I'm back

[cobalt]

Lets fix this game.

[DoveEgg]

I'm all for improving this game! :yeah:

[TheDarkWraith]

We've been busy fixing/enhancing this game for some time now :up:

[kapitan_zur_see]

I second that :O:
However, there's still to do! and the more we are, the best It can be!
We certainly could do with your modding abilities :up:

[cobalt]

Oh, I know dark. You guys have done a great job. When I first loaded this game up after release I was like... "w-what is this? This isnt silent hunter.." I played for 45mins and shelved it.

The other day I reinstalled and used MO and OH and have had a pleasurable experience so far, but there are just a ton of issues with the game in general. I do however see a lot of promise. The engine is generally in tact from what I can tell, its just a lot of the implementation is all kinds of weird. What are the limitations you guys have run into so far modding?

[TheDarkWraith]

The engine is generally in tact from what I can tell, its just a lot of the implementation is all kinds of weird. What are the limitations you guys have run into so far modding?

GR2 file is somewhat of a limitation depending on how it's used. If used for units it's a big limitation. If used for waypoints it really is no limitation.
Other than that I can't think of anything else that really is a limitation per se. The biggest limitation I've found is time (for modding)

[kapitan_zur_see]

GR2 files are indeed a big limitation. I'd say limitations mainly depends on your skills, that's why TDW may not be the most representative modder here, because of his above average skills and area of expertise...

I believe we're mainly refining and polishing things done or approached as for the moment. Pretty much everything that can be done using tools and common modding technique as been somewhat covered.

So if you don't have something like TDW's skills in programming, hex editing and reverse-engineering, you're up for some big limitations, because there lies the future of SH5 modding and common modders are waiting for breakthrough in this department to find new stuff to improve (that's why you'll see that most of the SH5 modding forum progresses are only done by a very few bunch of individuals and that except those few, you won't see many news)

There's probably more "uncovered" grounds in the eye-candy department.

[TheDarkWraith]

there's much to be done:
- the damage/flooding model of the ships needs to be finished/possibly revised. I did all the merchants in my FX_Update mod but never did the warships
- new effects for the game to be made (PGs and FPGs) and those tied into the Zones.dat file as Effect#x

Those are two big ones that need to be tackled currently.

[Madox58]

GR2 file is somewhat of a limitation depending on how it's used. If used for units it's a big limitation.

Use Google.
It's not a limitation if you search the proper term.
Doing the build of Units correctly is the final key.
Haveing a base Unit for SH5 before it was ever converted to SH5 would help.
Being as I'm no Hero?
That's all I can tell you at this time.
:haha:

[cobalt]

What about the campaign? Have you guys tried to fiddle with making getting rid of the ridiculousness?

[THE_MASK]

What about the campaign? Have you guys tried to fiddle with making getting rid of the ridiculousness?They fixed it .

http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=182964

[cobalt]

I like what open horizons has done to make the campaign more realistic, but im talking about completely wiping out the mission system of kill x tons..etc and re introduce the patrol system from sh3. I'd imagine that has been a problem for you guys to do.

[THE_MASK]

I have always had an option before leaving port weather i want to go on patrol without choosing a mission or not .

[cobalt]

Doesnt it not progress the campaign along if you dont complete the missions though?

[THE_MASK]

Doesnt it not progress the campaign along if you dont complete the missions though? I dunno , i am only up to oct 25th 1939 .

[Zedi]

Im kinda tired to explain over and over again how the campaign works in SH5. Is not anymore the lonely wolf style we had so far in the previous versions. So is not that you get a grid for patrol and then pray for a ship to pass the grid.

The new system is based mostly on a strategical warfare. Bdu will point out some important areas where you will have to make trouble and help the general strategy over the battle of Atlantic. In stock campaign you were also required to hunt warships, which was just plain stupid. To send a single sub to hunt down several carriers, BB's and so on is just crazy. Not to mention that you have no idea where those ships can be.

So this part was fixed in the campaign mod. No more mandatory warship hunt.. but if you encounter one, try your luck. Also, if you dont care much about the war, skip the campaign missions. Go out and set up your own hunt areas, the campaign will still continue. The difference is that Bdu will put you on the noobs list and will not send you in Operation Drumbeat.

Problems with the campaign mod... the imported ships and units. So far the campaign mod is in public beta test and people reports a LOT of trouble and crash caused by these new units. Mines, ships, dolphins.. all these units are trouble makers so far. Is why in the final release of the mod we will remove all these extra units and make them available only as optional mods.

Sadly, this game is really hard to mod. Out of box is already a unstable game.. mod it and will become a nightmare. Never in my life saw such a unstable game and also such a big resource sucker. And the main problem in fixing/moding the game is the lack of tools and know hows. Less or no help from devs, absolutely none from lame ubi.. maybe the worst game company in the video game history.

[Iron Budokan]

I guess am surprised to hear this game is so hard to mod. I thought when the game was released the devs played up the fact this game was supposed to be really easy to mod. And didn't they even mention that in the interview they did with Neal? Dunno, can't remember.

But wasn't that one of its selling points when it came out or am I remembering that wrong? :hmmm:

[TheDarkWraith]

I guess am surprised to hear this game is so hard to mod. I thought when the game was released the devs played up the fact this game was supposed to be really easy to mod. And didn't they even mention that in the interview they did with Neal? Dunno, can't remember.

If you did any modding in SH3/4 then you have a basic understanding. If you didn't then you have a very, very steep learning curve. The game itself is not hard to mod, in fact it's very easy if you know how/what you are doing. There are some things that make it difficult - namely the GR2 format and the fact that Goblin editor can't save changes to .dat files (no problem if you know SH3/4 file structure and can use hex editor). Many of the tools that most people relied on in SH3/4 don't work in SH5 (which I think is a good thing - one should learn the file structure/system first). Now the beauty of the game is it's ability to be extended/modified by using a form of Python. The devs included functions that one can use to gather information (limited) from the game. If you are a programmer then you basically have a blank canvas that you can make into whatever you want (based on your abilities). This, by far, is the best part of the game I think. Without it my UIs mod would be a tweak/adjust mod that really didn't add anything new to the game.
If you know RE and are good at it then you can do basically anything (time being the limiting factor).
What most people find 'limiting' or 'hard' about the game as far as modding goes is the lack of information. Once again if you were an average or better modder of SH3/4 then you are way ahead of the game already. If you are very creative and look for ways to exploit the game or one who 'thinks outside the box' then SH5 will be fun for you to mod.

[Iron Budokan]

Thank you. :salute:

[cobalt]

i'm gonna start poking around in the next few days

thanks for the help dark