[TEC/REL] Workaround for radio repeating the broadcasts when loading a save

Misfit138 · 07-29-07, 12:41 AM

Ok, I'm pretty sure that most of you have already figured this out but those who haven't, this is for you. Besides, I figure this out only yesterday and been testing it to see if this really works and it seems to

This workaround is basicly very simple but kind of hard to explain so bare with me

An example
You were on a patrol and saved on December 13th 1941 16:31 and then exited the game. Normally when you load a save, you'll have to listen the radio broadcasts all over again from the beginning of the patrol. Well, not anymore!

First, before you start your game, open the radio folder (Silent Hunter IV/Data/Sound/Radio) and from there select the radio station you are using. For example the radio Washington folder. Then go into the Events folder and open the events.ini file with your notepad. You'll see the following code

Code:

;1941 news
;=========

[EVENT]
StartDate=07.12.1941
StartTime=19.00.00
MediaFile=News_Intro_Line_02.ogg

[EVENT]
StartDate=07.12.1941
StartTime=19.00.03
MediaFile=News_1941_01.ogg

[EVENT]
StartDate=07.12.1941
StartTime=20.00.00
MediaFile=News_Intro_Line_02.ogg

[EVENT]
StartDate=07.12.1941
StartTime=20.00.03
MediaFile=News_1941_02.ogg

[EVENT]
StartDate=08.12.1941
StartTime=19.00.00
MediaFile=News_Intro_Line_01.ogg

[EVENT]
StartDate=08.12.1941
StartTime=19.00.03
MediaFile=News_1941_03.ogg

[EVENT]
StartDate=08.12.1941
StartTime=20.00.00
MediaFile=News_Intro_Line_03.ogg

[EVENT]
StartDate=08.12.1941
StartTime=20.00.03
MediaFile=News_1941_04.ogg

[EVENT]
StartDate=09.12.1941
StartTime=20.00.00
MediaFile=News_Intro_Line_02.ogg

[EVENT]
StartDate=09.12.1941
StartTime=20.00.03
MediaFile=PearlHarbor.mp3

[EVENT]
StartDate=11.12.1941
StartTime=20.00.00
MediaFile=News_Intro_Line_02.ogg

[EVENT]
StartDate=11.12.1941
StartTime=20.00.03
MediaFile=News_1941_05.ogg

[EVENT]
StartDate=31.12.1941
StartTime=20.00.00
MediaFile=News_Intro_Line_01.ogg

[EVENT]
StartDate=31.12.1941
StartTime=20.00.03
MediaFile=News_1941_06.ogg

Etc. Etc.

Before you do any changes into this file you should make a backup so save it with a name events2.ini. Now open the events.ini and just remove all the markings from top to bottom to the date you saved. With my example this date would be the December 13th 1941 16:31. Now the code in your events.ini file should look like this

Code:

1941 news
;=========

[EVENT]
StartDate=31.12.1941
StartTime=20.00.00
MediaFile=News_Intro_Line_01.ogg

[EVENT]
StartDate=31.12.1941
StartTime=20.00.03
MediaFile=News_1941_06.ogg

Etc. Etc.

You'll have to do this to every events.ini file if you have more than just that radio Washington. If there is an easier way, please let me know

Von Manteuffel · 07-29-07, 02:36 AM

Well done, Misfit.

I'm afraid, though, that for me, it's too fiddley - especially as I have a number of careers running simultaneously.

What's neded is something which will change the radio.ini "automatically".

It's as "simple" as a "find/replace" routine, where the station start-dates in the radio.ini are replaced with a date you type in.

JSGME might be able to do it and, when it appears, SH4 Skipper, I hope, will include it.

Till then, as an alternative, I'll continue to use the randomised tracks option, with individual tracks edited to sound like a continuous radio broadcast.

Why not try it and let me know what you think?

http://sh.xset.co.uk

Misfit138 · 07-29-07, 02:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Von Manteuffel

JSGME might be able to do it and, when it appears, SH4 Skipper, I hope, will include it.

I'm 100% sure that this kind of tweak is pretty much impossible to do with JSGME. Way too many varibles but I too was thinking that some kind of easy tweak might be possible with SH4 skipper... :hmm:

I'm really sorry that I'm not able to come up with anything easier. This whole radio feature is on my top 3 favourite improvements over the SH3 so this bug is really bugging me too

Misfit138 · 07-29-07, 03:59 AM

Been doing some more digging now. I noticed already sometime ago that current date in save files is always the start date so I tried to fix this radio bug by changing the date into what it was in the middle of the patrol but it didn't do anything. But I think this was with 1.2 or 1.1. Now with 1.3 when I try to do the same, I get a CTD after the "please wait" message

I think the whole source of this problem is related to not detecting the current date correctly. While middle of the patrol, that is

Misfit138 · 07-30-07, 04:44 PM

I apologize for bumping my own thread but some of you might be interested about the current progress

About 10 hours ago I started coding a tool to make the events.ini file adjustments easier and so far, I've been making really nice progress. Working backup function and capability to modify the events.ini file has already been implemented. Currently you can only adjust the radio Washington and this tool can be used only in command prompt but my main interest at the moment is only to make the code to do the absolutely required functions only. User friendly interface is going to be implemented before the final release. Can't even guess when that is going to happen and if it happens. Maybe they release 1.4 patch and fix this problem which would be pretty nice

Digital_Trucker · 07-30-07, 06:45 PM

Just a suggestion, but why not save the whole events.ini files for the various radio stations in seperate folders (or with names that would point to the folders in the game) and have your program only copy the events for the selected date forward into the game. This way, there is no need to keep a backup since the whole file is stored unchanged.

If you then read through all the folders (or file names) that point to the radio station folders in the game install, you could create the events.ini files for all the radio stations in one shot.

07-29-07, 12:41 AM	#1
Misfit138 Lieutenant Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Finland Posts: 267 Downloads: 80 Uploads: 0	[TEC/REL] Workaround for radio repeating the broadcasts when loading a save Ok, I'm pretty sure that most of you have already figured this out but those who haven't, this is for you. Besides, I figure this out only yesterday and been testing it to see if this really works and it seems to This workaround is basicly very simple but kind of hard to explain so bare with me An example You were on a patrol and saved on December 13th 1941 16:31 and then exited the game. Normally when you load a save, you'll have to listen the radio broadcasts all over again from the beginning of the patrol. Well, not anymore! First, before you start your game, open the radio folder (Silent Hunter IV/Data/Sound/Radio) and from there select the radio station you are using. For example the radio Washington folder. Then go into the Events folder and open the events.ini file with your notepad. You'll see the following code Code: ;1941 news ;========= [EVENT] StartDate=07.12.1941 StartTime=19.00.00 MediaFile=News_Intro_Line_02.ogg [EVENT] StartDate=07.12.1941 StartTime=19.00.03 MediaFile=News_1941_01.ogg [EVENT] StartDate=07.12.1941 StartTime=20.00.00 MediaFile=News_Intro_Line_02.ogg [EVENT] StartDate=07.12.1941 StartTime=20.00.03 MediaFile=News_1941_02.ogg [EVENT] StartDate=08.12.1941 StartTime=19.00.00 MediaFile=News_Intro_Line_01.ogg [EVENT] StartDate=08.12.1941 StartTime=19.00.03 MediaFile=News_1941_03.ogg [EVENT] StartDate=08.12.1941 StartTime=20.00.00 MediaFile=News_Intro_Line_03.ogg [EVENT] StartDate=08.12.1941 StartTime=20.00.03 MediaFile=News_1941_04.ogg [EVENT] StartDate=09.12.1941 StartTime=20.00.00 MediaFile=News_Intro_Line_02.ogg [EVENT] StartDate=09.12.1941 StartTime=20.00.03 MediaFile=PearlHarbor.mp3 [EVENT] StartDate=11.12.1941 StartTime=20.00.00 MediaFile=News_Intro_Line_02.ogg [EVENT] StartDate=11.12.1941 StartTime=20.00.03 MediaFile=News_1941_05.ogg [EVENT] StartDate=31.12.1941 StartTime=20.00.00 MediaFile=News_Intro_Line_01.ogg [EVENT] StartDate=31.12.1941 StartTime=20.00.03 MediaFile=News_1941_06.ogg Etc. Etc. Before you do any changes into this file you should make a backup so save it with a name events2.ini. Now open the events.ini and just remove all the markings from top to bottom to the date you saved. With my example this date would be the December 13th 1941 16:31. Now the code in your events.ini file should look like this Code: 1941 news ;========= [EVENT] StartDate=31.12.1941 StartTime=20.00.00 MediaFile=News_Intro_Line_01.ogg [EVENT] StartDate=31.12.1941 StartTime=20.00.03 MediaFile=News_1941_06.ogg Etc. Etc. You'll have to do this to every events.ini file if you have more than just that radio Washington. If there is an easier way, please let me know Last edited by Misfit138; 07-29-07 at 01:03 AM.

07-29-07, 02:36 AM	#2
Von Manteuffel Commander Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: UK Posts: 473 Downloads: 411 Uploads: 0	Well done, Misfit. I'm afraid, though, that for me, it's too fiddley - especially as I have a number of careers running simultaneously. What's neded is something which will change the radio.ini "automatically". It's as "simple" as a "find/replace" routine, where the station start-dates in the radio.ini are replaced with a date you type in. JSGME might be able to do it and, when it appears, SH4 Skipper, I hope, will include it. Till then, as an alternative, I'll continue to use the randomised tracks option, with individual tracks edited to sound like a continuous radio broadcast. Why not try it and let me know what you think? http://sh.xset.co.uk

07-29-07, 03:59 AM	#4
Misfit138 Lieutenant Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Finland Posts: 267 Downloads: 80 Uploads: 0	Been doing some more digging now. I noticed already sometime ago that current date in save files is always the start date so I tried to fix this radio bug by changing the date into what it was in the middle of the patrol but it didn't do anything. But I think this was with 1.2 or 1.1. Now with 1.3 when I try to do the same, I get a CTD after the "please wait" message I think the whole source of this problem is related to not detecting the current date correctly. While middle of the patrol, that is

07-30-07, 04:44 PM	#5
Misfit138 Lieutenant Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Finland Posts: 267 Downloads: 80 Uploads: 0	I apologize for bumping my own thread but some of you might be interested about the current progress About 10 hours ago I started coding a tool to make the events.ini file adjustments easier and so far, I've been making really nice progress. Working backup function and capability to modify the events.ini file has already been implemented. Currently you can only adjust the radio Washington and this tool can be used only in command prompt but my main interest at the moment is only to make the code to do the absolutely required functions only. User friendly interface is going to be implemented before the final release. Can't even guess when that is going to happen and if it happens. Maybe they release 1.4 patch and fix this problem which would be pretty nice

07-30-07, 06:45 PM	#6
Digital_Trucker Silent Hunter Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: The Peach State Posts: 4,171 Downloads: 141 Uploads: 10	Just a suggestion, but why not save the whole events.ini files for the various radio stations in seperate folders (or with names that would point to the folders in the game) and have your program only copy the events for the selected date forward into the game. This way, there is no need to keep a backup since the whole file is stored unchanged. If you then read through all the folders (or file names) that point to the radio station folders in the game install, you could create the events.ini files for all the radio stations in one shot.