Realism- and gameplay-related hardcode fixes for SH3.EXE - Page 153

Flyingsub · 10-01-11, 11:38 AM

Very good mod. However I'm having problem getting the abandon ship button to show. On the NYGM install it shows as abandon ship but it's not red and looks like the old button. On GWX it won't show at all. Not using any other mods,just stock installs. Edited en menu text as needed, using the latest version of mod, patched SH3 uncracked exe. installed via jasme. What am I missing?

h.sie · 10-01-11, 12:01 PM

This is alpha testing and not intended for playing. Thus, it does not contain the abadon ship mod. Stiebler will surely add it as soon as Wolfpack mod is final.

reaper7 · 10-01-11, 02:39 PM

First try and BDU told me to attack alone. If kept shadowing and send reports to see if it would change.
Question, if BDU say to attack alone is there a chance that wolfpacks may attack further along or is it best to try again

h.sie · 10-01-11, 02:45 PM

@reaper: No. If BDU orders to attack alone, there are currently no other Uboats available that could attack.
This state won't change for some days.

Just start the mission again -> New roll-a-dice

reaper7 · 10-01-11, 03:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by h.sie

@reaper: No. If BDU orders to attack alone, there are currently no other Uboats available that could attack.
This state won't change for some days.

Just start the mission again -> New roll-a-dice

Cheers h.sie, had started a new one. Shadowed it for hours - All going well, then bdu reported to much activity around convoy and to attack alone

Made a youtube video of it in action - If only the wolfpack had showed up. But watchable for the contact reports and shadowing. Plus I can upload long videos now so what better reason to use it.

Video of my attempt to shadow of the convoy. (Click the picture below)

h.sie · 10-01-11, 05:22 PM

@reaper: Sorry, but I also programmed some problems like enemy activity and so on, but in 1942 (date of your mission) these are not that often. bad luck.

Thanks for testing.

The focus of this mod is not only the crash-boom-bang effect when the wolfpack attacks. it's also focused on the difficulties when shadowing a convoy: concentration required for maneuvring to stay out of visible range, the frustration when something goes wrong and the pleasue in case of success.

A video of an attack would be nice for those who don't believe it works.

makman94 · 10-01-11, 07:37 PM

All worked as expected also at this test mission H.Sie !

about 10-11 reports needed at random times (not every hour but most of them was about every hour) and the wolfpack ''appeared''.
it is getting more and more exciting !

some questions:

1.as you can see from pic 1 there were four 'wolfs'(exept me) that took place for attacking but they were dead stopped very far from convoy's course . only the mark 2 'wolf' was close enough (about 4km) and successfully attacked (it sunked two targets)

2.as the wolfs are stopped how do i have sonar lines for these contacts ?(seems odd ...) .
additionally ,i had the scope up so i am thinking that maybe you are very 'close' to give us another tiny but very usefull addition : to have the hydro lines always available no mutter if scope is up or down.

@Reaper : a 30 minutes video on youtube

? you must send me (when you got some free time) some instructions how to do it ! (check your pms)

pic 1:

meeting with the mark 2 agressive 'wolf' :

========================================

reaper7 · 10-01-11, 10:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by makman94

@Reaper : a 30 minutes video on youtube

? you must send me (when you got some free time) some instructions how to do it ! (check your pms)

I applied for longer video times using our site www.u-boot-hahd.com as an organisation that required longer vids. And I got it.

Nice shots of the Wolkpack - never thought to look for them in my following vid

.

Quote:

Originally Posted by h.sie

@reaper: Sorry, but I also programmed some problems like enemy activity and so on, but in 1942 (date of your mission) these are not that often. bad luck.

Thanks for testing.

The focus of this mod is not only the crash-boom-bang effect when the wolfpack attacks. it's also focused on the difficulties when shadowing a convoy: concentration required for maneuvring to stay out of visible range, the frustration when something goes wrong and the pleasue in case of success.

A video of an attack would be nice for those who don't believe it works.

Well this time around was a success, wolfpack showed up - alas I missed it visually while on the map.
1 ship was sunk, took over an hour game time at 32TC but was well worth it.
Shadowing was fun as convoy kept changing course - so kept me on my toes to stay outside there visual range.

Have it on video as proof that ship was sunk, and not by me

And it was the cruiser they got too, leaving the convoy open.
If only my Torps didn't grave the ship hull and detonate on the bottom - due to heavy seas. Although I got 1 hit before sulking off.

Video of my 2nd shadowing of the convoy in single mission. (Click the picture below)

Its a long one at 1Hr12Min, Best watched at 720P

h.sie · 10-02-11, 03:35 AM

I strongly suggest to play and enjoy the wolfpack feeling, the difficulty of shadowing, the battle --- instead of starting to analyse and re-engineer how the mod works and find its weak points.

@makman: you get a pm as soon as I am at home and find time

I remember you saying (in MEPv3 thread) that knowing about the visible sensor ranges in detail is an immersion killer. same for the wolfpack mod. it won't behave realistically if you look with a microscope on it. but from the perspective of the kaleun (binocular, periscope - if you play realistically) you see a battle, ships burning and sinking, distress flares and escorts leaving the convoy in order to attack the wolfs.

SquareSteelBar · 10-02-11, 04:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hitman

...if I can patch it

So I assume patching did work?

Hitman · 10-02-11, 05:31 AM

No I haven't been able to try yet, the weeked got suddenly complicated. Will see if tonight I can give it all a try and otherwise I'll PM you Thnxs

Stiebler · 10-02-11, 06:41 AM

@H.sie,

I have now managed to see wolf-pack attacks with the Alpha-2 patch.

With the default 'lite' version, it was very easy to get the wolf-pack to attack, with occasional convoy reports, and I had no trouble in shadowing the convoy.

With the 'lite' version ticked off (= realistic), I had to make several attempts to see a wolf-pack in action, but finally I achieved it. It required eight transmissions at about 1-1.5 hour intervals before I was released for attack, after which the pack sank four ships.

During one unsuccessful shadowing mission (realistic mode), I was ordered to shadow all through the afternoon, then all through the night, and then into the following day. Is this correct (programmed) behaviour?

Likewise, in campaign mode, it was very difficult to cause a pack attack. Indeed, I have yet to see an attack by wolf-packs in campaign mode with Alpha-2-Realistic.

Another minor issue: in en_menu.txt, item 4872 states simply 'signal acknowledged'. Elsewhere (4876), we have 'Signal received. Continue as ordered'. Are these signals intended to ask the player to continue shadowing, or to attack the convoy? It is not clear. In fact, I abandoned shadowing after receiving these two signals in succession after two shadowing reports, but, after looking at the en_menu.txt file, it seems that the signals intended the player to continue to shadow. This needs to be made clear.

We really must congratulate whoever it was (LGN1?) who fixed the files for the AI U-boats. Their torpedo-like gun attacks are very realistic, and I spent some time in camera mode watching a destroyer fire guns at one of the AI U-boats, invisible in the darkness. The overall effect is superior to that of Sergbuto's original VIIA AI U-boats, where the Allied ships all started to fire on one another, and half the convoy was destroyed with gunfire. The new VIIF boats give a much better result.

Concerning contact reports of convoys by player U-boats:
I have no trouble with NYGM in making a convoy report on the single-mission convoy as soon as the first escort (and nothing else) is in view.

However, in campaign mode, it is a different story, even with similar visibility (light fog) and wind speeds (12-14 m/s). The U-boat really has to see several ships of the convoy before you can send the first contact report, and often you have to get in close to the convoy even to send a second contact report - one escort in view is not enough. It seems that campaign and single-mission modes operate differently in the way they handle detection of convoys.

I tried changing the scene.dat file in NYGM back to an earlier and inferior form, similar to stock SH3. This made it harder to send a convoy contact report!

I hope this helps. In any case, congratulations again to you and to LGN1 for such a brilliant new mod, for so long desired by the community.

Stiebler.

LGN1 · 10-02-11, 08:26 AM

@all: Thanks for the feedback! It seems the mod works as intended, no CTDs,... maybe some parameter tweaking later, but basically it works. Time for a beta, h.sie?

@Stiebler: With the realistic setting it can take quite some time until the pack attacks. One reason for the long time is that the pack only attacks at night. Thus, you can be sure that you have to shadow at least until sunset (if you start shadowing at night you might have to shadow until the next night).

I don't know the actual setting that h.sie uses in the alpha2, however, for non-testing purpose we plan not to have a high probability for a wolfpack. Expect something like seeing a wolfpack approx. on every second convoy IF CONDITIONS ARE PERFECT. Please keep in mind that this depends on the area you are and the month/year (end of '42 has the highest probability). Seeing a wolfpack in action should be a rare highlight in one's career.

As h.sie has already written, the mod is more about the shadowing than about the action of the AI-subs. It's intended to provide the danger, frustration, challenge,... that real sub commanders had go through because of BDU orders. I guess most of them had preferred attacking a convoy instead of shadowing (a dangerous task without much reward quite similar to mine-laying). And it was difficult; Buchheim mentions in one of his books that the captain hardly left the conning tower during the shadowing.

Concerning the mentioned messages, their meaning is that the player has to continue shadowing. I thought this is clear because if you do not get any new orders, your old orders are still valid and the old order should be shadowing

Anyway, I think anyone can adapt the messages to his/her liking (Maybe one should add a comment in the menu.txt which messages are used in which situation).

Regards, LGN1

PS: Stiebler, did you 'lock' on the ships you could see and what's the 'preciserange' value for your visual sensor?

h.sie · 10-02-11, 10:42 AM

WITHOUT SDK!

(Sorry, I couldn't resist.)

SquareSteelBar · 10-02-11, 12:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by h.sie

WITHOUT SDK!

(Sorry, I couldn't resist.)

Hats off!

Couldn't resist, too.

10-01-11, 11:38 AM	#2281
Flyingsub Watch Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: Frisco Bay Posts: 24 Downloads: 315 Uploads: 0	Abandon ship button Very good mod. However I'm having problem getting the abandon ship button to show. On the NYGM install it shows as abandon ship but it's not red and looks like the old button. On GWX it won't show at all. Not using any other mods,just stock installs. Edited en menu text as needed, using the latest version of mod, patched SH3 uncracked exe. installed via jasme. What am I missing?

10-01-11, 12:01 PM	#2282
h.sie Admiral Join Date: Jul 2008 Posts: 2,192 Downloads: 131 Uploads: 0	This is alpha testing and not intended for playing. Thus, it does not contain the abadon ship mod. Stiebler will surely add it as soon as Wolfpack mod is final. __________________ My Mediafire page: http://www.mediafire.com/hsie

10-01-11, 02:45 PM	#2284
h.sie Admiral Join Date: Jul 2008 Posts: 2,192 Downloads: 131 Uploads: 0	@reaper: No. If BDU orders to attack alone, there are currently no other Uboats available that could attack. This state won't change for some days. Just start the mission again -> New roll-a-dice __________________ My Mediafire page: http://www.mediafire.com/hsie

10-01-11, 05:22 PM	#2286
h.sie Admiral Join Date: Jul 2008 Posts: 2,192 Downloads: 131 Uploads: 0	@reaper: Sorry, but I also programmed some problems like enemy activity and so on, but in 1942 (date of your mission) these are not that often. bad luck. Thanks for testing. The focus of this mod is not only the crash-boom-bang effect when the wolfpack attacks. it's also focused on the difficulties when shadowing a convoy: concentration required for maneuvring to stay out of visible range, the frustration when something goes wrong and the pleasue in case of success. A video of an attack would be nice for those who don't believe it works. __________________ My Mediafire page: http://www.mediafire.com/hsie Last edited by h.sie; 10-01-11 at 06:24 PM.

10-01-11, 07:37 PM	#2287
makman94 Hellas Join Date: Jul 2008 Posts: 2,325 Downloads: 182 Uploads: 7	All worked as expected also at this test mission H.Sie ! about 10-11 reports needed at random times (not every hour but most of them was about every hour) and the wolfpack ''appeared''. it is getting more and more exciting ! some questions: 1.as you can see from pic 1 there were four 'wolfs'(exept me) that took place for attacking but they were dead stopped very far from convoy's course . only the mark 2 'wolf' was close enough (about 4km) and successfully attacked (it sunked two targets) 2.as the wolfs are stopped how do i have sonar lines for these contacts ?(seems odd ...) . additionally ,i had the scope up so i am thinking that maybe you are very 'close' to give us another tiny but very usefull addition : to have the hydro lines always available no mutter if scope is up or down. @Reaper : a 30 minutes video on youtube ? you must send me (when you got some free time) some instructions how to do it ! (check your pms) pic 1: meeting with the mark 2 agressive 'wolf' : ======================================== __________________ Knowledge is the only thing that nobody can ever take from you... Mediafire page:http://www.mediafire.com/folder/da50.../Makman94_Mods

10-01-11, 02:39 PM	#2283
reaper7 sim2reality Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: AM 82 Posts: 2,280 Downloads: 258 Uploads: 30	First try and BDU told me to attack alone. If kept shadowing and send reports to see if it would change. Question, if BDU say to attack alone is there a chance that wolfpacks may attack further along or is it best to try again

10-02-11, 03:35 AM	#2289
h.sie Admiral Join Date: Jul 2008 Posts: 2,192 Downloads: 131 Uploads: 0	I strongly suggest to play and enjoy the wolfpack feeling, the difficulty of shadowing, the battle --- instead of starting to analyse and re-engineer how the mod works and find its weak points. @makman: you get a pm as soon as I am at home and find time I remember you saying (in MEPv3 thread) that knowing about the visible sensor ranges in detail is an immersion killer. same for the wolfpack mod. it won't behave realistically if you look with a microscope on it. but from the perspective of the kaleun (binocular, periscope - if you play realistically) you see a battle, ships burning and sinking, distress flares and escorts leaving the convoy in order to attack the wolfs. __________________ My Mediafire page: http://www.mediafire.com/hsie Last edited by h.sie; 10-02-11 at 03:54 AM.

10-02-11, 05:31 AM	#2291
Hitman Pacific Aces Dev Team Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Spain Posts: 6,110 Downloads: 109 Uploads: 2	No I haven't been able to try yet, the weeked got suddenly complicated. Will see if tonight I can give it all a try and otherwise I'll PM you Thnxs __________________ One day I will return to sea ...

10-02-11, 06:41 AM	#2292
Stiebler Fuel Supplier Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: London, UK Posts: 1,237 Downloads: 29 Uploads: 4	@H.sie, I have now managed to see wolf-pack attacks with the Alpha-2 patch. With the default 'lite' version, it was very easy to get the wolf-pack to attack, with occasional convoy reports, and I had no trouble in shadowing the convoy. With the 'lite' version ticked off (= realistic), I had to make several attempts to see a wolf-pack in action, but finally I achieved it. It required eight transmissions at about 1-1.5 hour intervals before I was released for attack, after which the pack sank four ships. During one unsuccessful shadowing mission (realistic mode), I was ordered to shadow all through the afternoon, then all through the night, and then into the following day. Is this correct (programmed) behaviour? Likewise, in campaign mode, it was very difficult to cause a pack attack. Indeed, I have yet to see an attack by wolf-packs in campaign mode with Alpha-2-Realistic. Another minor issue: in en_menu.txt, item 4872 states simply 'signal acknowledged'. Elsewhere (4876), we have 'Signal received. Continue as ordered'. Are these signals intended to ask the player to continue shadowing, or to attack the convoy? It is not clear. In fact, I abandoned shadowing after receiving these two signals in succession after two shadowing reports, but, after looking at the en_menu.txt file, it seems that the signals intended the player to continue to shadow. This needs to be made clear. We really must congratulate whoever it was (LGN1?) who fixed the files for the AI U-boats. Their torpedo-like gun attacks are very realistic, and I spent some time in camera mode watching a destroyer fire guns at one of the AI U-boats, invisible in the darkness. The overall effect is superior to that of Sergbuto's original VIIA AI U-boats, where the Allied ships all started to fire on one another, and half the convoy was destroyed with gunfire. The new VIIF boats give a much better result. Concerning contact reports of convoys by player U-boats: I have no trouble with NYGM in making a convoy report on the single-mission convoy as soon as the first escort (and nothing else) is in view. However, in campaign mode, it is a different story, even with similar visibility (light fog) and wind speeds (12-14 m/s). The U-boat really has to see several ships of the convoy before you can send the first contact report, and often you have to get in close to the convoy even to send a second contact report - one escort in view is not enough. It seems that campaign and single-mission modes operate differently in the way they handle detection of convoys. I tried changing the scene.dat file in NYGM back to an earlier and inferior form, similar to stock SH3. This made it harder to send a convoy contact report! I hope this helps. In any case, congratulations again to you and to LGN1 for such a brilliant new mod, for so long desired by the community. Stiebler. __________________ NYGM Tonnage War Mod - More than a mod: it's an experience!

10-02-11, 08:26 AM	#2293
LGN1 Ace of the Deep Join Date: Mar 2006 Posts: 1,138 Downloads: 147 Uploads: 12	@all: Thanks for the feedback! It seems the mod works as intended, no CTDs,... maybe some parameter tweaking later, but basically it works. Time for a beta, h.sie? @Stiebler: With the realistic setting it can take quite some time until the pack attacks. One reason for the long time is that the pack only attacks at night. Thus, you can be sure that you have to shadow at least until sunset (if you start shadowing at night you might have to shadow until the next night). I don't know the actual setting that h.sie uses in the alpha2, however, for non-testing purpose we plan not to have a high probability for a wolfpack. Expect something like seeing a wolfpack approx. on every second convoy IF CONDITIONS ARE PERFECT. Please keep in mind that this depends on the area you are and the month/year (end of '42 has the highest probability). Seeing a wolfpack in action should be a rare highlight in one's career. As h.sie has already written, the mod is more about the shadowing than about the action of the AI-subs. It's intended to provide the danger, frustration, challenge,... that real sub commanders had go through because of BDU orders. I guess most of them had preferred attacking a convoy instead of shadowing (a dangerous task without much reward quite similar to mine-laying). And it was difficult; Buchheim mentions in one of his books that the captain hardly left the conning tower during the shadowing. Concerning the mentioned messages, their meaning is that the player has to continue shadowing. I thought this is clear because if you do not get any new orders, your old orders are still valid and the old order should be shadowing Anyway, I think anyone can adapt the messages to his/her liking (Maybe one should add a comment in the menu.txt which messages are used in which situation). Regards, LGN1 PS: Stiebler, did you 'lock' on the ships you could see and what's the 'preciserange' value for your visual sensor?

10-02-11, 10:42 AM	#2294
h.sie Admiral Join Date: Jul 2008 Posts: 2,192 Downloads: 131 Uploads: 0	WITHOUT SDK! (Sorry, I couldn't resist.) __________________ My Mediafire page: http://www.mediafire.com/hsie Last edited by h.sie; 10-02-11 at 11:42 AM.