Hummm did you forget the screenshots? I can't see anything in your post :hmmm:

Strange... must've been deleted when the site fell down.
Here it is:
http://img225.imageshack.us/img225/2015/tdcfinal.th.jpg


Quick Update... Unfortunately i've hit a MAJOR setback today. I had expected to be able to use the toggle buttons for the Depth/Speed(telegraph)/Course(rudder) dials or, in case that failed, the FBAC levels radio buttons. But unfortunately those are so heavily hardcoded that after spending a frustrating day trying to make a simple menu group appear at a certain position, I've given up. The rules I've found about resolution scaling worked, but those items are so horridly palced inside groups, inside other groups, inside other groups, that to make them scalable would completely mess the entire bottom bar. Even more, the 3 dials in the order bar are hardcoded to increase in size even when you mouse over the "switch back" button. And the coup de grace was that the FBAC level dials which were there, were actually leftovers from silent hunter 3 and completely unusable. The corresponding dials that you see in the dials.cfg file are false. The game uses only 1 single item to show the fuel/co2/air/battery levels and switches between them by altering the formula of that item, not by switching between different items.

This is indeed a setback because not only do I now need to place the panels in each periscope screen, but also now there's no way to make the autoupdate button work. It will still be avalaible as a key command and order button but there will be no indication on the panel itself :(.

Mmmmm you will not need to put it in every screen if you tie it to the menu bar. And you also won't need a button to have it appear if you make it simply a slide-out item :yep: -if that's possible at all, that is :-?

If I make it a slideout it dissapears when the mouse leaves the "catch" zone... but I'll try o see if there's a way :hmmm:, thanks, forgot about slideouts.

.....dragable ....maybe...:hmmm: (i don't know if this is ...possible at sh4)
look at ''manos dragable tdc panel ''
it also have an update toggle button but i have 'moved' it away of screen becuase i never managed to activate it . in my own version i had add the command 'ctrl+T' to toggle the tdc panel .also it is showing at every screen and you save much room in your main optics screen to do whatever else you want ! if it possible to be done at sh4 ...i think it is a solution that must be considered
@Hitman: if this panel is slideout the main disavantage is that you can not always look at the updating bearing -aob dials when moving the scope

Thanks makman but it can't work. Your mod is for SH3 and all the rules have changed... Apparently the only solution is to have it in all periscope pages... I even tried to make a NEW page, but it didn't load for the germans :wah:

then ....just an idea....if you can make it slideout then you can rearrange the dials on the panel and make it ,when it slides back, to stop in a position that only the bearing and aob dials to be visible .you think slideout option is possible?

I did that in SH3 with my mod and it's not that much work, because I simply used the replace function to change the proper values for observation scope and uzo. The main problem you will have, however, is that you will need to move and resize the scope view, as otherwise the TDC will not fit to the right; it would cover a part of the lense.

Good news. After a week of wasting time I've managed to integrate the tdc into the attack periscope screen. It sits on the notepad so it can be hidden from view. All dials work great, I just hope I can find a way to create an AutoTDC button on it, but I have not had any success so far. By the way, untill I have ALL the items in place, I won't bother with making the thing look pretty (colors, contrast, scratches, chiped paint, glass blur etc.)
Here's a 1920x1200 game screenshot. The image files used are actually calibrated for this size so there's no scaling of the images. They look best at this particular resolution (or 1600x1200).
http://img2.imageshack.us/img2/2696/highrez.th.jpg

And here's a screenshot at 1024x768. The relative sizes are the same as for 1600:1200. As you can see it only takes up as much space as the notepad did. The scope view is not obstructed too much. The vernier dials eliminated the need for a low rez version of the mod. The game does a better job at rescaling the files than photoshop can do :yeah:

http://img11.imageshack.us/img11/6088/lowrez.th.jpg

And just in case you didn't believe me, here's a screenshot after I've hidden the panel. (no, I haven't changed the "handle" image yet)

http://img11.imageshack.us/img11/4169/lowrezoff.th.jpg

So, after I put in the static highlights overlay and the fake dials for the moving shadows and eliminate any possibility of a autoupdate button, I'll post a ready to use alpha version for all to play with untill I put in the torpedo panel.

:yeah: RESPECT !! :salute:
A lot of work!




my friend

Thanks Tomi, it's not that much work but I need to be veery careful on each step.

Now here's a question: has anyone managed to create a working button in the Periscope screens? Here's what I've found so far.
I've stated multiple times before that the commands.cfg files no longer links commands to interface items. I was wrong. That file works exactly the same as in SH3. In both, you can only link commands to items in the layout page (G3F). For example:

[Cmd194]
Name=Periscope_depth
Ctxt=1
MnID=0x3F050009
Str=1032
Key0=0x50,C,"P"

I have managed to make a working button in the layout page by simply copying a working button (the unused pause button). In red is the neccesary part for receiving the command and in green are "useless" parts. As you can see there's no need for BmpState or other lines that were used for BmpArrays(dials). From what I just tested, any other combination, any other type of item will no longer accept commands from the cfg file.
[G3F I412]
Name=Pause
Type=1032;Button
ItemID=0x3F030FFF
ParentID=0x3F000000
Pos=309,0,100,100
Zone= 309 768 100 100 1 1 0x3F000000 1 0 0x3F030FFF 0 0 0 0
Color=0xFFFFFF32
Materials=4
Display=2;Linear
Mat 0=data/menu/gui/layout/bkgr.tga
Mat 1=data/menu/gui/layout/bkgr.tga
Mat 2=data/menu/gui/layout/bkgr.tga
Mat 3=data/menu/gui/layout/bkgr.tga
MatFlags=0x1
TexFmt=0x0
Font=4
Text=2708
TextFlags=0x1
StatesColors=0xB0B0B0FF, 0xAAAAAAFF, 0xFFFFFFFF, 0xFFFF00FF
ToolTipText=2210
ToolTipBox=0x3F01000E, 0x0

So I've tried to parent the item to the notepad. But the game screamed at me that it can't find that id. So then I tried to just use the notepad as a position parent. That screwed the position, I can't seem to place any item above the middle of the screen and of course, the button doesn't move with the TDC (notepad). I've placed the item in the periscope page (but kept it's id), the button is placed correctly but it doesn't recieve the command. So... case closed. Yes I can mimic what OLC did and put the Autoupdate button in the layout page, but it will be easier to just make an Order button in the Periscope Page of the Order Bar. Too bad :( the only reminder that the autoupdate is on/off will be the clicking sounds when you move the periscope (and the order button itself).

Excellent work :yeah:

A good reason to switch finally to SH4 for U-Boats :D

very nice, karamasovjev,

bring it on! looks very promising, i am waiting for this for a long time. i am still playing the american part in tmo but it looks like the german side will be playable and exciting the coming days.... keep up the good work and stay on it when you get difficulties...


damn good work. remember, the map and the persicope are the most important stations in a subsim...


Jaeger

We are waiting patiently. Question, how are the dials going to scale on 1920 by 1080 wide screen lcd?

Thanks for all of your hard work there!

Man, people sure like the ship's length crossing the wire method of determining speed! I haven't read a single instance of that being used in real life. Why? They didn't know ships' lengths! Most of the time either they could not identify what they were shooting at or misidentified it, completely invalidating the use of the method.

There is slightly more justification for using it in U-Boats, as there were scads of nearly identical Liberty Ships all over the Atlantic and the Germans MAY have known what their length was.

Can someone come up with a historical reference to any captain routinely using that method during the war?