ijn generic destroyer version 2

[liquidchicken]

G'day all..

Finally got around to uploading version 2 of my generic destroyers!..all required files are included,but as always if there are any questions or issues please post or pm me..

Now,back to the Yamato!....

cheers!,Jason..

[sixstrings5859]

Nice work . Thanks.

[Daiwilletti]

Brilliant! Thank you. I am languishing at home following a bone marrow biopsy, so this is the perfect tonic

[Led Zeppelin]

Downloading now, many thanks!

[Daiwilletti]

Hi Jason, I have added effects for destroyers, and Mogami, Suzuya to the effects xml. But in your v2 destroyer you have some damage effects like fx_d_fire_lrg, fx_d_fire_med which I can't seem to find in the PTO effects xml?

[Daiwilletti]

Hi Jason, I have added effects for destroyers, and Mogami, Suzuya to the effects xml. But in your v2 destroyer you have some damage effects like fx_d_fire_lrg, fx_d_fire_med which I can't seem to find in the PTO effects xml?

OK, found them in the ETO effects xml, for some reason I had them there. Now looking for the ijn 25mm muzzleflash......

[liquidchicken]

G'day all..

My bad,I currently haven't got a working pto solomons install after the hard drive crash..I basically re-used the pto mission for the version 1 destroyer and re-named to suit..will look into the ijn 25mm muzzleflash issue tonight and post back asap (I thought I had included them in the add to effects note with the cruiser pack when they were released..)..I may have to amend the xdp's and make them available..

Cheers!,Jason..

[liquidchicken]

G'day all..

Have had a look into the muzzleflash problem and found it shouldn't be a major issue,with this version of the destroyers I have reverted back to standard cfs3 muzzleflash effects on the weapons to cut down on compatibility problems with the various different iterations of cfs3..IIRC,the ijn 25mm muzzleflash effect was something I was working on but set aside for the time being..I did download my own package just to be on the safe side for a quick look..Dave,could you tell me where you found that entry?..
Just O/T,Dave,hope all is well at your end and things pan out ok for you mate..
Will keep looking through my upload packs to find where this effect went to

cheers!,Jason..

[liquidchicken]

Ok..

Just found the issue in my version 1 destroyer's xdp's (oops..),just noticed as I scooted through the add to effects file that it wasn't included in there..so,we're left with three options,1:I can create revised xdp's for the version 1 ship..2:create the effect and post that as a attached file or 3:the end user can revise the wonky xdp's to the standard cfs3 effect "muzzleblast_s"..apologies all round,I thought I'd covered all bases when I uploaded the first ship,but apparently not..well spotted Dave..

cheers!,Jason..

[Daiwilletti]

Just been doing some damage testing. Sorry Jason, I should have been more specific. The missing 127mmAAF gun was on the Mogami.

I modded your short mission so I have a battle group of the generic destroyers, and the Mogami and the Suzuya. Hence some of my comments about effects relate to the cruisers, not just the destroyers. And I'm testing in PTO, so some missing effects may actually be present in the ETO effects.xml, but why then would you put these lovely Japanese ships in the ETO?

The Destroyer v2 refers to fx_gunblast_s - this muzzle effect does not exist, I had swapped over to the generic fx_muzlflsh_s. I tried the fx_muzlflsh_l for fun, but it has a horrible yellow colour and the shape is just a big blob.

I find the yellow tracers specified for the weapons rounds for the Japanese 25mm calibers a bit hard to see (I am a sucker for the big blobs of colour used in ETO AA rounds). So I've gone for a compromise and just upped the yellow smoke tracer effects to 40 from the 30 series (eg. fx_tracer_yellow_smoke40)- I think the only difference is in the length of the tracer. The tracer is still subtle on a bright PTO day.

sub_torp_gun is the gun I've settled on for the torpedo tubes - I think through your destroyers and cruisers you have used several different gun types.

On the Suzuya, the damage effect fx_oiltanker should read fx_oil_tanker.

In terms of the damage boxes, I am not sure if they are set up properly on the cruisers - as they stand, a single rocket salvo from the beaufighter can sink the Suzuya, for example (um, this may not be right it may have happened after I modified the damage boxes). I've tried a simplified set of damage boxes for the Mogami,

<DamageBoxes>
<Box ID="damagebox_nose" Parent="damagebox_nose">
<BoxMap SystemID="engine_one" Probability="60" Points="300000"/>
<BoxMap SystemID="bridge" Probability="10" Points="3100"/>
<BoxMap SystemID="midship_deck" Probability="10" Points="3100"/>
<BoxMap SystemID="aa_gun_a" Probability="2" Points="285"/>
<BoxMap SystemID="aa_gun_b" Probability="2" Points="285"/>
<BoxMap SystemID="aa_gun_c" Probability="2" Points="290"/>
<BoxMap SystemID="aa_gun_d" Probability="2" Points="290"/>
<BoxMap SystemID="8in_gun_a" Probability="4" Points="575"/>
<BoxMap SystemID="8in_gun_b" Probability="4" Points="575"/>
<BoxMap SystemID="8in_gun_c" Probability="4" Points="600"/>
</Box>
</DamageBoxes>.

This does not lock up but am not sure if it achieves the disabling of guns once they meet their damage thresholds.

You have taken the trouble to create 3 different 25mm AA guns - what does this do? (No criticism here at all - I'm just interested )

[Daiwilletti]

Some damage testing for the Mogami:



The above shows what fx_muzlflsh_s looks like on the Mogami's stern. Interestingly from some angle the muzzleflash does not line up with the tip of the barrel - not sure why.




The Mogami cops some rocket salvos. Note the thick flak!!

All in all It is terrific fun playing in the sandpit with all of your lovely Japanese warships

[Daiwilletti]

This is so much fun...



The muzzle flashes come through the smoke eerily after the rocket salvos.





AARGH!! Dead again!








See how the muzzle flashes from some angles don't seem to line up with the barrel tips? Not sure is this is just a cfs3/Gmax quirk.

[Daiwilletti]

These screenies were taken before making changes to muzzleflash and tracers.

[gosd]

Where is the ijn 25mm muzzleflash called for ? Cant seem to find it in either the IJN_generic_Destroyer or IJN_generic_Destroyerv2 .xdp .
In both cases why is there a night.xdp?
@ Daiwilletti what are the changes you suggest should be done to improve these great ships from liquidchicken ?

[Daiwilletti]

Where is the ijn 25mm muzzleflash called for ? Cant seem to find it in either the IJN_generic_Destroyer or IJN_generic_Destroyerv2 .xdp . In both cases why is there a night.xdp? @ Daiwilletti what are the changes you suggest should be done to improve these great ships from liquidchicken ?

Hi gosd, my suggestions are in post #10 above. fx_muzlflsh_s as the muzzleflash in the gunstations section of each ship xdp, replacing the gunblast_s entry which is not stock in PTO. Just minor twiddles really. I upped the panning ratelimit for some lighter AA guns like the 13.7mm ones.

I assume Jason will make some calls on homologating things on the cruisers/destroyers.

[liquidchicken]

g'day all..

finally!,I'm getting to see what these look like in everyone else's installs..I will try my best to answer some of the queries..
looking at the version 1 destroyer's xdp the muzzle flash effect called for was ijn_25mm_gunblast,imagine my surprise when I couldn't find it in my own install..prior to my computer spitting the dummy with me,I had a fully working solomons install,but primarily my testing had been in a fairly standard cfs3 where I pretty much had everything (an absolute hodgepodge..) thrown in,worked ok for me,but was never too sure if it would translate to a model that worked for everyone else..the cruisers getting sunk by a quick rocket volley from a beau seems odd (damn things used to take a hell of a battering for me,and usually blew my bum out of the sky before I got a chance to do much to them..),I found that during the testing of the version 2 destroyer that the mission goal damage had a fairly marked effect on whether the ship was sunk easily or not and had to play with that to get it to "feel" right..
the muzzle flashes not lining up with the barrel tips seems to be a cfs3 or a screenshot glitch (are you using mgrab dave?,I found it played up on occasion for me,and caused me to chase my tail frequently in regards to pivot locations in the gmax file..)..
the included night xdp's were included mainly for mission builders (like sir Hobbit..) building night based missions,who are much more skilled than me in these things,but included in the gmax file are a working set of stern lights and searchlight for this purpose..
From memory I had two types of 25mm aa guns/weapons to reflect the different tracer rounds used by the ijn (albeit I believe that they used green/blue and red depending on the shell type..),out of all honesty I thought they looked strange in testing and settled on red/yellow,one for a flak shell,one for a normal tracer round (my poor computer couldn't keep up with all that flak and just ground to a halt..),so realistically I think the small tracer etc was more about the frame rate issues at my end more than anything..will have a look into the various issues that have been brought up and post back soon..please keep the feedback flowing!..loving the screenshots regardless!..

cheers!,jason..

[Daiwilletti]

g'day all..

..the cruisers getting sunk by a quick rocket volley from a beau seems odd (damn things used to take a hell of a battering for me,and usually blew my bum out of the sky before I got a chance to do much to them..),
the muzzle flashes not lining up with the barrel tips seems to be a cfs3 or a screenshot glitch (are you using mgrab dave?,I found it played up on occasion for me,and caused me to chase my tail frequently in regards to pivot locations in the gmax file..)..
From memory I had two types of 25mm aa guns/weapons to reflect the different tracer rounds used by the ijn (albeit I believe that they used green/blue and red depending on the shell type..),out of all honesty I thought they looked strange in testing and settled on red/yellow,one for a flak shell,one for a normal tracer round (my poor computer couldn't keep up with all that flak and just ground to a halt..),so realistically I think the small tracer etc was more about the frame rate issues at my end more than anything..will have a look into the various issues that have been brought up and post back soon..please keep the feedback flowing!..loving the screenshots regardless!..

cheers!,jason..

hi Jason, I am enjoying the challenge of getting close to these nasssty ships. I think I had tweaked the damage boxes so don't worry the rocket salvo should not sink the cruisers as you supplied them.

For all the 25mm AA guns (three sorts included with cruisers and destroyers, I converted all the weapons xdp files to type = Flak_gun, changed the one which was type=shell, now there are so many flak bursts you could walk on them .... or maybe not. Luckily my vid card can cope so I decided to go "full noise" and even increased some panning rate limits for guns, to add to the degree of difficulty. The only thing I haven't seen in my screenies for some reason is all the tracer - a hell of a lot gets thrown up although I have decreased the percentage of tracer IIRC.

My tracer settings for the 25mm AA guns is tracer="30" IIRC, this would be one of the main frame rate killers if the percentage was set higher.

[gosd]

Trying to get this straight, in my effects.xml file I have both fx_gunblast_s and fx_muzlflsh_s.
So you are advising to replace fx_ijn_25mm_gunblast in IJN_generic_destroyerv2.xdp by fx_muzlflsh_s ?
And to replace in fx_gunblast_s in IJN_generic_destroyer also by fx_muzlflsh_s ?

[Daiwilletti]

Trying to get this straight, in my effects.xml file I have both fx_gunblast_s and fx_muzlflsh_s.
So you are advising to replace fx_ijn_25mm_gunblast in IJN_generic_destroyerv2.xdp by fx_muzlflsh_s ?
And to replace in fx_gunblast_s in IJN_generic_destroyer also by fx_muzlflsh_s ?

Hi gosd, I did not have fx_gunblast_s in my PTO effects.xml. So I have not tried it - why not test both muzzleflash options (gunblast and muzlflsh) and let us know which one you prefer?

Oh, and for screenies, I just use the CFS3 keystrokes.

[liquidchicken]

G'day all..

long story short gosd,yes mate..or whichever effect works best for the individual..oh boy!,after my reply last night I went back and had a good look at the cruiser pack and both the destroyers and found that I had the two different muzzle flash effects mentioned spread between all three cruisers,not just all three separate packs!..
what I have done is create a list on paper of what is where (regarding the muzzle/gunblast effects..) and will sit down between now and this coming weekend and amend the xdp's for the lot of them and hopefully upload them as a revision pack with the aim to get some uniformity across the board..wow,didn't realise it was that wonky!..any suggestions/fixes regarding any sections of the xdp's will likely be implemented at the same time so feel free to continue letting me know what's working for you guys and hopefully I'll sort these out once and for all..

cheers!,jason..

[gosd]

Hi Jason, how is the sorting-out coming along ^

[Daiwilletti]

Hi gosd,

How are you muzzleflashes going? If you look at the muzzleflashes in post #11 above, they are the stock fx_muzlflsh_s, used at the end of each gunstation where the type= one of the 25mm AA guns.

So at the end of the gunstation line in the destroyer's .xdp file, I put Muzzleflash="fx_muzlflsh_s", right after the ammo setting. However, as your effects xml also has fx_gunblast_s, you could try that on the v1 destroyer, and fx_muzlflsh_s on the v2 destroyer, and see which one is better. It is easy to modify the mission which Liquidchicken provides, by adding a destroyer as an additional unit. I have taken his mission, and created a small battlegroup, adding Suzuya, Mogami, and both types of generic destroyers, so as to test things.

Lots of flak! . In one of the weapon xdps for one of the 25mm AA, the type="shell". To get flak bursts from that AA gun, the change in the weapon's xdp file reads Type="flak_gun". Liquidchicken made it a shell, so as to ease some of the burden on the video card. But if you system is up to it, making the weapon a flak shell certainly makes things intense when you approach the Imperial Japanese Navy...

[liquidchicken]

g'day all..

still working on the xdp's at the moment but day to day stuff has slowed me a bit..I have managed to get through the cruisers from the mogami pack. I've currently changed all muzzle flash effects in these to fx_gunblast_s as from memory it was a stock cfs3 effect,so should be included in the majority of our installs (I think..)..I have also begun modifying the weapons/guns to reflect the fixes (now all will be set to flak in the revision pack..),interestingly I also found that one of the 25mm aa guns had a different sound reference to the c20_land that I had intended to use,so sorting that out too..
with any luck I will be able to make a bit more progress over the weekend..I am also intending on changing the torpedo round to sub_torp_gun across all of the xdp's..the ultimate aim is to standardise all effects/guns and weapons across the whole lot so any future releases (the yamato and the ms07 come to mind..) don't suffer from similar confusion and simplifies the install process..
BTW,not sure if anyone has noticed,but in the destroyer version 2 xdp there are mentioned 5 damage effects emitters,but I have only used 4 of them..

cheers!,Jason..

[liquidchicken]

G'day all..

Just a quick update,I have got all the guns/weapons sorted out and will provide two sets of guns/weapons..one will be the standard revised/fixed files,and the other will be a more historically accurate set with the green/blue tracer..about to start looking at the damage thresholds for the guns and set them to something more in line with the stock ships and see if this makes them more "breakable"..apologies all round for this has taking longer than I was expecting..

cheers!,Jason..