First Impressions, And A Question

[Sailor Steve]

Okay, as soon as the 'Offline' thread was confirmed , I ordered it cheap from Amazon. I was told to expect it to be delivered any time between November 9 and the 28th. Instead it showed up on Friday the 4th. That's a good start.

So I opened the box, not expecting to be surprised at all, since I follow pretty much every thread on the forums. Put it in the drive and clicked 'Install', and waited. Got it installed, jumped through all the Ubi hoops and looked it over. I got the whole "Uplay" thing about registering and so on. Then I went straight to the campaign, as I already knew there was no 'Academy' or anything like that. Annoyed that I had somehow missed the language selection, I stripped it out and installed it again. Same thing.

What was I missing? The third time of registering and grumbling, it finally ocurred to me to try the Custom Installation rather than the default one. And there it was: The language choice. So I fired it up again and this time even the intro movie was in German. Cool!

Started the first campaign mission, the tutorial, and thought it was kind of cool having someone wake me up to tell me the captain wanted me on the bridge. So I headed for the bridge, tried to climb the ladder and couldn't, tried again and failed, and remembered what someone had written long ago. Sometimes my memory really is a blessing, though I always call it a curse.

Rule 1: Don't look up and try to levitate to the conning tower. Look straight at the ladder and walk into it. You'll automatically be made to look up and climb the ladder. Simple, really. So I got to the bridge and the skipper...ahem, kaleun told me I was making the attack. Some of the interface items were a little hard to figure out, and I'm still not sure of myself after only one simple mission. But I sank the first ship, then said "screw it" and surfaced. Their searchlights didn't frighten me, though they were annoying. The funny part was that none of the crew followed me to the bridge. I made my attack all alone.

I sank the four ships and decided to head all the way back to Kiel just to check out the time compression.

First observation: My six-year-old single-core system actually ran it! Best frame rate was only 20-22 fps, and the bow and stern foam was a little choppy, but overall it works pretty well. It didn't crash during explosions, which SH3 has done on ocassion.

When I got to Kiel just before dawn I was surprised by a rather large German convoy heading out in the early morning fog. Also cool!

So I maneuvered all the way to the sub pen (which didn't even exist in 1939) and proceeded to crash into an invisible wall. No damage done, so I clicked on 'Dock At Kiel' and was told that my mission failed because I was exiting the scenario. I reloaded, and I was in the middle of Kiel harbor, except this time it was raining. So I clicked 'Dock At Kiel' again, and this time was taken to the interior of the sub pen that wasn't really there. That annoys me, but I've been looking at screenshots for over a year now, so I can't complain that I didn't know what was coming. After wandering around the pen for a bit I left the campaign again, and was again told "Mission Failed". But SH4 did something similar and had no real impact on the campaign, so I'm not worried. And I'm also just messing around right now, so I'm really not worried.

Second observation: The autosaves are annoying, especially since they interrupt the gameplay, but I suppose I should be grateful, and I stop and save a lot in other games anyway. Also when I booted it up from scratch again I once again had to go through the launcher again to get to the game. They may have dropped the online requirement, but they really want you to come visit them. :nope:

So, my first impression is that while it's not set up to my liking (I know, there are plenty of mods to play with. I'm just pointing out my first impressions) it is actually not "crap", even right out of the box. It's just different. And the interface, while a little jarring at first, is actually not bad, except for all the things that I couldn't find, and I know there are mods for that. It's just not as bad as some people made it out to be. Of course I haven't encountered any of the bugs yet, and probably won't as mods are my next stop.

And now for the Question: You folks who have been playing it for awhile and have sunk lots of ships - does it give any of them names? Dan told me that it would do that, and one of the reasons I wanted to get it is to see about a Ship Names mod for SH5, since I have all the information all ready to go. Bigboywooly once sent me a screenshot of an Editor screen with ship names and information, but I haven't found it yet and am not even sure where to look. Any help in this department would be appreciated. I know that SH4 would do a much better job with names than SH3 does, and I see no reason why SH5 would not be just as good, or even better, but I need to find out how to do it first.

[kylania]

Be default it doesn't list names, but one of the mods released will give you names. Nothing to the SH3 Commander level yet however, unfortunately. :DL

[THE_MASK]

read this carefully :yep:
http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=180044

If that bow wave is a bit choppy , go into C:\Ubisoft\Silent Hunter 5\data\Shaders
Rename the Particles folder to ;Particles

Start off with 2 mods
UI mod by TDW http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=166093
IRAI by TDW http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=171973

[TheDarkWraith]

And now for the Question: You folks who have been playing it for awhile and have sunk lots of ships - does it give any of them names? Dan told me that it would do that, and one of the reasons I wanted to get it is to see about a Ship Names mod for SH5, since I have all the information all ready to go. Bigboywooly once sent me a screenshot of an Editor screen with ship names and information, but I haven't found it yet and am not even sure where to look. Any help in this department would be appreciated. I know that SH4 would do a much better job with names than SH3 does, and I see no reason why SH5 would not be just as good, or even better, but I need to find out how to do it first.

What names are you talking about? Names as in the unit's name or names for available classes?

If you're talking about names for classes of units these can be found in \data\Roster\country name\Sea\class name.cfg. Here is an example from \data\Roster\German\Sea\AMCPenguin.cfg:

[UnitClass]
ClassName=AMCPenguin
UnitType=13
AppearanceDate=19280401
DisappearanceDate=19460417
DisplayName=GE AMC Penguin

[Texture 1]
TextureName=
LightmapTextureName=data/Sea/NAMC_Penguin/NAMC_Penguin_AO01.dds
NormalmapTextureName=
StartDate=19000101
EndDate=19441231
Frequency=1

[Texture 2]
TextureName=
LightmapTextureName=data/Sea/NAMC_Penguin/NAMC_Penguin_AO02.dds
NormalmapTextureName=
StartDate=19390901
EndDate=19451231
Frequency=2

[Unit 1]
Name=AMC Penguin
DOC=19330401
DOD=19400224

[Unit 2]
Name=AMC Penguin
DOC=19341112
DOD=19450409

[Unit 3]
Name=AMC Penguin
DOC=19360106
DOD=19391217

[Unit 4]
Name=AMC Penguin
DOC=19400225
DOD=19450417

If you're talking about names for units no names are given with stock game. My UIs mod attaches names to them though. I have a text file that I read the names from. A random name is generated for each unit in the game from that file. It's not a simple matter of attaching a name to a unit either. The names for the units only show in the radio messages box (in my UIs mod and I released a stand-alone version)

[Sailor Steve]

read this carefully :yep:
Have done, and my original patrol went according to that list, so I should be fine. Had to use time compression anyway, as I wasn't going to make that trip in real time. Got the green tick. I'm not worried anyway. As I said, currently just checking it out.

If that bow wave is a bit choppy , go into C:\Ubisoft\Silent Hunter 5\data\Shaders etc...
Will do, thanks. Another thing I see: I noticed it in screenshots, but actually playing reconfirmed it - the bow and stern foam is white, but the foam in the water is a different color, sort of a greyish off-white. I'm surprised no one has mentioned it before; to me it's rather obvious.

What names are you talking about?
When I talked to Dan in Houston three years ago he told me the new game (unspecified at that time) would give names to the ships you sank, something similar to what Commander does for SH3. SH4 is so much more sophisticated in that area that I would have been able to make lists for individual nations had there been an SH4 Commander, or something similar. Privateer was going to do that for me back when GWX4 was still in the works. I was hoping SH5 would do that naturally, so all I would have to do is apply the research I've already done. The result would be ending a patrol with the names of the ships you had sunk, and they would be nation-specific, that is a Greek ship of a certain class would get the name of a real ship of that size. Of course there are so few ship types in SH5 right now, but I keep hoping for a breakthrough.

So, basically, that's the real reason I finally got the game.

[TheDarkWraith]

When I talked to Dan in Houston three years ago he told me the new game (unspecified at that time) would give names to the ships you sank, something similar to what Commander does for SH3. SH4 is so much more sophisticated in that area that I would have been able to make lists for individual nations had there been an SH4 Commander, or something similar. Privateer was going to do that for me back when GWX4 was still in the works. I was hoping SH5 would do that naturally, so all I would have to do is apply the research I've already done. The result would be ending a patrol with the names of the ships you had sunk, and they would be nation-specific, that is a Greek ship of a certain class would get the name of a real ship of that size. Of course there are so few ship types in SH5 right now, but I keep hoping for a breakthrough.

I guess I don't understand what you mean by ship names. Can you give some examples of these ship names?

[0rpheus]

Do bear in mind that the entirety of that first 'tutorial' mission has about half the features disabled. Not quite sure what you mean when you say you wandered around the pen and then left the campaign for it to say mission failed... I'm guessing you didn't sink all four ships/fire all four torpedoes. You fire the first shot, I think, and then you have to hit more ships/launch all four front torps before the mission will complete. It'll flash a yellow icon (and maybe a text bar) when you do. Then, and only then - head back to Kiel.

Once you return to the pen the first time (get back to Kiel and click the dock icon, then 'end patrol' like you did), you should get another little scripted section where the current captain is transferred and you're given official command of the uboat. Once this is over, the bunker will revert to the standard layout you'll be using for the whole rest of the campaign. Save & reload there.

You can talk to one chap for your torpedo and equip loadout (this won't work until you've saved & reloaded at least once), and another to open the mission select screen. Once the briefing has played, you can click on the map icons (or the list in the top left) to highlight and request a mission - then use the x in the top right to exit the map, talk to him again and select 'start patrol'. You'll get a loading screen (if you don't, you didn't save & reload, naughty :O:), then you'll be in the boat in the pen, with all the proper features enabled and all set to go. Only then does the game become a proper sim. :up:

[0rpheus]

Have done, and my original patrol went according to that list, so I should be fine. Had to use time compression anyway, as I wasn't going to make that trip in real time. Got the green tick. I'm not worried anyway. As I said, currently just checking it out.


Will do, thanks. Another thing I see: I noticed it in screenshots, but actually playing reconfirmed it - the bow and stern foam is white, but the foam in the water is a different color, sort of a greyish off-white. I'm surprised no one has mentioned it before; to me it's rather obvious.


When I talked to Dan in Houston three years ago he told me the new game (unspecified at that time) would give names to the ships you sank, something similar to what Commander does for SH3. SH4 is so much more sophisticated in that area that I would have been able to make lists for individual nations had there been an SH4 Commander, or something similar. Privateer was going to do that for me back when GWX4 was still in the works. I was hoping SH5 would do that naturally, so all I would have to do is apply the research I've already done. The result would be ending a patrol with the names of the ships you had sunk, and they would be nation-specific, that is a Greek ship of a certain class would get the name of a real ship of that size. Of course there are so few ship types in SH5 right now, but I keep hoping for a breakthrough.

So, basically, that's the real reason I finally got the game.



I think I know what you mean. Sometimes when you sink a ship, you'll intercept its SOS transmission. This will always be a ship name (not type, a name e.g. 'Indomitable') and a lat/long, 'going down at' kind of transmission (and I've not seen a name repeat yet).

TDW's UI mod will alter (reduce) the frequency at which you intercept these transmissions, but they are there.:salute:

[TheDarkWraith]

TDW's UI mod will alter (reduce) the frequency at which you intercept these transmissions, but they are there.:salute:

It's also the one that creates these radio messages :yep:

IIRC I have over 100 names (maybe more) in the \data\RadioMessages\WWIIShipNames.txt file that the mod chooses from. Feel free to add to it :up:

[0rpheus]

It's also the one that creates these radio messages :yep:

IIRC I have over 100 names (maybe more) in the \data\RadioMessages\WWIIShipNames.txt file that the mod chooses from. Feel free to add to it :up:

Haha! Shoulda guessed that'd be one of your additions, but at least Steve'll get his names :O:

[kylania]

I think he's looking for something like this (http://www.kylania.com/sh3/Heinrich%20Werner/Log_13.html). That was supposed to be a feature in SH5, but don't think they ever finalized it.

[TheDarkWraith]

I think he's looking for something like this (http://www.kylania.com/sh3/Heinrich%20Werner/Log_13.html). That was supposed to be a feature in SH5, but don't think they ever finalized it.

Got it. From that I see something that I could add to my mod though. I know the ship's name (as I encode it into the contact) so when weps tells you via the message box that a ship was destroyed I can have the ship name added to it. But that begs the question: how would he know the ship's name? How would the captain know the ship's name to put into his log book? This seems a little unrealistic to me the more I think about it :hmmm: I think that's why I never added the ship's name to the message box.

[Trevally.]

The cerberus mod adds ship names in the roster
here is the NKLEhrenfels :-


[UnitClass]
ClassName=NKLEhrenfels
UnitType=102
AppearanceDate=19360101
DisappearanceDate=19451231
DisplayName=GE Ehrenfels Type Freighter

[Texture 1]
TextureName=
LightmapTextureName=data/Sea/NAMC_Penguin/NAMC_Penguin_AO01.dds
NormalmapTextureName=
StartDate=19391001
EndDate=19451231
Frequency=1

[Texture 2]
TextureName=
LightmapTextureName=data/Sea/NAMC_Penguin/NAMC_Penguin_AO03.dds
NormalmapTextureName=
StartDate=19360101
EndDate=19451231
Frequency=1

[Unit 1]
Name=MS Ehrenfels
DOC=19360101
DOD=19431231

[Unit 2]
Name=MS Reichenfels
DOC=19360101
DOD=19421231

[Unit 3]
Name=MS Kandelfels
DOC=19370101
DOD=19391231

[Unit 4]
Name=MS Kybfels
DOC=19370101
DOD=19411231

[Unit 5]
Name=MS Goldenfels
DOC=19370101
DOD=19391231

etc

[Sailor Steve]

[QUOTE=kylania;1782425]I think he's looking for something like this (http://www.kylania.com/sh3/Heinrich%20Werner/Log_13.html). That was supposed to be a feature in SH5, but don't think they ever finalized it.

Got it. From that I see something that I could add to my mod though. I know the ship's name (as I encode it into the contact) so when weps tells you via the message box that a ship was destroyed I can have the ship name added to it. But that begs the question: how would he know the ship's name? How would the captain know the ship's name to put into his log book? This seems a little unrealistic to me the more I think about it :hmmm: I think that's why I never added the ship's name to the message box.
Sometimes (not often, but ocassionally) the captain would surface and interview survivors. What happened all the time is that a division of OKM kept a record of all Allied transmissions of ships lost or missing, And BdU would put two and two together, which is why you can look at www.uboat.net (http://www.uboat.net) and see exactly who sank what. Of course after the war it became more accurate, but overall they had a pretty good idea of what was going on. This is why I actually prefer Commander's method of not giving the names until after the patrol is finished. This is also one of the reasons I still play SH3 after all this time.

Anyone who follows SH3 knows that I've been researching my Ship Names mod for SH3 Commander for several years, and it now contains almost 12,000 names of merchants, divided by type, so when you sink, say, a 7200-ton Empire ship it gets the name of an actual Empire ship. As I said, SH4 would have made it easier to also guarantee that the name was from the same nationality as the ship you sank, whereas SH3 made that virtually impossible. I'm sure SH5 has the same functionality as SH4 did in that department. If that is true I have the information and the willingness to ensure that if a player sinks an 8000-ton tanker flying a greek flag it will be given the name of an actual 8000-ton Greek tanker.

The cerberus mod adds ship names in the roster
here is the NKLEhrenfels :-


[UnitClass]
ClassName=NKLEhrenfels
UnitType=102
AppearanceDate=19360101
DisappearanceDate=19451231
DisplayName=GE Ehrenfels Type Freighter

[Texture 1]
TextureName=
LightmapTextureName=data/Sea/NAMC_Penguin/NAMC_Penguin_AO01.dds
NormalmapTextureName=
StartDate=19391001
EndDate=19451231
Frequency=1

[Texture 2]
TextureName=
LightmapTextureName=data/Sea/NAMC_Penguin/NAMC_Penguin_AO03.dds
NormalmapTextureName=
StartDate=19360101
EndDate=19451231
Frequency=1

[Unit 1]
Name=MS Ehrenfels
DOC=19360101
DOD=19431231

[Unit 2]
Name=MS Reichenfels
DOC=19360101
DOD=19421231

[Unit 3]
Name=MS Kandelfels
DOC=19370101
DOD=19391231

[Unit 4]
Name=MS Kybfels
DOC=19370101
DOD=19411231

[Unit 5]
Name=MS Goldenfels
DOC=19370101
DOD=19391231

etc
Yes, I've looked at that. SH3 did it the same way, but it didn't work and had to be forced from the outside (via SH3 Commander). If SH5 can be made to apply those names to ships you sink I have the capability to assign all the names you could imagine, and probably more, to every class of ship that could possibly be put in the game. If someone were to make a 250-ton coaster work in the game, I have the names. If someone can make any of Iambecomelife's 70-odd merchant types work in the game, I already have the names ready to go. I already have names for all the ship types in SH5. All I need is a way to make it work.

[Sailor Steve]

Oh, and one other first impression: My personal opinion is that the voice acting in this version is much better than previous releases. I'll use one of the Das Boot Sound Mods anyway, as that is my preference, but I thought it fair to mention that the voices in SH5 seem much more natural and less stilted than in other versions of Silent Hunter.

[kylania]

But that begs the question: how would he know the ship's name? How would the captain know the ship's name to put into his log book? This seems a little unrealistic to me the more I think about it :hmmm: I think that's why I never added the ship's name to the message box.

As Steve said, early in the war they'd often stop and interview survivors or they'd intercept radio transmissions. In the latest book I read, Steel Hearts, Iron Boats (http://www.amazon.com/Steel-Boat-Iron-Hearts-Crewmans/dp/1932714073), they knew the names of all the ships they sunk right away.

[himlaviz]

Nice to see that they are finally coming to their senses when it comes to this crude DRM stuff. So today feel like a good day to install Silent Hunter 5 again :)

I have seen some use ARAI v0.32 or v1.0.0 but the only version I can seem to find in the main ARAI thread (first post, not going through all 100+ pages) is the v0.0.30, perhaps the other versions are for trusted beta testers only? :)

Guess a good start is TDW's UI and AI mods either way.

[reignofdeath]

i have a question. I would like to know how SH5 runs on macs with bootcamp?? I just bought one recently nd remembered about bootcamp. I have the pro 13" mc700, its got a i5 at 2.0 ghz (although i was told the i5s are dual cores in the macs and the i7s are quads) this has 4gb of ram in it but I was going to see if I could get more put in it some how, I was told the apple store would do it and what not. any ways, any opinions??

I figured Id post in here instead of starting a new thread up

[Sailor Steve]

Okay, finally got back to it. I tried sinking a merchant in the middle of the night in the middle of a rainstorm, and fired of three torpedoes with no luck. So I took a break and finished the SH3 patrol I'd been putting off. After several days of doing other things I decided that if I was going to sink that ship I needed something I knew a little better, so I started looking at TDW's UI mods. Totally confusing. Of course it doesn't help that I'm totally confused anyway. So I read the readmes, then read the original thread, then read them both together. So where's this program that's supposed to help me figure it out? Grrrr!!!. So I reread the thread and the readme. Hmm. The program only comes with version 6.8. Wonder which version I have? I download everything, in anticipation of one day having the game, so I must have...version 4.8.

Okay. Downloaded 6.8 and there it is. So reading that readme and the thread again, I finally (and I mean after an hour or so) start to understand what I'm looking at. So I change it to the SH3 version and load it up. After the game finally loads it looks exactly the same. So maybe I need to start a new campaign to make it work. So I start a new campaign and it looks exactly the same. So I get out of the game and start looking around, and then it hits me - changing the files and all really doesn't work so well if you forget to reactivate them in JSGME. Sure enough, I now have nineteen mods in the 'Available' side, and exactly none in the 'Active' side.

So I load up UI 6.8 and a few others, and start the game again. After waiting for it to load up I start a new career, and end up looking at a totally wonky screen. I mean it's psychedelic, like the maps in SH3 sometimes get. So I get out of that career, and before I give up completely I see that my original campaign is also there for loading, so I load it up. WOWSER! Doesn't look exactly like SH3...it looks better! All sorts of cool functions, working better than the SH3 versions. Periscope view with all the TDC dials laid out around a still-huge view, cool clickies to access the tubes, jump to the different functions, and even the pull-down charts I'm used to in...that SH3 mod, including the friend-foe flag date chart. Awesome! Oh, and the two world clocks, one with GMT and one with local time - even more awesome!

So I dodge two destroyers and sink my ship. Three torpedoes to do it, plus one miss, but hey! Of course I probably had help, in that I forgot all about IRAI, so they probably wouldn't have chased me even if I hadn't dived. But still, it was fun. And pretty. I also forgot to disable the ship health bars, but that can wait. In addition I crept up a little too close and nearly rammed him because I couldn't figure out how to back up! I stole a quick look at the F1 layout, and was amazed to see that rather than 6, 7, 8 & 9 to go in reverse, I could use the same buttons as forward, but hold shift. Pretty cool!

The ship I sank didn't get a name, so my next task is to go home and see if it gets one in the final report, then add in some historic names myself and try it again, because my real goal is to add ship names to SH5, since I can't do it for 4 and 3 has so many I really don't need to do it anymore.

New questions:

1. The chronometer seems to have developed a mind of its own. It doesn't appear when I fire a torpedo, or when I ask it to, but sometimes it appears of its own accord. Interesting.

2. The rain was white and blinding. Is there a mod that makes it look more like, well...rain?

3. I'm the junior man on my boat. I'm an Oberleutnant zur See. My LI is only a Leutnant, but my 1WO is also an Oblt.s.Z, my 2WO is a Kapitan zur See, as are a couple of others, including the cook! Is there a fix for this?

New observations:

1. While I prefer the damage control from long forgotten (except by me) Aces Of The Deep as being the most realistic, this one isn't bad. More intuitive than SH4, not quite as nice as SH3. But understandable and easy to use, so no complaints.

2. Love having the helmsman in the control room along with the planesmen. It really adds a lot.

3. I hate the campaign the most. I know there are mods that make it better, but even seeing the whole "British Coast" and "British Tonnage" goal-oriented screen makes me want to throw popcorn at the screen.

4. I also hate not being able to start a career in 1940, or start one in the historic flotilla of my choice in the boat of my choice with the crew of my choice.

So anyway, I'll keep fiddling around for the time being while not taking it seriously. What I will take seriously is the amount of work TheDarkWraith and others have put into it, and continue to. The whole 'UI' thing is pretty much what makes it survivable, and the other mods from Sober and others just add more.

But I won't give up the earlier versions until I have my Type II. :O:

[edit] Forgot I took a picture of the wonky screen.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Silent%20Hunter%20Screenshots/SH5Img2011-11-26_102810.jpg

But not to worry. As I said, the other campaign loaded just fine. I'll be starting another new one for more tests, so we'll see what happens.

[TheDarkWraith]

Doesn't look exactly like SH3...it looks better! All sorts of cool functions, working better than the SH3 versions. Periscope view with all the TDC dials laid out around a still-huge view, cool clickies to access the tubes, jump to the different functions, and even the pull-down charts I'm used to in...that SH3 mod, including the friend-foe flag date chart. Awesome! Oh, and the two world clocks, one with GMT and one with local time - even more awesome!

New questions:

1. The chronometer seems to have developed a mind of its own. It doesn't appear when I fire a torpedo, or when I ask it to, but sometimes it appears of its own accord. Interesting.

So anyway, I'll keep fiddling around for the time being while not taking it seriously. What I will take seriously is the amount of work TheDarkWraith and others have put into it, and continue to. The whole 'UI' thing is pretty much what makes it survivable, and the other mods from Sober and others just add more.

You have just started to scratch the surface of what my UIs mod has to offer :yep: Wait till you dive into automation, real navigation (and navfixes), ship's journal, watch officer assist, supermarks, and really take a look at what options you have available to you via the OptionsFileEditorViewer app. I don't remember everything I made for the mod...too much has been done and continuing to be done.

The chronometer (or clock as it's known) is controlled via the options file. If you want it to show when you fire a torpedo you have to enable that option. IIRC that option is disabled by default. You say it has a mind of it's own? Not really. At certain TC levels it will show and hide. Those are, once again, defined in the options file.

You need to try Trevally's OHII mod. Blows the stock campaign out of the water. We have added bouys, mines, subnets, dolphines, new units....it's just totally different (and 1000% better than stock).

[7thSeal]

As TDW mentioned you can make tons of custom changes in his UI mod. One of my favorites is having all of the bars and dials removed after a desired time chosen by the user and they pop back up when you mouse over them. This provides you with a clean screen until you need them.

You can spend hours just customizing the options file the way you want everything.... so many options provided. :rock:

[Sailor Steve]

The chronometer (or clock as it's known)
I knew that much. I just wanted to distinguish it from the other clock with the two different times. I could have called it the stopwatch. :D

I will be looking at all the other stuff, and thanks for telling me about it. I am going to take my time though. Nothing is serious until I can get a better computer.

One of my favorites is having all of the bars and dials removed after a desired time chosen by the user and they pop back up when you mouse over them. This provides you with a clean screen until you need them.
Thanks for telling me that, too. I'm a huge fan of the 'Simfeeling 6-Dials' mod for SH3, which does essentially the same thing, except every graphic was a slideout. The thing I liked most about that one was the huge slideout dials that covered one quarter of the screen.

So much to learn, so little time. :sunny:

[7thSeal]

I'm a huge fan of the 'Simfeeling 6-Dials' mod for SH3, which does essentially the same thing, except every graphic was a slideout. The thing I liked most about that one was the huge slideout dials that covered one quarter of the screen.


I remember using that mod for SH3 and really enjoyed it. :DL

[iambecomelife]

How would the captain know the ship's name to put into his log book? This seems a little unrealistic to me the more I think about it :hmmm: I think that's why I never added the ship's name to the message box.

Each U-Boat would have had a merchant silhouette book for ID'ing ships like the USN one seen here. Sometimes with thousands of vessels. There was an official one for the Kriegsmarine, as well as commercially printed ones like Talbot Booth's Merchant Ships. By examining mast configuration, funnels, and decks it's surprisingly easy to narrow down a single merchant from thousands of classes.

I would love to see ship names for SH5, so if you & Steve can make it happen that would be great.

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/iambecomelife/neutral-ship.jpg

[TheDarkWraith]

So much to learn, so little time. :sunny:

There is a huge learning curve for my UIs mod. I made a way for people to write their own in-game tutorials via my Automation class. Trevally and I were the only ones (that I know of) who wrote some of these. If more people would start writing them we could have in-game tutorials for everything.

Now when I say in-game tutorials I mean the tutorial will ask you to press buttons (and it will wait until the button is pressed), it will wait until you set a TDC dial to a certain value, it will highlight items on screen, it can display pictures....it can do just about everything needed to help a player learn the game/mod via using the game itself. There's no better way to learn :yep:

[quink99]

TDW,

I made a way for people to write their own in-game tutorials via my Automation class.

I'd be most interested in finding out a bit more about the "automation class".

[TheDarkWraith]

I'd be most interested in finding out a bit more about the "automation class".

In my UIs mod there is a folder \data\Automation that contains the file TDW_Automation.txt. That file tells you how to make automation scripts, what commands are available, and the syntax for the commands.
There is also a folder \data\Navigation\ that contains the file TDW_Navigation.txt. That file tells you how to make navigation scripts for Automation, what commands are available, and the syntax for the commands.
There is also a folder \data\Tutorials that contains the file TDW_Tutorial.txt. That file tells you how to make tutorial scripts for Automation, what commands are available, and the syntax for those commands.

The navigation and tutorials as based off of my Automation class. As you can see the Automation class is very powerful. What you can make, automate, or teach via the game itself is only limited by your imagination :up:

[Sailor Steve]

Awesome stuff! :rock:

[7thSeal]

2. The rain was white and blinding. Is there a mod that makes it look more like, well...rain?



Dynamic Environment mod helps with this by having smaller rain streaks falling. You get lightning flashes added as well when you're up top while in a storm. Great mod that adds so much more to the game such as the water changing colors depending on your location and time of day..... much much more comes with it.

Here's a shot I took of the rain, you can compare it to the rain shots you posted in the screenshots thread. :up:

http://img27.imageshack.us/img27/3144/raindropsg.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/27/raindropsg.jpg/)

[Sailor Steve]

Dynamic environments, eh? I just checked my files, and since I've been downloading and saving mods since the game was released, I already have it in my collection. I guess that's the next one I install. Thanks! :sunny:

[7thSeal]

I just checked my files, and since I've been downloading and saving mods since the game was released, I already have it in my collection. I guess that's the next one I install. Thanks! :sunny:

Make sure its the latest 2.1 version as it has some error fixes and other stuff added. Some options are included as to what you want to add and if your pc can handle it. I use the realistic waves, HD seabed and plants... Oyeah the darker nights too. :yep:

Dynamic Environment (http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=182377)

[Sailor Steve]

Okay, I loaded up Dynamic Environment, but haven't seen the change in the rain because it stopped raining! Still, there are a lot of cool things to see.

New Likes: I've been shuffling these mods in and out in the middle of a patrol, and while I've been expecting a crash I haven't seen one. This version seems solid as a rock. And it's gorgeous.

Travel mode was a stroke of genius on the part of the devs. I was fine with SH3 going to 1x every time a ship was spotted until I enabled the 16km and then 20km mods, at which point it lost contact and regained it over and over and over and over and...well, everybody knows about the imfamous "Ship Spotted" bug. SH4 'fixed' it by having it only happen with enemy ships, but of course that removed any chance of ever having to go investigate.

Which brings up another question: Is there a mod that makes all the icons grey? It's kind of hard to miss when even a sonar track tells you whether the target is an enemy or not.

New Dislikes: While off the East Coast of Britain I seemed to get attacked by planes every hour on the hour, even in the middle of the night.

I also picked up two 'ghosts', warship sound contacts that maintained the exact same bearing and distance no matter which way I turned or how far I travelled. They never attacked, just circled as if looking for me, which is fine, but hardly realistic that they would know to maintain an exact distance from something they weren't sure was there. As I got nearer to home they disappeared, hence my calling them 'ghosts'.

And I'm now annoyed at the "Cannot dive with crew on deck" thing. Having to go down the ladder first is silly, so I find myself either using the teleport or not going to the bridge at all.

Also, I got transferred to Wilhelmshaven, which brings up two complaints. First, I'm angry that they dumped one of the realistic aspects of both earlier versions, that of being assigned to a flotilla and operating from that flotilla's bases. Now there seems to be no realistic movement, just suddenly getting a totaly unhistorical reassignment.

Second, when I got to Wilhelmshaven I faced what I already knew about but really didn't want to believe: The sub pens. Kiel's pens weren't available until 1944, and Wilhelmshaven never had any at all. And the harbors aside from that are so good looking. Oh well.

[edit] I completely forgot one of the main things I was thinking about. The new harbor mods are fantastic, but there is one SH3 supermod that has things I would love to see in SH5. That supermod is LSH3, and what I would love to see is the bridges over the Kiel Canal, and the working lock gates in the Canal and in the harbors that had locks. But that's a wish, not a complaint.

[0rpheus]

I also picked up two 'ghosts', warship sound contacts that maintained the exact same bearing and distance no matter which way I turned or how far I travelled. They never attacked, just circled as if looking for me, which is fine, but hardly realistic that they would know to maintain an exact distance from something they weren't sure was there. As I got nearer to home they disappeared, hence my calling them 'ghosts'.

That one's a bug, sadly. Occasionally you'll pass close to escorts and one will just pick you up and sit at 15km until the end of days. A save/reload fixes it.:up:

[THE_MASK]

Regarding the Travel mode .

I use these TC settings .
TimeStop=0
RealTime=1
LandProximity=1,32
CriticalDamage=1,32
CrewEfficiency=256
AirEnemyDetected=1,32
SoundEffects=8
CharacterAnim=32
FriendDetected=1,32
EnemyDetected=1,32
RadioReport=1,32
Particles=32
PrayState=1,32
HunterState=1,32
3DRender=32
Maximum=256,32


Put them in here anytime either in port or on patrol .

C:\Users\xxxxx\Documents\SH5\data\cfg\main

While in this folder change to this
[DEVELOPING]
Modding=Yes
;MenuEditor=Yes
DebugScripts=Yes


Un eneble NewUIs_TDC_6_x_x_ByTheDarkWraith and go into the options
C:\Ubisoft\Silent Hunter 5\MODS\NewUIs_TDC_6_9_0_ByTheDarkWraith\data\Scrip ts\Menu\TheDarkWraithUserOptions

Look for the sub heading
####### Message Box (SH3/4/5 modes) ########
Look for the line
TC1OnAnyMessageBoxText = False
Change to True

Do not use travel mode unless you need to because of the game dropping to 1TC (close to botom) etc .

do this anytime either on patrol or in base .

[Sailor Steve]

That one's a bug, sadly. Occasionally you'll pass close to escorts and one will just pick you up and sit at 15km until the end of days. A save/reload fixes it.:up:
Thanks. As long as they don't do anything then they're not really a bug, I guess. I'll remember that.

[TheDarkWraith]

Which brings up another question: Is there a mod that makes all the icons grey? It's kind of hard to miss when even a sonar track tells you whether the target is an enemy or not.

Look at my add-on mods for my UIs mod. You'll find them at bottom of post #1 of my UIs mod thread :up:

[Sailor Steve]

Thank you. That will be my next stop. :D

[Trevally.]

New Dislikes: While off the East Coast of Britain I seemed to get attacked by planes every hour on the hour, even in the middle of the night.


Im sure TDWs IRAI has a very small % change for planes at night - not sure about stock game:up:

[Sailor Steve]

Well, I changed out old mods for new ones, completely reinstalled the mods, loaded everything up and got this:

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Silent%20Hunter%20Screenshots/SH5Img2011-11-28_190757.jpg
The box follows me everywhere I go, and when I clicked on the guy I got the lower box that says "Injured".

[THE_MASK]

Have you altered the New UIs option file ?

Save your mod profile in jsgme tasks\save mod profile .
Un enable all the mods .
Reinstall New UIs by TDW .
Enable your mods profile .
See if the game runs ok with the untouched UIs options file .

[Sailor Steve]

Nope, got the same screen.

[0rpheus]

Seen that screen a lot but after 20 minutes of searching I can't find a post with it explained. I'm sure it's a New UIs install problem but I forget what exactly. TDW or Trevally will know:up:

[Captain Nemo]

First observation: My six-year-old single-core system actually ran it! Best frame rate was only 20-22 fps, and the bow and stern foam was a little choppy, but overall it works pretty well. It didn't crash during explosions, which SH3 has done on ocassion.

Out of interest what is the spec of your six year old system? My system is around the same age and I am wondering if it will be able to run SH5 too?

Nemo

[THE_MASK]

Enable the 3GB switch .

http://174.123.69.202/~subsimc/radioroom/showpost.php?p=1427701&postcount=23

[Sailor Steve]

Out of interest what is the spec of your six year old system? My system is around the same age and I am wondering if it will be able to run SH5 too?
Pentium 4, single core, 4GB RAM, ATI 4650 video card, Windows XP Home.

[Trevally.]

Well, I changed out old mods for new ones, completely reinstalled the mods, loaded everything up and got this:

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Silent%20Hunter%20Screenshots/SH5Img2011-11-28_190757.jpg
The box follows me everywhere I go, and when I clicked on the guy I got the lower box that says "Injured".

Hi Steve - as Sober has said this is caused by an error in the options.py file and is the most likely issue (replace with unedited one)

It can also be caused by a currupt download.

But before downloadind a fresh one - try running SH5.exe as administrator

[Sailor Steve]

Enable the 3GB switch .

http://174.123.69.202/~subsimc/radioroom/showpost.php?p=1427701&postcount=23
Okay, just did that, no change.

[Sailor Steve]

Hi Steve - as Sober has said this is caused by an error in the options.py file and is the most likely issue (replace with unedited one)
Okay, I'll try that next.

It can also be caused by a currupt download.
Possible, but it was running fine earlier.

But before downloadind a fresh one - try running SH5.exe as administrator
I have XP. Is that even an option? If so, how do I change it?

[Sailor Steve]

Okay, further news: I did as earlier suggested and disabled all mods, re-enabling only NewUIs 6.9, and still had the problem, so I disabled that one again and the problem is gone.

So do I re-download 6.9, just use 6.8, which worked fine before, or is there another solution?

And another question: How do I delete old campaigns, since I keep starting new ones for testing and their starting to pile up? In SH3 and SH4 you could delete them with a click, but I don't see a tab for that anywhere in SH5.

Oh, and another: I like BRF, but I want to try the FX mod, and the readme says they're incompatible. Is there a workaround, or do I just have to choose? *sigh*

[Trevally.]

Okay, further news: I did as earlier suggested and disabled all mods, re-enabling only NewUIs 6.9, and still had the problem, so I disabled that one again and the problem is gone.

So do I re-download 6.9, just use 6.8, which worked fine before, or is there another solution?

:hmmm: not sure here Steve. The options file swap would usually fix it.

And another question: How do I delete old campaigns, since I keep starting new ones for testing and their starting to pile up? In SH3 and SH4 you could delete them with a click, but I don't see a tab for that anywhere in SH5.

You can delete save games in the "save game options"
To delete campaigns - "\Documents\SH5\data\Users" and delete by user folder
or into "\Documents\SH5\data\Users\**your name**" and delete by date.


Oh, and another: I like BRF, but I want to try the FX mod, and the readme says they're incompatible. Is there a workaround, or do I just have to choose? *sigh*


Mai did a mod to merge these zone files so that both could work.

Install TDWs FXv0.19 and then this one on top http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showpost.php?p=1719923&postcount=25

[Sailor Steve]

I've completely uninstalled and reinstalled NewUIs 6.9, with no change, and I tried taking it out and going back to 6.8. Still no change.
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Silent%20Hunter%20Screenshots/SH5Img2011-11-29_153452.jpg

[7thSeal]

Steve, is this from a saved game?

If so it might corrupt, tried with a new start already?

[Sailor Steve]

Nope. Both pictures are from new campaigns.

[TheDarkWraith]

Nope. Both pictures are from new campaigns.

Run the DbgView app before starting the game (\data\Applications). Send me the output of it. From your last screenshot it appears you are running out of memory. Start task manager (Ctrl+Alt+del) and select the Performance tab. Watch the memory numbers as the game loads.

[Akula4745]

Okay, further news: I did as earlier suggested and disabled all mods, re-enabling only NewUIs 6.9, and still had the problem, so I disabled that one again and the problem is gone.

I have exactly the same problem as you do, Sailor Steve. Kinda hard to believe we are running out of RAM when I can stack 20+ mods and SH5 runs fine - but when I load only the UIs6.8.0/6.9.0 mod I crash at the bunker...

Please do not think I am beating up on TDW - he has done so much for the SH5 community! I am deeply grateful and in his debt. But somewhere there is a bug, methinks.

[Sailor Steve]

I'm starting to think my poor old computer just isn't up to the task. I got rid of NewUIs and OHII and things seemed to work alright. On the other hand I could dump all the other mods I tried and those two might work, but where's the fun in that? I'll keep fiddling with it, but it's probably going to have to wait until I can finally afford a new rig.

No problems, though. It's all fun. :sunny:

[THE_MASK]

I am sure i had that before and i have enough ram . Un enable the mods and Delete the TDW extra folders in the SH5 main game folder (TDWUtils etc) . Re enable the mods .

[Sailor Steve]

I'm looking now and there are no folders in SH5 at all except Data and Mods. There are, however, a large group of files that start with 'PageAutomation' and end with '_draggables.tdw'. These aren't in the SH5 game folder but outside, in the Ubisoft folder. Should they be in the SH5 folder?

[TheDarkWraith]

I'm looking now and there are no folders in SH5 at all except Data and Mods. There are, however, a large group of files that start with 'PageAutomation' and end with '_draggables.tdw'. These aren't in the SH5 game folder but outside, in the Ubisoft folder. Should they be in the SH5 folder?

All those x_draggables.tdw files are from my UIs mod. They store the position data for all the draggable items for that page. You can safely delete all of them. There are more files in your SH5 folder that are made by UIs mod but I can't recall all of them that the mod makes. IIRC there should be 3-4 more than these x_draggables.tdw files.

[Sailor Steve]

There are a lot of files in the SH5 folder, but none of them say "TDW", "NewUIs" or anything that I would recognize as being from the mod.

I'm going to disable everything and install just NewUIs and OHII, and see what happens that way.

[Hinrich Schwab]

Hey Steve,

If you get the game working to your liking, beware the fact that it will trump up crazy missions like 4 did as you stated in a thread I started a month ago. I selected the western approaches where you have to sink 100,000 tons and it assigned me to drop a spy of in Liverpool.

Of course, my reaction to this was predictable.

:haha::har::damn:

Naturally, I reloaded a save to be assigned something less....suicidal.

Just be ready to reload a save in port in case the assignments get silly like this.:)

[Sailor Steve]

Interesting. Does Open Horizons II fix that? On the other hand there was no penalty in SH4 if you just ignored the order. One of the things that bothered me with 'missions' in SH4 was that the spies and rescued airmen didn't really exist, that is they didn't appear in the sub or have names. That doesn't really matter in SH5, because in this version none of the crew exist except for a few key officers and specialists.

Anyway, my next step, when I have time, is going to be a complete uninstall/reinstall of the game. I suspect that any real involvement will have to wait until I can afford a new computer. All I want to do now is experiment with giving ships names. :sunny:

[Hinrich Schwab]

Interesting. Does Open Horizons II fix that? On the other hand there was no penalty in SH4 if you just ignored the order.

I do not know if Open Horizons II offers a fix. I doubt there is a penalty for ignoring the order, but it was easier for me to reload a save, rather than losing campaign time over it. At least the game could have waited until 1944 where BdU did start giving crazy, suicidal orders.:haha: I haven't had the game long enough to know how this would effect the campaign tree. I think only the war time progression is a major factor, but I don't know. Maybe some of the SH 5 vets can answer this one.

[Trevally.]

I do not know if Open Horizons II offers a fix. I doubt there is a penalty for ignoring the order, but it was easier for me to reload a save, rather than losing campaign time over it. At least the game could have waited until 1944 where BdU did start giving crazy, suicidal orders.:haha: I haven't had the game long enough to know how this would effect the campaign tree. I think only the war time progression is a major factor, but I don't know. Maybe some of the SH 5 vets can answer this one.

These type missions are secondary and have no penalty for failure.
In SH5 they are, drop of supply, drop of spy etc - so a small boat leaves your u-boat each time.

Failing the main missions (objectives) will not stop your career but may block more objectives or even block campaigns. You can still get to 1945 even with these blocks.

[Akula4745]

I'm going to disable everything and install just NewUIs and OHII, and see what happens that way.

Steve - I would love to know what the results were from just NewUIs and OHII. Did that make a difference? Or did it crash also?

[Sailor Steve]

Steve - I would love to know what the results were from just NewUIs and OHII. Did that make a difference? Or did it crash also?
No, I still got the funny screen. On the other hand I didn't have that problem at first, so it might be a combination of things, or it might be some residual file that slipped by JSGME and remained behind when I uninstalled the other stuff. I still haven't done a complete reinstall of the game and wiping of the old files, so I can't be sure. Originally NewUIs worked fine with just a couple of other mods.

Don't forget that I'm doing all this on a computer that doesn't even meet the minimum requirements, let alone the recommended ones. I'm still surprised it even played at all.

[Akula4745]

No, I still got the funny screen. On the other hand I didn't have that problem at first, so it might be a combination of things, or it might be some residual file that slipped by JSGME and remained behind when I uninstalled the other stuff. I still haven't done a complete reinstall of the game and wiping of the old files, so I can't be sure. Originally NewUIs worked fine with just a couple of other mods.

Don't forget that I'm doing all this on a computer that doesn't even meet the minimum requirements, let alone the recommended ones. I'm still surprised it even played at all.

Thanks for the update, Steve. It originally worked fine for me too.... but that was a previous version. I wonder if there is a stockpile of older versions of UIs somewhere - one of those might still work for me.