merchants and searchlights..

[CB..]

accidental discovery...so thought it might be interesting

opening the EQP file in the merchants (data/sea/) folders and replacing the LO1 entry with this

NodeName=L01
LinkName=REF_small
StartDate=19380101
EndDate=19451231

gives the merchants a searchlight...which looks effective after detection as it pans around scanning (the merchant carrys on it's normal behavuir it doesnt start behavng as per a DD for example)

this adds some intrigue to night time attacks if you are in the middle of the shipping...not sure just how much effect this has on the chances of your scope being spotted...anyhuw looks good...might be realistic? dunno

[Happy Times]

There were actually spotlights on some merchants,it would have to be randomized and you would have a good mod there..

[CCIP]

I wonder if there's any chance we could stick these on aircraft (leigh lights!!) :hmm:

[Vader 1]

CB :
I can just see the gears starting to roll.. "what about this" ...."I wonder if we changed this" :lol: when you start to mod this game I will be 1st in line :up:
Vader

[CB..]

There were actually spotlights on some merchants,it would have to be randomized and you would have a good mod there..

what i did was just add the searchlight to one or two types of merchants/ that way the actual normal randomisation of the merchants in a convoy means that maybe one or two have searchlights the others don't or none at all etc ...this seems to work well...too many with searchlights would probably have been counter productive perhaps as the lookouts would have constantly been blinded by someone else light

CCIP i wonder if the light has to be on the LO1 node? if not then theyre are plenty of free nodes available on the aircraft (heres part of the sunderland's eqp file)

;Basic Loadout values
[Equipment 1]
NodeName=B01
LinkName=NULL

[Equipment 2]
NodeName=B02
LinkName=NULL

[Equipment 3]
NodeName=B03
LinkName=NULL

[Equipment 4]
NodeName=B04
LinkName=NULL


no L0 nodes unfortunately..try it on the B0

arhh come to think of it L might actually mean LIGHT.. B might mean BOMB in which case i may not work...or it'll try and bomb you with a searchlight..lol!!

perhaps if the model file was hex edited to change a B0 node to a L0 node maybe it would work correctly?

would be kinda fun if one could added to the subs too..lol

tho with no way to turn it off it might be mighty inconvient!!

[CCIP]

arhh come to think of it L might actually mean LIGHT.. B might mean BOMB in which case i may not work...or it'll try and bomb you with a searchlight..lol!!

Well, I mean... if I see light just before I die, that's all that matters :rotfl:

Any chance we could actually change the nodes? If not add, I'm sure we could somehow find a way to change a B node to an L node... question is of course, where these would be stored... :hmm:

[CB..]

:D simulteaneous edit sorry same thought just occurred to me!! hex edit the nodes!! :up:

[Commander1980]

You can add everything to every node. Its just the name of the position on the model, that links to the equipment in the eqp-file. On the Karlsruhe cruiser, i rearranged the AA-defense and set two pairs of 20mm guns to the T (=Torpedo) and L-nodes and set the searchlight to an M-node (M = for the heavy gun turrets). But notice, that every node has an area where the equipment can be aimed to ( i think this is defined in the dat file, or any other non-text based file).

But i do not know, if lights work on aircraft.

[Shadow9216]

Even if lights could be added to aircraft, the AI wouldn't work to give the desired effect...the light would be on all the time instead of just prior to attack...

But can you change a node to allow it to drop a torpedo? Then we can experiment with adding T-5s...

[Commander1980]

There is no Torpedo-AI for the AI-controlled craft. And there is no weapon-link for the torpedo that can be added with the eqp-file.

[Shadow9216]

Yeah, I was afraid of that...
I was wondering though, since a T5 continues to home if it misses the target (I've been hit once), there's some AI for torpedoes. If we could figure out how to enable a T5 without launching it, we'd be halfway there.

Or am I totally off track?

[Commander1980]

Even if lights could be added to aircraft, the AI wouldn't work to give the desired effect...the light would be on all the time instead of just prior to attack...


it works - the light is only on when attacking - but it looks - ahmm - crazy

http://img164.imageshack.us/img164/4653/lightplane15xk.th.jpg (http://img164.imageshack.us/my.php?image=lightplane15xk.jpg)

http://img164.imageshack.us/img164/1070/lightplane23ru.th.jpg (http://img164.imageshack.us/my.php?image=lightplane23ru.jpg)

:sunny: :)

I changed this entry in the eqp file for the catalina

[Equipment 16]
NodeName=B08
LinkName=REF_big
Loadout=6xDepth Charge

May it is better to use the smallest searchlight, that can be found on the Patrol-boats. The Linkname is "REF_small01"

[Shadow9216]

WICKED! How do you know where it'll turn up? Suppose I wanted it under the belly for example?

[Commander1980]

WICKED! How do you know where it'll turn up? Suppose I wanted it under the belly for example?

I think you have to try all nodes to find the perfect position. You can attach different light to the nodes to find out, what note is for what position. There are REF_Big, REF_small and REF_small01 . ;)

[CCIP]

:o

This is AWESOME.

I think I'm definitely going to try this. Leigh Lights have been always been high on my wishlist :up:

[sergbuto]

I guess Jace11 will be happy too. :) He asked a couple of times about lights on an aircraft.

[Col7777]

Well done CB,

Your mods get my mind working overtime, I just had another thought, is there any of these nodes attached to a Bunker?
I was thinking more of having a mock lighthouse rather than a bunker with a searchlight or did they have searchlights too?

[CCIP]

:cool:

Yep, the smaller searchlight helped, and placing the things on station 5 had the effect of keeping them nearest to middle (they're, in fact, inside the plane in the Liberator - not that it bothers me at all).

Check these out!

http://img129.imageshack.us/img129/2734/lights19zf.th.jpg (http://img129.imageshack.us/my.php?image=lights19zf.jpg)http://img129.imageshack.us/img129/8523/lights100io.th.jpg (http://img129.imageshack.us/my.php?image=lights100io.jpg)http://img129.imageshack.us/img129/5120/lights113jq.th.jpg (http://img129.imageshack.us/my.php?image=lights113jq.jpg)http://img129.imageshack.us/img129/6806/lights124gi.th.jpg (http://img129.imageshack.us/my.php?image=lights124gi.jpg)
http://img129.imageshack.us/img129/8638/lights21sk.th.jpg (http://img129.imageshack.us/my.php?image=lights21sk.jpg)http://img129.imageshack.us/img129/6233/lights34kk.th.jpg (http://img129.imageshack.us/my.php?image=lights34kk.jpg)http://img129.imageshack.us/img129/7125/lights43wx.th.jpg (http://img129.imageshack.us/my.php?image=lights43wx.jpg)http://img129.imageshack.us/img129/8752/lights51at.th.jpg (http://img129.imageshack.us/my.php?image=lights51at.jpg)
http://img129.imageshack.us/img129/4619/lights66lo.th.jpg (http://img129.imageshack.us/my.php?image=lights66lo.jpg)http://img129.imageshack.us/img129/1693/lights71oe.th.jpg (http://img129.imageshack.us/my.php?image=lights71oe.jpg)http://img129.imageshack.us/img129/5933/lights89sf.th.jpg (http://img129.imageshack.us/my.php?image=lights89sf.jpg)http://img129.imageshack.us/img129/8296/lights92bm.th.jpg (http://img129.imageshack.us/my.php?image=lights92bm.jpg)

:up: :up: :up:
Hats off!

These are taken with REF_small01 attached to station 5 on all 4 big aircraft (Sunderland, Catalina, Wellington, Liberator).

Outstanding!

[CWorth]

Just so I am sure..you would use this entry

[Equipment 5]
NodeName=B05
LinkName=REF_small01

[CCIP]

Well you have to do it for every single loadout, too. So just go through the file and put

NodeName=B05
LinkName=REF_small01

for every entry where you have the B05 node used.
In a few places where I replaced one of the weapons with it, I would put the weapon on a different station (so that in a 4x500lb bomb loadout, you'd still have 4 bombs and the light, instead of only 3).

Meanwhile, using these discoveries, I've also done things like this now (and this, mind you, is an optional loadout that will only be used when specified... like when we want to put in small auxiliary patrol vessels, for instance...):

http://img129.imageshack.us/img129/2492/009dr.jpg

which could be very, very cool :up:

[Commander1980]

Meanwhile, using these discoveries, I've also done things like this now (and this, mind you, is an optional loadout that will only be used when specified... like when we want to put in small auxiliary patrol vessels, for instance...):

// image //

which could be very, very cool :up:

Yep, i've done this with several ships. Why not collecting them all and release a special "Armament Loadout Modification" ;)

Unfourtunately, the different loadouts will not be chosen by the RND-layer, i think.

[CCIP]

Unfourtunately, the different loadouts will not be chosen by the RND-layer, i think.

It's alright. I have a use for them via SCR in ops already :up:
(I've recently been implementing auxiliary coastal patrols in Ops using armed tugs, but these guys will come in handy too I think)

[CCIP]

And of course, I just had to try this...

Introducing:

HMS Whatthefark

http://img129.imageshack.us/img129/4140/wtf28jd.th.jpg (http://img129.imageshack.us/my.php?image=wtf28jd.jpg)http://img129.imageshack.us/img129/7671/wtf32mv.th.jpg (http://img129.imageshack.us/my.php?image=wtf32mv.jpg)http://img129.imageshack.us/img129/953/wtf54ax.th.jpg (http://img129.imageshack.us/my.php?image=wtf54ax.jpg)

...and the brave crew of U-535 that tried to take on Britain's newest "Pocket Battleship"...

http://img129.imageshack.us/img129/8037/wtf76mp.th.jpg (http://img129.imageshack.us/my.php?image=wtf76mp.jpg)http://img129.imageshack.us/img129/655/wtf83zq.th.jpg (http://img129.imageshack.us/my.php?image=wtf83zq.jpg)http://img129.imageshack.us/img129/743/wtf93wx.th.jpg (http://img129.imageshack.us/my.php?image=wtf93wx.jpg)

...and failed miserably
:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

[martes86]

:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

[CWorth]

Well you have to do it for every single loadout, too. So just go through the file and put

NodeName=B05
LinkName=REF_small01

for every entry where you have the B05 node used.
In a few places where I replaced one of the weapons with it, I would put the weapon on a different station (so that in a 4x500lb bomb loadout, you'd still have 4 bombs and the light, instead of only 3).

Meanwhile, using these discoveries, I've also done things like this now (and this, mind you, is an optional loadout that will only be used when specified... like when we want to put in small auxiliary patrol vessels, for instance...):

http://img129.imageshack.us/img129/2492/009dr.jpg

which could be very, very cool :up:

I think I may just wait to see if anyone releases a mod with these files and such together.

I can definatly see good things coming from this discovery. :up:

[CCIP]

And here's the result of the thread's original suggestion...

http://img129.imageshack.us/img129/9064/spot13yz.jpg

:up:

[Commander1980]

jep, this is a good addition. Do they fire better and earlier when they have a searchlight added?

[Syxx_Killer]

And of course, I just had to try this...

Introducing:

HMS Whatthefark

:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

[StaplerFahrer]

Just of curiosity, can you put those huge battleship guns on your U-boat? I'd like to tear up a few convoys with my 16 inchers!

[CB..]

Cheers Guys glad to have gotten some balls rolling

(cheers Vader especailly-- sorry missed your original post!)

Col! there only seems to be the one available node on the bunkers but replacin the link with the

[Equipment 1]
NodeName=M01
LinkName=REF_small
StartDate=19380101
EndDate=19451231

should give it a search light the trouble is that it only switches on when theres enemys around....

oh heck here's a thought --proper anti aircraft defensive searchlights -- be really nice to see searchlight scanning the skys at night whilst an airstrike on your port was going on..they'd need to be given much "longer" light beams so they went high into the air.(hasn't some one done that ?)..but my goodness would that look good!!!

another thought dunno if it would be realitic..what would happen if you added the hedgehog to an aircraft...that would be pretty deadly..if they didnt do this in real life i don't understand why they didnt? :hmm:

[Sawdust]

This is AWESOME.
I think I'm definitely going to try this. Leigh Lights have been always been high on my wishlist :up:
Yeah, I only recently learned about Leigh Lights and they were apparently extremely effective against U-boats travelling on the surface of the Bay of Biscay at night. Supposedly, at one point, the Leigh Light aircraft were so feared, Donitz ordered all U-boats to only travel on the surface during the day! :o

BTW, the plane with the searchlight looks really cool (and would be extra scary to fight against in the game), but the aircraft will never fly at night in a normal game, right? :-?

HMS Whatthefark = Sweet! :P

Oh, and I want a searchlight on my U-boat! :yep:

[CCIP]

BTW, the plane with the searchlight looks really cool (and would be extra scary to fight against in the game), but the aircraft will never fly at night in a normal game, right? :-?


Oh they do. Oh they do :|\

(my most shocking career 'death' came just from that. Just came out of the... black. I always pictured it as a Leigh Light kill.)

[Happy Times]

Hadnt heard of the Leigh Lights before this thread.. :oops: Now that i understand how important they were in nailing u-boats i cant wait to get nailed. :lol: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leigh_Light

[caspofungin]

first, that looks v f'ing sweet -- good job! any way to link this up w/ sh3 commander you automatically get planes w/ leigh lights after a certain time?

[CCIP]

first, that looks v f'ing sweet -- good job! any way to link this up w/ sh3 commander you automatically get planes w/ leigh lights after a certain time?

They wouldn't be attacking at night without Leigh Lights anyway, and you generally don't see many large planes or night attacks before the lights' introduction.

So I think it'd be pretty safe to just stick the lights into all loadouts for the Catalina, Liberator, Sunderland and Wellington by default :hmm:

[Col7777]

First let me once again congratulate CB, you've opened up this sim to a new dimension, well done mate. :up:

Forgive my ignorance on this, but if we can add guns to models can other nodes be added to them so we can add other things like funnels etc to make them look different?

CB, I don't know why I missed it but I just read your above post regarding anti-aircraft searchlights, great idea!
Bloody hell mate you've almost got combat flight sim incorporated here. :)

[CCIP]

Hmm, and although the lights are nice, I'd really like to be able to have something else yet - not searchlights, but starshells. It seems like these are used very rarely in the game.
If someone could make a gun that fired starshells only (and reloaded very slowly), that could be very interesting. I haven't found anything like that so far...

[Col7777]

I'm almost sure I did see a merchie fire a starshell but it was only the once, I haven't done musch night attacks in this sim so I'm not sure how many times they do it.

[CCIP]

They do. But I think they fire these from their deck guns, and only under certain circumstances unknown to me. Same with escorts, and it just doesn't seem to happen often enough.

I'd like to just have a separate flare gun to put on these things :)

[Commander1980]

Forgive my ignorance on this, but if we can add guns to models can other nodes be added to them so we can add other things like funnels etc to make them look different?


Yeah, it would be great :) As far as i understand this, the node is a link to the position on the model and the position is defined in the model file. I think its impossible to add more nodes. Funnels are part of the 3D-model and aren't defined as equipment.

[sergbuto]

Forgive my ignorance on this, but if we can add guns to models can other nodes be added to them so we can add other things like funnels etc to make them look different?

I have done adding funnels to the existing nodes in the EQP file in the past but with such an editing method you can only use either the new or original models at the time, you can't use them both simultaneously.

[oRGy]

http://uboat.net/allies/technical/images/leigh2.jpg

^ Actual location of leigh light on plane

[CB..]

Col///Might be able to retexture some of those large crates stored on the decks of the merchants and create new merchants or replace (as CCIP says smaller gun turrets with larger ones to get a different cruiser or so on?)

i'd be interested in adding machine guns to some of the merchants as well (troop ships?) as seeing the water splashes from small arms fire looks good...and the ping ping of the hull too...surely soldiers on a troop ship or even on a merchant might have opened fire with their MG's at close range if even only out of anger!!

[Col7777]

CB, You've certainly aroused a lot of interest here with this, great stuff mate, plus a lot of ideas are flowing.
The trouble is you've made the sea a very unsafe place if you are in a submarine. (only joking) :)

Serg, Again forgive my ignorance, you are far more the expert than I am on this, but when you say if you alter a model in the EQP file by adding something etc.
It sounds too simple but I'm sure you've tried it, can another model be copied from the original but renamed so we can have 2 different models so to speak?

[Shadow9216]

From what Serg has told me, to add a new model you must change the hex strings from the old model to something new...trouble is identifying ALL the strings which need to be changed.

[sergbuto]

Serg, Again forgive my ignorance, you are far more the expert than I am on this, but when you say if you alter a model in the EQP file by adding something etc.
It sounds too simple but I'm sure you've tried it, can another model be copied from the original but renamed so we can have 2 different models so to speak?

I wish it was that simple, Col. In SH3, each 3D object should have its own, unique digital ID in bynary code. That is how SH3 engine distinguishes between two copies of the same object. Take a look f.e. at the following threads on copying models

http://www.subsim.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=40253&highlight=cloning
http://www.subsim.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=40399&highlight=cloning

Hope this helps.

[CB..]

CB, You've certainly aroused a lot of interest here with this, great stuff mate, plus a lot of ideas are flowing.
The trouble is you've made the sea a very unsafe place if you are in a submarine. (only joking) :)



he he!! cheers Col what i was really trying to do was to give the merchants radios so they could perhaps communicate with the DD's any short range sightings they made ...but i haven't been able to find any radio devices for the ai (they are the DF sensors i think --looking in the iceburg sns files gives a named list of sensors DF seems to be the radios)

often i would get spotted at scope depth in a convoy and the merchants would alter course (even going to flank reverse ) and attempt to ram me but the dd's would not pick up on this and swan uselessly by. and i was wondering why the merchants knew where i was but the DD's don't lol? (i was hoping the RF entry would be the radio lol it turned out to be the searchkight and off we go in another direction altogether lol).but i changed tack half way thru and edited the sim cfg

to this for the DD hydrophone and sonar

[Hydrophone]
Detection time=2 ;[s]
Sensitivity=0.03 ;(0..1)
Height factor=0 ;[m]
Waves factor=0.5 ;[>=0]
Speed factor=15 ;[kt]
Noise factor=0.6 ;[>=0]

[Sonar]
Detection time=5 ;[s]
Sensitivity=0.03 ;(0..1)
Waves factor=0.5 ;[>=0]
Speed factor=20 ;[kt]
Enemy surface factor=200 ;[m2]
Lose time=20

the reduced "noise factor" seems to be the key here..less background noise to mask your engines whilst submerged

and things got lively enough mid convoy for me to stop worrying about the radios !! DD's are much tougher now which was what i was after!..(all that time in SH2 has made SH3 seem very easy indeed )

im still fiddling with it as i go..looking for bits and bobs to tweak to get a satisfying balance (as per my personal tastes rather than any nod towards realism ..)

was gratifyied to see that with the above settings during an convoy attack in 1941- that i was able to creep in at silent running, make the attack and was creeping out again undetected..when i got impatient and decided to secure from silent running in order to reload (instead of getting away reloading repositioning and attacking from scratch again which is what you kinda supposed to do perhaps?)
the instant i secured from silent running i was detected (mechanic dropped a spanner lol) and I had to abandon the reloading in order to escape the DC attacks

that seemed bowt right...perhaps a tadge severe for 1941- but i'm not after realism just a bit of dramatic tension during every attack :up:
:arrgh!:

say COL for the british sub idea..as all the subs have a set of different conning towers and flak stations that can be swopped in and out via the in base customisation/renown shop screen..i wonder if say the type 9 conning tower could be slapped on a type 7 or even a type II (or vice versa) to create a "unique" new sub type possibly with luck resembling a brit american russian french sub? gotta be possible i reckon :up:

[Col7777]

CB, I'm in work right now so I'll copy and paste your findings when I get home later, your old genius head is back in action again, I love it. :up:

[Col7777]

I'm trying as I may to edit the eqp file, but it still won't save after the edit.
I just looked at all the others and now they are in Notepad format, I hope they still work. :hmm:

Any way my problem was a good way to bump this thread. :)

[CB..]

I'm trying as I may to edit the eqp file, but it still won't save after the edit.
I just looked at all the others and now they are in Notepad format, I hope they still work. :hmm:

Any way my problem was a good way to bump this thread. :)

strange problem with the EQP file Col...shouldn't be any different than the terrain.cfg ...doesnt matter that the files show with the notepad blue book icon it just means that if you need to edit them you can just double click them and they automatically open with notepad..the game reads them as normal..

what happens when you just click save (not save as?) you can allways reopen the file again to double check the changes are still there..

[Col7777]

Hi CB,

It is saving OK now for some reason but... the changes don't show.
I was trying to add another gun to the player sub.

Edited:
Damn! I just found the thread where it says it doesn't work with the player sub, I've been playing about with this most of the day as well.

[Commander1980]

This is not defined in the eqp file, but in the basic.cfg
Look here: http://www.subsim.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=41978
:)

[Col7777]

You posted as I did Commander, I'll go and try your method now, thanks again for your help. :up:

[HEMISENT]

The possibility of having leigh lights/merchant searchlights has me and I would guess everyone else pretty excited since it seems the devs dropped the ball on this one. Realizing this is just in its infancy is there a thought about either a stand alone mod or perhaps including it in an RUB/ops update???????????????????????????????????????????? ??????

:hmm: :hmm: :hmm:

[CCIP]

I think we can leave the final word on this to people like Jace, but uh...

If you want these, I can give you the files like... now :up:
(or you can make em yourself if you want - pretty easy, just takes a few config edits)

Want em for testing?
I didn't put lights on all merchants by the way. I decided to limit them to only larger, dry-cargo ones. Even if just to prevent the whole convoy from lighting up at night.

If anyone has suggestions on better implementing them, I'm open.

[CB..]

yup this is a DIY mod thread more or less!!
go on fire up notepad and have a go !!

i haven't turned it into a stand alone mod but any-one else is welcome to do so if they want..it's a five minute job.. :arrgh!:

[DreamWizard]

I think we can leave the final word on this to people like Jace, but uh...

If anyone has suggestions on better implementing them, I'm open.

How about placing them on all the Neutrals? :D

[CCIP]

Mmmm, nope, wouldn't work. These are aimed automatically at hostile units only. So I don't think they'd work on neutrals. :(

[Shadow9216]

Here's a thought...is there a way to mount a lighthouse light on a ship, instead of a searchlight? Something steady-burning, to simulate neutral shipping being lit at night?

[Rubini]

If you want these, I can give you the files like... now
(or you can make em yourself if you want - pretty easy, just takes a few config edits)

Want em for testing?
I didn't put lights on all merchants by the way. I decided to limit them to only larger, dry-cargo ones. Even if just to prevent the whole convoy from lighting up at night.

CCIP,

I think that your set is ok, only in the larger merchs!
Where is the link? :hmm:

Rubini.

[Sawdust]

This is not defined in the eqp file, but in the basic.cfg
Look here: http://www.subsim.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=41978
:)
Combining the "merchant lights" method with the double-deck gun mod from the link above, I was able to put a searchlight on the U-boat. I didn't really know what I was doing, so I just stuck "REF_small" in every position under the M01, A01, S01, etc. headings in basic.cfg. (It took the place of a flak gun which was reported as being destroyed. When you try to assign a crewman to the flak gun position which now has the light, the game says that location is inaccessible. Interestingly, 1 flak gun still remained, and was fully functional.) Unfortunately, the light was always dark...

Here're some pictures:
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y18/Sawdust5/Silent%20Hunter%20III/searchlight1.jpg
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y18/Sawdust5/Silent%20Hunter%20III/searchlight2.jpg

Underwater:
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y18/Sawdust5/Silent%20Hunter%20III/searchlight3.jpg

At night, but still not lit:
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y18/Sawdust5/Silent%20Hunter%20III/searchlight4.jpg
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y18/Sawdust5/Silent%20Hunter%20III/searchlight5.jpg
The searchlight was blown away by a merchant's deck gun just seconds after this last picture was taken. :P

[Hartmann]

this light could drain your batteries in a few minutes !! :huh:

there are a mod that allow put the ligt in a bomber plane ?? or not yet ??

[CWorth]

this light could drain your batteries in a few minutes !! :huh:

there are a mod that allow put the ligt in a bomber plane ?? or not yet ??

Yes there is..they tell you how to do it on the first page of this thread.

[ICBM]

Hey I like this, it would make convoy atacks much more impressive when you see lots of searchlights looking for you.

And what about flares? Only non DC equiped DD's use them as I understand it, why not give the ability to all DD's and/or merc's?
That would seem like a very logical response to me..

[Tim D]

All,
I am lost here, how do you add the lights to select merchants, I know what to add but where? For instance for a C2 (NKLS_.eqp) there are 30 equipment lines, do I add this for each one? Also I am a little lost on how to do it for aircraft, Thanks and a KISS (Keep It Simple Sailor)

[Commander1980]

Most ships have special L-nodes for those positions, where a seach-light is imaginable or logical. the C2 on 29 and 30.

[Equipment 29]
NodeName=L01
LinkName=NULL
StartDate=19380101
EndDate=19451231

[Equipment 30]
NodeName=L02
LinkName=NULL
StartDate=19380101
EndDate=19451231

Change NULL to REF_small, REF_Big or REF_small01

On airplanes you have to try on which bomb-link it looks the best.

[Tim D]

Thank you, Commander. I got it working for both aircraft and merchants. What a great discovery, this is awesome, keep it up!!!

[hercule]

Franchement, au lieu de faire le C.. sur les bancs de l'école, j'aurais mieux fais d'écouter mon prof d'anglais, tans pis pour moi... :oops:

[ICBM]

Soooo...when can we expect the mod? :P And what about the flares I mentioned? Can we increase those as well?

Uh wait...now I think of it.. Did the allies actually used flares to find U boats? Sure that would increase the chance of finding the Sub but it would also make the ships easy to spot for the U-boat and be fired at..

Anyone?

[caspofungin]

"Pineapple" was an escort tactic involving firing starshells to force a u-boat to dive rather than complete a surface attack. It involved the side escorts racing to the fron of the convoy and illuminating, but also revealed the convoy's position exactly, as you mentioned. The trade off is that now the u-boat is underwater, w/ decreased mobility, and inc detection chance on the concentrated ASDIC sweep that followed the illumination phase. Not sure if it was still performed after the widespread deployment of radar.

[Sawdust]

"Pineapple" was an escort tactic involving firing starshells to force a u-boat to dive rather than complete a surface attack. ...Not sure if it was still performed after the widespread deployment of radar.
I'm reading the book "Black May" and the British escorts in May 1943 were using both radar and the "Raspberry" and "Half-Raspberry" search tactics, which utilized star shells. So, they used star shells at least that far into the war.

[Soviet_Warlord]

It would be amazing if we could have player- aimed lightable small searchlight mounted on each side of the bridge.. not leigh- light size, but small and bright enough to light up a single merchant at a short distance at night.

Edit: I mean kind of like the size of a morse lamp...

[ICBM]

It would be amazing if we could have player- aimed lightable small searchlight mounted on each side of the bridge.. not leigh- light size, but small and bright enough to light up a single merchant at a short distance at night.

Edit: I mean kind of like the size of a morse lamp...

*drool* Even better, how about signalling each other to keep radio silence. :yep:

[Totenkopf]

Here is what this bloody mod can do!!

http://img140.imageshack.us/img140/8633/gibraltar3nv.jpg

Don't get called up to enter the Mediterranean!!