[REL]: Randomised Searchlights

[h.sie]

Randomised Searchlights for GWX3
--------------------------------

Requires: SH3-Commander 3.2


About this mod (package)
------------------------

In GWX, most of the convoy merchant ships (even unarmed ones)
use their searchlights (SL) when in U-boat alarm state at night.

Following some discussions in the subsim forums about this topic,
I came to the conclusion, that it would be historically more correct,
if the merchants hide in the darkness and try to evade instead of showing
their position with the SL.

A guy called schlechter_pfennig already made a great mod which totally
removes the SL from all merchants and all big warships without
anti-submarine weapons:

http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=169499

With his mod, all merchants keep dark. But I wanted a little bit of
uncertainty, a little remaining chance that one or two merchants use
their SL. I want to be surprised.

This is now possible, I think.

I made the mod time-dependent.
The later the war, the higher the probability,
that at least one merchant uses his SL.



How this mod works
------------------

This mod package consists of 4 parts (2 required and 2 optional)

1. Remove Searchlights from Merchants.7z. (Required).
This mod at first disables all SL from all merchants.
Install via JSGME.

2. Random.7z (Required).
This file must be extracted to the "Random"-folder of Sh3-Commander,
so that after extracting, the "Random"-Folder contains 200 subfolders
called "0" to "199".
Most of these subfolders are empty but some of them contain the
necessary files to re-activate the SL for a few armed (and one
unarmed) merchants.
Everytime SH3 is launched via Sh3-Commander, the contents of one of
these 200 folders is copied into the SH3 game and thus pseudo-randomly
some SL are re-activated by a certain chance.
The time-dependence of SH3-Commanders Random function is used to achieve,
that the probability for a ship to use his SL rises from the early
to the late years of the war.


Optional mods:

3. Remove Searchlights from Warships.7z (Optional).
If you also don't want those big warships without anti-submarine weapons
(battleships, cruisers) to use their SL, then install this mod.
Install via JSGME.

4. Demo Campaign.7z (Optional)
Campaign files for testing and demonstration purposes only.
Contain only a single random-generated unescorted convoy.
- Start a new career and choose a year.
- Abort the patrol if daytime and try again until it's dark.
- Don't move your U-Boat
- Set time compression to 128 and wait
- You'll soon see the convoy.
- Every 1-2 hours a new convoy is spawned.
- Attack the convoy with the Deckgun or Flak and see what happens.



Fine-Tuning
-----------

"P_dark" here is the probability, that all merchants of the convoy
stay dark, no use of SL. I made P_dark dependent of the war period.
In the default configuration, the probabilities are as follows:
1939: P_dark > 95%
1944: P_dark > 80%

Delete the Random-Subfolders 100 - 199 if you prefer the following
probabilities:
1939: P_dark > 90%
1944: P_dark > 60%



Compatibility
-------------

* GWX3: YES
* GWX3-WilhemshafenSt-NazSchluese-and-xtra-ships-V6 from BigBoyWooly: YES

* Wreford-Browns "Extra ships for Wilhelmshaven campaign v2.4": YES, BUT ONLY
if you install the Compatibiliy Patches on top of the mods.
There is 1 Compatibiliy Patch for Remove Searchlights from Merchants
and 1 Compatibiliy Patch for Remove Searchlights from Warships (optional).



Important
---------

* SH3 must be launched via SH3-Cmdr, otherwise no SL will randomly activated.

* Don't save/reload the game when enemy in render range (approx. 30km?).
Otherwise (according to my observations) the enemy, at least the merchants,
are totally dumb and defenseless after reload. This is a SH3 bug and not
related to this mod.

* NEVER save/reload during a battle action at night. Otherwise the
ships SL will malfunction after reload. This is related to this mod
but unavoidable.


Known problems
--------------
This mod leads to a "camera out of sectors"-error when using the
"," and "." keys of the external camera to show the next/previous ship.
But there is a simple workaround for that: Don't use these keys.


Credits
-------
schlechter_pfennig: For permission to use some files of his mod.

Furthermore: I don't know where to begin. The list is endless.
Many people helped me with discussions, mods, ideas.
Thank you all.


Hope you like it!

h.sie




Detail information
------------------

For most of the ships the SL are removed permanently.
This has been done by replacing "LinkName=Ref_xxx" with
"LinkName=NULL" in the .eqp files of the ship.

19 merchants (18 armed and 1 unarmed) take part in the
SL randomisation. The nearby idea, to use SH3-Commander
to randomly change the LinkName in the .eqp files for
those ships, does not work, because changing equipment
between save and reload of a patrol may lead to a crash.

Workaround: Instead of that, I simply moved the SL out of
the visible range by setting the Translation Y value of
the L0x nodes to 1E6 in the ships .dat file.

The Random function of Sh3-Cmdr is used to randomly
put back some ships original .dat files and thus activate
the SL.

Merchant ship types that take part in the SL randomisation:
-NAMM
-NCOT
-NGRA_
-NHA_Boat1
-NKBL_
-NKC3
-NKGN
-NKLK_
-NKSEF
-NKSQ_
-NLL_
-NLOL
-NLST
-NPTB
-NPTR
-NRC_
-NSCT_
-NTR
-NVV