[TEC] Propeller spin direction - revisited (yet again)

[skwasjer]

This topic has been discussed many times, and no good solution has ever been found as far as I know. A couple of days ago Captain America asked me about this again (for a mod he is working on) and I only remember theorizing about this topic a couple of months ago, never actually testing stuff. Today I did, and what do you know... I actually found a working fix! The solution is near to what I described back then, just a little different. A very cool workaround that may prove usefull in other scenario's as well...

Here's a small in-game movie for ya:

http://sh4.skwas.net/media/props.wmv (8 MB, 30s)


Ok, here's a video walkthrough describing how it is done...

http://sh4.skwas.net/media/props_tutorial2.wmv (43 MB, 9m10s)

If you decide to use this method, please credit me

Oh and one more thing, pardon my english pronounciation :rotfl:

[edit] For future reference, here's the first mod that uses this method: http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=138374

[Captain America]

I pm'd skwasjer a couple of days ago for help regarding my soon to be released 4 bladed prop mod. I couldn't get the rotation to work properly...thought all my work was in vain.

Then skwasjer came to the rescue!

Excellent job skwasjer. We finally have a true fix for the proper rotation instead of "bandaids". This should be good payback for those that ridiculed your theory on this months ago.

Thank you.

wow, thanks skwasjer, thats a great fix for a long standing problem.

you should release it as a ready to go jsgme mod when you have the time.

thank you

[skwasjer]

Hi Webster, I'm not sure about the entire scope of Captain America's mod, but he is going to use this method for his mod so you can wait for that. I am not planning to make this into a mod myself, and was only interested to find a solution. But I am sure you will see this fix in a few mods soon...

[andrut82]

I hope that this WONDERFUL thingie will be embedded in PE, NSM or will be released as a little self-standing mod ;P I hate that when I show this unbelievable game to my friends and the first thing they always say when watching the external camera is "WTF? You're going ahead and the props are spinning like you're going backwards!" ^^

[Captain America]

Yes my mod is going to cover both vanilla and TM for now. I'll change all props on each sub and also add the new 4 bladed model I created to the proper variants (i.e. gato, balao, tench)

Should see a new thread by tomorrow the latest.

[skwasjer]

[JSF]

After all this time......Great job skwasjer!..

Even after watching your tutorial I concede that is techically above my pay grade.

Originally Posted by andrut82

I hope that this WONDERFUL thingie will be embedded in PE, NSM or will be released as a little self-standing mod ;P I hate that when I show this unbelievable game to my friends and the first thing they always say when watching the external camera is "WTF? You're going ahead and the props are spinning like you're going backwards!" ^^

well this is more of a game "fix" than a mod so you should alter your game files directly in my opinion, then it will be in effect all the time no matter what mods you use. the only thing is if a mod changed that subs file (the one he shows you) then that mod when enabled will just have backwards props, so no biggy.

@ skwasjer - i like single stand alone fixes myself for the reason that joe might want fix a, b & c but mike doesnt like fix b, he only wants fix a & c.

stand alones IMO are better because everyone has the most creativity in what they want the game to be their way. that way by simply copying the mods you like into one, each person builds their own large mod customized to them and everything can be available to all without otherwise being forced to make changes you dont want to.

[Hylander_1314]

All I get are error pages when trying to view the vids.

[Rip]

Originally Posted by Hylander_1314

All I get are error pages when trying to view the vids.

I got the same so I save the slink to my desktop and ran the vids from there.

The method of moving the animation back to the correct side is nothing short of brilliant. Nothing I love more than a simple solution to a complex issue. Not to mention one that has little chance of causing new issues. The fix seems to effect little outside the animation so should not endanger any code related to calculation etc. WHne the graphics are broken fix just the graphics if you can...beautiful.

[skwasjer]

Originally Posted by WEBSTER

@ skwasjer - i like single stand alone fixes myself for the reason that joe might want fix a, b & c but mike doesnt like fix b, he only wants fix a & c.

stand alones IMO are better because everyone has the most creativity in what they want the game to be their way. that way by simply copying the mods you like into one, each person builds their own large mod customized to them and everything can be available to all without otherwise being forced to make changes you dont want to.

I understand, but the reason I am not providing a mod is two-fold: Captain America already plans to make a mod with the fix for stock and TM, and even if he didn't I probably wouldn't do it because I prefer to stick with solving problems, not building and maintaining mods (remember that many ships can use this fix as well, it's a lot of work). Besides, with the tutorial, most people may be able to do it themselfs, or at least try.

Originally Posted by Rip

The method of moving the animation back to the correct side is nothing short of brilliant. Nothing I love more than a simple solution to a complex issue. Not to mention one that has little chance of causing new issues. The fix seems to effect little outside the animation so should not endanger any code related to calculation etc. WHne the graphics are broken fix just the graphics if you can...beautiful.

Solutions such as these are quite fun. It proves once again that the game can be manipulated in ways you usually don't think of.

Oh, and yeah if anyone has problems watching the video, right-click the link and save the video to watch locally...

[Captain America]

I'm just about finished with the mod. It took slightly longer because I got anal with the AO map. I have to package everything up (readme, etc.), then I'll make a new thread.

FYI- For those interested in using skwasjer's excellent tutorial to make their own changes anyway, there are a couple of things to note: The above fix will correct the rotation for all subs. However, the blades will still be facing the wrong direction on all subs except the tambor, gato and balao -i.e. the trailing edge first instead of the leading edge first. So I had to swap the models and their offsets (ignoring their +/- sign). The reason you have to also switch the offsets is because each prop has a different starting location in max. If you import both props at the same time in max you'll see what I mean.

The other way to do it would be to just rename the nodes and swap their values...but I always thought this was the "dirtier" way since your tricking the game by saying right is left and left is right since the original ID# is referenced in the .zon file. If I'm wrong I'm sure skwasjer will correct me on this.

Edit: Forgot to add the tambor to the list that also doesn't require a model swap.

[skwasjer]

No you've done perfectly right. It will indeed screw with the zones so they would have to be corrected as well then.

Thanks for adding this info

[Hylander_1314]

Originally Posted by Rip

I got the same so I save the slink to my desktop and ran the vids from there.

The method of moving the animation back to the correct side is nothing short of brilliant. Nothing I love more than a simple solution to a complex issue. Not to mention one that has little chance of causing new issues. The fix seems to effect little outside the animation so should not endanger any code related to calculation etc. WHne the graphics are broken fix just the graphics if you can...beautiful.

Thanks Rip. I did the same as you suggested, but was so darn tired from working on the boat all day, that I dozed off while trying to watch the vids.