Update: Mods installed, game crashes
 

Hi Guys,

I'm new to the SH series and all these mods are exciting. I'm trying to figure out how to install them but getting no where fast. I'm not computer illiterate, but I'm no programmer either. I can't figure out where all this stuff is supposed to go. I've read, but don't understand. Will someone please help by spending a little time with me to get things right. SH4 is so boring stock compared to what y'all are doing.

Thanks,

Manny

M'kay.

First go here:
http://www.users.on.net/~jscones/software/products.html
and download the Generic mod enabler. (AKA, "JSGME") Install this to your SH4 directory.


Then go here, and Download 7zip.
http://www.7-zip.org/
Or WinRar
http://www.rarlab.com/

You need those to be able to uncompress mods. Few people use zip files, most of the larger packages use a 7zip compression. Its a much higher compression, so you can pack alot of data in a smaller download.


The Generic mod enabler will create a MODS directory within the SH4 directory. Unpack your mods Into this mod directory, use JSGME to enable it. If JSGME isnt seeing the mod, you didnt unpack the mod into the correct directory.

Okay,

I downloaded the JSGME and it is located on my computer here:

C:\Program Files\Ubisoft\Silent Hunter Wolves of the Pacific\Data\MODS

How do I unpack mods into this mods directory? I don't get that part? Will they become permanent parts of the game?

Thanks,

Manny

Install JSGME, making sure to install it to the SH4 Root Directory c:\program files\Ubisoft\Silent Hunter4.

When the installation is finished you will find 4 extra files in your SH4 folder.....
Jonesoft.txt
JSGMEhelp.txt
JSGME Example.jpg
JSGME.exe

Double click on the JSGME.exe file, this will create the MODS folder. I think the newest version does this itself.

Make Desktop shortcuts for the JSGME and the Mods folder. On my Desktop, I have the JSGME, the Mods folder shortcut, and a folder called 'Mods Downloads'.

When you have a mod you want to activate in your game, do this:

1)Download the Mod to your designated folder.
2)Extract Mod using the 'Extract Here' option.
3)Drag and drop the extracted Mod into the Mods folder on your Desktop. Click on JSGME and enable the Mod.

The Mod should now enable within SH4. With one click you can disable any mod and return the game to its original state.
http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/smar...ser_online.gif

Thanks!

I got Trigger_Maru 1.4 to install. I downloaded the 7Z and WinRAR as instructed. I was able to use the JSGME as stated above and it worked. Some of the mods I'm trying seem to be locked down, because I'm not a member of the group. Example was the periscope required mod contained within the Trigger Maru 1.4.

I really appreciate this guys. I am so impressed by what y'all have done.

Thanks!

Manny

One thing to beware of is, sometimes you get a mod that unzips with one too many levels in the directory structure. For instance, assume you d/l a mod named "Cool Mod" and unzip it into the JSGME Mods folder.

You should get this if you look in Mods:

Cool Mod\Data\...

But sometimes I find that I get this instead:

Cool Mod\Cool Mod\Data\...

If you get the 2nd example, JSGME won't install it properly and you won't get the mod. In this case, copy the 2nd-level "Cool Mod" folder somewhere else, delete the 1st-level "Cool Mod" and all contents from JSGME Mods folder, then move the 2nd-level "Cool Mod" you copied back to the Mods folder and try enabling it again.

I've seen a few mods like that, that add an extra level to the directory hierarchy that prevents proper installation. If your mod don't seem to be working, that's the 1st thing to check for!

DH

Well, thanks for all the help guys. This is what my mods list installed looks like:

Trigger Maru 1.4
Trigger Maru GFX Pak 1
data
hands_look_better
living breathing ocean fix
silent service 1.2c GRAPHICS MOD
Natural Sinking Mechanics 2.6
AI sensors dat. tweak file
scene dat tweak file
SH4 aircraft .zon and .sim tweak files
SH4 ship.sim
SH4 sub.sim
SH4 Gun.sim
New Scenes mod
Taihosan Maru fix (jace11)
ahead 2/3
custom interior cams
Thomsen dockside
Kaga
Ship power pack 2
R&L_int_periscope_1.3
ships 1.0
Pearl Harbor Menu 1.0
CFM files
Canadian Flag Fix
DD_SH4 Debris V 1.2.01 and it's update
SI HUD KIT
SI Interior Kit
SI Optics Kit
SI Periscope & TBT Kit
SI Recognition Manual
SI Sonar Metric Kit
Swastika Fix


That's all of it. I'm going to try running it. Hope it works. If you see any conflicts please let me know. I'm grateful to everyone for their help!

Manny

I think that the newer version of JSGME alerts you if you are about to enable a mod that may conflict with another. If you didn't get any warnings, you should be OK:up:

I did get what appears to be some conflict messages. I didn't know what to do with them so I just allowed the change. For example, some of the changes seemed to already be addressed in the Trigger Maru 1.4, but I over-rided it.

I just started game play and it appears none of the mods are working. I guess I did something wrong???

DH,

This is what my mods folders look like:

C:\Program Files\Ubisoft\Silent Hunter Wolves of the Pacific\Data

then I go to:

C:\Program Files\Ubisoft\Silent Hunter Wolves of the Pacific\Data\Mods

about 50% of the mods are the main (first) MODS file, including the JSGME. When I installed the JSGME, it created another MODS file, inside the first MODS. The other 50% of the files are inside there. Is that correct? Somehow, I don't think so. How do I fix this?

Man, I hate not understanding computers!

Manny

Okay,

Now I moved the JSGME program to the root directy of Silent Hunter. I moved all the files from the secondary MOD folder to the main MOD folder and now nothing shows up in the JSGME as activated. I guess I just made a mess.

Manny

Mabey you should start over with a fresh install of the game if need be. Once installed and patched, install the JSGME into the main SH4 folder. If you navigate to your SH4 folder, you should now see an icon that looks like a gear. This is the JSGME. Click on the icon to enable the JSGME. A MODS folder should now be created. This is the folder that you will unzip your mods to.

When you have a mod you want to install, simply unzip the files into the MODS folder in the SH4 directory. Click on the gear icon again, and you should now see the available mod ready for enableing. If you install multiple mods, and recieve a conflict warning, you need to make a choice because I think the newer mod will overwrite any previous mod that it may conflict with. I hope this helps you out alittle, and I'm sorry if it's all been said befor. Good luck! If you're still having probs, don't be afraid to ask for help.

Okay, here's what I did:

I uninstalled everything. I cleaned my computer of all files and such. I eliminated any erroneous links. I then reinstalled SH4, JSGME in the directory. It created the MODS. I then uploaded all the mods and activated them with JSGME.

Here's what I get:

The whole new beginning scenes with 1.2B by Captain Fox, but no music. New menu scenes with Trigger Maru are present. New scenes in career field and once I enter my career information, I go to the scenario movie, but it's still the stock movie and the sound is very fast in speed. Port or out at sea choice comes up, then the game starts to load, and it crashes. Says it has run into a problem and needs to close. Can't get past that. Any ideas?

Manny

Okay,

Update...I deleted the 0kb movies out of Trigger Maru. I got music and something speaking in the main screen load session. Everything else was fine, made sure I was in port, and the game started to try and load but still crashed. Any ideas? I love what I see so far!

Manny

I tried to disable all mods that were in conflict with Trigger Maru 1.4, but it still crashes. The original opening screen showed, original menu screen, original career screen showed, opening movie was still fast in speech, and then when you load the game, it runs into problems and closes. Any ideas?

Manny

It's hard to guess what has gone wrong of course, but I've seen the sequence of events you describe one time and then it was one of the mods I had just installed that were corrupted (presumably during download because I it worked after I did it all over). Anyway I had to remove all mods and install them one by one starting the game after each one homing in on the one that was causing it. What I'm saying is that I don't think it is necessarily related to Trigger Maru or any potential conflict, so start from scratch and do them one by one. Since you plan to use TM, start with that and work your way up.

I don't use a full TM mod so I have no idea about what conflicts there might be, but if it hasn't been pointed out already conflicts are bad. Really bad as you only end up overwriting one mod with another, and thus can create bugs or other unwanted effects. As I said I don't know TM in detail so as an example let's just assume that TM makes changes to scene.dat. Then if you install living breathing ocean on top of that, ignoring the warning in JSGME, then it will simply overwrite the scene.dat and delete any changes installed in the TM scene.dat. In regards to this particular combination I'm pretty sure I saw in the living breathing ocean thread a TM compatible version (I may remember wrong though).

Personally I avoid conflicts at all costs, and have instead learned how to merge the conflicting mods and sort of made my own supermod.

Another thing, as I can't see anyone has told you yet, is that you must always make sure the mod you are installing is 1.3 compatible. Many mods have never been updated to 1.3, but then many did not need to either, and I guess keeping track of this is sort of the challenge for the end user. CaptainCox's and Excalibur Bane's sticky 1.3 mod compatibility check list threads are good places to start.

As for your mod list I see a few things that seem unnecessary. I mean for instance the flag fixes (Canada and Nazi) doesn't the SI Recognition Manual address these issues? And then what are the tweak files doing in the mod list?
AI sensors dat. tweak file
scene dat tweak file
SH4 aircraft .zon and .sim tweak files
Did you install them into the game with JSGME too?
And lastly, silent service 1.2c GRAPHICS MOD and Pearl Harbor Menu 1.0 both install opening menus, videos and sounds so there is definitely a conflict there.
I'll get back to you if I spot more.

Aaaah... I've been happily playing SH4 (unmodded) for a week now and have been wanting to try some mods but never got them to work with JSGME. I see this "double" folder thing happening in the MOD folder (thought it was normal)... makes sense now. THNX!

Hey lads,

For an illustrated guide on how to work JSGME, check out the link on my sig.


RDP