[REL]: ACM-GUI Reloaded - h.sie's edition

[h.sie]

ACM-GUI Reloaded - h.sie's Edition V1.10
---------------------------------------

This is my edition of karamazovnews "ACM-GUI Reloaded for OLCGold". ACM-GUI is the excellent work of Onelifecrisis and Mikhayl with additions by karamazovnew. Because there are enough infos and descriptions about ACM-GUI,

http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=144855

http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=155366

http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/show...&postcount=191

I can restrict on describing the few changes and additions I made to "ACM-GUI Reloaded for OLCGold":


---------------------- CHANGES AND ADDITIONS --------------------------------------------


* Made the mod standalone and independent from OLCGold. Thus it can be used with unmodded GWX3 (and perhaps other Supermods? Not tested yet).

* Periscopes/UZO: Selected torpedo tubes now are highlighted and unselected tubes are dark (this was inverted in ACM-GUI Reloaded.)

* NavMap: Re-activated the standard GWX-behaviour of the NavMap with all contacts shown. Contacts can be restricted again using the optional mod "Realistic Contacts", which is my adapted version of the old Assisted-Plotting-Mod.

* Commands: Implemented almost all GWX-Integrated Orders (now with small icons). Added an Command icon to select the target for the deck-gun (works only in binocular view).

* Stations menu: Added a separate Icon for UZO and Binocular. Disabled when submerged. Optimised a little bit the handling of the stations menu.

* Flags-Chart: Used the GWX-Flags-Chart instead of the one that came with ACM-GUI.

* Binocular: Used the GWX-Binocular view and added a bearing indicator.

* Deleted the ACM-Popups (Ships-/Flags-Charts and Engineer Report), because I don't like them.

* Periscopes: Changed kamarozewnevs color filters, crosshairs and marks to fit my personal taste.

* Made Cameras.dat compatible to the Sabotage & Malfunction Option of SH3-Commander.
Many GUI-Mods use Cameras.dat files which are NOT compatible.

* Added the draggable U-Jagd-Chrono from Hitman/JoeGrundman.

* The stealthmeter now is a small point in the left down corner of the console (instead of that big ugly submarine icon).

* Observation Periscope: Added TDC dials (see Appendix A if you want to hide them).

* UZO: Added the same verical marks as one can see in the Periscopes, so that for UZO and periscopes the same formula can be used to calculate range.

* AOBFinder: Cancelled kamarozewnevs changes to the horizontal scale of the AOBFinder tool. Horizontal scale now is 5,10,15 and not 10,20,30 (in agreement with the horizontal periscope marks). This fact must be considered when using kamarozewnevs description (link see above) to calculate the AOB. Now the whole length of the ship is relavant for AOB calculation, not only 50% of the length.

* Damage Screen / Hull Integrity: Instead of these arcadish percentage numbers for hull integrity, my "Colored Hull Integrity Indicator" is used, which displays the hull integrity in 4 color steps from grey (no damage) to red (critical damage). This can easily switched back to the old percentage numbers using the optional "Use Hull Integrity Numbers" Mod (see below)



Minor changes:
--------------

* Added an "A" (Automatic) and an "M" (Manual) to the violet TDC-I/0-switch

* Smaller and better font in the Damage- and crew screen.

* Observation Periscope: Made the bearing indicator and the periscope up/down button more visible.

* More readable font in the messages box

* Re-activated some Tool-Tip Help Texts in the Career-Menu and some of its submenus.



Optional Mods (For detailed info see Readme-files of these mods).
-----------------------------------------------------------------

* Realistic Map Contacts: Restricts the information given in the NavMap. My version of the Assisted Plotting mod.

* LRT+SRM-Combimod (Longer Repair Times Lite + Seabed Repair Mod), my adapted version for ACM-GUI.

* LLRT+SRM-Combimod (Little Longer Repair Times + Seabed Repair Mod). Same as above, but with shorter repair times.

* DepthChargeShake: Shaking of the U-Boot interior when depthcharged.

* Show WP Firing Solution Icon: Shows an Icon for the WeaponsOfficer that allows him to input his (very accurate) firing solution into the TDC. This icon is normally hidden because of realism purposes.

* Use Hull Integrity Numbers: Instead of the Colored Hull Integrity Indicator, the old percentage numbers are used to display hull integrity.

* UBoat-Folder for SH3-Commander (details see below) and

* Salvo selector Labels (details see below)



Salvo selector switch labels
----------------------------

Unfortunately, this mod does not change the TDC salvo selector labels automatically. But there are 2 possible workarounds to solve the problem:

1) SH3-Commander users have to copy the "U-boat"-folder contained in this mod into their SH3-Commander folder. SH3 must be invoked with SH3-Commander and the correct U-boat type has to be chosen in SH3-Commander main window prior to starting the game.

2) Non SH3-Commander users can use the JSGME-ready mini-mods which can be found in the "Optional"-Folder. If you plan to use e.g. a Type VII Boat, you have to activate the according mini-mod called "Type VII salvo selector" with JSGME.

If none of these 2 methods is chosen, the Salvo Selector switch remains black. No labels are shown.



Installation/Compatibility:
---------------------------

* This mod and all optional mods are JSGME-ready.

* It is compatible to GWX-OpenHatch and Lifeboats&Debris
but it must be installed ON TOP OF these mods.

* It is not 100% compatible to OLC Gold MkII. Most things work, but
if this GUI is used on top of OLC Gold MkII, then the NavMap does
not have the default GWX behaviour, instead it (hopefully) behaves
as it does in OLCGold. So I recommend to use only the environmental
part of OLC Gold in conjunction with this GUI.



Compatibility with SH3-Commander
--------------------------------

Unfortunately, the "Colored Hull Integrity Indicator" mod used in this GUI
is not compatible to the "Show/Hide Hull Integrity" Option of SH3-Commander.

If you use SH3-Commander, you have to choose "Show Hull Integrity" to make
the Colored Hull Integrity Indicator work correctly.

The "Hide Hull Integrity" option of SH3-Commander does not work.
(A red flag remains all the time that indicates a critical hull
damage regardless of the actual hull condition).

To completely hide the Hull Integrity information, 2 steps are necessary:
1. Switch back to the old Hull Integrity Numbers (optional Mod see above).
2. Use the "Hide Hull Integrity" option of SH3-Commander.



Manual targeting with ACM-GUI
-----------------------------

A short description how to use ACM-GUI for manual targeting can be found in the file
"ACM-GUI-How to use.htm" in the Documentation folder of this mod.
Thanks go to kamarozewnev for this description.

Due to my changes to ACM-GUI, I have to make some additions to his description:

1. Since I changed the x-Axis scale of the AOB-Finder tool from 10,20,30 back to 5,10,15
(in order to match the scale of the periscope marks) now THE WHOLE LENGTH OF THE SHIP IS
RELEVANT FOR AOB CALCULATION and not only 50% of the length as in the description above.

2. Since I added the draggable U-Jagd-Chrono, this tool can also be used for speed
estimation. See Appendix B for an short instruction how to use that tool.

3) Range can also be calculated without the AOB-Tool by using the simple formula

Range = (Mastheight x 345) / Marks

where Mastheight is the ship's mastheight according to the Recognition Manual,
and Marks is the number of vertical Marks the ship spans across.
This formula is only valid for the UZO and both Periscopes with 6x zoom,
and the formula is of course only valid for ACM-GUI Reloaded.

(In the subsim.com forum there is much more information available about
manual targeting, hunting, plotting and so on).



Recommended Gameplay- and Realism settings
------------------------------------------

After reading many threads about realism and historical accuracy at subsim.com,
I came to the following conclusions and recommended Gameplay-Settings:

1) I recommend to use the help of the Weapons-Officer. This does not lead to a
penalty in realism percentage, because in ACM-GUI the Weapons-Officer is only
able to identify ships, but his ability to find a firing solution is disabled by default.

2) I also recommend to use the stabilized periscope view. According to Hitman (one of the
Uboat experts at Subsim) this is nearer to the historical reality than not to use it.
Doing so, does also not lead to a penalty in realism percentage.

3) Playing with Automatic Map Updates ON is unrealistic easy, while playing with
Map Updates OFF is unrealistic hard. As a compromise, I recommend to use the
optional "Realistic Map Contacts" Mod, which heavily restricts the information
shown in the NavMap. For this mod, Map Updates have to be ON, but because of the
restrictions, this does not lead to a penalty in realism percentage.

4) With the LRT (Longer Repair Times) or the LLRT (Little Longer Repair Times) mod
the repair times for damaged Uboat-compartments take longer than in unmodded SH3.
This hopefully makes the game more realistic.



Credits/Thanks go to
====================

* Ubisoft (SH3)
* Onelifecrisis (OLCGUI)
* Mikhayl (ACM-GUI, SRM)
* kamarozewnev for his tweaks to ACM-GUI.
* GWX-Team (GWX)
* Hitman, JoeGrundman (U-Jagd-Tools)
* Nvdrifter (LRT, DepthChargeShake)
* and many more......


Hope you like it.

I'm sorry to say, that because of time reasons I'm not able to fulfil individual wishes.
If you don't like my work, don't use it or modify it until you like it.

h.sie




Version History
---------------

V1.10
-----
* Added my new "Colored Hull Integrity Indicator" mod
* Re-activated some Tool-Tip Texts in Career-Menu and submenus.

V1.05
-----
Bugfix:
Removed image Abdeck.tga which was used to hide the repair time counters in damage control,
because it had strange side-effects for other screens.
Instead, I made a new Font18=Transp12.tga which is used only by the repair time counters.
This font is an exact copy of Font14=FPCond12.tga, but it can opionally be overwritten by
a transparent font in order to make repair time counters invisible.

V1.02
-----
* Added description "ACM-GUI-How to use.htm" to Documentation folder.
* Added section "Recommended Gameplay- and Realism settings" to the Readme.
* Added section "Manual targeting with ACM-GUI" to the Readme.
* Added Appendix B: "Measuring speed with U-jagd chrono" to the Readme
* No functional changes.

V1.01
-----
* Bugfix: Up/Down-slider for messages was hidden by the stations menu and thus useless.
* Used much better font for the messages box.
* LRT+SRM/LLRT+SRM optional Mods: Made a compatible Addon for Late War Sensors.

V1.0
----
First release.



Appendix
========

A) Hide TDC dials for the ObsPeri
----------------------------------

Load /data/menu/menu_1024_768.ini into texteditor.
Search for String "hsOption #1" and follow the instructions you find there.



B) Measuring speed with U-jagd chrono
-------------------------------------

(The following text is a slightly modified excerpt of the original U-Jagd-Tools documentation
made by JoeGrundman and Hitman):

The U-jagd chrono is a conventional chronometer with scales on it that give the speed
at which targets of varying length are traveling. It is used to obtain a speed estimate
based on the fixed wire method.

The chronometer is draggable and located in the top right corner of the screen.
The chrono is not directly activated. To start and stop this chrono, you must use the
original chrono on the periscope screen.

For speed estimation, start the chrono as the bow of the target touches the centre
vertical line of your scope. Until the procedure is over, DO NOT MOVE YOUR SCOPE HORIZONTALLY.
Vertical movement using cursor keys is fine.

Stop the chrono when the target’s stern meets the centre line of the scope. The speed
of the target is given where the second hand rests against the scale for the appropriate
target’s length.

For best results, you should be traveling slowly (ideally 0 Knots) and pointing directly
at the target. If the target is moving at a slow speed, even if your U-boat is crawling
at a speed of 2 knots, this will yield a lower speed estimate than is correct even if
there is an angle of just 30 degrees. In general you should round these speed estimates UP.

[karamazovnew]

Cool , can't wait to see it.

Unfortunately, this mod does not change the TDC salvo selector labels automatically.

I thought I had explained this in the KiUB thread... I must've forgotten.
The game originally uses labels for the tubes, I've just used image files with the tube numbers embedded. Since the dial plate of any dial object can be transparent (no image), in KiUB I've done this by duplicating and parenting the single and salvo selectors. Make 3 salvo selectors (objects and images) and place them on top of each other in this order:

-top: TYPES with 6 torpedoes.
-middle: TYPE VII 5 torpedoes
-bottom: TYPE II 3 torpedoes

Then parent the bottom one to the nr. 3 tube (the bulb in the periscope page), the middle one to the nr.4 tube and the top one to the nr. 6 tube. Be careful tho that when parenting like this, the child will always be on top of the parent, regardless of the position in the menu file. This shouldn't be a problem in SH3 but in SH4 it was a big pain in the butt.
I also suggest doing this for the main periscope marks, hope it works in SH3:
http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/show...&postcount=141

[sergei]

Ok I've just had a chance to give this a test drive and I am impressed.
Everything very nicely laid out and functional.

Plus I really appreciate the optional mods that come optimised for use with the main mod. Depth charge shake, WEPS firing solution, LRT.

Exactly the right mix I have been looking for.

Outstanding piece of work h.sie

Cool....been waiting for this....thanks h.sie

[h.sie]

Thanks guys, but keep in mind, that it's not my work. OLC and Mikhayl did the job. I only made some adjustments to fit my personal taste.

@kamarozewnev: Thanks, but I'm tired of modding this GUI. Although I made only some minor adjustments which most people even do not see, it took me 2-3 months to do that. So I think my work ends here. I'll only fix some bugs if there are some?

[GOZO]

Brilliant indeed. I have loved the ACM-mods since they first appeared and with this it can only be better.

Thanks for all the work.


Merry X-mas!!!!


/OB

[Magic1111]

Hello h.sie !

Is there a chance to see some screenshots, before I download it ?

Best regards,
Magic

[h.sie]

Hi Magic,

see the links in my first post. my additions did not change the optics of the gui very much.

h.sie

[Magic1111]

Originally Posted by h.sie

Hi Magic,

see the links in my first post. my additions did not change the optics of the gui very much.

h.sie

Aaah, okay ! Thank you, h.sie !

Best regards,
Magic

[Phoenix3000]

Looks great!

Question though, has anyone tried it with Living Silent Hunter V5?

Cheers!

Px3000

[karamazovnew]

Originally Posted by h.sie

@kamarozewnev: Thanks, but I'm tired of modding this GUI. Although I made only some minor adjustments which most people even do not see, it took me 2-3 months to do that. So I think my work ends here. I'll only fix some bugs if there are some?

I understand but, are you sure? The marks at least take 2 minutes to make. All you need to do is move the Marking Lines group back, move the rest of the items offscreen, parent the periscope marks to the group and fill the color channel of the marks with black. I think it took me more to write this...

[h.sie]

Originally Posted by karamazovnew

I understand but, are you sure? The marks at least take 2 minutes to make. All you need to do is move the Marking Lines group back, move the rest of the items offscreen, parent the periscope marks to the group and fill the color channel of the marks with black. I think it took me more to write this...

Hi karamazovnew,

I had to read your posts 5 or 6 times in order to understand what you mean. It's a language problem, my english isn't very good.

If I understand correctly, you make 3 different images with salvo labels embedded and which one of these images is shown depends on the number of torpedoes a submarine has. But what about the Type 9 and Type 21? They both have 6 torpedos but different salvo selector labels are required for them...

Regarding the Periscope marks: I did not know what you meant with "parent" and "child". But now it's clear. I call them "Group" and "Group member" or "Group Item". Interesting idea. I will test, if it works (if I have the time for it).

Do you know a way to remove the unused UZO marks? Or are they hardcoded?

Thank you!
h.sie

[jdkbph]

Hi. I really like the interface to begin with... kudos to h.sie with the tweaks. They make it even better, IMHO.

I understand h.sie's reluctance to address individual requests, so let me aim this at anyone else who may have some knowledge of how the menu_1024_768.ini works.

I'm trying to restore a feature from the original that I found useful... the ability to mouse over that little square black panel (with the icons that indicate silent running mode) in the very lower left corner of the screen, and have the air, fuel battery, etc., gauges pop up. I think it's the same function as the CE Report button.

I tried comparing the two ini files but was not able to locate the exact mechanism whereby this was implemented. If anyone know where I should be looking, or could point me to a tutorial or whatever for the ini file, I would be most appreciative.

TIA

JD

[h.sie]

New version V1.01 available.

New in V1.01
-------------

* Bugfix: Up/Down-slider for messages was hidden by the stations menu and thus useless.

* Used much better font for the messages box.

* LRT+SRM/LLRT+SRM optional Mods: Made a compatible Addon for Late War Sensors.

[PL_Cmd_Jacek]

Thank you h.Sie. I really appreciate your mod.