I have re-visited the ship convoy code, and the three ships in this convoy are Moggy's "CV-Enterprise" plus two destroyer escorts.
The breakthrough is that Moggy's "CV-Enterprise" is a combination of 8 different TMods all at the same point, and I have been able to add the two destroyer escorts in their positions.
I am going to do some further work, looking at the positioning of the destroyers, plus the possibility of more ships

So with this breakthrough could you use the new multipart ships I added to the SPAW upgrade?

They are the same ship models in different TMOD slots with the guns removed and then separate guns added with the target editor.

I left all the original SPAW ships intact and added new slots because they wouldn't look correct as MGO's since all the guns would be missing.

A new variation with four escorts



Ray I am not sure what you mean.
The code here is written for Moggy's 8 TMod ships.
In the convoy list the first eight items are Moggy's TMods which all get rendered at exactly the same point.
The last four are the destroyer escorts which are rendered at four different points relative to Moggy's TMod position.
Can your multipart vessels have all of the TMods rendered at the same point, or are some elevated?

AFAIK the ship convoy code does not use a Z value, just an X and a Y for the initial position, after which the vessel moves along the straight line set up for the selected port in "convoys.dat".

I have been able to use Moggy's ships as a static target with their TMods referenced in "tardata.dat", or running on invisible railway lines included in "EAW_RRD.dat", and now running on a convoy line referenced in "convoys.dat". Until now though all I had was a single ship, and being a carrier it needed escorts. Today I have been able to generate a moving carrier with four escorts. My next move will be to see if I can get a similar result with the carrier running on invisible railway lines

I replaced the guns on the old models with targetable versions on the new models.

This was done by editing the old models in 3dz Studio to remove the turret elements. Then I made separate TMOD's made up of nothing but the turret elements. Then using the target editor I placed the new turret TMOD's in the exact place where the originals were.

So, if you can make a mulit-part carrier you should be able to make a destroyer the same way. At least that's what I was thinking.

You have all of these new ships in the BETA setup I sent you last week so you have everything you need to test my theory.

When I get chance I will have a look, but I am not sure of the effectiveness.
In the convoy I have a multipart carrier, and before this change that was all we could have.
It appeared as a single ship, so an interdiction mission was too simple because it had no protecting escort ships.
Now it has four single TMod destroyer escorts and the convoy file is full.

Transferring the system to a multipart destroyer would work, but does it need more escort ships in the same way that the carrier does?

Here is the "Leiston.cvy" (text) file that the exe reads and uses to generate the convoy if a ship interdiction at Leiston is flown:


100
99
95
96
97
98
101
102
72
72
72
72
0
12

100 .....102 are Moggy's eight TMods
The four 72s are the escorts.
The "0" is a flag that triggers the special routine to place the first eight TMods at exactly the same place and then position the next four TMods around the carrier.
The "12" is the convoy size.


This is my relevant code:


"i" is the position of the TMod in the convoy list starting at zero end ending at 11 for the 12 ships
If the flag (the 13th value in the file) is set to zero (as it is) then the "convoy_separation" value is also set to zero when the exe reads the file.
The main "if" routine runs if the "formation_separation" value equals zero.

If i < 8 then the TMod X and Y values (pShip->formation_x and pShip->formation_y) are all set to zero, so Moggy's 8 TMods are all positioned at exactly the same point.
The remaining code positions the destroyers setting the pShip->formation_x and pShip->formation_y based on whether i = 8, 9, 10 or 11.

It sounds like it would be pretty hard to implement.

The turrets and AA guns are all at different x,y and z offsets so that they appear in the correct position on the deck of the ship. The same thing applies to the cargo ships with objects placed on their decks.

I'll continue with the approach I've taken and I'll leave all the old ships as is so they can be used as MGO's.

Separate question.

Where can I get the new 8 part carrier? I could at least include that model in the new SPAW target set simply by adding all the pieces via the target editor.

I am very busy at the moment with kitchen renovations, but will make a pack this afternoon and put it in your folder

Ok, thanks.

How do the destroyed TMOD's work since there are 8 sections?

Just taking a coffee break from the renovation

I have code in the railway version that stops the ship. When one of the eight TMod receives 90% damage or is destroyed the speed of all eight TMods is set to zero.
This stops intact parts moving, and they can still be attacked. There may well be a better solution, but for now this will do
I have not yet added the equivalent code to the ship convoy version.

Edit:
There is a "RayMay.zip" file in your folder.
The "RayMay" folder it generates contains three sub-folders. The "EAW Versions" folder has the new exes, then there is the "Three US carriers" theatre folder, and a "LongDirSets" folder with the "dir.set" file for this theatre.
All the relevant action is at targets on or near to the English east cost. I do interdiction missions in a 190A with the default ETO planeset.
There are three targets suitable for mixed interdictions, Hamble Trappes and Wisley. Each generates a different US carrier running on invisible lines.
There are also three targets suitable for ship interdictions.
Leiston generates an eight part carrier and the four destroyer escorts based on the "Leiston.cvy" file. The eight part carrier "flag" is set to "on"
Foreness has a "Foreness.cvy" file but no eight part carrier TMods, and the eight part carrier "flag" is set to "off", so you get a "normal convoy.
If you try "Eastchurch" there is no "cvy" file an the convoy generated will be from a "Shiplist.mpf" if present, or from the default values in the exe.

This will allow you to see how things work, and at the same time you get Moggy's TMods and TPCs for the Enterprise, Hornet and Yorktown.

Jel

Ok, thanks.

FWIW, I'm probably just going to get the eight part carriers and replace the one part carriers in the old SPAW set up with these new ones.

Might have to get creative with the damage models, we'll see how it goes.

This has the "railway" convoys off Foreness in the "ETO with Train-Barges" theatre with an additional line added with the CV Enterprise on it



It is another way of putting a multipart carrier amongst other ships for protection

I added the new Enterprise model set to the target set. It worked fine.

However, I don't know how close you looked at that model in the game but it's got huge R/S issues. Nothing I can't fix but it's going to take some time.

I'm going to have to fiddle around with the various TMOD pieces because the model is built horizontally, meaning the sections need to use your new Z height mod for correct targeting, like the carrier deck planes I recently added to the mix.

This means all the sections have to be set to zero ground height with the 3dz Editor and then raised with the TMOD editor to their correct positions.

Then I'll add the AA guns and deck aircraft.

When completed it will be a very nice upgrade from the old one piece models.

The technicalities are utterly beyond me, but the intended result looks very promising. Keep up the good work, gentlemen.

It's a lot like making sausages.

You might not want to see how it's done but the results are exquisite.

The 3dzs and TPCs are Moggy's, so you may need to check with him.
I know that the TMod order in the convoy files affects the overall visual result.
In the case of the "Leiston.cvy" file I used this:

100
99
95
96
97
98
101
102

100 and 99 are deck files
95, 96 and 97 are hull files
98, 101 and 102 are tower files

Maybe this order is needed for a static version in "Tardata.dat".

Edit:
I added the Enterprise to the Allied carrier target using the above order:

Interesting find.

I'll try reordering the set and see what happens.

I reordered the sections to conform to the convoy list but it made no difference. It's still a dog's breakfast.

Maybe it has to do with the order in the tardata.dat file.

What order did you add the various pieces of the new carrier to the carrier target?

I added them in that order as you can see here:

Ok. I'll try that.

Alright, it's better but not quite there yet.

Take a look at the island structure from both sides of the ship. It renders OK from the port side but not the starboard.