[WIP] Cold War Mod

[Zel]

I'm working on a mod to implement basic cold war functionality to sh4. The game has many limitations, and realism is not possible, but I believe that challenging gameplay is possible. First, a big thank-you to DarkFish for the AI Launched Torpedoes mod. This was the starting point.

Completed features:
AI submarines and surface ships are able to launch torpedoes at the player while he is submerged. For a torpedo launch, a visual detection is necessary. The AI unit needs to be able to "see" underwater. The trick is, to get the visual sensor to behave like a hydrophone would. The influence of day/night and fog needs to be minimized. I got surprisingly good results! This modification affects surface warfare, but there are workarounds. One side effect is night vision for surface ships.

AI Launched mines: A torpedo is used to simulate a mine. A shallow mine is easy, but a deep mine is a problem - any time compression will mess it up. Because of this, a large proximity radius could be used. The mines have their own hyd_sound. A type of ping can be used, to simulate mine detecting sonar (heard at short range).

AI torpedo attack: The ai cannot determine player's depth, and each torpedo has it's own fixed depth. Again, a large proximity radius can be used to cover a lot of ground. Also, it's possible to have a deep, shallow and "middle" torpedo launcher. The modder can decide which one to mount (or all three, if desired). There was a lot of tuning done to the torpedo launchers to increase their accuracy. A salvo option is available, since the player can easily evade one torpedo.

Player submerged attack: The player can use his sonar ping freely, because the AI doesn't hear it (try it). There is a method to determine the exact depth of a target, using sonar. Thanks to homing torpedoes, a precise solution isn't necessary. The player will match his depth to the target's depth, and launch a fixed-depth torpedo. It stays at launch depth. There are also regular torpedoes, which go to their pre-set depth (in the sim file).

Air launched torpedoes/mines: this one is still somewhat buggy, but it's fun to watch planes decimate a convoy with torpedoes.

Extensible surface radar: replaces one of the periscopes.

Failed to complete:

Agressive behaviour of AI subs: the subs are pretty dumb. They have "merchant" behaviour: follow waypoints,zigzag and shoot. I've tried to make them act like a destroyer. almost had it..but the rudder stopped working. It was done by placing a Unit_Ship controller besides the Unit_Submarine controller in the sim file.

Anti ship / anti air missiles: I've got a launcher for them, but it's useless, since they don't collide with objects. The magnetic detonator doesn't trigger.

To do: further tuning of sensors and weapons. AI torpedo evasion if possible. Compatibility for 1.5 (using 1.4 now).

I hope this mod will be a step forward in making a cold war campaign for sh4. Check back for updates. Note: this mod will not contain cold-war units, only the sensors and wepons files.