SF2 Realism Mod

[+daddyairplanes 9,313]

will load a stock SEA scheme decals set here tonight when i get home, as well as a DLC for the black and Grey decals. next on agenda is a decal pack for the A-7D featuring all users. whats your opinion on a F-16A? it would have to be built up from the Netz and decalled out. all the pieces are there but its together as people put in their particular projects and most units are skinned on rather than decalled although i have the ini dance done for that (somewhere on a 2TB external!) and work still continues naval Phantoms tho slowly with all other commitments.

 

HF, how vital is VAQ-33 to your skins? wanting to add VMFP-3 to the line up but most Marine units are full up in the 550-599 block. am moving the Aussies and Kiwis further down to the "asia" block for two Tac Marine squadrons but will be working skins for later year RF ops.

Edited October 1, 2012 by daddyairplanes

[+HomeFries 29]

I'd like to have VAQ-33 in there (I already made decals), but you can renum if need be. As long as I only need to change one set of decals, the pain isn't bad; if you need the space, you can always move it forward to 550. EDIT: I just realized that VAQ-33 is located between other A-6 squadrons; moving that to organize groups may cause a cascade of at least three squadrons to be renumbered. I can do it, but please let me know exactly what you move to where so that I can update my A-6 decals.

 

As far as the reserve A-4 squadrons, you mentioned previously that they were banks 716-728, but I only have 12 squadrons (which takes me up to 727). Please confirm the number range before I start making decals.

 

Finally, I'm finally getting back into the saddle with this. After my vacation, I've been busy with end of fiscal year things, as well as the beginning of the new one. Hopefully things will begin to calm down.

Edited October 1, 2012 by HomeFries

[+daddyairplanes 9,313]

here is the Stock SEA skin and white tailcodes POST 1972. for pre 72 birds did a second skn and post 72 just adjusted the stock SEA skin. i have 716-726 used now for WhiteboySamurai's japanese squadron request and moving the aussie navy and new zealand af units outta 590 land(they were there cause of A-4 DLC but shifted.) lemme know what you need for A-4 reserve and i'll add it in. will at least go back to 550 as the space i'm opening is gonna be taken by VMFA-134 and 451 for F-4 units.

 

also this file will be taken down in one weeks time from my post. its gonna use 1/3 of my limit on here so don't wanna leave it tooo long. i will include it again when i upload a redux of Sundowner's skins and my decals in a couple more weeks. this is just for benefit of the realism mod for now.

Edited October 2, 2012 by daddyairplanes

[+HomeFries 29]

Ok, DA, what's going on?

 

Comparing the two files, the 128TFS (Squadron612) has been removed, as has 170TFS (613) and 194TFS (616). We also have 1RAAF at 716, which as I now recall makes sense because I wanted to add 1RAAF and 6RAAF. However, per your own post 716-728 were supposed to be for the USN/USMC reserve A-4 squadrons for the A-4L DLC. They would still fit as 717-728, but it sounds like you want to move them. That's fine; I haven't committed to anything yet with the A-4 squadrons, but I want something in at least quick-setting mud before I get moving on the decals.

 

Finally, what are your intentions regarding VAQ-33? Please let me know what you're going to do before you do it (including what squadrons you want to move around) and I'll let you know if I can support it (the next A-6 superpack has a bunch of different decals by time period, so a major number revision is out of the question).

Edited October 2, 2012 by HomeFries

[+daddyairplanes 9,313]

HF, the answers in order.

the USAF squadrons were removed from the 600 block because they now show in the 400 block courtesy of the DLC. for those that dont have it yet i expect the new additions to pop up in the next patch. they are now 403,404,and 405 respectively.

 

as soon as you have a list of squadrons or entries i will plug it in for the A-4 reserve squdrons. as said i filled that block 716-726 for WBS per his request. the kiwis im moving to make two more marine squadrons .

 

no set intentions on VAQ-33, it was more a training(electronic aggressor) squadron than anything else and i was looking for room. no probs leaving it in, it did also operate around 5 Phantoms including the only officiially designated EF-4B. on further reflection VMFA-134 and -451 stay but VMFP-3 could go to a personal 900 block for now so even Aussie Navy will stay put.

 

lemme know what block you want to reserve for the Skyhawks. either 688-699, 727-739 or if you want to keep it closer to the other naval units go backwards from 550. i will comment them out in the ini as A-4L Reserves so i dont forget about them when addin other units.

Edited October 2, 2012 by daddyairplanes

[+HomeFries 29]

No problem, DA. Good catch on the ANG squadrons; I didn't even connect the dots.

 

All things being equal, I would like to leave the USN/USMC squadrons from 550 where they are, as each A-6/EA-6B unit has 15 decals at minimum (which will multiply with v2.0 as I go more timeframe specific). Anything I don't have to change there is a good thing. VAQ-33 is one of those with "only" 15 decals, so that would be comparatively painless, but I won't complain if we leave it exactly where it is.

 

I actually thought the same thing you did when I put -33 in; it's not operational, but it flew a number of airframes so there exists the possibility of making multiple sets of decals for different aircraft.

 

The A-4L squadrons can go anywhere. I just know that we had discussed 716-728 previously. I haven't done a full set, so there's no renumbering yet, so put them anywhere you like them. Just let me know the range and set it in stone so that I can make the decals.

 

Here are the squadrons from my original post (to be renumbered as required):

[squadron701]
Name=VA203
DisplayName=VA-203 Blue Dolphins
Nation=USN

[squadron702]
Name=VA204
DisplayName=VA-204 River Rattlers
Nation=USN

[squadron703]
Name=VA209
DisplayName=VA-209 Air Barons
Nation=USN

[squadron704]
Name=VA303
DisplayName=VA-303 Golden Hawks
Nation=USN

[squadron705]
Name=VA305
DisplayName=VA-305 Lobos
Nation=USN

[squadron706]
Name=VMA124
DisplayName=VMA-124 Bantam Bombers
Nation=USMC

[squadron707]
Name=VMA131
DisplayName=VMA-131 Diamondbacks
Nation=USMC

[squadron708]
Name=VMA133
DisplayName=VMA-133 Dragons
Nation=USMC

[squadron709]
Name=VMA134
DisplayName=VMA-134 Skyhawks
Nation=USMC

[squadron710]
Name=VMA142
DisplayName=VMA-142 Flying Gators
Nation=USMC

[squadron711]
Name=VMA322
DisplayName=VMA-322 Fighting Gamecocks
Nation=USMC

[squadron712]
Name=VMA543
DisplayName=VMA-543 Knight Hawks
Nation=USMC

 

and the screenshot.

 

When you say Kiwi squadrons, please confirm that you're only moving RNZAF and not RAAF 1 and 6. I know that 1 and 6 are separated, but I have already released a skinpack that uses those addresses. We should keep them where they are.

Edited October 2, 2012 by HomeFries

[+daddyairplanes 9,313]

the entries i have for RAAF are 1 at 591 and 6 at 716. only ones i moved are the RNZAF. will confirm the Reservists in starting at 727 tonight and get em plugged in. also lemme know if the Aussies are different will see bout putting them back but i think thats where they were for a while now.

[+HomeFries 29]

No problem; 591 and 716 sounds right. Aussies are good.

[+daddyairplanes 9,313]

ok gotcha plugged in for 728-739 for the Reserve A-4s. gonna look up squadrons for the other DLCs that did not have squadrons added on (USAF Skinpack and F-4EJ yes, Omani Hunter and Greek Corsair not so much). however being somewhat lazy and busy with other things i'm starting a info request thread for Isreali, French and other DLC units to see what comes up. it is quicker and easier for me to verify inputs than to generate at this moment. also gonna put US Army into the personal 900 or even 1000+ block for now, space is starting to fill up and helos aren't exactly stock. i say personal cause when its said and done i want to have some plug in 900 blocks for such mods as the NF series and Vietnam A&G expansion pack. i'll just have a Air Cav one also for helos after doing the research.

[+HomeFries 29]

Screenshot of the A-4L with two of the new reserve squadrons.

 

[+daddyairplanes 9,313]

nice!

[+HomeFries 29]

All USN squadrons are done; 5 USMC squadrons to go.

Then it will be the A-7 tails for the squadons that transitioned (e.g. VA-203).

 

On a tangent, I think that adding landing lights to the flyable aircraft would be a great addition to the RP, but this is definitely not a "quick" fix. One airframe isn't bad, but all of them (or even just the flyable ones) will be a monster. Any volunteers to take a few aircraft? Honestly, I would be willing to do the data entries if I were just provided with the proper coordinates.

Edited October 5, 2012 by HomeFries

[+HomeFries 29]

All A-4 Squadrons are finished. Next up is developing an A-7 tail template and adding the squadrons that transitioned to the SLUF.

 

Two of my favorite tails: VMA-142 Flying Gators (front) and VMA-131 Diamondbacks (back).

[+daddyairplanes 9,313]

looks awesome, esp the VMA-142 skin. is that BiCentennial or their normal colors?

[+HomeFries 29]

Re 142, I'm not sure. I've seen similar paint jobs for the E model, so I figure they must be more than Bicentennial. However, I've also seen the Red/Gold USMC pattern on the rudder as well. However, I already used the red/gold for VMA-133, so I opted for the fancier job with 142.

[+daddyairplanes 9,313]

how stock do we wanna consider stock? availibility for DLC or straight Full 5 merged? based on your work with the A-4Ls HF i would believe we are considering anything released by TW to be stock, which would be good for me with my Phantom projects.

[+HomeFries 29]

I have no problem adding updated DLC data files as optional installs, but I'm not going out of my way to do so. I did the A-4L squadrons because the A-4L DLC didn't have any representative squadrons in game, and adding reserve squadrons apply to all of the A-4 LODs (and some of the A-7 LODs when I do those tails).

[+GrinchWSLG 24]

I'll be at the USAF Armament Museum in a few days. If anyone has any specific requests either post them here or PM me. I already plan on doing tons of photos of the weapons there, but there's also static aircraft and a some archives I can dig through for more specific stuff.

[+HomeFries 29]

I can't think of anything, Grinch, but if you see something you think would be cool, take some pictures and post here! We won't be doing 3D objects, but we can skin and decal.

[+daddyairplanes 9,313]

if you can, actual start dates for Mk 80 series. i've edited my personal ones to start in 62 cause it was just irritating to see Mustangs with Mk82s in 1953! i believe Ed Hienneman originally designed em for his Scooter but they are now they standard for dumb iron and smart cores....

@HF, are you doing anything with Composite squadrons? was putzing on Wiki last night and saw a bit about VC-10, last active Skyhawk operator stationed at Gitmo.

[Slartibartfast 153]

DA your right on the Mk80 series of bombs Ed built them for the A-4 along with the MER's and TER's as the biggest complaint about Skyhawks was that it only had 3 hard points... and one or 2 of those usually had drop tanks on them... They didn't start using them until Vietnam but the design of them goes back to around 1946 or so...

Edited November 8, 2012 by Slartibartfast

[+HomeFries 29]

All,

 

In a couple of weeks, I'll be undertaking additional work responsibilities that will cost me the lion's share of my free time for the foreseeable future. At this point, I won't be able to take point on the Realism Mod. I have no problem staying on as integrator (I have professional experience in that department, and I can do that on the weekends), and I'll still do decals as required, but someone else will need to do the heavy lifting like sorting weapons, choosing avionics enhancement packages, et al.

 

As it stands right now, we could put out a 1.0 framework as soon as the squadronlist.ini is finalized (and once we get permission as required), but unless someone steps up, this project may necessarily be reduced in scope.

Edited November 12, 2012 by HomeFries

[+daddyairplanes 9,313]

for the foreseeable future the squadronlist should be good. i've included bout every unit i could find for the century series that would be in a stock theatre (Germany, Vietnam) and every combat rated F-4 unit. F-15 and -14 units cover down from Phantom phlyers and i've also added a great many units from NF4+/ 5 and eBurgers Vietnam Air and Ground expansion pack. finally i even added about 20 units for the Dhimari AF and Navy. still have around 75 slots open NOT including 900-999 which i left open for ther modders to include their own units. there is alot of room for growth and i have asked assistance for areas i'm not as good with (French AF, IDF/AF) but not much in reply. only stock plane i can think of left is teh B-57B and some Bomb Squadrons for it, but only if someone has it in mind for a pit in the Realism mod. otherwise i would say lets release teh squadronlist. it will need some tweeking anyhow as new patches come out and any other additions can post then.

 

btw HF, hopefully the extra workload comes with extra bennies. either way good luck with it!

Edited November 13, 2012 by daddyairplanes

[+daddyairplanes 9,313]

btw Dels has come up with a trick for allowing the new squadrons to show up in the dropdown menu so long as that country has a skin for the aircraft in question. its one entry in the decal.ini in the particular skins folder. will get the ini fix into the stock skins such as RDAFSilver for the F-100D that can benefit. decals to actaully affect anything will be a bit longer though....

[+HomeFries 29]

For people keeping tabs on the project, I have lost interest in modding SF2, with my interest shifting to DCS. As I indicated in my previous post, we're close to putting something out, and what we have is a definite improvement across the board.

 

What's left is most likely the removal of some things that don't fit, and getting permission for inclusion from modders who are not signatories on the CA Freeware Licensing Agreement. I have passed everything to DA, so he should take the lion's share of the credit once the Realism Mod makes it out the door.

 

I am still willing to help out in any way possible, and I will gladly honor specific requests (e.g. "Could you skin this?") to the best of my ability. I also intend to release a final A-6 Superpack version after the Realism Mod is released in order to maintain consistency and add some improvements I developed before losing interest.

 

Again, if you need anything, don't hesitate to ask.