Possible Workaround For Lazy Helmsman

Lanzfeld · 12-30-08, 01:55 PM

For my own real navigation I do not use any of the sextant mods. I only allow my sub icon to be visible when I zoom out to the 1000 km scale and I use the pencil to mark my position when the sky is clear at dawn and dusk. This simulates a sextant shot and because I am zoomed out so far it introduces some "slop" into my position of about 1 to 2 km average. Real enough for me!

As all of you who simulate real navigation know, one of the biggest problems is the lazy helmsman. After you set a heading, when you increase the TC and especially in rough weather the heading will drift out of control. I thought of a workaround for this but I need help with a file.

Lets say, using the ruler and compass you know that to get to your next fix you have to travel course 300 degrees for 150 km. I propose that you zoom the plotting map way out to highest setting and use the plot course function. Just drag the course plotter to the upper left of the map and set a course 1000's of km from your boat and adjust until the helmsman is steering 300 degrees! Now the helmsman will hold the heading very well. He will still drift a little in higher TC but then he will correct himself. DO NOT put the plotter directly over the spot you want to go to because all we want to helmsman to do is hold the course we calculated. You are going to use your speed and time to get to the correct distance (your waypoint).

The problem, as you can guess, is the course line that starts at your invisible sub and ends at the plotted point (flag). This line gives away your position. Well...what if we found this line TGA and made it invisible??? We still need to plot a course so we need the tool but the actual line is invisible. I dont know for sure but think it is in Data/Menu/MouseCurs files? I just hope that if we make this line vanish we dont also take away other lines that are needed like the ruler line.

What do you guys think???

Pisces · 12-30-08, 06:03 PM

There are nothing but the bitmaps of the tools you see in that folder and a textfile containing cursor offsets. Nothing that you can chage to make the line color change. It must be somewhere else.

Lanzfeld · 12-30-08, 06:19 PM

okay,

We have to find it as this is a very good workaround!

Pisces · 12-30-08, 06:29 PM

There are references to linecolors at the top of basic.cfg in SilentHunterIII\data\Cfg. You could investigate that. If I interpret the color code right they seem to be just grey, not the additional red (line/angle/circle) or green (waypoint) you manipulate using the maptools. So I doubt it's of much use. And Bigboywooly left his footprint there so he might know what it is about.

Lanzfeld · 12-31-08, 07:24 AM

h.sie

Do you have any idea how to do this?

Lanzfeld · 12-31-08, 04:33 PM

Come on guys!!!

Someone HAS to know these files! Give us a great new years gift!

All the talent in here!!!!

01-01-09, 01:14 PM

Why not sample the coloured line to get its RGB values and then perform a file search in all the SH3 files.....would certainly give you a start?

Lanzfeld · 01-01-09, 01:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Uber Gruber

Why not sample the coloured line to get its RGB values and then perform a file search in all the SH3 files.....would certainly give you a start?

I wish I knew what you just said!!! No really, I have no idea what you mean. Please, if you could, go into more detail.

<----me

If anyone with a program that opens TGA's (photoshop???) could go into Data/Menu/Gui there is "Maptools.TGA" and "MapTools2.TGA" and maybe the key is in there?

I played with this concept for hours now (I could see my course though) and it really is the answer to the helmsman holding a heading for those that use real navigation.

01-01-09, 02:00 PM

I agree, its definately a good idea. I downloaded a trial version of a TGA viewer and had a look at the TGAs but I don' think the nav line is a TGA.....it scales as we zoom in and out so I think its dynamically plotted.

Therefore, you should try running the game in windowed mode and then download a free tool called Color Picker which tells you the RGB(Red-Green-Blue) values of any colour under the Color Picker cursor. So by putting this cursor on the nav line you should be able to determine the RGB values of the nav line and then search for those values in the files....just an idea....i'm giving it a go as I type so fingers crossed.

01-01-09, 02:04 PM

I got RGB values of 44,75,37 but i'm not sre these are correct cos the line is anti-aliased. That said......anyone else care to chip in and help a bit. The goal is to get rid of the green nav line.

Thanks

Lanzfeld · 01-01-09, 02:06 PM

Great Uber!

I PMed the guy who did the U-Jagd tools because I hope he has intimate knowledge of the map tools.:hmm:

Waiting to see what you come up with in the meantime Uber....

Like I said, I hope that if we make the course line invisible that we do not make other lines invisible too!

01-01-09, 02:22 PM

No luck with hunting for RGB values. I wonder whether OLC could help cos he's dabbled a bit with the files. Or privateer....he's a knowledgable hex man.

Lanzfeld · 01-01-09, 05:03 PM

I asked OLC and he had no idea.

Are the course lines green? Funny...I thought they were grey.

joegrundman · 01-01-09, 07:08 PM

I'm sorry but i do not know. it may not be a tga file that can be edited anyway

your idea is very good, but if you can find the colours for that line, and make it invisible it may be that you make all the map drawing lines invisible :hmm:

btw a free image editor that can read tga's is GIMP.

Lanzfeld · 01-01-09, 07:59 PM

Did anyone try the MapTools or MapTools2 files?

12-30-08, 01:55 PM	#1
Lanzfeld Grey Wolf Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: New Tripoli, PA Posts: 994 Downloads: 64 Uploads: 0	Possible Workaround For Lazy Helmsman For my own real navigation I do not use any of the sextant mods. I only allow my sub icon to be visible when I zoom out to the 1000 km scale and I use the pencil to mark my position when the sky is clear at dawn and dusk. This simulates a sextant shot and because I am zoomed out so far it introduces some "slop" into my position of about 1 to 2 km average. Real enough for me! As all of you who simulate real navigation know, one of the biggest problems is the lazy helmsman. After you set a heading, when you increase the TC and especially in rough weather the heading will drift out of control. I thought of a workaround for this but I need help with a file. Lets say, using the ruler and compass you know that to get to your next fix you have to travel course 300 degrees for 150 km. I propose that you zoom the plotting map way out to highest setting and use the plot course function. Just drag the course plotter to the upper left of the map and set a course 1000's of km from your boat and adjust until the helmsman is steering 300 degrees! Now the helmsman will hold the heading very well. He will still drift a little in higher TC but then he will correct himself. DO NOT put the plotter directly over the spot you want to go to because all we want to helmsman to do is hold the course we calculated. You are going to use your speed and time to get to the correct distance (your waypoint). The problem, as you can guess, is the course line that starts at your invisible sub and ends at the plotted point (flag). This line gives away your position. Well...what if we found this line TGA and made it invisible??? We still need to plot a course so we need the tool but the actual line is invisible. I dont know for sure but think it is in Data/Menu/MouseCurs files? I just hope that if we make this line vanish we dont also take away other lines that are needed like the ruler line. What do you guys think???

12-31-08, 07:24 AM	#5
Lanzfeld Grey Wolf Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: New Tripoli, PA Posts: 994 Downloads: 64 Uploads: 0	h.sie Do you have any idea how to do this? Last edited by Lanzfeld; 12-31-08 at 07:24 AM.

01-01-09, 02:06 PM	#11
Lanzfeld Grey Wolf Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: New Tripoli, PA Posts: 994 Downloads: 64 Uploads: 0	Great Uber! I PMed the guy who did the U-Jagd tools because I hope he has intimate knowledge of the map tools.:hmm: Waiting to see what you come up with in the meantime Uber.... Like I said, I hope that if we make the course line invisible that we do not make other lines invisible too! Last edited by Lanzfeld; 01-01-09 at 02:15 PM.

01-01-09, 07:08 PM	#14
joegrundman Ocean Warrior Join Date: May 2007 Posts: 2,689 Downloads: 34 Uploads: 0	I'm sorry but i do not know. it may not be a tga file that can be edited anyway your idea is very good, but if you can find the colours for that line, and make it invisible it may be that you make all the map drawing lines invisible :hmm: btw a free image editor that can read tga's is GIMP. __________________ "Enemy submarines are to be called U-Boats. The term submarine is to be reserved for Allied under water vessels. U-Boats are those dastardly villains who sink our ships, while submarines are those gallant and noble craft which sink theirs." Winston Churchill

12-30-08, 06:03 PM	#2
Pisces Silent Hunter Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: AN9771 Posts: 4,904 Downloads: 304 Uploads: 0	There are nothing but the bitmaps of the tools you see in that folder and a textfile containing cursor offsets. Nothing that you can chage to make the line color change. It must be somewhere else.

12-30-08, 06:19 PM	#3
Lanzfeld Grey Wolf Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: New Tripoli, PA Posts: 994 Downloads: 64 Uploads: 0	okay, We have to find it as this is a very good workaround!

12-30-08, 06:29 PM	#4
Pisces Silent Hunter Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: AN9771 Posts: 4,904 Downloads: 304 Uploads: 0	There are references to linecolors at the top of basic.cfg in SilentHunterIII\data\Cfg. You could investigate that. If I interpret the color code right they seem to be just grey, not the additional red (line/angle/circle) or green (waypoint) you manipulate using the maptools. So I doubt it's of much use. And Bigboywooly left his footprint there so he might know what it is about.

12-31-08, 04:33 PM	#6
Lanzfeld Grey Wolf Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: New Tripoli, PA Posts: 994 Downloads: 64 Uploads: 0	Come on guys!!! Someone HAS to know these files! Give us a great new years gift! All the talent in here!!!!

01-01-09, 01:14 PM	#7
Uber Gruber Stowaway Posts: n/a Downloads: Uploads:	Why not sample the coloured line to get its RGB values and then perform a file search in all the SH3 files.....would certainly give you a start?

01-01-09, 02:00 PM	#9
Uber Gruber Stowaway Posts: n/a Downloads: Uploads:	I agree, its definately a good idea. I downloaded a trial version of a TGA viewer and had a look at the TGAs but I don' think the nav line is a TGA.....it scales as we zoom in and out so I think its dynamically plotted. Therefore, you should try running the game in windowed mode and then download a free tool called Color Picker which tells you the RGB(Red-Green-Blue) values of any colour under the Color Picker cursor. So by putting this cursor on the nav line you should be able to determine the RGB values of the nav line and then search for those values in the files....just an idea....i'm giving it a go as I type so fingers crossed.

01-01-09, 02:04 PM	#10
Uber Gruber Stowaway Posts: n/a Downloads: Uploads:	I got RGB values of 44,75,37 but i'm not sre these are correct cos the line is anti-aliased. That said......anyone else care to chip in and help a bit. The goal is to get rid of the green nav line. Thanks

01-01-09, 02:22 PM	#12
Uber Gruber Stowaway Posts: n/a Downloads: Uploads:	No luck with hunting for RGB values. I wonder whether OLC could help cos he's dabbled a bit with the files. Or privateer....he's a knowledgable hex man.

01-01-09, 05:03 PM	#13
Lanzfeld Grey Wolf Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: New Tripoli, PA Posts: 994 Downloads: 64 Uploads: 0	I asked OLC and he had no idea. Are the course lines green? Funny...I thought they were grey.

01-01-09, 07:59 PM	#15
Lanzfeld Grey Wolf Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: New Tripoli, PA Posts: 994 Downloads: 64 Uploads: 0	Did anyone try the MapTools or MapTools2 files?