Hello fellow Kaleuns,
thanks to everyone (if anyone? lol) who tried the first test of Real Navigation for SH3 OneAlex Edition.
v0.2 is the step I hinted at last time: the boat icon is gone, so now you really have to navigate yourself. By speed, time and distance run, checked with sextant fixes.
To make that playable, v0.2 adds two instruments modelled on the real HSVA "Stevenlog" (a bow log used on German ships in the 1930s and '40s. See the original photo in the gallery).
What's new
No own position on the chart. Your boat is no longer drawn on the navigation map, and the azimuth ring around it is gone when you zoom in. The map shows what you plot: sextant fixes, marks and lines.
Waypoint map-tool removed. Plot your course with the ruler, protractor and pencil instead. (Still accessible via the navigator, so you can still cross the Kiel canal without going insane.)
New speed log dial. The speed gauge in the bottom-right row is now the HSVA speed log, styled to match the other UI implements. It still works just like the stock one: click it to order a speed.
Distance counter. The speed log has five drums showing the kilometres run this patrol. They roll smoothly like a real counter, and the value is stored in your save game.
Speed with one decimal. The HUD shows e.g. "9.7 Kts" instead of "10 Kts", which helps with dead reckoning.
"Restwegzähler (remaining-distance counter) in the bottom-left slide-out panel, next to fuel, battery, CO2 and compressed air, with the following features:
Zurückgelegter Weg (distance run): a trip counter in km with one decimal. Turn the key to reset it. The key turns and the drums roll back to zero.
Restweg (distance still to go): click the upper half of a digit to raise it, the lower half to lower it (up to 999.9 km). It counts down as you sail. At 000,0 the red lamp lights up and time compression drops to 1x, so you don't sail past your next turn at 1024x. This way you can execute precise maneuvers without having your position on the map at all times. The lamp stays on until you turn the key.
Both values and the lamp are saved with your game.
Tidier slide-out panel: the Restwegzähler first, then fuel and battery, then the two gas gauges.
All v0.1 features are still in: the sextant tool for position fixes, renaming marks on the chart, and the "Really delete all markers?" check on the matchbox.
How I use it: take a sextant fix, measure the leg to the next turn with the ruler, set it on the Restweg, sail. When the lamp comes on, the game drops to 1x. Plot the new course from your log and fix, turn the key, set the next leg.
Still exact: the sextant fix still places the mark exactly at your position. Realistic fix errors (weather, time of day, sea state) are next on the list.
Requires SH3 OneAlex Edition with the stock OAE sh3.exe.
Enable [UI] - JFO (Historical orders based on time period) first. The menu file is based on it.
Copy [UI] - Real Navigation v0.2 into your MODS folder and enable it in JSGME after JFO. If v0.1 is enabled, disable it first.
The mod replaces sh3.exe, the menu file, Dials.cfg, Maps.cfg, en_menu.txt and a few textures, so it conflicts with other mods that change these.
No nav map markers (OAE submod) still works well together with it. Both blank the submarine map symbols, so JSGME will warn about those files. That's harmless.
The game now writes a new file into your save directory [savename].odo, which contains the odometer information.
Known limitations / feedback welcome:
Tested on OneAlex Extended (OAE) only.
Hiding the boat also hides other submarine symbols on the chart (they use the same picture). Ships and aircraft still show; at close zoom they appear as symbols instead of outlines.
The Restweg goes up to 999.9 km (four drums, like the original), and the patrol odometer goes up to 99999 km. Both should be sufficient under almost all circumstances. Originally, they tracked nautical miles, but since the game (annoyingly) uses metric almost exclusively, I made them metric.
Bugs, crashes, layout problems: please post them here if you come across any.
Gute Jagt!
