New Unit: German Light Cruiser and How to make new ships... [Archive]

Commander1980

08-13-05, 11:06 AM

The German Light Cruiser "Karlsruhe" is available for Download.

It uses some files of Sergbutos Cruiser, thanks to him :)

Final Look:
http://img302.imageshack.us/img302/600/germancl6oj.jpg

Download here, 2.5MB (http://rapidshare.de/files/4293266/GermanCL.zip.html) (rapidshare, scroll down, button "Free", wait some seconds on the next screen)

Please read the readme (sorry for my english in there ;) )

Have fun!

------------------ Old 1st Post --------------------------

I've done some reconfiguration to the King George Battleship, Fiji and Dido cruisers to let them sail as American (KG V, Dido) and German (Fiji) ships. I used the "loadout option" in the cfg and eqp-files to give them different armament and placed them in US/german ports.
It works, however there is no difference in the displayed name of the "new fitted" ships. The "German light Cruiser" ist still a Fiji, only with different armament, so is the US Battleship. That is not satisfactory.

I tried to copy the whole folder of the ship-class and rename all files in there and altering the cfg-files in the roster-directory, to make a independant ship. Nice, i thought, it worked with the Hipper-class as an American Heavy Cruiser with new name in the ingame-musuem, but when clicking on the German Hipper-class, the game crashed. I think it has something to do with the *.dat.files, but how to open and alter them?

Does anyone know how to create "new" ships using the "old" models, without introducing interference with the existing vessels?

thanks :)

below the refitted KGV as USBattleship and an US AA-Cruiser
http://img361.imageshack.us/img361/2486/ussbbfantasy16kl.th.jpg (http://img361.imageshack.us/my.php?image=ussbbfantasy16kl.jpg) http://img361.imageshack.us/img361/5281/ussbbfantasy29cf.th.jpg (http://img361.imageshack.us/my.php?image=ussbbfantasy29cf.jpg)
http://img77.imageshack.us/img77/5824/usaacl3yo.th.jpg (http://img77.imageshack.us/my.php?image=usaacl3yo.jpg)

CB..

08-13-05, 11:22 AM

you may be able to edit them into the campaign missions by hand (with a text editor open the campaign files with notepad or wordpad)

but the mission editor does crash if you try to add new vessels from the roster menu...

Commander1980

08-13-05, 12:00 PM

No, i can add them with the mission editor. But they do not work ingame.

CB..

08-13-05, 01:02 PM

:o dang it that's odd i have the opposite problem i so much as touch the new vessel from the roster list in the editor and blam it crashes...but i can (See the brit sub thread) using Col7777's method add it by hand edit...wonder what's going on

Commander1980

08-13-05, 06:27 PM

hmm, maybe it is a problem with the u-boats?

I have done the following (with the Hipper):

I copied the folder NCA_Hipper in data/sea and renamed it NCA_Hopper. I changed all the Filenames from NCA_Hipper.* to NCA_Hopper.* .

In the new NCA_Hopper.cfg, i changed "ClassName=CAHipper" to "ClassName=CAHopper"

In the data/roster/german/sea folder, i copied the file CAHipper.cfg to data/roster/american/sea and renamed it CAHopper.cfg and changed the entries in there to
[UnitClass]
ClassName=CAHopper
UnitType=7
AppearanceDate=19391130
DisappearanceDate=19451201
DisplayName=US CA Hopper

Finally, i added the entry "CAHopper=Heavy Cruiser Hopper Class" in the names file in the folder data/sea

That worked with 3D-Graphics in the museum as long as i do not look at the german Hipper. I think the programm does not allow using one model (or one *.dat file) for more than one ship.

There was no problem placing her in the editor. What was your exact way changing the german boat to an ingame-working british boat?

thx
commander

darkdrone

08-13-05, 08:45 PM

don't know much about altering config files but to repack DAT files u'll need Chessmaster email or PM me and i'll send it to u. perhaps create a new skin using the DAT files then of course u're stuck with the 3d mesh not much hope of changing that[/quote]

Type941

08-14-05, 07:45 AM

Hey, fancy refitting Bismarck with a KGV smoke stacks, and perhaps 2gun turrets of UK type, and so on, to make HMS Hood? :)

I want to make a movie, but filiming 2 KGVS intead of the big Hood doesn't look the same.

Hood was bigger than bismarck I think, and definately bigger than KGV.

Shadow9216

08-14-05, 10:20 AM

You have to create a clone, changing the hex entries for the old model into something new in order for it to have a new name, new behavior, etc. Look for Orzel's tutorial on object cloning- prob on page 2 now.

Commander1980

08-14-05, 03:05 PM

@Darkdrone: Thx, i tried this before, but only changing the textures doesn't work

@Shadow: Thx, that sounds interesting!!!

@Type: The problem is the second funnel of the Hood. It is maybe in Sergbutos hands to do something like that ;)

I refitted the Bismarck with 2pdr quads and 4inch Doubles in lieu of her 6 inch doubles and heavy AA-guns, and the Revenge turrets for the primary armament. A Hood-Model (http://www.modelshipgallery.com/gallery/bb/hms/hood-350-ae/hood-009.jpg) shows some 4inch doubles. With this new armament and your superb textures, she looks more british :)

http://img147.imageshack.us/img147/1541/brbis17ak.th.jpg (http://img147.imageshack.us/my.php?image=brbis17ak.jpg)http://img147.imageshack.us/img147/8163/brbis20kl.th.jpg (http://img147.imageshack.us/my.php?image=brbis20kl.jpg)http://img147.imageshack.us/img147/6331/brbis31zb.th.jpg (http://img147.imageshack.us/my.php?image=brbis31zb.jpg)

If you are interested, i can email you the eqp-file.

Col7777

08-14-05, 11:49 PM

I'm interested, my secondary email address is:
colinreece0(at)lycos.com

Is there a readme included please, just to point me in the right dorection, thanks in advance. :up:

Commander1980

08-15-05, 02:38 AM

@Col7777

If you understand german, i wrote a tutorial in the german ubi forums to use two different fittings (with the loadout option, that can be chosen with the editor when activated in the cfg and eqp-files) simulaneously with one ship, so you can include both the Bismarck- and Hood-fitting in one mission.

German Tutorial for two loadouts on one ship (http://forums-de.ubi.com/groupee/forums/a/tpc/f/2371008762/m/8641068543/r/1071011643#1071011643)

I will prepare the files and load them up with a short installation guide soon, stay tuned ;)

08-15-05, 02:54 AM

I have used hex editor to create more British destroyers but nevertheles the game was replacing old ships with new ones. :damn: But Commaders 1980 guide could be helpful.

Type941

08-15-05, 03:37 AM

Awesome start, all we need is some superstrctucture tinkering and double funnel. Sergbuto - please! ;)

Type941

08-15-05, 11:18 AM

Also, with putting 3 muzzle turrents on hipper with minor mods (like straight smoke stack), you can get something similar to Gneisenau/Sharnhorst - ships that was quite active in the atlantic, and meeting those in a u-boat would be cool . Also the hull of Rodney can be used for something...

Commander1980

08-15-05, 03:06 PM

Here you can download the tiny Hood-fitting for the Bismarck. I know, she does not look like the Hood, but just imagine, it is the Hood ;)

Download here (http://rapidshare.de/files/4015677/Hoodfittings.zip.html) (417K, klick on the "Free" button at the bottom, wait some seconds)

Including all files in the right folders, some screenshots and a small readme. You can use the Bismarck fitting together with the Hood fitting in one mission, for example for the Denmark-Street battle. Have fun!

@Type: Unfourtunately, there is no 11 inch gun in the game. The 5" inch guns are much to small (she would never sink a BB) and the 14inch guns from Nelson have their own barbettes included in the 3d-graphics, the guns would stand some meters over the gun-positions. :cry:

The best looking refitting i have done, is a german light cruiser, based on sergbutos Southampton class. She looks very near to the Karlsruhe-Light Cruiser... ;) because it is originally Sergbutos mod, i have to ask him, before presenting her, i think. :roll: :yep:

Type941

08-16-05, 09:29 AM

I hope we get somewhere with this, the results i've seen already are very good, and who knows WHEN we get this SDK, seems like next cristmas. It's not much point to wait that long.

oRGy

08-16-05, 10:10 AM

What I'd like to see are the german anti-aircraft boats that were used late in the war - often just stripped wwi era warships, mounted with lots of 88's, moored in harbours on the flight path of the main bombing raids.

http://www.german-navy.de/kriegsmarine/index.html

Farside

08-16-05, 10:28 AM

I think one of the best people to talk about making new boats would be sergbuto. give him a PM

Commander1980

08-16-05, 11:52 AM

Yes Type, we need the SDK! ;)

Harbour-defence-ships are easily to mod, just take an existing ship and arm it with several AA-guns.

Sergbuto allowed me, to release his Southampton-class as a Light Cruiser, acting as the "Karlsruhe-class". It will be availabe for Download in the next days, with two usable Fittings.

Armament Standard-Fitting:
3 x Triplet 150 mm
4 x 10,5 cm guns
3 x 37 mm Twin-AA (update to 2x M42 Singles +1 37 mm M42 Twins in 1941)
8 x 20 mm Twin-AA ( update to 4 20mm Quads + 4 20 mm Twins in 1941)

Armament Antiaircraft-Fitting:
3 x Triplet 150 mm
1 x 75 mm AA-gun (update to 88mm Turret in 1941)
6 x 37 mm Twin-AA (update to 4 x 37 mm M42 Twins + 2 20 mm Quads in 1941)
8 x 20 mm Twin-AA (update to 4 x 37 mm M42 Singles + 4 x 20 Twins in 1941)

Both perform very well.

Some Sreenshots:
http://img154.imageshack.us/img154/4746/karlsruhecl27kq.th.jpg (http://img154.imageshack.us/my.php?image=karlsruhecl27kq.jpg) http://img154.imageshack.us/img154/3707/karlsruhecl2fc.th.jpg (http://img154.imageshack.us/my.php?image=karlsruhecl2fc.jpg)
http://img363.imageshack.us/img363/7681/clkarlsruhebasic27sw.th.jpg (http://img363.imageshack.us/my.php?image=clkarlsruhebasic27sw.jpg) http://img363.imageshack.us/img363/696/clkarlsruheflak421dg.th.jpg (http://img363.imageshack.us/my.php?image=clkarlsruheflak421dg.jpg)

Thx @ Sergbuto ;)

Farside

08-16-05, 12:35 PM

@Type: Unfourtunately, there is no 11 inch gun in the game. The 5" inch guns are much to small (she would never sink a BB) and the 14inch guns from Nelson have their own barbettes included in the 3d-graphics, the guns would stand some meters over the gun-positions. :cry:

isn't there any 10.5 inch guns?

Commander1980

08-16-05, 01:08 PM

no, i don't think - i found none. Do you mean the 10,5 cm gun? :)

Farside

08-16-05, 01:18 PM

aww i thought they were 10.5 inch, my mistake :roll: :oops:

is it possible to make a new set of guns without the SDK?

Commander1980

08-16-05, 01:26 PM

puuh, i do not know, but it would be great! ;)

Commander1980

08-19-05, 01:32 PM

I made some modificated C-class textures to Sergbutos Southampton-class, acting as the Light Cruiser Karlsruhe (or Koeln, Koenigsberg). I think she looks better in this "dress" - more "german" - and the difference to the Fiji is more obvious :)

http://img385.imageshack.us/img385/6498/clkarlsruhe21pz.jpg

Real Karlsruhe Cruiser (http://www.militaria-house.com/ansichtskarten2wk/images/gross/bild321-gross.jpg)

http://img367.imageshack.us/img367/5913/clkarlsruhe16fh.th.jpg (http://img367.imageshack.us/my.php?image=clkarlsruhe16fh.jpg)

Unfortunately, the subs AA-guns (37mm M42, 20mm Quadruple) do not work perfect. I placed some cruisers right before the british airbases and after 10 minutes shooting down some Swordfishs, the firing stopped. I think there is no way making the guns firing longer...(?)
I am experimenting with Bofors 40 mm, but i think these guns are to strong. *testing*[/url]

oRGy

08-20-05, 05:45 AM

A schematic:

http://www.german-navy.de/pics/kriegsmarine/karlsruhe.gif

iambecomelife

08-20-05, 09:06 PM

Commander1980

08-21-05, 04:24 AM

I recommend, when "heavy-cruisering" the Southampton, let her sail as the HMS York. The two ship York-group of the County-class-Heavy Cruiser were the only ships with two funnels and so would be better represented by the Fiji/Southampton.

http://uboat.net/allies/warships/photos/br/cl_hms_york.jpg

The problem when using the Hipper guns with the Fiji models is, that B and C turrets will touch the upperworks.

http://img357.imageshack.us/img357/33/yorkwannabe0wo.jpg

AG124

08-21-05, 05:51 PM

Does anyone here see a possibility of creating a Renown class battlecruiser or Queen Elizabeth class battleship from existing ships (esp. KGV class BB and Royal Sovereign class BB)? Even if the new models were close to the real thing, it would at least be a stopgap measure for now.

Possibly a York/Exeter class CA or one of the other three County classes could be created (if 3 funnels could be fitted on one ship in the case of the other three Counties). I would also like to see some new merchants built from combined parts of other merchants - possibly the small tanker hull could be used to create a 4000-6000 ton freigter.

Some ships probably cannot be created realistically through hex editing because suitable parts are not available - Italian and Japanese ships fit into this category. There aren't really enough carrier models to create a new carrier either. We will probably just have to wait until the source code is released or until an expansion is made by Ubisoft (if either event ever happens), I guess.

PS - Sergbuto, are you planning any other ships, or have you made progress on the Russian Type 7 Destroyer? You seem to make very good progress in the area of hex editing. Commander1980's work on a K class CL is excellent as well, although the superstructure is a little different. I wish I could make some new ships myself, but I am not good enough (maybe practice will help).

Just thought I'd post this - I visit this forum a lot, but usually just read instead of posting. Great modding being completed though - really adds even more to an already-excellent game.

Thanks.

08-22-05, 02:55 AM

I recommend, when "heavy-cruisering" the Southampton, let her sail as the HMS York.

It is HMS London :|\
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/micheal.overton/HMS_London_off_Alexandria.jpg

Commander1980

08-22-05, 03:01 AM

Oh nice, i thouth she had three funnels. Indeed, she could easily be represented by the Southampton, just giving her 4 8" turrets!

iambecomelife

08-22-05, 07:29 PM

Oh nice, i thouth she had three funnels. Indeed, she could easily be represented by the Southampton, just giving her 4 8" turrets!

Yeah; I had a copy of "All the World's Fighting Ships" that showed London with two funnels, but it was taken postwar so I wasn't absolutely sure if I should model her. Thanks for clearing that up. It's a bit strange how heavily they modified London compared to the other ships of that class; I think the others retained all their funnels and never got that bulky seaplane hanger in the bow superstructure.

Commander1980

08-23-05, 02:35 AM

Her two funnel refit was during WWII, giving her the appearance of a Crown-class Light Cruiser (= Fiji-look). Read on wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/County_class_cruiser ;)

Well, mod her - there is not a moment to lose :)

08-23-05, 02:41 AM

HMS London was the only British heavy creuser that enjoyed pre-war modernisation. The only problem is her haul which is all of the same hight

Commander1980

08-24-05, 03:25 AM

Shadow9216

08-24-05, 08:38 AM

Way cool! How does it compare to the real ship?

stljeffbb1

08-24-05, 08:58 AM

Well, here is a grainy pic:

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a288/stljeffbb/karlsruhe.jpg

Stacks appear to be more perpindicular to the boat....however, I TOTALLY agree with what is being done here.....add ships to the best of our ability to help fill in the gaps that SH3 left out...I'm looking forward to US and even Japanese ships.....wuoldn't be too hard to make a Kongo class out of the current Revenge class....heck, Vickers made the first Kongo for Japan!

I think it would even be cool to try to model something like the Brazilian battleship Sao Paulo...sure she was outdated by WWII, but she still existed! :know:

-Jeff

Commander1980

08-24-05, 09:09 AM

Way cool! How does it compare to the real ship?

http://img367.imageshack.us/img367/8882/karlsruhe0010xc.jpg

nearly the same view as in the screenshot ;)

The forward superstructure is the main "problem" and unfortunately there is no place where the 88mm Turrets would fit without touching the model.

Shadow9216

08-24-05, 09:40 AM

The forward superstructure is slightly similar to the Hunts, or one of the other escorts- Black Swan? J-class? Anyway, something I've dodged going into Scapa has a similar profile

Commander1980

08-24-05, 11:18 AM

yes, i thought - if it can be done someway - upscaling an existing model would make a much better Karlsruhe ;)

When anyone encounters problems with the cruiser, please write down here.
I would be interested also in "battle-reports" for further balancing. :)

Figaro

08-24-05, 04:21 PM

Looking good :up:, But is it possible to offset the aft turrets to starb. and port of the centre line?
::Linky to top view photo of Karlsruhe:: (http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/images/h98000/h98277.jpg)

Commander1980

08-25-05, 02:21 AM

It is possible, yes. But i have to find the position of the node with a hex-editor and then change this node to the port-side. Don't know so far, if i can do this.

Commander1980

08-25-05, 10:35 AM

I found a new, yet unused AA-gun! The german "20mm Vierlings-Flak" :)
Okay, a similar weapon can also be found on the subs, but when using this gun on ships, they have no crew.

The gun is perfect for all german warships:

http://img140.imageshack.us/img140/2643/quad21rh.jpg

Karlsruhe-class will be refitted with them, i upload the new set this evening.

http://img140.imageshack.us/img140/3681/quad18ro.th.jpg (http://img140.imageshack.us/my.php?image=quad18ro.jpg)

Commander1980

08-26-05, 08:13 AM

The Harbour Defense Mini Fleet V1.0 :D

Altogether: "Vorpostenboot", "Flak-Trawler", "Flak-destroyer", "Seized Fishing-boat"
http://img363.imageshack.us/img363/4858/aafleet11qs.th.jpg (http://img363.imageshack.us/my.php?image=aafleet11qs.jpg)

Flak-fisher
http://img363.imageshack.us/img363/667/aafleet24yv.th.jpg (http://img363.imageshack.us/my.php?image=aafleet24yv.jpg)

Vorpostenboot
http://img363.imageshack.us/img363/5903/aafleet37av.th.jpg (http://img363.imageshack.us/my.php?image=aafleet37av.jpg)

Flak-Trawler
http://img363.imageshack.us/img363/9503/aafleet44dt.th.jpg (http://img363.imageshack.us/my.php?image=aafleet44dt.jpg)

Antiaircraft-escort
http://img363.imageshack.us/img363/4940/aafleet58zs.th.jpg (http://img363.imageshack.us/my.php?image=aafleet58zs.jpg) http://img363.imageshack.us/img363/2873/aafleet68ku.th.jpg (http://img363.imageshack.us/my.php?image=aafleet68ku.jpg)

Upgunned PT-Boats
http://img363.imageshack.us/img363/6810/pts7lf.th.jpg (http://img363.imageshack.us/my.php?image=pts7lf.jpg)