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

[iambecomelife]

https://www.amazon.com/Three-before-...fore+breakfast

Here is "Three Before Breakfast" - it is hard to find but it's much, much better than the short summaries on the Aboukir/Cressy/Hogue you find in most history books - you really get a sense of the drama, heroism, and what a tragedy it was for the women & children left behind.

I am sick again (!) , so unfortunately the update pace will be slowed! I'll see what I can do tomorrow on Labor Day....sorry guys.

[iambecomelife]

Good news; the staff of WOTK has recovered from its illness and dental work! Back home from work so it's back to my rig for more research & modeling...

As promised, I have sent you guys a planning document/blueprint for Wolves of the Kaiser, with information on current completion status for playable units. Check your PM's.

Thanks to everyone for your companionship.

[Admiral Halsey]

Love the historical difference in weaponry you plan. There was a reason that until the Bayern's came along that the Germans were ok with what seemed like gun inferiority to the unknowing eye. In fact it wasn't until the Queen Elizabeth-class IIRC that the British actually got an AP shell as good as the Germans. Also out of curiosity how much overlap between Troopships and liners will there be?

[Admiral Halsey]

Originally Posted by iambecomelife

https://www.amazon.com/Three-before-...fore+breakfast

Here is "Three Before Breakfast" - it is hard to find but it's much, much better than the short summaries on the Aboukir/Cressy/Hogue you find in most history books - you really get a sense of the drama, heroism, and what a tragedy it was for the women & children left behind.

I am sick again (!) , so unfortunately the update pace will be slowed! I'll see what I can do tomorrow on Labor Day....sorry guys.

You know thing is even if it was a mine as Drummond thought that Aboukir hit it was still bloody stupid of him to have ordered the ships into help anyways.

[Starfighter24]

Originally Posted by Niume

Wow your work is very detailed I am amazed So when you expect WILL get this Beast of a mod on our computers working??

+1

Inviato dal mio Moto G (4) utilizzando Tapatalk

[iambecomelife]

Originally Posted by Admiral Halsey

Love the historical difference in weaponry you plan. There was a reason that until the Bayern's came along that the Germans were ok with what seemed like gun inferiority to the unknowing eye. In fact it wasn't until the Queen Elizabeth-class IIRC that the British actually got an AP shell as good as the Germans. Also out of curiosity how much overlap between Troopships and liners will there be?

Yes; the German 11" and 12" guns turned out to be deadly against all classes of British battlecruiser, including the "Lion/Queen Mary" type. Although I agree with recent research that says the big problem with UK battlecruisers was poor ammunition handling procedures - not necessarily lack of armor. Bags of powder would tear and leave an explosive trail throughout the whole turret - just like in a "Loony Toons" cartoon with Wiley Coyote! The wrecks of "Queen Mary", etc show explosives packed in areas where they should not have been.

Also, the stabilizing chemical in British explosives was inferior (IIRC this was unchanged in 1941, and caused "Hood" to blow up). It's a wonder more British ships weren't lost at Jutland.

One thing I want is for surface gunnery duels to be very inconclusive and last longer...statistics from Jutland show that well under 10% of rounds fired were hits. In standard SH4, it is way too easy for AI ships to score hits with main armament. Ships blow up within 3-4 minutes in my tests, but I will be tinkering with S3ditor to fix that-

Troopships will pretty much be liner models with guns and some extra life rafts. They will be camoflaged and may have some soldiers visible on deck.

And yes; I agree it was suicidal for Drummond not to order "Hogue" and "Cressy" to escape. One officer pointed out at inquiry that he should have ordered the two other cruisers to sail at maximum speed for about 1 mile, have them launch their boats, and then leave the area (coastal destroyers could have picked up the lifeboats in several hours). Still, I sympathize with him wanting to save lives.

Hate to get you down but I don't want to promise a release date. It has been a multi-year project and it will be done when it's done.

[Admiral Halsey]

You know in regards to the British BC ammo problems is it possible to simulate that vulnerability in the game? Because i'd love to be watching Jutland only to see a German shell(are you going to make 3D shell models because I know some mods have them) slamming into a British BC followed by an explosion that'd make Michael Bay blush. Also will capital ships have the ability to split in half after an ammo explosion?

[keltos01]

Hate to get you down but I don't want to promise a release date. It has been a multi-year project and it will be done when it's done.

It needs the time it needs.. I wish we had their devellopment program... though S3D is a superb tool !

eagerly waiting too

K

[iambecomelife]

Originally Posted by Admiral Halsey

You know in regards to the British BC ammo problems is it possible to simulate that vulnerability in the game? Because i'd love to be watching Jutland only to see a German shell(are you going to make 3D shell models because I know some mods have them) slamming into a British BC followed by an explosion that'd make Michael Bay blush. Also will capital ships have the ability to split in half after an ammo explosion?

Trust me my friend...one of my HUGE pet peeves in SH3/4/5 has been battleships not blowing up and breaking in two! I have an unhealthy interest in explosions! When a 12" shell scores one of those golden BB shots, you WILL see a huge explosion. With quite a few disturbing details (these will be optional to keep things PG-rated).

FYI please note my new signature - there has been a HUGE HUGE HUGE update on the WOTK facebook page. Not new material, but an archive of the screenshots on this thread, so you don't have to guess which images are where. Ship updates, Terrain, Medals, Interface, etc are all organized properly on the Facebook. Please check it out if you haven't recently. And like, subscribe, and share Wolves of the Kaiser! In a way, publicity is half the battle....!

https://www.facebook.com/WolvesoftheKaiser/

[leadtail]

86' Wood Drifter for the Otranto Barrage

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B0...zIwVUlsSzNnQVk

[Darthlucky]

I know that several commanders in WW I, and a few in WW II captured ships and sent them as prize ships back to Germany, I belive Kretschmer did this in WWII with an Estonian ship, but it was sunk by the Luftwaffe before it made it to France. I know you've talked about mission creep, but will there be an option to send a ship back to the homeland, instead of sinking it?

[Admiral Halsey]

Originally Posted by iambecomelife

Trust me my friend...one of my HUGE pet peeves in SH3/4/5 has been battleships not blowing up and breaking in two! I have an unhealthy interest in explosions! When a 12" shell scores one of those golden BB shots, you WILL see a huge explosion. With quite a few disturbing details (these will be optional to keep things PG-rated).

YES YES YES YES! Also possible to have turrets fall off if the ship capsizes?

[iambecomelife]

Originally Posted by leadtail

86' Wood Drifter for the Otranto Barrage

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B0...zIwVUlsSzNnQVk

Thank you so much; I opened it and it is beautiful! It is also appropriate for the North Sea and Atlantic - I doubt that drifters out there would have looked much different.

I think I will also try enlarging it slightly as a small coastal tanker, or small ore ship. Just to add to merchant ship variety.

About turrets falling out - I will experiment with crash depth to see if I can make turrets blow off when a ship goes down. However, there is no way AFAIK to simulate turrets held in place by gravity falling out (like the Bismarck's four turrets did when she sank). The game does not seem to simulate gravity's effect on loose ship components (note how crates never slide on deck, etc).

To make really good battlecruiser explosions, you need high resolution explosion frames as source material. I have downloaded some publicly available movies from youtube, and I will use FRAPS to capture multiple high res frames of the explosions. I will then use them as replacement for the particles.dat, baza_fx, and materials.dat images. The big question now is, how big can I go with the tga files without crashing SH4. I suspect I can go pretty big....I have had 2048 x 2048 ship textures with no problems.

[TheGreatElector]

Originally Posted by iambecomelife

Thank you so much; I opened it and it is beautiful! It is also appropriate for the North Sea and Atlantic - I doubt that drifters out there would have looked much different.

I think I will also try enlarging it slightly as a small coastal tanker, or small ore ship. Just to add to merchant ship variety.

About turrets falling out - I will experiment with crash depth to see if I can make turrets blow off when a ship goes down. However, there is no way AFAIK to simulate turrets held in place by gravity falling out (like the Bismarck's four turrets did when she sank). The game does not seem to simulate gravity's effect on loose ship components (note how crates never slide on deck, etc).

To make really good battlecruiser explosions, you need high resolution explosion frames as source material. I have downloaded some publicly available movies from youtube, and I will use FRAPS to capture multiple high res frames of the explosions. I will then use them as replacement for the particles.dat, baza_fx, and materials.dat images. The big question now is, how big can I go with the tga files without crashing SH4. I suspect I can go pretty big....I have had 2048 x 2048 ship textures with no problems.

Just wondering, when do you think this mod will be ready? seems legit.

[iambecomelife]

Originally Posted by bismarck1011

Just wondering, when do you think this mod will be ready? seems legit.

Can I answer this and I hope you don't take it personally ? - this comment is not just directed to you. I intend no disrespect, friend.

I started this mod some years ago. The main delay has been a very exacting professional exam, and my training as a Junior Associate (2011 to present). No apologies for that - feeding my parents comes first.

Everyone who wants this mod to come out sooner, I would like you to help. Some time ago I asked for some very basic research assistance and got almost no replies. I'm not asking people to model battleships or add playable rooms. What I need requires the ability to type and maybe use a smartphone!

-Lists of about 500-1000 plausible names for cargo ships from France, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, &c. Not everyone has to do the whole 1000. I want names of animals, names of national heroes, towns, villages, and plausible combinations - "Royal Trader", "Great Trader", "Red Lion", "White Dolphin", etc. I don't like using internet translators - they are inaccurate!

-Lists of port cities, towns, & villages on the North Sea/Atlantic/Mediterranean coasts of Europe. And an idea of their size in 1914. Kapitain Oliver posted a very useful map recently. Anyone from France, Britain, etc who knows a little history can help.

-Radio traffic (mainly war news 1914-1918). I have already done hundreds of SOS messages, but I would love more.

-If you have a camera or modern phone, pictures of 1800's-1900s era European towns and buildings. Cottages, houses, town buildings, villas, warehouses, port cranes, etc that date from WWI. To help me add destructible towns to WOTK. I will do the modeling - I just need high quality pictures, if you happen to live in Europe.

To Leadtail, Oliver, and Jeff, Von Gerlach, and several others who have offered to help - I sincerely thank you. To everyone else who is anxious for the mod to come out, please start thinking, "what can I do to help?"