modding electric propulsion with V.1.5 ??

glawen · 08-09-08, 05:37 PM

Hi,

I'm trying to mod electric propulsion for the tambor class submarine (game V.1.5 - U-Boat missions). I modified the values in the adequate .sim file (I've tried Mini tweaker and a standard hex editor), but nothing has changed; my tambor's batteries won't last more than 150 kms at 2 knots. I can put any value I choose for "miles submerged" or "knots submerged", the batteries life is the same. However, when I change other values in the same .sim file, like max_speed (diesel or electric), it does work in the game. So, I suppose maybe battery range is hardcoded now, or maybe I have to change something in another file.

Does someone know about this ?

TIA

Rockin Robbins · 08-09-08, 05:47 PM

Those that do have been driven mad attempting to predict the effects of logical tweaks. So they are in no shape to help. There is a combination of hard-codedness and insanity in there. I would stay away. There be dragons!

LukeFF · 08-09-08, 06:35 PM

Battery range is something that has never been able to be properly modded since the game was first released.

aanker · 08-09-08, 08:31 PM

Although the battery range in 1.5 is adequate for the game - especially once you get a Propulsion Expert with "special abilities" crewmember or two to extend the range a little more, they still aren't historical ranges. Realistic ranges were doable until patch 1.3 was released.

I have tried everything and am one who was almost driven mad as Rockin Robbins said (inside joke w/ RR ;-) - Like he said, stay away! ..... lol

Happy Hunting!

Art

glawen · 08-10-08, 10:06 AM

Ok, thank you for the answers, I think I'll follow your advices and stay away. I don't want to catch a monomaniac neurosis trying to make the values historically accurate, the game is great, even with this small battery problem.

Thanks again

Fearless · 08-12-08, 01:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by glawen

Ok, thank you for the answers, I think I'll follow your advices and stay away. I don't want to catch a monomaniac neurosis trying to make the values historically accurate, the game is great, even with this small battery problem.

Thanks again

Welcome aboard glawen

You could always try one of the super mods. IMHO the battery life is pretty close to accurate in the RFB v1.5 mod. I don't know about the TM super mod though.

Rockin Robbins · 08-12-08, 05:23 AM

My position has always been that battery life is way more than necessary for any sane strategy. Remaining submerged all day amounts to cowardice and keeps you from developing new targets efficiently. The number of targets found is directly proportional to the number of square miles of ocean surface searched each day. The ONLY way to maximize that number is to use the submarine as it is.

The World War II submarine is a surface ship. It has the ability to submerge for short periods of time for the purpose of specific attack or evasion, but then it should immediately be brought back to the surface to resume 9 kt best fuel economy surface search. This isn't my strategy. It's the strategy of Admiral Eugene Fluckey, the most decorated captain with the most decorated crew in WWII. His career didn't even start until 1944! At a time when boat after boat returned with nothing but unused torpedoes and excuses, Fluckey found a way to be productive beyond anyone's imagination and at the same time preserve the safety of his crew. His secret: staying on the surface every second that it is possible to do so!

With sane strategy, battery life is not an issue.

Fearless · 08-12-08, 07:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rockin Robbins

My position has always been that battery life is way more than necessary for any sane strategy. Remaining submerged all day amounts to cowardice and keeps you from developing new targets efficiently. The number of targets found is directly proportional to the number of square miles of ocean surface searched each day. The ONLY way to maximize that number is to use the submarine as it is.

The World War II submarine is a surface ship. It has the ability to submerge for short periods of time for the purpose of specific attack or evasion, but then it should immediately be brought back to the surface to resume 9 kt best fuel economy surface search. This isn't my strategy. It's the strategy of Admiral Eugene Fluckey, the most decorated captain with the most decorated crew in WWII. His career didn't even start until 1944! At a time when boat after boat returned with nothing but unused torpedoes and excuses, Fluckey found a way to be productive beyond anyone's imagination and at the same time preserve the safety of his crew. His secret: staying on the surface every second that it is possible to do so!

With sane strategy, battery life is not an issue.

Granted. One stays on the surface as long as possible but at the end of the day, the battery life is an issue if you had to stay below for long periods of time due to being chased by DDs and being depth-charged for over 8 hours unless of course the preference is going head to head with them on the surface.

Rockin Robbins · 08-12-08, 08:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fearless

...battery life is an issue if you had to stay below for long periods of time due to being chased by DDs and being depth-charged for over 8 hours unless of course the preference is going head to head with them on the surface.

My preference would be to go head to head, but if I did, batteries would no longer be an issue. Nor would breathing...

Seriously, in sixteen cruises, plus various missions, I've never been depth charged for 8 hours. They run out of depth charges in under an hour. Even in the stock game they carry about 150 charges (way too many!) and you can run them out of depth charges. It isn't really necessary to do so. You can escape in about an hour with good evasion tactics and be back on the surface in an hour and a half.

If the escorts have a solid contact on you for eight hours you need to work on your evasion technique.

Orion2012 · 08-12-08, 09:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rockin Robbins

The number of targets found is directly proportional to the number of square miles of ocean surface searched each day. The ONLY way to maximize that number is to use the submarine as it is.

Glad to know I'm not the only who stays on the surface. I've heard people say they just stop and sit at periscope and wait on a target. Thats all fine and well if you know they course your enemy is coming on, although a complete stop is unrealistic as you would begin to fall deeper into the water, and I can understand a deep to listen in rough weather, with visbility limited, and NO radar.

Plus, it hard to come up with a 90 degree AOB with just a hydrophone bearing, although I'm sure its possible with some math (and a calculator for me

)

Fearless · 08-13-08, 01:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rockin Robbins

My preference would be to go head to head, but if I did, batteries would no longer be an issue. Nor would breathing...

Seriously, in sixteen cruises, plus various missions, I've never been depth charged for 8 hours. They run out of depth charges in under an hour. Even in the stock game they carry about 150 charges (way too many!) and you can run them out of depth charges. It isn't really necessary to do so. You can escape in about an hour with good evasion tactics and be back on the surface in an hour and a half.

If the escorts have a solid contact on you for eight hours you need to work on your evasion technique.

Why make a mountain out of a mole hill :hmm:

Seriously, if I really wanted to go into the technicality of this whole situation than I would've gone to sub school. The basic issue about this post was how to make the battery last longer (well that's what I thought!!) and I directed the guy towards RFB because the battery does last longer in that mod. That's all. How you play your game is your problem. I most certainly have no problem with my game. Oh and for the sake of the argument, the 8 hour example which you so dearly made an issue out of may well have occurred in RL.

Ian · 08-15-08, 01:22 AM

The way I mod submerged range etc in SH4 is as follows; you need to have SH3 installed as well with the "SH3 Crush Depth add on by timetraveller". Then you cut and paste the SH4 sub you want to mod into the SH3 sub folder and mod it with the Crush Depth add on, then simply cut and paste it back into SH4. This way you can mod surface/submerged range and crush depth etc.

08-09-08, 05:37 PM	#1
glawen Nub Join Date: Aug 2008 Posts: 3 Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	modding electric propulsion with V.1.5 ?? Hi, I'm trying to mod electric propulsion for the tambor class submarine (game V.1.5 - U-Boat missions). I modified the values in the adequate .sim file (I've tried Mini tweaker and a standard hex editor), but nothing has changed; my tambor's batteries won't last more than 150 kms at 2 knots. I can put any value I choose for "miles submerged" or "knots submerged", the batteries life is the same. However, when I change other values in the same .sim file, like max_speed (diesel or electric), it does work in the game. So, I suppose maybe battery range is hardcoded now, or maybe I have to change something in another file. Does someone know about this ? TIA

08-09-08, 05:47 PM	#2
Rockin Robbins Navy Seal Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: DeLand, FL Posts: 8,900 Downloads: 135 Uploads: 52	Those that do have been driven mad attempting to predict the effects of logical tweaks. So they are in no shape to help. There is a combination of hard-codedness and insanity in there. I would stay away. There be dragons! __________________ Sub Skipper's Bag of Tricks, Slightly Subnuclear Mk 14 & Cutie, Slightly Subnuclear Deck Gun, EZPlot 2.0, TMOPlot, TMOKeys, SH4CMS

08-09-08, 06:35 PM	#3
LukeFF Silent Hunter Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Riverside, California Posts: 3,610 Downloads: 41 Uploads: 5	Battery range is something that has never been able to be properly modded since the game was first released. __________________ ROW Sound Effects Contributor RFB Team Leader

08-12-08, 05:23 AM	#7
Rockin Robbins Navy Seal Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: DeLand, FL Posts: 8,900 Downloads: 135 Uploads: 52	My position has always been that battery life is way more than necessary for any sane strategy. Remaining submerged all day amounts to cowardice and keeps you from developing new targets efficiently. The number of targets found is directly proportional to the number of square miles of ocean surface searched each day. The ONLY way to maximize that number is to use the submarine as it is. The World War II submarine is a surface ship. It has the ability to submerge for short periods of time for the purpose of specific attack or evasion, but then it should immediately be brought back to the surface to resume 9 kt best fuel economy surface search. This isn't my strategy. It's the strategy of Admiral Eugene Fluckey, the most decorated captain with the most decorated crew in WWII. His career didn't even start until 1944! At a time when boat after boat returned with nothing but unused torpedoes and excuses, Fluckey found a way to be productive beyond anyone's imagination and at the same time preserve the safety of his crew. His secret: staying on the surface every second that it is possible to do so! With sane strategy, battery life is not an issue. __________________ Sub Skipper's Bag of Tricks, Slightly Subnuclear Mk 14 & Cutie, Slightly Subnuclear Deck Gun, EZPlot 2.0, TMOPlot, TMOKeys, SH4CMS

08-09-08, 08:31 PM	#4
aanker Pacific Thunder Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Yellow Sea Posts: 1,896 Downloads: 236 Uploads: 14	Although the battery range in 1.5 is adequate for the game - especially once you get a Propulsion Expert with "special abilities" crewmember or two to extend the range a little more, they still aren't historical ranges. Realistic ranges were doable until patch 1.3 was released. I have tried everything and am one who was almost driven mad as Rockin Robbins said (inside joke w/ RR ;-) - Like he said, stay away! ..... lol Happy Hunting! Art

08-10-08, 10:06 AM	#5
glawen Nub Join Date: Aug 2008 Posts: 3 Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	Ok, thank you for the answers, I think I'll follow your advices and stay away. I don't want to catch a monomaniac neurosis trying to make the values historically accurate, the game is great, even with this small battery problem. Thanks again

08-15-08, 01:22 AM	#12
Ian Nub Join Date: Apr 2005 Posts: 4 Downloads: 65 Uploads: 0	The way I mod submerged range etc in SH4 is as follows; you need to have SH3 installed as well with the "SH3 Crush Depth add on by timetraveller". Then you cut and paste the SH4 sub you want to mod into the SH3 sub folder and mod it with the Crush Depth add on, then simply cut and paste it back into SH4. This way you can mod surface/submerged range and crush depth etc.