Real Fleet Boat ideas and help request

[swdw]

This thread is to let people know RFB is alive. I'm also looking for help and for people to throw some ideas out.

This thread is separate from the original thread because this is also a "fishing expedition"

If you've looked in the RFB thread, you'll know that Beery was hoping the subsim/SH4 community would continue development on RFB.

Through an e-mail with him, I decided to give this a run. But as Beery mentioned, I also hope this will continue to be more of a team effort than a one man show. So those who are interested in helping with development, please give a yell.

Several people have agreed to help with the testing as things are released and we may be looking for more testers later.

Thankfully, even with the MB controller crash on my SH4 'puter, the first update is now assembled. It will be uploaded for the testers tomorrow when my new domain name goes into effect

So first i"ll throw out the POTENTIAL ideas I have.

To start with, because of the new patch, and the uncertainty of what it will entail, the first update will be a minor update with several fixes rolled in (IJN radar fix is one). It also includes a couple small graphics mods, some other small changes like making speed performance more realistic at each bell (based on a mod by Leo).

It may include tater's idea of putting the campaign mods included in a separate folder so it will be more compatible with RSRD and Tater's campaign layers. How soon this happens depends on the 1.4 patch release date. This idea will definitely be incorporated in the future as it solves many potential problems.

Past the initial update here are some thoughts. Real Fleet Boat will be split into 2 versions. The idea is to have a RFB basic version that focuses on reality and leaves it up to the user which mods they want to install. Ship mods that are more historic will be rolled in as will small graphics mods that fix errors (capt cox's uniform and cap mod is an example). It will include Beery's campaign mods but they will be in a separate folder wen the file is unzipped. HOPEFULLY, that means you can use the stock campaign, the RFB campaign mod, Tater's campaign layers, or RSRD.

The other version will be what I call the RFB Plus version. The idea is to work out any potential conflicts ahead of time with other major mods, like Ducimis did with his latest release of TM to make it cohabitate with ROW better. RFB Plus will be a mod that includes a number of other mods all in one archive file (7z, rar)- not one folder, but one archive. Let me explain, and credit for this idea goes to JSCones.

For example, graphics mods like ROW , and major campaign mods would be included in the archive (Already talked to Leo about this for ROW v2, when Leo says it's ready, and lurker for RSRD). When you extract the files to the MODS folder and open JSGME you will see the mod folders come prenumbered so you know what order to install them in. So you'd see something like this:
01-Real Fleet Boat
02- ROW Textures
03- RSRD
etc.

This way, as other mods are updated between RFB plus updates, you can uninstall the mods you're using and reinstall them with the new update.

Lots of small things to be played with also and see how they work. That was the reason for the wave effect question on visual range. Hopefully something can be done with that to make sightings in higher state seas more difficult.

Hopefully these ideas appeal to the current users of RFB and will attract some new users.

Last, still fishing for people willing to help . To those wanting to help here's the other side. I have an existing hosting service I've added a new domain to (effective tomorrow). Those helping with RFB will have access to a site for exchanging files, a private developers/testers forum, and other tools that may be recommended to increase ease of communication and work exchange (plus revision tracking). This is something I've done before when working on a game mod and it helped everyone involved. It will take a couple of weeks to get the tools in place (real life, plus I teach classes Mon and Thurs evenings)

Hope this sounds good to the community.

I know that the proof is in the pudding, so some will take a wait and see attitude. I understand that, but please be patient as some of this will take some time.

[donut]

We will be tracking this tread,& offer all that we can to assist. Your cooperation with RSRD/lurker_hlb3,Tater,& Leo,ect. Is the best I also want to plug the modding expertice of Redwine,& D_T,For your aid.

[Ducimus]

Sounds like your kicking it up a notch! I'd help out if i didn't have my own problems to deal with I hope your project really pans out. Truthfully, i want someone to put out a mod pack that puts mine to shame, so people will forget about it. That way i can stop updating it and quit with a clear conscience. I think at this point, what keeps me going, is just trying to find a good stopping point so i can feel like i finished what i started. Anyway, glad to see the wheels are turning! if you ever need any advice, don't hesitate to ask.

[Hitman]

Real Fleet Boat will be split into 2 versions.

Now that's exactly what I was hoping for

It is nowadays impossible to take the mods combination that fits everyone, so a basic "fix & enhencement" pack biased towards realism is the way to go for us who like to customize the game, but start from a well proven base. I had been using Trigger Maru happily until it went too big -the way the supermods go- and customizing it stopped being fun to become a nightmare.

Thanks for your interest and good luck

I can't help with serious testing, but whenever possible I'll provide feedback from my regular gaming if I see something relevant.

[raymond6751]

I think you are on the right track here. With so many Mods coming at us, we have no time to enjoy and hesitate to mix them.

Here's another idea: If possible, we need an alarm sound to alert the 'captain' when certain events happen, when he is in the other room. I find the voice volumes so low that I cannot hear them properly. I also don't want to sit for hours in front of the screen 'in case'. (I know...use fast speed) I like realism and want to take the time to play real time.

You haven't said what skills you are seeking in the request for help. I myself have no graphical talent, but I used to program in C and C++. It has been a few yars, but I'd be happy to try some debugging to help. I'm retired, so have time.

[AVGWarhawk]

Sounds great! I beileve the community was hoping for a large one stop shop mod pack!

[DeepIron]

Kudos to you swdw for taking on this project! And to Beery and all the other modders who are making SH4 even better!

Idea: An install system, such as the one I think you've described, that keeps the game logic and eye candy enhancements "separate" would be a plus in my book.

Ie; I really enjoyed TM and ROW but couldn't run either or them successfully with the "full load" of either mod installed. Dropped my frame rates too low (for me). On the other hand, RFB game logic made the sim more realistic at the expense of graphics. In the end, I ended up with a mixture of RFB, ROW components and some other smaller mods... Kind of a mess... Not to mention RSRD coming along...

Being able to load/unload mod components that work together would be SH4 heaven...

Maybe establishing a framework based on RFB would be a possibility...

[swdw]

Another note. If you are intersested in helping, but are thinking "I don't have that much time", not to worry. Because of their schedule, a couple of people already wanting to help mentioned their time was limited by real life.

Also, you don't have to kill your existing games because you can use MultiSH4 and have a install for playing for fun, and one for testing.

Let's be real, this is supposed to be a hobby, not a 2nd job. That's where the teamwork idea comes in. If ten people spend 1 hour a week on development and some time playing and testing ( I'll use 2 hours play time cuz many people easily play SH4 for 2 hours total over a 7 day period,) thats the same as one person spending 30 hours in one week. In contrast, with a team you can look at it as the equivalent to 20 minutes a day for an individual, and is even better because you have multiple outlooks. Some weeks one person may only spend one hour or less the entire week, but at the same time another person will get cranking for a couple of days and everything evens out in the end. Please understand we aren't talking about people guarranteeing they'll spend so many hours a week, this is just an illustration of how it all balances out in the end.

This is suppossed to be interesting. So you try to avoid burnout by sharing the burden with people, and each one works on a piece they're interested in, rather than asking everyone to be able to do everything.

Sure, things may not crank out the door as fast, but there's that old saying "slow and steady wins the race".

What's cool is you may be helping multiple mods at once. For example the update test file has gone out with taters new depth charge mod. So we're not only working on RFB, but we'll be helping tater with feedback. Same thing will happen when work starts on RFB plus.

Hope this gives the whole project some perspective.

[panthercules]

Sounds like this is really going in a great direction, and I'm looking forward to playing around with it. I've been using RFB as the basis for my install since it came out, but since it kinda stagnated for a while I've wound up with a pretty extensive list of mods overlaid on top of it, and it would be really nice to have more of the realism-oriented mods incorporated into the RFB framework. I really like the idea of splitting out the core realism elements from some of the "eye-candy" elements, but also of having some of the major "eye-candy" mods made available as "RFB-compatible" so they can be installed together for those who want to do that without having to do the complicated merging themselves.

Kudos to swdw for taking this on, and to all the folks here that I know will be lining up to help out

[ryanwigginton]

Great to hear. I had a good time with RFB for a while but in the end TMs immersion won me over. Will look forward to another bash at it once it's been rejuvinated a little. My only advice would be stay true to the title, painstaking realism is the order of the day.

Oh yeh, and avoid conversations involving deck gun rate of fire...

[panthercules]

Originally Posted by ryanwigginton

Oh yeh, and avoid conversations involving deck gun rate of fire...

LOL - you just had to jinx it, didn't ya? Guess I won't need to check this thread again until it hits about page 5, after all the ROF posts die down