Satellite communications mod for LwAmi
 

Hello all!

After a long time thinking on it, I've created a small mod of a "Satellite of communications" for both LwAmi v3.08 and Sakura v1.02 mods.
It has 2 adds to the game:
-a Satellite of communications
-a landbased radio

With this I pretend to simulate somehow a way to communicate with the Head Quarters (COMSUBLANT/PAC North Fleet...) in order to send/receive data, new mission orders, intelligence...
Also to simulate land transmissions I've made a landbased radio also detectable from ESM at short range.

The COMSAT and the radio are detectable via ESM, so, In my opinion is more or less realistic as you have to be at periscope depth if You want to stablish contact with it; and with the radio antenna up to receive the messages.

Is a work for mission designers to prepare the way the player must/can interact with the satellite, but I think is better than the "nothing" we had untill now.
I've created a very simple mission test (called COMSAT test) to show how it can be used.

Here are two screenshots:
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/5...msatsathi1.jpg
This is the satellite itself (taken the one already in the game). As You can see its flying at 90.000 feet. I've set a maximun alt of 100.000 ft and think is enought)

http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/391/comsatesmny1.jpg
These one is how it looks when you detect it.
In my tests you can detect the satellite form about 200 nm.

I accept all kinds of oppinions (well... not all... :hmm:)


You can download it from Commanders Academy forum (thanks to OneShot) http://www.commanders-academy.com/forum/showthread.php?p=21229#post21229
or from (temporary links, I will not upload again when outdated unless someone asks to):
http://www.badongo.com/file/7649521
It's 1,16MB
The file has two versions: one for LwAmi only and other for Sakura mod (that needs LwAmi activated).

If someone else (Bill? :roll:) want to host it, I would apreciate a lot.

Hope You like it :huh:

:up:

Doctrine: If [controlable sub] DETECT [COMSAT] with [ESM], Then Trigger Fired.

I see two significant implications of this for mission design. We now have a fairly "good" means of simulating data transmission FROM the platform besides link information. It's also a far more elegant way of providing a "go-code" trigger (as opposed to, for example, placing an aircraft orbiting an FFG that the FFG can shoot down at will to activate the trigger). The downside is going to be ESM autocrew...

That's precisely what I thought for mission designing.
You can see some recommendations I make on the mission designers readme included in de zip

:hmm: I didn't notice this point, as I'm mainly sub driver... maybe we can find a solution... perhaps creating the satellite just when is needed and not before...

Well with the general "go-code" application the idea is for the player to decide when it is needed. So it looks like for the time being it's mainly a solution for subs. That's the way workarounds go sometimes...

I have to give my two bits ! This is definitely an AWESOME idea and when perfected will offer a lot of really interesting possibilities in future mission designs !:rock:

How cool would it be to set up a spy satelite over a certain area that can detect certain targets and relay them to the players or other ships ?

Another cool idea would be to model a Predator or some other UAV's to deploy or have deployed over the area to send info to the platforms in the area. These things would be small and pretty hard to shoot down.

I appreciate your effort and acknowledge that one thing that DW is missing is a better ESM. At present it's only possible to detect radar emissions and no comms.

However I don't see what we can gain by having a satellite model at 90 kfeet? The existence of military satcom is a fact and nobody needs to detect them via ESM.

My wish is for DW to include a simulation of satcom transmission from surface units (including submarines at comms depth) - every time a player sends a chat message or forwards a track to the tactical data link network, ESM receivers should be able to pick it up (within an appropriately limited distance).

Yes, I wish that too... but there isn't, I can't do that and don't know if anybody can.

I already said is not perfect :nope:

I put the sat at 90k feet for setting an altitude where it doesn't disturb other possible air platforms.

Is detectable via ESM because is the only way I figure out about how we could simulate communications with a satellite.
Is job for mission designer to make the satellite "usefull" for the player.
If the mission designer set the satellite as neutral, the AI will not attack it, so is not a problem if it can or not detect it.
So think this COMSAT as a radio signal, not as a radar->ESM contact. That's how I thought it to be.
In SC, with "user action" doctrine, this could be simulated simply raising the radio antenna, but the option is not more in DW... :dead:

As a mission designer I allways missed to have a way to transmit what I found. i.e: if I think it gives more realism if you, after slipping into a port and take photos, have to transmitt this info (from a save point, of course) for me is more realistic (despite having to do this via ESM) than any other possibility avaiable on vanilla game.

You give me an idea... maybe we can model a bunch of objects that transmit "radio" signals... :hmm: I mean, a building that emmits a radio comm and the task of the player is to intercept it... what the rest think about that?

The Predator UAV allready exists in the game :yep:

A little question, as English is not my mothertounge (You have probably noticed it :roll: ), is COMSAT or SATCOM?? :doh:

@ FERdeBOER

Is it possible for you to send me this mod to my mail, phast2000@yahoo.com? I wouldn't bother you with that, but the problem is that Megaupload reports that all their slots for my country (Croatia) are currently in use. And it's been like that whenever I tried to download something from Megaupload :damn::damn::damn:

And I would really like to try this mod...

Unless Bill hosts it, of course, but Bill didn't update subguru.com in quite a while, and I wouldn't like to miss this mod. :sunny:

DW.pl will be hosting a game today that involves 2 sides fighting in restricted waterways. An international force (3rd side) is authorized to engage subs in the restricted area unless they surface and identify themselves. I've proposed that they use this mod so that they can identify themselves to the international force through a radio message rather than a chat message that would be seen by the other side as well. :D

Just admit it, you already downloaded too much porn from the site and it's going to be 6 hours before they let you download anything else!

Megaupload is just useless. I too could never ever download any file from there.

@ BobbyZero
I've just uploaded it to two more pages (rapidshare and badongo), check the first post for the links.
If they don't serve You, then tell me and I will send it via mail to you.


Thanks! If they decide to use it, please, tell me how it was and what do they think :up:
If they need my help for designing the mission, I will help with pleasure.

Ok, didn't know that. In Spain and Italy it works well...
I hope the other two sites I've uploaded to works better for you. If not, tell me, please.

Any suggestions about where to upload it would be accepted.

Satellite communications is abbreviated to SATCOM.
I suppose a communications satellite could be a COMSAT then :p

I still don't understand why you would like to have a satellite in the sky modelled as on object in DW. To shoot it down maybe? :D
Is it possible to simulate space-launched anti-satellite missiles in DW? Or high-power laser beams?

I have probably focused on multiplayer too much to be able to understand single player missions requirements :oops:

Ask Bill Nichols, he hosts mosts of the DW mods on his site www.subguru.com