Dynamic Patrol Mod (WIP)

[iambecomelife]

I'm working on a primarily visual mod that will simulate the passage of time on your U-Boat over the course of a patrol. It will use a simple batch file to edit the appropriate TGA's to simulate some of the nuisances U-Boat crews had to put up with the longer they stayed out. So far the mod will incorporate two of the more obvious indicators of war weariness - spoiling provisions and beard growth. Any other ideas about what I could implement in to enhance this mod?

[Salvadoreno]

oooohh beards.. that would be awesome!! I was just thinking of that today finishing up my longest patrol with 2 ships sunk.. I know that after loong patrols the boats engines break down, or perhaps incorporate some problems that have to be fixed in the uboat. Batteries breaking down.. Bla Bla. I know that lots of problems happened with uboats throughout the years. Engine problems. Torpedos. etc.. THat would be a nice touch. Add to some of the monotamy

::edit add::

I want the new addon to have models and additions like that. GOD i hope this isnt a dissapointing mod. I want MORE realism!!!

[Hawkers]

Great idea, and potentially could be a major enhancement in the graphics department.

I'd like to see deteriorating u boats (rust, oil stains, etc.), and in addition to beards, dirty, oil grease-stained uniforms would be cool!

Hawkers :up:

[Yattky]

Very interesting! :rock:
I'm looking forward to seeing the screen shots here. :D

[iambecomelife]

oooohh beards.. that would be awesome!! I was just thinking of that today finishing up my longest patrol with 2 ships sunk.. I know that after loong patrols the boats engines break down, or perhaps incorporate some problems that have to be fixed in the uboat. Batteries breaking down.. Bla Bla. I know that lots of problems happened with uboats throughout the years. Engine problems. Torpedos. etc.. THat would be a nice touch. Add to some of the monotamy

::edit add::

I want the new addon to have models and additions like that. GOD i hope this isnt a dissapointing mod. I want MORE realism!!!

I just thought of a way I could implement mechanical problems. I could use a random number-generating batch file to copy new .cfg files to the data folders for the different U-Boats. These could be used to do things like cut your maximum speed in half if you're "lucky" and generate the designated number. It could be a 10% chance for the first month, 33% chance for the second, etc.

[Salvadoreno]

thats GREAT!! Who needs the ADDON when you got modders! lol.. This will add a whole new level to gameplay!

[Observer]

oooohh beards.. that would be awesome!! I was just thinking of that today finishing up my longest patrol with 2 ships sunk.. I know that after loong patrols the boats engines break down, or perhaps incorporate some problems that have to be fixed in the uboat. Batteries breaking down.. Bla Bla. I know that lots of problems happened with uboats throughout the years. Engine problems. Torpedos. etc.. THat would be a nice touch. Add to some of the monotamy

::edit add::

I want the new addon to have models and additions like that. GOD i hope this isnt a dissapointing mod. I want MORE realism!!!

I just thought of a way I could implement mechanical problems. I could use a random number-generating batch file to copy new .cfg files to the data folders for the different U-Boats. These could be used to do things like cut your maximum speed in half if you're "lucky" and generate the designated number. It could be a 10% chance for the first month, 33% chance for the second, etc.

Interesting concept. How would you "repair" the damage? I think if you used a set time as the "repair time" and replace the files with the originals it might work, but I think it would require a restart of the mission to be effective. The same may be true on the damage in that it wouldn't take effect until after a reload.

[iambecomelife]

Yes; the method I'm envisioning would definitely require you to alt-tab, save the mission, and then restart. It should just take a minute or two, but it would be better to have the game engine handle it. I don't know how to implement it that way, though.

[terrapin]

I'm working on a primarily visual mod that will simulate the passage of time on your U-Boat over the course of a patrol. It will use a simple batch file to edit the appropriate TGA's to simulate some of the nuisances U-Boat crews had to put up with the longer they stayed out. So far the mod will incorporate two of the more obvious indicators of war weariness - spoiling provisions and beard growth. Any other ideas about what I could implement in to enhance this mod?

Great Idea! How about faces getting pale? I've read in several 1st hand reports that the crew's faces got rather pale and somewhat greenish after long patrols...

[iambecomelife]

I'm working on a primarily visual mod that will simulate the passage of time on your U-Boat over the course of a patrol. It will use a simple batch file to edit the appropriate TGA's to simulate some of the nuisances U-Boat crews had to put up with the longer they stayed out. So far the mod will incorporate two of the more obvious indicators of war weariness - spoiling provisions and beard growth. Any other ideas about what I could implement in to enhance this mod?

Great Idea! How about faces getting pale? I've read in several 1st hand reports that the crew's faces got rather pale and somewhat greenish after long patrols...

Another good idea. It's very easy to implement - just take the original tga and use the slide bar for "levels" in photoshop.

[terrapin]

I'm working on a primarily visual mod that will simulate the passage of time on your U-Boat over the course of a patrol. It will use a simple batch file to edit the appropriate TGA's to simulate some of the nuisances U-Boat crews had to put up with the longer they stayed out. So far the mod will incorporate two of the more obvious indicators of war weariness - spoiling provisions and beard growth. Any other ideas about what I could implement in to enhance this mod?

Great Idea! How about faces getting pale? I've read in several 1st hand reports that the crew's faces got rather pale and somewhat greenish after long patrols...

Another good idea. It's very easy to implement - just take the original tga and use the slide bar for "levels" in photoshop.

Yeah, thought about that...but considering my current workload related to SH3 and u-boats I don't even THINK of starting modding... :rotfl: - it even became worse since I got the KTB microfiches... :hmm:

[CCIP]

Yeah, thought about that...but considering my current workload related to SH3 and u-boats I don't even THINK of starting modding... :rotfl:

Hmm... perhaps considering your workload, you might want to consider being a model for the pale-faced crew at least? :rotfl:

[terrapin]

Yeah, thought about that...but considering my current workload related to SH3 and u-boats I don't even THINK of starting modding... :rotfl:

Hmm... perhaps considering your workload, you might want to consider being a model for the pale-faced crew at least? :rotfl:

:rotfl: for sure!

[gdogghenrikson]

sounds sweet :up: :rock:

[iambecomelife]

Don't worry about having to do any modeling. Fritz Friedrichs, everyone's favorite Chief Engineer, volunteered to do it for you.


Fritz, one week at sea.
http://img89.imageshack.us/img89/6125/cleanshaven4ef.jpg


Fritz some weeks later.
http://img89.imageshack.us/img89/5610/beahd8it.jpg

This first head took an exceptionally long time to do, but since now I know the locations much better the next ones will be comparatively easy. Still trying to get rid of that waxy, department-store-mannequin look, though.

[CCIP]

Looks great! :up:

My only complaint is that the facial hair on the 2nd one looks a little too smooth. Isn't there a pixel-mapper of some sort that's usually there to determine how the light reflects on it?

Might just be the angle though :hmm:

[iambecomelife]

Yes; the file that controls reflections is called 01_OFF_Head01_B.tga. It looks a little better in shadow but I still need to finish that texture. I think that the appearance of the faces changes a bit too drastically while you pan the free camera away from or towards a light source.

[sdcruz]

fantastic idea - love the beards growing after time.

Regards
Shelton.

[Letum]

RUST! SLIME! BARNICLES! :smug:
Ice? at northen latitudes?
prahaps the pin-up poster could get saucyer the longer the voyge!
Dirty clothes - oil, grease, salt etc

[Skweetis]

Just curious, but will it work swapping out cfg's on the fly? I was under the impression that all the files were loaded at startup...

I swapped out my basic.cfg once while on patrol, it had no effect....

A trainer of some kind I think would need to be developed, an SDK would be AWESOME if the developers would release one...(on that note I assume people have asked for an SDK, but either the answer was negative, or none at all....lets petition the hell out of them!!!!)

Anyway, I could be wrong... test it with a couple with widely out rageous values so that you can see if the system accesses those cfgs on the fly.


Good Luck, I really look forward to this if you can pull it off!
James

[oRGy]

Would this not work better integrated into SH3 Commander or a modified version thereof? I suspect that as the previous poster says, the game keeps the .cfg files in memory so you might need to restart the game rather than just alt-tabbing (which is a hassle anyway - something like this should be more automatic)

[The Avon Lady]

Any other ideas about what I could implement in to enhance this mod?
Barnacles.

Diesel fumes.

[iambecomelife]

Just curious, but will it work swapping out cfg's on the fly? I was under the impression that all the files were loaded at startup...

I swapped out my basic.cfg once while on patrol, it had no effect....

A trainer of some kind I think would need to be developed, an SDK would be AWESOME if the developers would release one...(on that note I assume people have asked for an SDK, but either the answer was negative, or none at all....lets petition the hell out of them!!!!)

Anyway, I could be wrong... test it with a couple with widely out rageous values so that you can see if the system accesses those cfgs on the fly.


Good Luck, I really look forward to this if you can pull it off!
James

In that case I guess it will have to be limited to visual indicators. It's annoying enough that TGA changes don't take effect unless you save and exit; it's going to be even more annoying to have to restart the entire game.

[Salvadoreno]

i was thinking that if the diesels fail or one of the diesels fail, or etc problems happen, you have to return to port. upsetting i know but realistic, many uboat captains had to go through these phases when their uboat ran into problems. I would really like that. ADD so much realism it would be GREAATt

And if you continue the patrol with damaged equipment your uboat suffers catastrophies and sinks or the like...

I know that might be a bit much. But if it is doable!

[redstorm101]

iambecomelife.......Now that sounds like a great mod idea!!!!I hope to see screen shots of it soon.....way cool... :|\


Redstorm101