Importing aircraft from SFP1?

[CatsEyes 0]

Is it possible? How to do it? Are there any tutorials/advice?

 

Be gentle with me. I'm new to this sim!

 

Thanks.

[+TexMurphy 0]

shouldnt be any problem that Im aware off... which plane is it you want to import?

 

When I say no problem I mean getting it to show up in the game... if it flies well or not is another thing since FE has added alot to the flight model... in that case you might have to basicly rewrite the entire FM for that plane..

 

But if you tell me which one you want in game Ill take a look at it..

 

Tex

[CatsEyes 0]

Hi Tex,

 

Well, in the back of my mind was the dim possibility of creating a Spanish Civil War add-on at some stage. I simply wanted to experiment with a few SCW-era planes done as add-ons for SFP1 to see how they appeared visually in terms of the game. (I presume because WWI planes were so small TK has re-sized the default views compared with the jet era.) And also if and how they'd fly. And if they did, whether they'd seem so fast (200-300mph vs 100mph) as to look silly.

 

Of course I also compared the data .ini files to see what had changed since SFP1. As you say, quite a lot - although the basic format is the same.

 

I tried the Curtis Hawk III biplane without luck. Game ran as usual, but I couldn't make it appear in the menus - even after fiddling the INI file to changes the dates of appearance, nationality etc. I also shortened the range to WWI dimensions, in case that was an issue, too. But fiddling with the control surfaces and the actual flight dynamics is far, far beyond me right now.

 

Other SFP1 add-ons that looked worth trying for the same purpose were the SM79, JU87B and JU52.

 

I should stress (*flashing lights here*) that I wasn't about to mod anything done by anybody else - except for private home use - without their explicit permission. I know that's been a problem with this series of games.

 

Any advice gratefully received!

[CatsEyes 0]

Folks:

 

I realise now there was an earlier thread here on the same general subject:

 

http://forum.combatace.com/index.php?showtopic=17139

 

Apologies for missing that. But many of those questions still seem up in the air, so this might be as good a place as any to keep them alive.

[CatsEyes 0]

Aaargh. Now I'm feeling like the complete forum nitwit. You know: the person who posts endlessly before putting their brain in gear.

 

I renamed the Hawk's folder to match the INI file, and it appeared and loaded fine. No pilot - but that's easily fixed, as explained in the other thread. I also finessed the Hawk's data INI in a few places to more closely resemble the WWI ones.

 

I also tried popping the SFP1 avionics DLLs (Avionics60 and EasyAvionics) into the 'Flight' folder of FE. I didn't notice any big difference, either with those files in or out.

 

On the bright side: the plane appears and flies OK. On the down side: it seems the different avionics models (or maybe just speeds) might not work smoothly together. The friendly AI aircraft did an awful lot of bobbing up and down - as did I when I engaged autopilot. From memory this is an issue with some add-on aircraft in another, non TW sim. (SDOE?) Not sure if the reasons are the same.

 

Anyway, sorry for the prolific posting. Hope this helps somebody else. I'll continue playing around...

[Guest Charles]

Importing aircraft from SF to FE and vice versa is fairly easy. There are a few things you need to change in the Data.INI (like the pilot, and also the guns and ordnance, to make sure they work fully), but there are no major incompatibilities. I put together some rather eclectic notes on modding SF a while back, which may give you some help on this.

You can find them at http://www.users.bigpond.net.au/CharlesEAW/sfpage.html

 

BTW, are you the famous CatsEyes from Falcon4?

[+Zurawski 33]

CatsEyes...

 

FWIW... My PZL P.11c, which I modified to run in FE works wonderfully..

 

If interested, grab it here: Zur-TECH.com

Edited February 14, 2007 by Zurawski

[+LloydNB 212]

LOL

 

We should have known that was going to happen. The door was left open just a crack and Zurawski was in with yet another shameless plug for the Polish fighter.

[Alexander51 3]

Here's a couple of mid-war types in-game:

 

[Alexander51 3]

Here's a couple of mid-war types in-game:

 

 

Well not quite "mid-war types", but imported planes from SFP1 in-game

[CatsEyes 0]

Hi folks,

 

What a friendly bunch!

 

Charles: no, I'm not famous from anywhere. (Though I do have F4 on the HD.) But I was caught up in EAW for the longest time, and of course I remember the great Sir Charles and his pioneering ECAP from there. That's also where I had the Spanish idea from. We had a long-running, ill-fated project there that may still see the light of day. But FE looks a more promising platform nowadays for that idea.

 

Yes, I'm still catching up with some of the possibilities. Zurawski: The lovely Polish PZL is now next on my list of downloads. Thanks for the advice.

 

Any thoughts about the bobbing? I note the AI tend to do it a bit anyway (as they do in SFP1, from memory). But it seems more pronounced when dropping in the quicker planes.

 

I'm still collecting the various FE and SF modding notes, and will have a look at Charles', too. Still have your epic digest on the EAW data files somewhere...

 

Any other SCW fans around here? It occurs to me Pavel's Hawk from SFP1 wouldn't need much work to turn into a G-23 Delphin. And Russo's Bf109E would take very little to make a very nice B model...

[+Zurawski 33]

LOL

 

We should have known that was going to happen. The door was left open just a crack and Zurawski was in with yet another shameless plug for the Polish fighter.

 

Me and my P.11c are like roaches... your never safe from us rearing our ugly heads.