Re: Reworking the /data/sound/radio/radio config to work with other radio bits...

[Mad Mardigan]

1st time actually posting a thread, in some time.. though I have commented on other threads... I started this so as to NOT clutter up another thread & derail it..

Ok, here is My quandary...

Am working with We dive at Dawn, the Brit sub action mega for SH4 ( obviously SH4, but that aside...) thing is.. radio wise.. it's a bit of a Sahara desert there. Other than this.. I got it running pretty much like a well oiled machine. So...

I decided to look at beefing it up. I went to initially see of adding in Florida Sailor's ''BBC Radio 1939 to 1945 MOD''.. well, that was a somewhat wash out. I did find however, that Fred8615, thoughtfully re uploaded FS's earlier on mod ''BBC World''... only issue there with that 1.. is it DOES NOT cover from '39 to '41, only covers from '41 to from what I can see is the end of the war..

So... I went & asked if Fred, had the updated mod.. Alas.. no go. Fred only had that copy of the older mod & was satisfied with it, since he only does the U.S. side of it all.. which is fine.. I respect that.

So, I turned to another fount of info, s7rikeback who, while did not have a copy available, did however point out a couple of other mods that looked as they would be a fit to tie into & use as a replacement to flesh out the BBC radio roster. Both do cover the period from '39 & up... which is grand.

My only issue is, getting them all to work together, as a cohesive whole when it comes to listening to the radio. there are a couple that don't play & some that do. I did check each folder & files to ensure that they are there & work independently outside the mod (using VLC to listen to them all & they worked...)

I believe the issue may lie in the radio config file.. and would appreciate any info to get all of this working together when I go in game to play We dive at dawn.

The other mods are:

Updated BBC Radio Mod by LesBaker (know it's listed as for SH5, but.. it is in the right format & should work with SH4)

Wetton's BBC Radio Mod by Wetton (Again, listed as above with LesBaker's mod, same belief in it working with SH4, as well...)

Am including the radio config as well:

radio - notepad copied:

[GENERAL]
RadioRealism=Yes
StartCh=1

[CHANNEL]
Name=Washington
Folder=Washington
Freq=22
Antenna=01.01.1930-01.01.2000:44.16,-35.10:100000
;MusicVolumeOnNews takes values from 0.01 to 1
MusicVolumeOnNews=0.4

[CHANNEL]
Name=BBC39
Folder=BBC39
Freq=32
Antenna=01.01.1930-01.01.1940: 51.45,-0.12:100000
MusicVolumeOnNews=0.01

[CHANNEL]
Name=BBC40
Folder=BBC40
Freq=42
Antenna=01.01.1940-01.01.1941: 51.45,-0.12:100000
MusicVolumeOnNews=0.01

[CHANNEL]
Name=RRG
Folder=RRG
Freq=44
Antenna=01.01.1930-05.12.1945: 52.50, -13.45:100000
MusicVolumeOnNews=.03

[CHANNEL]
Name=BBC41
Folder=BBC41
Freq=52
Antenna=01.01.1941-01.01.1942: 51.45,-0.12:100000
MusicVolumeOnNews=0.01

[CHANNEL]
Name=DHB
Folder=DHB
Freq=57
Antenna=01.01.1930-05.12.1945: 52.50, -12.50:100000
MusicVolumeOnNews=.03

[CHANNEL]
Name=BBC42
Folder=BBC42
Freq=62
Antenna=01.01.1942-01.01.1943: 51.45,-0.12:100000
MusicVolumeOnNews=0.01

[CHANNEL]
Name=BBC43
Folder=BBC43
Freq=72
Antenna=01.01.1943-01.01.1944: 51.45,-0.12:100000
MusicVolumeOnNews=0.01

[CHANNEL]
Name=BBC
Folder=BBC
Freq=78
Antenna=01.01.1930-01.01.1948:44.16,35.10:100000
MusicVolumeOnNews=.01


[CHANNEL]
Name=BBC44
Folder=BBC44
Freq=82
Antenna=01.01.1944-01.01.1945: 51.45,-0.12:100000
MusicVolumeOnNews=0.01

[CHANNEL]
Name=BBC45
Folder=BBC45
Freq=92
Antenna=01.01.1945-01.01.1946: 51.45,-0.12:100000
MusicVolumeOnNews=0.01

[CHANNEL]
Name=BBC
Folder=BBC
Freq=102
Antenna=01.01.1941-01.01.1946: 51.45,-0.12:100000
MusicVolumeOnNews=0.1

[CHANNEL]
Name=Radio Tokyo
Folder=NHK
Freq=112
Antenna=01.01.1941-01.01.1946:35.70,139.77:100000
MusicVolumeOnNews=0.01

[CHANNEL]
Name=Radio Vladivostok
Folder=USSR
Freq=122
Antenna=01.01.1939-01.01.1946:43.12,131.92:100000
MusicVolumeOnNews=0.01

End copy...



As I have said, any info to get all of this working together when I go in game to play We dive at dawn... will be GREATLY appreciated.

Thanks, Mad Mardigan out...



p.s.

The radio config, that was there for the main radio set up, is safely tucked away in back up mode.. this copy/pasted radio config, is the work that I cobbled together from all of the mods into 1 radio config file & in its proper placement where it needs to be.. some of the folder/files from both mods that s7rikeback provided info on, are the areas that I am having play issues with, when I use the radio in game... some play, some don't. Just f.y.i. passed along.. thanks.

[propbeanie]

The cool thing about the "radio" is that you can "change stations". that is in effect what happens when you load the different "stations". The easiest way to manage all that used to be with the use of Digital Trucker's Radio Station Manager. Windows 10 especially can be rather finicky about it, but Windows 7 can also. Once you get it set-up though, it is much easier to deal with the radio stations, and build a set of them that you like. There is a mod discussion thread link on the download page. You have to pay attention to the details with it. Using it on the CBS Radio (can't remember the correct name) can fix the date error in it that can CTD your game. Good stuff, that I wish was update-able, like a mod... lol

[Mad Mardigan]

Originally Posted by propbeanie

The cool thing about the "radio" is that you can "change stations". that is in effect what happens when you load the different "stations". The easiest way to manage all that used to be with the use of Digital Trucker's Radio Station Manager. Windows 10 especially can be rather finicky about it, but Windows 7 can also. Once you get it set-up though, it is much easier to deal with the radio stations, and build a set of them that you like. There is a mod discussion thread link on the download page. You have to pay attention to the details with it. Using it on the CBS Radio (can't remember the correct name) can fix the date error in it that can CTD your game. Good stuff, that I wish was update-able, like a mod... lol

propbeanie...

I can so relate about the whole 'wishing I was update-able, like a mod' comment...

First off, want to thank you for pointing out that Radio station manager, from Digital Trucker. It works with Win 10, for Me.. but to be frank, the version I have is Win 10 Pro v1909, updated to the latest (which ironically, occurred the other day, no less... )

Will be looking into using it more, with all the SH variations I have from 3 to 5... have to wonder if I truly know just what I've gotten Myself into though...

In all seriousness... I enjoy listening to music, especially with older music. I grew up listening to stuff from the late end of the 30's & everything from there up. Because of that, may have just found My niche for it what with SH & ensuring that things musical, are in the correctness of timing for them.

That said... have found errors in some of what I have radio wise with this muddle.. and hopefully I can find others who have more.. knowledge, experience than Me, to get through the Jurassic morass.

Seems I am going to have to go through the whole shooting match & cross verify everything. If worse comes down to it, may see of setting up a whole mod structure Myself.. provided I can find info on how to go about that, beyond the bit of digging into this that I've done, thus far...

Just hope I can keep My sanity, throughout it all... ( here comes the I love Myself brigade to take Me away... They're comin' to take Me away haha... ) Now I know how a guy feels, about getting obsessive about tearing down a classic to the bare bones & rebuilding it from the ground up, doing a full out restoration...

Right now, have 1 folder gone through out of it all & going to take a break... We dive at dawn, isn't going any where, so will be there when I come back to it.

[propbeanie]

Issues with the radio, are of course, why some folks prefer the "phonograph", because you load your mp3 or ogg vorbis songs into the folder, and you hit "Play", and off it goes just playing one song after the other, with no "station identification" breaks or "we interrupt this program for a special news update!" but of course, there-in lies the charm of the "radio" in the game. Special announcements can occur based upon date, if the author of the mod incorporated them in, which you can look at those dates with Digital Truckers RSM proggy... cool beans, but you can, as you have found, lose hours noodling in the files...

[Mad Mardigan]

Originally Posted by propbeanie

Issues with the radio, are of course, why some folks prefer the "phonograph", because you load your mp3 or ogg vorbis songs into the folder, and you hit "Play", and off it goes just playing one song after the other, with no "station identification" breaks or "we interrupt this program for a special news update!" but of course, there-in lies the charm of the "radio" in the game. Special announcements can occur based upon date, if the author of the mod incorporated them in, which you can look at those dates with Digital Truckers RSM proggy... cool beans, but you can, as you have found, lose hours noodling in the files...

True... true... but.. worth the time & effort when all is said & done. NOT to forget to mention the satisfaction that comes with completion, not to mention successful completion, at that.

Now that you mention it.. I do seem to recall that the Gramophone section was a bit.. Sahara desert, as well...

Could possibly take & copy/paste the songs from out of the Radio section & drop them in there.. to round it out... make it where you could listen to those through either the radio or the phonograph aka Gramophone... something else to add to the do list... ahh heck , I've done stepped into it NOW... another fine mess you've gotten us into Ollie...

p.s.

I do so happen to have the SH4 shuffler mod, that does like what SH3Commander did in the settings option & shuffles the music tracks about, so's that it's not playing them repetitiously, so you get a different start off. Good thing to have, in My book... A shame that there was NOT an SH4 version of Commander done up.. I would but no idea where to start to even begin to see of converting SH3Commander over to usability for SH4... ahh well.. will have to make do with the SH4 Gramophone Randomizer.

[Havan_IronOak]

I recently struggled with getting the KMGB radio mod to work with Captain Midnight mod.



I believe that the radio.ini that you have listed has one issue that I see, Some of the stations are too close together. I missed that the first time I tried and it mattered. Fixing that solved my problem.


I'm not sure why but the KMGB mod was very clear that "Channels should be at least 10 frequencies apart to avoid overlap."


And I think that they need to be in order, but it looks like you're fine there.

Also, MusicVolumeOnNews ... As I understand it, that's the volume at which you want the music files to play when an event (such as a news bulletin) has been triggered. I've been using 0.01 for all mine. Not sure why you'd want one to be 0.40 unless you're sure that all the random music in that station's folder is instrumental. Otherwise you'll have folks singing over the news.

I'd suggest you re-assign the frequencies and try it again.


Also it seems to me that the radio is a bit more elegant in that it plays music randomly. The Gramophone uses the same order over & over. I switched the radio.ini to have RadioRealism=No as well. I wasn't sure if that was to add static but One clear benefit is that the radio will continue to play when you submerge. I like to think that I have Filo T. Farnsworth as one of my crewmen and he's rigged up a towed array antenna. (Actually I was just getting annoyed at the radio having to cut out every time an airplane came by.

[Mad Mardigan]

Originally Posted by Havan_IronOak

I recently struggled with getting the KMGB radio mod to work with Captain Midnight mod.



I believe that the radio.ini that you have listed has one issue that I see, Some of the stations are too close together. I missed that the first time I tried and it mattered. Fixing that solved my problem.


I'm not sure why but the KMGB mod was very clear that "Channels should be at least 10 frequencies apart to avoid overlap."


And I think that they need to be in order, but it looks like you're fine there.

Also, MusicVolumeOnNews... As I understand it, that's the volume at which you want the music files to play when an event (such as a news bulletin) has been triggered. I've been using 0.01 for all mine. Not sure why you'd want one to be 0.40 unless you're sure that all the random music in that station's folder is instrumental. Otherwise you'll have folks singing over the news.

I'd suggest you re-assign the frequencies and try it again.


Also it seems to me that the radio is a bit more elegant in that it plays music randomly. The Gramophone uses the same order over & over. I switched the radio.ini to have RadioRealism=No as well. I wasn't sure if that was to add static but One clear benefit is that the radio will continue to play when you submerge. I like to think that I have Filo T. Farnsworth as one of my crewmen and he's rigged up a towed array antenna. (Actually I was just getting annoyed at the radio having to cut out every time an airplane came by.

Hey Havan_IronOak

Yeah, when I set the radio.ini up in the 1st post, I followed the 'rule of thumb' that was described in KMGB mod, to set up channels @ least 10 cycles apart. My guess is, the reasoning behind that was.. to make it so as to NOT have to wait long for the broadcasted station to begin playing. I will see of changing the radio signal cyclic rate a tad & see how it goes from there.

The range in this area, was I believe left open by a wide margin due to the dev's of the base vanilla SH4, realized that there may be ( & rightly so) players of it that would NOT be satisfied with the minimal radio offerings included in the base game.

As for the order, I went with what, at least to Me any ways, made sense in that area. Good to know that it looks right to another, as well there.

As for the MusicVolumeOnNews aspect... I left that alone in that regards, since I am NOT clear on what changes, if any to make in that area would be called for, for it to work.. or if any changes need to be made.

If any have knowledge on this area, I would greatly appreciate insight into that, thanks.

With the RadioRealism=, I left that at Yes, for the reasons why you mentioned of setting it No. I may see of adding in your explanation for setting that to a No instead of Yes, so that other who use this.. after I get it all worked out to work as a cohesive whole can know that this can be done & how to do so. For Me, I'll take the radio cutting out when I go deep due to a aircraft or sighting an enemy ship.

To be frank, I happen to have a love affair with music, love listening to it & feel that with that being the case, is for Me a niche I can field here & maybe.. just maybe contribute back to the subsim community & forward a contribution for others to enjoy.

As it is, WDAD, is sorely lacking as it pertains to the radio & gramophone section.. and am hoping to make a dent in that area being the radio/gramophone Sahara desert it is.. and make it blossom.

At least, that's My hope any ways....

Mad Mardigan

[Havan_IronOak]

Originally Posted by Mad Mardigan

Hey Havan_IronOak
... Yeah, when I set the radio.ini up in the 1st post, I followed the 'rule of thumb' that was described in KMGB mod, to set up channels @ least 10 cycles apart. My guess is, the reasoning behind that was.. to make it so as to NOT have to wait long for the broadcasted station to begin playing. I will see of changing the radio signal cyclic rate a tad & see how it goes from there. ...Mad Mardigan

I've had pretty good results with the changes that I've made. I initially thought I'd created a problem when I sort of Melded a few of the existing mods together but now I'm happy with the way it's turned out.

Originally Posted by Mad Mardigan

... As for the MusicVolumeOnNews aspect... I left that alone in that regards, since I am NOT clear on what changes, if any to make.

Originally Posted by Mad Mardigan

...Mad Mardigan

Pretty sure it's as simple as cutting and pasting the MusicVolumeOnNews line with a volume like into each of the station sections in the ini. It seems to my somewhat undiscerning ear that all of the music and event clips that I've encountered are pretty much at the same volume.

Originally Posted by Mad Mardigan

... With the RadioRealism=, I left that at Yes, for the reasons why you mentioned of setting it No...
Mad Mardigan

To each his own on that. I do like the shuffle aspect of the radio station over the "play the same list every time" option of the gramophone. And I find the "we interrupt this patrol for an airplane" interludes annoying enough to have to keep switching back and forth.


There is also an added annoyance in that your actual Patrol date is not used for triggering radio events. Instead the Patrol Start date is used. I swear that on my last patrol I was sorely tempted to end the patrol even though I had fuel and torpedoes aplenty because I was so sick of hearing the same newscast about civilians bitching about the institution of nationwide gas rationing just before Christmas well into March.

Originally Posted by Mad Mardigan

... I happen to have a love affair with music.

Originally Posted by Mad Mardigan

...Mad Mardigan

Me too! I've got a "War Years" playlist set up in Windows Media player that I used when I first started playing this game a few years back and have always enjoyed Big Band and Swing era music more than most of my contemporaries.



Did you hear that Dame Vera Lynn recently passed away a few days ago at the ripe old age of 103?

[propbeanie]

After an initial radio segment that is "old", from the start of a patrol, the rest should pick-up with your current date... something might be amiss in the set-up. I have not meddled enough with my own set-ups though, and have not done the radio at all in forever with an add-in mod. Therefore, I am not a "reliable source of information" for this...

[CrabKey]

"We'll meet again, don't know where, don't know when..."

[Mad Mardigan]

Originally Posted by Havan_IronOak

I've had pretty good results with the changes that I've made. I initially thought I'd created a problem when I sort of Melded a few of the existing mods together but now I'm happy with the way it's turned out.

Yeah, good to know, as you mentioned it earlier on before & I did make note of that

"The range in this area, was I believe left open by a wide margin due to the Dev's of the base vanilla SH4, realized that there may be ( & rightly so) players of it that would NOT be satisfied with the minimal radio offerings included in the base game."

Which is a good thing, as it gives plenty of room to space them out some, which I did also mention of looking at (and in the interim since then, have bumped them apart by 20, just to see how that goes before opening the gaping any wider, as a test run. I can always go back in & do so, if it's needed. )

Originally Posted by Havan_IronOak

Pretty sure it's as simple as cutting and pasting the MusicVolumeOnNews line with a volume like into each of the station sections in the ini. It seems to my somewhat undiscerning ear that all of the music and event clips that I've encountered are pretty much at the same volume.

Yeah, still have some info to glean here,before moving into the next segment of editing... that pertaining to this section.. would be helpful to know how this area works or doesn't to any major changes, what the different rates do, i.e .01. .1, so on & so forth up to the .40, so as to have a clearer understanding of it all... if worse comes to worse.. may just go with the .01 if needs be & make note in the read me I'm drafting up to go along with the works, should I get to a stoppage point & kick it for others to enjoy. Haven't got to that point yet.. I shall see after getting this worked out to completion 1st & then decide from there...

Originally Posted by Havan_IronOak

To each his own on that. I do like the shuffle aspect of the radio station over the "play the same list every time" option of the gramophone. And I find the "we interrupt this patrol for an airplane" interludes annoying enough to have to keep switching back and forth.

No doubt.. as you say & I agree.. whole heartedly... to each their own or as a friend would say, "whatever floats your boat..." As I stated before, I happen to enjoy the realism factor, yet do have to admit.. finding it a bit.. of an irritation of losing the radio, but that's what happened in real time back then.. they did NOT have the convenience of the ability the modern sailors have of being able to listen to music uninterrupted.. but.. a side note, in a war time footing, the silent service has to maintain silence, in order to survive & do instill that during training, that I'm aware of.

As far, as I know of, the enemy being able to hear you, if you got the phonograph playing or listening to a radio broadcast.. is NOT modeled in game, so as it is, no harm, no foul if you decide to set the radio up for uninterrupted listening... is up to each player, to decide go with realism or relax the Vulcan Darth Vader death grip on the realism factor...

I, may as with the previous section... add info of being able to edit that to allow for still listening to the radio even after diving, with a by your leave decision for others, should I drop this for others to use. Add to that, I may or may not decide later on to go with uninterrupted listening even while deep submerged.. could always change it back or leave it.. who knows..

Originally Posted by Havan_IronOak

There is also an added annoyance in that your actual Patrol date is not used for triggering radio events. Instead the Patrol Start date is used. I swear that on my last patrol I was sorely tempted to end the patrol even though I had fuel and torpedoes aplenty because I was so sick of hearing the same newscast about civilians bitching about the institution of nationwide gas rationing just before Christmas well into March.

From what I can tell, is in the section I've gone through... it appears thus far, that it is preset to have event files played by a date trigger.. don't know yet, if such is the case with all of what I'm working with yet or not... am waiting to hear back on a possible source for answering some questions I have & a couple of others that I have lined up, as potential sources of info.

Originally Posted by Havan_IronOak

Me too! I've got a "War Years" playlist set up in Windows Media player that I used when I first started playing this game a few years back and have always enjoyed Big Band and Swing era music more than most of my contemporaries.

Did you hear that Dame Vera Lynn recently passed away a few days ago at the ripe old age of 103?

Hey Havan IronOak,

I can relate.. I enjoy all music I grew up with, which ranged from stuff from the late 30' & up... which included big band, swing, early jazz, blues.. heck.. the whole gamut of music, to be frank. The only garbage I can't get into is heavy death metal, that emo crap & most rap.. There is a couple of early stuff from the infant days of rap, that I can manage to tolerate, but.. it's a very fine & minute percentage of it.

Yeah, I did indeed hear about that.. she lived to a long life... can only hope to make it as long, if NOT longer than that..

Ok, coffee breaks over.. now back to work.. yeah.. I'm My own whip cracker... aka Boss...

M. M.

[Mad Mardigan]

M. M.

[Mad Mardigan]

Upon further investigation, have decided to shelve My foray into modding.. for now.. I may further explore the possibility of working out a mod later on.

What lead to the closure of this attempt, was in finding an already crafted radio mod, that accomplished what I was looking to do here... and rather greatly, I might add, for We dive at dawn.

As it is now, the Radio section options are not the dry, dusty barren wasteland it once was. Now, is the turning of eyes on resolving the Gramophone section & seeing of making that area blossom from a Sahara like existence... into an oasis like the Radio land area is now.

There is info that may be of use for others, and so.. would love to have this kept around, for just such reasons...

So.. with a hearty & heart felt thanks to those that responded.. My thanks & gratitude for your assistance, and may fortune favor the bold..

Fair winds, smooth seas & plentiful hunting grounds.. Gute Jagd, Herr Kaleuns...

Mad Mardigan - Kaleun U-65