Info about Tmaru 1.4

[Ducimus]

I figured id make a most describing some of the changes in Tmaru 1.4, so im not inundated with "how come" type of questions. The number one aim of Tmaru is to make the game more challenging. The secondary aim of the mod, is in part, to make the game as realistic as possible, without creating too many annoyances in doing so.


Tmaru 1.4 most definatly has changes that make the game more challenging, and i suspect will be well recieved by some, and not liked by others. Herein id like to point out, that it is impossible to be all things to all people. Tmaru, which started out as nothing more then a mod of bug "fixes" or workarounds, has i believe finally arrived at a crossroads.

Some of the changes in TMaru 1.4 include

- seperation of many graphics and sounds into a seperate pack. This is being done to better facilitate future updates. In short, its much easier to D/L a 14 MB file then a 50 MB file when the mod is updated. Any updates to graphics and sounds will be done seperately.

- Tmaru's version of a map contact mod. This work is inspired from the "black contact updates" mod and the "assisted plotting" mod. Its a blend between the two.

This modification is really borne out of a desire to have an excuse to up the realism settings, my personal inability to live without map contact updates ( i can turn off the external camera and use manual targeting, but i can't make myself turn off map updates, go figure ) , and to make the game a little more interesting.

Heres how it works:

Normally the contact map gives you all sorts of information that you *really* wouldn't have if you were a sub skipper. such as:

- location of contact

- range to contact (assuming you draw the line)

- type of contact (warship. merchant, airplane, etc)

- specific identification of a type of contact (what warship or merchant acutally is)

- if contact is Friendly, neutral or hostile

- course of contact in compass directions

- the exact track of contact and bow position via a tail (i know im not the only one who's been plotting exact intercept tracks off of this )

- Exact dimension's of the targets max visual range, sonar, location of its baffels, and radar if equiped.

Now that, is acutally ALOT of information. Infact if you stare at it close enough, you can even identify carriers and types of aircraft by their silloute on the map!

What Tmaru's map contacts changes do, is remove much of the information that it would be impossible to know, with the rest, pretending that maybe someone on the tracking party would have plotted. So in Tmaru 1.4, you'll have the following information:

Assuming AutoTDC

- location of contact

- range to contact (assuming you draw the line)

- course of contact in compass directions

- specific identification of a contact (what it acutally is by name after its ID'ed either by you or the AutoTDC)

The map will no longer give you the exact track, nor the position of the bow or the dimensions of the targets sensors.

Although these pictures are old and out of date a little, it looks something like this:


Start of the Midway single mission. Periscope down. (except the actual sub icon is a circle, not a square, I changed this to eliminate confusion)



Periscope is up, im looking at the map now. Note lack of "tails" on the contacts. (the circle you see will no longer be present either, screenshot was taken before i figured out how to remove targets sensory information)


Zoomed in on the map to get a closer look at the ships. Position and ship name only! No indication of which way the bow is pointing either. Your going to have to figure that one out yourself captain. (yeah yeah so you place a couple marks on the map and draw a line connecting them)


Far away Contact reports will appear on the map as a square with formation type, relative speed, and bearing, sans tail to plot off of, you'll have to plot the general direction yourself. ( Side note, aircraft will appear as triangles like normal, but will have no silloutte when you zoom map all the way in. my stance is, it is impossible for someone to track an aircraft and place it on a map. You'll have to rely on your watch crew to spot the plane if you let it get in that close.)


Naturally i increased the realism factor in the gameplay settings to reflect the new playing enviorment. Easy mode in TMaru is now 85% realism. Now is this going to be an optional mod? No it is not, but you can add back everything but the silloutes by deleting two files from the mod, and it functions more like it used to in stock. Those files are:
data/menu/gui/ContLline.dds
data/menu/gui/DashLine.dds

That said, i encourage you to give this a try, and if not, at least be honest with yourself and lower the realism settings in the gameplaysettings.cfg - ya big cheat!


So why isnt this an optional mod? The truth is i don't make mods optional because people might not like the changes im making. (I know i can't please everybody, and i think its foolish to try). I make mods optional incase i think theres a reason to believe that an alternative fix might be needed, or if maybe theres something genuinly wrong that i'm not seeing but others are.

Now then, The other change in Tmaru is the campaign scripting.

From what i can tell tater probably has the most advanced, realistic, and robust campaign scripting in the forum. Since i really don't have the time or motiation to script out the campaign (its a massive undertaking), i've decided to incorporate Taters work into TMaru, and this will have an impact upon gameplay. How this will effect you, is now merchants and convoys will zig zag on a regular basis. Some formations may zigzag every 14 KM, others 16KM, the trick will be to observe this, anticipate it, and position your yourself accordingly. Not only this, but speeds *can* change when they zig zag, so you'll have to recompute speed. Forewarned is forearmed!

Between taters campaign scripting and the map contacts mod, Tmaru has definatly kicked it up a notch.

Heres the tenative changelog for Tmaru 1.4, i hope to have everything done soon.

// seperated all non essential graphical and sound mods into a seperate pack.

// removed contacts.cfg, file limited contact range to prevent lag enducing clipboard spam. No longer neccessary to do this.

// added "ahead 2/3rds" by Payoff

// added "airport/nav map" mod by LeoVampire

// added "Living breathing ocean" mod settings by LeoVampire to existing 9KM visual distance scene.dat file.

// adjusted goback to previous cam views for more natural movement.

// adusted view rotation of periscope conning tower camera

// backspace now brings TC to X 1 instead of pausing.

// fixed bug in Tmaru where torpedo doors would open and then close again when using the "cycle forward tubes" command.

// added map contacts mod

// changed menu from "Refit" to "reArm/Refuel".

// slighly increase error angle for AI deck guns

// slighly redecued AI's visual aquity at night.

// nomograph enabled by default.

// Lowered max elevation on AI active sonar a couple more degrees.

- Type93_1A -> Max elevation from 106 to 108
- Type93_3A -> Max Elevation from 110 to 112
- Type93_5A -> Max Elevation from 118 to 120

//increased max range on Type93_1A sonar from 1000 to 1200
Future note, sonar type 93_XA ranges are currently 1200 / 1600 / 2200


//Reduce tonnage of merchant shipping, what "felt right" depending on tonnage of individual vessel

// added campaign mod by tater. If you have any questions, concerns or comments about the campaign layers see this thread:

http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=116283


File list for taters campaign mod is as follows:

/data/campaigns/campaign/*.*
(exceptions, US_aircover.mis , Jap_Aircover.mis, Messages.txt)
/data/campaigns/campiagn/PatrolObjectives/Photo Palau Islands 01/*.*
/data/campaigns/campiagn/PatrolObjectives/Photo Palau Islands 02/*.*
/data/roster/Japan/sea/CLAgano.cfg
/data/roster/Japan/sea/CVTahiho.cfg
/data/roster/Japan/sea/DDAkizuiki.cfg
/data/roster/Japan/sea/MSN013.cfg
/data/roster/Japan/sea/SCSubchaser.cfg
/data/Sea/NMS_No13/NMS_NO13.cfg
/Data/Sea/NSC_SubChaser/NSC_SubChaser.cfg


**changes made to taters campaign mod
- removed all elite crew ratings
- added bungo pete to jp harbor traffic layer in the bungo suido area.

sans tail to plot off of

T'est francais n'est ce pas ?

Any chance of including Oakgrove's Submarine Instruments ? I know its a graphical mod but i didn't see it in the file list.

[Ducimus]

Originally Posted by Uber Gruber

Any chance of including Oakgrove's Submarine Instruments ?

Im using everything but the acutal periscope optics (using CC's ), but not only am i using oakgrooves textures, ive also resized them to 1024X1024 (default is 2048 X 2048), and converted them back to DDS format. The quality is about as good, and its less system intensive.

[NefariousKoel]

ETA?

[Bando]

Wow man, this looks to be a great summer.

[Ducimus]

Originally Posted by NefariousKoel

ETA?

[Bando]

Look at the cat's eyes.
It's really due to attack any moment.
Great shot....

[FooFighters]

Originally Posted by Bando

Look at the cat's eyes.
It's really due to attack any moment.
Great shot....

To bad the dog has a big brother

[TopCat]

Yeah! Can't wait for it!

Already found a solution for the battery recharge problem?

[Wilcke]

Excellent, excellent, excellent......just one question, I use manual targetting...and no map updates....can I leave those settings and still have your MOD work properly? Sorry, I just cannot wrap my head around it to get an answer.

OH, and I really like the idea of breaking up the package into graphics and gameplay parts. Well done man, I really like the challenge of Trigger Maru!

Wilcke

[TopCat]

Originally Posted by Wilcke

Excellent, excellent, excellent......just one question, I use manual targetting...and no map updates....can I leave those settings and still have your MOD work properly? Sorry, I just cannot wrap my head around it to get an answer.

OH, and I really like the idea of breaking up the package into graphics and gameplay parts. Well done man, I really like the challenge of Trigger Maru!

Wilcke

You've got to switch on map update (uncheck "no map update"). You won't lose realism points for this in Ducimus' mod.

[CaptainCox]

Looks like a really cool upgrade this Ducimus

[Ducimus]

Originally Posted by Wilcke

I use manual targetting...and no map updates....can I leave those settings and still have your MOD work properly?

Yeah you can, for you gameplay is essentually unchanged, you don't see anything on your map at all

[TDK1044]

With so many animals pictured in this thread, it's surprising that they haven't sniffed out 1.4 yet!

[Ducimus]

Originally Posted by TDK1044

With so many animals pictured in this thread, it's surprising that they haven't sniffed out 1.4 yet!