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Old 03-01-14, 02:45 PM   #1
Sniper297
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Default Decks Awash toot (TEC)

A do it yourself tutorial for people who don't normally hack files, involves only two CFG files which can be opened and edited with notepad, no programming skills needed. Two items;

Not uploading this as a mod since Commands.cfg is altered with several existing mods, do it yourself means you can change any version of SH4 or any mod for it.

2, Decks Awash was an actual tactic used by actual WWII sub skippers, I'm not remotely interested in flawed theories using half understood science stated as gospel fact (a theory is not a fact until proven) by self appointed experts who think that a fleet sub could ever be unstable. A little knowledge is a dangerous thing, most college kids are educated beyond their intelligence and assume they know it all after reading a couple of science books. Don't take everything you read on the internet for gospel.

Difference when you're trying to sneak up on someone without submerging all the way:



Sargo class fully surfaced;



Flooded down to 25 foot depth, "decks awash".



Why the hack? The crew at the diving controls acknowledge an order to submerge to 25 feet if you set that on the depth dial, but then don't execute the order. Dive below 35 feet and then order them back up to 25 and they'll wobble up and down near 25 for awhile then say "20 feet, close enough - or maybe 19 is better" (scurvy dogs!). With the snorkel depth command activated they will hit and hold a 25 foot depth.

So, to start, those who don't know about file extensions:

http://www.trainsim.com/vbts/showthr...er-for-dummies


\Data\Cfg\Commands.cfg

Open that file with notepad.
CTRL F opens a search window, type

195

That will jump to this datablock;

[Cmd195]
Name=Snorkel_depth
Ctxt=1
Str=1033
;Key0=0xBA,C,"Comma"

In C code the apostrophe means "comment", with that at the beginning of the line it tells the program to ignore this line. So remove that, or just copy and paste this text to overwrite the 195 datablock;

[Cmd195]
Name=Snorkel_depth
Ctxt=1
Str=1033
Key0=0xBA,c,"CTRL semicolon"

Capital C replaced with lowercase makes it so the actual key is CTRL ; instead of just ; so you don't accidentally rise to decks awash when you meant to fire a torpedo or set rudder amidships. If you don't make k3yb0Rd m!$taK3$ you could leave the C alone and just press ; instead of CTRL ; . Save, exit.

Next file;

\Data\Submarine\NSS_Subtype\NSS_Subtype.cfg (for "Subtype" use the type of sub you want to mod, for example if you want to set the depth for a Gato don't use the s18 folder and .cfg)

Open that .cfg file in notepad, small file so just scroll down to;

[Properties]
PeriscopeDepth=16.7;meters
SnorkelDepth=8.5;meters
CrashDepth=40;meters
MaxDepth=100;meters
SurfaceDepth=5.061;meters
TorpLaunchMaxDepth=30;meters
StormConditions=9,0.1;max wind speed [m/s], max rain intensity [0,1]

Default for that is 15, since US subs didn't have snorkels until the war was over we don't need an actual snorkel depth (probably why it was disabled in the original command.cfg). Metric conversion is all off, possibly they used some weird French Fortnight conversion or subtracted the price of a Romanian postage stamp. But 8.5 will give you 25 foot depth, 9.4 a 29 foot depth. 30 feet or deeper will switch from diesel to battery power, so if you're trying to sneak into a harbor or something where you need to go a long way don't make it more than 9.4.

Save, exit, launch game and try it out. Use whatever sub you edited, if you changed NSS_Porpoise.cfg a Balao won't work, you'd have to edit NSS_Balao.cfg. Or edit all of them.

Known issues, in real life a sub running flooded down deeper than 25 ft in reasonably calm waters could shut the main induction and draw air through the conning tower hatch to keep the diesels supplied with air. This would also keep the crew supplied with air, but this game for some reason considers anything deeper than 22 feet to be "submerged" for the crew air supply (CO2 buildup). The battery draw doesn't start until 30 feet, so if you're at 29 feet the diesels run so no battery discharge, but no fresh air for the crew. Dunno how to fix that, so just be aware that if you set time compression on without fully surfacing the battery won't discharge but the crew will suffocate after 48 hours.

Yes, I did that yesterday, running at all ahead full through a convoy flooded down to decks awash, then headed for home forgetting to surface and killed TM2 Kublinsky. For some reason there's no court martial for that.

Last edited by Sniper297; 03-24-15 at 12:36 AM. Reason: Missing pics
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Old 03-01-14, 11:42 PM   #2
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Sniper297 View Post

Why the hack? The crew at the diving controls acknowledge an order to submerge to 25 feet if you set that on the depth dial, but then don't execute the order. Dive below 35 feet and then order them back up to 25 and they'll wobble up and down near 25 for awhile then say "20 feet, close enough - or maybe 19 is better" (scurvy dogs!).
Yes, I've noticed the AI crew will stubbornly adhere to their programed routines. It can be very annoying. I hope the next generation of SH will permit some manual control of ballast tanks and dive planes.

Quote:
... but this game for some reason considers anything deeper than 22 feet to be "submerged" for the crew air supply (CO2 buildup).
Hmmm.... didn't know that. Very odd.
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Old 03-02-14, 02:10 AM   #3
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A *%#&@$#! men. At the very least a way to blow safety or pump fore and aft trim tanks or blow selected ballast tanks or something. In real life even traveling all day and night on the surface they made a daily trim dive to get the boat balanced fore and aft, and as close to neutral buoyancy as they could. The actual sequence was flooding negative and bow buoyancy tanks on the surface (the safety was always flooded, they called it the safety because if the ballast tanks were holed blowing the safety would give positive buoyancy) after the low pressure blowers emptied the saddle tanks (main ballast), and when doing the trim they calculated the amount the negative needed to have for near neutral buoyancy. On diving they would open the vents for the main ballast tankS (plural, many, not just one!) starting with the forward tanks so the bow would go down first, then open the others in sequence fore to aft. Passing 40 feet the command is given "blow negative to the mark", whatever mark they decided on when they did the last trim dive. In case of flooding in compartments they could "put a bubble" in any of the main ballast tanks (those are NORMALLY either empty or full but you CAN blow air into different ones for more buoyancy, since the air is compressed the inner and outer pressure will match and the tank won't collapse) or pump from / blow compressed air into any of the internal tanks to compensate. They completely ignore the most important aspects of operating a submersible vessel, buoyancy and balance management, in every sub simulator I've ever played.

As for the CO2 buildup, like everything else I found that out the hard way. Once I discovered it I changed the numbers to various different values (which are way off if they're in meters, unless they're Martian meters or something, 25 feet should be 7.6 meters, not 8.5) and ran a bunch of tests to determine what the actual depths are - 21 feet or above will get the crew on deck, 22 feet you can operate the deck gun but the crew won't man it, 23 feet will pop you back inside if you're on the deck gun. You can man the AA guns at 38 feet but not 39, even though you're underwater at 38 feet. At 35 feet you can still be on the bridge but underwater. 29 feet no battery discharge, diesels running, 30 feet diesels quit and the battery starts going down. Dive and stay under for a day or so, see the CO2 level at about 50%. Then come up and rise gradually, the red instantly vanishes and you get the message "oxygen level 100%" at 21 feet, same depth that the crew comes up. The instant effect is realistic, but in actuality the conning tower hatch is opened as soon as it clears and the main induction is opened at about 25 to 27 feet, as soon as the deck is about level with the water. The boat is then ventilated through the main induction, so if needed you can pop up, ventilate the boat, and dive again with a complete air change in a minute or so. The 21 foot depth part is the only thing that's really wrong, if the diesels are running at 29 feet where do they think the air is coming from?
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Old 03-02-14, 09:54 PM   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Sniper297 View Post
... unless they're Martian meters or something ...
Yeah, I've wondered about these things. How many of these flaws are due to simple mistakes?

Quote:
... if the diesels are running at 29 feet where do they think the air is coming from?
Yes, why didn't they tie the oxygen to the diesel engine operation? Wouldn't that have been easier?


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Old 03-02-14, 11:23 PM   #5
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Occam's razor says the simplest explanation is that they hacked SH3 to "create" the "new" SH4, adding some files, eliminating some files, changing some files, and forgetting to eliminate - change some files. My guess is they edited the SH3 file for the diesels for more depth in SH4, but forgot to change the file with the crew air supply. Type VII u-boat had a smaller diameter (smaller in every dimension) than the US fleet boats, so had less freeboard and drew less water on the surface. Decks awash for Das Boot would probably be about 20 to 21 feet.
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Old 03-03-14, 08:29 PM   #6
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Very nice, works perfect! Thanks.
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Old 11-14-14, 12:57 PM   #7
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considering how many versions of boats there are on both sides I'm surprised no on ever created a JSGME ready mod to adjust the files for all of them.
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Old 11-14-14, 08:10 PM   #8
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"Not uploading this as a mod since Commands.cfg is altered with several existing mods, do it yourself means you can change any version of SH4 or any mod for it."

Take whatever mod you use, make the simple changes, and save that as your own version of the mod.
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Old 03-24-15, 06:52 PM   #9
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I'm curious is this only for campaigns or should this work in single missions as well?

I went by the letter of what you instructed and then played Bungo Pete single Mission with a GAR but the boat never went to any type of snorkel depth and every time I pressed Ctrl; the text said Radar depth but actual depth never changed.

I changed both file for that type but it did not seem to change any attributes for the boat.
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Old 03-24-15, 09:58 PM   #10
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"both file for that type"

There's only one file for each type, and one global for all just to activate the snorkel depth command.

\Data\Cfg\Commands.cfg

[Cmd195]
Name=Snorkel_depth
Ctxt=1
Str=1033
Key0=0xBA,c,"Comma"

I don't find a radar depth in either file, for the Gar class you need;

\Data\Submarine\NSS_Gar\NSS_Gar.cfg

After a little trial and error (never tried a Gar myself before so I didn't have that one set) I came up with 8.8 which gets her down to 25 feet in about two minutes. That's stock 1.4, I have the flooding speed for the Sargo ballast tanks hacked to get down quicker, but that's in the SIM file and requires Silent 3ditor.

Also no gots bungo pete, closest I have is "Last Targets" quick mission, tried that with a Gar and it says "snorkel depth", not "radar depth", and stabilizes at 25 feet every time.

Never tried RFB, possibly they hacked something else that overrides the snorkel depth with a radar depth?
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Old 03-25-15, 08:34 AM   #11
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Bungo Pete is a Ducimus mission (TMO).

Whatever attributes his subs/ships used when the mission was developed/saved......that's what you'll get when you play the mission. That's why the "Training Missions" don't always reflect the mods we apply to the assets in-game. Their different.
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Old 03-25-15, 12:35 PM   #12
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Shouldn't have anything to do with it, the single/quick .mis files have the default sub type, but nothing about the physics of the sub. If TMO alters either of the two files involved in this hack, then the changes made by the user should override that. Depending on several factors, of course;

1. Windows Vista/7/8/whatever UAC interfering with changes,
2. Editing the correct file in the wrong folder, example editing CFG files in F:\Silent Hunter 4 Wolves of the Pacific then testing in C:\Subgames\Silent Hunter 4 Wolves of the Pacific using the unedited files,
3. Being a senile old geezer and forgetting to change the subtype in the mission from Balao to Gar (I did that twice while testing this yesterday),
4. Using JGSME the wrong way at the wrong time.

Can't think of anything else offhand, whatever the basic physics of the subtype are they should be used in any career start or any quick mission. Only thing that triggers alarm bells in my mind is his reference to "radar depth", when I hit CTRL ; the message I get is "snorkel depth".
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Old 03-25-15, 02:31 PM   #13
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Running windows 7 Professional UAC is not an issue and files do get saved properly after editing them.



Mods :

Generic Mod Enabler - v2.6.0.157
1_TriggerMaru_Overhaul_2-5
1_TMO_25_small_patch
RSRDC_TMO_V502
RSRDC_V5xx_Patch1
Improved Ship Physics 2.6_TMO_RSRDC
TMO_Visuals_for_RSRDC
FJB_Navigation_Maps
FJB Color Navigation Map
Gyoraitei
Hull_Numbers
rocks small
plants small
Ship pack 1
Remove grain effect
Webster's Eliminate Floating Plankton for v1.4 and v1.5
More_DDs_for_AITorpedoLauncher
More_IJNDDs_AITorpedolauncher
Aircraft_reflections
11 New Ships + Yamato AA Fix by Miner1436
#5 Depthcharge Sound
#3 Submarines Splash Sound
#2 Other Clouds

My COMMANDS.CFG file: Section 195, of Z:\SHOM\Data\Cfg [Shom is my folder name for Silent Hunter]

[Cmd195]
Name=Snorkel_depth
Ctxt=1
Str=1033
Key0=0xBA,C,"v"


NSS_GAR.CFG file: Properties section, Z:\SHOM\Data\Submarine\NSS_Gar [SHOM is my folder name for Silent Hunter]

[Properties]
PeriscopeDepth=18.3;meters
SnorkelDepth=8.5;meters
CrashDepth=50.29;meters
MaxDepth=76.2;meters
SurfaceDepth=7.62;meters
TorpLaunchMaxDepth=61;meters
StormConditions=7,0.1;max wind speed [m/s], max rain intensity [0,1]

I switched the KEY to "v". Using "v" or have the file as describe using CTRL ; neither will affect a change and I get a "Radar Depth Message with CNTRL ;.

I switched it to comma and even went into TMO and TMO patch and changed the values there as well but the boat will not go to Decks Awash depth as a snorkel setting. [EDIT] I changed the setting in ISP 2.6 but that also has no effect.

Anyone have a clue as to what I might change ??

{{{EDIT}}}

I have removed all mods and the boat will now go to decks awash at 25 feet in both Gar and Gato. Adding mods to see where the change over occurs.
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Last edited by merc4ulfate; 03-25-15 at 03:18 PM.
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Old 03-25-15, 06:43 PM   #14
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Hmmm, I tried to learn C code when it first came out, gave up on it after 10 years or so (not as complicated as algebra or women, but still too much for me). Looking over the code here though it appears it's the hex for the ASCII characters;

http://www.ascii-code.com/

Looking that over, hex for "V" is 56, so;

[Cmd195]
Name=Snorkel_depth
Ctxt=1
Str=1033
Key0=0x56,C,"V"

The second part of the string has either capital C or lowercase c which apparently translates to unshifted (just press the key no CTRL or SHIFT or whatever needed) or CTRL to activate. So if you want the key to activate with a single keypress you would use a capitol C in that slot, obviously your game has something mapped to the CTRL key somehow, when I press the CTRL key and nothing else, nothing happens. Dunno what the codes would be for SHIFT or ALT.

But in your case for the plain jane letter V, just change the lowercase c to capital C, change the 0xBA (ASCII semicolon) to 0x56 (ASCII letter V) and it should work.
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Old 03-25-15, 07:41 PM   #15
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What I have discovered is that TMO over writes the use of the cfg file for the player class submarine.

The cfg file I change in the stock game and also set TMO Gato.cfg to the same setting. When the semicolon is pressed you hear radar depth but you actually go to decks awash not radar depth as the game sat it.

ISP 2.6 also over write TMO so it too had to be changed so that all three files, Stock cfg, TMO cfg ISP cfg for each boat Gato, Gar etc... would be the same.
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Last edited by merc4ulfate; 03-25-15 at 09:20 PM.
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