Very well, *if* the Iron Duke really is 180 metres long in the game, the scope has a field of view of 12 degrees in 2x zoom and 6 degrees in 4x zoom :) It would be perfect if we could somehow confirm that. Maybe Horsa can open the mdoel in 3DStudio and tell us how many "units" (Which usually translate in metres in modelling programs) does it measure? :hmm:

I'll do a reticle ASAP with 24 subdivisions, so that in low power each one is 0,5 degrees and in high power 0,25 degrees. Unfortunately for manual targeting, 6 degrees to each side is not much when it comes to deflection angle, but anyway it's already an improvement :up: If someone can figure out how to have precise periscope bearings, now that would do the perfect job :yep:

In SOF he ship models are very much smaller than they should be.

According to Sketchup the Iron Duke is 5 Metres long ( or 16 feet )

sorry HM hadn't thought of that..
3dsmax has it coming in at 190 metres from the very rear of the stern flag to absolute front of the prow..when viewed above the waterline...it's longer below the waterline tho cos of the extended bow shape...mind you with sketch up giving one result and Max giving another it's just plain confusing sorry it might depend on how skecth up handle it's units measurements (and same with max...i have max set to one unit-one metre so it SHOULD be ok...but having said that i had to import the model file and that may not have produced exactly accurate results either...and the game itself may it's own idea of scale


ypu double checked it again just to be sure...190 metres..

lol all a bit mad...must admit last night i was going to just keep launching torps at it untill i got the AOB setting so the torp just clipped the bow and stern-- and use that as a rough guide to see if it confirmed the clalculations or not but given the lack of detail on the torp angle screen that probably wouldn't have helped ..which is why i didn't bother.

anything you can come up with tho will add to the usability of the scope
(sorry to cut across you like that Horsa..hope you don't mind)

Well after checking the scale currently existing in the binoculars (It's in black so difficult to see unless you zoom in the graphic) but unimplemented due to not being also in the Alpha channel I found that it has .... 24 divisions! :D (In fact 23 but with a half division on each side till the edge of the field of view)

Looks like we have a winner here :|\\

Too tired today, will try to have the TGA with scale somewhen this week.:dead:

Cheers

cheers again HM, looking forward to it:yep:

Here's the file:

http://www.mediafire.com/?ebluzeuzz2o

Enjoy!

Scope Reticle
 

Thanks for this Scope mod Hitman, also to CB for his input, i will be installing it tonight, see if i can sink more ships

Excellent,many thanks Hitman.:up:

Many thanks CB.:up:

Cheers HM
 

:up:
had a bash at a fast moving destroyer and the scope markings were perfect..
then i got jumped by a Destroyer in the fog and they got their own back..bust the hull open on the sea floor crash diving to avoid it's shell fire..lol ouch...

all in all the game is getting a little more life about it..:up:



cheers also toolsey and Alten..:up:

to celebrate and hopefully compliment HM's new scope i finaly tracked down the white caps in the sea textures..and replaced them with some thing a bit less "mind boggling"..

see if you think it's a step in the right direction or not...

http://www.ebort2.co.uk/SOF/SOF_Water1.jpg


not perfect by any means and it can be improved on adinfinitum

but..here's the download if your feeling sea sick and want to try it out..

http://www.ebort2.co.uk/SOF/SOF_water1.zip


i prefer it over the stock water...lots of subtle effects especaily when seen from the bridge view..let me know if you have any problems with it..

doesn't look quite so silly any more... no??..

Thanks Hitman for the periscope mod and CB for the water texture. You guys are making a good game better.

CB, can you expound on how to use the periscope mod for manual targetting?

HM's manual targeting system..
 

i'm using HM's excellent system....for me the graduations on the scope allow me to experiment with variations on the theme beacuse i can adjust the moment i fire the torp to help balance out any difficulty there is setting an accurate torp angle with the slightly basic torp AOB screen gizmo

Thanks for the explanation CB.

Too bad it's not possible to implement what Hitman wrote under Historical Note: setting gyro angle to 0 and training the scope to say 15 degrees towards the target....

Can this be done to add a bearing marker: Place a target (it could be a dot or a verticle line) at 0 bearing, another at a number of degrees starboard, another target same number of degrees to port. Then when one rotates the scope, one can count the number of degrees rotated using the reticle on the scope.

if one could find the graphic file for the view angle (the yellow view cone) on the compass and replace it or add a thin centre line ..then you could use the compass to guestimate the view angle (at least as accurately as you can set the torpedo angle anyway..given the crude AOB gizmoe)

other than that you can see the bow of the sub as you surface or decrease the depth so you can get 12 degrees of the bow by setting the scope extreme edge on the tip of the bow..at relatively close range the ship itself is large enough in the scope for the centre of the ship to be 2 or 3 degrees "behind" the bow of the ship..so there's 15 degrees if you fire the instant the bow comes into view etc etc ....really it is a case of using all the possible bits and bobs of information you can gather adding a bit of practice and experience to the mix and improving your guestimate untill it is reliable...part of the fun in a way

Patch?
 

Has anyone heard anything about a patch for this game?

I love it when a plan comes together
 

Target doing 12knots. Single stern shot, range 5300, with all the realism settings on, another half a second and it would have passed by the stern. I love it when a plan comes together:rotfl:

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j1...eofthat2-1.jpg

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j1...omeofthat3.jpg

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j1...omeofthat1.jpg

:D Chock

Nice photos again and should i buy this 20 dollar game or no. i really want to but i will ask my members here. plus im getting a new computer thats an Alienware soon and it will have all the specs needed. Also does the game have an auto range AOB etc so i can just fire tubes at targets without the need to do all the stuff by myself?

Yes

Depends on what you expect. Graphics are worser than SH3, but the game is entertaining and with some potential. I would say you might have much fun for 20$ if you are not too demanding and can close an eye or two sometimes.

Shells of Fury (or Die schalen des Zorns in my case, cos I have the German version) is a funny game in a lot of ways. Graphically, it looks oldish in some places, but then there are parts of it that look stunningly well done too, and it's apparent that it was intended to be more than it eventually ended up being upon release. Of course the upside of that means that it has the potential to be improved by mods and there are a few people doing that kind of thing (including me).

If you would be put off by having to do completely manual targetting, then don't be, as you can have the sim assist you. What you do is spot the target in the scope and press 'L' to 'lock' it. This is the equivalent of having taken range and speed data and passed it along to your crew. In the torpedo room you see data for your solution chalked up on a board and the gyro angles are set on the torpedo. From this you can decide whether it is worth taking the shot at that point (note that a hit is not guaranteed by this, and some careful judgement is required with long range shots, so it's not that simple). Like SH3 etc, you can select torpedo depth and one of three speeds for the torp, which affects its range as it does in other sims, so in this respect, it is no less complex than other sub sims. Of course you can forego all that and do it manually if you like with pure deflection shots, as was often done for real in WW1, but it is tricky at range, and although I have had some success with it (courtesy of the speed data chart I made for it, which you can find on this thread), it is tricky to say the least.

Another thing which forces you to think a bit where Shells of Fury is concerned, is that the ship AI is very intelligent and will spot you if you take liberties with leaving the scope up (this is much more realistic than in the SH games, although it has to be said that the crews on the ships do seem to be particularly eagle eyed, which is probably not that realistic. Again, I get around that by plotting courses for targets spotted at range on the map, stop and submerge and keep the scope down. In SH you can do that and track the target with the hydrophone, but there is no hydrophone in SOF, so instead I time the target over its course plotted on the map by using my home made speed/distance chart, until I think the target is in an ideal position for a shot. At that point, it's up with the scope, quick check to see range and course, fire a torp and back down with the scope, to prevent the target spotting me and beginning to zig zag. This requires quite a bit of positional planning and forethought as your sub is not particularly fast, which is why I was pleased the shot pictured above came off at such a range. In short, SOF offers the same kind of challenges that SH does, but with some twists.

Where it differs is that the deck gun (if you have a sub equipped with one) is much more of a primary weapon in WW1 than it was in WW2, and is much more like a proper naval artillery piece than the auxilliary weapon it was in WW2, with gun laying being more realistically portrayed than it is in either SH3 or SH4, in that you have a chart alongside the gun which marks where the rounds are dropping as though you have a gunnery officer plotting things. Because of this, you can range your guns in much the same way as it was done for real back then, with a long shot and a short shot either side with rings marked around the target on your shooting clipboard to indicate how long or wide your shot is. This is very similar to how WW1 artillery observation aircraft equipped with a morse radio would spot for artillery, and so, is inkeeping with the period.

Another aspect of WW1 subs that has received scant attention in most other subs sims, is that you can lay mines, and there are enemy minefields to negotiate too, which incidentally, are annoyingly deadly if you try and be a smartass and go through them like I've tried to do (and failed) a few times!

If you are an 'eye candy' fan, you might face a bit of a dilemma with SOF. The ship models are superbly evocative of the period and some of them are real modeling masterpieces, and yet other bits of the sim show some rough edges graphically (although most could be corrected with mods). For example, the texture for the 'sky dome' has a noticeable 'join' where the texture was not drawn carefully enough in Photoshop (or whatever they used to create it), not a disaster, but a bit sloppy nonetheless. so I've tweeked a few things like that for myself in it, such as drawing ranging lines on the periscope (which by default has none) and reducing the stupidly big green crosshair you get on the antiaircraft machine gun to a very small dot. I intend to stick all these mods in a big file at some point by the way and make them available, but if anyone cannot wait, PM me.

It has a good campaign (several campaigns in fact to be strictly accurate), plus single missions and a mission generator too, and for the most part the campaigns and missions are fairly historically accurate, so that's another plus point.

With the dearth of WW1 sub sims available, the simple fact is, if you want to play a WW1 sub game, at the moment it is this or nothing, and that fact alone makes it worth having for me. But if you want, and expect something which looks as polished as SH4 from both an audio and visual standpoint, then you might be disappointed. Personally, I can live with its rough edges, as it does 'feel' like WW1 in terms of appearance and 'clunkiness' of the switches and levers in your sub.

For the price, if you like subs, I think it's worth having, as there is definitely fun to be had with it.

:D Chock

Thanks guys and i will give her a try on my new 2 Gig RAM when I get her and grapics are not the things I look at for games. I look at gameplay and replay value. also I look at some screens and there is a mission editor which you crete missions and play them while having the game on. Also can you choose your own boat? 1 final question is that how does the campagin work? Is it like SH in which you patrol and sink ships along the way or you can plant mines or sink anything that you see type?
PS Chock can you make a Video showing the game in action so i can see more about it. Thanks if you can becuase it would really help.