1914: Shells of Fury

[CB..]

yes i noticed the two different version too...i bought the windows XP version...but actualy it isn't compatible with windows XP at all..(it crashes a lot of time on mission load)....tho all you need to do is run it in compatibility mode for windows 2000 and everything is ok..so i'm not sure what the difference is between the two versions (if any?)

on the FPS issue...i have tried dozens of minor file tweaks along the usual modding lines..and as is the case with modern games most of the tricks which WOULD work on older games...just don't have any genuine effect on recent graphics engines...
BUT here is just about the only one (so far) that gave me a noticable and usable increase in FPS...only maybe 3 or 4 extra FPS but it was enough on my system to make the game playable..

here's a link if you want to see if it helps on your set up...

http://www.ebort2.co.uk/files/SOF_fix1.zip

mind you i had the same problems with SH4...
set all the graphical options to max..run the game ..got 11 FPS
set all graphical options to minimum...run the game...got 11 FPS

go figure..:hmm:

here's another funny thing also

Scaz's set up give slow frame rates
and he has these stats as he gave in the the topic's first post

Scaz's Specs are:
Windows XP
PentiumIV 3.0ghz
2048MB Ram
Nvidia 7600GT (256mb) AGP video card (supports pixelshader 3.0)
SB Live! sound card
All drivers up to date


CB..'s Specs are:
Windows XP
PentiumIV 3.0ghz
500MB Ram
ATI X300SE (128 mb) video card
on board sound
stock drivers

yet it seems we both get very similar frame rates...

again
go figure :hmm:

[Captain Nemo]

Originally Posted by CB..

CB..'s Specs are:
Windows XP
PentiumIV 3.0ghz
500MB Ram
ATI X300SE (128 mb) video card
on board sound
stock drivers

Strange indeed. I have more or less the same set up as you the only difference being that I have 1024MB Ram and an SB sound card. Out of interest can you tell the number of FPS you are getting in Shells of Fury or are you just noticing an improvement when you apply your fix? Slightly off topic, but you mention also that you get 11FPS in SH4 no matter what graphics settings you apply. Does this low level of FPS make SH4 unplayable in your view?

Nemo

[CB..]

well it's difficult to be exact guessing the FPS i'm getting with SOF.(there's no FPS counter..)...but judging by the fact that it is extremely border line FPS wise i would say that i'm getting around the same as i got with SH4...ie around 11 FPS
anyless than that and it becomes a completely unplayable "slide show"
any more than that and it starts to present you with "smooth" framerates...the "magic cut off" number being around 13 FPS..

the good thing about subsims is that you tend to be doing everything pretty slowly anyway so poor frame rates are not as much a block as other sorts of games..BUT it makes everything you do very laboriuos and in the end fairly unpleasant..(gives you eye ache and eventualy a head ache to go with it after a while)..so yup in SH4 11 fps is in practical terms unplayable...(you can play it but you get fed up of it juddering very quickly)

the fix i have made seems to take SOF up from perhaps 10 or 11 FPS to around 12/13/14/16 FPS depending on other factors (weather effects etc)
which means i can just abut cope with it..but it's still pretty annoying...it takes over a minute to raise the periscope for example..and the same amount of time to pan it round 360 degrees...which is very irritating...the bridge view on the other hand now pans round pretty much with the mouse...and so on

i think i have sorted the problem with the graphics settings not sticking when you set them...you need to go to the final options screen on the list
(the one at the bottom of the list) enter it and select "JA" then it stores them....heres another funny thing tho...i get better frame rates with all the options maxed out than i do with them set at minimum...
it's a laugh a minute...very odd

anyhuw at least i don't have to reset the gamma and contrast every time i run the game now...so that's the trick with that issue..

i'm hoping i will stumble across the effect that most influences the FPS ...then if i can edit it accordingly i can bring the FPS up to a more enjoyable level....if i do then i'm sure i will enjoy this game enourmously..

[Captain Nemo]

Originally Posted by CB..

well it's difficult to be exact guessing the FPS i'm getting with SOF.(there's no FPS counter..)...but judging by the fact that it is extremely border line FPS wise i would say that i'm getting around the same as i got with SH4...ie around 11 FPS
anyless than that and it becomes a completely unplayable "slide show"
any more than that and it starts to present you with "smooth" framerates...the "magic cut off" number being around 13 FPS..

the good thing about subsims is that you tend to be doing everything pretty slowly anyway so poor frame rates are not as much a block as other sorts of games..BUT it makes everything you do very laboriuos and in the end fairly unpleasant..(gives you eye ache and eventualy a head ache to go with it after a while)..so yup in SH4 11 fps is in practical terms unplayable...(you can play it but you get fed up of it juddering very quickly)

the fix i have made seems to take SOF up from perhaps 10 or 11 FPS to around 12/13/14/16 FPS depending on other factors (weather effects etc)
which means i can just abut cope with it..but it's still pretty annoying...it takes over a minute to raise the periscope for example..and the same amount of time to pan it round 360 degrees...which is very irritating...the bridge view on the other hand now pans round pretty much with the mouse...and so on

i think i have sorted the problem with the graphics settings not sticking when you set them...you need to go to the final options screen on the list
(the one at the bottom of the list) enter it and select "JA" then it stores them....heres another funny thing tho...i get better frame rates with all the options maxed out than i do with them set at minimum...
it's a laugh a minute...very odd

anyhuw at least i don't have to reset the gamma and contrast every time i run the game now...so that's the trick with that issue..

i'm hoping i will stumble across the effect that most influences the FPS ...then if i can edit it accordingly i can bring the FPS up to a more enjoyable level....if i do then i'm sure i will enjoy this game enourmously..

Thanks CB. Looks like I'll need a new graphics card to play SH4 at an enjoyable level, much as I suspected really. Do let us know if you make any progress regarding the effect that most influences the FPS in SOF, as this also looks like a game that I'll want to buy in the near future.

Nemo

[CB..]

Cheers Captain
fingers crossed....the ship models in SOF are absolutely magnificent..sneaking up on a merchant is a genuine pleasure just to see the wonderful detailing on the model...love those old ships...and the aircraft are very well modelled too...tho they die a little too easily...but that i'm sure can be modded...wish they had included some form of hydrophone tho...i'm more or less positive WW1 subs did have them and the DD's too...not sure why they left them out...maybe they are an option for later on in the kampaign ?..hard to tell with everything being in german..

[Captain Nemo]

Not sure about hydrophones in WWI u-boats, but I think the RN developed hydrophones during the great war and employed them on destroyers and some of their submarines. Perhaps others can provide a more definitive answer.

Nemo

[CB..]

i think your right...i've had a read of some books and hydrophones were invented around 1917...(with ASDIC not far behind ...strangely ASDIC got shelved untill much much later even tho it was being tested during WW1)
and here's no mention i can find of German Subs carrying hydrophones..

one thing the sim is missing most i suppose is crew voices ...i've knocked up a small sound pack to add some voices to a few of the commands...just to add a little more atmosphere

here's the link

http://www.ebort2.co.uk/files/SOF_voice1.zip


been having a small look at the campaign and how it works as well
and even tho it at first sight might appear to be purely scripted..it is in fact at least as dynamic as the SH3 campaign..or random is the best word..(for both)..with shipping routes ..target areas...probability frequency and type of shipping along those routes and in those areas being randomised and so on ..which puts it on a similar level as indeed SH3 etc...and it's editable also so this is purely as stock..could be worked on fairly easily...

the game certainly isn't an easy one....
so far i have yet to actualy survive a depth charge attack!!!
and i am gradualy getting used to there being no auto TDC at all...(always been quite lazy on that front with the other sims)

everything hinges on the scope not being spotted...and fortunately you can see the ships with the scope just breaking the surface..without them spotting you...tho if you want the ships to display on the plotting map and the targeting map in the scope room you have to raise it further..and then they can see you (within a certain range depending on the weather etc etc)..so it's a nice balancing trick...and offers some interesting choices as you try to plot your torps angles etc..it's not over complicated at all, but it still has to be gotten right or you just waste the torps...(and you don't have many)...it's much much easier up close of course..but then you risk certain death from the escorts if they spot the scope....you can't dive fast enough to evade them..(hence the fact i have yet to survive a DC attack lol)....so it means i need to attack from further away...and that means lots of wasted torps...i'm pretty sure there's no auto TDC...there were no targeting number crunchers for the WW1 subs AFAIK so this is realistic ..either way it works well and adds a lot to the game

[Scaz65]

Thanks CB for trying to work out this framerate thing. I tried the fix, but it didn't give me the boost. I'm going to email a link to this thread to the tech support guy. Maybe it will help.

BTW, I noticed that you also have a pentIV 3ghz cpu CB. Does it have Hyper-threading like mine does? If it does, I wonder if that could be the problem.

[CB..]

according to the blurb my pc does "support" hyper threading...tho that could mean just about anything..lol
and i'm not sure what difference it might make...


EDIT LOL

i had gone of on one of my rants here :rotfl:
but..

i found a translation into english of the graphics options etc
it's written into the parameters.txt in the root folder

here they are

realism options

realism\diesel
realism\oxygen
realism\torpfails
realism\zigzag
realism\torps
realism\EnemyTorpedoOnMap
realism\Enemyeasykill
realism\EnableBeaming

graphics options

system\FSAA
system\FSAA4x
system\WideScreen
system\LowResWater
system\lowuqalitysky
system\DisableVolumeMirror
system\DisableMirrorShips
system\DisableMirrorSmoke
system\DisableMirrorSun
system\LowMirrorMode


so they DO make a difference...many apologies to all conerned..

i set the graphics options to
2x anti alaise--ja
lowres water--ja
low res sky--ja
disable volume water-- nien
disable mirror ships--nein
disable mirror smoke--nein
disable mirror sun--nien
low mirror mode--ja

and the periscope view now runs as smooth as a babys bottom

so it's a matter of getting to grips with the logic of the graphics options...
it's no wonder i was loosing the plot of the thing..

hope this helps....

looking good..

[Captain Nemo]

CB - seems you're making some good progress on making SOF run better on your machine, well done. Just one query, the changes you have made to the graphics options, do they affect the overall frame rates in the game or just in periscope view?

Nemo

[Scaz65]

Hey CB,

I found the parameters.txt file that you're talking about, but it seems different than what you have in your game.

Here's a segment of it:

system\FSAA
ffffffff
INT
system\FSAA4x
ffffffff
INT
system\WideScreen
ffffffff
INT
system\LowResWater
ffffffff
INT
system\lowuqalitysky
ffffffff
INT
system\DisableVolumeMirror
ffffffff
INT
system\DisableMirrorShips
ffffffff
INT
system\DisableMirrorSmoke
ffffffff
INT
system\DisableMirrorSun
ffffffff
INT
system\LowMirrorMode
ffffffff

What's with all of the F's? Anyway, not sure how to modify this. Do you have the US version or European?

[CB..]

Scaz...the game sutomatically modifys the parameters txt file when you alter the settings on the options screens...(you then need to go to the last screen on the list and select "JA" and the game saves your settings..
the reason for my showing an edited version of the parameters.txt file was just simply to show the english translations of the variuos options..so you could tell which options were an increase in graphics and which were a decrease (that's what was foxing me...i had no idea which did what)

so just change your options via the in game screens and make sure you go to last screen on the list and hit "JA" to save them..


Capt nemo!
the options AFAIK affect all the graphics not just in the scope view as per normal..

but i must admit i'm still searching for a better answer as i have to set my graphics card to minimum quailty as well in order for the scope view to run smoothly...trouble is that all the graphics on the interface screens goes into zx81 mode as well.tho the 3D world still looks fine...my thought is maybe i can lower the quality of the interface screens "by hand" and get a better over-all result that way...but sadly the game is really fussy about it's interface screens..and so far all attempts to do that have failed..

i have also been continueing on the process of editing virtually every in game graphics file (and there are a very large number of these mainly in DDS format) in search for that critical file which contains the main sea animation and textures...and also find that FPS killer effect some where..it'll be some where..

one/ i want to get rid of the white caps--or reduce them dramaticaly
two/ i want to lower the quality of the textures to suit my systems capabilites so i can increase other options to get a balance i prefer..
three/ helps to learn a game from the nut and bolts up

again tho all the obviuos files even one named waterani.dds have virtualy NO EFFECT when edited at all..
whatever it is in this game that is eating the frame rates it isn't the water animation...nor is it the sky (if the low res sky option is any clue and actual works..i can't visualy see any difference...i must say)
i edited the clouds to a far lower size and quality..no increase in FPS at all..
edited dozens of files to reduce texture size and quaility...all gave no increase in FPS
maybe the culprit is in fact the damn static interface screen images...

it's beginning to drive me nuts i must admit LOL

[FlyingThermos]

Hey i'm thinking about getting this game. Technically sounds like the graphics engine may be a bit unoptimized, but I would be interesting in hearing about the mechanics of the campaign part of the game. It was mentioned earlier that it was not purely scripted. Is it dynamic in any way. If so how so. Is it persistant; are your stats tracked or offered new boats as campaign progresses. If you are assiged a patrol zone, do you actually have to sail there. That kinda thing. If you find time do you think you could decribe how it works. I'm having problems finding info on this game anywhere on the internet. Thanks guys

[CB..]

well i haven't played more than a couple of missions from the campaign as yet....been trying to get the game running well enough to sit back and enjoy it first...getting closer...

but i HAVE had a good old root thru all the relevant campaign files...

here's what i have discovered so far..

1/yes you do have to travel the full distance to and from the patrol zone/s

2/it stores all your stats in the usual manner...tonnage patrols medals etc rank etc

3/you get better boats as the war progreses..

4/ completely by accident i played the first mission of the campaign three times...as i hadn't understood i needed to remain in the patrol zone for 24 hours .....and it was at the very least entirely randomised..

5/there are text files containing the shipping routes and they are randomised by ship types ..probability and number..

6/ there are also similar text files which then tell the ships both merchant and warships what sort of AI behaviuor they are to exhibit ..how they are too react etc etc...so plenty of scope for experiment there..

7/ the campagn it self as stock seems to be emmense...when played from day one of the war..you have 50 missions ahead of you...

8/the campaign and mission introductions when translated into english are VERY informative and contain an awfull lot of historicaly accurate back ground information regarding the war at that date..as well as relevant info regarding your patrol objectives etc

9/the campaign CAN be played in three seperate sections if you wish...you can select to beging your campaign at the start of the war...or...during the mid period..or towards the end of the war....making for some interesting possibilites....and giving plenty of scope for choice..

10/ the ships you encounter are so well made and painted as stock that they make you want to just sit there and drool...not try to sink them lol

11/the aircraft models are good enougth for use in a flightsim..not the usual half baked models you normaly expect from a naval sim..

12/all the above is just for starters...and straight out of the box..


so yes i would say the campaign is at least as "dynamic" and equally as randomised as SH3/4...and although i haven't found the option as yet..it does mention ressuply in the game files..so maybe it has it ...tho as usual maybe they didn't implement it..no body seems to get ressupply right..heck i can't even spell it correctly lol

[FlyingThermos]

Thanks CB you told me everything i wanted to hear. Will deffinatly be ordering this tonight. One question you may or may not know the answer too. I was thinking of ordering the downloadable version from strategy first. The screenshots on their website show english text and you guys mentioned that yours is in german. Do you know if the strategy first version is in english. I'm not very strong in german. I can pick out some words and understand the jist of sentances but that's about it. Mayhaps cause me problems methinks. Although this may be a good opportunity to learn a bit.