ship names?

[jangles]

HI ,

Just a quickie , what is the purpose of the Ship names I see sailor steve post every month?

thanks

[frau kaleun]

It's a monthly update of a file included with SH3 Commander that gives real historical ship names to the ships you sink in the game.

In Commander, there is an option for using real ship names in the patrol logs. If you check it, it will pull names from the file to fill out your logs (and keep track of which ones have already been used so you don't sink the same ship twice).

Every month, Steve adds some new ship names to the file and posts the updated version, those who use it just replace their existing version in SH3 Commander with the updated one.

[Captain Nemo]

Originally Posted by frau kaleun

(and keep track of which ones have already been used so you don't sink the same ship twice).

I never knew that, I wonder what would happen though if you used up all the ship names of a particular class?

Nemo

[Jimbuna]

Originally Posted by Captain Nemo

I never knew that, I wonder what would happen though if you used up all the ship names of a particular class?

Nemo

There is actually a possibility of that happening if you have the Q ship mod enabled because there are only 14 vessels (9 Brit and 5 US).

What frustrates me the most is the fact that you can get a vessels name from either country regardless of the flag she is flying.

The above is not down to Steves ship names though.....simply the low number of choices SH3 Commander has to choose from.

[frau kaleun]

Originally Posted by jimbuna

There is actually a possibility of that happening if you have the Q ship mod enabled because there are only 14 vessels (9 Brit and 5 US).

What frustrates me the most is the fact that you can get a vessels name from either country regardless of the flag she is flying.

True, I've sunk a few ships so far this career that showed up in the logs with the names of US ships and I'm only up to July 1940. It's kind of jarring to see "USS something or other" on your list of sunk ships in December 1939, lol. Bu-bu-bu-but I saw the flag! They were Tommies, I swear!

When that happens I just open the shipnames.cfg file and choose a different name from the list of ships for that same class, and then go into my career folder and open the file for that patrol's log and sub in a name that at leasts *sounds* British (I figure "Empire something or other" is always a good bet, lol). Then I go into my Commander folder and open the file for used ship names and add the one I've chosen to it, and take out the one that I replaced with it.

My favorite so far though was this last patrol where the ship the game told me was the HMS Warspite when I was sinking it got renamed the HMS Queen Elizabeth in my Commander-generated log. I just named it back as noted above. I know they're the same class ship but I SANK THE WARSPITE DAMMIT.

The real kicker was that it had already shown up a second time later in that same patrol. Imagine my surprise to see her sailing with a convoy out of Freetown in May when I'd just sent her to the bottom somewhere west of Narvik in April.

Edit: hey Steve I wonder do you keep separate lists of which ships are Yanks and which are Tommies? I've considered actually creating two separate shipname files for myself, one that would include the US names and one that didn't. Then I'd just use the "no Yanks" file until after Dec 1941. Please note I'm NOT asking you to create two files for that purpose, I'm just curious if a list of US only ship names is readily available. OTOH I could just take out the ones that are *obviously* US or seem so to me, since if it doesn't seem bloody obvious I'm not gonna know the difference when it shows up in a patrol log.

[Jimbuna]

Originally Posted by frau kaleun

and sub in a name that at leasts *sounds* British (I figure "Empire something or other" is always a good bet, lol). Then I go into my Commander folder and open the file for used ship names and add the one I've chosen to it, and take out the one that I replaced with it.

Probably the worst choice of name you could pick...I'll let Steve explain to you why

[Badger Finn]

Originally Posted by frau kaleun

Edit: hey Steve I wonder do you keep separate lists of which ships are Yanks and which are Tommies? I've considered actually creating two separate shipname files for myself, one that would include the US names and one that didn't. Then I'd just use the "no Yanks" file until after Dec 1941. Please note I'm NOT asking you to create two files for that purpose, I'm just curious if a list of US only ship names is readily available. OTOH I could just take out the ones that are *obviously* US or seem so to me, since if it doesn't seem bloody obvious I'm not gonna know the difference when it shows up in a patrol log.

You could mayby use the random folder feature of SHC? Activate the names when required by date?
SHC is a powerful add on that I still havnt figured out properly yet. I suspect if you use it properly you could change many things other than load screens and music such as uniforms etc etc..

.

[Sailor Steve]

Originally Posted by frau kaleun

Edit: hey Steve I wonder do you keep separate lists of which ships are Yanks and which are Tommies? I've considered actually creating two separate shipname files for myself, one that would include the US names and one that didn't. Then I'd just use the "no Yanks" file until after Dec 1941. Please note I'm NOT asking you to create two files for that purpose, I'm just curious if a list of US only ship names is readily available. OTOH I could just take out the ones that are *obviously* US or seem so to me, since if it doesn't seem bloody obvious I'm not gonna know the difference when it shows up in a patrol log.

Give me the name and I can tell you what country it was from, what the real tonnage was and when it entered the war. I have everything separated by country, including Latvian, Estonian and Russian. In the US files I have Chilean, Honduran, Panamanian, you name it.

As for the 'Empires', as IABL said, when the Ministry Of Transport became the Ministry Of War Transport they started purchasing ships, and the ones that they bought or siezed from other nations were all renamed 'Empire' something-or-other. I have a 400-ton tugboat listed that was called Empire Fred.

Ships purchased from the US were named after animals - Empire Ibix, Empire Jaguar, Empire Ocelot, or after weapons - Empire Battleaxe, Empire Mace, Empire Broadsword; except for the Liberties which for some reason were all named 'Sam' - Samcebu, Samcuba, Samtana...

The ships we call the 'Empire Ships' (M35B) were a British-built version of the Liberties, the main difference being the split superstructure. Ones built in Canada were called 'Forts' and 'Parks', depending on the shipyards that built them, and there were a bunch built in America called 'Oceans'. Also some were purchased by individual shipping companies, which is why that list has so many different varieties of names.

Also British home-grown tankers of the 8000-ton class were had interesting names. The diesel ships were named for things that come out of the ground - Empire Amethyst, Empire Gold, Empire Oil, and the steam-powered ones were named for 'peoples' - Empire Celt, Empire Yeoman, etc.

Ships with 'Empire' names numbered in the thousands and spanned every type of ship imaginable, except for warships, of course.

[JScones]

Originally Posted by frau kaleun

When that happens I just open the shipnames.cfg file and choose a different name from the list of ships for that same class, and then go into my career folder and open the file for that patrol's log and sub in a name that at leasts *sounds* British (I figure "Empire something or other" is always a good bet, lol). Then I go into my Commander folder and open the file for used ship names and add the one I've chosen to it, and take out the one that I replaced with it.

My favorite so far though was this last patrol where the ship the game told me was the HMS Warspite when I was sinking it got renamed the HMS Queen Elizabeth in my Commander-generated log. I just named it back as noted above. I know they're the same class ship but I SANK THE WARSPITE DAMMIT.

The real kicker was that it had already shown up a second time later in that same patrol. Imagine my surprise to see her sailing with a convoy out of Freetown in May when I'd just sent her to the bottom somewhere west of Narvik in April.

Edit: hey Steve I wonder do you keep separate lists of which ships are Yanks and which are Tommies? I've considered actually creating two separate shipname files for myself, one that would include the US names and one that didn't. Then I'd just use the "no Yanks" file until after Dec 1941. Please note I'm NOT asking you to create two files for that purpose, I'm just curious if a list of US only ship names is readily available. OTOH I could just take out the ones that are *obviously* US or seem so to me, since if it doesn't seem bloody obvious I'm not gonna know the difference when it shows up in a patrol log.

It would be good if someone (suspiciously like Steve) could create "pre Dec 1941" and "post Dec 1941" versions of the file. Users (with the requisite skills) could then apply the pre file until the Yanks enter the war then replace it with the post file after. The pre file places emphasis on Cwlth names, the post includes Yank names. It doesn't matter how many ships are actually in the game, it just assumes that players (at least those who take the game relatively seriously) would not sink too many Yank ships prior to Dec 1941.

[Sailor Steve]

Originally Posted by jimbuna

There is actually a possibility of that happening if you have the Q ship mod enabled because there are only 14 vessels (9 Brit and 5 US).

Oh lordy I hope I don't run into 14 of those in a career!

Originally Posted by frau kaleun

When that happens I just open the shipnames.cfg file and choose a different name from the list of ships for that same class, and then go into my career folder and open the file for that patrol's log and sub in a name that at leasts *sounds* British (I figure "Empire something or other" is always a good bet, lol). Then I go into my Commander folder and open the file for used ship names and add the one I've chosen to it, and take out the one that I replaced with it.

One of the things I'm considering is offering to give the true tonnage of the ship to anyone who wants to PM me with the names. The problem with that would be that the game can't retroactively change the tonnage, so your total score would still be the same.

As for the 'different flags' problem, IABL's ships come in American and British versions, so it's easier, but SH3 and SH4 ships don't, so making them multi-country means cloning new ships which means still longer loading times and more load to make the PC crash.

I'm still hoping for a Commander-like tool for SH4. SH5 should be easier when it's finally ready to play.

[Sailor Steve]

Over 11,000 names now, organized so when you sink a ship it gets the name that matches the size and appearance of the one you sank.

Originally Posted by Captain Nemo

I never knew that, I wonder what would happen though if you used up all the ship names of a particular class?

It would start over. That's a fault of the game, which is supposedly fixed in SH5. But there are enough in each category that you should be okay.

[jangles]

so the name of the ship would appear automatically in your log? , or do yiou have to identify it ingame before you sink it?

are all ships named?, even smaller merchant vessels?

[frau kaleun]

It only works via SH3 Commander, and (I presume) only if you check the "use real ship names" option.

In order to populate your patrol log with real ship names from the shipnames file, after you finish a patrol you must exit the game and reopen Commander. Select that career and click on "other available actions" for that kaleun and then click "update personnel file" to update his info with the results of the patrol you just finished. That will trigger Commander to generate a patrol log using real ship names for the sinkings in that patrol.

You must update the personnel file first in order to see real ship names in your patrol log.

As far as I can tell you don't have to ID a ship in the game for this to work, since the Ship Names feature assigns a name based on the class of ship sunk, which the game knows and adds to your in-game log even if you didn't ID it correctly as such (or at all).

I have not yet sunk anything that wasn't given a name with this feature, including some pretty small stuff.

[Gerald]

Originally Posted by Sailor Steve

Over 11,000 names now, organized so when you sink a ship it gets the name that matches the size and appearance of the one you sank.


It would start over. That's a fault of the game, which is supposedly fixed in SH5. But there are enough in each category that you should be okay.

A new mod to my "list"

[frau kaleun]

Originally Posted by Vendor

A new mod to my "list"

Note that this is a "mod" used by SH3 Commander, not the game itself. If you're using one of the more recent versions of Commander you already have it, just select "use real ship names" from Commander's options. Then if you like you can download Steve's updated ship names file each month and overwrite the current version with the newer one.