[REL] Sea Otter's German Office for ATO

[Sea Otter]

Greetings, Subsimmer's!

This is my first mod, so be gentle. I've downloaded countless mods and decided it was time to give something back. I started with something simple - a redecoration of the German office for the Atlantic.


Oh, by the way, I got a "D" in German at Woo Poo U, so my translations might be off. Your tax dollars weren't a total waste on my education as I can order a beer, find the train station, find the bathroom, and flirt with girls all in German. I called a German teacher friend of mine for help. Let me know if there is an error and I'll fix.




I got the U-boat missions add-on and then downloaded the OM Mod (Great job, BTW, to all involved). I soon wanted to do a little redecorating in the old office to give it a more historical feel. I was working on a few US Navy mods, but then I watched Das Boot one night taking a break and did a course change. Anyway, I hope you enjoy.

Let me preface all this by saying that I tried to add a more authentic and historically correct air to this part of the game. My use of authentic artwork, insignia, etc. is not meant to endorse any political views and shouldn't be taken as such. Like a lot of other modders and gamers out there, I'm former military and have a love for military history - I like to be historically accurate.

That said, thanks to Ubisoft for coming up with SH4 and thanks to all you modders who keep making the game better. Also, thanks to JonZ for his JonZsMedals mod and Global Explorer for pointing me in the direction to find some Kriegsmarine charts.

Most of this mod was rendered by my own hand using open sources from the internet except for JonZ's mod. If by some chance you think I am in error as to citing a source, please let me know. I want to make it right and give credit where credit is due.

OK, here is what I did:

Change Log: All files are under data\textures\TNormal\tex

1. Made the fan blades a little less exotic looking to reflect a more European look.

2. Calendar - Translated months into German.

3. Put the German word for "War Diary" on the front of the Captain's Log and some bells and whistles for decoration.

4. Cleaned-up the U-boat Commander's visor cap with some bullion insignia, correct visor braid & Kriegsmarine button.

5. On the Flag - I didn't change anything from the file I had in my SH4 base game, but I noticed that the flag was historically accurate and not altered like everything else, so this might be the work of a mod I just stuck in my game and forgot. If it is your work, let me know ASAP and I'll be sure and credit you.

6. Replaced the U-boat Aces Tonnage board with a picture of Admiral Doenitz. Put a U-Boat Badge on the front of the awards case.

7. Replaced desk picture with a picture of actress Ilse Werner who starred in the 1941 German film "U-Boote Westwarts!" (Perhaps our young captain was technical advisor to the film and they had a fling - a girl in every port and all that).

8. Added a period Kriegsmarine poster showing a u-boat. Replaced wall map with a world map showing the grid system utilized by the Kriegsmarine. Also put various pictures of allied ships and such on the map.

9. Put the German word for "Promotion Orders" on the promotions folder.

10. CaptainRoom_Badges Not sure if the game utilizes this file, but I used the image from JonZ's Medals for the German Cross, U-boat Badge, & U-boat Combat Clasp. All other corrections done from internet sources.

11. Replaced the view out the window with a pic of the sub pens at St. Nazaire.

Technical Stuff

This mod is cosmetic, so it really shouldn't cause any problems. Install with JSGME or put into folder data\textures\TNormal\tex. I STRONGLY recommend using JSGME and installing on top of any mods as some may replace things in the office. Other than the cosmetic differences, this mod shouldn't effect anything.

Feel free to use this mod, change it or whatever. Just give credit, please. This mod is free any portion is not to be used on sites that charge fees, etc.

If you have ever thought of doing a mod, you should try. It is a lot of trial and error, but you might come up with something to make this game even better.

Link to mod at FileFront:

http://files.filefront.com/German+Of.../fileinfo.html

[Sailor Steve]

Looks good!

Originally Posted by Sea Otter

I Let me preface all this by saying that I tried to add a more authentic and historically correct air to this part of the game. My use of authentic artwork, insignia, etc. is not meant to endorse any political views and shouldn't be taken as such. Like a lot of other modders and gamers out there, I'm former military and have a love for military history - I like to be historically accurate.

Wouldn't have it any other way.

It all looks great, but I especially liked this part:

7. Replaced desk picture with a picture of actress Ilse Werner who starred in the 1941 German film "U-Boote Westwarts!" (Perhaps our young captain was technical advisor to the film and they had a fling - a girl in every port and all that).

I have the movie and love it. If only it had subtitles - but still I can get the gist of what's going on.

This is all very, very nice.

[Sea Otter]

Sailor Steve,

Thanks for the feedback. I'm glad you liked it. I had a lot of fun doing it.

My choice of the pic of Ilse Werner was by chance. Originally I had a pic of Marlene Dietrich, but my German teacher friend (VMI Class of 1993) reminded me that she had crossed the powers that be in Germany, so I decided to go with another actress. I did some digging and found a website of German actors and actresses from the period. I liked Werner's looks and clicked on her bio. When I saw she was in a u-boat movie, I knew she was the one to include.

Werner was banned from acting by the Allies after the war for her work in German film during the war, but had a comeback later in life. She passed away in 2005 in Germany.

[Task Force]

I like it. This will go good with Lurkers Atlanic Mod.

[GlobalExplorer]

I don't see any inconsistencies, and I generally like it.

The only thing that doesnt really fit is the map, and the photos stuck into the wrong places.

Maybe now add something typically german, like a bottle of Becks, or a pack of Fromms:

[AntEater]

Ilse Werner in her most famous musical scene. Note the similarities to today's Bollywood movies
:rotfl:

[GlobalExplorer]

I think you should watch AntEaters video. It just occured to me, if the germans had won the war, thats what the world could have been like today, the whole world would all be singing Wir machen music LAWL

These revue movies were at the time extremely popular in germany, I guess when the world outside was a complete mess people wanted so see something happy.

[joegrundman]

It's not so dissimilar from American musicals from the time, and musicals did continue to be popular through the 50s.

And then tastes changed, like they always do

thanks for the link anyway

Great mod too. Nice work

[Sea Otter]

Originally Posted by GlobalExplorer

I don't see any inconsistencies, and I generally like it.

The only thing that doesnt really fit is the map, and the photos stuck into the wrong places.

Maybe now add something typically german, like a bottle of Becks, or a pack of Fromms:

Global Explorer,

Thanks for your feedback. I had a hard time trying to find a good map to use. I decided on a world map for three reasons:

1. I was playing with the Operation Monsun mod and it first had missions ranging from the artic to the Mediterranian to the Black Sea.

2. When OM Beta came out, it took you to the East Coast of the US and the Caribbean.

3. Then I got to thinking that now I might enjoy playing in the Far East at some point with the baseline 1.5 and might remodel the office for that part as well.

Given all this, I just went with one big map.

As for the photo's stuck in the wrong place, I assume you mean the ones on the wall map. I did that just for the "eye candy" effect. You really can't tell what the pics are, but it includes a picture of a convoy staging point in Canada (far left pic), a pic of an armed merchant, some Royal Navy destroyers and a battleship, and a picture of a hedgehog weapons system.

I stuck them on the land portions of the map since our captain wouldn't be too concerned with that part of his map.

Thank you for the pic of the pack of Fromms! They might look good on the desk.

A case of Beck's would be great - I may have to pick up a case tonight so I can "model from real life" - the sacrifices we must do for art!

I saw you were from Berlin. I had the pleasure of visiting back in the summer of 2001. It was beautiful, the people were friendly, and the food was great!

I stayed in a small hotel in Spandau. I remember it was near a church that had an impressive monument to knights who fought in the Crusades.

Again, thanks for your input!

[GlobalExplorer]

Thanks for your feedback. I had a hard time trying to find a good map to use.

Google for something like "Kriegsmarine map" and use something like this:



With the photos at the wrong places I just meant why would german u-boot men put photos over greenland or canada? Why put photos at all? You know, germans were more serious at that time.

I'm glad you liked it in Berlin though I don't understand that bit about the food. The best food you get here is foreign (Indian Thai etc).

[ZeeWolf]

Beautiful Otter! keep up the good work
-ZeeWolf

[Sea Otter]

Folks,

I caught a problem with the calendar. It's fixed now.

Please download corrected version.

Also, Global Explorer pointed me in the direction of some Kriegsmarine charts, so I added a few of those to the wall map.

[GlobalExplorer]

I would like it more if the whole map was replaced with a KM map (you can download them somewhere) but of course it is your decision.

[Sea Otter]

GlobalExplore,

I've been looking, but have only found the smaller images of the charts. The problem is they get really distorted and out of scale when you enlarge them to the size of the wall map.

If you find a large quality scan of a chart for the Atlantic, please let me know.

Until then, if you have a map that you would really like to use for your office, send it to me and I can make you a dds file using your image. You were kind enough to offer suggestions, so I would be happy to.

PS - I tried to get the pack of Fromm's to show up on the desk, but without some 3D texture to wrap the image around, it turns out looking like a flat piece of paper. I really appreciate you sending me the pic anyway.

[GlobalExplorer]

Well the maps used to be around 1.5 years ago, I am sure someone still has the link, and I might have them stored somewhere.

Originally Posted by Sea Otter

PS - I tried to get the pack of Fromm's to show up on the desk, but without some 3D texture to wrap the image around, it turns out looking like a flat piece of paper. I really appreciate you sending me the pic anyway.

That was just meant as a joke anyway .. but you could hide them somewhere and a lot of people would have a good laugh when they spot them.