[WIP]Campaign 1943-1945

[Wolfling04]

Hey All,

I'm going to try my hand at making my first ever mod, I know scary for some one that has never published a piece of art:D.

If I can get this to work my overall goals are to make three versions:
(with permissions granted, as I have not talked to these modders yet)

Lite Campaign compatible
Reduced Mission Tonnage compatible
A standalone version

Right now, until I can learn how to actually add a campaign to the actual game, my main goal is to make the Black May campaign extend to the end of the war.

Anyways, on a last note please understand this will be no fast process as I have to play through the already three month long Black May campaign just to see if the changes I already have done have worked and if they did I will most likely play until early-mid 44' to make sure everything is working.

[THE_MASK]

The beginning of something great :rock:If it doesnt work out then no worries , i have failed modding on a daily basis . Hopefully this will work though .

[Wolfling04]

Thank you sober for what you said, honestly, for a great modder as yourself to say that to a new modder gives me inspiration. :salute:

After digging into the campaign files deeper, To me it kinda looks like Ubi ran out of time and didn't get to finish the campaign the way they had wanted.

Ie. All port traffic and u-boats (the two properties I have looked at thus far) are set to all exit the game 1945 12 31.

[Ragtag]

Nice, I hope you pull it off. What i also would like to see is the possibility to continue campaigns. As of now, when you reach your goal the campaign quits auto. Same in historical mission.

But my biggest wish is an open campaign with selectable start dates/year aka SH3 and SH4 but i guess that would be asking to much. Would it be possible to import the SH3 campaign for instance and make the nescassary tweaks?
Sh5 contains tons of files from SH3 and 4. I would'nt be surprised if the old campaign stuff is in there somewhere :)
Anyways, looking forward to this one and kudos for taking on this project.

[SteelViking]

Good luck with this endeavor Wolfling04, I really hope that all goes well for you.:yeah:

[Jimbuna]

Wishing you every success....this would have a major positive impact on gameplay http://www.psionguild.org/forums/images/smilies/wolfsmilies/thumbsup.gif

[DavyJonesFootlocker]

I want a Type XXI boat!:wah:

Good luck with the campaign.:yeah:

[Reece]

my biggest wish is an open campaign with selectable start dates/year aka SH3 and SH4 but i guess that would be asking to much. Would it be possible to import the SH3 campaign for instance and make the nescassary tweaks?

Ditto!:salute:
Either way, good luck!:yep:

[7thSeal]

Hope you succeed with it, that would certainly be another must have mod if you do. :salute:

[Wolfling04]

Nice, I hope you pull it off. What i also would like to see is the possibility to continue campaigns. As of now, when you reach your goal the campaign quits auto. Same in historical mission.


Ragtag, If I understand correctly, when you reach the date of 6/1/1943 it just quits, no special message or anything?

edit: After sitting in port and docking a few times to speed up time I finally reached June 1st and I didn't like what I saw so back to the drawing board.

[Wolfling04]

BY GEORGE, I think I got'er

The reason why the game would auto quit or stop your campaign is because there was no more patrols to complete, this is my guess so far. I need to do some more testing.

Anyways, Its currently like June 25th 1943 in my game, I just started a patrol (started the 11th of June)

Still need to sink the required amount of tonnage for the current patrol to make sure that the game will not stop after I complete the required amount of tonnage.

No promises yet, but it's looking up.

[Wolfling04]

But my biggest wish is an open campaign with selectable start dates/year aka SH3 and SH4 but i guess that would be asking to much. Would it be possible to import the SH3 campaign for instance and make the nescassary tweaks?
Sh5 contains tons of files from SH3 and 4. I would'nt be surprised if the old campaign stuff is in there somewhere :)
Anyways, looking forward to this one and kudos for taking on this project.

An Open Campaign will be my primary goal once I can get everything to work properly, (actually make it playable till the end) and get have the option to get rid of the first mission, (the tutorial mission).

As far as the SH3 campaign unfortunately will not work since that campaign is controlled by only a few files and not several to a lot like SH5 is.

[andycaccia]

I have modded (only a little) the u boat campaign in sh4, so it is surely possible to do the same in sh5. The problem is how to make a whole new dynamic campaign and add it to the game.. what do you have in mind?

[Alex]

Good luck mate ! :yeah:

:DL :woot: :yep: :rock:

[Wolfling04]

I have modded (only a little) the u boat campaign in sh4, so it is surely possible to do the same in sh5. The problem is how to make a whole new dynamic campaign and add it to the game.. what do you have in mind?


Right now, just extend the Black May campaign until the end of the war. As long as I can still sink the amount of reqd. tonnage and still continue the campaign.

So far I have gotten past June 2nd 0000 1943 (that's when the campaign would just end).

First versions would be a very basic campaign enabling the player to continue past June 2nd 1943. With no additions to the campaign, meaning no "patrol area" to patrol and no required missions to complete IE. Sink 150,00 tons of enemy shipping here. Pretty much take your boat sail where ever you want and sink whatever you want.

Later versions, I have plans to go as far as adding historical missions, adding more missions and campaigns u-boat upgrades and torpedo upgrades if there are any that aren't in game. last but not least allow the player to start in any campaign.

As far as adding new missions/campaigns to SH5 I do not think it will be that hard. As the single traffic/convoys/taskforces are all campaign generated meaning, the campaign decides when/where to spawn them and where to send them (from what I have looked at thus far).

There is only one downside to modding the campaign in anyway in Sh5, new campaign mods MUST be installed before starting a campaign, they cannot simply be installed while in port as the changes WILL NOT take affect, I have learned this in my testing so far. (atleast with the changes I am making)

Also, I want to thank ALL of you for your support (even though I haven't even released anything yet lol), I have tried modding in the past but always got burned out or frustrated because I couldn't/didn't want to learn any of it. This time though I actually got this game early enough to learn the ins and outs of it and I just hate failure now days :D (guess I can thank my career for that)

edit: I just left Brest for my first patrol, its July 25th 1943 and I just got badly bombed thanks to IRAI, and on my map I also see lone ships being reported so I know the game is still producing ships/planes.

[andycaccia]

Right now, just extend the Black May campaign until the end of the war. As long as I can still sink the amount of reqd. tonnage and still continue the campaign.

So far I have gotten past June 2nd 0000 1943 (that's when the campaign would just end).

First versions would be a very basic campaign enabling the player to continue past June 2nd 1943. With no additions to the campaign, meaning no "patrol area" to patrol and no required missions to complete IE. Sink 150,00 tons of enemy shipping here. Pretty much take your boat sail where ever you want and sink whatever you want.

Later versions, I have plans to go as far as adding historical missions, adding more missions and campaigns u-boat upgrades and torpedo upgrades if there are any that aren't in game. last but not least allow the player to start in any campaign.

As far as adding new missions/campaigns to SH5 I do not think it will be that hard. As the single traffic/convoys/taskforces are all campaign generated meaning, the campaign decides when/where to spawn them and where to send them (from what I have looked at thus far).

There is only one downside to modding the campaign in anyway in Sh5, new campaign mods MUST be installed before starting a campaign, they cannot simply be installed while in port as the changes WILL NOT take affect, I have learned this in my testing so far. (atleast with the changes I am making)

Also, I want to thank ALL of you for your support (even though I haven't even released anything yet lol), I have tried modding in the past but always got burned out or frustrated because I couldn't/didn't want to learn any of it. This time though I actually got this game early enough to learn the ins and outs of it and I just hate failure now days :D (guess I can thank my career for that)

edit: I just left Brest for my first patrol, its July 25th 1943 and I just got badly bombed thanks to IRAI, and on my map I also see lone ships being reported so I know the game is still producing ships/planes.

It's agood start!:arrgh!: Well done. The first step is complete..

[SteelViking]

Awesome:rock: This progress is very good news! Good job Wolfling04

An interesting bit about uboat upgrades such as: radars, sonars, anti-sonar coatings, etc. yes, there are several upgrades included in the game files which go completely un-utilized in stock. Before you start from scratch to get them to work properly though, you should check the work of TheBeast(just do a search on the modding forum). I believe that he was able to get all U-boat upgrades to work, but since the campaign was ending short, there was not much of a point to getting those upgrades.

Also, on a similar note. With some very simple hex editing, and some roster magic, I don't see why we could not get a type VIIC/42 in the game. We could basically just take the files for the VIIC/41(which looks identical anyway) and increase its stats to what the 42 should have had. It would not be a huge addition to the game, but if the campaign is going to be longer, I think it would be cool to be able to get the 42. I will look into it, but my skills with hexing are probably not good enough. Privateer or TDW may have to do it.

[andycaccia]

Awesome:rock: This progress is very good news! Good job Wolfling04

An interesting bit about uboat upgrades such as: radars, sonars, anti-sonar coatings, etc. yes, there are several upgrades included in the game files which go completely un-utilized in stock. Before you start from scratch to get them to work properly though, you should check the work of TheBeast(just do a search on the modding forum). I believe that he was able to get all U-boat upgrades to work, but since the campaign was ending short, there was not much of a point to getting those upgrades.

Also, on a similar note. With some very simple hex editing, and some roster magic, I don't see why we could not get a type VIIC/42 in the game. We could basically just take the files for the VIIC/41(which looks identical anyway) and increase its stats to what the 42 should have had. It would not be a huge addition to the game, but if the campaign is going to be longer, I think it would be cool to be able to get the 42. I will look into it, but my skills with hexing are probably not good enough. Privateer or TDW may have to do it.

The VIIC/42, in my sources, never reached operational status, as the ordered boats were scrapped to free industrial capacity and resources to build the new XXI. Besides, the VIIC/42 should have been broader in beam than the VIIC 41, due to the fact it had a slightly larger pressure hull. Anyway, "clonig" an existing submarine to create a new variant should be very easy, provided that you are willing to use the same 3d model.

check this: http://www.uboat.net/types/

Cheers!

[SteelViking]

The VIIC/42, in my sources, never reached operational status, as the ordered boats were scrapped to free industrial capacity and resources to build the new XXI. Besides, the VIIC/42 should have been broader in beam than the VIIC 41, due to the fact it had a slightly larger pressure hull. Anyway, "clonig" an existing submarine to create a new variant should be very easy, provided that you are willing to use the same 3d model.

check this: http://www.uboat.net/types/

Cheers!

I know that none of them were ever completed. However, I did not realize that their beam was not the same as the 41.:hmmm: I just figured that it would be an interesting short term addition since we cannot add other boats right now.

Actually, it will not be too simple, even using the same 3D model. Because the existing GR2s have references to the specific .sim(and other controller files) for that boat. In other words, you will have to hex edit those references to new files in order to change the stats for the new boat independently of the original sub used.

Or at least I am pretty sure it will work like that.

[Wolfling04]

I know that none of them were ever completed. However, I did not realize that their beam was not the same as the 41.:hmmm: I just figured that it would be an interesting short term addition since we cannot add other boats right now.

Actually, it will not be too simple, even using the same 3D model. Because the existing GR2s have references to the specific .sim(and other controller files) for that boat. In other words, you will have to hex edit those references to new files in order to change the stats for the new boat independently of the original sub used.

Or at least I am pretty sure it will work like that.

Well that just sucks, I have zero experience modding those files to. Maybe I can sweet talk TDW or Privateer.

edit Just found this on wiki:

Dönitz government ordered dissolved by Eisenhower: Karl Dönitz continued to act as the German head of state, but his Flensburg government (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flensburg_government) (so-called because it was based at Flensburg (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flensburg) and controlled only a small area around the town) was given no regard after the surrender on May 8. On May 23, 1945 a British (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom) liaison officer was sent to Flensburg and read to the Flensburg government Eisenhower's order dissolving the government and ordering the arrest of its members. The Allies had a problem, because they realized that although the German armed forces had surrendered unconditionally, SHAEF had failed to use the document created by the "European Advisory Commission (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Advisory_Commission)" (EAC) and so the civilian German government had not. This was considered a very important issue, because just as the civilian, but not military, surrender in 1918 had been used by Hitler to create the "stab in the back (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dolchstosslegende)" argument, the Allies did not want to give a future hostile German regime a legal argument to resurrect an old quarrel.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/End_of_World_War_II_in_Europe

Once I get everything working May 8th is the date I have chosen to end the campaign as that is the day that Germany surrendered if I'm reading that web page correctly

[andycaccia]

I know that none of them were ever completed. However, I did not realize that their beam was not the same as the 41.:hmmm: I just figured that it would be an interesting short term addition since we cannot add other boats right now.

Actually, it will not be too simple, even using the same 3D model. Because the existing GR2s have references to the specific .sim(and other controller files) for that boat. In other words, you will have to hex edit those references to new files in order to change the stats for the new boat independently of the original sub used.

Or at least I am pretty sure it will work like that.


Well, I never "cloned" a submarine before, but, as far as I can tell, it shuldn't be very difficult... Just cloning ALL files and tweak the new "copies" with the correct values (mass, speed etc) so they reflect the correct VIIC 42 performance. I guess this trick has been done already in sh4 a couple of times at least.

[SteelViking]

Well, I never "cloned" a submarine before, but, as far as I can tell, it shuldn't be very difficult... Just cloning ALL files and tweak the new "copies" with the correct values (mass, speed etc) so they reflect the correct VIIC 42 performance. I guess this trick has been done already in sh4 a couple of times at least.

You can try that, but I am not sure that it will work. I believe that the .GR2 have exact file references, and they will just keep using the old controller files from the VIIC/41 instead of the cloned ones in the new folders.

Like I said though, I don't know for sure, that is just how it would seem like it should work. Someone should go ahead and try the easy cloning method and see if changes made to the cloned controller files show up in game.

[andycaccia]

You can try that, but I am not sure that it will work. I believe that the .GR2 have exact file references, and they will just keep using the old controller files from the VIIC/41 instead of the cloned ones in the new folders.

Like I said though, I don't know for sure, that is just how it would seem like it should work. Someone should go ahead and try the easy cloning method and see if changes made to the cloned controller files show up in game.

Indeed sh4 didn't have gr2 files...and I guess this time will be harder. Are you sure it's the gr2 file that contains all the "links" to the other files (sim, zon, cam etc)? Unfortunatly, I don't have sh5 installed currently...

[SteelViking]

Indeed sh4 didn't have gr2 files...and I guess this time will be harder. Are you sure it's the gr2 file that contains all the "links" to the other files (sim, zon, cam etc)? Unfortunatly, I don't have sh5 installed currently...

I cannot find references to the controller files anywhere actually. I even searched the .GR2 files in a hex editor, and was unable to find any file names of the controller files.:hmmm:

Perhaps that means the game will just pull the necessary files from whatever folder you have it directed to for the 3D model(that is specified in the .cfg). That would mean you were right about the cloning process. It would be great if that is how it works.

[Wolfling04]

If this is true as it sounds it is, a Type VIIC/42 may be in order

edit: I'd like to sink the tonnage that is reqd for the last mission but getting out of the Bay of Biscay is proving quite difficult, so I may try moving the last mission to the pacific ocean until further notice.

[Wolfling04]

First patrol after June2 completed required amount of tonnage sunk, campaign kept on rolling. Here is a screen shot just before I pulled into port.

http://screenshot.xfire.com/s/104375572-4.jpg

I have some more values to explore, as long as those turn out right I should have it ready to go later tonight.

edit: Ran all the way to Sept6 1944 (date last U-boat left Brest), and home base didn't change from Brest to Bergen. Anyone have any ideas?

[Wolfling04]

I have came to the conclusion that the only way to make the bases swap is to make a whole other campaign.I've already started working on it. I just have to add some patrols once I figure out how to make them.

[kptn_kaiserhof]

wolfling04 i think i speak for the whole subsim community:
we hope to see your great upcoming campaign mod we also hope for good results

so i must say:

GOOD LUCK AND GOOD HUNTING

[LordNeuro"Serbia"]

U r doing amezing work:yeah:. I hope u will manige too make hole new campaign. If u need help in gethering same materials or ideas for campaign mission or somthing like theat i would like too help.
Cheers:up: and keep up the fantastic work.

[Wolfling04]

U r doing amezing work:yeah:. I hope u will manige too make hole new campaign. If u need help in gethering same materials or ideas for campaign mission or somthing like theat i would like too help.
Cheers:up: and keep up the fantastic work.


I may be looking for some help here in the future. Right now I have a basic campaign made, the only issue is I cannot not get the threat zones, objectives to save as a .mis file (just to name a couple), I also cannot create a map_locations.mis. I could try importing a map location from a previous campaign but I do not want to do that, to avoid conflicts.

I also thought about just taking the entire Arctic Convoys campaign and making a whole new campaign out of that since it has everything I need. Bergen being the primary goal, as Brest becomes an enemy base around Aug15th 1944. I will take a hard look as all this tonight when I get home from work and post what I find in the next couple of days.

I never knew making a new campaign could be such a pain in the you know where :damn:

[Captain Can]

Wolfling04 this idea to extand the campaign sounds amazing man :up: Although i am playing SH3+GWX currently , i am getting more and more reasons to buy SH5 thanks to all efforts from you guys.

This whole modding progress seems like you guys gonna change the vanilla game into a whole something new really soon! :) Wish you the best luck with your ideas and progress!

[Wolfling04]

Well I took a look at the campaign I was making and figured out why some of the .mis missions were not saving, whew. Anyways right now I have my obj.mis good to go and the porttraffic.mis good to go.

Still have to add, map_locations.mis, milkcow.mis, historicalbases.mis and treatzones.mis

So far I can say the dates for this campaign will be 1Aug1943-8May1945 (the historical surrender date of Germany). If anyone has a different date please say so, as this is the date wiki gave me.

After I get all of the above added I still need to edit the UPCdata to reflect the base change to Bergen and test this. Hopefully I will not hit anymore road blocks/speed bumps.

EDIT: I got all of the above .mis'es into the new campaign, I just started updating the UPCDataGE off to bed now. May be able to test tomorrow.

[dcb]

Hi Wolfling

Any news on this? After sparking much interest, this thread suddenly faded away, and it's a shame. Your work seemed very promising.
This thread deserves a bump, so here it is:03:

dcb

[Wolfling04]

Right now, I have a basic campaign built and it ends 8May1945, the problem is, when I try enable it, the Black May campaign does not switch to the new campaign, even though all the dates are correct.

I know I need to learn how to script because I have to edit the campaign selection menu to reflect the campaign that I have added. Once I learn that if it still doesn't work I'm going to take either the Black May campaign or the Arctic Convoy's campaign and build a new campaign out of those.

This is still a WIP I just haven't had time to work on it lately as work and my RL has taken precedence.

First thing I'm gonna try though is a brand new install, since while working on this I had to edit active game files to make the mod.

I may release a mod enabling the player to play until (I forget the date) but enable the player to play until the last u-boat left Brest.

[PL_Andrev]

Any news Wolfling04?

[Zedi]

As we discussed in few threads lately, is no solution to add new campaign further than 43. Seems like this part is "a little bit" hardcoded. I took my chances and tried to make a new campaign for 43-45 and I managed once to click on the new campaign but resulted in a ctd. Since then I never managed to pass a persistent error that will occur every time I start a new game:

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4012/5125403046_8ecbfda812_b.jpg
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4087/5125588121_513680c955.jpg

The only solution now is to extend Black May and add new missions and objectives. Doing so, I managed to play until June 4 when sudden the game ended. I don't know why this happened... is again the hardcode part that block any progress after a certain date, or is because I played the campaign using an old save. Now I restarted the BM campaign just to see if I can pass that date an enter July, but this takes a lot of time even on max TC :/

[Hartmann]

Perhaps dev team put a harcoded limit thinking in a future addons , but now this is not probable.

the only way could be find the trigger or limit values in the game files and see if it could be override.

[Madox58]

BlackMay43 is coded into the Simdata.dll
No other Campaign is listed.

Perhaps that is the stopper?

[W_clear]

As we discussed in few threads lately, is no solution to add new campaign further than 43. Seems like this part is "a little bit" hardcoded. I took my chances and tried to make a new campaign for 43-45 and I managed once to click on the new campaign but resulted in a ctd. Since then I never managed to pass a persistent error that will occur every time I start a new game:

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4012/5125403046_8ecbfda812_b.jpg
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4087/5125588121_513680c955.jpg

The only solution now is to extend Black May and add new missions and objectives. Doing so, I managed to play until June 4 when sudden the game ended. I don't know why this happened... is again the hardcode part that block any progress after a certain date, or is because I played the campaign using an old save. Now I restarted the BM campaign just to see if I can pass that date an enter July, but this takes a lot of time even on max TC :/
Please continue:)

[Zedi]

BlackMay43 is coded into the Simdata.dll
No other Campaign is listed.

Perhaps that is the stopper?

Yes, I saw that. And that can be changed, but also can be considered as hacking. Anyway, I started now BM from scratch and if it will stop again around June 4, only hope is that Ubi will launch a patch that will unlock the campaign. I don't think that Ubi will work out an addon after the epic fail they had with SH5.

[Madox58]

Yes, I saw that. And that can be changed, but also can be considered as hacking.

Writeing patch files that change an original file is accepted for the SH series of Games.
Follow some of the Mods in SH3 right now.
They change values in key files but do not distribute the actual files.
As long as you don't break any security built in?
I've seen little opposition to the patch approach.

[SashaKA001]

Yes, I saw that. And that can be changed, but also can be considered as hacking.

Writeing patch files that change an original file is accepted for the SH series of Games.
Follow some of the Mods in SH3 right now.
They change values in key files but do not distribute the actual files.
As long as you don't break any security built in?
I've seen little opposition to the patch approach.

so what are waiting for the new company, hip,:woot: hip,:woot: hurray.:woot:

[Madox58]

Do we need to patch a key file?
Or is it the python script for campaigns that needs changed?
I don't do python so I can't say for sure.
But it is an interesting script.

[andycaccia]

Even a 1945 ending Black May campaign is betetr than a 1943 ending. It may not be historically correct, since we would need at least 2 other campaigns, but it's something..

[Obelix]

That's what I managed:
http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/picture.php?albumid=354&pictureid=3266
Here (http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/downloads.php?do=file&id=2887) you can take the mod, if it can be called. :)
That campaign - complete clone of "Black May". All you want to rename the "New Horizons"
Only I have not worked with a selection campaign, but I'm not much zealous. It was important to continue the campaign.

Please nepinayte feet:D. This is done very quickly. Just hastened to share operating time, suddenly come in handy.

[Sepp von Ch.]

Great!:yeah:
I am in the campaign at the end of 1942 and secretly hope, that it will be released a mod by Christmas and I can continue until 1945:DL

[Zedi]

Great!:yeah:
I am in the campaign at the end of 1942 and secretly hope, that it will be released a mod by Christmas and I can continue until 1945:DL

It will be, I'm working on it. It goes slow as is a long time to cover and I dont wanna release a blank campaign where is nothing to do. Wanna fill it with a lot of missions that will keep the people busy for a long time and this is not an easy task to do.

[Subhuman230]

Probably were planing on an official expansion but now that the games done so poor in sales I don't think there any hope of that then again Paradox pulled thru and fix Hearts of Iron 3 with its SemperFi expansion and that was doing fairly poor untill said super patch...

[Sepp von Ch.]

It will be, I'm working on it. It goes slow as is a long time to cover and I dont wanna release a blank campaign where is nothing to do. Wanna fill it with a lot of missions that will keep the people busy for a long time and this is not an easy task to do.

I appreciate very much your work and I´ll be glad, when I can build with my existing career in SH5 on the results of the campaign in years 1943-45:ahoy:

Finally I can use U-Boat type VIIC/41 and Zaunkonig and FaT torpedoes, different electronic warfare equipement...

[Zedi]

Keep at safe a save from the last days in Artic Convoys, Distant Waters or Black Pit if you wanna enter in the new campaign with full achievements and points. Otherwise when you start the extended campaign, you will lack in equipment, even the deck gun will be missing :D

[Sepp von Ch.]

Keep at safe a save from the last days in Artic Convoys, Distant Waters or Black Pit if you wanna enter in the new campaign with full achievements and points. Otherwise when you start the extended campaign, you will lack in equipment, even the deck gun will be missing :D

I am a extremely thermophile man Magnum and I sailed instead to the Arctic in Amerika (Operation Drumbeat):D


Thanks for the warning-I will certainly save positions of Distant Waters or Black Pit.


....even the deck gun will be missing

Hmmm, very realistic!:-) On 14 November 1942 BdU ordered the removal of deck guns from type VII U-Boats to compensate the weight of the increased Flak armament. In the Nord Atlantic allied airpower in 1943 - 45 made any surface attacks too dangerous.

[Obelix]

I was wondering: how would react to this server ubisoft? Would it be fair to expect disappointing players? After the command to activate the next mission comes just from the server. And they are programmed to follow the game only until May 1943: 1944 and 1945 they did not sign. Will they be able to switch the campaign and save the game normally?

[Zedi]

Valid questions. This is the extension of the last campaign, so I see no reason why it should be banned. And I have my doubts that ubi servers check the saves in such a high details, like the campaign date. With only the end date delayed to 09.05.1945 I was able to reach september 43 without any problem and I was able to save the game. But everything is possible and testing this campaign will be the biggest problem.

So far Im building the campaign and is a LOT of work to do because beside the regular "go there/sink that" objectives I try to implement few historical objectives that require huge amount of work. And testing the whole campaign from 43 to 45 is almost impossible even with regular hop in and out from base. Just because of that, many things are not under my control and will be based on luck and the hope that this project will eventually work and in May 45 the ending screen will pop on with the game credit on, as is now in 43.

[Wolfling04]

Magnum, I appreciate all the work you have done for this mod. I must say I cannot continue on this endeavor, work has me being pulled in 5 different directions.

I also apologize to the community for never releasing what I had done, as I had promised.

Smooth sailing to all.

[Zedi]

Wish we could work together on this as is very hard for 1 man. A lot of problems and also a huge amount of work. Only changing the political teritory up to 45 is a HUGE pita. Not to mention that working without any tutorial/help file is very hard and time consuming, all those tutorials from SH3/ME1 are worthless, the dynamic campaign introduced in SH5 is very different from everything we had so far.

By the way, what should be an acceptable tonnage for a whole year? Playin on high realism I would say 100K is already enough, but I'm sure that those who play for fun would complete this tonnage in few weeks.

[Wolfling04]

I was thinking about going with 60-80k per year. Between 43-45 it was hell just to get out of The Bay. 100k may work but in my honest opinion it's a tad too much.

Magnum, I sent you a link to what I have done thus far. Let me know if you believe it is fit for release.

[Zedi]

Wolfing, thanks but I'm already too deep in my work. You should release it as it is and let people patrol the sea until 45. It should be enough fun for a while.

My work will take a while to finish it, hope it will be this year. For sure, this is very time consuming job... only changing the political territory of the whole world and also keeping the historical accuracy involve a HUGE amount of work .. makes me to give up, is the main reason why I work so slow.

Normally, I should rework the country .shp files to reflect the real borders at 45, but this is way to much work. It would require to work in 3DMax and stuff, no way for this. I will be happy if I manage to revert the political territory stats to the 39 status.

Regarding the tonnage: 100k = 100.000. You think 60k will be enough for a whole year? I have my doubts as those who use automation will reach this tonnage cap in a single month, if not a week ... I was thinking for about 250-300/year and anyway, it's not a biggie. On fail the show is still on and the player can advance to the next year without any problem.

[Sepp von Ch.]

Your campaign 1943-45 will include some interesting conclusions such as "Black Flag" in Mai 1945?;)

Operational U-boats were ordered to surface and sail for Allied ports flying a black flag of surrender. Most made for the UK, although a few reached the US.

http://www.naval-history.net/WW2CampaignsUboats6.htm


http://www.amazon.com/Black-Flag-Surrender-Germanys-U-Boat/dp/184832037X/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1292756209&sr=8-3

I´am so glad that you are working on this mod Magnum!:yeah:

[Zedi]

I was thinking about something like that, also I was thinking about a last trip/journey... a mission to transport secret documents in South America but.. I see no point in it. We cant surrender to the enemy in the game, we cant approach their ports without being hunted down. Also, travel such a long way down to South America for nothing, is kinda pointless.

So, the last campaign will gradually have less and less action and thats pretty realistic. Every year has a default tonnage objective and beside that, in 43 is the most action that include a historical mission. In 44 is only one extra mission, also a historical one and in 45 is not much left to do... sink what you can and try to survive.

Regarding the project/mod, I will release it these days as it is. Same as Wolfing, I got no more time to work any further on the mod and also.. my video card just got dead so I play on my laptop which is not really meant to run SH5. Is not entirely finished, meaning there are still stuff that I dont know how to resolve.. for example I wanted to send a radio message to the player when a new objective is available, but its not always work.

Testing this mod was a major pita and required a LOT of time.. just to TC until September (even with jumping in and out from base) everytime when I mod something on a mission is a nightmare. Is the reason why I was not able to test anything further than September 43 and what will happen after that, including the ending in 45, is a mystery for me too. All I can do is just to hope that all will go right and in May 45 we will see the ending screen that pop up now in May 43 in the default campaign.

[robbythesub]

Well thanks for all your efforts to date and I am sure everyone understands how much time this type of thing takes.

I will look forward to when you release this for sure.

Does this mean you wont do any more on this mod, or will you continue to develop it in the future?

Thanks :yep:

[Sepp von Ch.]

Thank you very much for your work Magnum! I hope this mod will not interfere with each other and it will be another big step for us - the SH5-players.

[Zedi]

...

Does this mean you wont do any more on this mod, or will you continue to develop it in the future?

...

Overall, the mod is done and it should work good. The campaign is based pretty much on real facts, I mean.. after Black May there was not much action for the u-boats. There was a last attempt to revive the convoy war in September 43, but after that the battle for Atlantic was considered lost. The sub base should switch to Bergen soon after the allied landing in France and in theory the campaign will finish in May 45. The major pain was to restore each country status based on the historical facts, worked a lot on this part but had no chance to test it.

Right now I have to test one more thing before release.. the radioman. In the original Black May campaign, he stop responding to any request in May 43.. all he does is just to inform you that a very important message arrived and you should read it. I found no solution for this than to replace his AI script with the one from the Black Pit campaign. Hope it works.. otherwise requesting resupply will be difficult.

What I found to be fun playin up to September 43, is the campaign engine itself. Seems to generate more and more traffic with a lot of huge convoys with heavy escorts. Encountered many times very large convoys that had carriers and BB's as escort and attacking the convoy was a real challenge. So even if there is not so many missions included, just going out on patrol for the yearly tonnage equipped with the latest technology and torpedoes should be enough fun. I anticipate that in a day or two I release the mod.

[Obelix]

...I anticipate that in a day or two I release the mod.
Wow! Sounds very nice!:woot::yeah:

[mikaelanderlund]

Cool!!:yeah::rock:

[robbythesub]

Overall, the mod is done and it should work good. The campaign is based pretty much on real facts, I mean.. after Black May there was not much action for the u-boats. There was a last attempt to revive the convoy war in September 43, but after that the battle for Atlantic was considered lost. The sub base should switch to Bergen soon after the allied landing in France and in theory the campaign will finish in May 45. The major pain was to restore each country status based on the historical facts, worked a lot on this part but had no chance to test it.

Right now I have to test one more thing before release.. the radioman. In the original Black May campaign, he stop responding to any request in May 43.. all he does is just to inform you that a very important message arrived and you should read it. I found no solution for this than to replace his AI script with the one from the Black Pit campaign. Hope it works.. otherwise requesting resupply will be difficult.

What I found to be fun playin up to September 43, is the campaign engine itself. Seems to generate more and more traffic with a lot of huge convoys with heavy escorts. Encountered many times very large convoys that had carriers and BB's as escort and attacking the convoy was a real challenge. So even if there is not so many missions included, just going out on patrol for the yearly tonnage equipped with the latest technology and torpedoes should be enough fun. I anticipate that in a day or two I release the mod.

Thanks for the reply, and all the hard work, it is very much appreciated as with all those who work so hard here for all our enjoyment.
I am very interested to try this extention to the later part of the game, especially after reading what you say above.
Regarding re supply, I have yet to ever have a request accepted, so is this an update in your mod or is it possibly that I have yet to reach a point / area in the game that allows re supply?
:salute:

[Sepp von Ch.]

2 Magnum: After completing the missions goal will be terminated immediately my trip, as in stock SH5?

[Zedi]

Well, resupply is very important. Is not only a big time saver, but also a backup solution in the case the sub base will not switch to Bergen in summer 44.. like I said, I never managed to test the game beyond September 43. Anyway, the trick with using the Black Pit AI script for the radioman works, in June 43 there is still an option to call for resupply.

Josef, I'm not sure I understand your question ... the campaign will end in May 45 and in theory at that date you should get the ending screen and game credits no matter what. The war is over, there is nothing to do after that date. Regarding the missions, there is no stress to finish them. If you fail to achieve the yearly tonnage, there is nothing lost and next year you should get another tonnage mission.. the difference is that this time the tonnage will be less. Also, you can just go out on patrol and skip all the missions/objectives.. is no penalty for ignoring them.

So there is 2 year to play with plenty ships to sink and as I said, its amazing how much traffic and how large convoys are generated by the dynamic campaign engine. I finished twice the stock campaign, but never encountered such a large convoys with such a heavy escorts as I saw after May 43. The devs did an amazing work with this dynamic campaign engine, I have to admit that.

Tomorrow I will release this mod, is really no point to wait any longer as I dont have any more time to work on it.