A breath of fresh air for SH3!

[Hans Witteman]

Greeting to all!

For my birthday present my son offer me Sh5 he was surprised i didn't bought it already(drm hater), so i decide to give it a try even knowing my internet connection is not very reliable. After a few hours of frustration and intermittent disconnection from the ubi server and random ctd plus horrible lag fest and Hollywood style pyrotechnic i simply open control panel and uninstall the offender. Then i reinstall SH3 and finally i was enjoying that breath of fresh salty breeze on my type IIa.

Then i start looking at new mod like the new diesel engine room from Flakmonkey and Diving duck and i said to my self why not starting modding SH3 with all the knowledge i have being for the past 7 years teaching 3ds max and photoshop for gaming. Some might say everything has been done etc etc, but i don't think it's true many historical details are still to be ad as an example the type IIa deck is not accurate at all.

I was following this forum from the day i bought Silent Hunter 3, but i never post since now because i was very busy with a big personal project involving the creation of a 3d virtual museum of the axis military weapons, tank, airplane, soldiers and theater of operation. All the models i made so far are very high end details as far as electric wire and company logo on instruments. It's been 5 years in the making and it's almost finish i will include in my album some pre renders so you can have and idea of the scope of that project.

Ok, now to the point being teaching 3ds max and photoshop for game since the last 7 years i said to my self that after enjoying so much from this site it was time for me to give back. Unfortunately i cannot make donations because i have no credit card after a bad divorce and bankruptcy. But one thing i can do that worth a lot more than a simple donation is sharing my knowledge with the forum members and possibly making video tutorial for the members. Since i start a new modest mod to completely revamp the type IIa and i have a few questions to keep me going on this i have read all the sh3 mod workshop and shIV for answers on this and explanations are missing vital instructions maybe because of language barrier so here it is:

So far i have install the wonderful Sh3 editor from skwasjer and start playing around whit it, first thing i did was to redo the uvw layout to make it more convenient to texture and add more detail to deck with no repeated half clone texture I'm aware that ubi done that to save memory and optimized for the game engine but for good system with plenty of ram that might work OK. So here my technical questions about my next step:


Question 1: On post on import/export 3d model from skwasjer http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=119571 on step "4. After changing the map channel, you will be asked:" there is supposed to be a window prompt from sh3 editor to appear after i change the channel number but nothing happen on my machine and i can't import more than the first channel embed with the obj. format so i cannot add secondary channel for ambient occlusion map maybe Flakmonkey can answer this one cause he did it with is VIIC lightmap mod?

Question 2 : Since uvw index vertices are not on par with mesh vertices will it conflict somewhere in game?

question 3 : I saw a couple of post talking about enabling the unified render controler for ambient occlusion i found it in the sh3 controler but where am i suppose to put it in the node tree?

Sorry for the lengthy first post but it was need to address what stopping me from going on. Thank in advanced for any answers. And please excuse my bad English it is not my native language.


"If you can't beat them the first time, reincarnate, build your own 3d army and beat them with a mouse&keyboard"

[Hitman]

Amazing how much new blood is puring into SH3 :yeah: Wellcome, and breathtaking first post :up: I'm sure someone will be able to help you with the technical questions soon :yep:

[sharkbit]

Welcome aboard! :salute:

I had to stand up-all of your questions were way over my head. :D

Like Hitman said, there is plenty of talent available to answer your questions.

:)

[flakmonkey]

1. For importing multiple uv maps i prefer to use seperate obj files (rather than max`s uvw files since im a maya man at heart)

If you are importing a mesh, lets call it mymesh.obj to use a second (or 3rd/4th etc) uv channel, export the mesh with the uv mapping you want from your 3d app with the name mymesh-uv2.obj
When you import the 3dmodel with s3d it will automaticly see any files with the same name that have the -uv2 bit in the name as long as you have the appropriate option selected. (see pic)
http://img651.imageshack.us/img651/4102/41674549k.jpg

2. No idea, im guessing no

3. Not sure on this one either, although by the sounds of it youre wanting to add lightmaps to something, if so then just add a texture map node within the material and an embedded image as a child to that node (see pic2)
http://img405.imageshack.us/img405/651/pc2t.jpg



Hope some of this helps, in well known for being useless when it comes to
explaining things:up:


ps, the lightmap mod for the type2a is pretty much done if youre looking to pretty up youre IIa sub:D

[Hans Witteman]

Thank for the warm welcome Hitman!

Believe me SH3 is like the Phoenix always reborn from it ash, this game almost feel like it has a soul of it own.

And personally after roughly looking at SH5 engine structure modders even the best will not be able to make it like SH3 with better graphic and don't forget that a poorly optimized game engine is not moddable.

Game publishers will hit a brick wall soon because system requirements are too high they have to scale down cause people in the very near future will not upgrade their system like they use to do in recent year they are gonna be more concerned on putting food on the table.

[Hans Witteman]

Wow that was a fast answer Flakmonkey truly appreciated will try that later on today, and yes i will be happy to combine your ambient occlusion map to my revamp type IIa i almost finish the exterior and since i am an historic freak i did research for correct ral to rgb conversion and it's looking great with historically correct deck without rust like most stock model have maybe in romania wood can rusted we never know lol

I even correct the emergency buoy it was 6 inch too big in diameter and 8 inch to far in the conning tower direction.

Since i'm not a paid member i have to find a host to upload screen capture cause a picture worth a thousand words and i will make a mediafire account to facilitate download and exchange of files.

Thank to all for the warm welcome i will try to do my best to help this great community.

[frau kaleun]

Welcome aboard, Hans, looks like you've fallen in with the right crowd already when it comes to getting your questions answered. Look forward to seeing some of your work when you're ready to unveil it!

[Kpt. Lehmann]

Since i'm not a paid member i have to find a host to upload screen capture cause a picture worth a thousand words and i will make a mediafire account to facilitate download and exchange of files.



For uploading photos, try photobucket.com :arrgh!:

It is what I use and it is free.

[Jimbuna]

Fair winds and following seas Hans.

Another free image hosting site (this one doesn't require you to store the images on your account):

http://imageshack.us/

SINK EM ALL!! http://www.psionguild.org/forums/images/smilies/wolfsmilies/pirate.gif

[Sailor Steve]

WELCOME ABOARD!:sunny:

[Hans Witteman]

3. Not sure on this one either, although by the sounds of it youre wanting to add lightmaps to something, if so then just add a texture map node within the material and an embedded image as a child to that node (see pic2)
So far almost there flakmonkey everything went well for second uvw channel the only problem i have left is when i click on enable ambient occlusion in S3d model preview the sub turn black instead of the lightmap showing any clues on this?

Thank kpt Lehmann and Jimbuna for image host suggestions.

[flakmonkey]

I never did figure out why s3d does this sometimes, the lightmap will be visible in game though even if its not there with s3d.

[bigboywooly]

Cool another 3d modeller
Always needed around here

Welcome aboard

[el cheguevara]

Very good news, more mods for sh3. Always respect someone who knows more than me lol, can't wait to see it once all is ready :yeah:. Keep us updated mate, and welcome to this wonderfull community.

[Hans Witteman]

I never did figure out why s3d does this sometimes, the lightmap will be visible in game though even if its not there with s3d.

Hi Flakmonkey thank again for the answer but i remember skwasjer mentioned something about the unified render controller but he never say where to use it or activated to fix the black sub problem.

By the way what start as a modest mod is now going full swing of big surprised since i test many 3d modifications and i mean heavy model tweaking plus totally new uvw unwrap of the mesh and i am simply speechless about the overall stability in game so far, almost no impact on fps very little.

Everything is going so well that i officially named the new mod to :UBOOTTYP_IIA_HAHD, HAHD stand for Historically Accurate High Detail

Here are the main features :

*Complete new deck with accurate railing protection and hawser.
*New UVW Unwrap skin highly detail of early Type IIA.
*Completely redone conning tower with accurate details.
*New UVW Unwrap skin highly detail of early Type IIA conning tower.
*Accurate new 2 cm flak gun with high detail skin.
*Instruments add on in control room and one surprised (no spoil lol).
*Completely redone interior with highly detail texture.
*New Interior lighting.
*Redone bow spray, wake and water spray from drain holes.

If people are please with this first mod i will go for :

*UBOOTTYP_VIIC_HAHD
*UBOOTTYP_IX_HAHD

First picture in game to be release tomorrow if testing go well tonight so i hope i put some smile on kaleun face eh eh!

____________________________
"If you can't beat them the first time, reincarnate build your own 3d army and beat them with a mouse&keyboard"

[Magic1111]

Everything is going so well that i officially named the new mod to :UBOOTTYP_IIA_HAHD, HAHD stand for Historically Accurate High Detail

Here are the main features :

*Complete new deck with accurate railing protection and hawser.
*New UVW Unwrap skin highly detail of early Type IIA.
*Completely redone conning tower with accurate details.
*New UVW Unwrap skin highly detail of early Type IIA conning tower.
*Accurate new 2 cm flak gun with high detail skin.
*Instruments add on in control room and one surprised (no spoil lol).
*Completely redone interior with highly detail texture.
*New Interior lighting.
*Redone bow spray, wake and water spray from drain holes.

If people are please with this first mod i will go for :

*UBOOTTYP_VIIC_HAHD
*UBOOTTYP_IX_HAHD

First picture in game to be release tomorrow if testing go well tonight so i hope i put some smile on kaleun face eh eh!

____________________________
"If you can't beat them the first time, reincarnate build your own 3d army and beat them with a mouse&keyboard"

Wow, that sounds very good ! :up: I´m looking forward to release...!:yeah:

Best regards,
Magic

[flakmonkey]

This is sounding better and better, i had just started a realtime 1xTC patrol with a typeIIa, i may put it on hold until this is released:D

[Fido]

@ Hans Witteman :
Thanks for sharing your talents with the community; for we, The Graphically Challenged, there can never be too many of you wonderful modders out there. You bring us so much more than just eye candy, you bring us a glimpse into history.

Fido :salute:
U-552

[999-Jay-999]

Always grand to see new blood.

Very appreciated to when more is brought to the table of modding.

Thank you.... and all the best.

[TarJak]

Wilkommen Hans. You are in good hands here and your mods will be welcomed as well. Always good to see new blood coming into the modding ranks.

[KL-alfman]

welcome Hans!
great, that you share your knowledge and talents with the SH-community. your work is well appreciated and will maybe have me changing to the modelled type IIA from my beloved VIIC.

thx for your efforts! :salute:

[Hans Witteman]

Thank to all for your dynamic support this is vital to keep me going on that kind of project i will put my 12 years of experience in 3d and 2d to make you patrol the atlantic again and again and if you see by chance the DRM destroyer sink it with a salvo of 4 for me eh eh!

Update: so far so good just a few glitch on the interior will be fix by the end of the day, the new 3d parts integration is flawless I'm really amazed about how well the game engine handle them.

Will try hard to upload some pic this afternoon no guarantee but there is a good chance. By playing with s3d i found amazing possibility won't spoil the detail but if i can pull up what i want with it i will be in vhallala :salute:

_________________________________

"If you can't beat them the first time, reincarnate, build your own 3d army and beat them with a mouse&keyboard"

[KL-alfman]

if you see by chance the DRM destroyer sink it with a salvo of 4 for me eh eh!


that's a good one! :haha:

really looking forward to the first pix!


and if I may ask:
you mentioned that English is not your first language. your nick is German, so are you a German immigrant to Canada?

[Hans Witteman]

that's a good one! :haha:

really looking forward to the first pix!


and if I may ask:
you mentioned that English is not your first language. your nick is German, so are you a German immigrant to Canada?

Very good question that deserve a very strange answer don't be afraid i am not crazy.

Strange fact about me :

*Won a lot of oratory contest in school.
*When i was watching war movies with my father i was getting upset when the Germans where defeated.
*Was drawing since i know how to handle a pencil.
*My best friend mom name was Eva Brown.
*my first business was on a boulevard name Churchill.
*When i start listening to some old tunes(1930 to 1944) from Germany i was able to hum the air before i heard it and some make me cry for no reasons.(By the way i listen almost only the old ww2 Germans march and song)
* i had lot of dreams related to that period and places i recognized after seing photos.
*I have almost rebuild the whole German army in 3d i am totally obsess with that project.

And many more strange occurrence too many to mentioned.

So to answer if I'm German my only answer would be yes.

And second if you ask me if i believe in reincarnation you Beth i do :salute:


One of my favorite song is : Was blasen die Trompeten

[Fubar2Niner]

@Hans

Welcome aboard kaleun, it's great to have yet another modder at the helm. I can't wait to see the first glimpses of your work, I've been salivating at the thought of it already. With your knowledge and expertise you will not only add to our enjoyment but perhaps help your fellow modders in future quests. News of your possible future work on both the VIIC and IX is already greatly anticipated here. Best of luck :yeah:

Best regards.

Fubar2Niner

[frau kaleun]

And second if you ask me if i believe in reincarnation you Beth i do :salute:


I suspect I may be the reincarnation of General Patton. Oh, go ahead and laugh, but at least it would explain all the swearing.

Seriously, though, I'm one of those people who doesn't believe in reincarnation, but I also don't NOT believe in it. I can't find any conclusive evidence one way or the other.

But I do believe in a kind of karma, wherever it comes from - who knows, really? And I think there are things that we "inherit" from somewhere even if we don't know how or why. Unconsciously or otherwise.

I know I have spent the last few years finding and getting to know my "inner warrior," or whatever you want to call it. In various aspects of my life I found myself drawn in that direction and it's allowed me to discover and develop parts of me that I wasn't even aware of (but were probably always there).

Funny thing is, I thought it was something new and different until I came across an old stack of papers that I'd stuck away on a shelf. Turned out to be work from my school years that I'd saved for whatever reason, papers I'd written. Went all the way back to elementary school. I started looking through them and saw that in my early history classes, when I was given an assignment to pick a topic and turn in a report, I was writing things like "Major Battles of World War II" and "Military Conquests of The Roman Empire." When I was 8, 9 years old I was drawn to those things and I'd completely forgotten it.

Go figure. Life sure is a mystery sometimes!

[SquareSteelBar]

... i believe in reincarnation ...Sind Sie es, mein Führer? :o :rotfl2:

Translation:
"Is it you, mein Führer?"

[verte]

I see that you are positively possessed, Herr Witteman :DL Waiting for your mods!

[KL-alfman]

Very good question that deserve a very strange answer don't be afraid i am not crazy.


I thank you very much for your very personal answer!

[Hans Witteman]

Hi gentlemens and lady,

The progress i made so far is excellent, what begin as a modest reskinning of type IIA is now a major overhaul of the complete boat i will list my progress and when some in game picture are done later on today if lucky i will start a new WIP thread to show you what amazing stuff i was able to do with s3d.

Every historic buff like me will appreciate the attention to every small detail.
Most of the work i made is based on very early UBOOTTYP IIA like U-4 and up to U-9. U-4 was the most successful with 3 ships sunk for a total of 5,133 GRT 1 warship sunk for a total of 1,090 tons.

I will separate 3D work from texture work for clarity :

3D :

*Aerial insulator&cable and all support rack and plate
*Stern navigation light and flag mast to the correct height and diameter
*Lifebuoy light
*Stern aft deck jumping wire supports
*Removable bollards
*Complete protection railing
*New conning tower floor
*Metal compartment behind UZO
*Fog horn
*All correct panel with hinge on ext conning tower
*periscope lens
*Hatch door

2D (textures)

everything lol
I did new ambient occlusion with VRAY and i like it better than the mental ray one so i will stick with VRAY for AO in the future.

Since i am teaching in that field don't worry everything is optimised and the frame rate will not suffer too much from it, so far everything is running silky smooth even near a convoy. The only thing i have to test is if the damage model is alter by the 3d work on the conning tower if so is there a way to add sphere collisions like in SHIV???

By the way the gentlemen who ask me to do the type VIIC/41 consider yourself as a lucky men i will do it:salute:

And every turn i go deeper with s3d i discover new amazing possibility not exploit so far just to say i have a couple of surprised for all of you in store.


Ok time for me to continue if you want my new toy for the weekend :rock:



_________________________________________

"If you can't beat them the first time, reincarnate, build your own 3d army and beat them with a mouse&keyboard"

[KL-alfman]

By the way the gentlemen who ask me to do the type VIIC/41 consider yourself as a lucky men i will do it:salute:



great to hear about your progresses!

[Hans Witteman]

I just upload a picture in my album playing with a VIIC in my bath :haha::rotfl2:

[Hitman]

Hans there are two Uboat variants that were used in the war largely but are not in the game. In both cases you could start from the existing submarines, and rework the relevant parts. I'm talking about the Type VIIA and the IIB. Please consider if modelling them is possible, I'd like to see accurate models of both, the first one for the Atlantic and the second specially for the Black Sea campaigns :up:

[Hans Witteman]

Hans there are two Uboat variants that were used in the war largely but are not in the game. In both cases you could start from the existing submarines, and rework the relevant parts. I'm talking about the Type VIIA and the IIB. Please consider if modelling them is possible, I'd like to see accurate models of both, the first one for the Atlantic and the second specially for the Black Sea campaigns :up:

Hi Hitman, maybe you where reading my mind because i had already plan for this:up:

Time to go to bed for me and by the way i'm not used to forums can you please tell me how to start a WIP thread cause i'm gonna need that tomorrow, the first pictures to tease all :rock:

[Hitman]

Glad to hear that Hans :yeah:

The WIP thread is a normal one, you just will type [WIP] in the title at the beginning (F.e. the thread title as you input it in the empty space would be "[WIP] Hans Witteman's dockyards at work"). It's no code command, just a customary way we have of identifying the thread easily and making use of the forum search engine more effective :up:

As soon as you start it, I will see to stick it in the top.

Keep the good job :rock:

[Hans Witteman]

Glad to hear that Hans :yeah:

The WIP thread is a normal one, you just will type [WIP] in the title at the beginning (F.e. the thread title as you input it in the empty space would be "[WIP] Hans Witteman's dockyards at work"). It's no code command, just a customary way we have of identifying the thread easily and making use of the forum search engine more effective :up:

As soon as you start it, I will see to stick it in the top.

Keep the good job :rock:

Thank Hitman for the quick answer, well, well lets say the IIa look simply awesome was hopping to release some pic today but the amplitude of the task i'm under going is keeping hands full.

Can someone tell me if it possible to move the crew height on the bridge i saw the node in animation folder but can't seem to find any kind of control so far??

If you are an history lover like me Hitman you will surely appreciate starting a campaign with a totally accurate version of it.

The best is yet to come :rock:

__________________________________________

"If you can't beat them the first time, reincarnate, build your own 3d army and beat them with a mouse&keyboard"

[divingbluefrog]

Thank you, this is very exciting. I hope to see pictures soon. "Keep up the good work!"
Two questions :
- Do you plan to add exhaust smokes?
- Do you plan to add more room(s), as in FM_NewInteriors

[Hans Witteman]

Thank you, this is very exciting. I hope to see pictures soon. "Keep up the good work!"
Two questions :
- Do you plan to add exhaust smokes?
- Do you plan to add more room(s), as in FM_NewInteriors

Hi Divingbluefrog,

Thank for you interest in UBOOTTYPIIA_HAHD for the exhaust smoke and interior it will depend on fps impact, if i can maintain a reasonable frame rate i will surely implement as much as i can but i don't want to cripple system resources either.

I have many other great ideas that come to my mind since i start playing with S3d the best is yet to come.

For the picture if everything go well today i will start a new WIP thread with lthe first graphic eyecandy.

_________________________________________

"If you can't beat them the first time, reincarnate, build your own 3d army and beat them with a mouse&keyboard"

[nemo7]

No news means good news Hans? ;)

[Hans Witteman]

No news means good news Hans? ;)


The news are excellent all the modeling went well i am now finishing the texture and optimizing everything i am truly amaze with s3d what a fantastic tool:rock:

By the way i am searching for the death screen does anybody know where it is located??

And second how the remove the crew from deck when surface???

Pictures and a video are underway for the weekend :up:
________________________________________

"If you can't beat them the first time, reincarnate, build your own 3d army and beat them with a mouse&keyboard"

[Fubar2Niner]

Any news on this Hans?

Best regards.

Fubar2Niner

[Hans Witteman]

Any news on this Hans?

Best regards.

Fubar2Niner


Hi Fubar2Niner,

First ingame video to be release in the next 2 days sometime it is a pain to be a perfectionist lol :salute: