[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.

[Zel]

Here's an update for those interested in the cold war mod!

I've made a sonobuoy, which is pre-placed in the mission editor. It's a static object, which will report the player's position to nearby asw assets (about 30km). Also increases the probability of an airstrike, according to airstrike.cfg. They are radar detectable, couldn't make them work otherwise. It's possible to set up an array, to cover a larger area.

Pre-placed minefields, as well as ai launched mines now have a hydrophone sound. It's a sonar ping, to simulate a mine sensing sonar. The player's autocrew does not detect them as a contact. Will have to adjust the volume to make them audible only at short range.

I've modified the surface radar to detect air units. This eliminates the need for air radar. Plus you can see them on your display.

The mark27 torpedo is modified to act exactly like a decoy. They have a long life, and they can be used as a navigational aid if you're playing without the sub marker. This is because you can hear the bubbles, and they respond to ping.

How to determine a target's depth: Since sh4 does not allow ai subs to change depth, they are cloned so that each clone has a different operating depth. We can give each clone a slightly different _hyd sound, for rough depth estimation. For a more precise depth estimation, this is the process:

The following conditions must be met to get a ping response from an ai submarine:
1. You must pinpoint the exact bearing (more precise than with ships)
2. Your sub must be horizontally levelled.
3. The target must be within +/- 47m depth relative to you.

Determining a target's depth means finding the lower or upper limit of the ping response. When you find it, add or subtract 47, and that's the target's depth. The tricky part is, you can't ping while changing depth, you have to wait until your sub is horizontally levelled. The enemy cannot hear you ping...

Note: because of this bug, playable surface units can only ping submarines which are up to 47m deep. Any deeper, and you won't get a return. That's the main reason why i stopped working with playable dd's. The other reason is, flak guns are the only functional AA weapon.

Going to work now with decoys for the AI.

[ElephantMemory]

sounds awesome I am a little late to this tread, and I was wondering if you have a list of the playable submarines that will be in this mod? Im sure you posted this already. I just really did not want to have to search though 40 something pages heh

thanks and good luck!

[Zel]

Thanks for the feedback! I haven't made any cold war submarines (i'm a newbie at 3d modeling), so the first version of this mod will include only ww2 equipment. Gato/Porpoise for the player and AI Uboats.

I'm doing testing with Fletcher and Mutsuki (both ai), so these will be included too.

Any playable sub will easily be implemented into this mod. It only needs some adjustments for RPM value, TorpMaxLaunchDepth, and torpedo loadout.

AI submarines won't be a problem, either. They just require editing .sns and .eqp files, to implement new sensors and weapon mounts. Then they would have to be cloned, to have them operating at different depths.

I think early cold war equipment would be appropriate.

Right now i'm focusing on functionality, and later, compatibility. I'm using 1.4 now (will upgrade to 1.5 someday)..so i would like to make this compatible for both 1.4 and 1.5.


After the mod is completed, and new subs and ships (and maybe planes) are included, it will be possible to make a campaign.

[ERPP8]

Originally Posted by Zel

Thanks for the feedback! I haven't made any cold war submarines (i'm a newbie at 3d modeling), so the first version of this mod will include only ww2 equipment. Gato/Porpoise for the player and AI Uboats.

I'm doing testing with Fletcher and Mutsuki (both ai), so these will be included too.

Any playable sub will easily be implemented into this mod. It only needs some adjustments for RPM value, TorpMaxLaunchDepth, and torpedo loadout.

AI submarines won't be a problem, either. They just require editing .sns and .eqp files, to implement new sensors and weapon mounts. Then they would have to be cloned, to have them operating at different depths.

I think early cold war equipment would be appropriate.

Right now i'm focusing on functionality, and later, compatibility. I'm using 1.4 now (will upgrade to 1.5 someday)..so i would like to make this compatible for both 1.4 and 1.5.


After the mod is completed, and new subs and ships (and maybe planes) are included, it will be possible to make a campaign.

Ask for permission first, but there is a Ohio SSBN and a Los Angeles class sub for download

[Zel]

During testing, i encountered a strange bug.

I have a scenario with 2 x fletcher VS 2 x mutsuki (all AI, set to elite). The ships are not in formation. Their starting positions and courses resemble an X.

In this scenario, one of the Fletchers does not detect the enemy at all. He doesn't change course or speed, or fire his weapons (even when fired upon). The other Fletcher works fine, he even fires torpedoes in the right direction. Interestingly enough, if i remove the second Fletcher, the first one will work properly!

Anyone have an idea what's going on?

[brabham85]

This mod will be the only reason that could make me install SH4 again!