flanders, with four torpedoes, speed of 8.5 knots on the surface and 5.5 knots under water. The U-B-boat was then enlarged to 500 tons, with a speed on the surface of 12.5 knots and of 7 under water.

The U-C-boats were of a type designed both for minelaying and firing torpedoes. At first only a small number of these was built, with a displacement of 150 tons; ultimately the boats had a displacement of 400 tons, speed of 11 knots on the surface and 6.5 under water. They carried 18 mines and could take four torpedoes.

At the beginning the U-boats were armed with one 5 cm. gun as a defence against enemy submarines. But as their use was developed in the war, such various demands were made upon them that their armament had to be increased. One or two guns of 8.8 cm. were placed on the U-boats, U-B-boats, and the U-C-boats; the submarine cruisers were in part armed with a gun of 15 cm. calibre.

The majority of the large U-boats was assigned to the Fleet for use in the blockaded area west of England. The length of their trips was 21 to 28 days, but this was also dependent on the amount of ammunition used when the boats had found a favourable opportunity to fire their torpedoes soon after leaving port. The big minelayers were also under the command of the Fleet, and could be sent on distant expeditions—to the White Sea or to the Mediterranean.

The U-B-boats, being rather smaller, had proved to be very handy and quickly submersible, although they could not remain so long at sea. They were, therefore, mainly assigned to the base in Flanders, as were the U-C-boats, of which a small number, however, was at the disposal of the Fleet and used for laying mines on the east coast of England. The distribution of the boats among the various bases was carried out according to the facilities the latter had for repairing the boats on their return from expeditions. The large amount of technical apparatus in a U-boat required very careful overhauling and repair on her return from an expedition; also the damage due to the voyage or to enemy attacks had to be repaired. Generally speaking, after four weeks at sea a boat would need to lie in the dockyard for the same length of time for repairs. The Imperial dockyard at Wilhelmshaven had been enlarged and was the chief place to which the U-boats of the Fleet were sent for repair. The docks at Kiel and Danzig were needed for other purposes; the bases at Zeebrugge and Pola were used at first mainly for overhauling the boats. Until these dockyards had been altered so as to be able to undertake more extensive work the boats which belonged there had to return home for important repairs.

When the U-boat campaign was opened on February 1, 1917, there were 57 boats already in the North Sea. The officer commanding the Baltic district had eight assigned to him, the Naval Corps in Flanders had at its disposal 38, and the stations in the Mediterranean 31 U-boats of different types. The favourable experiences of the commercial U-boat U-Deutschland had led to the construction of U-cruisers, of which the first series had a displacement of 1,200 tons, which was later on raised to 2,000 and more. When they could no longer be used for trade purposes the commercial U-boats were taken over by the Navy and altered for use as warships. They were fitted with two guns of 15 cm. calibre and two torpedo tubes, and could carry about 30 torpedoes in accordance with the extended period during which they could be used on cruises, cruises which reached as far as the Azores and lasted up to three months. With this fleet of U-boats the Navy was well equipped to do justice to the task assigned to it, although England had used the whole of 1916 to develop her defence. The sinkings of the year 1917 prove this. They were:
February, 1917 781,500 tons
March, 885,000 "
April, 1,091,000 "
May, 869,000 "
June, 1,016,000 "
July, 811,000 "
August, 808,000 "
September, 672,000 "
October, 674,000 "
November, 607,000 "
December, 702,000 "
January, 1918 632,000 "
February, 680,000 "
March, 689,000 "
April, 652,000 "
May, 614,000 "
June, 521,000 "
July, 550,000 "
August, 420,000 "
September, 440,000 "

The enemy's defence consisted, firstly, in directly combating the U-boats, and, secondly, in special measures which England adopted to counterbalance the loss of tonnage. The first impediment our U-boats had to overcome—I am speaking of the activities of the U-boats assigned to the Fleet (the same applies to the Flanders boats), whereas those in the Mediterranean mostly worked under less difficult conditions—lay in the minefields blocking the North Sea. To deal successfully with these the Fleet had had to create a special organisation. In addition to the actual mine-sweepers, whose work it was to keep certain paths through the belt of mines clear, special convoying flotillas had been formed, fitted with minesweeping apparatus, which accompanied the U-boats along the routes that had been cleared, till they reached the open sea, and met them at the same spot on their return from their fields of operation to take them safely home again. When attacking steamers the boats had to reckon with their armament, for in spite of the large number of guns required and the crews to man them, nearly the whole of the English Merchant Fleet—at any rate all the more valuable steamers—was armed.

As a further defence, besides the destroyers which were excellently suited to this purpose and were armed with depth charges, a large number of new kinds of boats with shallow draft had been built especially to combat the U-boats. Nets and all sorts of wire entanglements hindered the U-boats in their work near the English coast. The so-called "Q "-boats, intended to serve as traps for submarines, were specially fitted out; they presented the appearance of neutral ships, and on the approach of the U-boat let fall their disguise and attempted to destroy it with guns and explosives. The practice of gathering considerable numbers of British merchantmen together and convoying them added greatly to the difficulties the U-boat encountered in achieving success; these ships were protected according to their size and value either by light craft or by bigger warships.

During the first months of the U-boat campaign I never missed an opportunity of hearing the story of his experiences and adventures direct from the lips of the commander of a returning U-boat; and thus I had opportunity to form an idea of the perseverance, courage and resolution of these young officers who won my highest admiration for the seamanship and the calm intrepidity, which they succeeded in communicating to the crew as well. It is a splendid testimonial to the spirit of the Navy that all who could possibly be considered suitable for the U-boat service, both officers and men, rushed to offer themselves. Even older Staff officers, in spite of their many years of service, begged to be taken as commanders of U-boats, even if they had to serve under a flotilla commander younger than themselves.

The three half-flotillas into which the U-boats of the Fleet lied been formed at the beginning of the war developed in time into four flotillas. Their commanders were: First U-Flotilla, Commander Pasgnay; Second U-Flotilla, Commander von Rosenberg; Third U-Flotilla, Lieutenant-Commander Forstmann (Walter); Fourth U-Flotilla, Commander Pranse. I should like to mention in connection with these Lieutenant-Commander Bartenbach, who was at the head of the U-flotilla in Flanders, who so often supported the enterprises of the Fleet with his boats. In an exemplary manner, despite all obstacles, he directed the difficult operations of the Flanders boats, against which the British defence was particularly heavy. All who served with him were animated by a spirit of comradeship and readiness for action, which had the most refreshing and grateful effect upon anyone who spent any time with them.

The Chief Director of the U-boats under the command of the Fleet was Captain Bauer; he himself took part in the fighting expeditions of the U-boats in the blockaded area round England, in order to be able to form his own opinion of the circumstances in which the boats under his command had to operate. It is his great merit that he recognised the capacity of the U-boat and brought it to that degree of efficiency to which its later successes are due. When, later on, owing to the increasing activity in construction, the number of U-boats grew to such an extent that their organisation far surpassed that required for a squadron and demanded a corresponding increase in authority, Commodore Michelsen, who had hitherto commanded the torpedo-boats, was placed at the head. His great knowledge and experience of the department of torpedoes designated him as particularly suitable for this post, and he completely fulfilled all expectations in this respect.

The U-boat service was the one which suffered the heaviest losses of the Navy; the number of boats lost on fighting expeditions amounted to 50 per cent. Altogether 360 U-boats and U-boat cruisers were employed in the U-boat campaign, of which 184 were lost in the course of their enterprises. This high percentage of losses was for the most part due to the defence of the enemy, which grew more and more vigorous, as he tried to get the better of the U-boat danger by the use of all sorts of dodges and methods; yet a large proportion is ascribable to the fact that our U-boat commanders could not resist the temptation, when sinking a steamer, to save the lives of those on board as far as possible, even though they so often met with disappointment.

I should like to illustrate the difficulties encountered by our U-boats by a few instances, quoting the official reports concerning them. But it would be impossible to do all the commanders equal justice, for they vied with each other in meeting the dangers which their difficult business involved, and with which the public are already familiar through various popular writings.

Kaisermarine Biloculars:

http://image.artfact.com/housePhotos/benemerenti/08/425908/H5273-L46471853.jpg?h=D734217881A24B46CC1969A8620E78C9&cn=AFTOKEN-PROD

Deck Plan of U 20 which sank Lusitania...which turned out WAS carrying millions of rounds of small arms ammunition

http://imageshack.us/a/img855/6867/5ezu.jpg

Jawohlherrkaleun

09-13-13, 05:52 PM

IABL : if you haven't already done the E-class submarine, these pictures can maybe help you :

http://www.ae1.org.au/albums_df27a86390901ad45cce218cff5342f6/sdweraferafergver.jpg

http://www.wrecksite.eu/img/wrecks/tek_e2_type_sub.jpg

Moreover I think the G-class submarine would be interesting to add, as it was active in the North Sea and German Bight and they were, if i am not mistaken, the second most numerous british (active) submarines of WW1 (14 subs).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_G-class_submarine

iambecomelife

09-13-13, 06:43 PM

Thank you! They were beautiful boats. That is the first picture I've seen showing me exactly how the midships torpedo tubes were arranged. I will be modeling them eventually, along with the "C" class, which were towed by Q-ships to torpedo U-Boats.

Admiral Von Gerlach

09-14-13, 09:28 AM

The E boats were indeed innovative and lucky ...but they were a disaster of design as all the way had to be taken off the boats mostly to fire and the placement of the tubes center of the boat was a nightmare for the crews in terms of how movement in the hull was impacted. The british innovations often took strange forms but were at the same time quite effectitve in their own way. The "boffins" as they called their experts were a inventive crew and these boats were part of their imaginings.

The Hela was a sad loss as she was a much beloved ship in the Baltic.

Bubblehead1980

09-14-13, 09:48 AM

iambecomelife

09-15-13, 08:21 AM

I'm going to get on the soapbox here - all you fans of "Wolves of the Kaiser" (lurkers included - we know who you are) please consider DONATING to Subsim. Neal has been extremely generous host over the years, and I can't emphasize enough how convenient it is to have this forum as a "home" for my modding.

It's quick and painless and I've never had any problems in my years of donating, so please - give a little back.

DONATE-DONATE-DONATE. :D

I hope to have another update with screenshots later today.

Jawohlherrkaleun

09-16-13, 11:27 AM

IABL, I would like to know.. is it possible to make ennemy submarines torpedo while immersed?
And did you receive a private message from me?

Admiral Von Gerlach

09-16-13, 12:52 PM

Experimental boats were tried with side tubes but there were problems with sheer effect on the TT doors, and aiming, and also at least one case where the design caused the boat to hit itself with a TT.

I want to join in encouraging us to subscribe and help support the site, Neal is a wonderful host and this is a unique and wonderful home port of much goodness. Donating is very easy, they take Paypal and other means and it is a click of a button for helping keep the lights on for another year.

Join us as we continue the voyage.:arrgh!::salute:

Jawohlherrkaleun

09-21-13, 09:22 AM

EDIT : wallpaper deleted by the web site because of compression traces..

Buddahaid

09-21-13, 09:40 AM

iambecomelife

09-21-13, 12:25 PM

IABL, I would like to know.. is it possible to make ennemy submarines torpedo while immersed?
And did you receive a private message from me?

Yes. I already created an AI Type VII submarine that attacked enemy ships with torpedoes. True credit goes to the creator of the AI torpedo mod.

Any ships, submarines, and planes that historically had torpedoes will have torpedoes in WOTK. Don't forget that many battleships and armored cruisers from WWI had torpedoes, so you could get quite a surprise if you're careless while attacking these "vulnerable" targets.

Because of SH4's limitations there will be far fewer torpedo varieties - probably one generic 14", one 18", and one 21" for the Royal Navy, by way of example. Producing all the dozens (possibly hundreds) of models built between 1890 and 1918 is not feasible.

Work on merchant shipping is shown below, with a smaller vessel for size comparison. The hulls will be higher poly & more complex when finished. Note the 3d cargo holds - if you blow off the hatches with deck gun fire, you will be able to see barrels, boxes of freight, or vehicles, depending on what was being carried...

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/iambecomelife/Untitled-eleventy.jpg~original

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/iambecomelife/Untitled-5-28.jpg~original

A new logo for use in the game's menus. Adapted from artwork by Time Life Books...

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/iambecomelife/WOTK-Logo-Sept-2013.jpg~original

Admiral Halsey

09-21-13, 12:41 PM

First of all that logo is awesome. Also WW1 battleships had torpedo tubes? :huh:

Hitman

09-21-13, 03:00 PM

Also WW1 battleships had torpedo tubes?

And even anti torpedo nets that could be unfolded when docked or at low speed. Look at WW1 ships pictures, those several small masts that seem to be folded against the hull are the net tenders. :up:

For example: http://www.naval-history.net/PhotoWW1-01bbAlbemarle1-1903MQ.JPG

Admiral Halsey

09-21-13, 04:22 PM

And even anti torpedo nets that could be unfolded when docked or at low speed. Look at WW1 ships pictures, those several small masts that seem to be folded against the hull are the net tenders. :up:

For example: http://www.naval-history.net/PhotoWW1-01bbAlbemarle1-1903MQ.JPG

Ok that needs to be added to the mod asap.

Admiral Von Gerlach

09-23-13, 06:21 PM

Those Merchant steam ships are very nice indeed. I love ships of that type with the tall engine vents, tall funnels and often bluff bows. They were the work horses of the era and lasted when they were not sunk well into the next era and the advent of diesel engines. ...even tho coaling ship was no easy task and took days sometimes.

Though Capital ships some of them did have Torpedo launching equipment in practice it was almost never used. They were just too slow to be able to use them effectively and were not considered in tactical planning. So it is not really necessary for them to have them added to the mod if the maker does not want to.

The nets were somewhat more effective but not as useful as first thought and were very cumbersome and vulnerable to damage when at sea. The North Sea is very rough at times and often the nets were damaged on ships of all sizes that carried them. They were also very vunerable to the effects of weather and seawater over time and were a constant source of work for the crews and worry for the officers and non commsioned officers.

iambecomelife

09-23-13, 09:14 PM

Though Capital ships some of them did have Torpedo launching equipment in practice it was almost never used. They were just too slow to be able to use them effectively and were not considered in tactical planning. So it is not really necessary for them to have them added to the mod if the maker does not want to.

The nets were somewhat more effective but not as useful as first thought and were very cumbersome and vulnerable to damage when at sea. The North Sea is very rough at times and often the nets were damaged on ships of all sizes that carried them. They were also very vunerable to the effects of weather and seawater over time and were a constant source of work for the crews and worry for the officers and non commsioned officers.

Right, as usual! The only major Royal Navy ship I can think of that had the nets for a long time was the "Queen Mary" - she still had her net & net cranes on the hull when she was sunk in 1916.

The nets were ineffective against most modern torpedoes of the time, which were fitted with net cutters on their noses.

They were also dangerous to the ship and its crew. At Jutland one German battleship had her propellers fouled by her own net - she was lucky not to come to a dead stop on the battlefield. When "HMS Triumph" was torpedoed, most of the crewmembers who died were drowned in her net after jumping overboard. If she hadn't been carrying it, almost nobody would have been killed in the sinking.

To sum it up, torpedo nets of WWI were an unnecessary encumbrance more likely to kill a ship's sailors than to kill enemy torpedoes! Effective nets for ships were developed in WWII, but they slowed a ship to a crawl (well under 10 knots).

As far as the game goes, I tested torpedo nets for ships in SH3 but couldn't get them to work. I would like to try them again in SH4 - unfortunately, no guarantees they can be made to function.

Jawohlherrkaleun

09-26-13, 02:11 PM

iambecomelife

09-29-13, 05:46 PM

Finally i managed to get my wallpaper accepted! Here it is :
http://eng.hebus.com/image-358423.html

@IABL : will there be merchant ships from "minor nations" like Brazil, Canada, Japan, Uruguay, Tunesia...?

Yes. Most ships will be from the nations which were most commonly seen, or which suffered the most attacks during the war. Great Britain, France, Norway, Denmark, Italy, Greece, etc. However, you will see other countries' ships sometimes.

More modeling/texture work on merchants; here is an example sailing loaded and in ballast (with the red anti-fouling paint out of the water):

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/iambecomelife/Untitled-13-13.jpg~original

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/iambecomelife/Untitled-12-14.jpg~original

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/iambecomelife/Untitled-10-17.jpg~original

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/iambecomelife/Untitled-11-15.jpg~original

Admiral Halsey

09-29-13, 06:31 PM

Pretty ship. I can't wait to blow her to smithereens.

Sailor Steve

09-29-13, 07:25 PM

To sum it up, torpedo nets of WWI were an unnecessary encumbrance more likely to kill a ship's sailors than to kill enemy torpedoes! Effective nets for ships were developed in WWII, but they slowed a ship to a crawl (well under 10 knots).
I'm surprised I didn't see this before. I just wanted to agree, and add that the original intent was for aggravated peacetime, not war. The nets were to be lowered when at anchor in foreign ports. For the same reason every ship of cruiser size and above had torpedo rigs for certain of their steam launches, which would be lowered to patrol in the same situation. The nets were never meant to be used at sea.

Wolfar

10-02-13, 12:46 PM

What is the time range for this to be released? I see so many good projects founder.... :hmmm:

Admiral Halsey

10-02-13, 01:16 PM

What is the time range for this to be released? I see so many good projects founder.... :hmmm:

I believe IABL has stated that he'll release it when it's ready. Also He's been working on this for four years so I doubt he'll stop working on it unless something major comes up.

Wolfar

10-02-13, 02:24 PM

I believe IABL has stated that he'll release it when it's ready. Also He's been working on this for four years so I doubt he'll stop working on it unless something major comes up.

I see so an indefinite time frame got it. :up:

Thank you,

Admiral Von Gerlach

10-02-13, 02:25 PM

Harmsway!

10-05-13, 09:40 AM

In this case there is a steady hand at the helm and the course is plotted true and sound. I have every confidence that this project will see launch and be a success. Join us for the devel if you wish. No need to worry here.

I'm not worrying either. I have been watching this project with great anticipation and excitement for four years. But please I have to pull over and pee.

Sailor Steve

10-05-13, 10:02 AM

You should have gone before we left! :O:

iambecomelife

10-05-13, 03:50 PM

For the record, I am setting a tentative release date of May 7th, 2015 - the 100th anniversary of the "Lusitania". Keep in mind that this project has often had to take second to various things: law school work, studying for my state's bar exam, and the other odds and ends life likes to throw at you (or that you throw at yourself). Development was completely suspended for much of 2010 - 2011.

I have reasonable work hours for now but I may be continuing my education in early 2014. Regardless of what's in store, I will keep everyone informed.

Harmsway!

10-07-13, 06:48 PM

That's all we can ask. This is a great project that is well worth the wait. Thank you.

Admiral Halsey

10-07-13, 07:04 PM

iambecomelife

10-08-13, 09:06 PM

Another merchant night...! AFAIK, the first vessel for any Silent Hunter game with real cargo holds inside the undamaged hull object - not just an empty 3d shell. More work is still needed on crewmembers, cargo, and the interior. The plan is for attacks on merchant ships, particularly with the deck gun, to be more entertaining than they are with standard SH4.

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/iambecomelife/Raven1.jpg~original

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/iambecomelife/Raven2.jpg~original

Admiral Halsey

10-08-13, 09:56 PM

Actual cargo holds? I hope this means the passenger liners will have cabins as well.

iambecomelife

10-08-13, 10:15 PM

Actual cargo holds? I hope this means the passenger liners will have cabins as well.

Why? So that you can terrorize helpless passengers with your deck gun? One minute they're relaxing, snacking on caviar - the next minute there's an 88mm shell hole in their stateroom. :rotfl2:

Anyways - the deckhouses on ships, including liners, may have simple interiors (without lots of intricate furniture etc). The dozens/hundreds of rooms belowdecks on a typical passenger ship will not be modeled, due to time and computer processing power constraints.

Admiral Halsey

10-08-13, 10:38 PM

Why? So that you can terrorize helpless passengers with your deck gun? One minute they're relaxing, snacking on caviar - the next minute there's an 88mm shell hole in their stateroom. :rotfl2:

Anyways - the deckhouses on ships, including liners, may have simple interiors (without lots of intricate furniture etc). The dozens/hundreds of rooms belowdecks on a typical passenger ship will not be modeled, due to time and computer processing power constraints.

Dang. Oh well I understand. Still scaring the beejebus out of the first class passengers would have been funny. "Wilfred there seems to be a hole in my cabin wall." "I see madam. Maybe that U-Boat has something to do with it." "Quite right Wilfred. Now excuse me while I run in terror to the lifeboats." "Very good madam I shall join you in this endeavor."

Admiral Von Gerlach

10-09-13, 04:08 PM

Jawohlherrkaleun

10-09-13, 04:20 PM

IABL, I have downloaded the Addon Soviet Waterway (v 0.99) and i have noticed that there are ships which could be interesting for the mod : The Schleswig-Holstein battleship (for the Deutschland and Braunschweig class battleships), the Marat/Petropavlovsk Battleship (for the Gangut class battleships) and the Novik class destroyers.

Admiral Halsey

10-09-13, 05:08 PM

iambecomelife

10-09-13, 08:48 PM

Very nice work indeed.

On the issue of Passengers and such, I fail to see the "fun" in making an amusement out of suffering and pain experineced by so many who lost their lives at sea. This is a historic simulation and reflects history but true is that many if not most officers in the High Seas Fleet of the Imperial service tried hard to save lives, at sea, all seamen and passengers are brothers, and they tried to save who they could. There is no reason for this wonderful mod maker to be asked to create extensive resources for such frivolous and frankly barbaric "entertainment" Any seaman from any service on either side would agree i am sure. Nuff said.

beautiful work on the ships, crew and the cargo hold is a wonderful idea, very very good.

I agree but with all due respect I think Admiral Halsey was just joking. Our crowd here is a bit more mature than certain other game communities(despite the occasional joke), and many subsimmers know firsthand what war is really like. Few people on this forum would truly enjoy harming people in wartime. Especially innocent passengers. :salute:

Thank you for your comment, by the way - just last night, while researching statistics on ships sunk, I reflected on how chivalrous most U-Boat captains were in WWI. At least 15,000 civilians are known to have died on British ships alone, but the death toll would have been much higher were it not for the heroism of U-Boat sailors - many of whom risked their own lives to save their enemies. After sinking one ship, for example, Hans Rose took injured survivors on board and radioed the sinking position to the British, so that rescue ships could be sent:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Jacob_Jones_(DD-61

@ Jawohlherrkaleun: Thank you for the advice; it will all depend on permission from the ships' original creators.

Madox58

10-09-13, 09:14 PM

Our crowd here is a bit more mature than certain other game communities(despite the occasional joke)

I recall the debate about survivers in SH3 before SH4 came out.
I also recall the debates about makeing survivers destroyable in both.

Admiral Halsey

10-09-13, 09:18 PM

I recall the debate about survivors in SH3 before SH4 came out.
I also recall the debates about making survivors destroyable in both.

Do you remember what the consensus was?

iambecomelife

10-17-13, 07:32 PM

Admiral Halsey

10-17-13, 08:20 PM

Well, it just had to happen. Last week Sunday, while I was preparing an update showcasing brand new particle effects and destructible deck cargo, my PC's cooling system "went West". By the time I diagnosed the problem, my Windows install had been affected, corrupting the video card driver files.

Did I mention that my rig's less than a year old? :/\\!!

Fortunately, much of the work on "WOTK" I have shown you has been rescued, and is now on my external hard drive. Parts will be arriving tomorrow, and I hope to be back in business by this weekend. If I can't repair the problem myself, expect this thread to be quiet for 1-2 weeks while the "professionals" fix it.

@ Admiral Halsey - sorry; don't remember the outcome!

That's ok IAMB i'm going out on a limb and guess that the consensus was that while having swimmers in the water after sinking a ship and making them destroyable would be historically accurate it was also unethical. Also i'm sorry to hear about your computer. Still like you said much of the WOTK was saved and it could have been much worse.

Jawohlherrkaleun

10-20-13, 06:03 AM

You said "much of the work on "WOTK" I have shown you has been rescued". Then what hasn't been rescued, has it been completely lost?..

Admiral Von Gerlach

10-25-13, 10:39 AM

Sorry about the mechanical problem, hope you get thru it ok. new computers seem to be less dependable than older ones.

as for ethical issues, yes, no reason for such extremes in sims. Having known men who survived their ships sinking and having three cousins who went down with their ships as the kapitains and another cousin who was blown up with his battlship under him, and lost crew with them, I am adamantly opposed on every concievable grounds to making "entertainment" out of suffering. We preserve history here and honour the duty and dedication of the sailormen on both sides but we dont make a spectable of their trials. Hopefully this will be understood without further comment.

thanks again Master Iamber..., and hang in there we are cheering for you.

tat501

10-27-13, 06:40 AM

Bad luck old boy. Hang tough and hold fast. I for one can't wait for this mod and I'm happy and grateful to your commitment for it!!

iambecomelife

10-27-13, 08:18 PM

Turns out that nothing will be lost and I won't need to ship my rig across the country...I managed to replace the cooling system myself, so it looks like my PC won't get that California vacation that she wanted. Thumbs up for self reliance! :rotfl2:

That's an interesting (and sad) family history, "Admiral Von Gerlach" - what battleship was your cousin on? Was it the "Tirpitz"?

Merchant ship completely fitted out with destructible deck cargo. In standard SH4, a lot of the deck equipment is hard or impossible to destroy. On this vessel, ALL of the crates and the BE.2 biplanes can be damaged or destroyed in your attacks.

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/iambecomelife/Blair3.jpg~original

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/iambecomelife/Blair2.jpg~original

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/iambecomelife/Blair1.jpg~original

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/iambecomelife/Blair5.jpg~original
Intercepting the merchant ship. Deck cargo goes flying off the ship when it explodes. Damaged crates, if they contain flammable cargo, shoot out fireballs and thick smoke.

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/iambecomelife/Lookouts.jpg~original

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/iambecomelife/Blair4.jpg~original

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/iambecomelife/Attack1.jpg~original

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/iambecomelife/Attack2.jpg~original

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/iambecomelife/Attack4.jpg~original

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/iambecomelife/Attack3.jpg~original

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/iambecomelife/Attack5.jpg~original

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/iambecomelife/Attack7.jpg~original

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/iambecomelife/Attack8.jpg~original

Admiral Halsey

10-27-13, 08:56 PM

God I just love that smoke.

TorpX

10-27-13, 09:10 PM

The smoke and flames look very lifelike. :yep:

Cybermat47

10-27-13, 09:40 PM

I wouldn't like to be aboard with all that fire.

Looking forward to the release :)

Red October1984

10-27-13, 10:58 PM

Pretty screenshots!

I'm loving this! Can't wait! :)

SnipersHunter

10-28-13, 04:11 AM

Nice:arrgh!:

Madox58

10-29-13, 06:57 PM

Do you remember what the consensus was?

If you go back to all the talk about it for SH3? We didn't do it until SH4 did it.
Then Since SH4 don't allow killing them? The SH3 mods don't allow it.
It's a choice of the Modder doing the Mod.
I was a big supporter of not allowing the killing of them visual or any other way.

I have changed my position on that.
I want to make them destroyable with a very high price.
I also want the proper animations should you do so.

Xall

10-31-13, 06:53 AM

I can tell you, it has been a long time since I have been so excited and eager for a mod.

It also has been some time since I last checked, it is turning out great...!

I cannot wait to play this, BUT however much we want it, do not rush, take your time, if it needs another two years so be it.

Rome Total War II is the perfect example for an early release.

This is worth all the wait.

Keep up the good work guys, loving every bit of it.

polyfiller

10-31-13, 10:49 AM

I have to say, those screenshots of sinking & the fires look amazing - great job IABM.

I am assuming you linked a newly created or modified flame effect to the damage zones you applied to the ship ? If so, don't suppose you are willing toshare the details of the effects for the fires & smoke ?

I'm not a WWI fan, but have to say, I need to re-consider on the basis of what this mod is promising... keep up the great work :rock:

Admiral Von Gerlach

11-02-13, 10:10 AM

Admiral Halsey

11-02-13, 11:32 AM

One of your relatives was the last Captain of the Arizona?

Admiral Von Gerlach

11-02-13, 11:45 AM

Correct. They named a DD after him which his son served on. He was on duty that morning, and went to the bridge to try to get underway and the rest is history. Sadly black powder had been stored in the forward magazine for the signal gun that was unsecured and we think that is what contributed to the massive result.

Bunkerw0808

11-15-13, 03:02 PM

is a surface warfare mod planned for some time round?:hmm2:
I remember seing an Emden and Helogland ww1 ship mod, I think there even was a koenig mod with ww1 AA guns! Maybe you could make these mods compatible???:D

iambecomelife

11-15-13, 05:55 PM

Superb work. well done

I understand that the survivor question is a bit on the lighter side but i have strong feelings about it from the history i mentioned. re family i had family naval on both sides of both wars...the BB in question was BB 39 USN, Captain Van Valkenberg he remains at his post but they salves his sword from his day cabin which we treasure. Three other cousins were U boat kaptains in the WWII, one of the U 223 which succeeded with one of the few successful stern shot sinkings as his own boat was about to go down, the other two both Kaptain of Supply submarines which some call "milk cows" all three went down with their boats. Another was kaptain of a DD and he survived the war, after saving over 8000 people from baltic towns just ahead of the Soviets with his ship. My grandfather who was in the WWI made it thru, he had ship fire in the engine room and pulled eight men out and then they had to pull him out as he was over come by the smoke..and he eventually passed away from emphasima from that event.

All fine men and typical of their trade...and as you say, most worked very hard to save lives when they could glad you saw that in your research. Also glad about your fan and system.

wonderful pics of the smoke and fire, very realistic.

When you get to the point of doing final lrelease art work i voluenteer to help ...you can PM me if and when and i can give you my home site for a peek. Last naval painting i did was of the Graf Spee off of South Amerika, but would be glad to lend a hand with your fine effort.

Danke

Thank you for the info (and your offer to help)! I never would have guessed that you were related to the captain of "Arizona" - I assumed that you were referring to a german battleship. Such a tragedy, and a terrible end to that ship - in my opinion, she was one of the most beautiful of the old American battleships.

Very unique, having relatives who fought on both sides of WWII. As far as my family goes, I had a cousin who enlisted in the RAF in 1943 and ended up having to sail to Britain to take up his post. I'm glad he didn't meet any of your cousins at sea! :rotfl2:

"Bunkerw0808" - with respect to a surface mod, my attitude is first things first. I have a development staff of one (little ol' me!), and although I would love to see surface action as much as you would, designing the submarine warfare component is difficult enough. If things go smoothly and WOTK is completed in 2014 - 2015, then MAYBE. In the meantime, try "Jutland" by Storm Eagle Studios - the graphics are a bit more dated than SH4, but the attention to detail regarding 1914 - 1918 surface combat is excellent.

As for updates, I have whipped up more merchant ships based on the one posted earlier, but screenshots aren't really needed. Simply moving around the superstructure, adding taller & shorter funnels, etc gives a good impression of variety while saving time.

Last night I began work on conning towers for the older diesel powered boats like U-23 and U-27. A worthy project for this weekend. :ping:

raymond6751

11-15-13, 06:37 PM

Your audience appreciates your hard work. We are all waiting patiently (?) for the curtain to rise.

Carry on...

Bunkerw0808

11-16-13, 07:48 AM

Thx, i saw some gameplay of Jutland and it looks good:D.I just had an idea for the far future:arrgh!:

Admiral Von Gerlach

11-16-13, 01:09 PM

Sadly this sim is not coded very well for ship to ship combat, so surface combat may be a far reach, simulation of it may be possible but as said by our host here, he has his hands full with the project in hand, and is showing great fortitude in proceeding slowly and step by step in a doable manner.

Yes, Capt Van Valkenberg was a fine man and he loved that ship, it was the joy of his career to be given command of her and she was a happy ship. She was not alone in such an end, there were others, when the british attacked the French fleet at anchor in North Afrika, a similar magazine explosion destroyed another fine ship, and others went in other ways but similar manner.

Yes i am glad our families did not meet at sea that we know of.

Glad the merchant fleet is being enhanced, you are correct there were maybe 10 or 12 basic ship types of that era, and many many variations. A very wise step to make variations that way. Our best wishes do with you in your work.:up:

Admiral Halsey

11-17-13, 09:08 PM

Take your time IABL. We want a good mod not a rushed mod. I would be willing to wait for decades for this mod if it means it will be great once released.

Highbury

11-20-13, 01:44 AM

I haven't been here in awhile and it is nice to see this is still being worked on. I know how difficult and time consuming it can be on work on a project alone, so your dedication is appreciated.

Admiral Halsey

12-01-13, 10:25 AM

So IABL any news from the front?

Sailor Steve

12-01-13, 10:31 AM

Take your time IABL.

So IABL any news from the front?
Make up your mind! :O:
:rotfl2:

Admiral Halsey

12-01-13, 10:34 AM

Make up your mind! :O:
:rotfl2:

What? I don't mind him doing this slowly but I would like to know how the progress of the mod is doing in a more timely manner.

Aktungbby

12-01-13, 03:17 PM

This is worth all the wait.

IN that case welcome aboard formally by the weigh, ya got missed on yer first 4 postings!:salute::)

MGR1

12-01-13, 05:20 PM

What? I don't mind him doing this slowly but I would like to know how the progress of the mod is doing in a more timely manner.

IABL updates when he's got something to show.:03: This is very much done when he's got sufficient spare time.

From my own experience, you can't give a set timescale on anything when you mod, so saying "I will do this on a set date" doesn't work.

Mike.:)

Sailor Steve

12-01-13, 07:25 PM

What? I don't mind him doing this slowly but I would like to know how the progress of the mod is doing in a more timely manner.
I know. I just saw an opportunity for some teasing, hence the smileys. Nothing was meant by it, and I apologize if I said it wrong. :sunny:

Admiral Halsey

12-01-13, 07:49 PM

I know. I just saw an opportunity for some teasing, hence the smileys. Nothing was meant by it, and I apologize if I said it wrong. :sunny:

Don't worry about it. I knew you were just messing with me and I saw an opportunity to fluster you.