SF2 Realism Mod

[+hi ho silver]

Just had a thought how about minus numbers ie -100?

[+daddyairplanes]

nice idea but the - would throw it off and make the number unreadable, kinda like doing // to blank out a line

[+HomeFries]

damn but i agree with the Army bit. typically AVN Bn's dont have specific markings just UNITED STATES ARMY on the tails. woulda been nice though..... could possibly be useful as a tool for campaigns goin over 1000 but will rethink the utility of it overall. BTW offtopic anyone heard from Dave lately? this was kinda his pot of grits to start with before we all got in and stirring.

US Army is a level 0 decal (or at least should be; we could add it to Nations.ini as part of the effort), so you can have your cake and eat it too.

 

EDIT: NVM; I reread your post and saw what you're really getting at. I tend to agree, although we really have plenty of room to work with. The trick is in the front end of the project: we need to determine not only which units to include, but which units will have level 1 squadron decals. We don't need to do the decals now, but we need to determine whether we (or somebody else) will do the decals in the future. Without knowing the organizational markings of other NATO nations, I'm not really the best guy to make this determination, though I do think that the priority should be given to tactical aircraft likely to be player flyable.

Edited August 3, 2012 by HomeFries

[+HomeFries]

One more thought on this: If we're not sure, we can always put the entry post-999. If we decide to do decals for that unit, just renumber it in the sub-1000 pool and create the decals. A new SquadronList package would need to be released, but we'd be looking to do this anyway after releasing new decals. You wouldn't need to change/renumber any decals because the entry would not have decals to begin with, and you could always leave the old post-999 entry as a blank placeholder if you couldn't think of a unit to add. No campaigns or missions would be affected because they use the SquadronName and not the entry number.

 

This also alleviates pressure of the triage I described in the previous post.

 

EDIT: If we go this route, we should leave an even larger buffer on the back end of the sub-1000 entries, and only put entries we know we intend to decal in the sub-1000.

Edited August 3, 2012 by HomeFries

[+daddyairplanes]

sounds good, the post 1000 could possibly help campaigners and many folks prefer skiining the markings on that decalling. However, i will again call out to the Vietnam and Isreal buffs out there for some advice on units. focusing on stock aircraft but i could likely fill most of the space USAF/NATO. wrapping up that prob tomm night then moving on to RAF and the Luftwaffe. i'm willing to plug em in but my area of interest/expertise is Europe so it is what i naturally gravitate to.

[+HomeFries]

focusing on stock aircraft but i could likely fill most of the space USAF/NATO. wrapping up that prob tomm night then moving on to RAF and the Luftwaffe. i'm willing to plug em in but my area of interest/expertise is Europe so it is what i naturally gravitate to.

Have at it. I'm up to my eyeballs in Prowlers.

[+daddyairplanes]

not yourself HR, i'm talkin anyone else reading this thread. leave it entirely up to me to research and it will be very Euro centric. but if anyone is willing to list me some units (not already in game) from the vietnam war and middle eastern theatre, then i would be willing to incorporate them. reminds me, gotta look up some Egyptian units. Phantoms and Falcons in the 80s afterall!

[+Brennus]

Dave, I'm currently (finally) building the foundation for the SFR Menu, and I have a couple of questions. First, which aircraft do you suppose will be the main focus, as the F-15A is to SF2:EU and the F-4(X) is to SF2. This will give me an idea as to which aircraft will be featured on the Main Screen. Second, I need an icon or patch for the System Menu Icon and Desktop Icon. As an example, I use the Desert Storm patch as the Icon for the Desert Storm Mod, and the NATO emblum as the Icon for SF2:EU.

 

Also, Menu X (SFR) will see the debut of an official (actual) 4:3 > 16:9 (1024x768 > 1920x1080) menu screen conversion, which will be the basis for all future Menu X projects.

[+HomeFries]

Brennus,

 

Rather than focusing on a single aircraft, why not touch on multiple aircraft across multiple theaters? The main loadscreen could have aircraft in use by both USAF and USN/USMC (e.g. F-4 and A-7). Throw on the Tomcat for another screen, the F-15A for another, the F-105 in SEA for another, etc.

[+Brennus]

Am I to assume that the default aircraft will be front and center, or will there be additional aircraft added to the roster (M2K?)? Also, will SFR require a merged install, or will there be a specific version (SF2:EU?) in mind?

[+HomeFries]

I think the idea now is to keep everything to a minimum, with a focus on datafile tweaks. The idea is to make edits to files that aren't likely to change on a regular basis, so skins and 3rd party LODs are deemphasized. I believe that the stock aircraft are the ones receiving the most attention, though I doubt anybody has ruled out using stock LODs for different/additional variants.

 

I think the plan for installable variants at this time is to have separate components that can be added based on what SF versions are currently installed (e.g. install this for SF2, install this for SF2V, etc.). Of course, we're not far enough along to set this approach in stone.

Edited August 13, 2012 by HomeFries

[+HomeFries]

Just thinking: we should probably do the A-4 reserve squadrons (USN/USMC) now that we have the A-4L as DLC.

[+HomeFries]

The following reserve squadrons flew the A-4 (though not all flew the L).

 

USNR Squadrons to add (with tailcode):

• VA-203 Blue Dolphins (AF)
  
• VA-204 River Rattlers (AF)
  
• VA-209 Air Barons (AF)
  
• VA-210 Black Hawks (AF)
  
• VA-303 Golden Hawks (ND)
  
• VA-305 Lobos (ND)
  
• VA-831 Mohicans (AB when activated)
  

Additionally, VA-205 also flew the A-4L, though the Green Falcons are already in the updated SquadronList.ini with A-6 decals.

 

The following USMCR squadrons flew the A-4:

• VMA-124 Bantam Bombers (QP)
  
• VMA-131 Diamondbacks (QG)
  
• VMA-133 Dragons (ME)
  
• VMA-134 Skyhawks (MF)
  
• VMA-142 Flying Gators (MB)
  
• VMA-143 (7X)
  
• VMA-144 (5F)
  
• VMA-217 (7Z)
  
• VMA-233 Blazing Aces
  
• VMA-322 Fighting Gamecocks (QR)
  
• VMA-543 (MD)
  

EDIT:

We could put all of these post-1000, except for VMA-543 (which I can easily do a tail for) so we will at least have 1 USN and 1 USMC Reserve squadron available with tail art. Then as we add tail art for the aircraft, we can pull them below 1000.

 

We should also give some love to the Royal Navy No. 892 Naval Air Squadron (Name=892NAS). This is the F-4K squadron used in the DLC, so adding it to the squadronlist.ini is a natural.

Edited August 14, 2012 by HomeFries

[+daddyairplanes]

#592 in the squadronlist.ini posted earlier in here. took yours and wrapped up thru 600 with active duty naval units then added mine with Phantoms.

bogged down abit due to RL. aim to have at least some USAF/ANG love going thru 700 this weekend here in thread.

[+HomeFries]

Awesome. If you want, I'll be happy to add those USN/USMC units, but we need to be careful that only one of us is adding at a time, and that we're doing it serially to the same file.

Edited August 14, 2012 by HomeFries

[+daddyairplanes]

if your talking the reserve units i would add the ones that had a realistic likely had a shot of deploying in a war scenario. with ANG units many FIS's would be kept in CONUS to protect the homeland. yes the 5th FIS deployed to Germany for Cold Fire in '75, but realistically they would have stayed at home. dibs on 600-700 but if you wanna plug some of the reservists in no worries. i'm gonna //// add descriptions of what each 100 block is //// so folks at home know what they are looking at in the squadronlist.

[+HomeFries]

I was planning on going with the post-1970 USNR structure in which each reserve squadron is assigned to a reserve carrier air wing on the east or west coast. With this model, any reserve unit has an equal opportunity chance of deployment to augment regular forces, with the exception of the tailcodes that have a number/letter combo (which are assigned to naval air stations, not air wings). No need to go crazy on all of the reserve squadrons (I figure do a couple of decals, and pop the rest in 1000+ to possibly bring out at a later date), but we do get a lot of bang for the buck with some of the squadrons that flew multiple A-4 airframes, and a number of the squadrons transitioned to the A-7 and then to the F/A-18.

 

I'm also curious as to if you have anything planned after 700. This would be a good place for the red squadrons, and then leave 800-999 free for the post-1000 listings we take off of ice.

[+daddyairplanes]

European AF and South Vietnam. i was gonna merge Vietnam expansion pack's and NF4+'s ini's to this one and that would cover alot on those two. but still only around and additonal 150 between the two i think so still room. only thing explictly planned is upto 700 though. will release a new list on sunday so just shoot me what you add and i will adjust fire from there.

Edited August 15, 2012 by daddyairplanes

[+HomeFries]

If you are looking for 850 tops (with Army Air and non-tacair at +1000), then we don't have to worry as much about where certain things should go. I figure I'll add the USNR/USMCR squadrons for which I can find tail art, and leave the rest at +1000 or not at all.

 

The only thing with +1000 is that we won't even get the squadron name unless it is a specifically designed skin. To that end, if we're adding units that currently only have specific skins/decals, we should add them to 1000+ unless we're planning on skinning them for level 1.

[+HomeFries]

Here are the unit entries for which I found good tail art:

[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

 

Renumber as necessary.

Edited August 15, 2012 by HomeFries

[+HomeFries]

One more catch:

[squadron598]
Name=VMA331
DisplayName=VMA-331 BumbleBees
Nation=RoyalNavy

 

Nation should be USMC.

[+daddyairplanes]

doh! thank you sir, 10-1130 at night is the usual time for both working and typo's!

[+HomeFries]

LOL. Me too (though my time is usually 2200-0130). 2200 is about when I get my second wind, and 0200 is typo-time!

[+daddyairplanes]

well the 1st thru tonight was supposed to be free modding time before the fall semester. instead have had rotating sick wife and 3 girls, employment set back and taxi service to all sick peoples. at least i'm getting Adobe Photoshop on GI bill this month!

[+HomeFries]

My first Reserve A-4L squadron: VMA-543 Knight Hawks.