LOMAC SKins and other items

[Stingray72]

Hi All!!

I have been playing IL2 for years and my squad is trying to get us off the ground on LOMAC now here pretty quick. I am trying to install skins for the game, and I saw a post saying use the ModMan, whatever that is.

Can someone please give me detailed instructions on how to change these? I found a great one for the A-10 starring the boys from my home state of MD and I want to use it!! Also, after I get the skins in the folder, how do I pick the skin in game? I didn't see the option anywhere, although it couldbe that I just don't know what to look for.

I am running the stock install, and my copy is from when the game first came out. What do I need to do for downloads to update my stuff?

Please someone help me so I can get caught up with everyone else!!!!

~S

11th_AF_Taxman

Training Officer, 11th VAF

[Mad Pixels]

You would be advised to use Modman for any skinning ,aircraft, or mods.If you get ver6.3 or the new ver7.0 or something ,install the Modman app. and open it.You will see a tab for ADD Files. Put all your files in one folder so that it is easy to find.The files can be zipped or rar files does't matter,Mod Man will open and install at the same time. If you don;t like it then let ModMan uninstall it for you also. Once you start addind content to this app. you can see what files are added or removed . Hope this helps.. You can also go to the lockon site and register there then get all the info and downloads available for LO ver1.02.

[Brit_Radar_Dude]

Here is my standard cut and paste about skins, hope it helps.....

 

Lockon has a fixed number of slots for each aircraft type, some aircraft types have more skin slots than others. In the ME (Mission Editor), in the PAYLOAD section for an aircraft you can set the skin you want. Note that you can change the skins for flyable aircraft and also for the AI aircraft. When you install a new skin with MODMAN (or manually), then that new skin will replace one of the default skins. Which default skin depends on which one the designer of the new skin chose to replace, ie which slot number he chose.

 

Sometimes a readme file with the skin will tell you which slot number, mostly skin designers dont bother and more usually you have to look at each skin to find your new one. When you open up a mission in the Mission Editor and select an aircraft then choose the PAYLOAD screen, you see a picture of the aircraft and you can see what weapon loadout it has, what skin it is wearing, etc. If you look lower left, you see a pulldown menu called COLOUR SCHEME. It tells you the name of the current skin, click on the pulldown and you see the whole selection and you can deduce which slot number the skin is. When you load new skins, it does not necessarily change the name shown in this pulldown menu yet it DOES change the skin. It means you have to look at each skin in turn to find the one you want. Slightly annoying but only takes a few seconds to find the one you want. I'm sure I recall occasionally that new skins I've loaded in the past did change the names in that menu or maybe I just imagined it.... When you finished changing to the skin you want, then don't forget to SAVE the mission (top left save icon).

 

This is the most common problem folks have with D/L'ed skins, they have successfully used MODMAN to add them into Lockon but fail in the final step to actually select the skin "in game". This explains why folks get confused when they fly a mission and the new skin doesn't appear.

 

Example.

The new skin replaces default skin number 3 for the A-10.

You fly the A-10 quick fly mission straight from the main page.

Unless that mission coincidentally used skin number 3, then you would see no change.

 

Example

The new skin replaces default skin number 3 for the A-10.

You fly an A-10 campaign you have downloaded from the Community.

Unless the missions within that campaign coincidentally used skin number 3, then you would see no change.

 

Example.

This time you make your own mission using the ME and choose skin number 3 in the PAYLOAD screen.

Now you see the new skin.

 

Hope that makes it a bit clearer.

 

For skins, modes, tweaks and other downloads, the premier English language site is

http://www.lockonfiles.com/

You'll need to register, but well worth it. It's forums are more lively than CombatACE lockon forum is, so you can get quicker help over there. I'm a bit biased as I'm one of the Forum Mods over there....

 

My foreign language skills are appalling but I can manage to get round other language websites, you can too.

 

So check out the German site jabog32 (but almost all of it is in English too). Epecially good is their selection of Lockon movies.

http://www.virtual-jabog32.de/index.php?se...ads&lang=en

 

Not forgetting our chums over at Check Six, the premier French site

http://www.checksix-fr.com/

then click on the sidebar menu Lockon-FC, then skins or whatever you want.

Edited March 11, 2009 by Brit_Radar_Dude

[Brit_Radar_Dude]

...and here's my standard cut and paste about MODMAN itself for anyone reading this thread who isnt familiar with using it.

 

 

 

MODMAN stands for MODification MANager.

 

In the simplest terms it allows you to add or remove Mods, aircraft and vehicle skins, etc.

 

Some Mods will modify a large number of Lockon files in different folders. To manually install or remove such a Mod is a real pain in the *** and very time consuming - you have to save the old versions of files somewhere, copy in the new files, write down what you have done so you can undo it at some future time when you remove the Mod.

 

Imagine if you manually installed a couple of Mods six months ago and you now want to remove them. Can you remember what you did to add them? Can you figure out how to remove them? I can't even remember what I had for lunch yesterday, so a Utility like MODMAN is a lifesaver.

 

MODMAN allows a one-click add or remove of Mods. It keeps the old versions of files in its backup area and it "knows" which files belong in which folders.

 

If the Mod or Skin maker has made their Mod or skin as a MODMAN compatable pack then MODMAN will recognise it as such. The pack will contain a file with an extension of .lma or .lma3 or similar that contains the info that MODMAN needs to enable it to add or remove a Mod.

 

The vast majority of Mods and skins available on Lockon Community sites are MODMAN compatable these days.

 

MODMAN has other features too - you can alter graphics settings with its user friendly interface, etc. Of course it includes an addon maker to allow you to package up your own Mods and skins into MODMAN compatable packs for distribution to the Community.

 

All you have to do when you download a MODMAN compatable Mod or skin is leave it as a .zip or .rar file (MODMAN expects them to be zipped, it unzips them for you). Put the pack into MODMAN's ADDON folder, fire up MODMAN and go to the addon manager where it will show you the status of all your addon packs, either installed or not installed, addon name, author, what type of addon it is - skin, cockpit, landscape, sounds, etc. It shows you the readme file and .jpg of the Mod (if the author included such things).