Snow

[Spike88]

I got curious about what it was like on a U-Boat during the winter, so I looked it up. Apparently U-boat Captain's would have to contend with the decks freezing and the periscopes freezing. Now this got me intrigued. First of all, is there a mod that mimics this? Now freezing of periscopes would get tiring, but a mod that showed ice on the decks of the U-boats, and other ships would be interesting. And also during the winter time gas would decrease at a faster due to the fact that you are running the stoves to keep your men warm. I know nothing of modding, but I assume this is something that would be easy to setup? Also snow during the winter season, would be interesting.

[GoldenRivet]

i think i posed this question to our modders some time ago... at least a year ago.

SH3 only simulates rain - so snow and hail and sleet etc are no go items.

sorry, no snow and ice in SH3.

perhaps the upcoming SH5? :rotfl:

[Spike88]

Well the illusion of snow woulnd't be that hard? Just change the rain sprite to snow, and have ship and submarine models that look like they have snow on them. Or am I still asking for too much?

[GoldenRivet]

from what i have heard, if you did that, it would be snowing everywhere, and all ships would have ice on them.

even if you figured a way to have SH3 commander load the files based on time of year... you would still get snow in the med, or at the equater even when it is intended to be rain.

any modification you make to weather would be global.

[irish1958]

Originally Posted by GoldenRivet

from what i have heard, if you did that, it would be snowing everywhere, and all ships would have ice on them.

even if you figured a way to have SH3 commander load the files based on time of year... you would still get snow in the med, or at the equater even when it is intended to be rain.

any modification you make to weather would be global.

That is true; one would also have snow and ice at the Equator. Perhaps there is a way around this. In American football games, snow will appear in Winter, and only in outside stadiums in the North.
Still, with CMDR one should be able to do this but with limits. JSGME can be used with CMDR, and one would have to enable ice and snow on Winter patrols in the North Atlantic.
A couple of years ago, there was some interest in this and some people did develop ships with ice. One of the problems was that the ice would not melt when submerged, so the reality gurus were upset.

[Spike88]

I could see this working if it was something you enabled yourself with JSGME during winter patrols. If you know you're patrolling the Med or the equator turn it off. As for it not melting, if you're playing at 100% realism its not like you can see your sub underwater anyways.

[FIREWALL]

From what I've seen around here anything is possible.

Our modders are some of the best on the Web.

[badwolf]

I have thought snow would be a great addition.
Have done a little investigation and think it has potentual possibilities, unfortunately it's getting the time to do it.

Snow
Had a glancing look at the rain and IIRC there are parameters that can be altered, size, density etc, which possiibly could be altered to give a snow effect.

SH3Commander
Next you'd have to find in which order SH3Commander processes the folders.
If the above is ideal than you could attach the files to folders to only allow when in certain flotillas at the appropiate area and the correct season and perhaps randomised. There is a problem with long distance patrols going from one zone to another, but this could be solved with save/exit/reload scene change.
Else you could run an external program to do this.

Effects
You could alter efficiencies for loading guns, visibility, equipment breakdown etc.
New File.tga's could be added to give snow covering.
IIRC the subs rotating loop is not visible underwater, so deck snow could possible be added using the same method. But probably I'm wrong.

The above is just a rough sketch of ideas I had, perhaps a pipedream but you never know.

[GoldenRivet]

i think the person to talk to would be privateer. :hmm:

but i think he will agree with what im about to type.

i know it is possible to alter the precipitation in SH3.

the problem is, SH3 wont know whether you are in the arctic ocean in the dead of winter or if you are just off the coast of Florida.

to SH3, rain is rain no matter what size or color or density you give it.

if SH3's weather engine says "make it rain", then SH3 is going to start dropping whatever you have modded it to drop. if snow is the order of the day... then it will snow, relentlessly in some cases for days on end on parts of the earth which do not ordinarily see snow - ever.

any modification you make to the weather will change globally - not locally.

and if you want to have SH3 Commander trigger the modded files, then SH3 commander would have to be changed and updated to perform this task as well.

far be it from me to say that it is impossible... because it is not impossible... far from it.

however, i think it would detract from the realism to be getting snow in the middle of the Med, or off the coast of Florida in December when at best your going to dip down into the 50s or 60s F

[Spike88]

Thats why I think it would be something that you could turn off if you know where your going.

And actually its getting down to the 30's and 40's in South Florida right now.

[Jimbuna]

GR is spot on.....you can have snow (if modded) or rain....but not both.

Just as good using different skins.

[badwolf]

The biggest problem (as I previously stated) is long distance patrols from one climate zone to the other, a save/exit/re-start (new weather pattern) would be a bind to most, especially with GWX long loading times. Shame as all the other things that have been mentioned wouldn't cause real problems - I know how to solve them within reason.

Having said that, I don't mind the above, so I'll probably make it for my own personnel use.

[Spike88]

If you do so, I would like it.

[badwolf]

Snow Mod

This is my idea of how to do it.

1/ Get the snow fall model working.(If anyone's got one, it would be much appreciated and save time)

2/ Sh3Commander will not be used, it will be left free for other user files.

3/ I use Sh3Gen, so that and the stand-alone Snow Mod will be initiate at the same time.

4/ Using the data known will give the parameters for the mod based on the following.

Season - This will be a value based on the month.
Flotilla base - Its location is known by name and date - value will be based on its latitude.
Patrol Grid - Based on latitude - value based on how far north.
Predictability - same as the weather people do it - based on a random number.

If any above equals zero then no snow. You won't get snow if your based in the med or sent south.

Their will be an option to save/exit game and reset to normal. (i.e. If you pickup supplies mid patrol and head South).

Their may be a winter when you don't see snow or it may snow every winter patrol. (You will only get rain or snow for the patrol (Sh3 limitation) not both unless you save/exit and run snow mod again.

Other things like efficiencies, breakdowns and visual effects will be added if it is successful.

Note: The dumb SH3 doesn't need to know where it is on the map, the snow mod retrieves the data compare's it to its data base and makes the decision. Even though the mod is applied globally, it doesn't matter what it does in the med or florida if your patrolling up north.

This is the best I can do with the game limltations. I read somewhere that Sh3Commander can generate the grid No. using game parameters, so initalisation may be possible at beginning of patrol. We could also perhaps use SH3Commander to call the mod up by using the Weather mod initialiser. Your welcome to make any critism, I flipping did so it'll be deserved.

I stated earlier that I have little time available (other mods need my attention first) so progress will be slow, I'll start with a crude version for testing puposes, other possibilities may arise while testing (I'll keep them under my hat for now). Anyone can use this idea if they wish.

Originally Posted by GoldenRivet

i think the person to talk to would be privateer. :hmm:

but i think he will agree with what im about to type.

None of you need my input.
You've pretty much covered all the bases.