[Drebbel]

Since lot of people can not find the readme, or are too lazy to read it, I thought it might be a good idea to make life a little easier for them

- - - - -

Read below, or download at: http://www.fairyimage.co.uk/imagesPA/Readme.zip



PACIFIC ACES README DOCUMENT


1. Introduction:

Pacific Aces is a project put together by a group of enthusiasts of submarine and naval warfare simulators, as an unofficial add-on to Ultimation´s Silent Hunter 2® , and has been produced and supported by Subsim Review.

There are two versions of this mod, one for the free internet distribution and another one specifically designed for Subsim Review ( with extra features ), that you can get after making a small donation to help hosting costs.

Using independent, newly created graphic screens for the menuart and substations, new and reworked 3D models for submarines, warships and airplanes from SH2 and Destroyer Command® , this mod achieves a complete conversion of SH2 to the Pacific theater of operations, giving you control of US submarines against the Japanese forces.

The mod also provides a superb tool: A random campaign developer which creates careers based on previously player-chosen parameters, allowing the use of different submarines, home bases and patrol zones. And not only that, but in the missions themselves there is also a high randomness factor implemented, achieving a different experience each time they are played.

A) Pacific Aces lite version comes in a self installer package that contains:

-New Artwork for some of the menus
-New graphics for all substations in 800x600 mode
-New database for the american forces, including historic hull numbers for Gato and Balao submarines
-Reworked 3D models for P,Sargo and T class submarines, much richer in detail and with screws, rudder and animations implemented
- Totally new 3D models for Gato and Balao class submarines
-A set of new sounds for FX and english speech
-The Pacific Aces Campaign Generator ( PACG )
-New single missions

WARNING!: This package requires a legal copy of Destroyer Command to work!

B) Additionally, the subsim review official package contains:

-A full set of new Artwork for all the menus
-A set of japanese units and models
-1024x768 res mode
-Projekt Messerswetzer support

This one does NOT require a copy of Destroyer Command to work!

2. Installation:

Pacific Aces is based on SH2, so you need to install that game first. What you need to add depends on what package you have got:

A) Users of the common package:

-First make a clean install of SH2, and rename the folder to “Pacific Aces” or whatever name you prefer.
-Install the official 1.1 patch
-If you wish, you can now install Vicker´s mods ( PA does not provide this)
-Open your Destroyer Command folder, and search for the folder “Destroyer Command/Sim/Models”. You will see that it is filled with archives that have the “.jrf” extension. Copy ALL of them to your “Pacific Aces/Sim/Models” folder, overwriting all the existing ones.
-Install the Pacific Aces mod from the executable utility, pointing to your “Pacific Aces” folder.
You are done!

B) Users of Subsim´s official package:

First make a clean install of SH2, and rename the folder to “Pacific Aces” or whatever name you prefer.
-Install the official 1.1 patch
-If you wish, you can now install Vicker´s mods ( PA does not provide this)
-If you wish, you can now install Projekt Messerswetzer ( PA does not provide this)
-Install the Pacific Aces mod from the executable utility, pointing to your “Pacific Aces” folder.
You are done!

In both installations you can create a shortcut on your desktop to start the game, pointing to the file “SH2.exe” that is located in the “Pacific Aces/Sim” folder.

3. Playing:

Many things had to be changed from the original game to suit the specific US submarine characteristics, and sometimes doing a complete change has not been possible. We will try now to describe the major changes you will find.

A. The Menus:

Aside from the fact that they look different from SH2, there are also some other changes. Firstly, you will not find the “Create a mission” screen, because the random single mission generator does not work with our conversion. So we simply took it out.
Secondly, you will find the Campaign Generator (PACG) in the new Campaign Generator screen. This replaces the Museum screen. The Ship Viewer is included on this screen
B. The single missions:

The original german single missions have been substituted by a set of missions based on real events of the WW2. They are all more or less accurate conversions of Silent Hunter 1 missions, and represent individual engangements faced by US submarines against Japanese warships. There are also new training missions, intended to make the US subs familiar to you before you start doing war patrols with them. This are good oportunites to learn their specific characteristics without risking anything, so you better should use them.

C. The submarines:

Obviously, the most inmediate change you notice as soon as you start playing, is that you are no longer on the bridge of a german U-Boat. In this conversion, we have added models for the following american submarine classes: ( From older to newest ) P ( Or Perch-class ), T ( Or Tambor-Class ), Salmon/Sargo class, Gato and Balao classes. Each of those submarines has unique specifications and 3D model, and the differences are sometimes very important ( Max possible depth, number of torpedo tubes/load, AA guns, speed, manouverability....). You will –as you would expect- see that the Gato and Balao submarines are the best ones when it comes to performance, but you really shouldn´t forget that historically the highest scoring WW2 US submarine was the Tautog ( SS-208 ), a T-Class example..... which is good opportunity to remind you that the commander is the most important part of a sub -and that will be your role, so start sharpening your skills- before you start whining about the poor handling of your boat.

The T Class, Gato and Balao submarines also have a unique characteristic: They have six bow and 4 stern torpedo tubes, but here a little explanation needed. SH2 has a limitation in its interface when it comes to the number of torpedo tubes ( Max. 4 bow and 2 stern ), so we had to “overcome” this problem by creating “virtual” torpedo tubes. This means that, despite seeing only 4 tubes, you will in fact have two more shots from your bow tubes and two more from the stern ones, but you will not see the green/red lights for them. The needle will simply stay on tube 4 while you fire tubes 5 and 6, or in tube 6 when you fire tubes 9 and 10 ( Rear ). This is the closest we could achieve. Sorry. But better six fake tubes than only four real ones.

What may frustrate you a bit is the high value of duds you will get with your early war MK14 torpedoes ( Until mid 1943 ). This is realistic, so don´t blame us for that. If you get sick of this, play with “Dud torpedos” off in “Realism options”

D. The sub stations:

While the backgrounds and position of the gauges and knobs may be different to SH2, you will notice that more or less all items are there, except the depth bubble of the scope screen, as we weren’t aware of any US subs using it. The depth gauge is also marked in feet, and lacks the green/yellow/red markings, but you can still see them in the sliding pannel, as we decided to leave them there. But as a good skipper, you should really already know the limits of your boat.....

Other differences are in the radar room. While you will still see the familiar screen ( The vertical signal is encoded and we could not make it horizontal ), you are not looking at the former SH2 radar, but at a hybrid air-surface radar. Unfortunately again, SH2 has a limitation here, and it is not possible to represent two different radars, so we had to combine the air and surface detection abilities.

There is an important issue we also had to overcome in the Map screen: The International Date Line , which is set between Hawaii and Japan is a LIMIT in SH2´s map. That means that you can´t travel westwards from Pearl or Midway and reach Japan. You sail instead into an infinite ocean L

To solve this problem, we have 1) never chosen Pearl Harbor as a home base, and 2) Moved Midway to the left of the time line. So, you will find Midway ~150 miles westwards ( But on the same latitude ) of its real location, but it is a hardly noticeable difference in the map. However, be aware that you will have to ZOOM a lot on the right border of the map to be able to see Midway, as it is almost hidden, specially when using 1024 res!

In the ship viewer ( Also in the vessel identification sliding pannel ) the Italian forces have been replaced by the Japanese, so that you are still able to identify their ships and aircraft....in case you have enough time to do that.

The default scope in Pacific Aces uses a similar structure to the original SHII scope. However when you install Pacific aces you are given the option to overwrite this default scope with the Kollmorgan authentic US scope by Darkstream. Be warned that this scope uses large texture plates and will have trouble running on some systems.

To operate the Kollmorgan scope, raise it ( pageup key) and then click on the small red button (bottom right) in order to go to the zoomed view ( attack periscope). Here you can operate the scope with the arrow keys, and zoom from 1x to 4x and back with the “Z” key.

If you are in “Rig for Red” status it will be necessary to use the command “Secure from Red” before going to the zoomed view, or you will not be able to see anything clearly!

E. The sounds:

There is a new set of sounds with english speaking voices ( in american accents. Sources have been various, like Destroyer Command, Sub command and SH1, but the result is pretty satisfying. In order to hear them, remember to switch the option “Translate Crew” to “on” in the Realism Options Menu.
While other items ( Graphics, subs ) may be more evident and spectacular at first glance, wait till you hear what this guys have done in the sound area! They give a whole new feel to the sim!

D. The Career Mode:

The career mode is the heart & soul of this mod, and we are sure that it will give you hundreds of gameplay hours. Generating a campaign with the PACG will be covered later, so we will focus here on some details about the patrols.

First of all, you must realise that the patrol zones are randomly chosen ( And depend on your chosen home base ), but the missions themselves are also random. Random means here UNPREDICTABLE, and as such, you will –sadly- A) Get no radio messages from anybody ( Though you will get contact reports ) and B) Get “generic” briefings in the missions, that will really tell you nothing. Yeah, we know you would like an intro video of Admiral Nimitz telling you personally about your mission objectives, and later on have an almost radio-steered submarine, with tons of radio traffic, bla,bla,bla.......BUT this is not possible. Sorry. Take it or leave it. You will spend 10 seconds reading a briefing, but some many real-time hours playing a mission instead, so go figure what decision we took when it came to this!
However, we are confident that once you play one or two careers you will forget those previous issues, have tons of fun with the missions, and will soon discover that there is life beyond the radio traffic.

The most important detail you must remember when you are killed on a mission or abandon it, is that you must always tell the game NOT to reload saved games. This will allow the randomization commands to work, and also will keep you safe from the well known saving bugs that the game suffers ( No aggressive DDs and similars )

The missions are not difficult to understand. You simply have to reach the patrol zone, indicated by the title of the mission and a blue cross in the map, kill anything that moves by itself and return to your home base. Watch out for your fuel consumption! The Pacific is really big, so you may have problems on that one. It is recommended that you avoid full and flank speeds, and travel to your patrol zone at half or one third speed, or switch off one of the engines ( Click on one of the green lights in the Gauges station ). A good idea is to watch how much fuel you spend in the voyage travelling to your patrol zone, and ensure you begin the return voyage with the same amount remaining that you burnt before ( eg if you arrive at your patrol zone with 70% of fuel, you should return home when you only have 30% of your fuel remaining ).

Remember that the more time you spend in the patrol zone, the more chances you have of finding enemies. Travelling at the most economical speed while circling around in the patrol area is therefore highly recommendable.

You may find ships in any zone that is controlled by the Japanese forces, but it is not very usual to find them in the middle of the Ocean ( In the Central Pacific ), as in real life, because ships tend to follow routes that allow them to transport troops, fuel and hardware from Japan to the war zones. Therefore, the closer you are to the patrol zone, the more chances you will have of finding enemies. And please, don´t expect to find japanese merchants eastwards from Wake, or southwards from Brisbane, as they simply have nothing to do there –This is a US controlled area-.

You will also not find a ship every 5 minutes. In real life, US skippers rarely sunk more than three or four ships per patrol, but Pacific Aces will give you chances of finding more. However, we balanced the gameplay more towards the historically realistic side, so keep this firmly in mind.

While on patrol, you might really find anything....there are all kinds of merchants ( Tankers, Troop Transports, cargos....and even some Q ships ) sailing alone, destroyers and submarines patrolling, and also aircraft. And of course, convoys ( With and without carriers and air cover ) and Task Forces. While not as deadly as in SH2, the Japanese Bettys and Kates may make you sweat if they catch you by surprise. They also are not as accurate when bombing, but that does not mean that they will always miss you.....so keep an eye on the sky!

The merchants usually have guns, so be prepared for anything, because the japanese gunners are really good.

E. The US submarine as a fighting machine, and the Japanese destroyers as rivals:

Unlike what you were used to in the german U-Boats, the US subs will not allow you to dive to 260 meters. The maximal safe depth of most classes is –instead- a mere 100 meters, and below this you are really risking your neck. Fortunately, you will see that the Japanese destroyers are also not as good when it comes to locating and depthcharging you. They will be able to detect and follow you from a distance, but they will not be so precise when dropping. Usually, a good technique to evade them is to go at one third speed and full left or right rudder, diving in circles when they go towards you on a depth charge run. They will be confused, and you should be able to evade after the DD has passed, but not always.

From 1944 onwards, the Japanese were equipped with radar, so be careful when approaching on surface at night or in poor visibility. The best technique I have used so far is to approach at 90º to a convoy, dive to periscope speed, and launch all six forward torpedo tubes on a 3º spread from a maximum 3000 metres distance. Dont be stupid enough to think you can penetrate the screen easily and reak havoc inside a convoy! The japanese convoys are much smaller than the allied convoys, and they sail in different formations ( usually, on a single or double column ) that causes the DDs to be much closer to each other ( covering a common search area much more efficienctly ). This has also been recreated in this mod.

4. The PACG

The PACG is a top toy, and will ensure that you have the ability not only to get random careers, but also to configure them to your taste.

It will generate a career of minimal 4 and maximal 6 random missions. It will choose the patrol zones randomly, with random weather and random convoys ( There are about 30 different ones). Historically, no US submarine commander did more than 6 patrols, and 4 patrols was the Navy´s standard career. We have considered that it is much more fun to play many short careers rather than a large one, as the PACG allows you always to create new ones.

Using it is fairly easy. Once you launch the interface you will see a screen with some small windows. Only the first one is unlocked, and once you make your selection, the next unlocks, and so on.

At first, you are able to select the year. Each year determines ( With as much historical accurancy as possible ) the available home bases. The home bases also determine the patrol zones you will get, as –logically- you would not have enough fuel to patrol North Japan starting from Brisbane.

Secondly, you may choose the base, which also determines the available submarines.

Thirdly, you select the submarine type, where you will find the most usual of that period.

Now, you can hit the “Generate” button. It will freeze some seconds ( Depending on the power of your machine ) and the give you a message telling “Campaign Generated”. Click it to continue.

The generated Campaign will have:

-Random patrol zones
-Random convoy formations
-Random Weather
-Random duration

You can now go to the campaign menu screen of Pacific Aces, and start a new campaign (It will be the one generated by PACG ). It is recommendable that you write your name for it, because this one is later used by the game to display on the board of tonnage leaders. We don´t think that you would like to be displayed near Richard O´Kane, Mush Morton and other Pacific Aces as “My Campaign”, do you ?

It is also recommended to delete previous campaigns, by selecting them and hitting the “Del” key.

5. Credits

The Pacific Aces conversion is the result of the work of many people over 7 months! We really have no idea about how many hours have been put into this, but surely well in excess of a thousand. Here are the names of the people who have been involved in the different areas of the project, ( in random order ) with more or less intensity, but always with great enthusiasm:

Production/Forum Hosting: Subsim Review

Lead Design and Coordination: Hitman, Horsa , RAK ( Early phase )

Graphics ( Menuart/Substations/Ships and Subs Repaint... ): Horsa. Some groundwork from RAK in the gauges and substations. Contributions from Seeadler and Hitman. Exclusive and realistic Kollmorgan periscope with full screen zooomed view by Darkstream, with artwork integrated into the Pacific Aces style by Horsa.

3D Modelling: Seeadler ( Gato and Balao ) and Sergbuto ( P,Sargo and T Class )

Sounds: DJ Funk, Lafeeverted, Horsa, RAK.

PACG: Programming. Floater. Mission templates by Hitman

Installer: McBeck

Technical Advisors: CB, FAdmiral, Col7777, Adamwarren, Cdragon, Jester107th

Testers: ( Early phase ) Mapuc, Mobygrape
( Final version ) Beltza, Oarso, Trust, and other members of the spanish WPL 24th Flotilla.

6. Links

We encourage you to search around the web and get to know as much as possible about the US submarine war in the Pacific. Often ignored, this submarine campaign had a decisive part in the victory, as the fleet boats crippled the enemy’s commercial fleet, which had a significant effect on a maritime empire such as Japan.
The courage and honour shown by the crews in the US Navy is legendary, and many of them did not return, suffering a horrible death in the depths of the Pacific, in a tremendous sacrifice for their homeland.
There are also some US WW2 submarines converted nowadays in museums and memorials along the coasts of the United States. We also encourage you to visit them and help preserve their memory.

Some basic links to find out more about this are:

www.battlebelow.com
www.fleetsubmarines.com
www.pacificthunder.com ( The online campaign for SH1 )

Here is also a list of links to the websites of some of the team´s members:

Subsim Review: www.subsim.com
Horsa: www.amberphotography.co.uk/Sealords
Sergbuto: http://w1.182.telia.com/~u18216264/
Seeadler: http://modcenter.kaune-digital.de/sh2dc/
McBeck: www.silenthunter.dk
Floater: http://www.brookview.karoo.net/Kriegstanz/ 
FAdmiral: http://www.fadmiral.com
CB: www.ebort.com
Col7777: http://colinreece0.tripod.com/col/
Jester107th: http://home.comcast.net/~nowakjim/games/SH2DC/index.html
AdamWarren: http://warren.vwarrior.net

7. Feedback/Contact:

If you have any comments, suggestions, wishes or problems, you can reach us in the Silent Hunter 2 and Destroyer Command Forums at www.subsim.com and www.silenthunter.dk

8. Thanks/Dedication:

In the developement of this mod we had to looked at many different sources, either for the historical background or technical information. Special thanks must go here to battlebelow.com for the great info, and also the different museum submarines websites, especially USS Cod. Subsim´s editing guide and Ice_on_Houston´s awesome Koralle editor played a big role in the developement of missions.

We want to dedicate this mod to Neal Stevens, Subsim´s leader, for his efforts in giving us the best submarine simulations web and meeting point, Troy Heere, Dave Bringhurst, and the Ultimation dev team of SH2 and DC. for bringing these sims to the marketplace against all odds, to The Wolfpack League, as well as to the memory of all the sailors who fell serving in the silent service during the WW2.

Remember to help SubSim Review ( www.subsim.com the best submarine resource web,), and the project members webs with a donation. Hosting costs are huge, and any help is appreciated.

We hope that you have as much fun playing this mod as we had developing it.

The Pacific Aces Team

January 2004

[Drebbel]

-- please delete --

[AdamWarren]

[Drebbel]

-- please delete --

[Sixpack]

BUMP!

Ahhh, I get off on this !

[Imp]

Big thanks to our friend Drebbel....
I am printing your page to read it carefully.
But this don't give up what's the contents of the SUBSIM Super CD is ?? and what are all the ZIP files made for !!!!!
If you get this message Drebbel, please contact SUBSIM Review Staff in order to get as soon as possible information about it...
Thanks in advance )))))

[Drebbel]

-- please delete --

[AdamWarren]

[McBeck]

[Drebbel]

-- please delete --

[raymond6751]

Sir,
As ordered, I have read and understood the readme file.

It was like dawn, as the light came up, all was clear and wonderful.

Do you know it is tradition with software, that nobody reads the docs, manuals, nor readme files before getting into trouble?

A whole industry called tech support was developed on the concept.

Thanks for caring...

[Earlmarion]

Bravo Zulu. Even the experienced had to "begin" somewhere as beginners. Earlmarion #1002

[sergbuto]

PACIFIC ACES v1.1 README DOCUMENT


1. Introduction:

Pacific Aces is a project put together by a group of enthusiasts of submarine and naval warfare simulators, as an unofficial add-on to Ultimation´s Silent Hunter 2® , and has been produced and supported by Subsim Review.

There are two versions of this mod, one for the free internet distribution and another one specifically designed for Subsim Review ( with extra features ), that you can get after making a small donation to help hosting costs.

Using independent, newly created graphic screens for the menuart and substations, new and reworked 3D models for submarines, warships and airplanes from SH2 and Destroyer Command® , this mod achieves a complete conversion of SH2 to the Pacific theater of operations, giving you control of US submarines against the Japanese forces.

The mod also provides a superb tool: A random campaign developer which creates careers based on previously player-chosen parameters, allowing the use of different submarines, home bases and patrol zones. And not only that, but in the missions themselves there is also a high randomness factor implemented, achieving a different experience each time they are played.

A) Pacific Aces lite version comes in a self installer package that contains:

-New Artwork for some of the menus
-New graphics for all substations in 800x600 mode
-New database for the american forces, including historic hull numbers for Gato and Balao submarines
-Reworked 3D models for P,Sargo and T class submarines, much richer in detail and with screws, rudder and animations implemented
- Totally new 3D models for Gato and Balao class submarines
-A set of new sounds for FX and english speech
-The Pacific Aces Campaign Generator ( PACG )
-New single missions

WARNING!: This package requires a legal copy of Destroyer Command to work!

B) Additionally, the subsim review official package contains:

-A full set of new Artwork for all the menus
-A set of japanese units and models
-1024x768 res mode
-Projekt Messerswetzer support

This one does NOT require a copy of Destroyer Command to work!

2. Installation:

Pacific Aces is based on SH2, so you need to install that game first. What you need to add depends on what package you have got:

A) Users of the common package:

-First make a clean install of SH2, and rename the folder to “Pacific Aces” or whatever name you prefer.
-Install the official 1.1 patch
-If you wish, you can now install Vicker´s mods ( PA does not provide this)
-Open your Destroyer Command folder, and search for the folder “Destroyer Command/Sim/Models”. You will see that it is filled with archives that have the “.jrf” extension. Copy ALL of them to your “Pacific Aces/Sim/Models” folder, overwriting all the existing ones.
-Install the Pacific Aces mod from the executable utility, pointing to your “Pacific Aces” folder.
You are done!

B) Users of Subsim´s official package:

First make a clean install of SH2, and rename the folder to “Pacific Aces” or whatever name you prefer.
-Install the official 1.1 patch
-If you wish, you can now install Vicker´s mods ( PA does not provide this)
-If you wish, you can now install Projekt Messerswetzer ( PA does not provide this)
-Install the Pacific Aces mod from the executable utility, pointing to your “Pacific Aces” folder.
You are done!

In both installations you can create a shortcut on your desktop to start the game, pointing to the file “SH2.exe” that is located in the “Pacific Aces/Sim” folder.

3. Playing:

Many things had to be changed from the original game to suit the specific US submarine characteristics, and sometimes doing a complete change has not been possible. We will try now to describe the major changes you will find.

A. The Menus:

Aside from the fact that they look different from SH2, there are also some other changes. Firstly, you will not find the “Create a mission” screen, because the random single mission generator does not work with our conversion. So we simply took it out.
Secondly, you will find the Campaign Generator (PACG) in the new Campaign Generator screen. This replaces the Museum screen. The Ship Viewer is included on this screen
B. The single missions:

The original german single missions have been substituted by a set of missions based on real events of the WW2. They are all more or less accurate conversions of Silent Hunter 1 missions, and represent individual engangements faced by US submarines against Japanese warships. There are also new training missions, intended to make the US subs familiar to you before you start doing war patrols with them. This are good oportunites to learn their specific characteristics without risking anything, so you better should use them.

C. The submarines:

Obviously, the most inmediate change you notice as soon as you start playing, is that you are no longer on the bridge of a german U-Boat. In this conversion, we have added models for the following american submarine classes: ( From older to newest ) P ( Or Perch-class ), T ( Or Tambor-Class ), Salmon/Sargo class, Gato and Balao classes. Each of those submarines has unique specifications and 3D model, and the differences are sometimes very important ( Max possible depth, number of torpedo tubes/load, AA guns, speed, manouverability....). You will –as you would expect- see that the Gato and Balao submarines are the best ones when it comes to performance, but you really shouldn´t forget that historically the highest scoring WW2 US submarine was the Tautog ( SS-208 ), a T-Class example..... which is good opportunity to remind you that the commander is the most important part of a sub -and that will be your role, so start sharpening your skills- before you start whining about the poor handling of your boat.

The T Class, Gato and Balao submarines also have a unique characteristic: They have six bow and 4 stern torpedo tubes, but here a little explanation needed. SH2 has a limitation in its interface when it comes to the number of torpedo tubes ( Max. 4 bow and 2 stern ), so we had to “overcome” this problem by creating “virtual” torpedo tubes. This means that, despite seeing only 4 tubes, you will in fact have two more shots from your bow tubes and two more from the stern ones, but you will not see the green/red lights for them. The needle will simply stay on tube 4 while you fire tubes 5 and 6, or in tube 6 when you fire tubes 9 and 10 ( Rear ). This is the closest we could achieve. Sorry. But better six fake tubes than only four real ones.

What may frustrate you a bit is the high value of duds you will get with your early war MK14 torpedoes ( Until mid 1943 ). This is realistic, so don´t blame us for that. If you get sick of this, play with “Dud torpedos” off in “Realism options”

D. The sub stations:

While the backgrounds and position of the gauges and knobs may be different to SH2, you will notice that more or less all items are there, except the depth bubble of the scope screen, as we weren’t aware of any US subs using it. The depth gauge is also marked in feet, and lacks the green/yellow/red markings, but you can still see them in the sliding pannel, as we decided to leave them there. But as a good skipper, you should really already know the limits of your boat.....

Other differences are in the radar room. While you will still see the familiar screen ( The vertical signal is encoded and we could not make it horizontal ), you are not looking at the former SH2 radar, but at a hybrid air-surface radar. Unfortunately again, SH2 has a limitation here, and it is not possible to represent two different radars, so we had to combine the air and surface detection abilities.

There is an important issue we also had to overcome in the Map screen: The International Date Line , which is set between Hawaii and Japan is a LIMIT in SH2´s map. That means that you can´t travel westwards from Pearl or Midway and reach Japan. You sail instead into an infinite ocean 

To solve this problem, we have 1) never chosen Pearl Harbor as a home base, and 2) Moved Midway to the left of the time line. So, you will find Midway ~150 miles westwards ( But on the same latitude ) of its real location, but it is a hardly noticeable difference in the map. However, be aware that you will have to ZOOM a lot on the right border of the map to be able to see Midway, as it is almost hidden, specially when using 1024 res!

In the ship viewer ( Also in the vessel identification sliding pannel ) the Italian forces have been replaced by the Japanese, so that you are still able to identify their ships and aircraft....in case you have enough time to do that.

The default scope in Pacific Aces uses a similar structure to the original SHII scope. However when you install Pacific aces you are given the option to overwrite this default scope with the Kollmorgan authentic US scope by Darkstream. Be warned that this scope uses large texture plates and will have trouble running on some systems.

To operate the Kollmorgan scope, raise it ( pageup key) and then click on the small red button (bottom right) in order to go to the zoomed view ( attack periscope). Here you can operate the scope with the arrow keys, and zoom from 1x to 4x and back with the “Z” key.

If you are in “Rig for Red” status it will be necessary to use the command “Secure from Red” before going to the zoomed view, or you will not be able to see anything clearly!

E. The sounds:

There is a new set of sounds with english speaking voices ( in american accents. Sources have been various, like Destroyer Command, Sub command and SH1, but the result is pretty satisfying. In order to hear them, remember to switch the option “Translate Crew” to “on” in the Realism Options Menu.
While other items ( Graphics, subs ) may be more evident and spectacular at first glance, wait till you hear what this guys have done in the sound area! They give a whole new feel to the sim!

D. The Career Mode:

The career mode is the heart & soul of this mod, and we are sure that it will give you hundreds of gameplay hours. Generating a campaign with the PACG will be covered later, so we will focus here on some details about the patrols.

First of all, you must realise that the patrol zones are randomly chosen ( And depend on your chosen home base ), but the missions themselves are also random. Random means here UNPREDICTABLE, and as such, you will –sadly- A) Get no radio messages from anybody ( Though you will get contact reports ) and B) Get “generic” briefings in the missions, that will really tell you nothing. Yeah, we know you would like an intro video of Admiral Nimitz telling you personally about your mission objectives, and later on have an almost radio-steered submarine, with tons of radio traffic, bla,bla,bla.......BUT this is not possible. Sorry. Take it or leave it. You will spend 10 seconds reading a briefing, but some many real-time hours playing a mission instead, so go figure what decision we took when it came to this!
However, we are confident that once you play one or two careers you will forget those previous issues, have tons of fun with the missions, and will soon discover that there is life beyond the radio traffic.

The most important detail you must remember when you are killed on a mission or abandon it, is that you must always tell the game NOT to reload saved games. This will allow the randomization commands to work, and also will keep you safe from the well known saving bugs that the game suffers ( No aggressive DDs and similars )

The missions are not difficult to understand. You simply have to reach the patrol zone, indicated by the title of the mission and a blue cross in the map, kill anything that moves by itself and return to your home base. Watch out for your fuel consumption! The Pacific is really big, so you may have problems on that one. It is recommended that you avoid full and flank speeds, and travel to your patrol zone at half or one third speed, or switch off one of the engines ( Click on one of the green lights in the Gauges station ). A good idea is to watch how much fuel you spend in the voyage travelling to your patrol zone, and ensure you begin the return voyage with the same amount remaining that you burnt before ( eg if you arrive at your patrol zone with 70% of fuel, you should return home when you only have 30% of your fuel remaining ).

Remember that the more time you spend in the patrol zone, the more chances you have of finding enemies. Travelling at the most economical speed while circling around in the patrol area is therefore highly recommendable.

You may find ships in any zone that is controlled by the Japanese forces, but it is not very usual to find them in the middle of the Ocean ( In the Central Pacific ), as in real life, because ships tend to follow routes that allow them to transport troops, fuel and hardware from Japan to the war zones. Therefore, the closer you are to the patrol zone, the more chances you will have of finding enemies. And please, don´t expect to find japanese merchants eastwards from Wake, or southwards from Brisbane, as they simply have nothing to do there –This is a US controlled area-.

You will also not find a ship every 5 minutes. In real life, US skippers rarely sunk more than three or four ships per patrol, but Pacific Aces will give you chances of finding more. However, we balanced the gameplay more towards the historically realistic side, so keep this firmly in mind.

While on patrol, you might really find anything....there are all kinds of merchants ( Tankers, Troop Transports, cargos....and even some Q ships ) sailing alone, destroyers and submarines patrolling, and also aircraft. And of course, convoys ( With and without carriers and air cover ) and Task Forces. While not as deadly as in SH2, the Japanese Bettys and Kates may make you sweat if they catch you by surprise. They also are not as accurate when bombing, but that does not mean that they will always miss you.....so keep an eye on the sky!

The merchants usually have guns, so be prepared for anything, because the japanese gunners are really good.

E. The US submarine as a fighting machine, and the Japanese destroyers as rivals:

Unlike what you were used to in the german U-Boats, the US subs will not allow you to dive to 260 meters. The maximal safe depth of most classes is –instead- a mere 100 meters, and below this you are really risking your neck. Fortunately, you will see that the Japanese destroyers are also not as good when it comes to locating and depthcharging you. They will be able to detect and follow you from a distance, but they will not be so precise when dropping. Usually, a good technique to evade them is to go at one third speed and full left or right rudder, diving in circles when they go towards you on a depth charge run. They will be confused, and you should be able to evade after the DD has passed, but not always.

From 1944 onwards, the Japanese were equipped with radar, so be careful when approaching on surface at night or in poor visibility. The best technique I have used so far is to approach at 90º to a convoy, dive to periscope speed, and launch all six forward torpedo tubes on a 3º spread from a maximum 3000 metres distance. Dont be stupid enough to think you can penetrate the screen easily and reak havoc inside a convoy! The japanese convoys are much smaller than the allied convoys, and they sail in different formations ( usually, on a single or double column ) that causes the DDs to be much closer to each other ( covering a common search area much more efficienctly ). This has also been recreated in this mod.

4. The PACG

The PACG is a top toy, and will ensure that you have the ability not only to get random careers, but also to configure them to your taste.

It will generate a career of minimal 4 and maximal 6 random missions. It will choose the patrol zones randomly, with random weather and random convoys ( There are about 30 different ones). Historically, no US submarine commander did more than 6 patrols, and 4 patrols was the Navy´s standard career. We have considered that it is much more fun to play many short careers rather than a large one, as the PACG allows you always to create new ones.

Using it is fairly easy. Once you launch the interface you will see a screen with some small windows. Only the first one is unlocked, and once you make your selection, the next unlocks, and so on.

At first, you are able to select the year. Each year determines ( With as much historical accurancy as possible ) the available home bases. The home bases also determine the patrol zones you will get, as –logically- you would not have enough fuel to patrol North Japan starting from Brisbane.

Secondly, you may choose the base, which also determines the available submarines.

Thirdly, you select the submarine type, where you will find the most usual of that period.

Now, you can hit the “Generate” button. It will freeze some seconds ( Depending on the power of your machine ) and the give you a message telling “Campaign Generated”. Click it to continue.

The generated Campaign will have:

-Random patrol zones
-Random convoy formations
-Random Weather
-Random duration

You can now go to the campaign menu screen of Pacific Aces, and start a new campaign (It will be the one generated by PACG ). It is recommendable that you write your name for it, because this one is later used by the game to display on the board of tonnage leaders. We don´t think that you would like to be displayed near Richard O´Kane, Mush Morton and other Pacific Aces as “My Campaign”, do you ?

It is also recommended to delete previous campaigns, by selecting them and hitting the “Del” key.

5. Credits

The Pacific Aces conversion is the result of the work of many people over 7 months! We really have no idea about how many hours have been put into this, but surely well in excess of a thousand. Here are the names of the people who have been involved in the different areas of the project, ( in random order ) with more or less intensity, but always with great enthusiasm:

Production/Forum Hosting: Subsim Review

Lead Design and Coordination: Hitman, Horsa , RAK ( Early phase )

Graphics ( Menuart/Substations/Ships and Subs Repaint... ): Horsa. Some groundwork from RAK in the gauges and substations. Contributions from Seeadler and Hitman. Exclusive and realistic Kollmorgen periscope with full screen zooomed view
Following items by Darkstream, with artwork integrated into the Pacific Aces style by Horsa.
1. Exclusive and realistic Kollmorgen periscope with full screen zooomed view
2. Historically accurate Gauges Screen
3. Historically accurate Q sliding screen ( gauges)

3D Modelling: Seeadler ( Gato, Balao, Junks ) and Sergbuto ( P,Sargo and T Class )

Sounds: DJ Funk, Lafeeverted, Horsa, RAK. Additional material by Reece.

PACG: Programming. Floater. Mission templates by Hitman

Installer: McBeck

Technical Advisors: CB, FAdmiral, Col7777, Adamwarren, Cdragon, Jester107th

Testers: ( Early phase ) Mapuc, Mobygrape
( Final version ) Beltza, Oarso, Trust, and other members of the spanish WPL 24th Flotilla.

1024 patch by SubSim Review ( Covet )

Medals Award fix by Palindromeria.

Radar and Sonar fixes by Sergbuto,Hitman and DJ Funk
New high LOD models by Sergbuto
Additional changes to MG and deck guns (Gato, Balao) by Sergbuto

Unit and system files revision by Sergbuto and Hitman
Fixing bugs for the Torpedo Room station by Sergbuto

6. Links

We encourage you to search around the web and get to know as much as possible about the US submarine war in the Pacific. Often ignored, this submarine campaign had a decisive part in the victory, as the fleet boats crippled the enemy’s commercial fleet, which had a significant effect on a maritime empire such as Japan.
The courage and honour shown by the crews in the US Navy is legendary, and many of them did not return, suffering a horrible death in the depths of the Pacific, in a tremendous sacrifice for their homeland.
There are also some US WW2 submarines converted nowadays in museums and memorials along the coasts of the United States. We also encourage you to visit them and help preserve their memory.

Some basic links to find out more about this are:

www.battlebelow.com
www.fleetsubmarines.com
www.pacificthunder.com ( The online campaign for SH1 )

Here is also a list of links to the websites of some of the team´s members:

Subsim Review: www.subsim.com
Horsa: www.amberphotography.co.uk/Sealords
Sergbuto: http://w1.182.telia.com/~u18216264/
Seeadler: http://shdcmods.iconrate.net/
McBeck: www.silenthunter.dk
Floater: http://www.brookview.karoo.net/Kriegstanz/
FAdmiral: http://www.fadmiral.com
CB: www.ebort.com
Col7777: http://colinreece0.tripod.com/col/
Jester107th: http://home.comcast.net/~nowakjim/games/SH2DC/index.html
AdamWarren: http://warren.vwarrior.net

7. Feedback/Contact:

If you have any comments, suggestions, wishes or problems, you can reach us in the Silent Hunter 2 and Destroyer Command Forums at www.subsim.com and www.silenthunter.dk

8. Thanks/Dedication:

In the developement of this mod we had to looked at many different sources, either for the historical background or technical information. Special thanks must go here to battlebelow.com for the great info, and also the different museum submarines websites, especially USS Cod. Subsim´s editing guide and Ice_on_Houston´s awesome Koralle editor played a big role in the developement of missions.

We want to dedicate this mod to Neal Stevens, Subsim´s leader, for his efforts in giving us the best submarine simulations web and meeting point, Troy Heere, Dave Bringhurst, and the Ultimation dev team of SH2 and DC. for bringing these sims to the marketplace against all odds, to The Wolfpack League, as well as to the memory of all the sailors who fell serving in the silent service during the WW2.

Remember to help SubSim Review ( www.subsim.com the best submarine resource web,), and the project members webs with a donation. Hosting costs are huge, and any help is appreciated.

We hope that you have as much fun playing this mod as we had developing it.

The Pacific Aces Team
June 2004

[Seeadler]

Patch1.1
17/6/04


Changes implemented in the patch 1.1. To April 30th 2004
This patch corrects minor bugs discovered since release, alters some features in line with play experience reported, and adds a few goodies. It has been decided to release this patch as soon as possible because it significantly affects the gameplay. A full service pack will be released later.


TORPEDO RELOAD, SPEED SETUP, UNLOAD BUGS:
-Included the fix for the torpedo reload bug on Sargo class sub. This fix was earlier issued as the separate "Torpedo room" patch.
-Corrected Mk-14 torpedo speed setup.
-Corrected the bug in the graphical interface of the torpedo room when the "Unload" command/button is used.


GATO/BALAO:
-Modified text descriptions for these two subs now correctly showing the caliber of deck guns.


RADAR:
-Improved radar performance both for surface and air-targets. The radar signal range will go up to 22500 yards. The detection ranges are realistic and in some cases limited by spawning distances of enemy units or by internal SH2 restrictions.
-Added new radar screen interface for 1024 and 800.


SONAR:
-Reduced Japanese sonar range to more accurate values ( Max 2200 metres active and 6000 passive ), and hampered them trough the ini file ( Sensitivity reduced to 0.8 -You can further tweak to your taste, as the range is between 0.1 and 1.0 ). Now attacks on surface by night and evasive action should be easier. Depth Charges remain untouched, as a compensation. The effect is that you will not be located so easily, but a lucky hit may cause you lots of trouble.
-Added new sonar interface screen for 1024 and 800


WEATHER:
-Reduced Fog on all weather Templates. Values are now 1-3, and only exceptionally 5 for very, very heavy Fog

MISSIONS:
-Revised probability of all ships. They are more easy to find in historically crowded zones and more difficult in historically lone places. In general, lowered a tiny bit the chances of finding enemy ships ( This does not affect the convoys and Task Forces )
-Lone DDs patrolling are now rare except in very important zones ( F.e. Japanese coast )
-Revised range for aircraft. You will now find bombers at maximal 350 miles from ground
-Revised shipping lanes in the Yellow Sea to avoid ships running aground
-Modified some templates to make the "Japanese Vessel" group either be a sub or a Q-Ship. Beware, as this last ones are real sub-traps!

AI:
-Added support for Cdragon´s fighter AI. Carrier Zeros will now strafe you with their guns if they see you.
-Japanese Subs are now more aggressive and will fire torpedos at you
-DDs will patrol now at slow speed, not at full. They may therefore locate you easier with the sonar, so beware!


OTHER:
-Reversed sides. Now the US forces have blue icons and the axis red ones.There is also a version of the no-icons-map by CB included in this patch, addapted for the Pacific Aces mod. In the folder sim/DSF, look for the file "MapIcons_Hardcore.DSF" and rename it to "MapIcons.DSF" ( Backup the original MapIcons.DSF first ).
-Adjusted the database to make US subs appear together with all US forces in the viewer. This should also help making any existing version of Kriegstanz compatible with PA. ( beware though, that germans and americans are swaped in PAces, so KT will think that each nation is exactly the opposite ).
-Optional HighLOD models
-Optional weather conditions
_________________
Cursors have been recoloured green .


Changes since April 30th

It was decided to include all the SP1 items into this patch.
There was insufficient time to add the details of these additions.

Briefly :-

1. New high LOD units ( Merchants, BB, Carriers, Cruisers, DD, Jap aircraft) (Sergbuto)
2. New Gauges screen ( Darkstream)
3. New Q Sliding menu ( Darkstream)
4. New Gato and Balao to include 40 mm AA guns. (Sergbuto)
5. Various torpedoes for US subs, including steam, electric and aucoustic types.(Sergbuto)
6. Civilian ships (junks) added
7. Graphical changes for the slide-in menu

[aanker]