[REL] FOTRS Ultimate Project

[propbeanie]

Originally Posted by torpedobait

On several assigned patrols in a current career under FOTARSU v0.52 (and other versions before that) my orders were to transport either soldiers or agents to a point and set them ashore. With only one exception where the sea was glassy smooth, launching the raft resulted in a wave immediately flipping the raft upside down even before anyone boarded. The intended passengers then boarded the raft, also upside down, and proceeded on their merry way. While this does not affect gameplay as far as I can tell, it is a bit disconcerting to see those guys in such a deplorable condition! They are paddling away like mad, bodies under water and paddles in the air!

Is there a way to make the life rafts more stable? Someone has done work on them previously, because I recall seeing them spinning wildly hundreds of feet in the air after leaving a sinking ship! That seems to have stopped. Don't mind seeing the enemy having a tough time in a raft, but my guys need to be able to survive the raft trip to shore. Thanks!

I've tried several iterations and permutations (sounds impressive, eh??) of Webster's and Privateer's versions of lifeboats, including noodling with the CMD raft, and can get it to calm down a bit, but not well enough yet to do anything public...

[propbeanie]

Originally Posted by Rockin Robbins

Okay, I was under the impression that we were waiting for some features before releasing v0.54 to the public. Are we in favor of releasing as is and continuing what's not quite ready to the next version?

I don't have a problem with that. I just want to make sure everyone is on the right page. That would allow the public to test out what we have so far of the Aleutians campaign and some of CapnScurvy's fixes.

Sound off guys! Yea or nay?

It'd be nice to have all of CapnScurvy's fixes, but his opinion on that matters more than mine definitely. As for the Alaskan Campaign, I am having issues with a couple of my ideas, so I might be a few weeks away from the rest of the substitutions and completion... I would like to see some comments on the traffic level there (probably too much) as well as the timing of the beginning and ending of the campaign. But I can wait...

[CapnScurvy]

That sounds good to me. I'll post an update today regarding two additional fixes I've been working on. The complete "Yes Sir" phrase repeating fix; and the work I've been doing on getting the SD radar to "Turn OFF" when a sub is surfaced.

The SD Radar toggle "on/off" will allow a sub to be surfaced, yet keep the radioman from reporting an "Aircraft Spotted" while in friendly waters. This should allow for Time Compression to remain high (without dropping to zero) while entering/exiting port due to this type of detection. To turn "off/on" the SJ, the same keyboard "T" key, plus the "CTL" key will work (plus command buttons within the Radar Menu interface). With both SD and SJ radar units OFF, there will be less time compression drops.

A couple of notes: The watch crew will still report targets, both aircraft and surfaced ships. So, unless you prevent the watch crew from doing their job (like removing the crewmen from their Crew Management Page slots) they will still report a detection, causing a time compression drop. Also, you'll need to make sure the SD is "ON" when your in areas that have enemy traffic, or your toast.

I've got a few loose ends to finish/check, but I think I can have the above done today, to go along with the already waiting 0.54 files we have.

[Rockin Robbins]

Originally Posted by CapnScurvy

I've got a few loose ends to finish/check, but I think I can have the above done today, to go along with the already waiting 0.54 files we have.

Standing by for your go. We'll then compare notes on which files to meld in and go public with the result. Think I'll call it v0.55 since we will be adding features to our 0.54.

[CapnScurvy]

Regarding life rafts:

Originally Posted by propbeanie

I've tried several iterations and permutations (sounds impressive, eh??) of Webster's and Privateer's versions of lifeboats, including noodling with the CMD raft, and can get it to calm down a bit, but not well enough yet to do anything public...

I forget who's mod it was that had those darn things bouncing up and down like "super balls"!! They would start a small bounce, and on every landing would bounce a bit higher. The things bounced several hundreds of feet into the air before they finally sunk. The weight ratio, compared to their center of gravity was off by a lot....I guess. I never looked into it.

========

Propbeanie, I ran into those three planes that crash into the center of Oahu’s Island again yesterday......mid 1944 start date, at Pearl. I'm guessing their planes, they have a "Very Fast" speed, yet the initial description of the detected objects are "Ships"!?! You don't "see" them, the group appear on the Nav Map. When they get about half way across the island, heading northwest, they all show the "ship sunk" icon as they must plow into the mountain, I guess? I'm suspecting they are set too low of a waypoint altitude when they make their pass over the island. I have no idea which plane they are, but it would be nice to correct this from happening.

Just thinking out loud, since the game has them listed as "ships" on the Nav Map, do you suppose their set so low in altitude that they are automatically considered ships? And, its this reason they strike land in the middle of the island?

[CapnScurvy]

Originally Posted by Rockin Robbins

Standing by for your go. We'll then compare notes on which files to meld in and go public with the result. Think I'll call it v0.55 since we will be adding features to our 0.54.

Ok

[JoeSnow]

Originally Posted by keltos01

do you have intel on US traffic ?

wrong thread for this I suppose

keltos

I do not but it "should" be easier than Japanese traffic. I'll give it some thought and start poking around for better information.

[JoeSnow]

Originally Posted by Rockin Robbins

Thanks for the offer. I believe that passive sonar systems are making the majority of initial contacts in the game. This isn't because someone made a mistake. It's that evil Ducimus making the game more "challenging" and torturing us even now!

I believe you are correct. That guy always had a mean streak !!!

What I'll do: I'll try to find all my old mods and files and see if anything in there might be helpful. If so, I'll pass them along. My sonar mods are there somewhere but at this point wouldn't be compatible with your project. Should be easy enough to adapt them though. Give me some time so I can run a couple tests with them again. Testing ASW evasion takes...a...long...time!

I'll DL your latest public release and chack out the RND_Campaign files. The ones I have are completely my creation so I wouldn't (shouldn't) have to do much more than change some ship types in the Mission Editor. It'd take a while but it's really just busy work I'd be willing to do. I'll also look at the scripted Campaign just to get a feel or what's in there. I like what Lurker has for scripted but would leave it for someone else to get his permission as I have no clue how to contact him... Really though, most TF group travel could be done in RND missions witht he possible exception of actions that actually involved Sub/Fleet encounters (Dace/Darter for ex).

Anecdote: I have had the Honor/Privilege to talk with quite a few WWII sub vets, even a guy on Barb during Fluckey's daring (insane) harbor attack. One thing most told me is the Japanese would have sunk a lot more submarines if they had been more patient. One guy in particular said, "They never seemed to have trouble finding us. They had us on the ropes more than once but left. Probably because we were leaking oil and they thought they got us."

@Bleiente: Sure. PM.

[propbeanie]

Originally Posted by CapnScurvy

...

Propbeanie, I ran into those three planes that crash into the center of Oahu’s Island again yesterday......mid 1944 start date, at Pearl. I'm guessing their planes, they have a "Very Fast" speed, yet the initial description of the detected objects are "Ships"!?! You don't "see" them, the group appear on the Nav Map. When they get about half way across the island, heading northwest, they all show the "ship sunk" icon as they must plow into the mountain, I guess? I'm suspecting they are set too low of a waypoint altitude when they make their pass over the island. I have no idea which plane they are, but it would be nice to correct this from happening.

Just thinking out loud, since the game has them listed as "ships" on the Nav Map, do you suppose their set so low in altitude that they are automatically considered ships? And, its this reason they strike land in the middle of the island?

That sounds like a flight of planes, and they are probably still attempting that "touch-and-go" garbage and crashing... I look at 'em real quick again.

[keltos01]

Surface escorting operations

http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/Japa...125/JM-125.pdf

[JoeSnow]

I'm going to toss an idea out that I've thought about for a long time but never mentioned. For anyone here familiar with the flight sim Rise of Flight and Pat Wilson's Campaign Generator, you'll probably easily understand what I'm talking about.

Set up a Campaign Generator (probably java based) with which you create a campaign [I]before starting SH.[I] Variables could be added that are currently impossible in the game. Easy example is crush depth. Currently, crush depth is the same for all boats of the same class. With a Java front end, it would be possible to create clones of each submarine class but with their own idiosyncrisies such as crush depth. Perhaps a LITTLE variation on performance values as well--dive time/turn radius/top speed/etc. Why?

Submarines did have differences. However, using traditional campaign setup, there is no way to set one of a class apart from another. IMO, it'd be kind of interesting not knowing the full potential of your boat as you leave for patrol--especially what its crush depth is.

Anyway--just thought I'd burden you all with one of my ideas.

[keltos01]

got a ctd during a convoy attack.. island north of hokkaido.. had sunk an escort carrier, a fast freighter and put one torp in a seaplane tender..

[Jeffg]

Go ahead and release the next version and it will get tested by a lot more people. I think that as a beta team is testing with a set number on that team, than most of the team has each others systems known. The release of a beta to those who want to test will have different computer setups. This process give you the developers more input on what works and what does not. Just my 2 cents .

JeffG

[propbeanie]

Originally Posted by keltos01

got a ctd during a convoy attack.. island north of hokkaido.. had sunk an escort carrier, a fast freighter and put one torp in a seaplane tender..

Did it CTD as the torp was about to impact, just after the explosion, when smoke and fire started, or when it started sinking, or can you tie the CTD to any one incident? Do you have any other mods, and by chance do you know the approx time and date?... Once we're done with this line of questioning, then we'll get into what happened Friday night last week...

[keltos01]

Originally Posted by propbeanie

Did it CTD as the torp was about to impact, just after the explosion, when smoke and fire started, or when it started sinking, or can you tie the CTD to any one incident? Do you have any other mods, and by chance do you know the approx time and date?... Once we're done with this line of questioning, then we'll get into what happened Friday night last week...

october 26 , 1942