[REL] U.S. Medals Fix

[CapnScurvy]

This mod will correct the way awards are presented to the player by first changing the stock "order" of the medals which will improve the relationship between what is earned and what is issued. It was found that several inaccuracies that have to do with this "order" prevented the correct medal from being issued, especially to the player/Captain. Secondly the medals were changed to reflect the authentic type and criteria for which they are given. The Congressional Medal of Honor, and Distinguished Service Medal were removed from the game. The Navy Cross and Silver Star were moved up in rank to fill the void. Both the enlisted men and Captain will be given the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal as their initial 1st tier award. The Navy Commendation Medal will be the 2nd tier award followed by the Bronze Star Medal, and so on. It is believed that by changing the specific awards and the various "order" of the awards, a more accurate representation of American awards issued will occur.






The following image shows the Crew Management screen with all awards displayed.






To install the mod make sure your current running campaign will have you in port, waiting on another patrol to start. This will ensure a trouble free installation. Of course you can begin a new campaign with the mod installed. Just do not expect to install the mod during an ongoing campaign patrol without the risk of a CTD.

There are various editions of the U.S. Medals Fix that are compatible to other major mods. Install the compatible mod first then install the Medals Fix mod that is made specifically for it. The Medals Fix mod is JSGME ready. Click the below latest editions dated Feb. 2009 for the specific mod you want.




U.S. Medals Fix II_Stock

This is for a stock SH4 game with the U-Boat Missions addon patched to the 1.5 version, or the Gold Edition (which are the same). Sorry, there is not a stock version patched only to 1.4



U.S. Medals Fix II_TMO

This is for a SH4 1.5 game having the TMO 1.6.2 version installed with it's latest patch 1.6.3.
The order of install should be:

TriggerMaru_Overhaul_162_Full
TriggerMaru_Overhaul_Patch163
U.S. Medals Fix II_TMO



U.S. Medals Fix II_RFBv1.52

This edition is compatible with Real Fleet Boat 1.52, it's current Patch_18Jan09, and it's RadarHotfix. Load these first, then the Medals Fix. Although RFB 1.52 has my first Medals Fix included with it, it does not address the medal switch and order as this v.II, nor does it have the changes to the type of medal awarded.




Discussion (revised to v.II Feb 13, 2009)

After lengthy testing I have determined that several key files needed to be corrected to allow for a complete and accurate medals system. This was done with the latest version II. The game does not allow for us to manipulate the "calculations" for awards, but we can change the various parts to match an accurate issue. This was done with the "order" of several files to allow for a correct issue of an award.

From a cosmetic point of view, several medals were removed from the stock game, with others added to fill the void.There are six awards and medals available from highest ranking to lowest. RFB and TMO both use the same awards. Top ranked was the Congressional Medal of Honor, next the Navy Cross, Navy Distinguished Service Medal, Silver Star, Bronze Star Medal, and although it is not an achievement award, nor does it fit in the ranking system, the Purple Heart. My contention for removal of the Navy Distinguished Service Medal was the actual criteria which reads "...of exceptionally mertorious service to the government in a duty of great responsibility". In my opinion, this criteria does not hold true of a sub Captain, and especially not of an enlisted crewman. What I have found is the medal is usually bestowed to senior "Navy Flag and Marine Corps General Officers" not rank and file sub Captains and definitely not to an enlisted man, unless he happened to be on Nimitz's "personal" staff of high enlisted rank. The removal of the Congressional Medal of Honor was done because of my personal belief that the award would not be issued for mearly the calculation of shipping sunk, no matter how high the total.

So, my plan has been to remove the CMOH and DSM from the awards; move up the remaining awards in rank and add the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal and the Navy Commendation Medal.

Another improvement to this latest version is the removal of the original medals from the Captain's Award Box. I have simply eliminated them altogether. No medals will be seen within the box but, by mouse clicking within the box you will be taken to the Captain's written citation and a close up of the awarded medals as in the previous stock method.



Again, the 1st tier award will be the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, first received in 1941 as a ribbon. The second tier award will be the Navy Commendation Medal first received in 1943, as a ribbon. I realise I've taken a bit of license in putting these medals into the game, but the use of the Distinguished Service Medal, and Congressional Medal of Honor made much less sense.

This modification does more than simply change the type of medals issued. It has corrected the stock game and previous modded medal fix's in rearranging the "order" of medals issued.


I wish to acknowledge the work done by Metalledges, Midnite1977, and Ducimus for there initial efforts in working towards an authentic awards system for Silent Hunter 4. Without their efforts my contribution may not have been possible. Thanks to all for the great work done.

[aanker]

Thanks! How nice to log on and see your [REL]. Nice job.

Art

[Topo65]

Great Work! THX!!!

[Stary Wuj]

Thank You very much!

With Best Regards!

Stary Wuj

[Sea Otter]

CapnScurvy,

Thanks for this mod. It was much needed!

[TopcatWA]

The Realism just gets bettter & better. Thanks for the mod.

[Lt commander lare]

thanks for the mod this makes the game finally complete other than the lifeguard duty i have never been given that but its still the great game and if it wasnt for all the modders such as yourself the game would beright where it was when it was patched to 1.5 thanks again

lt commander lare

[CapnScurvy]

Thanks everyone for the support!!

I'm going to ask you for your input as you use the modification. I've tested the images to be correct, along with the labels and their presentation order. But, I admitt my tests are not 100% conclusive for an entire campaign from start to finish. What I'm concerned with is the possibility of having an award that seems "out of step" for the results of game play a player may have. What I would not want to see is a Navy Cross awarded for 10,000 tons on a 2nd patrol, when you receive a Bronze Star Medal on the 3rd patrol for 30,000 tons sunk. I would hope a progression of medal rank through out a campaign "seems right" for the tonnage, or number of successful patrols a player has. I believe a modifier for the award system is the number of successful patrols a player makes (the more patrols, the higher the award can be).

I also know that the quality of warships sunk modifies the award results. In my tests I would sink shipping, save the game, then commit sucide by crash diving to see what the game gave as a posthumous award. I found a high quality warship would give a higher ranked medal then a lesser quality warship. For instance, on my first patrol I had saved a game after sinking 1 merchant, and 2 destroyers totaling 6,805 tons. My award was just the Purple Heart; Ok, this sounds about right to me. I reloaded the game, added an Akitsu aircraft carrier and meet my end with 18,605 tons on the books. I received a Purple Heart and the Silver Star. I reloaded the same saved game point and added 1 Mogami CA and another DD for a 18,675 ton total. The awards were a Purple Heart, and a Bronze Star Medal. The point is the CV was appearently ranked higher in quality then the two combined CA and DD. Resulting in a difference in the medals awarded, EVEN though the CV tonnage was less than the other two combined. So be aware there may be some unsuspecting modifiers that play into the awards system.

Again, I would like to know if during your game play that the medals "seem correct" for the efforts you make. I feel I've got things right but, I'll not know for sure until many patrols are run with the results comparied.

[peabody]

Originally Posted by CapnScurvy

Thanks everyone for the support!!

I'm going to ask you for your input as you use the modification. I've tested the images to be correct, along with the labels and their presentation order. But, I admitt my tests are not 100% conclusive for an entire campaign from start to finish. What I'm concerned with is the possibility of having an award that seems "out of step" for the results of game play a player may have. What I would not want to see is a Navy Cross awarded for 10,000 tons on a 2nd patrol, when you receive a Bronze Star Medal on the 3rd patrol for 30,000 tons sunk. I would hope a progression of medal rank through out a campaign "seems right" for the tonnage, or number of successful patrols a player has. I believe a modifier for the award system is the number of successful patrols a player makes (the more patrols, the higher the award can be).

I also know that the quality of warships sunk modifies the award results. In my tests I would sink shipping, save the game, then commit sucide by crash diving to see what the game gave as a posthumous award. I found a high quality warship would give a higher ranked medal then a lesser quality warship. For instance, on my first patrol I had saved a game after sinking 1 merchant, and 2 destroyers totaling 6,805 tons. My award was just the Purple Heart; Ok, this sounds about right to me. I reloaded the game, added an Akitsu aircraft carrier and meet my end with 18,605 tons on the books. I received a Purple Heart and the Silver Star. I reloaded the same saved game point and added 1 Mogami CA and another DD for a 18,675 ton total. The awards were a Purple Heart, and a Bronze Star Medal. The point is the CV was appearently ranked higher in quality then the two combined CA and DD. Resulting in a difference in the medals awarded, EVEN though the CV tonnage was less than the other two combined. So be aware there may be some unsuspecting modifiers that play into the awards system.

Again, I would like to know if during your game play that the medals "seem correct" for the efforts you make. I feel I've got things right but, I'll not know for sure until many patrols are run with the results comparied.

Just a thought, but in the ships .cfg file is a "renown awarded" entry, possibly this might be some indicator of the 'value' the game places on the ship and may go hand in hand with the 'value' it places for medals????

Peabody

[CapnScurvy]

Originally Posted by Peabody

Just a thought, but in the ships .cfg file is a "renown awarded" entry, possibly this might be some indicator of the 'value' the game places on the ship and may go hand in hand with the 'value' it places for medals????

That's a good thought, but don't hold it for too long. :rotfl:

I checked the Akitsu .cfg file and it gives you 400 renown. However, the Mogami gives 500 renown plus the DD I sunk was an Asashio which gives 120 renown. Sooooo, the CV has 400 and the combined CA and DD is 620 renown!?! Unless something really is stinking here, the renown doesn't have much to do with the medals awarded. I could be wrong but, if you knew the mess the stock game files were in for the American medals you could easily argue the renown is screwed up too.

[peabody]

Originally Posted by CapnScurvy

That's a good thought, but don't hold it for too long. :rotfl:

The thought is gone. Maybe there is a built in craps table, it rolls the dice and that's what you get.

Peabody

[Nisgeis]

Maybe the awards are based on largest single unit tonnage, not cumulative tonnage? Try setting a destoryer to 16,000 tons and sinking one and seeing what you get.

Then again, if that doesn't work, it might be unit type based. The unit type is in the cfg file? Why not try changing the destroyer type to be the same type as the CV and re-sinking the destroyer (at the same tonnage as the CV) - see if you get the same reward as the first time with the CV. Or, it could be unit type and single unit tonnage based - set a destroyer to be same tonnage and type as a CV.

There was a priority order for targets, with CV and AO being at the top of the list. DDs were at the bottom of priority. Perhaps a better award would be given for two heavy cruisers than one, the same as a CV, which is higher on the list? Oh yeah and the priority changed throughout the war, so if the game models it, you may get different results depending on the year.

[CapnScurvy]

Nisgeis, you've got some interesting ideas there for testing!! You would be right to try those ideas for testing the "what or how" in figuring the awards calculations. It's just the system seems to work about right (whatever the process) for giving medals once the right medal order was figured out (I think). The process would be suspect of problems if a Coastal Merchant produced a larger award then say a Heavy Cruiser warship. However, as far as I know this is not the case. What I really need is some regular game play results with several patrols under the belt to see if the medals are still reasonably issued. I'm fairly certain the lower half of medals preform about right but, I'm concerned about the upper medals like the Silver Star, Navy Cross, The Congressional Medal of Honor being in a reasonable order for issue.

[groomsie]

Have has this downloaded for several days but needed to finish my patrol to activate the mod. Implemented last night and it looks great! Nice work.

[CapnScurvy]

I have updated the U.S. Medals Fix modification with the latest release date of Oct. 3 2008. Because of a conflict between the Captain's award and the crew awards where the same label description had to be used for both, I have decided to remove the "Dolphins Badge" from the Crew awards and replace this 1st tier award with the Navy Commendation Medal. This will allow for a better written award citation (which I also improved) for the Captain.

I also removed the conflicting medals from the Captain's Award Box (found in the office). No medals will be seen in the Box when opened now. However, when mouse clicking the interior, the screen will change to whatever medals the Captain has received along with the new written citation. To change medals (if more than one has been issued) clicking on the small "left hand" icons will take you to that specific medal.