[WIP] Wolves of the Kaiser:1914-1918 Mod

[Bubblehead1980]

Originally Posted by iambecomelife

Tired of bare, lonely decks when you return to port after a successful mission?

Miss having the boys "man the rail"? Like in Aces of the Deep, SH3, and a certain movie I'm sure nobody here has heard of?









Well, Wolves of the Kaiser has got you covered...
An easy addition - just tweak the standard SH4 snorkel and add visibleunderwater controllers via S3D. Yes, they appear and disappear with no problem by pressing the "I" key ... so you will not have crew on deck throughout combat & at inappropriate times.

Will likely add several animated crew, and will polish up the models a bit, depending on the final framerates. Working on animated crew bodies now. A related plan is for simple animation of crew on the submarine walking through compartments - doing a few easily modeled tasks like serving coffee, oiling parts, and cleaning floors.

I already have a walking and panic/running animated surface ship figure that I will post images/video of later - higher detail than the standard SH3/SH4 AI ship crew. It works well and will be adapted to the many different sailors/soldiers/snobby 1st class passengers/refugees/fishermen for the ships you encounter.

The way I see it, no reason not to adapt it to the player's submarine.

This is amazing, always wanted this, yet another UBI oversight. Would great to incorporate into the pacific side. You are doing some amazing work!

[Niume]

Originally Posted by iambecomelife

Tired of bare, lonely decks when you return to port after a successful mission?

Miss having the boys "man the rail"? Like in Aces of the Deep, SH3, and a certain movie I'm sure nobody here has heard of?









Well, Wolves of the Kaiser has got you covered...
An easy addition - just tweak the standard SH4 snorkel and add visibleunderwater controllers via S3D. Yes, they appear and disappear with no problem by pressing the "I" key ... so you will not have crew on deck throughout combat & at inappropriate times.

Will likely add several animated crew, and will polish up the models a bit, depending on the final framerates. Working on animated crew bodies now. A related plan is for simple animation of crew on the submarine walking through compartments - doing a few easily modeled tasks like serving coffee, oiling parts, and cleaning floors.

I already have a walking and panic/running animated surface ship figure that I will post images/video of later - higher detail than the standard SH3/SH4 AI ship crew. It works well and will be adapted to the many different sailors/soldiers/snobby 1st class passengers/refugees/fishermen for the ships you encounter.

The way I see it, no reason not to adapt it to the player's submarine.

This is great

[Hitman]

Actually the snorkel could be a great way of implementing in the old petrol boatds the foldable chimeny they had to use on the surface. By tweaking the deph at which it can be used/not used you could maybe enforce its use on surface and not have the engines start unless it's up.

[iambecomelife]

Originally Posted by Hitman

Actually the snorkel could be a great way of implementing in the old petrol boatds the foldable chimeny they had to use on the surface. By tweaking the deph at which it can be used/not used you could maybe enforce its use on surface and not have the engines start unless it's up.

Good point. Another way to do this is to use S3D Editor and mod it in as a fake dive plane, "stealing" the dive plane extension/retraction animation from stock SH4 sub. That is how I modded in retractable masts on the U-31/U-35 model.
Unfortunately that method does not limit engine use if the stack isn't raised.

Too bad I can't use the dive plane method for the crew on deck bc then they will be on deck automatically at all times when surfaced. If anyone knows how to implement different extensibles with different key combos, please let me know.

[Mad Mardigan]

Originally Posted by iambecomelife

Good point. Another way to do this is to use S3D Editor and mod it in as a fake dive plane, "stealing" the dive plane extension/retraction animation from stock SH4 sub. That is how I modded in retractable masts on the U-31/U-35 model.
Unfortunately that method does not limit engine use if the stack isn't raised.

Too bad I can't use the dive plane method for the crew on deck bc then they will be on deck automatically at all times when surfaced. If anyone knows how to implement different extensibles with different key combos, please let me know.

On the crew on deck... would not the cmd structure for the SH3 version, not work with using it in SH4... perhaps.???

Just a thought...



M. M.

[iambecomelife]

Originally Posted by Mad Mardigan

On the crew on deck... would not the cmd structure for the SH3 version, not work with using it in SH4... perhaps.???

Just a thought...



M. M.

Not a bad idea; I will try this. I have dl'ed the SH3 mod and am looking into the structure.

My plan is to have different key combos so you can simulate rescue parties, demolition parties, funerals for dead crew, etc.

At the very least crew at attention will be included, probably using the snorkel slot.

Tried and failed to get a crewman waving his cap added to the men on deck; however, I think I know where I went wrong and will try again this evening.

In other news, finished adding new high-res bronze propellers to the submarine, plus propeller shafts and tail assembly, all looking nice. (Note the screenshots above don't show the props, they were not complete and very ugly at the time.)

Conducted a stress test with about 40-50 men on deck in a mission with 10 high detailed battleships, plus heavy particle effects. No framerate problems!

Lowering the poly count on tank openings tonight too.

Also researching old photos etc to convert the U-31 model to U-23 Class, and then U-27 Class - very similar boats.

[Mad Mardigan]

Originally Posted by iambecomelife

Not a bad idea; I will try this. I have dl'ed the SH3 mod and am looking into the structure.

My plan is to have different key combos so you can simulate rescue parties, demolition parties, funerals for dead crew, etc.

At the very least crew at attention will be included, probably using the snorkel slot.

Tried and failed to get a crewman waving his cap added to the men on deck; however, I think I know where I went wrong and will try again this evening.

In other news, finished adding new high-res bronze propellers to the submarine, plus propeller shafts and tail assembly, all looking nice. (Note the screenshots above don't show the props, they were not complete and very ugly at the time.)

Conducted a stress test with about 40-50 men on deck in a mission with 10 high detailed battleships, plus heavy particle effects. No framerate problems!

Lowering the poly count on tank openings tonight too.

Also researching old photos etc to convert the U-31 model to U-23 Class, and then U-27 Class - very similar boats.

not a prob... it works... will be glad knowing on having helped with a solution...



M. M.

[Hitman]

Originally Posted by iambecomelife

Too bad I can't use the dive plane method for the crew on deck bc then they will be on deck automatically at all times when surfaced. If anyone knows how to implement different extensibles with different key combos, please let me know.

IIRC there was an extendable radar mast? That for sure has no use in WW1

Originally Posted by iambecomelife

Unfortunately that method does not limit engine use if the stack isn't raised.

I think it will if your sub is never surfaced, the engine will only work when the snorkel is extended. Probably setting the minimum depth of the whole boat to be underwater can do that?

[iambecomelife]

Originally Posted by Hitman

IIRC there was an extendable radar mast? That for sure has no use in WW1




I think it will if your sub is never surfaced, the engine will only work when the snorkel is extended. Probably setting the minimum depth of the whole boat to be underwater can do that?

Ah, I see what you're saying. And I will look for the radar mast this evening, thanks for the idea!

To you all, a few more screenshots will be posted later today.

Various aspects going extremely well:

-New crew page background has been created
-Animated crew on deck for when you return to port
-Researching the top aces list is going nicely; tonnage scores for the years 1914 and 1915 have been finished
-Cleaned up the U-35 model based on photographic evidence. Corrected mis-textured areas.
-Designed lower poly U-Boat tank openings that look better and have less performance cost.
-Successfully implemented interior crew movement using rotation controllers!
Confirmed it is theoretically possible to have crewmen randomly walking and performing tasks on the boat.
I won't bother you with all the details but this is a supplement to the "official" method of placing crew used by the developers.
Ducimus created a nice tutorial on how the official method is done:

https://www.subsim.com/radioroom/sho....php?p=1513272

The catch is you are limited to the positions, movements, and accessories created by the SH4 developers.
With new method, you simply insert an .obj with mesh controllers or rotation controllers to imitate body animation. Y
ou can have crewmen dressed however you want doing whatever you want with any accessories you like.
The main problem is skin textures are somewhat inferior to stock SH4 bodies, but in my opinion it is worth it!
It makes SH4 a bit more like UBoat in a good way.

Again, new screenshots coming today and hope to also start posting new videos in the near future - they will be the first videos since the Lusitania movie.

[vickers03]

Originally Posted by iambecomelife

-Successfully implemented interior crew movement using rotation controllers!
Confirmed it is theoretically possible to have crewmen randomly walking and performing tasks on the boat.

very impressive!

[Jeff-Groves]

Maybe an early version of SH4 has that NAB file cause mine don't.
I guess I have to install the 1st release?

[iambecomelife]

Originally Posted by Jeff-Groves

Maybe an early version of SH4 has that NAB file cause mine don't.
I guess I have to install the 1st release?

NAB file - what is that?

[iambecomelife]

Different paint schemes for player units.







Propellers I designed and textured for the U-31 Class.





U-31 Class underwater. Next work will be on more wiring, torpedo tube doors, and dive planes.








Implemented new crewman running on deck of the battleship in a successful test. The figures are more detailed than the standard SH4 AI ship crew; they are based on the submarine crew models in part. As mentioned before, the idea is to have various characters spawn and take action on ships in emergency situations.



Partially animated crew on deck for the player submarines.







Stress testing with a squadron of highly detailed battleships & heavy particle effects. Got good framerates and the ships are not even fully optimized yet; I'll be using controllers in S3d so that small items and crewmen are not rendered on distant ships.

[Kapitain Oliver Leinkraunt]

Awsome work
Can't wait to see screenshot of other units and new videos

[Mad Mardigan]

Ahoy, IamBecomeLife...

Understandably curious, on that idea I had, concerning crew on deck...

Any opportunity, to investigate & see if that idea I had on that worked...?

Just wondering, as I hope you did have an opportunity to check & see if it did... & that it worked.



M. M.