Realism- and gameplay-related hardcode fixes for SH3.EXE

[h.sie]

V15C adds little improvement to CO2 calculation. I didn't mention it in the first post, because it's obsoleted by the V15D which is in work. currently very very little time. sorry.

[Yoriyn]

Ok i notice small problem in V15D. When underwater traveling above 4kts not only your periscop is usless but the external (on F12 button) camera also.

[h.sie]

thanks yoriyn,

but unfortunately (fortunately?) i cannot reproduce your error. for me f12 external cam looks good when peris have blur-effect. wait for new version maybe this weekend. h.sie

[Magic1111]

Originally Posted by Yoriyn

- Longer repair times (x60)
and
Before this mod: "Range: 8932m, Herr Kaleun".
Now: "Range: 9000m, Herr Kaleun".

The range estimations now are displayed (and of course internally used for firing solution) in certain range-steps, which become larger (more inaccurate) for larger ranges. In detail:

Range 0000-1000m: Steps: 50m (Weapon Officer) 100m (Watch Officer)
Range 1000-2000m: Steps: 100m
Range 2000-4000m: Steps: 200m
Range 4000-9000m: Steps: 500m
Range 9000-12000m: Steps: 1000m
Range > 12000m: Steps: 2000m

The maximum possible error of the range estimation is Step/2. E.g. for ranges between 2000m and 4000m the step size is 200m, so that the estimation error is max. 100m.

Hope this help

Originally Posted by h.sie

V15C adds little improvement to CO2 calculation. I didn't mention it in the first post, because it's obsoleted by the V15D which is in work. currently very very little time. sorry.

@ Yoriyn and h.sie: Thanks for Reply !!!

[Yoriyn]

I have another "to do" on your list, if you don't mind .

- Can you restrict reloading external torpedos to state of the sea, motion etc? Maybe you can use a gun and AA-guns restrictions to do that.
- Reloading internal torpedos only underwater, not in combat and above 20m.

I now your list is long now, but I hope you consider this.

[h.sie]

Originally Posted by Yoriyn

I have another "to do" on your list, if you don't mind .

- Can you restrict reloading external torpedos to state of the sea, motion etc? Maybe you can use a gun and AA-guns restrictions to do that.
- Reloading internal torpedos only underwater, not in combat and above 20m.

I now your list is long now, but I hope you consider this.

This is one of the next important things I'll do.
After some tests with WinXP/32 and Win7/64 I'll release bugfixed V15D this weekend, if all tests run fine. But I'll still call it BETA.

[SkyBaron]

I was going to suggest the same thing about external torpedoes! Maybe the u-boat could be unable to dive until the external reserves are reloaded? Something with the message "Cannot comply!" if you command a dive. That would make you more vulnerable to aircraft attacks while reloading.

I have a couple of more suggestions but I'm not sure if they are possible to implement with assembly:


- Treat convoy radio reports as radio messages reducing TC to 1 and playing the Morse sound whenever you receive them - SH3Commander has an option to reduce TC but it doesn't work all the time. This is important if you want to plot an accurate interception course but are traveling in higher TC.

- Get rid of the unrealistic "She's going down!" message. This might trigger other stuff(ship sunk symbol on the map, renown for the ship, logbook entry etc..) so I'm not sure about this one.


Thanks again for all your work h.sie!

[h.sie]

New Version online: V15D_BETA3.

For details see:
http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/show...&postcount=458

Tested on WinXP/32 Bit and Win7/64 Bit.

Bugs addressed:
1) CTD on some systems during game loading.
2) Instant fatigue of crew when snorkelling.

Could not reproduce an reported error, in which Free Cam (F12) also shows blur effect when submerged speed is above 4,5 knots.

[h.sie]

Hi New Captain,

thanks for the suggestions. but wouldn't it be more realistic to kill e.g. the bridge crew and remove / destroy the uncompletely loaded torpeodoes when dive is ordered during external reload?


Isn't the "She's going down" message only a text message. this could easily be disabled/hidden by editing of en_menu.txt

Change
4140=She's going down!

into:
4140=

[Draka]

The whole problem about diving once the externals are being loaded, is that the hatches to the torpedo rooms are open - and the torpedoes and the associated gear is in the way so they can't be closed. Needless to say, diving with open hatches is definately NOT the hot setup ......

The variable is just how long it would take to either complete getting the eel in, or pulling it all the way out - and then jettisonning all the gear used for the purpose. Neither option is quick, and depends mightily on just how far along in the process you are when you get jumped by the aircraft.

Edit: check out these pix:

http://www.usscod.org/torpload.html

[h.sie]

Thanks for that important information, Draka

[Stiebler]

I would like to expand on H.sie's reply by pointing up that many of the fixes requested by other users are actually unnecessary. Unnecessary, because if the player thinks that they are important then the player can act on them himself.

The reloading of external torpedoes is the obvious example. If anyone thinks that torpedoes should not be loaded at wind speeds above 6 m/s, then check the weather before reloading, and don't reload if the wind speed is above 6m/s! If anyone thinks you should not be able to dive at once if surprised on the surface while reloading the torpedoes, then don't dive until a sufficient time interval has elapsed! (I always allow 10 minutes to 'jettison' the torpedo). [Incidentally, I once asked an old U-boat sailor what the emergency procedure was if the U-boat was suddenly surprised on the surface by a fast-closing destroyer. He said there wasn't one, and he had no idea what anyone would have done if it had occurred. He never heard of a single instance of it occurring, since you only reloaded in remote areas.]

It would be much more useful for everyone if the talented H.sie devoted all his efforts to things which can NOT be fixed by the player himself. Obvious examples are the CO2 problem (which he has done), the too-accurate range reports (which he has done) and similar.

The most useful improvement of all would be to fix the weather bug, which causes persistent protracted storms with zero visibility. The devs made a very complex algorithm for SH3 - too complex, as it turned out - which they no longer understand themselves. What is needed is a much simpler replacement for the broken code. Being simpler, it would be shorter, and thus could patch the existing code as an overlay.

All that is really needed is an algorithm that moves the wind randomly up and down in small increments, and moves the rain up and down when the wind is sufficiently strong, and which reduces the visibility when the rain is sufficiently high. This might not be as clever as that of the original SH3 code (which took into account seasons and latitude), but would be much more useful.

That part is easy. What is not so easy is to locate the damaged code (I've tried). If H.sie can find the code, and discover its extent (that is, what subroutines it uses and the start and exit points of the weather routine) and can understand the parameters it uses (we would need to know what triggers a call to the routine, and how often it calls, as well as which variables control the input and output clouds, rain and visibility), then the replacement coding would be trivial.

Stiebler.

[Hitman]

It would be much more useful for everyone if the talented H.sie devoted all his efforts to things which can NOT be fixed by the player himself. Obvious examples are the CO2 problem (which he has done), the too-accurate range reports (which he has done) and similar.

I agree completely

[Draka]

I agree to a point - some things are more important and prioritiy setting is a prime function of any programmer's time. However, there are some things that are either not well understood, or not easily referenced and thus the interest in hardcoding realistic behavior into the Kaleun's decisions.

The reloading of externals is just that - as the saying goes, I know just enuf to be dangerous! I have seen photos (on this site) on this in action and have done some engineering tasks with heavy loads, shear legs and tackle on dry land as an combat engineer, so can somewhat envision the same on a moving deck - but can't find any solid references on this anywhere. So I make suggestions and look for assistance, and help such be applied for those others with the same wish to be accurate yet with the same lack of knowledge.

It is similar for the effect of movement on an extended periscope - I lack the sources for a firm knowledge yet can envision the effect of a slender column being forced thru a dense medium (water), yet have no exact knowledge of the exact effect at the various speeds/wave states/etc it would encounter. Again, suggestions and then acceptance of whatever is coded into the sim.

This from an army guy with fairly good knowledge of history, military matters and such and yet only a small amount of actual sea-going experience (sailing small craft in San Francisco Bay).

[h.sie]

I've never seriously played SH3, except for modding purposes, so I cannot judge, how important the changes to the weather system are. But I tend to trust Stiebler and Hitman when they say that it is important. On the other hand: I don't like to be able to cheat the sim. Masochistic as I am, I want to be penalized if I made a wrong decision, e.g. to order a crash-dive while reloading externals or provoke a collision with a destroyer in order to sink him..... Bru-har-har.

Unfortunately, I have a job and social contacts, so I only have 1-3 hours a day for modding.
Thus, I can/will only do fixes that are:

Hopefully realistic AND halfway easy to fix.

The weather system surely isn't easy to understand and fix. Although I am pessimistic that I'll be successful, I'll try it. But I need help. After successfully finding the code, I'll need an alternative weather algorithm. This I cannot program on my own.

But let me first find the code and the variables and we'll see what the future brings.

Is the weather in SH4 better as in Sh3??

Maybe sh4.exe could inspire me

h.sie