[WIP] Wolves of the Kaiser:1914-1918 Mod

[iambecomelife]

Managed to get some more time to work on this latest model...

Pictures of lifesaving craft; several boats for British battleships are in the background. I really wanted to add ratlines to the lifeboats, but the poly cost is extreme....maybe it can be done with a TGA and alpha channel?



Added the compass platforms, wooden lifeboats, some stanchions, ventilators, more portholes, and some of the skylights that had not been created. Made corrections to the large ventilators, which were lower than I thought. Not happy with the stern, which does not taper right...that's a project for the weekend. Second Class deckhouse is basically still a low poly "placeholder". Also the cargo handling gear to the bow interests me - most models show her as she was around her maiden voyage, with symmetrical cranes. Apparently a larger crane was fitted to one side of the foremast before the sinking.

The bow looks too long in some shots, but it's just an optical illusion caused by Wings3d rendering.











Interesting picture of the moment of impact...

[Admiral Halsey]

Hoping you make two versions of the Lucy. One in peacetime colors and one in her wartime coat. Always thought Cunard had some of the best looking ships thanks to those Red and Black funnel's.

[iambecomelife]

Work on skinning the model, which still needs yet more details - particularly railings and deck fittings astern. I am hoping to have everything done in advance of the 100th anniversary of the sinking
(May 7, 1915 - May 7, 2015).

I added bollards, anchor chains, reshaped the indentation for the anchor, reskinned the lifeboats, and placed more rigging, as well as funnel guys.

The model was successfully imported into Silent Hunter 3 with the Liberty Ship as the parent unit. I will, of course, need to add unique zones to alter the sinking behavior of the ship. It will most likely take a heavy list when torpedoed because of the longitudinal coal bunkers trapping water to one side - exactly what happened in the actual sinking.

@ Admiral Halsey - Yes, there will be a variant with uncamoflaged Cunard red funnels.

Adm von Gerlach - I tried to PM you but your box is full.

Stay tuned for more...









Rendered with different lighting...

[dcb]

Gentlemen, this is no longer just a mod, it's a real lesson of history!

Also a lesson of dedication and respect for both the subject of the mod and the Subsim community here.

The way you communicate the constant updates to your work, the strife for authenticity and the commitment to keeping the community posted about the status of the project are worth the highest commendation.

I am really speechless. Congratulations and good luck with taking this work of art to its conclusion!

[iambecomelife]

Successfully tested her in the SH3 environment. As of today, all four funnels work. The funnels and some of the vents are destructible - though as you can see, a lot of details are still needed. In addition to what has been posted already, I would like to include some passengers & crew, plus destructible deckhouses.

[Jimbuna]

Coming along nicely

[leadtail]

Looks awesome! Can't wait to try and sink it!

By the way did you get the game files from the link I sent to you? I only have a couple of bugs I want to fix on them maybe you can help me:
1. What files and how do I get a correct picture of the units in the recognition manual? Any tuts?
2. The Risedale does not show damage like the Bisson, what did I miss?
3. How do I keep tubes 2, 3, 4, & 5 from reloading? And how can I make the game torpedoes show on the external tubes then disappear when fired?

Now for the planed list of ship I will provide is as follows, subject to change.

Enemy Units

French
Battleships:
1. Courbet Class
2. Danton Class
3. Suffren
4. Charlemagne Class
5. Bouvet
6. Charlemagne Class

Cruisers
1. Léon Gambetta Class
2. Amiral Charner Class
3. Kleber Class
4. Chateaurenault Class

Destroyers
1. Bission Class
2. Bouclier Class
3. Branlebas Class
4. Chasseur class
5. Pique class
6. Arquebuse class

Italian:
Battleships
1. Regina Margherita Class
2. Cavour class

Cruisers:
1. Giuseppe Garibaldi
2. Pisa class
3. Umbria class

Destroyers:
1. Nembo Class
2. PN class Torpedo Boat
3. Indomito Class
4. Sirio class Torpedo Boat
5. Audace class
6. Pegaso class Torpedo Boat
7. La Masa class
8. Soldati class

Misc.
1. Drifter boats for the
2. Armed Steam Trawler
3. French cargo of 2475 tons
4. Small coastal cargo 391 tons (SS Risedale)
5. Small Costal cargo of 863 tons (SS Edenwood)
6. 3 & 4 masted Barque


Friendly Units

Austro-Hungarian
Battleships
1. Tegetthoff class
2. Monarch class

Cruisers
1. Zenta class

Destroyers
1. Huszar class
2. Tatra class

Playable Units
1. Curie U14
2. Holland U5, U6 & U12
3. UBI
4. UBII

[VonDos]

Awesome Lucy model =) so will you release her also as a single unit for sh3 for the 100th anniversary of the sinking if possible?

[iambecomelife]

Originally Posted by leadtail

Looks awesome! Can't wait to try and sink it!

By the way did you get the game files from the link I sent to you? I only have a couple of bugs I want to fix on them maybe you can help me:
1. What files and how do I get a correct picture of the units in the recognition manual? Any tuts?
2. The Risedale does not show damage like the Bisson, what did I miss?
3. How do I keep tubes 2, 3, 4, & 5 from reloading? And how can I make the game torpedoes show on the external tubes then disappear when fired?

Now for the planed list of ship I will provide is as follows, subject to change.

Enemy Units

French
Battleships:
1. Courbet Class
2. Danton Class
3. Suffren
4. Charlemagne Class
5. Bouvet
6. Charlemagne Class

Cruisers
1. Léon Gambetta Class
2. Amiral Charner Class
3. Kleber Class
4. Chateaurenault Class

Destroyers
1. Bission Class
2. Bouclier Class
3. Branlebas Class
4. Chasseur class
5. Pique class
6. Arquebuse class

Italian:
Battleships
1. Regina Margherita Class
2. Cavour class

Cruisers:
1. Giuseppe Garibaldi
2. Pisa class
3. Umbria class

Destroyers:
1. Nembo Class
2. PN class Torpedo Boat
3. Indomito Class
4. Sirio class Torpedo Boat
5. Audace class
6. Pegaso class Torpedo Boat
7. La Masa class
8. Soldati class

Misc.
1. Drifter boats for the
2. Armed Steam Trawler
3. French cargo of 2475 tons
4. Small coastal cargo 391 tons (SS Risedale)
5. Small Costal cargo of 863 tons (SS Edenwood)
6. 3 & 4 masted Barque


Friendly Units

Austro-Hungarian
Battleships
1. Tegetthoff class
2. Monarch class

Cruisers
1. Zenta class

Destroyers
1. Huszar class
2. Tatra class

Playable Units
1. Curie U14
2. Holland U5, U6 & U12
3. UBI
4. UBII

Hi; I got the game files but I was unable to open them in Wings3d; I will fiddle with the .mtl's and try again.

To get a new silhouette in the rec manual, simply open up
[unitname]_sil.dds in your favorite graphic editing software. I use programs like FRAPS to take screenshots of the ships at different angles, then edit out the background.

What is the parent unit for the Risedale? If you used a SH3 unit it will not display the 3d damage effects seen in SH4.

That's a nice unit list, and I loved the images of the ships you posted in the other thread. FYI I already have a model of the UB-II (feel free to work on your own, of course). The list of French units has a lot of ships that I wanted to make but thought I wouldn't have time to - I know Chateaurenault, Leon Gambetta, and Amiral Charner were sunk by U-Boats, so they would be very good to have.

[leadtail]

Originally Posted by iambecomelife

Hi; I got the game files but I was unable to open them in Wings3d; I will fiddle with the .mtl's and try again.

To get a new silhouette in the rec manual, simply open up
[unitname]_sil.dds in your favorite graphic editing software. I use programs like FRAPS to take screenshots of the ships at different angles, then edit out the background.

What is the parent unit for the Risedale? If you used a SH3 unit it will not display the 3d damage effects seen in SH4.

That's a nice unit list, and I loved the images of the ships you posted in the other thread. FYI I already have a model of the UB-II (feel free to work on your own, of course). The list of French units has a lot of ships that I wanted to make but thought I wouldn't have time to - I know Chateaurenault, Leon Gambetta, and Amiral Charner were sunk by U-Boats, so they would be very good to have.

I sent you links to the Wings3d files as well as the game files, so 1. you should be able to just open the wings file right in the wings3d program and not need to import .obj files into it, and 2. use the game files to put into your mod. What I want to do is have these all done and debugged and ready for you to just insert right into your mod with you needing to do as little as possible to cut down on your work load.

[iambecomelife]

Originally Posted by leadtail

I sent you links to the Wings3d files as well as the game files, so 1. you should be able to just open the wings file right in the wings3d program and not need to import .obj files into it, and 2. use the game files to put into your mod. What I want to do is have these all done and debugged and ready for you to just insert right into your mod with you needing to do as little as possible to cut down on your work load.

What I mean is, I am getting a very long load time in wings3d, then a crash. However I will try them again.

By the way, I don't think it is possible to have ordnance disappear after it is fired in SH4 - you may need to have external torpedoes always visible or invisible.

[the_frog]

IABL, Leadtail,
could it be you are using different versions of Wings3D?
In case, the problems persist, I can try to help. I use Wings3D, too

And yes, it is not possibly to make used ordnance (except for airplane bombs) disappear. Tried that over and over, without success.

IABL,
Lusitania looks pretty neat; however, the section at the transition between fantail and main body seems somehow abrupt. Shouldn't it be more smooth, especially along the waterline? I am aware, it is not so easy to do these sections without faired lines plans ...

[sergbuto]

Way back, when working on rockets for airplanes and on torpedoes for PT-boats, I have found the trick for them to disappear when fired but I do not remember that now. Might be a good idea to ask guys like privateer, Rubini, Anvart about that.

[Admiral Halsey]

Looking more beautiful every post. Makes me long for the days when ships looked like that and weren't just a hull with a shoebox on top.

[iambecomelife]

Originally Posted by the_frog

IABL, Leadtail,
could it be you are using different versions of Wings3D?
In case, the problems persist, I can try to help. I use Wings3D, too

And yes, it is not possibly to make used ordnance (except for airplane bombs) disappear. Tried that over and over, without success.

IABL,
Lusitania looks pretty neat; however, the section at the transition between fantail and main body seems somehow abrupt. Shouldn't it be more smooth, especially along the waterline? I am aware, it is not so easy to do these sections without faired lines plans ...

Yes; part of the problem with the stern is a weird light issue that makes the transition stand out a little from the rest of the hull. I will try adding more vertical sections to the hull - maybe that will help. Tonight - major revamp of the superstructure, which has things I don't really like...it needs better windows, with transparent glass (guessing this can be done with a separate material within the file - I have seen it on other people's SH3 ships). Plus destructible lifeboats, and more destructible vents...also experimenting with 3d, destructible boilers! Would be nice to get sudden explosions from internal fires, or to see them tumbling out as a ship breaks up...