Seeking Advice

[The_Herbaliser]

Greetings all,

 

I've just invested in SFP1 Gold, WOV and WOE. I've been playing Flight Sims for a fair while (since Janes USAF) and recently have been playing Lomac, Falcon 4.0 AF. Il2 and BOB so i'd say i'm fairly experienced.

 

All these other sims i've been with since the beginning however as this one has been in development for a few years I must say i'm a little daunted by the number of user made mods.

 

I've followed the guides in the knowledge base and they have been invaluable with getting these games up and running and i've also installed a few new terrains and aircraft without creating any problems (so far). My real question is for those of you have been there since the start - what mods etc are most reccomended for me to get familiar with how the structure of this game works but also enjoy the game. I'm mainly interested in modern aircraft and associated campaigns missions etc.

 

Cheers

 

Herbie

[+Spectre_USA]

Well, I hope I qualify as I was into SF:P1 before the beginning.

 

And it is a matter of personal taste. I also prefer the more modern aircraft, and am very happy with the range terrain,

to shake out a new airframe, or after those regrettable month+ layoffs, like I just experienced.

 

WoV `84 is quite nice as well, but needs some tweaks to work with WoE, as it is a stand-alone based on WoV.

 

The Israeli terrain has always been great, and has been updated to a V1.4, especially considering current events.

I would love to see a campaign, based on todays events.

 

When it comes to airframes, things are in a bit of flux, as SP4+ has made a few aircraft obsolescent, at least if you

want CCIP and sidewinder cue circles.

 

Bottom line? It's all great! Just pick what you like for the vast array out there, and enjoy...

[Sky Captain]

Spectre, I thought the Israel terrain was v1.5? Hmm, whatever. Like he said, it comes down to whatever you want. And you can find pretty much everything here (even an Avrocar), from working cockpit mods to an Avrocar (of all things )

[csb]

Herbaliser said "to get familiar with how the structure of this game works"

 

Not sure what you mean?

 

But the enhancements I find a must are:

 

Cellinsky's weather mod - fuller and more natural clouds

Shoulderview (check six) fix - so when key pressed I am looking behind (outside view)

Weapon_LOD_Flyby_View mod- gives loooonger flyby view

Dueces desert repaint - adds colour, inhabited areas are greener

 

Also:

 

SmokeFX - gives taller!! columns of smoke for some bombed objects

Disable the "Mission accomplished" "Mission failed" announcement

UberAI_v2 - incr AI aggression (not sure if it's better than stock SF with sfp4)

 

I fly with all gameplay settings to HARD - incr's the challenge (although incr'ing these settings was gradual)

 

I don't bother with addon aircraft (phlying phantoms is phantastic phun) except the MirageIIIC (from Mirage Factory ?)

 

This is the best era for flight simming - a/c not too complicated and most enemy encounters are in visual range - dogfighting. These era jets also beat WWII era because of speed. Love it!

[The_Herbaliser]

Thanks for that guys thats helpful. When I mentioned structure to the game it was meant in regards to modding - as I come from Il2 - offcial patches only and LOMAC - the lovely MODMAN tool, I'm not so used to modifying indvidual files.

 

I'm normally OK if the download has a decent readme but a couple i've come across don't and i'm a little wary about using them.

 

A related query I have regards a campaign i've downloaded from this site - Blood for Oil. It looks like the kind of campaign i'm after and has a perfectly clear readme instructing me to download certain aircraft and skins.

 

Some of them are already contained in WOE and others i haven't had any problem downloading and installing.

 

The ones I am having problems with are the following.

 

MIG-28 BIS/F5E Combo Pack - the readme says its on cambatace but I can't find it anywhere.

HarrierFRS.2 - The only one I can find is the Sea Harrier FRS.2 - is this OK?

F-16A 10 & F-16B 10 both USAF - I can find similar files on this site but there is no readme and as there are more files in the archive than just the aircraft folder I'm a little confused about how to install.

 

Thanks again

 

Herbie

[csb]

Yes, it is unfortunate that the addon you want may have a different file name in the downloads section.

 

Why is that modders?

 

I really have always wondered

[+Zurawski]

Yes, it is unfortunate that the addon you want may have a different file name in the downloads section.

 

Why is that modders?

 

I really have always wondered

 

Why?... Hell, we love to make things difficult!

 

 

Truth be told... it's one part "I read it and it makes perfect sense"... one part "English is not my native language"... and one part "You've been doing this long enough to figure it out".

 

Having someone proof your read-me is a no-brainer... but it's not always a for thought. Translation into universal English is a major hurdle. And Lastly, people forget that newbies will be DL'ing this stuff right along with the grizzled veterans.

 

www.Zur-TECH.com

Edited August 2, 2006 by Zurawski

[csb]

I capishe Thanks Z

 

Herbaliser - a tool you will absolutely need is the "sfp1 file extract Utility" (also sfp1e), available here in the SF utilities section.

 

For some mods you need to extract the ini file, which can then be edited in Notepad.

 

Also used for other files that may need to be extracted and changed. It's VERY simple to use.

 

Basicly it extracts the files, that you want to edit, for changing such things as clouds, loadouts, fix the checksix view, delete the min-hud, repaint mirror plates, build a jet, terraforming, etc., etc.

 

It creates a copy of the file locked in cat files, so if you muck it up then just delete to go back to original or extract again.

 

Some/many mods, in downloads, require you to extract files to be able to use the mod.

Edited August 3, 2006 by csb

[The_Herbaliser]

Ok thanks again i'm starting to get to grips with it all now nicely.