Working with Blender

[Stephen1918]

After my copy of 3D Studio died, I started learning Blender. Mue has made a utility that will make Lods from Blender, but it only works with FE2. So, besides learning a new software, I've also spent a lot of time getting my install of FE2 up to speed. I have rebuilt the Ansaldo A-1 from scratch and it will be ready to upload soon. Ojcar is working on the FM, I am still working on the cockpit, and tweaking the plane. I made a Polish and an Italian version.

 

[whiteknight06604]

that is a beautiful plane. I can not tell you just how excited I am to see new First Eagles stuff being made. Thank you. 

[Wilches]

That´s a GREAT news!!! Can´t wait!!!!

[gterl]

Great news! Sadly I'm still stuck (after all these years) with FEGold

[streakeagle]

First Eagles 1 & 2 were great games. I wish TK would bring these games up to modern standards with full support for VR and being able to look around 360 degrees with full detail.

[JulioJunqueira]

The Ansaldo is awesome Stephen! 
It's great to know you're still creating models for FE2. That's fantastic!

[Stephen1918]

Thanks for your comments and support. The Ansaldo is coming along. The cockpit is nearly finished. Still working on skins and tweaking the model. Every time I do a test run, I find something else that needs fixing. 

 

[VonS]

Great news and glad to see that you are still involved with First Eagles, Stephen. Looking forward to the Ansaldo!

In the meantime, here's a somewhat recent clip of Stephen's Fokker D.II and Voisan Type V at work - and thank you for all of the 3D models that you've created for the FE1/FEgold/FE2 universe.

Good flying,

 

Edited March 24 by VonS
Fixed typos.

[ojcar]

Meanwhile, I'm working in the Ansaldo FM. Italian pilots reported it was a fast airplane, but less manouverable than the SPAD, and harder to fly. At the moment, it's a dangerous S.O.A.B. of an airplane, very "enjoyable" in the take off. I'm trying to make it a little easier...but not much.

[Stephen1918]

The Ansaldo A.1 "Balilla" has been uploaded. This is my first plane made in Blender, I would like to see your comments regarding the quality and overall appearance of the model, download, etc. I have not yet learned animation in Blender so motions of the flaps are rather simple. 

My thanks to Ojcar for making the FM, test flying the plane, and suggesting improvements to the cockpit.

My thanks to Mue for making the exporter for Blender. This would not have been possible without this utility.

Edited March 9 by Stephen1918

[Stephen1918]

Any comments? This is a learning experience for me, so your input, positive and negative, will be welcome.

Edited March 12 by Stephen1918
(typo)

[JulioJunqueira]

Top-notch work! The Blender model didn't show any problem with my FE2 installation. The model is very well done and easily visible from any distance.
Great work Stephen!

 

[Crusader]

Just going by the screenshots: great work!
FE/SF series Blender kites pioneer

[HvitiVikingurrin]

On 3/12/2026 at 6:20 PM, Stephen1918 said:

Any comments? This is a learning experience for me, so your input, positive and negative, will be welcome.

Greetings!

I didn't find any visible differences between the "old" and "new" models (that is, "from Max" and "from Blender"). I can't say whether they've gotten better, but they certainly haven't gotten worse! ))

The very fact that new planes have been released for my favorite game is amazing! Thank you so much!

And what kind of criticism would you like to hear? As far as I know, moderators are very sensitive to such things and get very offended when people try to push them. Some of them, once famous, have even left the community precisely because of criticism from those who "count rivets." ))

[HvitiVikingurrin]

On 3/4/2026 at 10:35 PM, gterl said:

Great news! Sadly I'm still stuck (after all these years) with FEGold

Yes, indeed — those new "Blender-made" aircraft by Stephen1918 don't work in the 1st Gens. (

The models he created in 3DSMax could fly in both versions. This was likely due to the use of the TWExporter09; my copy of Max also couldn't utilize the Dec2010 Exporter — which supports bump maps, JPG skins and the new code format that the 1stGens doesn't recognize.
I played the good old FEG for a long time, but it really bothered me that my game couldn't use so many excellent new models. It was frustrating, and that’s ultimately why I switched to FE2 and SF2. Perhaps it is time for you to do the same? FE2 runs perfectly on Windows XP, if that’s a concern for you.

[Stephen1918]

12 hours ago, HvitiVikingurrin said:

... And what kind of criticism would you like to hear? As far as I know, moderators are very sensitive to such things and get very offended when people try to push them. Some of them, once famous, have even left the community precisely because of criticism from those who "count rivets." ))

Thank you for your feedback. I have always believed that you can't improve if you don't know you're making mistakes, so I have always tried to be welcoming of feedback. I will admit that sometimes it's hard to take, but over the years it has helped me improve. 

When I started making planes for FE and uploading them at Combat Ace, the community was very welcoming and respectful of all the modders. I received at lot of helpful comments during those years which helped me get better at making models. I miss those days. At some point things started getting competitive - people started talking about raising the quality and deciding who was best. I remember modders who would swear at people who tried to correct them. We lost a lot of modders in those days and everyone seemed to get overly cautious about offering critique. Some even tried to shut down all critical comments. 

Instead of outlawing all criticism, we should try to teach when criticism, and modder response to criticism, is appropriate.

There is a way to offer criticism without being offensive. Respecting the work that someone put into a project, even a flawed project, is important. Making a suggestion in the form of a question is easier to take, at least for me. ("Have you considered doing...?" instead of "You should do..." ) In the end, we won't get new mods unless people are willing to share their efforts, and I know from experience that even simple mods take a great deal of effort. Let's a least respect the generosity of modders for sharing their work.

With that said, does anyone have comments about my two recent planes?

 

 

[Spear_Head]

11 hours ago, Stephen1918 said:

With that said, does anyone have comments about my two recent planes?

Thank you for your time and effort.
If by "comments" you mean how these models could be improved, I think animated guns would be very useful in the Fokker's cockpit. And (perhaps) slotted machine gun covers, not just the tubes with painted slots, as they are.

As for the planes themselves, I'll need to crank up the graphics to the max and take another look.

It's possible that someone is already making photorealistic textures for them.