[WIP] WoWs King George V class battleship for SH4

The King George V class battleship is to my eyes one of the less attractive models of the stock game. I look at it and am unable to see the majestic ship I've seen in countless videos and pictures of the era.

Hopefully this is over. I'm slowly working on adapting the WoWs magnificent model to our old and beloved simulator.








TEST 3: https://mega.nz/file/4pYWXIaQ#6nJp5m...2qkkDzbsBbZNCY

[Mad Mardigan]

M. M.

[Senf-Man82]

Hell yeah, awsome! Are you able to put other ships into SH4 too? Can you show me how? I've been longing to have some models of such detail in this game for years:
- Myoko
- Admiral Graf Spee
- Gearing class
- Scharnhorst & Bismarck/Tirpitz
- SMS Seydlitz

- late war Fletcher (square bridge like USS Kidd)
- Arleigh Burke


I'd even pay cash for it, if that would help to motivate! If someone could show me how, I'll start myself.

[Bubblehead1980]

Originally Posted by Senf-Man82

Hell yeah, awsome! Are you able to put other ships into SH4 too? Can you show me how? I've been longing to have some models of such detail in this game for years:
- Myoko
- Admiral Graf Spee
- Gearing class
- Scharnhorst & Bismarck/Tirpitz
- SMS Seydlitz

- late war Fletcher (square bridge like USS Kidd)
- Arleigh Burke


I'd even pay cash for it, if that would help to motivate! If someone could show me how, I'll start myself.

There is a website that has most 3D models from the game, and for a small donation you can get access to them. I won't put a direct link because I don't know how OK it is with SubSim rules, but it is quite easy to find in Google.

Then you have to split the model in parts, because usually they're too high-polyed for the game engine to handle them in one piece. Apart from that, the game needs some parts to be detached to work properly (guns, propellers or rudder, for example). You should use a 3D editing program like Blender, Wings3D or similar. I use Misfit Model 3D, because it was recommended back then by people that used to create ships here in SubSim, and it was simple enough for a noob like me to use.

Once you have the model properly in parts, you need Silent 3Ditor (or S3D) to put them into the game. For a start you should open a few stock ships with S3D, to get an idea on how a Silent Hunter ship is "on the inside".

These are just simple tips, since I don't have the skills to write a full tutorial. I suggest you to surf the SubSim forums looking for interesting threads, as I did myself when I had the itch to add more ships to the game. Don't forget to check the SH3 forum as well, since the way of building a ship is basically the same for both SH3 and SH4.

A must-read is the S3D thread, where the creator explains a lot of stuff about the program and Silent Hunter.

Another interesting read: a backup of the (now defunct) original S3D website, where skwas (the creator of S3D) has a number of documents and tutorials explaining stuff.

The link to the test1 version:

https://mega.nz/file/4hYyUY6K#qmwtoV...vhqSUOnJf4xebc

I recommend using it with Dark Waters, as it's the environment I used to create it. Will probably work with any other mod by just changing the visual sensors appropriately, but cannot warrant that.

Included in the files are a couple of libraries from The_Frog (guns_UK and Weapon_CREW_BR) and Sergbuto (Shells_SB) for SH3. All credits for these libraries go to them.

Also used some The_Frog dummies to crew the 2-pounder Octuple mount.

[Mad Mardigan]

Originally Posted by JapLance

The link to the test1 version:

https://mega.nz/file/4hYyUY6K#qmwtoV...vhqSUOnJf4xebc

I recommend using it with Dark Waters, as it's the environment I used to create it. Will probably work with any other mod by just changing the visual sensors appropriately, but cannot warrant that.

Included in the files are a couple of libraries from The_Frog (guns_UK and Weapon_CREW_BR) and Sergbuto (Shells_SB) for SH3. All credits for these libraries go to them.

Also used some The_Frog dummies to crew the 2-pounder Octuple mount.

Downloaded & testing out...








M. M.

[Mad Mardigan]

Ran the test singles mission... got a look at 'er & looks good.

Tried to set up a torp attack, but group shifted course & threw the whole attack out of kilter... drat it all... Ugh.

Ahh well... will give it another go at it & see if I can't pull off an attack on the KGV...








M. M.

Did anybody download this? Any comments?

[Mad Mardigan]

Originally Posted by JapLance

Did anybody download this? Any comments?

Ran that 1 test I reported in on... & a couple of others... had some... slight success in managing to get a few fish into her... but, haven't sunk her outright... still... she looks... marvelous.... simply.... maaaarrrrrvelooouuuusssss...


Oh, & those tests were just with O M: Dark v6... haven't tried her with any other mod mix... btw.


Nice work, JapLance...








M. M.

Thanks for the report.

Yes, it looks great. I'm intending to add a few more WoWs warships to the different theatres of the war. Some are already ported to SH3 by AlexB (very recommended thread), but many others could find a room in SH4.

[Alex.B]

Originally Posted by JapLance

The King George V class battleship is to my eyes one of the less attractive models of the stock game. I look at it and am unable to see the majestic ship I've seen in countless videos and pictures of the era.

Hopefully this is over. I'm slowly working on adapting the WoWs magnificent model to our old and beloved simulator.

Hi! How many triangles are in this model?

Originally Posted by Alex.B

Hi! How many triangles are in this model?

The model I got was around 300k. I had to split it into multiple parts for S3D to be able to use it, but SH4 engine seems to handle it well.

[Alex.B]

Originally Posted by JapLance

The model I got was around 300k. I had to split it into multiple parts for S3D to be able to use it, but SH4 engine seems to handle it well.

And if there are 20 or 30 ships? 300,000 is a lot. You need to cut off the excess.

Errors:
1.flipped model






2. No textures (small details: bollard, fairlead, reels, box, davit, hatch, paravan, winch, etc. must have their own texture.)

Thanks for pointing out those issues. I'll correct 1) ASAP.

Number 2 is intended. I'm not going to texture all those small parts that nobody will probably ever notice . Actually my original idea was to remove them to lower the poly count, but since the ship seems to behave well, I left them in place.

I've tried these KGVs with a typical task force of about 15 ships (2x KGVs + a carrier, a couple of cruisers and the escorts) and didn't notice any problems with framerates. And my computer and GPU are not exactly state-of-the-art.