[REL] Flavored To Taste 2.3
 

Update: 23Apr07 / New version 2.3.



What is this mod?
It's just a personal project, and for me is acutally a source of enjoyment. I can't just play this game, i have to get into its inner workings too. When i really get into a game like this, i tend to hone it around the edges to make the game more to my liking. Hence the name "flavored to taste", for want of a better term. This mod represents modfications to refine the game to how *I* would like to play. I document what changes i make as best i can and provide the package as sort of a gesture of good will if it will help make the game more enjoyable for you. You can change, edit, and remove whatever you don't like to flavor the game more to your own taste.

Scope of mod
This is not meant to be a "super mod", nor will i intentionally go down that road. My overall intent is to make the game more pleasing to play, and to provide a challenge to the player . In the course of those two primary goals, there WILL be (and already has) been some deviation from historical accuracy. This is not a mod for a "rivet counter", nor is this a mod for someone looking for "quake3 in subs". SImply put, i've always felt that sometimes one must compromise on historical accuracy for various reasons. Either for reasons of gameplay, or by limitations imposed by the game itself.

Why did you remove the next/ previous camera?
This modification is the most frequently asked and is testiment that this mod is not intended to make things easy despite some compromises to historical accuracy. I have always felt that the external camera gives the player too much info, and is something of a cheat given that the player can obtain info a real sub captain never could. Yet, its silly to deny oneself the eyecandy. Hence the "compromised realism camera". you can still look about your sub, but can't look at sound/radar contacts taht you otherwise couldnt see. Now, when you get a sonar/radar contact, you really have to wonder what you have there.


Basic list of Features

- AI adjusted to present a bit more of a challenge

- Player User Interface enhancements, and medal fixes.

- Range to course end, Max range at current speed, nearest visual contact, ID target, etc have been mapped to the orders bar; and they even have their own icons now.

- Speed/distance chart added to help menu to better aid you in plotting your intercepts.

- Aircraft are more deadly, a little bit harder to destroy, but also spawn a bit less frequently then in stock, and are 25% slower.

- Deck gun has been toned down a little bit.

- Improved player visual sensors, pig boats shoud now be able to have sonar contacts at periscope depth w/ scope down.

- Misc improvements to player radar. SD radar picks up planes again, and.. even a few ships unfortunatly. SJ radar should work regardless of direction of travel.

- have multiple torpedo tubes open at once

- Misc Submarine enhancments. See readme.

- Can now start a game in 41, Jan42, June42, Jan43, June 43, and Jan 44.

- Gato can be aquired in pearl at jan42, you can transfer to the asiatic fleet in Jan42.

- Reduced contact spam on the clipboard.

- other misc changes, and a partridge in a Pear tree. see readme.


The readme:
D/L Link:
http://www.ducimus.net/sh4/release/R...o_taste_2_3.7z (6.08 mb)


Recommended additional mods to run with this one:

Periscope Telemeter Lenses, 32 dgr Field and 8 dgr Field
http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=110064
Retextured Orders bar gauges
http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=110655
360 degree bearing tool
http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=108555
JP Ship Dimension Fix 1.2
http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=109953
Combination of Mini Chrono Mod & Imperial Nomograph
http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=112478

Thank, Ducimus.

Big thanks to you :up:


This one is the one i was waiting for to begin a SH4 1.2 trip :cool:

Thank you

Thanks man - will be loading tonight!!

Thanks! I guess I can start a patrol now.

PD

Gratefully downloaded!! I can now start a 1.2 career:D

Regards

Just FYI, beware the planes :D They really do have more of a bite now. I figured i'd warn everyone. *grin*

bombs.sim
This means that, a bomb will detonate at 10 meters (32.8 ft), with a random chance of exploding at any depth within 10 meters of that 33 ft mark. In other words, bombs mgiht expode on the surface, or they might expode as deep at 65.6 ft, and your gonna be rockin' and a rollin if they do :D

So when you crash dive... don't stop at periscope depth :rotfl:

Thanks, just in time for my new career after I ran USS Tang aground in the Java Sea:oops:

I havent tried this out yet but does it include the option to open all torpedo doors by cycling through them with Y then hitting Q to open?

Btw, thanks a million!

um.. ehh.. how do i get a salvo of torps selected?!

Oh yes and are the recommended mods 1.2 compatible as well?

Thanks for the mod mate :up:

Yup. They won't close until you tell them to, or shoot the torpedo.

Those are what i use, and I havent had any problem.



As an aside, id be interested in how ubi's changes with the sub damage model is working out. (i removed all sub damage tweaks in this version) If its not that much different then before, i'll take the sub compartment hitpoints and flood time and multiply them by 2 as i did before.

Interesting changes with the gun power. I always felt a bit guilty taking out 4 or 5 large freighters with them.

Thank You Mate

I'll have a new version up tonight. Major change is ive found a way for people who want to have a career out of pearl harbor, to avoid the international dateline bug. Testing it right now, should be done in 10 mins or so.

Cheers Mate, your mod is absolutely brilliant! :up:
Because of your mod I play sh4 again, and be sure, my wife hates you for that :rotfl:

One question concerning radar:
In your readme it says that SD Radar will report ships. I played a career (gato/1943) yesterday with SD and SJ on board and noticed this:

- Ship contacts were only reported when radar was turned on :up:

- Air contacts were never reported. I was attacked by dozens of aircrafts and never ever was one of them detected or reported by radar :down: , no matter whether radar was switched on or off. So, can you confirm, that SD-Radar really detects aircraft? If yes, what the h... am I doing wrong?

Cheers
TC

At this point this is a big unknown to me. This is the 2nd night in a row since the 2.1 patch that ive been up to 3am, and i really havent gotten a chance to play the game yet beyond testing mod changes. lol. Anyway Ubi said they fixed the radar. All i did to it was fix the one "bug" that people reported. That of only being able to detect from 90 to 270 or whatever it is. But again, ive seen posts frm people saying the radar isnt detecting planes.

This is why i included the sub sensor file in the support directory from the previous version of this mod. That one WILL detect.. umm... everything! Or at least it should assuming that file is 1.2 compatiable. If you find your not detecting planes, try that file if you dont mind surface contacts with SD radar. But.. at least it woudl work.. (hopefully).


Anyway new version is up. People who like to start a game from pearl harbor will like this the most.

you now have two options with pearl harbor. You can start in harbor and have to cross the international dateline and get all buggered, or.... you can start outside the harbor, which ive placed a new starting location for. You'll now appear about 150-200 KM west of the international dateline and midway. You'll still have to cross the dateline when returning to port, but at that point it doesnt matter.

Thanks! Great work!
So for the moment I prefer no air contacts at all.
And hope that ubi will soon release a fix...

They did something to SD radar in 1.2

It is in the 1.2 Sensors_subUS.sim, cause the 1.1 version of this file, when used in SH4 1.2, restores SD radars ability to detect planes....

If only we knew what the problem was. Could be a node... but they look like they have altered range, surface etc etc too..

Could it be one of these changes that is causing it to fail? If only elanaiba or someone could tell us what the problem is...