[WIP] Cold War Mod

[Werewolf]

@Sledgehammer:

Excellent, thanks

Erhm apart from SHIV itself, what do I need then? Any patches or are these boats only compatible with a clean install of SHIV?

[Werewolf]

@Sledgehammer:

Erhm... I'm crazy about that foxtrot model, is there any way in which I can use it in SHIII until SH IV arrives? hehe it would be great to try it. Are SH III and IV models interchangeable?

[Sledgehammer427]

noooooot really

I tried to do it with a 20,000 leagues under the sea nautilus model, and it didn't work in SH3, but it did in SH4. I'm still in playable ship Kindergarten, but for the Foxtrot and November to work, you will need SH4 version 1.5 (Uboat missions addon) and RFB+RSRDC as well, as the .upc files required to add the subs into the game are derived from that version.
I don't know wether they will work ok stock 1.5, it might, but I haven't had my computer working for ages, but I'll be coming back soon with my hijinks!

[ERPP8]

Is it anywhere to being finished?
Is the interface different?
Will there be real action in it?

[Herr Kaleun]

Has anybody the download link for this german klasse 206 sub?
In the russian thread is the link down.

[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!

[Hotmanandre]

Originally Posted by Herr Kaleun

Has anybody the download link for this german klasse 206 sub?
In the russian thread is the link down.

This boat is still necessary to you? Russian link Up
Glance on mine: filefront.com

[Angeldust]

i know i know.

i also never got into problems, until i tried to use all of them in the campaign.

btw. does anybody know if it is possible to mod active homing torpedoes?

[Zel]

I don't think it's possible to have active torpedoes, because you can't attach a sensor to an object.

At least we have passive torpedoes!

[ERPP8]

Anything?

[keltos01]

did everyone move up to SH5 or what ?????


keltos

[Zel]

Unfortunately i'm currently busy in RL, but good news is that Werewolf is picking up where i left off. Many issues remain, which need to be fixed before a campaign is made.


And no, we're not moving to sh5!

[ERPP8]

It's sad I'm still following this thread and I don't even play SHIV anymore.
I play SHV, but my campaign is stuck because I can't resupply.
Maybe if this mod is good enough I'll reinstall it.