[REL] Real Fleet Boat mod kicks off

[ryuzu]

Well this is an auspicious occasion!

It seems like besides the celebrations here, Ubi should be happy too since it's only the modders that turned SH3 from "must do better" to latter-day "classic".

Thanks in advance for all the work!

As for things to be included...

1) 1 or more (or perhaps a merged collection best bits from the) radio mods
2) Something needs to be done about realism, but I think the research might take a while. In the meantime, how about the mod to limit Enemy convoy reports (this also improves performance a bit)
3) The Key Commands mod - this mod not only replaces the SH4 keys with the SH3 equivalents making it familiar, but it also enables a few functions which are working in the code but not key mapped in the retail release. I've been using them for the last week (almost) and no problems.
4) Clock mod which replaces the (admittedly humourous) Stevens clock, with a faceplate based on a clock brand available at the time.

Good Luck!

r.

[bunkerratt]

how about a way to show/close the dam gages/dials and stations panel....like in sh3 ..ctrl=numdel ?

[Hitman]

Hi Beery,

Congratulations on the start of RFB this was a much awaited step from you.

I would like to suggest that RFB concentrates in realistic gameplay and steers away from eye-candy, or at least adds eye-candy as separate packs. I have three good reasons for that:

1.- Serve as base for any future supermods that want to concentrate on other aspects, but that are willing to start from the great level achieved by your projects

2.- Allow users to have increased realism but still being able to choose their own prefered eye-candy mods

3.- Smaller download size

Anything I can help, just call

[Beery]

Originally Posted by Hitman

I would like to suggest that RFB concentrates in realistic gameplay and steers away from eye-candy...

RFB will not be as large as RUb was. I am making a conscious effort to avoid adding large scale mods, mods that will be of limited popularity, mods that adjust the UI for reasons other than playability, or mods that are purely for eye candy. However, some mods that clean up the interface, like the Greenlamp mod, could be seen by some as eye candy, but I will be including such mods (if the authors allow me to) as they improve gameplay greatly.

The reason I can make RFB smaller this time is that since Jaesen Jones made the advanced version of his Mod Enabler, making one all-encompassing mod package is no longer all that necessary. With the mod Enabler players can add many mod packages safely. When I started RUb we didn't have the Mod Enabler and even late in RUb's development the Mod Enabler did not have the functionality that it now has, which enables it to warn the user of potential mod conflicts.

I think what will tend to happen is that the community will divide responsibility for mods based on the files that can cause conflicts. For example I imagine a radio mod team will develop because the radio.ini file makes it so hard for individuals to make mods that don't conflict with those of other individuals. I'm hoping that the SH4 mod community is as free, open and community-minded as it was with SH3. In fact I'm sure it will be.

[FAdmiral]

I think the thing needed the most is the way AI ships prosecute your
sub and the doctrine they use for searching, detection and attacking.
Here was my latest observation in doing some testing on my created mission:

"Patches from the devs are needed to fix bugs and make changes to the game engine & hard-coded elements.
Everything else (plain text files) can & will be addressed by the modders but they almost have to wait till the
devs release the patches first. From what I have observed so far: the AI DDs don't have the detection down
pat in SH4 like the Brit. DDs did in SH3 (actually this could be historical) and I can see that happening early in the
war years. The thing that irks me the most is when you do torp and sink a ship in the convoy they are guarding, the DDs don't seem to have a search plan they impliment in order to find you. Detection is one thing but looking for an enemy sub that just attacked the convoy the DD was guarding is lacking here. In plain words, the DDs in SH4 are just NOT doing their
job right. This may be hard-coded and a patch is needed to fix it. American Sub Doctrine at the start of WW2 in the
pacific was to protect the BB TFs and sink enemy warships (same as Japans). Adm Nimitz changed all that when he
figured that Japan, like England, was an island nation and needed to ship in all the resources to sustain itself. So he
used the German approach to go after the merchant & tanker ships (or convoys later) doing the resupply. I think that
caught Japan off-guard in relation to what American Subs would be doing till at least late in 1942 when they finally
started to catch on...."


JIM

[LukeFF]

If you want some changes/mods to the menu.txt file, here's one for the medal citation. The wording is taken exactly from an actual Navy Cross citation awarded to a submarine commander serving in the PTO. The "NEWLINE" formatting might need to be adjusted, but I think this wording is much better:

5890=The #MEDALNAME# is presented to #NAME#, #TITLE#, U.S. Navy, for distinguished service in the line of his profession as Commanding Officer of the Submarine #SUBMARINENAME# during a war patrol of that vessel. His outstanding courage and determined skill were at all times inspiring and in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.

[guynoir]

Hey Beery, I think Cpt-Blaubär's right about the ATI sun problem. I've seen some other guys talk about it already, but here's how my sun looks on a 7800gt nvidia:



It seems like some or all ATI cards aren't rendering the bloom around the sun properly...

Funny enough, my sun loses the bloom around it when I line it up behind the edge of my sub's deck...


It's great to hear that you're starting up a mod for SHIV, though... I've always been a huge fan of the mods you've done for other games through the years.

[Cpt-Blaubär]

do u have a ati card? im not sure but ur sun doesnt look proper too, it should give more bloom effect.

[Beery]

Originally Posted by Cpt-Blaubär

do u have a ati card? im not sure but ur sun doesnt look proper too, it should give more bloom effect.

I have an ATI card (Radeon X-1600XT). This is the same sun we used in RUb. It looks exactly the same as it did in RUb to me. I was getting no bloom effect at all with the stock sun - this one made it much more realistic-looking on my computer. Basically all this file does is make the sun smaller, but as a result of this the halo around the sun tends to make its outline less clear. To me this makes it look better.

In the regular game the sun is many times larger than the real sun appears in the sky. All games make suns way too big, so some players have had problems adjusting to a truly realistic sun size.

[clayton]

I sort of like that Rising Sun

[Dowly]

Originally Posted by bunkerratt

how about a way to show/close the dam gages/dials and stations panel....like in sh3 ..ctrl=numdel ?

Sry for the slight OT Beery, but:

CTRL+NumpadDel gets rid of the orange submarker both in SH4 & SHIII. Try pressing just the NumPadDel.

[Beery]

Originally Posted by Dowly

CTRL+NumpadDel gets rid of the orange submarker both in SH4 & SHIII.

But apart from a mod there's no way to get rid of it permanently, right? You have to hit Ctrl+Del every single time you do a patrol?

[Sailor Steve]

Originally Posted by Beery

But apart from a mod there's no way to get rid of it permanently, right? You have to hit Ctrl+Del every single time you do a patrol?

In SH3 you could just throw it in the trash, with no ill effect whatsoever.

[PeriscopeDepth]

I also vote for a focus on realism. nvdrifter, Ducimus, and CCIP have already made steps in this direction. Good to hear that RFB is underway!

PD

[bunkerratt]

ok got rid of the gages and station bar...tyvm ..tyvm...