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

[TorpX]

You have very nice looking trees there.

[Admiral Halsey]

First off wow that looks amazing. Second off I was reading a book on the U-Boat wars and discovered that early anti-sub mines of the British well sucked beyond belief. Think early WW2 German torps or MK 14 at the start of the Pacific theater levels bad. Story's of subs running right into them and them failing to go off. Will that be modeled or are mines basically something you can't model failure rate into?

[Kapitain Oliver Leinkraunt]

WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
That environment is very very impressive.
I know that Sailor Stive have already answered, but the first MTB torpedo boats (I have already posted some images of them) were changed launches.
An other thing, there will be different environments for the Mediterranean Sea, Black Sea and Baltic Sea ?

[Sailor Steve]

Originally Posted by Admiral Halsey

Second off I was reading a book on the U-Boat wars and discovered that early anti-sub mines of the British well sucked beyond belief.

On the other hand 100 years ago today a British sub was lost to a British mine which worked just fine.

[Admiral Halsey]

Originally Posted by Sailor Steve

On the other hand 100 years ago today a British sub was lost to a British mine which worked just fine.

Of course it'd be a friendly that triggers the darn thing to go off.

[iambecomelife]

Originally Posted by Kapitain Oliver Leinkraunt

WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
That environment is very very impressive.
I know that Sailor Stive have already answered, but the first MTB torpedo boats (I have already posted some images of them) were changed launches.
An other thing, there will be different environments for the Mediterranean Sea, Black Sea and Baltic Sea ?

I did not know that....interesting.

One craft I want to include in the mod is a unique type of fast attack boat - German explosive launches. They were remote controlled motor boats loaded with explosives, designed to ram enemy ships - quite advanced for WWI.




About dud mines - I am thinking about a way to make it happen.

I am also thinking of a way to make AI ships perform minelaying. It's been described as "impossible" to do for SH3/SH4, so of course I'm interested.


It seems pretty likely there will be different environments for different areas - the Env_Colors used to confound me but now I am starting to get a feel for what values in S3ditor produce good colors. It only takes me a couple nights after work to make changes that used to take me much longer.

FYI I just got done fooling with some more graphical stuff. I was no longer happy with how my old TMO/Stock SH4 smoke mod looked - I made some changes for the better, so expect more screenshots. Just for the fun of it I also decided to mod oil spills as a little side project, not expecting I'd do much - the results FAR exceeded my expectations. Eventually I want to add an oil leak effect for breached bunkers - I doubt it will be hard; simply tweak the game's sub water stream effect. Will have screenshots and maybe a vid soon.

My mind is kind of going at 1000 MPH here - lol - It really is a whirlwind of activity!

[Kapitain Oliver Leinkraunt]

One question, will be changed the captain's office?

[littlejoe]

Is there a version of this mod available for download or is it still in a non-playable stage?

thanks!
LittleJoe

[Kapitain Oliver Leinkraunt]

Originally Posted by littlejoe

Is there a version of this mod available for download or is it still in a non-playable stage?

thanks!
LittleJoe

Not yet; the mod is not available.

[Kapitain Oliver Leinkraunt]

IABL If you're interested, I found a fantastic video of a ww1 u-boat in action.

An other thing, it will possible, when my submarine sails near enemy coasts, capture enemy radio messages ?

[iambecomelife]

Originally Posted by Kapitain Oliver Leinkraunt

IABL If you're interested, I found a fantastic video of a ww1 u-boat in action.

An other thing, it will possible, when my submarine sails near enemy coasts, capture enemy radio messages ?

Yes - the captain's office will be modded! New interface screens, office, and medals are a big part of this mod. I want this NOT to look like a Pacific WWII game.

There will be radio messages from neutral and enemy ships. One problem is, I don't believe there is a way to simulate being out of range of certain stations - I believe that all radio messages are received all the time, regardless of how far you are from the broadcasting location. Historically, WWI subs had limited communications range compared to later units. Still, I will probably include a large selection of messages. And thanks for the video.

[Kapitain Oliver Leinkraunt]

Not problem captain
An other thing, some times ago I started the making of a sound mod for WOTK, but I have problems with the sound of the air planes (I think tha will be a unique sound for all air planes) and I don't know if I must remove the sonar sounds like: "we are in shallow water sir" or "sonar contact/warship at range 345 long range ...
Can you give my an advice?

[Admiral Halsey]

Hey IABL how will early war destroyer's be handled since IIRC it wasn't until sometime in 1916 that a depth charge the British felt confident enough to use was in service? They had nothing to attack a sub with but there guns and they had no way of knowing where one was really as well.

[iambecomelife]

Originally Posted by Admiral Halsey

Hey IABL how will early war destroyer's be handled since IIRC it wasn't until sometime in 1916 that a depth charge the British felt confident enough to use was in service? They had nothing to attack a sub with but there guns and they had no way of knowing where one was really as well.

There will be underwater weapons available in 1914:

-By July 1914, before the war, the British had designed the explosive Sweep, which was towed behind antisubmarine craft. Consequently, destroyers equipped with Sweeps may be encountered from the first day of the war.

-On December 7, 1914, Jellicoe ordered research into what would become Depth Charges. As early as January 1915 the Royal Navy ordered production of "ancestors" to the Depth Charge, known as "Bombs" and "Cruiser Mines". Major faults were shallow explosive depth (around 45 - 80 feet) and inability to vary sink rate or explosive settings. A photo of the bomb thrower is below - although the picture is from 1917, one source indicated that the bomb throwers in 1914-1915 were largely similar.

-There is always the chance your submerged submarine could be hit by a torpedo; even the old Torpedo-Boat style Destroyers from the 1890's had them. Keep in mind that Silent Hunter 4 has been modded to allow AI units to use torpedoes - unlike Silent Hunter 3. Also note that many battleships and cruisers will have them.

-For sonar I will create a sensor intended to represent early underwater microphones, as well as guesswork by the enemy ship's crew (basically I will take the stock WWII sonar and weaken it severely). Good crews will have a better sensor than poor/novice crews. This will be replaced as the war goes on by proper hydrophones; by 1917, ASW craft will be much deadlier to the player.



Bomb Thrower





Early ASW bombs and "Cruiser Mines" from 1914 - 1916. The round portions above water are not explosives, but floats attached to the charge. Note that Model "C" is an aircraft bomb, altered for naval use.

[Admiral Halsey]

Ok fair enough. However don't forget none of them really worked against subs though. There's a reason mines(no matter how bad they were early war if it went off....) and depth charges stayed around and the others faded away. Though one can argue the "cruiser mines" were the precursors to the hedgehog and squid weapons of WW2.