LWAMI Mod Announcement-- 2.03 Now Available for Download!

[LuftWolf]

Due to some issues that I suspect are due to the recent time change and some minor things I want to change, as well as the desire for a streamlined install procedure:

I will be releasing LWAMI 2.03 later today, pending some word from my modding partners.

Please stand-by, I have a job interview first.

[LuftWolf]

If anyone has anything they'd like to see in the next version, quick stuff only, they can post it here.

Right now, in terms of gameplay, I'm thinking:

-Changing the loadout of Iranian Kilos (now they use UGST)

-Increasing active intercept to 360 degree coverage (as we believe to be accurate)

[LuftWolf]

FYI, I suspect the database compatiblity issues that SC and Kap are having are due to the files showing up with different times due to the time change and/or some install issues.

A new version with a streamlined install procedure should resolve both issues.

[FERdeBOER]

360º on active intercept?

Are you talking about all platforms or just air and surface?

Well, on FFG, helo dipping, and/or suonoboys, maybe, but on subs... :hmm:

[Amizaur]

Subs DO HAVE (at least most of them) 360deg AI coverage in real life :)

Luftwolf, are you considering adding delete command to the bats or abandoning bats completly untill problems with them are resolved ?

[LuftWolf]

I guess would should probably just remove the bat's... it was designed to make things easy, but anyone who needs them can't figure out how to use them, and anyone who knows what they are doing with them can just copy the folders manually.

I was also thinking of adding the original stock folders to the distribution (along the lines of what OKO suggested), but that would perhaps introduce even more problems.

I think we should go batless, just to eliminate one possible source of operator and computer-specific error.

Besides, who plays MP with stock DW anyway? :lol:

[LuftWolf]

Ok guys, sit tight...

LWAMI 2.03 should be available within the next day. :up:

[Amizaur]

Original folders could be available as separate download, for all who broke their installation. There is no need to reinstall the game if only L&A mod was used, only to bring back those two folders.

[SmugFish]

Due to some issues that I suspect are due to the recent time change and some minor things I want to change, as well as the desire for a streamlined install procedure:

I will be releasing LWAMI 2.03 later today, pending some word from my modding partners.

Please stand-by, I have a job interview first.

I'm amazed that SCS hasn't snatched you up...

[LuftWolf]

Thanks Smug, but I don't think I'm their favorate person... :lol: :rotfl:

Here is the 2.03 addition to the readme:


LuftWolf and Amizaur’s Weapons and Sensors Realism Mod v2.03
Hosted by www.subguru.com
Readme by LuftWolf
Edited by Amizaur

Amizaur has made a more substantial and significant contribution to the creation of this mod than me. Tgio has made a significant and direct contribution.

Thank you to finiteless, Ludger, and jsteed for their contributions to modding DW. Thank you to Bill “Subguru” Nichols for hosting the work of so many talents modders and mission designers. Thank you to Molon Labe for extensive testing and multiplayer testing.

All doctrines by Amizaur.

The purpose of this mod is, straightforwardly, to address the aspects of DW game-play that most bother its authors, while improving the simulation experience and fixing bugs, without introducing any new ones. Thank you in advance for downloading this mod. Please send as much feedback as you can via the dedicated thread on the www.subsim.com mod forum, http://www.subsim.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=41581&start=0.

INSTALLATION: Backup your stock Database and Doctrine folders by copying them to a safe place apart from your DW directory. Unzip the file into your Dangerous Waters directory, allowing your unzip program to overwrite all files. The Database and Doctrine files will install to the correct directories automatically. NOTE: Saved games created with one Database are not compatible with any other versions of the database, however, you can restore a previous version of the Database at any time to load saved games associated with that Database.

Note: This mod represents substantial changes to DW core game-play, and as such, will probably require fine-tuning in subsequent versions to particular values based on game-play experiences. However, such is the case precisely because, we feel, it represents a quantum leap towards bringing out the full potential of the massive and dynamic DW engine in terms of providing the feel of a quality simulation experience for both those new to the simulation genre and weathered deep blue warriors. Please send us AAR’s and comments in as great a quantity as you can! We would be especially encouraged to hear from players in the multiplayer community.

CAUTION: Missions designed for stock DW v1.01 maybe made unplayable by the greatly reduced detection ranges in this mod. We strongly encourage mission designers who enjoy the mod to support it by creating missions designed with these new realistic parameters specifically in mind. We plan on releasing a guide for mission designers along with the expanded charts and tables to assist you in this endeavor. Please let us know if there is *anything* we can do to help you design missions for our mod!

A Sound vs. Speed profile chart and new Ship, Sub, and Torpedo specification table will be released in support of this readme, to cover any specific changes to AI ships or weaponry (such as the complete listing of sonar parameter assignments) not covered in this document, however, I have taken to care to note the most important specific parameter changes to user platforms and weapons.

Specific changes for v2.03:

The installation procedure has been streamlined and the stock-mod switch bat files have been removed for ease of installation and operation.

CIWSAttack, SubAvoidWeap, Missile Doctrines— For CIWSAttack and SubAvoidWeap doctrines, comments have been moved to prevent error returns in the doctrine proofreader. This has not changed any aspect of game-play and has been done as a precautionary measure. The doctrines had been functioning correctly and should still work the same as before. For the Missile doctrine, a variable that previously was not declared has been added to the declaration list.

Iranian Kilos—The UGST has been replaced with the USET-80 for all Iranian Kilos.

Active Intercept—The baffle has been removed for all Active Intercept systems, giving them 360 degree coverage, as we believe to be accurate.

I need people to help me test this in MP before I release it. Post here or send me a PM so I can email it to you and get a game setup. :up:

[Bill Nichols]

Subs DO HAVE (at least most of them) 360deg AI coverage in real life :)



True!

[LuftWolf]

Ok, I have what I think is going to be the LWAMI 2.03 distribution... but I need some testers in Multiplay! :yep:

SoulChaser, Molon, darksythe, OKO, Kapitain? :|\

Anyone else?

We just need to connect for a little while to see if things are stable from system to system, and then feel free to do whatever you want in testing or not. Come one come all! :up:

[darksythe]

give me a time tommorow morning and im in

[LuftWolf]

<s>

Nice!!!

Whenever you get off of work, I'm ready to go.

When is best for you?

[darksythe]

Round 0900 est

[darksythe]

make a mission in the baltic sea area by our base at kaliningrad if you need charts they are posted on our forum i want to do some aerial recon of our bases since were just moving in so put a kilo kula and P3 in mission.

[LuftWolf]

Done. :up:

I'll be there. ;)

[darksythe]

Well unfortunatly an hour after i said id be there in the morning my supervisor called here to the site and informed me id need to work 4 hours overtime :x :stare: so i wont even be leaving work untill 1100 est and by the time i get home ill be to tired :zzz: to dive. :( sorry.

[Hanu]

Hi LW,

You could make your mod compatible for Jonesoft's Generic Mod Enabler, as they do in SHIII community. No need to worry about .bat's anymore. The exe is simply extracted to the directory of current game and started there.

In case you've never heard of it:
You should create directory called "MODS" and place the files there in same directory hierarchy as the game to be modded. After this any mod can be simply enabled or disbled with mouseclick as it makes the backups automatically and even WARNS if your mod is going to overwrite files that overlap with other mods already installed.

Very easy to return to "official" installation whenever patch arrives.

I use it in almost any game I mod. Easy, safe and reliable.

You can get the software for example here:
http://www.beerymod.com/sh3_011.htm

[LuftWolf]

Thanks, thats a great idea, I'll check it out! :up: :rock:

NP, darksythe. :sunny:

Ok, Kapitain and Soulchaser? You around? I'm concerned that you guys are happy with our next version, since you've put in so much time with 2.02 and it didn't seem to work out for you. Let me know if you want to play-test the new version, I'll email it to you and we can get a game going. :) :up:

[Bellman]

:sunny: Available in HL for a couple of hours testing - router willing. Look for the 'Ancient Mariner " ;)

[LuftWolf]

Ok, I'll email you 2.03... and then I'll be in HL. :up: :rock: :rock: :rock:

[LuftWolf]

Ok, after a test session, LWAMI 2.03 is ready to go.

I have sent to Bill, and it should be posted soon! :up:

Enjoy :rock: :arrgh!:

[LuftWolf]

For the sake of full disclosure:

Please note, in a test session, we noticed something that could be the result of random corruption specific to one testers computer (Kilo launched an Udaloy DDG instead of a Starfish!).

I can't imagine this has anything to do with the mod, and we have been entirely unable to reproduce this, however, if you notice a similar incident, especially in single player, please notify us immediately, as this will be a huge huge problem for us, if it is an issue with our mod.

Also, if you have noticed this sort of thing before, with the stock DB or a previous version of the mod, this will be incredibly helpful for us to know! PLEASE post if you have EVER had a simliar experience! :sunny: :up:

As always, you guys can do much more thorough testing by actually using and playing the game with the mod than we are capable of doing, so your input and feedback is what we rely on to ensure that we are giving you guys a quality Mod that you deserve! :up:

[Bill Nichols]

Will be posted this evening (US East Coast time).

[Bellman]

:sunny: Thanks Bill. :|\ :rock:

[Kapitan]

a good mod but some things are still lacking IE when i ran aground despite being in 137 meters below my keel :o

dont think its the mod just possibly me but so far the mod is coming great

[zma]

Please note, in a test session, we noticed something that could be the result of random corruption specific to one testers computer (Kilo launched an Udaloy DDG instead of a Starfish!).

I've seen this happen once in MP. The host had the standard v1.01 DW installed, and I had LWAMI v1.03. I figured this mismatch was the cause for the psychedelic experience. :P

It wasn't just destroyers being launched from subs (as if that's not enough!). I was controlling an OHP, and I think my helo was carrying, among other things, some brown buildings aboard!

Nothing like this has ever happened to me in SP, so IMO the mod itself can't be blamed for this. Don't panic. :D

[Molon Labe]

Apparently, this is being caused by different versions of the mod being run by the players in the match. I had the same problem in the games I hosted before I fixed my 2.02 installation issues.

[LuftWolf]

Other than getting some (paying!) work for the rest of the week, this is the best news I've heard all day! :D

Thanks guys! :rock:

I guess that's why SCS coded those friendly database mismatch warnings in the game lobby. :lol:

[Bill Nichols]

Version 2.03 is now ready for download. Enjoy!

[LuftWolf]

Thanks again Bill! :rock:

[LuftWolf]

I'm going to be heading out for some paying work! :up: :rock:

Temporary only... unfortunately. :stare:

So, I hope you are all enjoying the next version of the mod... if there are any problems (please god no...), I'll be back in the pilot station later today. :up:

Happy hunting! :arrgh!:

Cheers,
David :)

[LuftWolf]

SoulChaser ICQ'ed me with a whole host of problems that he experienced using the mod (mostly non- and misfunctioning weapons), none of which I have been able to reproduce, but all of which are almost certainly caused by corruption to doctrines due to the unzipping and downloading process.

I have seen this before, with some of the doctrines I have downloaded associated with the finiteless mod. The most common problem is that all Line Carriage Returns (lines of whitespace) are replaced with an illegial ASCII character, the square that you see sometimes when you cut and paste something to a forum that it doesn't like.

The easiest way to diagnose this is to load the Doctrine files into a Microsoft word or any advanced word processing program. The program will tell you that there are illegal characters in the file because the files were produced in another format. Select the option to load the file with the illegal characters corrected, and all of the illegal characters will be transformed into something correct and valid. Then save the doctrine file and it should work fine.

There is nothing I can do to prevent this problem, other than rewrite the ASCII code and the Windows operating system. I'm sorry if this prevents you from using the mod if you don't like this process. :cry:

[LuftWolf]

I need people who have used previous versions of the mod without problems to let me know if they continue to use this version without issues.

It is helpful, but not entirely useful if people who have jumped into 2.02 or 2.03 report problems, because I'm not at all sure what the cause could be (and there could be many that have nothing to do whatsoever with what we have done).

All of the problems I am getting are from users who have not used a previous version of the mod or are playing with people in MP who have not used a previous version of the mod, and the nature of the issues point towards corruption, and since I can't reproduce *any* problems whatsoever, it's freaking the sh*t out of me. :damn: :damn: :damn: especially because there is nothing I can do to fix anything if I can't reproduce the issue and I can't physically access another person's computer to do the diagnosis.

Thanks for your help with this! :up:

[drEaPer]

Is it possible to include a new install bat?

The other guy extracted the 2.03 stuff into his DW folder and then ran the old install.bat. The bat file then copied the old files doctrine.LwAmiMod (2.01) -> doctrine.
This is a bit missleading.

c ya

[LuftWolf]

Oh, well then that was the problem with your game...

People have managed to mess up the install both ways. So I don't see what we can do about it, to be honest. :damn:

Thank you for your feedback, I appreciate it! :up:

If he wants to use the bats, then he can copy his doctrine and database files from the normal folders in to the LwAmi. folders, after he has unzipped the 2.03 files into his main DW folder.

[LuftWolf]

Yes, when giving feedback about problems with the mod, the most important things you can tell us, aside from the immediate problems are:

1) Was it in Single Player or Multiplayer?

2) If it was in Multiplayer, did you have any database errors when loading the game in the gamelobby?

So far, I haven't heard of any problems associated with the game in Single Player, or in Multiplayer where there have been no database errors. (other than what SC said, but that is almost certainly due to doctrine corruption, as I have seen that many times before with downloaded doctrines, and again, there isn't anything we can do about that)

Ah, I need a vacation from modding... good thing I have work for the next 2.5 weeks. :up: ;) :lol: :-j

[LuftWolf]

If you guys keep reporting problems, I'm going to turn this bus right around and take us back to 2.01. :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

For those of us who have ever had the misfortune of riding a school bus... :dead:

[TLAM Strike]

For those of us who have ever had the misfortune of riding a school bus... :dead: You've never experienced a school bus ride until you've taking a ride with my 11 & 12 grade bus driver. Her confirmed kills were:
1 Timing Belt (School Bus Disabled)
1 Mail Box
2 Road Side Reflectors
1 Dog
1 Car (two collage boys aboard unharmed)

:rotfl:

[darksythe]

For those of us who have ever had the misfortune of riding a school bus... :dead: You've never experienced a school bus ride until you've taking a ride with my 11 & 12 grade bus driver. Her confirmed kills were:
1 Timing Belt (School Bus Disabled)
1 Mail Box
2 Road Side Reflectors
1 Dog
1 Car (two collage boys aboard unharmed)

:rotfl:

LOL Sounds Like A gOOgLe of Fun! :lol:

[Amizaur]

Not for the dog... :dead:

[Soulchaser]

Luftwolf, i have cleared out the issues of misfunctioning weapons. dont ask what it was, my head still hurts from bashing it against the wall for hours after i discovered the "seed of evil".....

all is fine now besides the fact that the mk48 seems to be the worst torpedo in DW now.

edit: typo

[Amizaur]

Could you clear it a bit ? :D What happened and why it's worst torp now ?

[LuftWolf]

Well, if you set it to run passively at above 35kts, it will wash itself out, and you may not notice it with other torpedoes because they are a bit slower in their runs...

In terms of active mode, should be foolproof, so I'm not entirely sure what you are talking about... could you be more specific?

[LuftWolf]

Some more information on the Sphere Array tracker issue.

You will be able to see a faint trace on the BB long term and then the short term before you can assign a BROADBand tracker to the target. However, you can assign a NARROWBand tracker to the target as soon as you can see it on the NB, which will be very very shortly after you can see the trace on the long term BB, IF you have your screen contrast set correctly.

Apparently, the BB trackers are dependant on the Signal to Noise ratio whereas the NB trackers are dependant only on the signal strength, which makes perfect sense given the acoustic differences between BB and NB signals and sonar arrays. So be aware of this... I really like the fact that you have to use a little more skill now to make the sonar sing to at it's peak efficiency.

All hail the skills game! :yep: :-j :up: :rock:

:rotfl:

[LuftWolf]

A note to the SeaWolves Testers:

I recommend that you download Ludgar's DWEdit program and take a look at the database itself. I think you will have a much better time experimenting with the Mod if you take a look at the mechanics of the changes we have made, especially when you are unsure of something you have found.

For example, you can take a look at all of the torpedo sensors, and see that the ADCAP's have not only the longest range seeker, but also the widest scanning seeker in the game (along with the UGST).

Please email or ICQ me (or post) if you need any help with this! :up:

Thank you very much for your consideration, and I want to give you guys any possible support that I can in your efforts to evaluate Amizaur and my work. :)

[LuftWolf]

Some further further information:

In order to assign a BB tracker on the SA for the SeaWolf, you have to have a SNR of at least 11 (at least in my testing...). :o

Yes, that's really really high, and no I wouldn't have set this value in my ideal world... but obviously this is in the interface. :hmm:

I can't change this... nor, to be honest does this overly bother me, call me crazy. :88) Because...

This effects only your ability to perform DEMON analysis on the contact, since you can assign a NB tracker to the contact between when it shows up on the long term BB and the short terms BB (exactly between actually, the contact will show up on NB...). And, in the exact same gameplay situation prior to me making the changes to the SA sensitivity, the contact wouldn't show up at all on the BB or the NB, so it's still an improvement over what was there before. And who knows what the "realism" factor on this is... but at least in gameplay terms, I don't see it as a reason to revert the SA back to a totally useless sensor.

[Molon Labe]

Some further further information:

In order to assign a BB tracker on the SA for the SeaWolf, you have to have a SNR of at least 11 (at least in my testing...). :o

Yes, that's really really high, and no I wouldn't have set this value in my ideal world... but obviously this is in the interface. :hmm:

I can't change this... nor, to be honest does this overly bother me, call me crazy. :88) Because...

This effects only your ability to perform DEMON analysis on the contact, since you can assign a NB tracker to the contact between when it shows up on the long term BB and the short terms BB (exactly between actually, the contact will show up on NB...). And, in the exact same gameplay situation prior to me making the changes to the SA sensitivity, the contact wouldn't show up at all on the BB or the NB, so it's still an improvement over what was there before. And who knows what the "realism" factor on this is... but at least in gameplay terms, I don't see it as a reason to revert the SA back to a totally useless sensor.

Bach, CJ, concurring in judgment:

The ability to perform DEMON analysis is absolutely crucial to performing TMA on a manuvering target. Especially in a time when many players are attempting to forgo the use of the nearly omniscient aTMA, anything that effects the feasibility of abandoning the autocrew should not be a factor cast aside as insignificant...

However, in the light of the fact that the end-user's ability to use DEMON has not been decreased by this change, the decision of the majority is sound.

[LuftWolf]

Yes, the net change for the player is towards the positive in terms of sensor-based situational awareness.

The solution to hiding the interface limitation on the BB tracker, is to make the sensor well-neigh useless... so it doesn't make any sense to go back to what was there before, especially because the NB performance and ability of the player to use the BB for situational awareness, short of DEMON, has been significantly enhanced.

[sonar732]

Some further further information:

In order to assign a BB tracker on the SA for the SeaWolf, you have to have a SNR of at least 11 (at least in my testing...). :o


Has anyone been able to confirm this on their testing?

[Soulchaser]

well, what i am talking about is that only 4 of 16 mk48 adcap'S managed to get a lock on this french carrier. all other 12 just ignored the ship as it wasnt there. passive work better as it seems as 4 of the torps where passives and 2 of em hit. so the hit ratio is 50% for the passives and 18% for the actives wich is a bad joke imo. i just tested them on the carrier tho. will do more testing, probably it was just a bad day...

[LuftWolf]

I just tested the torpedoes against the carrier in fairly average conditions, and they seem just fine to me, picking up the carrier at basically the maximum range for the seeker... maybe you set them too deep? :hmm:

[Amizaur]

Maybe too deep, maybe too far away (are you aware of new ADCAP's seeker range?) maybe those passives were too fast (over 45kts they don't hear much). And really nothing was changed with torpedos from 2.01...

[LuftWolf]

... other than their passive sound level and sound vs. speed, but this has nothing to do with their performance as a weapon, only how loud they are on sonar.

[Molon Labe]

I managed to reproduce the above behavior vs. an FF-PTG group by accidentally forgetting to turn a passive torp down to 40 knots. :hmm:

[LuftWolf]

Well, there is no mystery... passive torpedoes will wash themselves out if you set the run-out speed over 35-40kts, and I'd even use 35kts because the torpedoes will run 6kts over the speed you set them, because of some mis-programming in the torpedo speed calculations in the game engine.