First Eagles by Thirdwire

Cambrai, November 1917
================
 
A campaign for First Eagles.
This is a historical campaign for the Flanders terrain in First Eagles, to recreate the air battles of late-1917, the time of the debut of the tank, at Cambrai. It follows on from my previous release, "Bloody April" 1917. It requires a standard install of First Eagles, plus Edward's Flanders terrain, and some extra add-on aircraft. There is a TXT file which explains all that is required.
The campaign uses a variety of appropriate late-1917 aircraft, and every mission will provide extensive aerial action, with large numbers of aircraft from different squadrons going about their various missions along the Front.
 
The aircraft which operate in this campaign are the:
 
BE.2d
Bristol Fighter F2B
Nieuport 24bis
SE.5a
Spad XIII
Sopwith Camel
 
Albatros D.III
Albatross D.V
Aviatik C.2
DFW C.V
Fokker Dr.1 triplane
Gotha G.IV
Pfalz D.III
Zeppelin Staaken
 
 
Historical Background
=====================
By November 1917 the British Army has been continuously on the offensive in Flanders for four months, in bloody battles at Ypres, Messines and Passchendaele, and most of the German Army reserves have been drawn there. A bold stroke was planned well to the south, in the direction of Cambrai. The Army, spearheaded by a new secret weapon, the tank, would make a major push.
 
In the air, the start of 1917 had been a difficult time for the Royal Flying Corps, culminating in the disastrous "Bloody April", but by the end of the year, the tide had turned somewhat. Newer machines, such as the Sopwith Camel, SE.5a and Bristol F2B fighter, were coming into service, which were a match for all German machines except for the new and deadly Fokker Triplane.

BE-2A
4 Squadron, RFC 1915
 
Formed in August 1912, No.4 Squadron was sent to France in mid-August 1914 with a variety of aircraft including the BE-2A. Re-equipped with the BE-2 in 1915, an later the 2d and 2e. In June 1917 it was converted to R.E.8s, which it used until the armistice.
 
Full credit to Gramps & Charles for the original texture skins. I have retained the engine detail from the original skin.
 
Enjoy
 
LloydNB

Camouflage skin for the Nieuport 17a with a single wing-mounted Lewis gun,
August 12, 2007 by ShrikeHawk
 
This is posted with permission from Monty CZ and whiteknight06604 who are the authors of the
original skins. The really good-looking details (wood, engine, fixtures, etc.) in the skin are
entirely their work.
 
I wanted a skin for at least one of my Nieuport 17s (I have three) that has camouflage paint.
This skin is for the N3 Escadrille 'Cigogne' in 1916. The camo is standard two-tone for French fighters
at the time. I didn't make it pilot specific so I omitted any text on the side.
 
I found the profile here:
http://wp.scn.ru/en/ww1/f/113/21/0
 
Cheers!
 
ShrikeHawk

Worn Airfield texture for Flanders Terrain.
August 12, 2007 by ShrikeHawk
 
First of all, kudos and credit to Tailspin for coming up with the idea for a "worn" airbase
and also for finding the right file to edit.
 
I had 3 objectives in mind when making this texture.
 
1. Create a used, rutted look for the airfield that has yellowish-looking grass and muddy, exposed earth
patches where planes have repeatedly landed.
 
2. When close to, or sitting on the ground, the texture must look more complex with details to
give the flyer a greater sense of motion near the ground. But this should not be too prominent at
altitude. This was achieved using filter effects and applying graphic "noise" to the texture.
 
3. Lastly, I wanted the texture to "blend in" more with the background. This was difficult because the
surrounding tiles are not the same at every airbase. So I attempted to visually breakup the edges of the
texture a la camouflage so that the edge of the airbase is not readily discernable. On close
inspection, you can still see the edges. But not so clearly when viewed at an oblique angle.
 
Note: I expect this will not look so good with the standard Verdun terrain. In my Verdun terrain, I am
using Edward's replacement tiles, which I highly recommend. This texture works well with Edward's
replacements.

Here's a new "worn" or "used" look for the airfields in First Eagles.
 
You can do anything you want with this file...just give me some credit...dammit!!
 
Enjoy,
 
Tailspin

Alternative FM for the default SE5a
07/30/07 by ShrikeHawk
 
I love flying the SE5a in a dogfight. So nimble and quick!
But...in slow-speed maneuvers and actions that require good
rudder control (i.e., landing, strafing) the plane is waaaayy
too squirrely. After rudder input the plane oscillates terribly
and it's very hard to keep the gunsight on target. Also, on
landing, the slideslip is extreme! The plane does not sink to
the ground as it should even when the engine is a 0%. At least
this is my experience.
 
So after endless tinkering, I finally have the SE5a flying the
way I expect it to. Now the plane lands much as the other
aircraft do. The landing requires more area but it is reasonable
now. It still responds a lot to yaw input, although moderately,
but will not oscillate at all after counter rudder input.
You can actually hold the gunsight on target with minimal effort.
 
This mod addresses other concerns than what peter01 is doing with
his alternative FMs. But when he posts it, I would highly
recommend using his FM. If you want to use this mod "and" peter01's
at the same time, please PM me and I will post a combination.
 
p.s. Thanks to Peter01 for the tip about the cnb parameter. That was
the last bit of info I was looking for.

Thicker, Fuller Clouds for FE
07/30/07 by ShrikeHawk
 
I felt that the default in FE looked too much like faded white blobs
and not nearly enough like clouds. So I set about to change it.
 
My intention here was to make more robust-looking clouds with a higher
density and a greater "presence". I also wanted to create the more
complex shapes that clouds can form. The kind that makes you lay in
the grass and imagine what animal shape the cloud is.
 
I increased the random factor for the clouds as well, so scattered
clouds can be almost as dense as the default broken clouds and then
again the clouds could be very sparse. So you never quite know what
you're going to get. I like that better.
 
I wanted to fix Inclement Clouds too. Realistic or not, I felt that it
was too featureless and too muddy gray. I thought the cloudlayerbottom
didn't match the stormy gray of the horizon clouds. So I created a new
CLOUDLAYERBOTTOM5.bmp that I think fits the look of a stormy sky better.
 
I have increased the particle count in the clouds a lot. This is a big
reason for the thicker clouds. In defense of TK, I think he had the
default clouds the way he did because it would keep the framerates high
for most machines. This is a guess. I have not seen a framerate hit on
my machine (2.80Ghz CPU, @750Mb RAM, GeForce 6800GT 256Mb VRAM), but it
is possible that some machines may get an FPS degrade with this mod.
 
Have fun!

This is an update to my previous sound. It begins with an explosion sound
and empahasizes the cracking of wood more. I like this one better.
 
This is only a replacement for the previous sound. If you need the .ini
files to install it, please download the original.
 
Have fun!
 
ShrikeHawk

Hi guys more (wip's)
readme has the details
2 colours for the H
1 each for the others
L LAO & O
 
enjoy , will update asap
 
gambit168

Hi guys
out of all the planes bort made i like these best , i lov 2 bump in2 these & they cleaned up well i think
these r not wips , i dont need 2 update them later
 
Ok Sorry i dl'd the zip and could get none of the decals 2 work . worked for me be4 i packed it up , spent since i oploaded it tryin 2 sort it out
 
So here is a New Updated / fixed decals zip ( i hope)

uses the default D folder from bristol Raf folder
is ment for skinners to use as a template for make more sqn markings
 
thx go 2 skunkworks for the port & permission
have fun
gambit168
steve T
 
readme updated

hi guys
same brief as be4, 48 sqn brisfit, sept 1917
thx 2 skunkworks for port & permission
 
readme updated

hI GUYS
U will need Skunkworks Brisfit Frist
this is another quickie ,as the mapping is not 100% but it iant that noticeable
readme inclosed
Thx go to the skunkworks team for the port, and the permission 2 upload

hi all just my take on a 66 sqn pup
hope u like
gambit168
steve T
 
 
readme updated

hi all
this is just a royel navel air service pup
hope u like it
had fun making it
cheers
gambit168
steve T

Hi all
this is my version of a 19 sqn aircraft i saw as a colour plate
hope u like
Cheers
gambit168
steve T
 
updated readme only

Hi All
got a couple of pups 2 uplaod this is the first
hope u like it was fun it skin
 
Full credit goes out to capun and the skunkworks guys, thx for allowing me to bring this skin
to the community
& thx for the great mapping , is a dream 2 skin for
 
updated readme only

Hi all THis is the first of a few Dolphins i will upload
it has serials from all the sqns using dolphins so the decal inis will piont to this 1 to save dl space
hope u like it
 
updated , readme only
 
have fun
gambit168
Steve T

Hi All this is just My version of LvR's Dr1 Ithink it was the best colour scheme on any dr1 so its the first i finished
I put the files i use for my drI hanger and loading screens if u like um back yer orig's and drop um in
hope u like , had fun skinin it
cheers
gambit168
steve_T
 
updated files , only readme

Hi guys
more WIPs 95% ers
i got a couple of av cii skins and a abl CII & a rumpler on the av airframe
u will see from the screenie wot i mean
 
2 updates 2day but the first is because i put the wrong decal.ini in the rumpler
& the second is because i forgot 2 add something 2 the readme :blush2:
 
 
hope u like um
gambit168

i like these , and the gunbus ,fe8 , so i throw a quick generic 1 together , i knocked it down to 1024 , some loss of fine detail was the trade off but on the whole it holds up well
hope u like

S! HI ALL
I m moving soon and things will be up in the air ,i imagine , so im thinking of getting my skins nearly finished and posting them with a view 2 updating them when time allows me to
 
the first of these WIP's is this one
the pfalz EI, is finished all bar fine detailing, which i intent 2 do at a later stage, and just update the file here
 
hope u like it more stuff 2 follow
 
cheers
have fun
gambit168

Addon Breaking Sound by ShrikeHawk
 
My intent here was to create a very distinctive ww1 sound for
breaking aircraft parts. I wanted to hear a wood-crunching,
canvas-ripping, "uh-oh!" kind of sound to accompany a part
breaking my own (or better yet, the other guy's) aircraft.

hi guys
This is A reupload ,as it was Kindly pionted out to me by Peter01, that I had 2 wrong files in my original zip
This is amended now & Ive added a couple more sounds and a new screen 2 the zip now
 
 
i have used these sounds n screens in my FE install 4 a while now , I didnt upload um , cos i didnt know if they were gonna be the finished item's
but im uploading them now because i can find no better sounds 2 replace um
 
also there r a few screens
options
singlemission
main & default hanger
 
hope any1 that try's um likes um as much as i do :yes:
have fun
gambit168
ateve_T

(S!) ALL hi ;-)
 
This is a Fokker E II Vzfw Eduard Böhme jasta Fl.Abt 9, around 1915.
 
 
 
Special thank you to Laton for giving me the opportunity to work
With him again on this plane its been a great working with you.
 
 
 
 
Enjoy!!! ;-)
 
your friend in the FE sky
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