I have now a functioning version of my U-boat surrender mod. (Previously discussed in the H.sie sticky, see below for link.)
THE IDEA:
Every time your U-boat is sunk, the whole crew is assumed to be killed, and your career ends. This is bad news for the 'Dead-Is-Dead' players, they have to start their playing careers from the beginning (1939) again. (These players do not permit themselves to restart the game from a previously saved patrol, after being sunk.)
In real life, there were often survivors from sunken U-boats, and, if they were rescued by U-boat, they could start a new career in a new U-boat. This would be good news for 'Dead-Is-Dead' players.
There are many reasons why you might wish to surrender (= abandon) your U-boat. You might be forced to the surface with heavy damage after an attack on a convoy, and be fired on by destroyers; the U-boat might be left unmanoeuvrable by an aircraft attack or by hitting a mine; you might run out of fuel in mid-ocean.
USE:
When the situation is hopeless:
1. You click on the 'Abandon U-boats' radio button (previously the 'Radio Contacts' button), which indicates 'willingness to surrender\abandon boat'. The nice bright-red new button was very kindly created by SquareSteelBar for me. This action cannot be reversed! You can click on the bright-red button when surfaced or submerged.
2. Subsequently, any radio status message that you send (which must be from the surfaced U-boat) will notify BdU that you are abandoning the boat, and will also set scuttling charges to explode after 10 (game-) minutes. You will see a dialog box to tell you that the crew is abandoning ship.
3. As your last act, you must order a crash-dive, to sink the U-boat as fast as possible.
4. When the 10 minutes are up, your hull-integrity is reduced to precisely 2.0, whether you are on the surface or submerged.
5. These 2.0 hull-points ensure that your U-boat will be 'sunk by pressure' even at periscope depth, thus you can sink your U-boat even in shallow waters.
6. The probability of being rescued by Allies or U-boat depends on the hull-integrity that you had at the time you signalled BdU. The higher the hull integrity, the greater the chance that you will be rescued by U-boat. (So Dead-Is-Dead players can legitimately start a new career in a new U-boat.) Otherwise, you will be rescued by the Allies (cannot continue a new career). It means that 'Dead-Is-Dead' players must make some tough decisions about when to surrender if they are suffering damage from depth-charges at deep depth.
7. Important - if Allied ships/aircraft sink you before you have self-sunk your U-boat, you are deemed to have been killed in action. No new career for 'Dead-Is-Dead' players.
I have placed the patch-kit here:
http://www.subsim.com/mods1/nygm/Sti...ender_patch.7z
IMPORTANT: for copyright reasons, this patch-kit will function ONLY with any version of original SH3.exe that has been patched with H.sie's V15G1 patch kit. See here:
http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=174225
This new thread is a continuation of the discussion of the Surrender mod in the later pages of the above thread.
Full instructions for the "Surrender" option are included with the patch-kit.
This has been a tricky mod to code and test, since inevitably once you have surrendered/abandoned your U-boat, the game is over.
I have tested the mod successfully with NYGM, using type II, type VII and type IX boats, in the North Sea, in mid-Atlantic, in the Bay of Biscay, before and after sinking ships, and sometimes in the presence of convoys or aircraft (when the mod will be most useful). I have tested it again after starting the game all over again after being sunk, and after restarting a game with old saved games, after being sunk.
All seems to be OK. I believe that this patch-kit will work with any of the supermods, but please note that I have not tested the mod specifically with anything other than NYGM. Please regard this mod as a beta version - as I say, it is difficult to test extensively when, by its nature, the game must end every time you use it.
FROM THE READ-ME:
Stiebler Surrender fix for H.sie's V15G1 patch of SH3.exe.
What it contains:
A. A patch for your SH3.exe file.
This patch contains ONLY the following:
Stiebler's Surrender Option.
B. An updated version of Stiebler's 'Options Selector' (version 1.3) which allows all patches to be used selectively - turned off and on at will. You can also use the Options Selector to toggle the 4 GByte RAM usage on and off (suitable for 64-bit computers only).
The Options Selector comprises the following files:
HsieOptionsSelector.exe
HsieContents.txt
HsieOptions.chm (a help file, which you can read by clicking on 'Help' in the Options Selector, or by double-clicking directly on the .chm file.
The Options Selector help file contains full details of the various fixes in this combined patch-kit (that is H.sie's V15G1 and the Surrender patch).
Users of NYGM should toggle OFF the Realistic Repairs option, which can cause CTDs (NYGM has its own, alternative, realistic repairs mod.)
C. A subsidiary mod 'SurrenderMod' which can be installed at once with JSGME. It contains SquareSteelBar's change to the radio icons specially for this mod, and also en_menu.txt and de_menu.txt files for NYGM.
[Further details in full readme.] [Edit: Plus instructions for other super-mods, including GWX.]
Purpose:
An update of H.sie's V15G1 patch, with Surrender patch made by Stiebler.
Requirements:
A version of SH3.exe which is ALREADY PATCHED with H.sie's V15G1 patch.
No alternatives!
Method:
[See full read-me enclosed with patch-kit.]
Feedback welcome!
Stiebler. 27 June 2011.