[REL] Dark Waters

[KaleunMarco]

Originally Posted by propbeanie

... probably the same way it ends the Type IIB in the Black Sea...

I haven't tried the Cachalot class yet, but it does run out of missions and home port at Pearl 1943-02-14... I bet you go into suspended animation with it also... sigh - shtinking irritating frustrating game... lol

I would almost guarantee you two slices of hot, buttered toast that the same holds true for S-Boats as well as the Narwhal / Nautilus... Emergency surgery might be needed to save the patient!!!

i think that we have to use the IDFlotillaLinkTransferTo option and assign the Black Sea-IIB to another Flotilla that is still in business in September 1944 and then use that Flot to upgrade the boat.

one problem is keeping enough bases open between the Black Sea and Germany to enable a little IIB to make it the whole, long way.

i'll look for a Flot that HAD IIB's so that then the Black Sea IIB shows up she will be upgraded to a 7 or a 9 or whatever.
or
somehow, arrange for a message to be sent to the user that says you need to voluntarily end your career in August 1944.

[propbeanie]

Originally Posted by KaleunMarco

i think that we have to use the IDFlotillaLinkTransferTo option and assign the Black Sea-IIB to another Flotilla that is still in business in September 1944 and then use that Flot to upgrade the boat.

one problem is keeping enough bases open between the Black Sea and Germany to enable a little IIB to make it the whole, long way.

i'll look for a Flot that HAD IIB's so that then the Black Sea IIB shows up she will be upgraded to a 7 or a 9 or whatever.
or
somehow, arrange for a message to be sent to the user that says you need to voluntarily end your career in August 1944.

That's what I was showing here:

Originally Posted by propbeanie

So they (devs) are insistent that you are going to take a new (impossible) submarine, and do the coastal waters Inshore Campaign, eh? I wonder where some of those Black Sea submariners ended up? I mean, besides the Eastern Front and POW camps? Did any skippers or other officers make it back to submarines? Perhaps you could have your boat transfer to... Wilhelmshaven maybe, since they're sending you to the Channel?... No. won't work... Trondheim?? But the Type IIB then would be dated last to August 23 (or maybe 24th??) with an "IDFlotillaLinkTransferTo= 13thFlot_Trondheim"...?? You would have to add a Type IIB there though, such as

ID= F25IIB
NameDisplayable= Type IIB U-boat
AvailabilityInterval= 1944-08-20, 1944-09-01 (or earlier, like 1944-08-26)
IDLinkUserPlayerUnitType= IIB
UnitTypeCommonality= 1
IDFlotillaLinkTransferTo= NULL

The dates are kind of a kicker, until you run through it a few tries and find out what happens with what. You might want to add a temporary CareerStart to the bottom of the list to do an early August start, to help ease the pain of testing... Anyway, it seems the game doesn't want you to quit playing just then - unless you die, but all of the bases are being closed in France, so you can't transfer to them reliably... but you want a transfer to a base such that you "upgrade" naturally to a higher class boat, and that Trondheim we added has a VIIC, IXC-40, and IXD-2 that go kind of deep into the war, plus you are close enough to a XXI base if you get that anyway... but apparently, the game is going to continue from Constanza... and you have already been through the XXI saga, trying to get by Constantinople and what happens then...

Very strange though.

P.S.: You would also need one valid mission assignment for the IIB at Trondheim in the North Sea...

I don't think that will work though, because the game will assign the player one last mission at the old flotilla, remember? So you are in the Black Sea, and you are transferred by the game to Trondheim. Your first mission assignment when you go on patrol from Trondheim is in the Black Sea... of course though, you can ignore that assignment and just go North Sea convoy hunting, but the game is more than a bit strange in several regards about this.

I thought more about the Cachalot and Narwhal, and they're fine, because unlike the Black Sea campaign, their base of operations isn't ending, just the boat, and since there are other boats at the base, you 'upgrade' boats automatically (in theory) when the old one expires.

[KaleunMarco]

Originally Posted by propbeanie

That's what I was showing here:

I don't think that will work though, because the game will assign the player one last mission at the old flotilla, remember? So you are in the Black Sea, and you are transferred by the game to Trondheim. Your first mission assignment when you go on patrol from Trondheim is in the Black Sea...

ok, i understand that, however the next mission after the Flot, the Base, and the Boat all expire is a Thames/North Sea mission, which, last time i checked, is NOT in the Black Sea. there is no transfer of any kind.

Originally Posted by propbeanie

I thought more about the Cachalot and Narwhal, and they're fine, because unlike the Black Sea campaign, their base of operations isn't ending, just the boat, and since there are other boats at the base, you 'upgrade' boats automatically (in theory) when the old one expires.

so...the game is broken in that we cannot force a Flot/Base/Boat expiration and end a career.
then why can't we continue with the breakage and when the IIB/BS expires, convert her to a Type VIID, while still in the Black Sea, assign her the same Thames mission or some such, and transfer her to Bergen, where the VIID lives?

[propbeanie]

That might work, young feller... but you still might get a Black Sea mission... only one way to find out! lol

[KaleunMarco]

Originally Posted by propbeanie

That might work, young feller... but you still might get a Black Sea mission... only one way to find out! lol

this is maddening!!!
excuse the hyperbole, but Ubi is playing games with us.
++
here is my modded Flotillas file:

[Flotilla 8]
ID= 30Flotilla
NameDisplayable= 30Flotilla-Flotilla-Name
AvailabilityInterval=1942-09-21, 1944-08-25

[Flotilla 8.Base 1]
ID= F8Constanza
NameDisplayable= 30Flotilla-Base-Name
Info= 30Flotilla-Base-Info
ExternalBaseName= Constanza
AvailabilityInterval= NULL, NULL
DepartureDescription1= 3436719.000000, 5298106.000000, 135.0000
DepartureDescriptionOut1= 3449068.000000, 5293404.000000, 090.0000

[Flotilla 8.UserPlayerUnitType 1]
ID= F8IIBlkS
NameDisplayable= Type IIB U-boat
AvailabilityInterval= NULL, NULL
IDLinkUserPlayerUnitType= IIBlkS
UnitTypeCommonality= 1
IDFlotillaLinkTransferTo= 11Flotilla_BERGEN

now, compare it to the Flotillas file that Ubi creates in its cache folder at program-launch-time:

[Flotilla 8]
ID=30Flotilla
NameDisplayable=30th Flotilla ( Constanza )
AvailabilityInterval=1942-09-21, 1944-08-25

[Flotilla 8.Base 1]
ID=F8Constanza
NameDisplayable=Constanza Harbor
Info= 30th Flotilla Home Base
ExternalBaseName=Constanza
AvailabilityInterval=1900-01-01, 1999-12-31
DepartureDescription1=3.43672e+006,5.29811e+006,13 5
DepartureDescriptionOut1=3.44907e+006,5.2934e+006, 90

[Flotilla 8.UserPlayerUnitType 1]
ID=F8IIBlkS
NameDisplayable=Type IIB U-boat
AvailabilityInterval=1900-01-01, 1999-12-31
IDLinkUserPlayerUnitType=IIBlkS
UnitTypeCommonality=1.000000
IDFlotillaLinkTransferTo=11Flotilla_BERGEN

no wonder the changes are not working. Ubi is overwriting them with its own parm values. WTF!!!!
i've checked every reference to Constanza and Type IIB & IIB/BS and none of them extends beyond 1945: base files, CFG files, Eqp, Sim, Zone, Unitparts, you-name-it.
so, from where is 1999 coming?

[propbeanie]

Oh my! You have just violated the space / time continuum!... run for our lives!!!



That does explain a lot! I wonder if something similar is contributing to the early sub "awards" the game does?... maybe the Balao is dated 1938-01-01 to 1999-12-31?? You of course, realize, you have found the Y2K problem...

[propbeanie]

We need the game to do this:




I STILL can't stop watching that and laughing... unfortunately, that's what the game does for us... lights one in our shorts

[KaleunMarco]

Originally Posted by propbeanie

Oh my! You have just violated the space / time continuum!... run for our lives!!!

That does explain a lot! I wonder if something similar is contributing to the early sub "awards" the game does?... maybe the Balao is dated 1938-01-01 to 1999-12-31?? You of course, realize, you have found the Y2K problem...

but Ubi doesn't reset the expiration date for ALL bases/boats, etc.
just some. Typical.
i spent a bit of time trying to find the common denominator to the changed base date, etc, but things started to blend together, visually, and i fell asleep with nightmares of 1999-12-31 mocking me.


p.s. it just clicked: Ubi seems to sub 1999-12-31 in Flotillas (and possibly elsewhere) when we use NULL as an end date.

[propbeanie]

Originally Posted by KaleunMarco

... p.s. it just clicked: Ubi seems to sub 1999-12-31 in Flotillas (and possibly elsewhere) when we use NULL as an end date.

Well, that cuts it then... nothing but specific dates for all future releases of anything... sigh. This complicates testing though...

[KaleunMarco]

Originally Posted by propbeanie

Well, that cuts it then... nothing but specific dates for all future releases of anything... sigh. This complicates testing though...

yep.
complicates many related items.

[Hawkins]

Doing a Med Campaign and it’s the summer of 1942, not a single convoy. Barely a handful of ships. Constant storms. What the heck? Is it supposed to be like this? I assumed the Ames would be dangerous and target rich but I’ve done 2 patrols where I’ve seen maybe 6 map contacts and 1 actual ship sighted. I’m using BHs mod which adjusts crew view range but even still I can’t seem to intercept targets and when I checked to see if they’re where indeed ships by waiting at a choke point. I finally spotted a ship. A German ship! Very frustrating. Any thoughts?

[KaleunMarco]

Originally Posted by Hawkins

Doing a Med Campaign and it’s the summer of 1942, not a single convoy. Barely a handful of ships. Constant storms. What the heck? Is it supposed to be like this? I assumed the Ames would be dangerous and target rich but I’ve done 2 patrols where I’ve seen maybe 6 map contacts and 1 actual ship sighted. I’m using BHs mod which adjusts crew view range but even still I can’t seem to intercept targets and when I checked to see if they’re where indeed ships by waiting at a choke point. I finally spotted a ship. A German ship! Very frustrating. Any thoughts?

i am playing a different mod set and i encounter massive Allied convoys as well as verdamdt multi-ship destroyer task forces, six or eight aggressively searching DD's.

in fact, i was making the long trek from the Black Sea back to Germany and i had a very, very difficult time keeping out of the way of Allied ships on my way through the Med and Gibraltar.


Generic Mod Enabler - v2.6.0.157
[C:\Ubisoft\Dark Waters\MODS]

100 OM_DarkWaters_V6
110 OM_Harder_Escort_L2
120 OM_Strategic_Map_Symbols
130 OM_UMark
140 OM_Warm_Clothes
150 OM_U-Jagd
160 OM_Med_Env
180 Voice Mod
900 DarkWaters V6_Errors-fix
jimimadrid Torpedos

[Hawkins]

Well thanks for the feedback. Good to know there is actually something to shoot out there! Maybe next patrol and later into 1942.

[KaleunMarco]

Originally Posted by propbeanie

Well, that cuts it then... nothing but specific dates for all future releases of anything... sigh. This complicates testing though...

well, the fix works: changed the 30Flot exit dates to hard core dates and when we dock we get an entirely different decision screen:


if you click No, you get a screen with some kind words and your career is over (which is desired).
if you click Yes (and there should not be a Yes branch) you are assigned to a Type XXIII based in Constanza which is no longer a base and assigned a mission off the east coast of England. starting said mission takes you to the land of CTD, which is probably appropriate.

since Ubi is insistent on continuing the career-thing, i may play around with trying to code for a transfer to a boat that could make it to Germany/Norway. however, as soon as i type that idea, it dawns on me that if i code for the transfer, there will be no career-ending decision.
i wish i could figure how Ubi coded the XXIII upgrade and then i could intercept that.

[KaleunMarco]

Originally Posted by propbeanie

Well, that cuts it then... nothing but specific dates for all future releases of anything... sigh. This complicates testing though...

ok, i took the changes one more step deeper...i changed all end dates of Boats and Bases from NULL to a date that matched either the Base End Date or the Flotilla End Date, whichever was more logical. i also tidied up the XXIII availability.

fired up that end-of-August mission (8/25-26), docked, took the Yes path and was assigned a IID with the same Thames mission (which is the default mission).

BUT (notice the big butt) we were no longer assigned to Constanza, we were assigned to Lorient (F27), which does not close up until 8/30/44. No way any boat except a nuke going balls-out could make from the Black Sea to NW France in 4 days, but let's leave that out of the discussion for the moment.

i may follow this path and see where it leads...probably to Germany or Norway, but there is no telling what Ubi logic will do. no idea why/how the transfer -logic made it from a IIB-BlkSea to Lorient-IID. i will have to think on it.

i would still like to know how we can dock at Constanza on August 26 and have our next mission begin the day before, on August 25. All kidding aside, please.