1914: Shells of Fury

[Chock]

Target doing 12knots. Single stern shot, range 5300, with all the realism settings on, another half a second and it would have passed by the stern. I love it when a plan comes together:rotfl:







Chock

[NiclDoe]

Nice photos again and should i buy this 20 dollar game or no. i really want to but i will ask my members here. plus im getting a new computer thats an Alienware soon and it will have all the specs needed. Also does the game have an auto range AOB etc so i can just fire tubes at targets without the need to do all the stuff by myself?

[Hitman]

Also does the game have an auto range AOB etc so i can just fire tubes at targets without the need to do all the stuff by myself?

Yes

should i buy this 20 dollar game or no

Depends on what you expect. Graphics are worser than SH3, but the game is entertaining and with some potential. I would say you might have much fun for 20$ if you are not too demanding and can close an eye or two sometimes.

[Chock]

Shells of Fury (or Die schalen des Zorns in my case, cos I have the German version) is a funny game in a lot of ways. Graphically, it looks oldish in some places, but then there are parts of it that look stunningly well done too, and it's apparent that it was intended to be more than it eventually ended up being upon release. Of course the upside of that means that it has the potential to be improved by mods and there are a few people doing that kind of thing (including me).

If you would be put off by having to do completely manual targetting, then don't be, as you can have the sim assist you. What you do is spot the target in the scope and press 'L' to 'lock' it. This is the equivalent of having taken range and speed data and passed it along to your crew. In the torpedo room you see data for your solution chalked up on a board and the gyro angles are set on the torpedo. From this you can decide whether it is worth taking the shot at that point (note that a hit is not guaranteed by this, and some careful judgement is required with long range shots, so it's not that simple). Like SH3 etc, you can select torpedo depth and one of three speeds for the torp, which affects its range as it does in other sims, so in this respect, it is no less complex than other sub sims. Of course you can forego all that and do it manually if you like with pure deflection shots, as was often done for real in WW1, but it is tricky at range, and although I have had some success with it (courtesy of the speed data chart I made for it, which you can find on this thread), it is tricky to say the least.

Another thing which forces you to think a bit where Shells of Fury is concerned, is that the ship AI is very intelligent and will spot you if you take liberties with leaving the scope up (this is much more realistic than in the SH games, although it has to be said that the crews on the ships do seem to be particularly eagle eyed, which is probably not that realistic. Again, I get around that by plotting courses for targets spotted at range on the map, stop and submerge and keep the scope down. In SH you can do that and track the target with the hydrophone, but there is no hydrophone in SOF, so instead I time the target over its course plotted on the map by using my home made speed/distance chart, until I think the target is in an ideal position for a shot. At that point, it's up with the scope, quick check to see range and course, fire a torp and back down with the scope, to prevent the target spotting me and beginning to zig zag. This requires quite a bit of positional planning and forethought as your sub is not particularly fast, which is why I was pleased the shot pictured above came off at such a range. In short, SOF offers the same kind of challenges that SH does, but with some twists.

Where it differs is that the deck gun (if you have a sub equipped with one) is much more of a primary weapon in WW1 than it was in WW2, and is much more like a proper naval artillery piece than the auxilliary weapon it was in WW2, with gun laying being more realistically portrayed than it is in either SH3 or SH4, in that you have a chart alongside the gun which marks where the rounds are dropping as though you have a gunnery officer plotting things. Because of this, you can range your guns in much the same way as it was done for real back then, with a long shot and a short shot either side with rings marked around the target on your shooting clipboard to indicate how long or wide your shot is. This is very similar to how WW1 artillery observation aircraft equipped with a morse radio would spot for artillery, and so, is inkeeping with the period.

Another aspect of WW1 subs that has received scant attention in most other subs sims, is that you can lay mines, and there are enemy minefields to negotiate too, which incidentally, are annoyingly deadly if you try and be a smartass and go through them like I've tried to do (and failed) a few times!

If you are an 'eye candy' fan, you might face a bit of a dilemma with SOF. The ship models are superbly evocative of the period and some of them are real modeling masterpieces, and yet other bits of the sim show some rough edges graphically (although most could be corrected with mods). For example, the texture for the 'sky dome' has a noticeable 'join' where the texture was not drawn carefully enough in Photoshop (or whatever they used to create it), not a disaster, but a bit sloppy nonetheless. so I've tweeked a few things like that for myself in it, such as drawing ranging lines on the periscope (which by default has none) and reducing the stupidly big green crosshair you get on the antiaircraft machine gun to a very small dot. I intend to stick all these mods in a big file at some point by the way and make them available, but if anyone cannot wait, PM me.

It has a good campaign (several campaigns in fact to be strictly accurate), plus single missions and a mission generator too, and for the most part the campaigns and missions are fairly historically accurate, so that's another plus point.

With the dearth of WW1 sub sims available, the simple fact is, if you want to play a WW1 sub game, at the moment it is this or nothing, and that fact alone makes it worth having for me. But if you want, and expect something which looks as polished as SH4 from both an audio and visual standpoint, then you might be disappointed. Personally, I can live with its rough edges, as it does 'feel' like WW1 in terms of appearance and 'clunkiness' of the switches and levers in your sub.

For the price, if you like subs, I think it's worth having, as there is definitely fun to be had with it.

Chock

[NiclDoe]

Thanks guys and i will give her a try on my new 2 Gig RAM when I get her and grapics are not the things I look at for games. I look at gameplay and replay value. also I look at some screens and there is a mission editor which you crete missions and play them while having the game on. Also can you choose your own boat? 1 final question is that how does the campagin work? Is it like SH in which you patrol and sink ships along the way or you can plant mines or sink anything that you see type?
PS Chock can you make a Video showing the game in action so i can see more about it. Thanks if you can becuase it would really help.

[Chock]

PS Chock can you make a Video showing the game in action so i can see more about it. Thanks if you can becuase it would really help.

Your wish is my command, here you go, note that it's not in any particular order, I just stuck a load of FRAPs clips together, also note this is the German version and that ramming that I did at the end resulted in my sub sinking:



Chock

[NiclDoe]

Thanks very much Chock and now i will buy the english version in a month becuase thats when im getting my new PC. I'm look foward to more cool videos if you can make them. You dont have to but thats a very cool movie which the real waves becuase thats what the ocean has. Did the ship sink by the way? Also how long does it take to sink an average ship with 2 torps? Sorry if i ask so many questions. its just that i like to learn.

[Chock]

I never got to see if the ship sank, because mine went down in about 30 seconds, and I wouldn't normally try ramming, although it is possible to sink stuff that way as I have done it with a small fishing boat before, I just did it there to demo the collision detection for you.

It can take quite a while to nail something with the gun, as they definitely try and make a run for it, but you can sink a ship with a torpedo in one shot a lot of the time, although missing them means it often costs more than one. For example that series of screenshots which I posted was a one shot deal, but on the same mission prior to that, I had used three to hit a fishing trawler because I had the petrol boat with no deck gun, which was annoying, but not unrealistic. Unfortunately some of the fun is spoiled by the fact that you get a message coming up telling you that a ship is destroyed, so there is never any doubt as to whether something is going to sink (don't know if you can turn that message off, as my German is terrible and if there is an option for it, I wouldn't know even if I was looking at it!)

As far as how long it takes to sink after being hit by a torpedo, I was submerged at a range of 5300 when I fired the torpedo at that freighter in the screenshots, and when it registered a hit, I surfaced and raced over there at 13-14 knots, as you can see, I got there just as her decks were being swamped and that may be because it was a good hit on the stern which in reality would have blasted the packing open on the screws and been fairly disastrous for them. So I reckon it went down in well under ten minutes, which seems fairly believable under the circumstances.

Chock

[NiclDoe]

Wow thats really fast for a sub to go down. Plus the men must have been happy for their kill but that soon chnaged when it sunk. also i like to see how the deck gun works becuase earier you said it is stronger and i want to see that in action. You do not have to make a movie on it but what would be really cool is a movie on a sub like U-14 leaves Kiel and sinks a few ships and returns home like the videos people make. Just tell me when it comes up or ill find it my self.

[Chock]

What am I, your personal video service?!!

Incidentally, I just timed a destroyer sinking after one torpedo hit in the bow, which set it on fire, and it took 48 minutes for it to sink completely out of sight.

Chock

[NiclDoe]

Im just kidding Chock and I was about to delete it but I fell asleep after I posted it. BTW your vids on Youtube are really good and like the way you make them.Also does the ship take damage from fires or no.

[Chock]

I don't honestly think the fire is anything other than 'eye candy'

Chock

[CB..]

to add to the threads flow here's an example mission showing the scripting method for simple escorted vessels....
a merchant escorted by two destroyers...

it also proves the sub damage system works (after a fashion anyway lol)
as this is the ONLY mission i've played where i have suffered damage without being destroyed..showing the damage/repair screen facility works..to a point...

the scripting for the escorts is only basic but it shows aggresive action against the player if spotted evasive maneuvers from the merchant and return to set course after the danger is presumed gone
as you can see (if you play it) this gives reasonable gamplay..tho obviously not perfect..so glass half full attitudes please ...not half empty lol (ie no rivet counting)
i've deliberately kept the script to a minimum..as it would be possible to have two foolscap pages worth of scripting just for the escorts alone...(let alone the merchant aswell) and if i am to add these effects to the campaign obviously they are going to have to be done as simply as possible- other wise writing the dang campaign script would be completely mind boggling...LOL buckets of blood isn't in it!
and i'm a LONG LONG way from anything like a decent grasp on the SOF scripting
given time tho simulated late war hydrophones are possible...i can do it now but not to my own satisfaction

this script replaces the uschule1 training mission..pop it in the scripts folder

http://www.ebort2.co.uk/SOF/SOF_escort.zip

enjoy it for what it is...i'll add this sort of thing to the campaign at some point when i've ironed out some more of the scripting involved

note for those interested..
i've used the mission generator scripting method for choosing the ships displayed in the mission.

like thus

CreateMGMerchantShip [c1]
SetPositionGeo [c1],10.312,54.534,0

the createMGmerchantShip instruction creates a random type of merchant for inclusion in the mission..
so this would be highly usefull for placing ships in "ports" the setpositiongeo does what it says on the tin..lat long position..
you just need to add the

id c1
to the mission header

and add the ship below the player subs entry and bingo your done..

[Chock]

I'm sure people into this sim will apprciate your efforts CB. I think SOF is a great sim in that it offers something a little different, and I just hope more people catch onto that. sure it has some rough edges, but that's exactly where it gives modders the opportunity to shine, and it is very easily 'moddable', although thus far I've limited my efforts to the purely visual stuff and the odd audio tweek.

Chock

[CB..]

cheers Chock

i've discovered the other vital (well highly desirable anyway) ingredient for incorporating escorted ships into the campaign...the ability to give the ships a proper route to follow..
and also fixed a glitch with the script where by the destroyers would remain stationary if you sank the merchant..(now they continue searching the area around the doomed ship)

so download the script again if you fancy it..

the scripting is a real head-ache but very flexible
here's the mini convoy route scripting from the mission


AddStateEngine [c1]
AddStateItem [c1],"s:5"
AddStateItem [c1],"a:0,GoTo:g10.446,54.667,0,7"
AddStateItem [c1],"c:0,1,LastDestinationReached:1500"
AddStateItem [c1],"a:1,GoTo:g10.557,54.538,0,10"
AddStateItem [c1],"c:1,2,LastDestinationReached:1500"
AddStateItem [c1],"a:2,GoTo:g10.266,54.485,0,4"
AddStateItem [c1],"c:2,3,LastDestinationReached:1500"
AddStateItem [c1],"a:3,GoTo:g10.446,54.667,0,12"
AddStateItem [c1],"c:0,4,EnemyVisible:6000"
AddStateItem [c1],"c:1,4,EnemyVisible:6000"
AddStateItem [c1],"c:2,4,EnemyVisible:6000"
AddStateItem [c1],"c:4,0,-EnemyVisible:7000"
AddStateItem [c1],"a:4,Flee"

i've marked the route on the map so you can follow it if you want to see it at work

the escorts simply escort the main ship so follow the same route as required..
i've adapted the script to make the destroyers bob and weave along side the merchant to make them a very difficult target and a more effective "screen"
this also helps to keep them active if the merchant is destroyed

there's lots of alternative ai behaviours you can apply to the escorts (and the merchant) almost unlimited variety in fact..you can even make up your own once you've got an idea of what the heck is going on (lol)
they are not all 100% reliable but what the heck is?
makes life interesting

i've gotten more damage from testing these ideas out in this script than in an entire campaigns worth of playing lol...so the destroyers are reasonably agressive..they shell your scope when spotted..and often get a hit on the sub in the process which causes damage to the compressor scope engines etc etc quite often...nice to see that side of the sim at work...was given a 6 hour time estimate for one repair job..so it can be fairly serious..tho i didn't notice an drop in performance from the sub when damaged so that's maybe some thing that needs looking at

keep up the good work