[WIP] Wolves of the Kaiser:1914-1918 Mod

[iambecomelife]

Originally Posted by Warbie

Following your work for a few years now! Great Job

Can you give us some more insight about the campaign? Will it only be limited to the North Sea?

Are we going to be able to play as British subs (historically were active in Kattegat/Baltic in WW1) as well?

Thanks!

British subs are very tempting but for now it will be German only.

The campaign will have the following areas:

-North Sea
-Atlantic/Western Approaches
-Mediterranean
-US East Coast

There will also be alternate history Single Missions involving Admiral Graf Spee and Admiral Christopher Cradock in the area off Coronel and the Falkland Islands in 1914.

The vast majority of Single Missions, however, will be historical. Some ideas:

-Attacking HMS "Pathfinder" 1914
-Sinking Aboukir/Cressy/Hogue 1914
-Bombardment of Cumbria, 1915
-Sinking of the Lusitania, 1915
-Attacking Mediterranean forces, 1915
-U-29's attack on the Grand Fleet, 1915
-Sinking of HMS "Falmouth" & HMS "Nottingham", 1916
-Escorting German merchant raiders, 1916
-Anti-Shipping missions near Cape Cod & Cape Hatteras, 1917-1918
-Attack on "HMS Drake" and her convoy, 1917
-Anti-Minelayer attacks in he North Sea, 1917
-The 1918 Irish Sea missions/sinking of RMS "Leinster"
-Attack on Scapa Flow, 1918
-Standoff with German battleships during the Naval Mutinies, October-November 1918

[Hitman]

Amazing stuff as usual IABL

You should later consider allowing the use of those great models for indie sims, for example bracer's Battleship Command. Having a pool of free resources to share between modders and indie developers would be such an awesome collaborative effort

[Kapitain Oliver Leinkraunt]

Originally Posted by iambecomelife

Thanks!

British subs are very tempting but for now it will be German only.

The campaign will have the following areas:

-North Sea
-Atlantic/Western Approaches
-Mediterranean
-US East Coast

It has been six years when I first entered in Subsim to see the evolution of this incredible mod; I love it )

But, I have some questions:

the Mediterranean campaign will only concern about the Pola/Bocche di Cattaro’s flotilla or it’ll include the one based in Costantinopolis ?

Are there any plans for eventual future expansion pack about the Baltic and Black Seas campaigns ? Or about the K.u.K submarines’ fleet or the Ub-1 held by Bulgarians?

What navies will be included in the mod ? Only the main ones, or will it include “small” navies such as Portugal, Russia, Greece, Japan, Ottomans, Bulgaria, “Romania” and Brazil?

Need any help for a sound mod for WotK?

[iambecomelife]

Originally Posted by Kapitain Oliver Leinkraunt

It has been six years when I first entered in Subsim to see the evolution of this incredible mod; I love it )

But, I have some questions:

the Mediterranean campaign will only concern about the Pola/Bocche di Cattaro’s flotilla or it’ll include the one based in Costantinopolis ?

Are there any plans for eventual future expansion pack about the Baltic and Black Seas campaigns ? Or about the K.u.K submarines’ fleet or the Ub-1 held by Bulgarians?

What navies will be included in the mod ? Only the main ones, or will it include “small” navies such as Portugal, Russia, Greece, Japan, Ottomans, Bulgaria, “Romania” and Brazil?

Need any help for a sound mod for WotK?

1) Probably only Pola flotilla.

2) Yes, expansion packs are likely. Most likely navies are UK and KuK (there may be Austrian decorations in the initial release)

3) Unfortunately, only UK and German navies will have a lot of unique units. Other navies will share patrol boats & escort models; this is needed to keep release to 2021 approximately.

4) That would be appreciated; I would like some new sounds for weapons, aircraft, survivors, and NON-SURVIVORS. Not to be gruesome, but when you torpedo a tanker or a poison gas freighter, the results will be .... dramatic, shall we say.

[iambecomelife]

Well, "Seydlitz" is coming along nicely. On thing I noticed about her is that the secondaries are NOT symmetrical! The gun arrangements on Port & Starboard are visibly different.

Her hull, casemate arrangement, basic parts of the superstructure, and main weaponry are modeled.

She will be the first ship equipped with new high-detail main gun turrets. The big guns seen in screenshots earlier were low-detail variants for temporary use. I can use minimum render dimension controllers to reduce turret details at long range, boosting framerate.

Regarding major ships, here are the priorities:

-Finishing Seydlitz
-Minor improvements to existing models of Von der Tann & Moltke
-Detailing of Lion/Queen Mary/Invincible/Queen Mary
-Major changes to Lutzow/Derfflinger model (dates from 2014-2015; bad quality)

One convenient thing: as predicted I now have a big library of ship parts, such as ventilators, lifeboats, cabins, fire hoses, rafts, chains, anchors, cranes, etc. They are all pre-textured and ready to use; this has helped speed up construction.

Originally Posted by Hitman

Amazing stuff as usual IABL

You should later consider allowing the use of those great models for indie sims, for example bracer's Battleship Command. Having a pool of free resources to share between modders and indie developers would be such an awesome collaborative effort

Thanks. Some of the merchant ship models are likely to be made available for other developers, if desired.

[iambecomelife]

Gradually taking shape - no frustrating moments (yet).

[iambecomelife]

Lusitania's model is in line for improvements; needs some work on the stern. The vessel now has destructible smokestacks and revamped internal compartments to improve sinking behavior.

If you torpedo where Schwieger's torpedo hit, she sinks in 15-18 minutes. Just as planned.

Oh, and on one of the last test runs, No. 4 funnel came crashing down next to a skylight as "Lusitania" sank, landing on top of a group of passengers. Kind of a grim thing to witness, don't you think?

And Kpt. Oliver Leinkraunt, thank you very much for your pictures, I finally got a chance to download them. I am especially happy you included info on the "Pallada", because she is a high priority foreign unit to model once the main mod is released.

[Texas Red]

Man, i am so glad to see this coming around so nicely!! Hopefully this will be released this year. Keep up the good work!

[iambecomelife]

Weapons testing last week. Iron Duke goes down after one torpedo hit...not really what I wanted, because I think battleships should usually take from 3-4 hits, but this is probably not impossible - "Audacious" failed to withstand a single mine hit. I will probably strengthen the underwater protection.

Originally Posted by El Whacko

Man, i am so glad to see this coming around so nicely!! Hopefully this will be released this year. Keep up the good work!

Thank you!

[Jimbuna]

Coming along really nicely

[Bubblehead1980]

Dropped in to see the progress. Looks amazing, really look forward to loading this up someday. More reading on WW I sub warfare I do, more interested I become. Such crude technology then but effective.

[Buddahaid]

Originally Posted by Bubblehead1980

Dropped in to see the progress. Looks amazing, really look forward to loading this up someday. More reading on WW I sub warfare I do, more interested I become. Such crude technology then but effective.

Drachinifel did some videos recently on the subject. I really can't wait for this mod.....

[iambecomelife]

Originally Posted by Bubblehead1980

Dropped in to see the progress. Looks amazing, really look forward to loading this up someday. More reading on WW I sub warfare I do, more interested I become. Such crude technology then but effective.

I agree. The interesting thing is, even the Germans had an incorrect submarine doctrine at the start of WWI. And contrary to popular belief, Germany did NOT have the biggest fleet of submarines when the war started. The British had more. Initially, the German navy thought of U-Boats as coastal defense units for destroying enemy warships if they tried to blockade or invade Germany.

However, after several amazing victories in 1914 (Pathfinder, Aboukir, Cressy, Hogue, & Hawke sinkings) they gradually realized that taking the battle to the enemy was a feasible strategy - especially through an anti-commerce campaign in distant waters.

The Germans had several important advantages over other submarine fleets:

-Reliable diesel propulsion. MAN & Germaniawerft diesel engines were quite good, and improved during the war. Other navies like the French wasted time with petrol boats and struggled to build good diesels.

-Good weapons. The G6 and G7 torpedoes and mines used by K.M. submarines were excellent - in fact, German WWII torpedoes were close relatives of the WWI G7. British torpedoes, on the other hand, often ran deep or failed to explode.

-Aggressive officers. Germany doesn't seem to have had a problem with overly-cautious or timid commanders like other navies. U-Boat Kaleuns showed great tenacity in the field; the records of Hersing, Rose, de la Periere, and others with over 100,000 tons sunk speak for themselves.

[ijustwantrisingsun]

Been following this mod for awhile, it's looking great!

As you can probably guess by my name I'm a big fan of the Rising Sun mod, notably utilizing the Narwhal class and it's dual 6 inch guns.

Will you be able to command the Type 151 U-Boats and U 139's? I'm not sure if SH 4 supports having more than 2 deck guns, but taking on enemy escorts solely with 2x 8.8cm's and 150mm guns is something I could get used to

[Texas Red]

Originally Posted by ijustwantrisingsun

Been following this mod for awhile, it's looking great!

As you can probably guess by my name I'm a big fan of the Rising Sun mod, notably utilizing the Narwhal class and it's dual 6 inch guns.

Will you be able to command the Type 151 U-Boats and U 139's? I'm not sure if SH 4 supports having more than 2 deck guns, but taking on enemy escorts solely with 2x 8.8cm's and 150mm guns is something I could get used to

I once had two deck guns playing SH4 with FotRSU. Both of them were usable. So I see no reason why we can't have two deck guns here.