A few SH4/Film related questions...

[WarlordATF]

I just finished watching Hellcats of the Navy, What a Great Movie! It was so cool to see the interior and thanks to SH4 i actually knew what most of the controls were. Also it seemed to be pretty accurate as far as procedure and terminology. Another thing i really liked is even though there was a love story to the movie, it was kept to a minimum and its overall a war movie, Hollywood should take notes!

My questions are...

1) In stock SH4 is the passage to the Sea of Japan mined like in the film? Its one of the few places i have not explored yet.

2) They used a type of sonar that had a screen simular to the radar screen to navigate the minefield, Was that fiction or is it something ubisoft left out of SH4?

3) The first boat, the USS Starfish, Was that a GATO or BALAO Class? Its 1944, so i am guessing it would be one of those two classes, anyone know? (Edit I think the name was fictional, but i'm asking about the boat in the footage)

4) When they followed the freighter through the minefield i started thinking that might be a good way to get into ports undetected in SH4. Has anyone tried to fall into a convoy and sneak into a enemy port? If so, was it successful or did the Destroyer Escort detect you right away?

Sorry if this has all been asked before and Thank You for any answers you can provide! i looked in the books and film section of the forum, but only found a few mentions of this film. If your playing SH4 and have not seen this movie i would highly recommend it. For me at least it was very interesting and made me want to get back into the game right away and try some new things in the sim.

stagevu.com has the movie as a free stream if anyone wants to see it.

Thanks Again!

[Torplexed]

Hello.

1. Sadly, in stock SH4 even the most important Japanese ports like Tokyo, Osaka and Hiroshima aren't mined like they should be, so I doubt if the entrances to the Sea of Japan are. In stock you can sink capital units of the Japanese Navy at anchor in Japanese ports without too much difficulty.

2. Late in WW2 US subs used FM sonar mine detection equipment to navigate through Japanese minefields. The equipment emitted a chilling gong when mines were near, thus earning the name "Hell's Bells." It's not depicted in the game either.

3. Yes, there never was a Starfish. Probably a Balao class as there were so many in reserve and they were the least worn out.

4. Never seen an enemy convoy go through a minefield in the game. I rarely see enemy minefields period expect in some of the mods.

[Bubblehead1980]

1. The Tsushima(Korea Strait as labled in SH stock) is mined in stock BUT there are so few mines that you just have to have bad luck to run into one.Mods like TMO have fairly dense minefields in areas such as all entrances to Sea of Japan and pose a pretty high risk of hitting one if you try to navigate it submerged.

2. There is a working FM sonar mod out there, forgot who created.Ducimus tweaked it to work with TMO.When I enter the Sea of Japan, I usually use the historical route that most US subs went, through the La Perouse Strait.At high speed, you can make it through during the night.Avoiding patrols can be tough at times but possible.

3.As torplexed said, never a USS Starfish(awful name for a sub) but looked like a Balao class, there were plenty left back then.

4.Even if ships in game went through minefields, wouldnt hurt them.I've never seen mines set shallow enough to both those on surface.Although, I have been fooling around with files myself, creating mines that will harm you on surface.I think prob with that though is time compression...may hit one and never know what happened.

I agree, cool movie. Check out Run Silent, Run Deep, Torpedo Run(my favorite, although some reality issues)

[WarlordATF]

Thanks! I really was impressed with that movie, I'll check out the other 2 movies you mentioned.

I have been digging around in the files again and if i replace the Stock Jap_Minefields.mis with TMOs version, won't that add all of Ducimus's minefields to the stock game?

I have a TMO 1.9 install, but I die very fast and often in TMO, The enemy is just too good (I Hate admiting that!). It seems like no matter what tactic i use, as soon as i get within 3000 yards i am detected and attacked.I know Ducimus tells how to adjust the AI in the FAQ but I love to tinker with my games, i have been modding games since the early 90s when i first started tweaking DOOM II. I can't do 3d Modeling but i can usually figure out the files and edits.

So i took the advice in the read me and started reverse engineering TMO into the stock game. I still have alot to learn but so far i have 2 versions of stock, 1 version has everything from TMO, but it started to bug out on me so i must have messed something up. Then i started again and now i just have the water,land,ports and traffic,interiors,shaders,textures,AI Fleetboat and AI JapSub and its working great so far.

[Ducimus]

Completely redoing minefields has been on my list of "want to do" for awhile. Trouble is, i can't find any reference to where they were really located.

Beefing up harbor protection is also on my things of "want to do", but i keep getting sidetracked by other projects. Admittidly, campaign work is my least favorite thing to do.

RE FM sonar mod.
I tossed out an idea, I think Vickers03 made it, i then tried to tweak it, but its problematic enough to where i scrapped the project. The SH4 game engine doesnt support something like FM sonar. I think the devs realized this as the FM sonar head is modled in game, but there is no sensor attached to it, so i think they dropped it. The current work around it to attach a sound being played by a mine, that is recieved by your hydrophones - much like a ship. However, the problem kicks in when you apply that to a minefield. Sooooo much interferrance in the hydrophones its impossible to pick out individual mines. It will tell you where mine fields are to go around them, but for navigating through them, it won't work.

[WarlordATF]

I loaded both versions of Jap_Minefields.mis into the mission editor to compare them.

Ducimus, Sir you are evil.:DL I will be using TMOs version in my install, Its much more realistic.

Actually i really love everything about TMO except the AI that has a spy aboard my boat telling the surface ships my exact location everytime i try to attack! :rotfl2:

So how do you guys manage to sink the enemy in TMO? i have tried coming in deep, shallow,on the surface, Slow and Silent to Flank and loud. you name it, but i always get detected. :wah:

And to Bubblehead, I watched both movies tonight. Great Suggestions! both had really good storys and great footage of the boats. Thanks! :rock: