Colourful Korea - A skin and decals pack for Wings over Korea 1.0.150214

COLOURFUL KOREA

 

Some assembly required.

 

---------------------------------------
WTF is this ?
---------------------------------------

 

This is a mod of a mod, it's intended to be used as a "patch" for Do335 Wings over Korea mod, itself a mod of the semi-avorted Korean Air War mod.

 

Its intent is to add more units, more skins and, above all, more named planes to the Korean War.

 

It's meant to be a patch, to keep the footprint low, making it useless by itself.

 

It's also a backport from my own Korean War install meaning that some things might not be as originally intended (for instance, in my own install the SAAF 2nd Squadron uses slatted wings F-86F-10's, which is - mostly - historically correct, however a standard WoK install gives hard-wing F-86F-30 - of which they only ever had 1 - to 2nd Squadron).
My focus on these releases is maintaining compatibility with the WoK campaign at the cost of "authenticity" (which would require something much more grandiose with at least 3 campaigns, which is a work in progress but not aimed for release - too much unclearable content being used).

 

---------------------------------------
Why such a miscellaneous and crippled package ?
---------------------------------------

 

Because I'm slightly burning out on the Korean War, that Real Life is coming back and that rather than having "finished" work rot away on a hard drive, I'd rather release what can be so others can enjoy or build upon it.
Also because I'm too lazy to walk the minefield of varying licences involved in packaging someone else's content.
And yes, someday I'll finish the Thunderflashes, if Paulo doesn't beat me to it.

 

---------------------------------------
What are the pre-requisites ?
---------------------------------------

 

- Some knowledge of Strike Fighters 2 mod installation procedures.

 

- A properly installed Wings over Korea 1.0 by Do335 installation ( http://combatace.com/files/file/13415-sf2-korea-terrain-v3/ , http://combatace.com/files/file/15221-wings-over-korea-1-of-2/ , http://combatace.com/files/file/15220-wings-over-korea-2-of-2/ ).

 

---------------------------------------
What are the pre-requisites for the optionnal Razbam Banshee skins ?
---------------------------------------

 

- A properly installed Razbam F2H-2 Banshee ( http://www.razbamsims.com/store/product_info.php?cPath=1_4&products_id=45 ).

 

- Wrench's Korean Air War Tweak Pak for Razbam's Banshees ( http://combatace.com/files/file/14889-sf2-kaw-f2h-2-banshee-tweeks-pak-for-razbam-banshees/ ).

 

- Do335 optional files for Razbam's Banshee (overwrite Wrench's tweaks).

 

---------------------------------------
What is included ?
---------------------------------------

 

- 4 new skins for Razbam's F2H-2 Banshee covering VF-172, VF-11, VF-22 and VF-62 for the Korean War (VF-22 used in campaign).

 

- 2 reworked skins for South African 2nd Squadron F-86F Sabre, including 29 historical named planes (almost all of them) (one skin used in campaign).

 

- 5 additionnal named Australian Meteor F.8, plus one modified decal for an existing one (used in campaign).

 

- 1 partially modified skin for RF-51D Mustang (adding polka dots to the propeller nosecone), including an historical named plane (used in campaign).

 

- 1 template for Razbam's F2H-2 Banshee.

 

---------------------------------------
What is not included ?
---------------------------------------

 

- Anything already present in the pre-requisites.

 

- Razbam's skin parts that I haven't redone.

 

---------------------------------------
What's the required assembly ?
---------------------------------------

 

- South African F-86F : None, overwrite when asked

 

- Australian Meteor F.8 : None, overwrite when asked

 

- USAF RF-51D Mustang : None, overwrite when asked

 

- USN F2H-2 Banshee : Copy the following files (some may not be needed but in doubt do it) from an existing skin into the VF-11 and VF-62 skin folders (VF172 and VF-22 are ok)

 

ejection seat.bmp
glossy_t.bmp
glossy_t.tga
gunsight.bmp
gunsight.tga
interior03.bmp
interior04.bmp
interior05.bmp
interior07.bmp
landing gear_t.bmp
parts01_t.bmp
tires.bmp

 

---------------------------------------
Probable questions
---------------------------------------

 

- Hey, why are you using an inefficient ZIP format when RAR5 and 7Z offer much better compression rates ?

 

Because RAR5 breaks backward compatibility while using the same extension, leading to many confused people believing their download to be corrupted, leading to re-downloads, increased bandwidth consumption for CombatAce and overall a greater cost than a slightly larger archive and more headache for the player.
Because 7Z requires to install a dedicated software while Windows does manage ZIP files natively, making it much easier for players.

 

- Hey, why are your skin in a funky PDN format instead of a standard Photoshop PSD file ?

 

Because, even with Creative Cloud, Photoshop can be too much money for some modders and I don't condone piracy.
Because Paint.NET ( http://www.getpaint.net/ ), the software using PDN files, covers 95% of skinner needs, especially when using the PSD plugin ( https://psdplugin.codeplex.com/ ) to open PSD files (DO NOT use RLE compression when saving in PSD format though) and the Alpha Mask plugin ( http://forums.getpaint.net/index.php?/topic/1854-alpha-mask-import-plugin-20/ ).
Because Photoshop makes me jump through more hoops than Paint.NET to obtain some layer interactions.

 

- Hey, there shouldn't be rivets here / Hey, that colour is slightly off / Hey, 202 actually didn't have his code painted on the wing / Hey, the decal seems to be bleeding etc...

 

Yes, I'm probably already aware of all that, some of it can't be changed by anyone so you'll have to live with it, some of it is ignored to keep things simple and tidy, and finally many are ignored because I've reached the point where, at the moment, I'm not willing or able to do better.
Feel free to add your own corrections and changes and either submit them to me for another release (you'd be credited of course), or release your own mod of a mod of a mod.

 

- How do I contact you ?

 

Well, PM me on CombatAce, when Real Life is involved it might be some month before I answer though, or you can mail me, but unless it's important, it's highly probable I'll just ignore it, sorry.

 

---------------------------------------
Acknowledgements
---------------------------------------

 

- TK, even though he has forsaken us, he gave us a nice little engine to play with.

 

- CombatAce, for being such a nice place full of nice, if at time weird, people doing their best to keep TK's little engine fun to play with.

 

- The Korean Air War team, without whom none of this would exist in the first place, even though their grand scheme never happened, their years of work didn't go to waste.

 

- Wrench, The, whose Banshee Tweak Pak gave me the weird idea that some people actually cared about a payware of an obscure, little used plane.

 

- Jolley Roger, over at the unofficial SAAF forum, for starting and curating a thread that became a great refence for the SAAF sabres ( http://www.saairforce.co.za/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=7069 ).

 

- Mue, whose LOD Viewer ( http://combatace.com/topic/85079-lod-viewer/ ) is an invaluable tool to Strike Fighters modders.

 

---------------------------------------
Credits
---------------------------------------

 

Everything is either derived from Thirdwire's assets, those included in Do335 Wings over Korea mod - refer to the Readme of this pack for full details - or so trivial I can't be credited for them, with the exception of :

 

F2H-2 Template ans Skins : Gunrunner (except the Bits and pieces layer, which is based on Razbam's skins).

 

F-86F Template : Ravenclaw (90%), Wrench, The (9%), Gunrunner (1%), I mostly added a few details, a noise layer, reworked invasion bands, tail and nose decorations.

 

VF-11 Squadron Badge, 2nd Squadron Badge, "Elyana" and "Bowl'Em Over !" nose arts for Australian Meteors : from my "decal vault", if it's yours, drop me a line and I'll credit you or remove/replace it.

 

 

 

Gunrunner
14 February 2015