[REL] OLC GUI for GWX 1.03

[onelifecrisis]

Originally Posted by looney

Thought about the range on the surface some more and I must admit firing point blank sounds lots of fun.

I am looking into getting the Range/AOB Finder onto the UZO (putting it in menu_1024_768.ini is easy enough, but I need certain changes to the UZO camera which might be more difficult) but I'm not sure yet whether to release a version with it. From my point of view...

Pros: The point-blank surface night attack may have been viable IRL but in SH3/GWX you'll be spotted at that range, except in the worst possible kind of weather. Therefore the player needs the tools necessary to make a night-time surface attack at medium range.

Cons: The player already has those tools! The WO can tell you the range and (if you have tracked the target and put yourself in a good 90-degree firing position) the AOB can be calculated easily based on the target's course.

It's a tough one. :hmm:

Maybe I should post a poll

[Trefoil]

I like making night surface attacks early in the war and have found if you keep the torpedo's gyroangle close to zero, you can get away with very rough range estimates, even at longer distances, as long as you know the ship's speed, precisely.

OLC, if you do decide to put the range/AOB finder on the UZO, in a future update, could you possibly add it as an optional extra or at least give some instructions on editing the files to disable it? I've always used the WO to give a ship's range on the surface, as you suggested. I like your mod a lot, because it adds reality to the game. Using the range/AOB finder on the surface might spoil the illusion for me. (of course, I know I'm not really Otto Kretschmer.)

As a side note, I' ve tried using Dertien's excellent Flash whizwheel, mentioned by Friedl9te, but using alt-tab during the game often seems to make the game unstable, affecting certain graphics like the charts, etc. Has anyone got any tips for using alt-tab without causing problems?

[onelifecrisis]

Originally Posted by Trefoil

I like making night surface attacks early in the war and have found if you keep the torpedo's gyroangle close to zero, you can get away with very rough range estimates, even at longer distances, as long as you know the ship's speed, precisely.

OLC, if you do decide to put the range/AOB finder on the UZO, in a future update, could you possibly add it as an optional extra or at least give some instructions on editing the files to disable it? I've always used the WO to give a ship's range on the surface, as you suggested. I like your mod a lot, because it adds reality to the game. Using the range/AOB finder on the surface might spoil the illusion for me. (of course, I know I'm not really Otto Kretschmer.)

As a side note, I've tried using Dertien's excellent Flash whizwheel, mentioned by Friedl9te, but using alt-tab during the game often seems to make the game unstable, affecting certain graphics like the charts, etc. Has anyone got any tips for using alt-tab without causing problems?

It's great to hear from someone who likes what I've tried to do with the UZO

I think the idea with the flash thing is to have 2 monitors and put it on the other one, so no alt-tabbing is required... sorry I know that's not much help if you only have one monitor :hmm:

You might find SH3 a little more resistant to alt-tabbing if you set your desktop resolution to 1024x768 before you start the game.

[Friedl9te]

Using an extra monitor could be a solution.
But before starting the game the main monitor resolution should be adjusted to the stock SHIII settings 1024x768 if stock resolution setting is used..

I like OLCs mod very much, its really great. As an appreciation I try to contribute a little bit. Shure, peanuts compared to what OLC did but maybe somebody likes it.

The only thing i was not so happy with, is the chronointerface. You know somebody found that the circular slideruler could easily calculate the speed from the reading of seconds of the speed measurement. So the coloured skales are not necessary.

Therefore I made a simple Junghans clockface, which can be easily copied and pasted in the periscope.tga and the uzo.tga, if somebody wants to try it and is used to work with PSP or similar programs, here is the link. You can regard it as a template to inspire your phantasy.

http://rapidshare.com/files/66145439/JunghansChrono.tga

[Trefoil]

Many thanks for your speedy reply & the update to your mod. I do have an old monitor I can dust off & use, if I can find room for it amongst the PC, printer, scanner, 5.1 surround sound system, headphones, joystick, cat etc. - Nothing wrong with my carbon footprint.

Good luck with your plan to include the attack disc on the attack map screen, technical difficulties allowing - A great place for it.

In response to your point about the difficulty of making point-blank attacks in SH3/GWX - I do find it makes a big difference if you appoach using decks awash & follow Hitman's tip of presenting your bow to the target(s). However, I do use a modified AI_sensors.dat included in Rubini's Stay Alert Crew Fix mod which may make this easier.

[onelifecrisis]

Originally Posted by Trefoil

In response to your point about the difficulty of making point-blank attacks in SH3/GWX - I do find it makes a big difference if you appoach using decks awash & follow Hitman's tip of presenting your bow to the target(s).

*re-reads Hitmans post*

Ahhh... now I get it. I can't say I've ever tried that approach, but now that I understand it, I certainly want to!

[U49]

Target was a CL Dido class at night

I shot with AOB 70, 3600m, target speed estimated 32kts. As learned before I added 1 knot to the estimated speed...
First try produced a hit in the stern which sunk that cruiser.
Call it luck

Next time I will better shoot 2 torpedos with 1 deg spread?

[looney]

Again on surface attacks. I like to make precise attacks. If I set up shots to hit under the funnel I want the torp to hit under the funnel. And thus I need a good guestimate, on range and AoB (speed I got by tracking a target) but the final approach I like to take 2 - 3 range estimates, using stadimeter. Compare them with the track of target I made on the nav screen. and readjust AoB.

But I must admit I useally make my attacks from PD and 90° AoB... takes me like 2 hours realtime to track and make solution just to be precise.

Anyway I love the new GUI, makes the game much more exciting. I GOT to remember to set the TDC back on autotrack . Made me miss 4 torps again just like yesterday . Daylight below surface attacks so nothing to with UZO.

Anyway a convoy is waiting for me

[Jhereg]

Thank you for the update OLC!

By the way I also like what you did with the UZO as all it did was repeat bearings to the TDC and provide a brighter easier to see presentation of the target in question. Good Job.

I especially appreciate the CE rports fix

[onelifecrisis]

Jhereg, glad you approve

Regarding target speed

I too am finding that adding about 1 knot to my firing solution improves my accuracy. However this seems to have nothing to do with the chrono! I can determine target speed by other methods such as charting the target over time and using the speed charts in GWX to determine it's speed, and I get the same result as I do with the chrono... and the same innacuracy on the shots! It seems like a stock behaviour of some kind, which might explain why the solutions provided by the weapons officer, when I used to use him, always used to hit the stern of the target.

So yeah, I agree with adding 0.5 or 1.0 knots to the solution, but I don't think it's the fault of the tools.

Cheers
OLC

[looney]

You guys do open Torp doors b4 firing not??? Cause the delay you guys have sounds like a shot delay. I have no probs on getting good solution.

[Trefoil]

OLC, I noticed when first trying out the mod that the shortcut button for opening the torpedo doors did not seem to be working as I expected it to. ie. the same as pressing the "Q" key on the keyboard to open the selected doors.

I had a look at the Commands_En.cfg and compared it to the one in the GWX integrated orders folder. The original has the shortcut button attached to Cmd310 - Open_sel_torpedo_tube. Yours has the button attached to Cmd308 - Open_torpedo_tube.

This may be causing the shot delay if the shortcut button, as set up, is not actually open the torpedo doors. Of course, if you're using the "Q" key, then ignore all the above.

[onelifecrisis]

Originally Posted by Trefoil

OLC, I noticed when first trying out the mod that the shortcut button for opening the torpedo doors did not seem to be working as I expected it to. ie. the same as pressing the "Q" key on the keyboard to open the selected doors.

I had a look at the Commands_En.cfg and compared it to the one in the GWX integrated orders folder. The original has the shortcut button attached to Cmd310 - Open_sel_torpedo_tube. Yours has the button attached to Cmd308 - Open_torpedo_tube.

This may be causing the shot delay if the shortcut button, as set up, is not actually open the torpedo doors. Of course, if you're using the "Q" key, then ignore all the above.

Doh! Thanks Trefoil - will be fixed in the next version

[onelifecrisis]

Another very minor update but quite an important one. The open/close tube buttons (which were added after the end of the beta test ) have been fixed. While I was in there I moved the ship identification button to a much more sensible position.

Click the link in my sig to download.

OLC

[Friedl9te]

Regarding the torpedotube issue. You can lock the shoot command easily, it means "Door is closed -> Torpedo can not be released"
"Door ist opened manually -> Torpedo can be released"

You have to use the MiniTweaker
Load file NSS_UBootXX_sim.txt from the directory \Tweakfiles\ in Tweaker
(XX represents boattype, stands for II, VII, IX, XXI)
then change the value auto_open Torpedo from 1 auf 0 . Thats it !

From now on you have to open the tubes manually before shooting.
Prevents also from unwanted shoots, because you touched the "Enter Key" by chance.