I have been experimenting with NYGM, with both the MSM 3.2 full version and the MSM-Interim-Beta pack. Both load and run in the Museum and in career mode without crashes (CTDs). However, it is clear that neither is fully stable.
Examination of both versions showed that the MSM-Interim-Beta version contains more recent files. In one case, for example, the .zon file for one of the MxyA ships in the 3.2 full version dates to 2005, while the Interim version for the same ship has the .zon file dated to 2009. The Interim pack is also smaller, so it is where I have done all the work and testing.
The distinctive features of the NYGM super-mod mean that it has been necessary to change:
i) the .zon files, with changes to zones and hit_points to suit the slow-sinking model for NYGM (thus, the ships have had their zone values adjusted, but they have not been rezoned);
ii) the .sns files, with changes to the AI_Sensor to M_Sensor;
iii) the .cfg files, with changes to the Renown awarded (= tonnage of ship);
iv) the .eqp files, to throw in Racerboy's starshell mod.
In addition, examination of these files showed that the Interim-Beta pack contains some unwanted junk in the data\sea folders, as follows:
M01B ship contains an unwanted folder called 'New Folder' - it and all its contents can be removed.
M23B, M24B, M25A, M25B ships contain unwanted .psd files.
M31B ship has cfg files for M32B, as well as its own .cfg file.
Both O01B and T02B have the same T03B_en.log, as well as their own correct files.
T10A has an unwanted file called 'Copy of T10A.zon'.
T16B has four files derived from the T17B ship, which is not present in the Interim-Beta pack.
The above unwanted files can all be removed safely.
What I have done is to create an overlay pack of NYGM modifications for use with the Interim-Beta pack for NYGM users, together with a mostly generic campaign_RND.mis file and other additions, such as RacerBoy's starshells mod. I've tested this in career mode, and in the museum, and the IABL ships seem to be stable when viewed, and they sink nicely when struck by torpedoes and gunfire. There is a problem in that user commands (such as change course) are sometimes slow to execute, but it always gets there in the end.
It was my intention to release this overlay pack for any interested users of NYGM, solely for experimental purposes, but two events have discouraged me from doing this.
1. All my testing has been done on a nearly-new, Windows-7 64-bit computer with 8 GBytes RAM and associated hardware. Not with any imagination can this be called a typical 'recommended' setup for SH3, and I doubt very much whether the Interim-Beta pack will function with the 'recommended' hardware (1 GB RAM, appropriate graphics card and processor) for SH3.
2. Although games can be saved in mid-patrol, it has proved impossible ever to reload a saved game (from 3.2 unmodified or from the Interim-Beta with NYGM-overlay). This is a very serious difficulty. I believe that the problem lies with the huge size of the saved files, which vary from 0.25-1.5 MBytes - becoming larger after each save - when examined in the My Documents\SH3\data\cfg\Careers folder, and that the SH3 devs never thought it likely that such huge files would be created from individual game saves. If I am right, then the whole concept of a very large merchant fleet is undermined (for SH3), since there will be some practical maximum limit on the number of ships that can be accommodated in the game. In one patrol, I made six saves during the patrol before abandoning the patrol and trying to restore the last save. Well, any save actually. Not one of the saved games appeared in the career menu, although all existed in the My Documents\SH3\data\cfg\Careers folder. The huge size of the saved game files (1.5 Mbytes for the sixth) apparently prevents them from even appearing in the careers menu system.
IABL should definitely check any future ship packs with a full patrol in career mode, to see whether periodic saves can be restored. Would anyone else like to try checking whether saved games can be reloaded with the unmodified MSM versions (not necessarily using NYGM)? Make sure you attack some convoys first, before making the saves.
Stiebler.
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