SH3 Random Weather Generator [RELEASE v1.02]

[Col7777]

Thanks Panama, I read the thread but only saw one mention of random clouds but Irish Red was asking how to add them.
I don't have the Commander installed though I do have it in one of my folders ready to install, question: I don't have a lot of mods installed so if I install the Commander will it conflict with anything or is it a stand-alone mod?

I don't want to take this off topic but if the commander randomises clouds then can it randomise the rest of the weather, also does it only randomise the 2 stock clouds or does it add others?

Edited to add:
What does the file "CloudTranstion" do, I changed it for a different texture to see what would happen, the game didn't crash and I didn't notice anything unusual?

[Panama Red]

Col7777:
SH3 Commander will work with ANY mod or with no mods at all (Jones has done a real nice job creating this program). In fact, SH3Cmdr can change some items in your mods that you may want to change without changing any of the rest of the mod (the scene.dat file for example). You just have to remember to "roll back" SH3Cmdr before you change anything in his JSGME tool since SH3Cmdr makes a backup of all your files too (that butten is right next to the start butten).

I had sent to Irish Red the three partical cloud mods that I had collected and he was going to put them into the new SH3Cmdr 2.4 to see if the "randomness" worked (I was still out on patrol and did not want to "change" anything until I got back to port since SH3 can get fickle about that). Since Jones has posted on how to add these random partical clouds to his SH3Cmdr 2.4, I will try them myself when I upgrade to Cmdr 2.4 this week.

You have to add any clouds that you want, SH3Cmdr does not have any included in this version.

As for the "cloudtransition file", I do not know what it does either.

[irish1958]

i have modified the random folder in SH3Cmdr2.4 as outlined by jscones with the cloud files supplied by Panama Red, and so far I have had varied weather.
However the weather generator mod would be a great improvement as it would give better control.
I would like to test this mod and if you sill need beta testers, PM me.
irish1958

[Skweetis]

Just to clarify, when using the Weather Generator, it sets up the values before you launch SH3 (or SH3Cmdr for that matter). After that, everything else is in SH3's hands.

The only parameters that effect the weather during a patrol that I can affect are: cloud, fog, wind, and rain rate of change (how fast the weather will change if SH3's interval check determines that the weather will change) these rates of change are: almost Nil, Mild and Heavy. For example, if set to heavy then weather could possibly change from clear and calm to raging storm at the next weather change. The lower rates of change have this transition of weather "states" to be more subtle.

The other thing we have control over, is the interval (in game hours, from 2 to 96. I believe that 24 is the default.) that SH3 checks to see IF the weather will change. If the check comes back as a change, then it uses the rate of change levels to determine what the next weather pattern will be. These checks are performed in such a way, that the chance that the weather will change increases for every check that fails (ie determines that weather wont change for this interval)

Interval is actually one of the hardest things for me to balance correctly, due to the fact that when you reload in a patrol, the counter that sees how long until the next check for weather change resets to zero.

Here is an example:
Lets say your wife calls you upstairs to do some chores, so you save and exit SH3. Lets say your interval is set to 24hours (every 24 hours the game will check to see IF the weather will change) In the game, at the time of save, you have been sailing through the same weather for 93 hours (the previous three checks failed to change weather). another check is due in three hours game time, and since this will be the fourth check, it is more likely to change than it was at the previous check. With an interval set at 24, our counter is currently at 21 hours with 3 checks failed. When we reload our game after we have made our wife happy, the counter is reset to 0, as is the number of failed checks. This means that for the next 96 hours, its quite possible that the weather will not change, thus the result is weeks long of the same weather, if we exit and reload.

THe problem with balancing this is determining a realistic interval check that doesnt result in the weather changing drastically, every game day, for those that may run an entire patrol without exiting. On the other end the difficult thing is setting the interval check low enough that if you only load up for a couple game days at a time, that you don't get continually stuck with the same weather.

Ill do the best I can, it is intended more as a utility to give us more variety in weather, but at the same time give the illusion that we are in a dynamic real world weather setting. Difficult with only 5 variables to play with!! If only it was based on a barometric model, rather than just random changes, we could do oh so much more!

Cheers,

And sorry for the long post. I needed to "think out loud"

Jamie

[Panama Red]

Is is possible to have a selection that asks "how many day since your last save ???"

This way you might be able to "reset" the counter to something other than "0" (if this is possible), and not have to worry about how often the weather should change. :hmm: :hmm: :hmm:

[The Noob]

Sounds great!Looking forward to the release!

[cothyso]

can I ahve a look at it too, pretty please?!!

adonys13 at yahoo dot com

thank you!

[Skweetis]

Originally Posted by Panama Red

Is is possible to have a selection that asks "how many day since your last save ???"

This way you might be able to "reset" the counter to something other than "0" (if this is possible), and not have to worry about how often the weather should change. :hmm: :hmm: :hmm:

Unfortunately, to my knowledge, no. This is hardcoded in the .exe, to do so would require a trainer, that modifies the values in memory in realtime.... WAAAAYYYy beyond my meager capabilities!

Just as a side note, I should have it ready for public release by the end of next week. I just started a career in the 29th to see how my formula's hold up, that are based on the excellent information I received on these forums regarding weather in the Med. Im putting in a Laminate floor this weekend, so I probably wont get much testing in, or programming for that matter. (my hands are raw from tearing out carpet and pulling nails.)

For that matter, if you can afford it, have someone install the laminate for you, its a major PITA....

I just hijacked my own thread... is that even possible? Im tired....

Jamie

will this mod fix the sometimes constant perfect weather days in the North Atlantic and North Sea in the dead of winter? One reason I avoided career playing was that I often saw winter months with perfect weather in those seas, only to see missions in June and July with constant storms in those seas.

Could this problem be related to Global Warning?

[Vonsteel]

Could you please drop me a copy when able please
saavkjediknight@telpacific.com.au


Thxs

[gdogghenrikson]

Could this problem be related to Global Warning?

funny :rotfl: :rotfl:

[gdogghenrikson]

I would also like a copy
pink_floyd_syd@yahoo.com

[Fangschuss]

*Push*

Any updates to this great improvement ?

greetings

[Vonsteel]

Could you please drop me a copy when able please
saavkjediknight@telpacific.com.au


Thxs

[JScones]

Originally Posted by gdogghenrikson

pink_floyd_syd@yahoo.com

Does this mean that we have something in common other than SH3?