[REQ] Realistic climate zones?

Safe-Keeper · 03-13-10, 11:05 PM

Found this while looking through SH5 files. It's called "Climatezones" and it's found in the Env subfolder.

In a cfg file in the same folder I found this:

Color00=PolarClimateNorthern
Color40=TemperateClimateNorthern
Color80=TropicalClimateNorthern
Color120=TropicalClimateSouthern
Color160=TemperateClimateSouthern
Color200=PolarClimateSouthern

Looking deeper into this, it seems this controls textures as well as not only weather but also seasons - the temperate zones have four seasons, while the tropical and polar have only one. Seasons, in turn, seem to control only min and max duration between weather change, and min and max wind speed at the moment.

Wouldn't it be possible to tweak the zones so that the Gulf Current and other factors are taken into account? Greenland and Alaska should not have the same climate as Scandinavia, for example, and seasons should be different (fall in temperate zones should have far more rain/snow than the other seasons, for example).

For reference, here is an image showing the world's actual climate zones. SH5 may not need be this detailed, but simple tweaks such as shifting the northern hemisphere (Canada, Siberia, Alaska, and so on) into a colder climate than mainland US and Europe would be a good start. In the future, we could implement things like a rain-heavy monsoon seasons for Eastern patrols. Game seems to allow as many climate zones as there are colour gradients, so there's a lot of potential here overall.

Safe-Keeper · 03-13-10, 11:30 PM

Here is a prototype I just made. The changes were a bit hard to spot, so just for this image, I recoloured the polar region yellow.

The polar region now follows the boundary in the reference picture I linked to. As you can see, the temperate climate zone is pushed up in the north-eastern Atlantic, and down in the Greenland/North America region. Should make those Arctic convoy hunting missions a bit more cosy.

Okay, so what I've done is convert a tga file to bmp, edit it in Paint, and convert it back to tga. It's really a five-minute job that anyone can do, and it's untested and may not even work at all (would be quite an undertaking to properly test it, actually), but I guess it can't hurt to upload it for whoever wants it. Get it here.

Safe-Keeper · 03-14-10, 12:17 AM

Okay, so the only thing climate zones really affect at the moment seems to be colour - of just about everything from terrain to the sun to underwater fog. Also duration of days, presumably.

03-13-10, 11:05 PM	#1
Safe-Keeper Ocean Warrior Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Norway Posts: 3,234 Downloads: 11 Uploads: 0	[TEC] Realistic climate zones Found this while looking through SH5 files. It's called "Climatezones" and it's found in the Env subfolder. In a cfg file in the same folder I found this: Color00=PolarClimateNorthern Color40=TemperateClimateNorthern Color80=TropicalClimateNorthern Color120=TropicalClimateSouthern Color160=TemperateClimateSouthern Color200=PolarClimateSouthern Looking deeper into this, it seems this controls textures as well as not only weather but also seasons - the temperate zones have four seasons, while the tropical and polar have only one. Seasons, in turn, seem to control only min and max duration between weather change, and min and max wind speed at the moment. Wouldn't it be possible to tweak the zones so that the Gulf Current and other factors are taken into account? Greenland and Alaska should not have the same climate as Scandinavia, for example, and seasons should be different (fall in temperate zones should have far more rain/snow than the other seasons, for example). For reference, here is an image showing the world's actual climate zones. SH5 may not need be this detailed, but simple tweaks such as shifting the northern hemisphere (Canada, Siberia, Alaska, and so on) into a colder climate than mainland US and Europe would be a good start. In the future, we could implement things like a rain-heavy monsoon seasons for Eastern patrols. Game seems to allow as many climate zones as there are colour gradients, so there's a lot of potential here overall. __________________ First Strike Mod tester. Hardcore sub skipper. Last edited by Safe-Keeper; 03-13-10 at 11:31 PM. Reason: Changed project tag

03-13-10, 11:30 PM	#2
Safe-Keeper Ocean Warrior Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Norway Posts: 3,234 Downloads: 11 Uploads: 0	Here is a prototype I just made. The changes were a bit hard to spot, so just for this image, I recoloured the polar region yellow. The polar region now follows the boundary in the reference picture I linked to. As you can see, the temperate climate zone is pushed up in the north-eastern Atlantic, and down in the Greenland/North America region. Should make those Arctic convoy hunting missions a bit more cosy. Okay, so what I've done is convert a tga file to bmp, edit it in Paint, and convert it back to tga. It's really a five-minute job that anyone can do, and it's untested and may not even work at all (would be quite an undertaking to properly test it, actually), but I guess it can't hurt to upload it for whoever wants it. Get it here. __________________ First Strike Mod tester. Hardcore sub skipper. Last edited by Safe-Keeper; 03-14-10 at 12:04 AM.

03-14-10, 12:17 AM	#3
Safe-Keeper Ocean Warrior Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Norway Posts: 3,234 Downloads: 11 Uploads: 0	Okay, so the only thing climate zones really affect at the moment seems to be colour - of just about everything from terrain to the sun to underwater fog. Also duration of days, presumably. __________________ First Strike Mod tester. Hardcore sub skipper.