[WIP] Official GWX Knight's Cross Edition

[Hitman]

Originally Posted by Tabris

Wolfpack has and will naturally poach a lot of players, but being that it has no campaign mode and no plan to implement one AFAIK, it fills a different niche.

What an irony that SH3 was going to initially come out without dynamic campaign until the outroar from the community made UBI listen and change that. Which in the end is nowadays regarded as the #1 feature of the game and ensured its longevity -and likely its continuity for many more years to come.

[John Pancoast]

Originally Posted by Hitman

What an irony that SH3 was going to initially come out without dynamic campaign until the outroar from the community made UBI listen and change that. Which in the end is nowadays regarded as the #1 feature of the game and ensured its longevity -and likely its continuity for many more years to come.

Hi Hitman, hope all is well. Fwiw, SH3 doesn't have a dynamic campaign. Not even close actually.

It's a good scripted campaign, but it's not dynamic by any means.

[Kpt. Lehmann]

Originally Posted by John Pancoast

Hi Hitman, hope all is well. Fwiw, SH3 doesn't have a dynamic campaign. Not even close actually.

It's a good scripted campaign, but it's not dynamic by any means.

Hi John. I hope all is well with you.

I suspect that Hitman is referring to the .RND campaign layer that allows for a lot of uncertainty in encounters, their composition, and/or sometimes intentional lack thereof.

It is true that SH3 does not have a true 'dynamic campaign', in that the player cannot change the major outcomes of the war. It still ends with Germany's surrender.

However, it is arguably quite far from the definition of a 'linear' campaign in its truest sense as well.

The original IL-2 had a true linear campaign. Mission 1, followed by mission 2, followed by mission 3, with the same exact scripted contents in each mission.... wash, rinse, repeat etc.

Microsoft Combat Flight Simulator 3 had a dynamic campaign that fit the truest definition in that as a German pilot, if you made the right type of decisions, Germany could win the war.

I think too that SH3 owes its longevity to the introduction of that .RND campaign layer.

GWX devs adjusted what was present there, and added over one million lines to the campaign files, as a result of what the SH3 devs allowed for by choosing to delay their release to add that .RND campaign layer.
The beginnings of that in GWX were humble.... starting with Rubini's harbor traffic mod. He, and then Bigboywooly, turned it into a Saturn V rocket and took it to the moon.
Primary historical events that you might hope to see, are always there.... but as far as the rest... it's never quite the same each time. That uncertainty... in my opinion is the gold-laden paydirt.

That make us all 'correct.'

[John Pancoast]

Originally Posted by Kpt. Lehmann

Hi John. I hope all is well with you.

I suspect that Hitman is referring to the .RND campaign layer that allows for a lot of uncertainty in encounters, their composition, and/or sometimes intentional lack thereof.

It is true that SH3 does not have a true 'dynamic campaign', in that the player cannot change the major outcomes of the war. It still ends with Germany's surrender.

However, it is arguably quite far from the definition of a 'linear' campaign in its truest sense as well.

The original IL-2 had a true linear campaign. Mission 1, followed by mission 2, followed by mission 3, with the same exact scripted contents in each mission.... wash, rinse, repeat etc.

Microsoft Combat Flight Simulator 3 had a dynamic campaign that fit the truest definition in that as a German pilot, if you made the right type of decisions, Germany could win the war.

I think too that SH3 owes its longevity to the introduction of that .RND campaign layer.

GWX devs adjusted what was present there, and added over one million lines to the campaign files, as a result of what the SH3 devs allowed for by choosing to delay their release to add that .RND campaign layer.
The beginnings of that in GWX were humble.... starting with Rubini's harbor traffic mod. He, and then Bigboywooly, turned it into a Saturn V rocket and took it to the moon.
Primary historical events that you might hope to see, are always there.... but as far as the rest... it's never quite the same each time. That uncertainty... in my opinion is the gold-laden paydirt.

That make us all 'correct.'

Hi Kpt!,
Likewise, hope all is well with you and yours. We have snow on the ground here already!
The phrase "dynamic campaign" gets tossed around quite a bit for things that aren't; a pet peeve of mine. I wish it would be removed from the subsection title for SH3.

I haven't messed with SH3 for a long time but am eagerly awaiting the team's work!

Best,
John

[John Pancoast]

Apologies for another reply. I was heading out for an appointment with my first.

Anyway, there's a bit more to a truly dynamic campaign than just player results affecting it.
And the .RND file, as interesting as it can be, is still composed of scripted events. The game doesn't generate them on the fly, i.e.
It has a few parameters to throw in some randomness, but that's not dynamic. It is certainly a fun campaign. But it's most certainly not dynamic.
Anyway, fwiw.

[Kpt. Lehmann]

No worries, John.

In any case, somehow SH3 still has that "X" factor that keeps a few of us around.

< points to good ole' Hitman, Rik007, Archive1, and all the other old salts. >

Maybe it's just like putting on your favorite old hat.... and it feels like 'home'... warts and all.

[iambecomelife]

Originally Posted by John Pancoast

Apologies for another reply. I was heading out for an appointment with my first.

Anyway, there's a bit more to a truly dynamic campaign than just player results affecting it.
And the .RND file, as interesting as it can be, is still composed of scripted events. The game doesn't generate them on the fly, i.e.
It has a few parameters to throw in some randomness, but that's not dynamic. It is certainly a fun campaign. But it's most certainly not dynamic.
Anyway, fwiw.

Good to see you again John! Another old hand from the past comes back

Still quite excited about GWX; Kpt. Lehmann - steadily making my way through WWI stuff so I can get back to World War II modding with you guys. Just reinstalled a clean SHIII install and will be tinkering with it on my days off! Let the good times continue to roll .... there is still so much to be done with SHIII. Getting the mods ready is half the fun. Maybe even more than half!

[John Pancoast]

Originally Posted by Kpt. Lehmann

No worries, John.

In any case, somehow SH3 still has that "X" factor that keeps a few of us around.

< points to good ole' Hitman, Rik007, Archive1, and all the other old salts. >

Maybe it's just like putting on your favorite old hat.... and it feels like 'home'... warts and all.

100%

[John Pancoast]

Originally Posted by iambecomelife

Good to see you again John! Another old hand from the past comes back

Still quite excited about GWX; Kpt. Lehmann - steadily making my way through WWI stuff so I can get back to World War II modding with you guys. Just reinstalled a clean SHIII install and will be tinkering with it on my days off! Let the good times continue to roll .... there is still so much to be done with SHIII. Getting the mods ready is half the fun. Maybe even more than half!

Likewise, thanks!! Oh boy, Kpt and the team working on a new release, and you doing more modding ! Great days again!

Can't wait to see the results!

[Archive1]

Subsim: Kptn Lehmann:

As a very old (going on 90) Subsim participant from the first issue of SH3 thru the iterations of Wolves, may I make a few suggestions as you proceed with a highly anticipated new version of Wolves?

1. In the original SH3 as one proceeded on a patrol, a God's Eye view could show a variety of active shipping activities around the British Isles, not just the occasional appearance of a ship or small convoy near to the active sub's track which might (or might not) be within decent attack distance. (Yes, any actual sub commander would not have had this view...but the British admiralty did and so did Unterseeboot Commandant Doenitz). If such a view were available, the Subsim Kaleun could decide to move to a more high- traffic area. Now, I do not (repeat not) want to create a simplistic arcade game. But I do want to retain newbies who may explore the Subsim world.
do not want them discouraged by long, long empty periods (hours?) of nothing happening. I have experienced those with LSH3. A good program, but with long periods of nothing happening. The true periods of utterly boring hours of true Unterseeboot experience in WW2 may not translate well to the gaming world, if it wants to survive in the fast-paced world of today's gaming reality.

2. I doubt that Doenitz would be happy or satisfied with a Kaleun who returned with most of his torps unfired, for no particular reason. Would it not make sense to build in some penalty for sub commanders who return with too many (how to define that?) unfired torps just (perhaps) in order to begin a less boring or more profitable, new campaign? Now that we no longer benefit from 'points' in the program, I don't know what that penalty might be...maybe a delay in upgrade to a new model sub...dunno. But it seems reasonable.

3. Perhaps the Delete 'spot' could be larger, or a more vibrant color? My, yeah, aging eyes have trouble finding it. Maybe I am not alone.

-=Archive1=-

[iambecomelife]

Kpt. Lehmann you have a PM! Hoping for fair winds and followin' seas - the GWX pack deserves it!

[Kpt. Lehmann]

Originally Posted by iambecomelife

Kpt. Lehmann you have a PM! Hoping for fair winds and followin' seas - the GWX pack deserves it!

Thanks, matey. Will go from there.

[Hitman]

Originally Posted by John Pancoast

Apologies for another reply. I was heading out for an appointment with my first.

Anyway, there's a bit more to a truly dynamic campaign than just player results affecting it.
And the .RND file, as interesting as it can be, is still composed of scripted events. The game doesn't generate them on the fly, i.e.
It has a few parameters to throw in some randomness, but that's not dynamic. It is certainly a fun campaign. But it's most certainly not dynamic.
Anyway, fwiw.

Yes that's true John it's actually random more than dynamic (Aside from some small effects in the player like renown accumulated that allows you to option your uboiat, flotilla transfer and such), but the point is, it adds a lot of replayabilty value. Without that, SH3 would likely have already followed the fate of SH2 after exhausting the novelty

[Kpt. Lehmann]

From the workshops of the Grey Wolves Development team to all of you, we wish you a Merry Christmas, and a happy New Year!

[rik007]

Merry Christmas to everybody & GWX KC Crew