Random Crew v0.1 -- New Add-In for SH3 Commander Available

ctown · 06-07-06, 05:10 PM

Announcement:
Random Crew v0.1, a new add-in for SH3 Commander, is now available for download:

http://rapidshare.de/files/22487682/Random_Crew_v0.1.7z.html

The purpose of this program is to allow the Silent Hunter III player to begin a new Career (or play a Single Mission) with a randomly generated starting crew. The program randomizes the number of starting crew of each class (Officers, NCOs, and Sailors), then randomizes each man’s attributes, including Experience, Number of Patrols Previously Completed, Medals Previously Earned, Qualifications, Voice and Appearance. The program is in spreadsheet format (Excel) and is designed as an Add-In to Jaesen Jones’ SH3 Commander program. This is a work in progress.

Introduction
Silent Hunter III was fantastic concept that fell apart on execution. Fortunately, many issues present in the stock game have been addressed and corrected by a dedicated Mod Community; one that has not, however, is the ridiculous fact that all starting crew configurations are essentially identical. Thus a new captain always has the same sailors with the same qualifications, thereby standardizing his tactics and crew management strategy. Further, he’d find his crew neatly staggered in “bins” of experience, and would be forced to distribute promotions in “waves” as each bin passed some arbitrary milestone.

No more. In the spirit of the fantastic “NYGM” Mods by their respective authors (“One of the stupidest things in game design is the lack of uncertainty given to the player” – NYGM Tonnage War v2.0 User Manual), the Random Crew project seeks to eliminate the certainty of the starting crew configuration, providing each new Captain an entirely unique crew, whose experience, makeup, and ability is now completely unpredictable.

Random Crew is based loosely on the idea that U-Boats were never sent out with completely green crews, as is modelled by SH3. You will find that, while most of your crewmen are indeed green, a select few are seasoned veterans, complete with the experience, qualifications, and medals to prove it. Further, your green crewmen may even have nonzero experience, representing the effects of training and innate proficiency.

Features
• Creates entirely unique starting crews, which vary in both number and in experience level.
• Individual crewman experience calculated from an exponential probability distribution function.
• No more “promotion waves”(!)
• Rate of exponential change heavily influenced by level of experience selected (Recruits, Veteran, and Elite).
• Randomizing algorithm based on user defined input.
• All randomizable crew features randomized, including Experience level, Number of Patrols Previously Completed, Qualifications, Voice, Appearance and Name (Thank you to Jaesen Jones, whose First Name and Last Name lists I shamelessly lifted from SH3 Commander)..
• Realistic medals: highly experienced crewmen are likely to be decorated, sometimes heavily. Also awards are given in sequence, so no man will have an Iron Cross without also having a U-Boat War Badge. Some may even have Wound Badges.
• Experienced NCOs arrive with qualifications.
• Designed as an SH3 Commander Add-In.
• Fully compatible with all major Mods, specifically designed for use with Tonnage War 2.0

Cheers!
ctown

CCIP · 06-07-06, 05:28 PM

Fantastic!

I'm going to love this mod, this was one of my few complaints about commander.

Downloading.

JScones · 06-07-06, 06:20 PM

I always love seeing people exploit SH3Cmdr to improve the game.

However, the next release of SH3Cmdr will by default automatically do most of what this mod manually does. That is, it will provide starting crew that contain a blend of green and experienced crew (using the base player selected crew or pre-existing in-game crew), with parameters easily adjustable by the player. There's been a thread around for a while discussing it... http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=93718

For consistency with the game, SH3Cmdr will use the same settings in Basic.cfg for determining experience. For consistency with reality, only the EKII may be awarded, as not many crewmen (especially lower ranks) got more than that. The war badge is auto-awarded if the number of patrols is >= 2, and the date is post 13 Oct 39. Likewise the clasp if post 15 May 1944 and the crewman has the EKII.

The new SH3Cmdr feature will NOT adjust qualifications, as doing so may, and with some mods will, provide for "easier" gaming experiences. For example, RUb is set up to work best with the crew included with RUb. Change the crew by giving more quals up front and the challenge loses meaning. I'm also mindful of randomising quals as I don't think it's appropriate to have a crew of say, all radiomen. I'll leave the default qual layout to the mod maker. You can always change them in teh Crew Manager after patrol 1.

CCIP · 06-07-06, 06:22 PM

And I'll be glad to see the feature in Commander, too. It's a little bit inconvenient right now with all the shuffling, though definitely workable.

Observer · 06-07-06, 08:44 PM

Great idea and another excel user! I'm a huge fan of excel. As a suggestion, you might think about a macro to automate the process if you don't plan on using SH3 Commander R2.6.

VonHelsching · 06-07-06, 11:32 PM

Excellent!

Myxale · 06-08-06, 01:10 AM

Most Excellent

EAF274 Johan · 06-08-06, 03:47 AM

Great work ctown! I've always wanted a tool to randomise the crew faces and uniforms.

It also works in OpenOffice

The Noob · 06-08-06, 06:14 AM

I'm Ashamed to say that i haven't tryed SHIII Commander Jet...

I must get it!

06-08-06, 01:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Noob

I must get it!

Yes, you must.

It's that good.

06-07-06, 05:10 PM	#1
ctown Swabbie Join Date: Aug 2005 Posts: 9 Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	Random Crew v0.1 -- New Add-In for SH3 Commander Available Announcement: Random Crew v0.1, a new add-in for SH3 Commander, is now available for download: http://rapidshare.de/files/22487682/Random_Crew_v0.1.7z.html The purpose of this program is to allow the Silent Hunter III player to begin a new Career (or play a Single Mission) with a randomly generated starting crew. The program randomizes the number of starting crew of each class (Officers, NCOs, and Sailors), then randomizes each man’s attributes, including Experience, Number of Patrols Previously Completed, Medals Previously Earned, Qualifications, Voice and Appearance. The program is in spreadsheet format (Excel) and is designed as an Add-In to Jaesen Jones’ SH3 Commander program. This is a work in progress. Introduction Silent Hunter III was fantastic concept that fell apart on execution. Fortunately, many issues present in the stock game have been addressed and corrected by a dedicated Mod Community; one that has not, however, is the ridiculous fact that all starting crew configurations are essentially identical. Thus a new captain always has the same sailors with the same qualifications, thereby standardizing his tactics and crew management strategy. Further, he’d find his crew neatly staggered in “bins” of experience, and would be forced to distribute promotions in “waves” as each bin passed some arbitrary milestone. No more. In the spirit of the fantastic “NYGM” Mods by their respective authors (“One of the stupidest things in game design is the lack of uncertainty given to the player” – NYGM Tonnage War v2.0 User Manual), the Random Crew project seeks to eliminate the certainty of the starting crew configuration, providing each new Captain an entirely unique crew, whose experience, makeup, and ability is now completely unpredictable. Random Crew is based loosely on the idea that U-Boats were never sent out with completely green crews, as is modelled by SH3. You will find that, while most of your crewmen are indeed green, a select few are seasoned veterans, complete with the experience, qualifications, and medals to prove it. Further, your green crewmen may even have nonzero experience, representing the effects of training and innate proficiency. Features • Creates entirely unique starting crews, which vary in both number and in experience level. • Individual crewman experience calculated from an exponential probability distribution function. • No more “promotion waves”(!) • Rate of exponential change heavily influenced by level of experience selected (Recruits, Veteran, and Elite). • Randomizing algorithm based on user defined input. • All randomizable crew features randomized, including Experience level, Number of Patrols Previously Completed, Qualifications, Voice, Appearance and Name (Thank you to Jaesen Jones, whose First Name and Last Name lists I shamelessly lifted from SH3 Commander).. • Realistic medals: highly experienced crewmen are likely to be decorated, sometimes heavily. Also awards are given in sequence, so no man will have an Iron Cross without also having a U-Boat War Badge. Some may even have Wound Badges. • Experienced NCOs arrive with qualifications. • Designed as an SH3 Commander Add-In. • Fully compatible with all major Mods, specifically designed for use with Tonnage War 2.0 Cheers! ctown

06-07-06, 05:28 PM	#2
CCIP Navy Seal Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Waterloo, Canada Posts: 8,700 Downloads: 29 Uploads: 2	Fantastic! I'm going to love this mod, this was one of my few complaints about commander. Downloading. __________________ There are only forty people in the world and five of them are hamburgers. -Don Van Vliet (aka Captain Beefheart)

06-07-06, 06:20 PM	#3
JScones Navy Seal Join Date: Apr 2005 Posts: 5,501 Downloads: 19 Uploads: 0	I always love seeing people exploit SH3Cmdr to improve the game. However, the next release of SH3Cmdr will by default automatically do most of what this mod manually does. That is, it will provide starting crew that contain a blend of green and experienced crew (using the base player selected crew or pre-existing in-game crew), with parameters easily adjustable by the player. There's been a thread around for a while discussing it... http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=93718 For consistency with the game, SH3Cmdr will use the same settings in Basic.cfg for determining experience. For consistency with reality, only the EKII may be awarded, as not many crewmen (especially lower ranks) got more than that. The war badge is auto-awarded if the number of patrols is >= 2, and the date is post 13 Oct 39. Likewise the clasp if post 15 May 1944 and the crewman has the EKII. The new SH3Cmdr feature will NOT adjust qualifications, as doing so may, and with some mods will, provide for "easier" gaming experiences. For example, RUb is set up to work best with the crew included with RUb. Change the crew by giving more quals up front and the challenge loses meaning. I'm also mindful of randomising quals as I don't think it's appropriate to have a crew of say, all radiomen. I'll leave the default qual layout to the mod maker. You can always change them in teh Crew Manager after patrol 1. Last edited by JScones; 06-07-06 at 07:26 PM.

06-07-06, 06:22 PM	#4
CCIP Navy Seal Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Waterloo, Canada Posts: 8,700 Downloads: 29 Uploads: 2	And I'll be glad to see the feature in Commander, too. It's a little bit inconvenient right now with all the shuffling, though definitely workable. __________________ There are only forty people in the world and five of them are hamburgers. -Don Van Vliet (aka Captain Beefheart)

06-07-06, 11:32 PM	#6
VonHelsching Ace of the Deep Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Athens, Greece Posts: 1,025 Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	Excellent! __________________

06-07-06, 08:44 PM	#5
Observer Commander Join Date: May 2005 Posts: 477 Downloads: 6 Uploads: 0	Great idea and another excel user! I'm a huge fan of excel. As a suggestion, you might think about a macro to automate the process if you don't plan on using SH3 Commander R2.6.

06-08-06, 01:10 AM	#7
Myxale Admiral Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: PQ AN 25 Posts: 2,178 Downloads: 70 Uploads: 0	Most Excellent

06-08-06, 03:47 AM	#8
EAF274 Johan Ensign Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Gent, Belgium Posts: 228 Downloads: 94 Uploads: 0	Great work ctown! I've always wanted a tool to randomise the crew faces and uniforms. It also works in OpenOffice __________________ *Rock 'n' roll is the only religion that will never let you down*

06-08-06, 06:14 AM	#9
The Noob The Old Man Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: de_dust2 Posts: 1,417 Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	I'm Ashamed to say that i haven't tryed SHIII Commander Jet... I must get it!