[TEC] Operation Monsun/unlock all subs/techs in 1939?

[aMaschina]

Hey all,


I was looking for a type XXI for operation monsun with all techs in 1939, but as for now i am running into not working links for old mods, or - having tried to mod it myself, into crash to desktops when selecting the submarines in the drop down menu


I know this will be easy mode but I wanna try it.


Any advise?


Thanks

[Aktungbby]

aMaschina! after a long silent run!

[KaleunMarco]

Originally Posted by aMaschina

Hey all,


I was looking for a type XXI for operation monsun with all techs in 1939, but as for now i am running into not working links for old mods, or - having tried to mod it myself, into crash to desktops when selecting the submarines in the drop down menu


I know this will be easy mode but I wanna try it.


Any advise?


Thanks

welcome to subsim.
good luck with your attempt. why do you want to have a 1945 submarine in 1939? none of the other equipment for that boat is available, especially the torpedos. what you want to do is probably possible but you would have to modify all of the Type XXI files for not only the boat but also for related equipment aboard her. then you would have to modify the flotilla and base files to create a physical base and an administrative structure for the boat. then you would have to modify the career files to allow yourself to start a career in 1939 and to be assigned a Type XXI at an operating base with an operating flotilla. then you would need to create missions for the Type XXI.
lastly, the items above are the items that i can think of right here...right now. there are probably other issues which i have not recalled which will also need to be on the list of things to-do.

get the picture?
now...do not misunderstand me...what you want to do is possible but it is not an easy task.

good luck, kapitan!

[aMaschina]

Hmm i guess i just want to go on a rampage in godmode i guess. I did not know it was that much of a problem, i thought it was only changing the unlock years of the sub and some techs and there you go? I use monsun mod and it comes with a campaign.

[Sniper297]

Worst trouble with me trying to help is I have the 1.4 version, I tried 1.5 and it crashed more often than 1.4 on my system. That said, with Yankee Doodle subs the data is in the \Data\UPCData folder and subfolders, and all the .upc files can be edited in notepad. Trouble is there are several inter related files involved, for example I can change the Flotillas.upc file;

[Flotilla 2.UserPlayerUnitType 7]
ID= F2Gato
NameDisplayable= Gato class
AvailabilityInterval= NULL, NULL
IDLinkUserPlayerUnitType= Gato
UnitTypeCommonality= 10
IDFlotillaLinkTransferTo= NULL

So the GATO is available before 1943, then the CareerStart.upc file;

[CareerStart 1.Flotilla 2]
ID= C1Flotilla2
NameDisplayable= Manila
IDLinkFlotilla= FremantleCommand
IDLinkUserPlayerUnits= F2Sboat, 6, F2Porpoise, 7, F2Salmon, 6, F2Sargo, 11, F1Gato, 5
FlotillaBriefingText=
FlotillaCommonality= 2 ; to be used when a random choice is assigned

So the GATO is available in the Asiatic campaign at the start of the war. At the moment it keeps crashing, so there's another file somewhere I'm missing.

The German boats are probably somewhere else, but the trick will be to synchronize all the different files including upgrade packs to make it work.

Been a long time, but I have my SARGO set up for late war conning tower with SD and SJ-1 radar plus two 40mm BOFORS in 1941. As I recall it took a few weeks of hacking, crashing, restoring backup files and hacking again until I got a stable mod. If it was easy everyone would be doing it, so back up whatever folder the German subs use and keep trying. When the ATO mod is installed one trick to finding which files are affected is use the Windows search "when was it modified" and specify dates after 2010.

[propbeanie]

The German boats are in the same "Data / Submarine" folder as the US subs. For the subs, you might have to change the *.cfg file in the "Data / Roster / Country / Submarine" folder, as well as the one in the "Data / Submarine / SubName" folder. The SubName.upc file for the American subs, and the SubName.upcge files have to have their dates changed. In the "Data / UPCDataGE / UPCUnitsData" you would possibly have to changes dates in the Ammunition.upc, UnitPartsXSubName.upc, UpgradePacks.upc and Weapons.upc, if applicable to the submarine. The actual weapons are in the Library folder, and the turms are in the Objects folder, but there aren't any cfg files in there that I remember... can't think of any others off the top of my head... ETR3(SS) would have it for you in a jiffy. We gotta find that feller...

[aMaschina]

Overwhelmed by the support of this community

Will try to mess around with the files.

What do you think causes a ctd when i start a campaign while having the xxi chosen in the dropdown menu?

Are the techs needed for the sub not around in 1939?

[Sniper297]

Same thing I got yesterday with the GATO first attempt, numbers in the files don't match. Looking at my previous post;

[CareerStart 1.Flotilla 2]
ID= C1Flotilla2
NameDisplayable= Manila
IDLinkFlotilla= FremantleCommand
IDLinkUserPlayerUnits= F2Sboat, 6, F2Porpoise, 7, F2Salmon, 6, F2Sargo, 11, F1Gato, 5
FlotillaBriefingText=
FlotillaCommonality= 2 ; to be used when a random choice is assigned

[Flotilla 2.UserPlayerUnitType 7]
ID= F2Gato
NameDisplayable= Gato class
AvailabilityInterval= NULL, NULL
IDLinkUserPlayerUnitType= Gato
UnitTypeCommonality= 10
IDFlotillaLinkTransferTo= NULL

Note that the numbers don't match, and further down in the careerstart.upc is the availability of the GATO if you start a career in Brisbane 1943;

[CareerStart 3.Flotilla 3]
ID= C3Flotilla3
NameDisplayable= Brisbane
IDLinkFlotilla= BrisbaneCommand
IDLinkUserPlayerUnits= F3Sboat, 6, F3Sboat2, 6, F3Salmon, 3, F3Sargo, 3, F3Gato, 4, F3Gar, 4, F3Porpoise, 2
FlotillaBriefingText=
FlotillaCommonality= 1 ; to be used when a random choice is assigned

So I have an F1, F2, and F3 designation for the same sub type in the same career, which would crash anything.

What I did to fix that was go with the F3Gato in both files in both places, once the conflicts were dealt with it worked, although I still got the error message when exiting the program. And the early war conning tower and weapons availability;

Propbeanie. I reverse engineered what I did with the SARGO, for the GATO it was simpler. Using the PORPOISE as an example (since I haven't modded that one), in the \Submarine\NSS_Porpoise\NSS_Porpoise.upc file;

[UserPlayerUnit 1.UnitPartSlot 1]
ID=PorpoiseConningSlot
NameDisplayable=Conning Tower Slot
Type=NULL
AcceptedTypes=PClassConningTower
IDLinkUnitPartIntervalDefault1= NULL, 1942-07-31, PClassConningEarlyWar
IDLinkUnitPartIntervalDefault2= 1942-08-01, 1943-05-31, PClassConningHalfCut
IDLinkUnitPartIntervalDefault3= 1943-06-01, NULL, PClassConningLateWar
ExternalNodeName3D= Z01

Change that to read;

[UserPlayerUnit 1.UnitPartSlot 1]
ID=PorpoiseConningSlot
NameDisplayable=Conning Tower Slot
Type=NULL
AcceptedTypes=PClassConningTower
IDLinkUnitPartIntervalDefault1= NULL, 1942-07-31, PClassConningLateWar
IDLinkUnitPartIntervalDefault2= 1942-08-01, 1943-05-31, PClassConningLateWar
IDLinkUnitPartIntervalDefault3= 1943-06-01, NULL, PClassConningLateWar
ExternalNodeName3D= Z01

Then you have the late war tower always. GATO has an "ELITE" tower that comes stock with 40mm BOFORS guns, so if I replace all 3 of the other towers with the ELITE then I can start the war with a GATO that already has the cut down tower, SD improved, SJ-1, and the 40s, in Manila. Still returns the error message exiting the game though, dunno what that's all about.

SARGO doesn't have an "ELITE" tower, so for that I had to screw around in the upgrade packs, UnitParts6Sargo.upc I changed the AA slots to read;

[UnitPart 1.UpgradePackSlot 1]
ID= UpgAAGun
NameDisplayable= Anti-Aircraft Gun
Type=NULL
AcceptedTypes=USLightAA, USHeavyAA, USHeavyAA
UserCustomizable=Yes
IDLinkUpgradePackSlots= CTBackAA
IDLinkUpgradePackSlotsIntervalDefault1= NULL, NULL, Upack40mmSingle

Again, for aMaschina, this is where the crashes happen - the game reads the \Submarine\NSS_Sargo\NSS_Sargo.upc file, notes it has an early war conning tower so adds that, then tries to add the Upack40mmSingle guns specified in the UnitParts6Sargo.upc as default, and it won't fit, game crashes. There's no report on WHY the crash, so it takes some skull sweat to track these things down. Studying (1) all the files affecting the subtype you want to drive, and (2) all the campaign files that specify sub types, weapons, and dates available, plus whatever other files specify dates that the weapons were available.

Be advised you might succeed then discover you don't like your new mod, a few months ago I made a little mod to make the US Mark 16 torpedo as the default for all subs. After a few weeks of testing I found that it made the game so ridiculously easy there was no fun in it, so I got rid of that.

[aMaschina]

I started messing around with a fresh copy/uboat missions/monsun mod


I can select the type XXI in the dropdown menu of 1st Flottilla in 1939 but when I want to proceed to the office, it crashes


Been also messing around with earlier recommended files (upgradepacks, ammunition, submarine related files - goal was to lower the unlock date of everything I came across to 1939 but no cigar right now.


What in the context of modding does "NULL" mean - no specific date given (so always available?)

[KaleunMarco]

Originally Posted by aMaschina

What in the context of modding does "NULL" mean - no specific date given (so always available?)

it means either earliest available date or latest available date depending on the placement. so if you see NULL, 1942-10-01 it means that the item is available from the start of the next limiting factor until October 1, 1942.
if you see 1942-10-01, NULL, it means that the item is first available October 1, 1942 until the next limiting factor.
lastly, NULL,NULL means that the item is always available within the context of the next limiting factor.


the "next limiting factor" could be a flotilla or a base or a boat, etc.
for example, you could see an Equipment definition of NULL, NULL which means that it is always available but the boat it is assigned to may have other date limitations. does that make sense?

[aMaschina]

Originally Posted by KaleunMarco

it means either earliest available date or latest available date depending on the placement. so if you see NULL, 1942-10-01 it means that the item is available from the start of the next limiting factor until October 1, 1942.
if you see 1942-10-01, NULL, it means that the item is first available October 1, 1942 until the next limiting factor.
lastly, NULL,NULL means that the item is always available within the context of the next limiting factor.


the "next limiting factor" could be a flotilla or a base or a boat, etc.
for example, you could see an Equipment definition of NULL, NULL which means that it is always available but the boat it is assigned to may have other date limitations. does that make sense?

Thank your for clarification.


I have been succesful in adding the type XXI to a flottila in dezember 1st, 1944 and launched a campaign, I did the same to a flotilla in 1939 and was able to chose the sub in the dropdown, however it crashed.


It has me thinking that there is still a file missing that says this tech/sub is not valid before 1944.

[propbeanie]

Did you edit the SubName.upcge file in the "Data / Submarine / SubName /" folder? You have to change its availability dates there. The flotilla availability dates have to be valid, and the missions assigned in the Flotilla.upc file also have to be valid.

[Sniper297]

I think you nailed the crash on exit with my GATO experiment, I didn't even look but it says;

UnitInterval= 1941-12-31, 1967-06-01

Asiatic career starts Dec 9 or 10, GATO is available starting Dec 31, so the dates in the Flotillas.upc, UnitParts1Gato.upc, and NSS_Gato.upc all have to match. At least those three, possibly there are more.

EDIT: Yep, CareerStart.upc is also involved.

[propbeanie]

"My, what a tangled web they weave"...

[Sniper297]

Worst trouble with trying to troubleshoot is half the files are leftovers from SH3, and it takes a lot of experimenting before you find which files and parts of files are actually used, and which were just left in due to sloppy cleanup.