[REQ] Map Contact Mod. Is it possible to...

[Dignan]

Is it possible to make a mod that gives you "blob like" make contacts (so you can't tell heading) out to a certain distance only and then they disappear once they are within a given range of your boat....say 6,000 meters?

It would be nice to have this feature for those of us who still want to be able to track long range targets from the navmap without plotting their position every 5 minutes but still want the challenge of plotting them at close range to get torpedo solutions.

[James Cook]

check the optional mods of TDWs UIs. i.e.: no contact tails. its worth it!

[Dignan]

Originally Posted by James Cook

check the optional mods of TDWs UIs. i.e.: no contact tails. its worth it!

Thanks. I have tried all the optional TDW UI mods. A lot of good options there but none that do what I'm talking about.

I'm about to release a mod of my own that at least takes away the "ship shape" from map contacts. That will put more of the job in the hands of the player to determine course.

[TheDarkWraith]

Originally Posted by Dignan

Thanks. I have tried all the optional TDW UI mods. A lot of good options there but none that do what I'm talking about.

I'm about to release a mod of my own that at least takes away the "ship shape" from map contacts. That will put more of the job in the hands of the player to determine course.

That is an optional add-on mod in my UIs mod. I believe it's same shape with/without color.

[stoianm]

Originally Posted by Dignan

Thanks. I have tried all the optional TDW UI mods. A lot of good options there but none that do what I'm talking about.

I'm about to release a mod of my own that at least takes away the "ship shape" from map contacts. That will put more of the job in the hands of the player to determine course.

it is already a mod for this: 'NewUIs_TDC_6_4_0_No_contact_shapes_or_colors' - removes all references to any contacts. i.e. NO contacts will be displayed on the maps. It is up to you to plot their positions
- 'NewUIs_TDC_6_4_0_Waypoint_Contacts_Same_Shape' - when you drag a waypoint there are 'ghost' contacts that show on the maps. This will make all the symbols for those 'ghost' contacts the same symbol (it resembles the star of david)
- 'NewUIs_TDC_6_4_0_Waypoint_Contacts_Same_Shape_No_ Color' - when you drag a waypoint there are 'ghost' contacts that show on the maps. This will make all the symbols for those 'ghost' contacts the same symbol (it resembles the star of david) and remove the colors of those 'ghost' contact so you cannot discern whether they are friendly, neutral, or enemy. They all will be shown in black.

read careful the documentation from TDW UI mod

[Dignan]

Originally Posted by TheDarkWraith

That is an optional add-on mod in my UIs mod. I believe it's same shape with/without color.

Forgot about the "Same contact shape" option. Thanks. However, I'm still trying to find a mod that changes the "ship silhouettes" you see when zoomed in. I could have missed one of your sub mods TDW but I couldn't find any that get rid of the silhouette shap on the navmap when you are zoomed into the contact. In TMO, Ducimus was able to make the contacts just black dots so you couldn't determine the course from looking at the navmap. Is this possible? I've been trying to do it myself by switching out all the _shp.dds files for each ship in their respective folders. I switched it with a black dot (sub icon) dds file but for some reason it doesn't show when I test it in game.

[TheDarkWraith]

changing the _shp image should do what you're wanting. When you zoom way in close the game engine uses this x_shp image for the unit.

[Dignan]

Originally Posted by TheDarkWraith

changing the _shp image should do what you're wanting. When you zoom way in close the game engine uses this x_shp image for the unit.

Hmmm. Strange. It doesn't seem to want to take. I'll have to experiment with it more. Thanks for confirming.

[Dignan]

Upon further investigation, I think the way to change the ship sillouette icon is in this folder E:\Program Files\Ubisoft\Silent Hunter 5\data\Menu\Gui\Shapes.

Only problem is I can't figure out how to open or edit these SHP files

[TheDarkWraith]

you can edit/view .shp files using a program called MeshLab. I understand the format of the files so I just edit them with Notepad.

[jwilliams]

Originally Posted by Dignan

Upon further investigation, I think the way to change the ship sillouette icon is in this folder E:\Program Files\Ubisoft\Silent Hunter 5\data\Menu\Gui\Shapes.

Only problem is I can't figure out how to open or edit these SHP files

Notepad++ opens these.

And your need to look here to figure out what the number mean.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shapefile

[mobucks]

Seems a little redundant since taking a course reading only requires waiting 5 mins between 2 points and connecting the dots.

Since you are only leaving out the exactness of the ship shape, and not the exactness of the ship position.

An ideal solution for your playstyle would be a dot or empty circle, like in TMO, with a random offset. I have thought on this before, but i just went full realism by then.

Cheers.

[Dignan]

Originally Posted by mobucks

An ideal solution for your playstyle would be a dot or empty circle, like in TMO, with a random offset.
Cheers.

That's exactly what I'm trying to do. A dot at least takes away the obvious course of the target. If we can figure out how to randomly "offset" it that's even better. I didn't know that was possible.

My other idea is to make map contacts disappear when they get within X distance of your sub. Say 6,000 meters. This forces the player to track the target using visual readings. I don't know if this is possible either.

[Dignan]

Downloaded meshlab. It won't open the SH5 shp files. Do I need to install a plugin or something?

[TheDarkWraith]

Originally Posted by Dignan

Downloaded meshlab. It won't open the SH5 shp files. Do I need to install a plugin or something?

see here: http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/show...ighlight=shape