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

[iambecomelife]

Originally Posted by juliantheblaze22

Been following this mod for along time im very excited, i also you guys have made alot of progress. Is their any estimate on a test version yet?

I will try to get something out by late Spring 2024. I am considering a demo version that showcases the new interiors, damage effects, weather, and has a small unit roster that will include RMS Lusitania. And likely a single mission for May 1915, in which you patrol off the Head of Kinsale in Ireland and intercept the Lusitania.

Good news, I have flown back after Thanksgiving (I can't stand American Airlines!!!!) At least they got me to the Left Coast in one piece, in between my job hrs I am hard at work on the Petty Officer's quarters and commander's bed! TMore to come soon.

[1Patriotofmany]

To be honest I could give a rats ass about the interior, would it be possible to get it out sooner with out the detailed interiors so we can start sinking those damn limeys? And regarding airlines, just give frontier a try and you'll want to slit your wrist before you get there 24 hours late with 3 delays.......

[KaleunMarco]

Originally Posted by 1Patriotofmany

To be honest I could give a rats

 

ass

about the interior, would it be possible to get it out sooner with out the detailed interiors so we can start sinking those

 

damn

limeys? And regarding airlines, just give frontier a try and you'll want to slit your wrist before you get there 24 hours late with 3 delays.......

ease up on the salty language, ok?
"No vulgarities, obscenities, hate speech, or foul language. Do not use *******ing w*rds with aster*cks, that's the same thing as vulgar languge."

https://www.subsim.com/radioroom/faq.php


KM
Moderator.

[iambecomelife]

Originally Posted by 1Patriotofmany

To be honest I could give a rats about the interior, would it be possible to get it out sooner with out the detailed interiors so we can start sinking those damn limeys? And regarding airlines, just give frontier a try and you'll want to slit your wrist before you get there 24 hours late with 3 delays.......

Hey there! After some consideration I'll definitely try to get a demo out sooner; I will attempt late winter - in the interest of saving time I agree, the full interiors will not be in the demo version.

Weekly Update:

This was not a full week of work due to me vacationing with no PC access, but upon return more progress was made on the PO's quarters! Cabinets and bunks are nearly finished, now I need a little piping and I need to model lamps, foldable tables, PA system speakers, and Naval telephones.....found a very nice source for modeling the phones on an Axis militaria page.

Still watching "Das Boot" and looking at images of surviving Uboats quarters - like U-505 and U-995; WWI crew quarter pics are very rare but the bedding arrangements for WWI and WWII boats were quite similar.

Good news in re: animal modeling, I found free sources for cows, horses, and sheep! It may seem like a small thing but this is a big help to me; it means no time wasted making livestock and about $60 - $120 saved, since I will no longer need to buy animal packs. All I will have to do is make different fur/skin colors, very easy.

Also spent time researching when aces reached certain milestones; you will receive intelligence messages when Von Arnauld, Hans Rose, Hersing, and others get to the 50,000 GRT mark and the 100,000 GRT mark. At which point they get recommended for medals, IIRC about 50,000 was needed for Hanseatic Cross, 75,000 for Hohenzollern Order, and 100,000 for Blue Max/Pour le Merite!

Also spent time rearranging the S Boat interior for use as the interior base, this has gone very well.... I now successfully placed the dive plane operators so that they are on the correct side (Starboard) and removed the radar station. Interior stations will be very crowded! With all the processing power of modern PC's there's no reason not to have an interior with 20-30 men visible; I have gotten no slowdowns on my old computer while conducting tests.

Take care all, I will try to have pics of additional interior parts and other stuff posted this evening or in 1-2 days along with facebook updates!

[bricko]

@1Patriotofmany

That was a little rash for a lone developer. I understand your point, and I agree with it, but that was a tad bit uncalled for.

bricko

[iambecomelife]

12/06/23 update:






Images of the latest sea state changes; I will probably reduce choppiness at lower windspeeds. SH4 tends to repeat the same wave patterns too many times, so the whole thing is a delicate balance. I have a few ideas as to how to make lighting on water better; I will try them as the mod approaches its conclusion!

More importantly - the interiors. More beds and clutter created for the PO quarters - still need to finish the telephone system and some furniture, plus lamps.

Started swapping out the American equipment in the "S" Class..... now there is a working German depth meter and engine room telegraph. Disregard the US equipment that still exists - it will of course be removed as modding progresses. Again, note that I did not have access to my PC for multiple days, so things still look rough. A very large number of items and many rooms will be added in the coming days....at which point you will no longer recognize the standard "S" class interior.

[Kapitain Oliver Leinkraunt]

It's so nice to see there so many improvements on your project; I really love the new interiors and can't wait for the demo; in fact i think i have to rework on my sound mod if you haven't already did it.


btw, I was viewing again your work on the interfaces and i thought I could be, some way, useful on this thing too.

Originally Posted by iambecomelife

"U-BOAT" from Rössler has some of the most detailed drawings of imperial navy's submarines, so I took ones for the sub. you want in your first release and bit modified with my phone (to make them look like an old "blueprint"), so you can use them as sub. figures for the interface. Hope you like them
U9/12 class boat
https://imgur.com/rjR515Z
U19/22 class
https://imgur.com/pH7Tdnl
U23/26 class
https://imgur.com/MnE3BIO
U27/30 class
https://imgur.com/CQISnKn
U31/41 class
https://imgur.com/HCdbm92
U51/56
https://imgur.com/C7QmZOq
U63/65 class
https://imgur.com/7hiU2vs
U81/86 class
https://imgur.com/ukPghcH
U87/92 class
https://imgur.com/6s8yXat
U139/141 class
https://imgur.com/ilbTymD
UB1/B17 class
https://imgur.com/oouoaQG

[iambecomelife]

Thank you for the images! I love old blueprints, the ones in "Shells of Fury"
were absolutely grand and added a lot to the interface of that game - something
similar should be done for SH4 mods of all kinds.

I am on lunch break now and drinking lots of coffee!!
Got a long night ahead of me, with much more interior stuff.

The animated German engine room telegraph was a nightmare to add,
this modding process really has a way of humbling you... but
now that it's in and finally displaying proper speeds I will improve it.

Think I will make the Tiefenmessers/dive gauges less colorful -
based on one of my few color sources, the depth gauges in WWI Uboat control rooms were
red, and black on a white face - no green and yellow trim, like on WWII boats.
IMHO the WWII style gauges from Das Boot etc look too colorful/"modern".
Any thoughts??

Also, a lot of brass-colored faces and trim were used for gauges and instruments,
in WWI UBoats, so I will replace the low polygon items with more detailed frames
that have nuts/bolts and a shinier surface. More news coming very soon!

[vickers03]

Think I will make the Tiefenmessers/dive gauges less colorful -
based on one of my few color sources, the depth gauges in WWI Uboat control rooms were
red, and black on a white face - no green and yellow trim, like on WWII boats.
IMHO the WWII style gauges from Das Boot etc look too colorful/"modern".
Any thoughts??

check U-995 for more realistic instruments..Das Boot has some movie
"inventions" e.g. dark grey interiors, red lights (mostly used on american boats as far as i know)..

[1Patriotofmany]

Originally Posted by KaleunMarco

ease up on the salty language, ok?
"No vulgarities, obscenities, hate speech, or foul language. Do not use *******ing w*rds with aster*cks, that's the same thing as vulgar languge."

https://www.subsim.com/radioroom/faq.php


KM
Moderator.

10-4 Sir, would rats butt and darned pass muster? I apologize to iambecomelife, I'm just so excited, I want to play this so bad. I appreciate and many others, probably thousands will also appreciate your labor! Why isn't we can't contribute financially to the the project?

[KaleunMarco]

Originally Posted by 1Patriotofmany

10-4 Sir, would rats butt and darned pass muster?

lol. re-think a response.

Originally Posted by 1Patriotofmany

Why isn't we can't contribute financially to the the project?

read the FAQ's.
we do not do that here at subsim. no fees. no sub-contracts.
this is fun. are we having fun yet?

[iambecomelife]

No offense taken I didn't feel insulted or anything! And thanks for the offer but money is not really a concern right now.

December 8th update:

-Finished new brass depth meter and engine room telegraph for the control room

-Got depth meter to display accurate depths using .Sim file edits

-Continued a very intensive exam of UB-110's interior....by far the best WWI sub interior photos.

-Designed new high poly valve wheels for the interior

-Began work on high poly food for the control room, there will be hams and sausages hanging like in Das Boot

-Researched SH4 Ambient Occlusion and bump mapping....took many hours but worth it I now know how to make textures much more realistic

[vickers03]

Originally Posted by iambecomelife

-Researched SH4 Ambient Occlusion and bump mapping....took many hours but worth it I now know how to make textures much more realistic

did you find a way to make it work with the unified render controller (interiors)?

[iambecomelife]

[QUOTE=vickers03;2894999]did you find a way to make it work with the unified render controller (interiors)?[/QUOTE

Sometimes... but it is still touch and go .. I am a beginner, one thing I had not realized was that Wings3d can occlude models itself for you, and SH4 render controller displays them fine! Embarrassed I didn't know this.. no need for a 3rd party AO map baking software.

Some items are displaying OK with render controllers except for the fact that they are ugly/grayed out...much more work trial and error to come this weekend. Expect more screenshots and videos soon guys!

[iambecomelife]

Short private message sent to Jeff, Kapt. Lehmann, Oliver, and other recent contributors, please do not share for now. Many thanks!

I will say that the engine room is under construction and things are going great. As planned, one medium-sized sub interior with a couple engine/torpedo room variants has definitely been manageable. Many more updates & items later this week and leading up to Christmas.