[redbrow]

Vmod.zip contains Victory Mod (Victory for the Germans)

Finished. a lot of last minute clean up. my English major friend had to wade hip deep through my texts before i - I mean "I" -cleaned them up. More little mistakes would emerge as I created new ones. Did you know that the SH3 editor loves to blow off information with LND files? i made one save for a shore gun and suddenly everything in that file WENT BLANK!!!! empty file - zero data.

But 'I' finally got everything cleaned up and then ran test after test on it. Of course SH3 couldn't go down that easily - so my first test of my U-boat base in the Azores opened up with me at 0-0 near Africa (you know....) and so i had to go over all my LND and flotilla data - and found that nothing was wrong. So I retried my base a second time and it worked. I tried it 6 times, once even rebooting and another time I even reloaded the SH3 with a new copy and then my data, and it worked. SH3 is wacky.

I sent a copy to http://mpgtext.net/u-boot/ and I suppose they will review it. And I posted a copy to Rapid Share – in the Free section.

(cancelled)***http://rapidshare.de/files/17615366/vmod.zip.html***

New posting Rapid Share Free area
http://rapidshare.de/files/17624460/vmod.zip.html

NOTE: i had included files that had not been updated when i assembled the whole. the new posting takes care of this.



To load this thing you need a fresh install of SH3 without commander or modloader. Then go into your Roster files and by hand make bak_folders in the Sea folders for Australian, Canadian, FreeFrench and British . Then move the DERiver.CFG files into all 4 of those backup folders, and do the same with DDHuntIII.CFG file in the British Sea folder. Basicly make sure the Allies don't have these two DDs.

After this you can copy or move my Victory Mod folder into your SilentHunterIII folder and use the modloader to load it in. Or just drop my data folder in over the game data folder. You all know that drill. If you think you’ll miss those two DDs to much you can leave them in there but they will turn up with the Allies carrying Japanese names. Not a big deal – just an eyesore is all.

I tried to keep all my modding down to stock-data as much as possible. I really only planned to make new SCR, LND, and RND files. I hoped to make something that others would build upon and add to. Other people do a better job than I in making minefields, subnets and the maps to go with them. My maps are really awful. I didn’t invent any skins (except one for the SS that I suggest people avoid, because its Kra_p). There was no reason in my mind to re-invent the wheel – many great skins are out there. So if the SCR, LND, and RND files work out I am happy. My changes begin around May 1940. You’ll at least see something suggesting Dunkirk. I found the little fleets of small boats to be great deck-gun practice. But the Stukas take out most of them.

Parts of this new timeline really tore at me, as I know people who were in England or had parents there at the time. Obviously the final ending of Gotterdammerung for the USA was disturbing since my mother would have been near the target zones. I suggest if you download this mod you go into the V_MOD DOCS and read the new_history.htm to see whether or not you want to play something like this.

Good Hunting

P.S. NOOoooooow i can retire to Oblivion (the game that is).

[redbrow]

The new location of vmod is here:

http://rapidshare.de/files/17624460/vmod.zip.html

NOTE: i had included files that had not been updated when i assembled the whole. the new posting takes care of this.

[VonHelsching]

Thanks Redbrow. Will review!

[VonHelsching]

Hi Redbrow,

Read the documentation. The .html file with the photos of the alternative timeline is excellent! Next weekend I think I am going to make a third installation with your mod and test it. One of the thing I liked the most is the conversion of the u-boat fleet from merchant hunting to warship hunting, and the renown shift.

It would be really nice if you could post some photos of the map with
the advanced u-boat base in the Azores, and some details about warship hunting in the Atlantic, what have you scripted in the .SCR and .RND file etc.

Thanks,

VH

[redbrow]

At first I was going to supply an Atlantic map. But the problem is I found that if a person doesn’t use manual targeting its possible to sink a gawd-awful lot of BBs. Then the realism breaks down cause the Brits only have a fixed amount of BBs with a few more supplied to them from the Americans shipyards, (a likely impossible scenario that I had to live with). So if someone sinks 12 Brit BBs before 1944 the whole story-line breaks down when the Brits are supposed to stage a come back. In standard SH3 this was never a problem because actually seeing a BB was a rare event. Basically I intended the u-boats to feed on a steady diet of DDs, supplemented with cruisers and an occasional BB or even more rarely on a juicy carrier. But of course there will be those Aces who knock out the equivalent of the whole Brit fleet twice over, making the history-line a complete idiocy. With a Merchant war you never had to worry about this cause America could pop out new Merchants rapidly and crew them by just making sweeps along waterfronts. But a BB requires lots of money, and major amounts of time to train crews for them.

What I did do was use the Bdu radio reports to signal the u-boat where random attacks would likely be and to alert where Brit patrol lines might be found. Of course the trouble with radio is that if your career is placing you in port at just the wrong time you could begin your patrol after such messages are given. What I suggest is that you take the radio file and dump it into something like Microsoft Word and print that out. The Brit patrol lines can often be found just out beyond the German DD patrol lines (“just out beyond” can mean 50 kilometers to 200 kilometers). An in game map-tag does appear around Canada showing a ‘Scapa Flow-like’ anchorage where warships can be found at anchor (This only appears after the Brits pull back to Canada for several months). Of course its dangerous. Every now and then the Radio alerts you when a German task force is forming to attack the Brit lines. The force usually runs past several areas where u-boats can join in, and the average speed of the force is slow enough that subs can keep up and pull out ahead to scout around.

The Free-Brit Pirates make raids into German areas, but they are moving fast and constantly altering their courses, so it takes some planning and luck to get ahead of them. Allied ships can always be found around their own shores, as well as merchant traffic. For example, while Iceland is in Allied hands merchant traffic will run between that place and Canada. All the old traffic patterns are about the same around American shores. Since your bases are moved to Iceland, the Azores, and Cape Verde Islands the distance to America is no longer vast as it was in SH3. As you head to America you will often cut across Allied patrol lines (though their lines are not continuous since they are using a fleet system).

This was one of the reasons I dropped the grid-point system around 1942, I found that the grids kept sending me away from where the action was – since they are somewhat randomized. I also found that when I tried to force the grid to take boats to certain areas that the grid would either LOCK UP – for example, it would pick say DE 55 and just keep picking that zone over and over (not sure why) or totally fail and give a zero reading.

I didn’t add a map to the Indian ocean because there are only a few nodes where Allied traffic can originate and terminate. Australian and India to Egypt or South Africa. I killed the SH3 u-boat bases in the Far East because I didn’t want u-boats refueling and heading to Japan. I didn’t want to populate the China Sea and West Pacific. As it is, a captain could sail slowly and make it to Japan – after traveling through the surrealistic seas of a dead world.

One reason I added the general history was to give clues as to where the action might be found. What SH3 lacks is a way to give good pre-mission orders in career mode. All you get are those silly patrol grid zones. So then you are left with the radio. But unless you just fill it with info repeating itself daily over and over the chances are a captain will miss the reports while he is in port. But in real life a captain in port would have MORE info about the war situation than one at sea!

NOTE: there is one fake battle in the game. That’s where the Allies wipe out a German fleet. Of course if I had made the battle real there would be a chance you’d show up and turn the tide. And of course there was no way to put Allied subs in the game. Since SH3 does not allow for situational history, I had to keep the battle ephemeral. One of those, “oh shucks, wish I could have been there…” events.

speaking of Microsoft Word, I find it solves my nasty habit of using "i" for I.

[VonHelsching]

No, I was thinking just of some maps of the Atlantic and their bases. Maybe, the UK with blue bases all over?

The hot action can always be re-generated with my trusty SH3Gen application

[redbrow]

Ok sure I can do that. i am trying to clean up mistakes in the Mod anyway to repost the Mod. For example, I mentioned that the Cape Verse Islands belonged to Spain. dumb things like that. A few radio messages had dates slightly off per the last rev. I am still trying to figure out how i allowed the 11th flotilla to come on line in 41 without data for the year 41. Turns out the original SH3 did the same thing:

Flotilla4=906
TO4=943
NbStartingDate4=2
NbDate4=4
Emblem4=data/Emblems/SubEmblems/Flotillas/11th flotilla.tga
NbBases4=1
Base4_0=755;Bergen
Date4_0_0=1941 (note the date)
Month4_0_0=1
Date4_0_1=1945
Month4_0_1=5
DeparturePointLong4_0=637572.000000
DeparturePointLat4_0=7249168.000000
Heading4_0=270.000000
NbUboats4=2
Uboat4_0=1
Uboat4_1=3

Date40=1942 (this is the first year data)

well the above was not a problem for SH3 or me cause neither planned on it coming on line till 42, or so my own records show.


So I hope to have most of this cleaned up shortly. When I do I'll include the base maps.

[VonHelsching]

[redbrow]

sorry vonHelsching, here's the map

its in an updata of the vmod.

http://rapidshare.de/files/17828725/vmodb.zip.html

I had to make a few tweeks on dates in the text and flotilla menu.

[The Noob]

Puh.......................Maybe it is Possible to Modify the German text two?
Because i Play in German!

[redbrow]

afraid not. there's a limit how far i can go. improved convoy wasn't in german, but IuB was. basicly i am finished as i have a new assignment (finally!) and will not have time to mess around with this stuff. and when i do get time my attention will be fully taken up with several new games. i loved SH3, but its time to move on.

be seeing yah

:sunny:

V4d-City Busters launched from Azores May, 1945
http://i62.photobucket.com/albums/h97/Redbrow/V4dcitybusters.jpg

[The Noob]

Redbrow, a Final Question, Can i Translate the Text And Make A Download for it?Do i Have Premission?

BTW that Mod Rocks!

What a Shame That Haunebu is Not a included Aircraft in SH3!



(Just Kidding! )

[redbrow]

The Noob, of course - in fact in my readme or some place i said people should more or less bend and twist this baby to fit their needs. all i wanted to do was to create a new chapter in SH3 and i hope others do the same. this way i may never really get tired of SH3.

right now i am trying to figure out why my radio and sonar men keep falling into a coma every time i try to make them work a few hours. when i first made my fatigue model everything worked great, but when i reloaded it my sonar and radio guys were like they had a hidden bottle somewhere. I loaded vitamins and the trouble continued. I even made their FATIGUE_COEFs the same as bunks by adding in the " - " sign! Nothing changed. Its crazy when men above on the watch are doing great in a storm while my two tech guys are dying in their padded seats - i suppose form all that radio music..... :hmm: since i have to leave Friday i doubt i'll get this solved. perhaps i need to reload the game....

[VonHelsching]

[The Noob]