Burning Sands 1944 Upgrade

[+Baltika 84]

Hello everyone, but particularly the WW2 propheads

 

I have a major upgrade to Burning Sands '44 in the works, including, but not restricted to:-

 

-Revision of campaign timeline from July '40 to '45

 

-Addition of many flyable squadrons from Regia Aeronautica, SAAF, RAAF and USAAF, as well as revisions to the RAF and Luftwaffe flyables, including appropriate entry dates and upgrade paths for air units

 

-Revision of non-flyable orders of battle to more closely approximate MTO air forces

 

-Revision of stock desert terrain for many more WW2 era ground objects, static aircraft, target zones, airfields, etc.

 

-Revision of ground war to feature appropriate army units, with upgrade paths to feature available ground unit types

 

-Historical Campaigns (within certain unavoidable limitations) for Edward's North Africa and (hopefully, although maybe not in first upgrade package) Tunisia terrains

 

 

 

Progress has been continuing, although slowed by the birth of my now 6 week old daughter, not that I would have it any other way She has proved her skill as a co-pilot already, and thanks to my trusty HOTAS Cougar set-up (bought for me by my wife, lucky chap that I am) I have now learned to fly one-handed whilst holding a baby

 

 

Anyway, my question is this:

 

With near on 850+ views, but only 160+ downloads, there is cearly a lot of interest in a WW2 campaign, but something is putting people off downloading Burning Sands '44 v1.0 - proportionately speaking, that is a high level of interest but a pretty low take-up rate compared to other campaign mods available.

 

What is the showstopper, and what can I do to fix it for v1.1?

 

All feedback greatly appreciated. Positive suggestions for improvement are preferred, but I am thick-skinned, so if you think it sucks I don't mind you telling me so long as you tell me why

 

Cheers,

 

baltika

Edited May 3, 2007 by Baltika

[kukulino 1]

Hallo Baltika

 

Yes, I have interest about your campaign...

 

But I haven't got SFP1. I have WOE merged with WOV. There is no stock campaign Burning sands. And as you know, there is no Desert terrain. Your campaign is for SFP1 only, I think

 

This is the reason for me.

 

If I am not correct, please inform me

[tank03 1]

I've just started getting into WW2 stuff (right now I'm on a huge Battle of Britain kick) so you can be sure I'll check out your campaign. I've know about it for awhile now, but, until recently, I didn't have any interest in props-YAP was taking up a good deal of my available flying time.

 

I've been spending alot of free time lately organizing my SFP1/WOV stuff on the computer. I've got mods, planes, terrains, etc scattered all over the place; it's really a mess. Once I get that issue sorted out I will be downloading Burning Sands.

[+Baltika 84]

Thanks for the interest:-

 

kukulino, you are correct - Burning Sands '44 is a mod for SFP1 (and presumably, SF Gold, although I haven't tested it on that edition) only. The reason for that is that campaigns are terrain specific. If you take a look on the forums you will see that it is possible to import the desert terrain to your WoV/WoE install, but you will need a legal copy of SFP1 before you can do that. FYI, I picked up a copy of SF:Gold yesterday (it arrived today!) on e-bay for under £3 UK, including postage, so it is not a big outlay to make.

 

I am presently working on a major upgrade to Burning Sands '44 (I know, have been saying that for a while - progress is being made, just s l o w l y. . .) which will include campaign files for Edward's WW2 terrains, so once that is out you can presumably download and install those terrains and fly those campaigns. I am still weeks away from an update release, however.

 

Edward has announced a WW2 China campaign (with a photorealistic terrain) so that my help you scratch the itch meantime - not sure about actual release dates yet.

 

 

 

tank03 - again, thanks for the interest. I know the feeling. I have SFP1, WoV, WoE and FE installed, and at least 3 working WW2 installs. It's still not enough Maybe I need to do some reorganisation. . .

 

If you run into problems with the install, give me a shout.

 

Cheers,

 

baltika

[+Stary 2,426]

Hi Baltika!

Somehow skipped this topic

 

Yes, BS'44 runs extremaly well on my SF Gold 8.30.06 version.

 

As I already wrote in the BoB threat, Burning Sands 1944 got it for me. The views/downloads ratio problem is that they ain't enlightened ones. Yet

 

As for v0.60 upgrade -Regia Aeronautica you say? I feel so gooood

 

S!

[keith 0]

My Man!

 

Downloaded this yesterday, I'll install it tonight/tomorrow.

 

Have to say all my time is spent above the Channel at the moment... which is your fault!

[+Stary 2,426]

Hi Baltika!

 

Just wondering which new A/C will be included in 1.01?

 

S!

[+Baltika 84]

Hi Baltika!

 

Just wondering which new A/C will be included in 1.01?

 

S!

 

 

Hi CA,

 

Current (working) builds of the Burning Sands '40 and Burning Sands '44 campaign files feature:-

 

B-17G

B-24D & J

B-25B

Beaufort

Beaufighter family

Bf109 E,F & G

Bf-110E

Blenheim MK1

Boston

C-47A

Do-17Z

Do335A & B

Fw190 a4, a5 & Wurger

He111H6

Hs129B3

Hurricane family

Ju-88A4 & C4

Ju 87b

Mc-200, 202, 205

Me-262A & A1U4

Me-410A1U4 (family to follow)

Mustang MkIII

P-38H & L

P-39D

P-40E

P-47D-20

P-51A

P-51B-10

Re 2000, 2001, 2002

SM-79

Spitfire family

Tomahawk

 

 

No Seafires or Sea Hurris in this release, I suspect, but I haven't forgotten them. Just to be clear, I suspect I am a while away from a release date given everything that's going on with BoB just now. Oh, and the above are "featured", not "included in the download", just to be clear. All are currently available at combatace.

 

OTOH, if you think I have missed anything out you'd like to see, I am open to suggestions - although I have tried to restrict it to things that look like they'd fit in the MTO, given the great skins that are available.

 

Cheers,

 

baltika

[+Stary 2,426]

Hi CA,

 

Current (working) builds of the Burning Sands '40 and Burning Sands '44 campaign files feature:-

 

B-17G

B-24D & J

B-25B

Beaufort

Beaufighter family

Bf109 E,F & G

Bf-110E

Blenheim MK1

Boston

C-47A

Do-17Z

Do335A & B

Fw190 a4, a5 & Wurger

He111H6

Hs129B3

Hurricane family

Ju-88A4 & C4

Ju 87b

Mc-200, 202, 205

Me-262A & A1U4

Me-410A1U4 (family to follow)

Mustang MkIII

P-38H & L

P-39D

P-40E

P-47D-20

P-51A

P-51B-10

Re 2000, 2001, 2002

SM-79

Spitfire family

Tomahawk

No Seafires or Sea Hurris in this release, I suspect, but I haven't forgotten them. Just to be clear, I suspect I am a while away from a release date given everything that's going on with BoB just now. Oh, and the above are "featured", not "included in the download", just to be clear. All are currently available at combatace.

 

OTOH, if you think I have missed anything out you'd like to see, I am open to suggestions - although I have tried to restrict it to things that look like they'd fit in the MTO, given the great skins that are available.

 

Cheers,

 

baltika

 

That's a bunch of crafts out there! Really impresive. No rush on release date, mate. You say no Seafires in incoming release, fine, but it indicates that next version will include some carrier ops (and even CAT launches)?

 

Ah yeah one suggestion -more historic ships, can we have those? And maybe earlier Bf-110's

But it's up to you.

 

Cheers

 

CA_Stary

[+Baltika 84]

That's a bunch of crafts out there! Really impresive. No rush on release date, mate. You say no Seafires in incoming release, fine, but it indicates that next version will include some carrier ops (and even CAT launches)?

 

Ah yeah one suggestion -more historic ships, can we have those? And maybe earlier Bf-110's

But it's up to you.

 

Cheers

 

CA_Stary

 

 

My pre-release v1.0 had carrier ops - HMS Victorious (I think) and USS Enterprise, with appropriate squadrons, showing up late on in the campaign to give the Allies some much-needed assistance. However, there was a fair bit of fiddling involved to get the carriers working, and even then, 9 times out of 10, my plane blew up on take-off. So I pulled that part of it for v 1.0. It may have been that I was doing something wrong, but who knows?

 

Since then (i.e. the release of v 1.0) WOLF257 was generous enough to re-release his planes (of which many are listed above) and I was in hog heaven flying them (many of which I missed first time around) and adding them in to the campaign. So getting the carrier ops working took a bit of a back seat.

 

Then, as you know, BoB campaign was released as a beta and the response has been great, so all my modding time has been taken up with that.

 

But Burning Sands '44 is still very much in my mind (v1.0 is a rough cut) and I certainly intend to get the carrier stuff together at some point. That's not a priority for the next release, however.

 

As to more historic ships, well, as I have said before, I am a humble .ini editor standing on the shoulders of giants. If something is available, I will put it in. What, specifically, did you have in mind? More 110s, no problem.

 

The main difference for the new release is that the campaign timeline is extended to cover the course of the war, and squadrons will transition up through early types to later types according to the historical information I can get my hands on.

 

And, I have massively extended the strategic node network to poke into corners of the map we never got to see in stock Burning Sands.

 

And did I mention that the USAAF are in it

 

Cheers,

 

Baltika

Edited July 20, 2007 by Baltika

[Bandy 3]

Hi Baltika,

 

I'm really intrigued by Burning Sands now that I hear you will be pushing the start date back to '40, I think that was the reason I was looking at it, but didn't download '44.

 

I haven't installed any of the desert terrains yet, so I'm not sure if the wider Mediterranean is represented well, and if so, do you envision the campaign to include Malta as a player based squadron? So many great (and desperate!) air battles happened around there...

 

RE: WWII ships. I can't remember what site I used, but I just downloaded at least a 1/2 doz. of some nice looking merchants, destroyers, barges, and I think an e-boat (or Schnellboot (S-Boot) may be useful in BoB as well)... I will find if you are interested. There is also Hinchinbrooke's WW1 battleship Ironduke here at CA, which could be used in the Italian navy perhaps (turning a blind eye to the historical inaccuracy of course)? Would make a lovely target!

 

RE: carrier ops. I've never gotten them to work for me in my Korean Air war campaign (immediate A/C explosion after loadup and no carrier present, or perhaps it is exploded as well???) despite reading all the relevant threads here. That you got them to work 9 times out of 10 has got me scratching my head and wanting to know what you did??? Any chance of getting some pointers? I'd take 9/10...

Edited July 24, 2007 by B Bandy RFC

[Guest capun]

There are a quite a few WWII ships at our site and mirrored here also. Hinch has made several WWII ships also and if I remember correct at least one Italian ship

[+Stary 2,426]

HI!

 

Yes I got most of the ships from here, I was wondering if Baltika gonna add nodes for some cruisers/battleships to BS. I'm not good at campaign editing (frankly haven't looked into *.inis)

 

As for italian WW2 ships by Hinch there are Caesar and Cavour IIRC avaible here at CA, athrough they are not updated to SP4 I think

[+Baltika 84]

Hi all,

 

Current working build includes additional Allied & Axis target areas offshore with "static" battlegroups, as per the examples in the BoB feedback thread. These are basically just ground targets at sea, but they do shoot back at you!

 

Given the interest in carrier ops, I will take another look at it for the next release (but that is a while away).

 

IIRC, my amended desert_targets.ini for Burning Sands '44 v 1.0 includes 3 carrier stations, Alpha, Bravo & Charlie, although they are not implemented in that build. To add carriers to them, add the following to the campaign data.ini (I put it under the groundunit section, although I'm not sure that matters):-

 

// Carrier Units

 

[CarrierUnit001]

CarrierType=Victorious

CarrierNumber=38

UnitName=HMS Victorious

ForceID=1

Nation=RAF

BaseArea=Alpha Station

NumSquadron=5

BaseSize=MEDIUM

Experience=100

Morale=100

Supply=100

 

[CarrierUnit002]

CarrierType=Enterprise6

CarrierNumber=6

UnitName=USS Enterprise

ForceID=1

Nation=RAF

BaseArea=Bravo Station

NumSquadron=5

BaseSize=MEDIUM

Experience=100

Morale=100

Supply=100

 

 

Of course, make sure you install the HMS Victorious and USS Enterprise(CV-6) as well! They are available here at combatace.

 

 

Then edit one of the flyable (RAF) units to look like this:-

 

AircraftType=Seafire3C

Squadron=807RAF <------------ Check this matches an entry in the Squadronlist.ini

StartDate=9/14/1944

ForceID=1

Nation=RAF

DefaultTexture=

StartNumber=1

BaseArea=Alpha Station

CarrierBased=TRUE

CarrierNumber=38

RandomChance=100

MissionRate=1

MaxAircraft=16

StartAircraft=16

MaxPilots=16

StartPilots=16

Experience=100

Morale=100

Supply=50

MissionChance[sWEEP]=90

MissionChance[CAP]=90

MissionChance[iNTERCEPT]=90

MissionChance[ESCORT]=80

MissionChance=60

MissionChance[CAS]=0

MissionChance[sEAD]=60

MissionChance[ARMED_RECON]=60

MissionChance[ANTI_SHIP]=0

MissionChance[RECON]=40

UpgradeType=NEVER

Supply[001].WeaponType=500lb_bomb

Supply[001].Quantity=180

Supply[002].WeaponType=100lb_bomb

Supply[002].Quantity=180

Supply[003].WeaponType=TANK075_P51

Supply[003].Quantity=80

 

 

Or, if you prefer US flavoured carrier ops, this:-

 

AircraftType=F4U-1D

Squadron=VBF10 <---------- again, check it matches an entry in the squadronlist.ini, it can be any squadron listed.

StartDate=9/20/1944

ForceID=1

Nation=RAF

DefaultTexture=

StartNumber=1

BaseArea=Bravo Station

CarrierBased=TRUE

CarrierNumber=6

RandomChance=100

MissionRate=1

MaxAircraft=16

StartAircraft=16

MaxPilots=16

StartPilots=16

Experience=100

Morale=100

Supply=50

MissionChance[sWEEP]=90

MissionChance[CAP]=90

MissionChance[iNTERCEPT]=90

MissionChance[ESCORT]=90

MissionChance=60

MissionChance[CAS]=60

MissionChance[sEAD]=60

MissionChance[ARMED_RECON]=40

MissionChance[ANTI_SHIP]=60

MissionChance[RECON]=40

UpgradeType=NEVER

Supply[001].WeaponType=1000lb_bomb

Supply[001].Quantity=180

Supply[002].WeaponType=500lb_bomb

Supply[002].Quantity=180

Supply[003].WeaponType=250lb_bomb

Supply[003].Quantity=180

Supply[004].WeaponType=HVAR1

Supply[004].Quantity=240

Supply[005].WeaponType=TANK075_P51

Supply[005].Quantity=80

 

 

Make sure you have the appropriate aircraft installed as well.

 

Now, when you select your edited squadron, you should get a carrier based unit.

 

Bandy, sadly my plane blew up 9 times out of ten, not the other way around. I seem to remember a thread which spoke about a minor adjustment to the height of the carrier deck (within the carrier's _data.ini), to ensure that matched the height the plane appeared at, but it's a very long time since I looked at it.

 

The above is obviously a very rough hack & slash edit to get carriers activated. Any problems, give me a shout, although I can't promise to be able to find a solution.

 

 

Edward's North Africa and Tunisia terrains do a fantastic job of covering the Med, and Malta is a very attractive setting for a campaign. I'd love to do it, but I'm a tad overloaded right now - BoB 0.60, Burning Sands '44 v1.1, and a North Africa '40-'43 campaign all being knocked into shape for release.

 

Anybody want to build a Gladiator?

 

Cheers,

 

baltika

[Guest capun]

Look at the carrier Deck Height, that is your "takeoff" height.

[Bandy 3]

Woops, never meant to suggest you needed to take more on RE: Malta, just was wondering if it was part of the current Burning Sands campaign build as a player squadron...

 

But now that I think of how the strategic nodes would work across a N African front, I suppose that an enemy island basically "behind-the-lines" wouldn't fit into the game logic at all!!! :blush2: My bad...

 

PS: thanks kindly for the carrier advice. I saw an inconsistency in the carrier code/flight deck in Korean AW and tried to alter the deck height to suit, but to no avail...

Edited July 26, 2007 by B Bandy RFC

[Guest capun]

The Carrier Deck Height comes from the 3DS Max model.

 

One way to try it out is to make a custom mission to just launch/trap a plane, you use the plane starting point height the deck height, if the plane explodes or goes through the deck, then the deck height needs work

[keith 0]

Baltika, I have noticed that some aircraft, particularly the Boston, do not takeoff but just wander about on the ground after I am long gone. If I press Atl-N they have all caught up with me. Have you seen this before?

[+Baltika 84]

Baltika, I have noticed that some aircraft, particularly the Boston, do not takeoff but just wander about on the ground after I am long gone. If I press Atl-N they have all caught up with me. Have you seen this before?

 

Hi keith,

 

Yes, on occasion, not just the Boston. I'm not sure what's going on there. Once BoB v0.60 is out I will be taking a look at this campaign.

 

Cheers,

 

Baltika