Adjusting Gunpod Aim in FE2

[DARoot 6]

Having spent a day searching this Forum and the SF2 Forum (as well as the

A-Team's Forum) to no avail, I shall now ask directly.

 

I have two quick questions, for anyone who might know the answers --

 

In First Eagles 2, weapons (such as "Bomb11kg") have their own subfolders

within the \Objects\Weapons folder, as well as entries in "Weapondata.ini"

(and the "Weapondata.dat" compiled file), that contain the same information as

that weapon's individual "xx_data.ini" file.

 

1) If one wants to change a weapon's parameters, is it sufficient to simply just

make the changes in the individual xx_data.ini file (in Notepad), or must one

also edit "Weapondata.ini" to match, and then recompile "Weapondata.dat"

like in FE1 and the SFP1 first-generation sims?

[same goes for guns in "Gundata.ini/Gundata.dat" and their individual folders in

FE2].

 

2) How does one adjust the aim angle/bullet path for Gunpods?

Internal guns have a "AimAngles=0.0,0.0,0.0" line in the individual aircraft's

data.ini file, that can be edited (if adjusting the cockpit and pilot eyepoint

positions don't do the trick). Gunpods do not, and tend to shoot directly in front

of wherever they are mounted (judging by their tracer path in-game), not at the

center of the aiming reticle.

 

Peter01 has shared with us some great FMs, that allow several different

armament configurations (using Gunpods) on the same aircraft model.

Unfortunately, I cannot hit anything with them at the moment. Depending on

which combination is loaded, each different weapon (gunpod) aims its bullets at

a different point in space. For me, I need to "harmonize" my guns (especially

for attacking ground objects).

 

[Example: Peter01's "Lewis Balloon" gunpod has the following parmeter in both

"Weapondata.ini" and in the "Lewis Balloon_data.ini" found in its individual

folder, within the FE2 Objects\Weapons folder:

AimDirection=0.000000,1.000000,0.000000

Would changing these numbers work to adjust the bullet path, and if so, would

simply changing "Lewis Balloon_data.ini" suffice, or must it also be changed in

"Weapondata.ini" (and "Weapondata.dat")?]

 

Any help will be appreciated.

 

DARoot

[+Crusader 2,101]

Theres 2 ways:

 

1. you can change the AttachmentAngles=0.0,-1.5,0.0 in the aircraft's DATA ini to adjust elevation of the whole pod but this can lead to unpleasant visual attachment issues with the weapon at a weird angle

The format uses sideway rotation, elevation (-1.5 in the example) and roll , where left, down and left roll is entered by the value preceded by a - (minus)

 

2. you can change the AimDirection=0.000000,1.000000,-0.200000 in the gunpod itself

Format is sideway deflection, fore/aft ( 1.000000 is forward, -1.000000 is rearward firing) and elevation , example above shows a forward firing, -20 degree depression (-0.200000) pod

 

Thats what I remember ... not sure anymore if its 100% correct though...

Edited January 12, 2013 by Crusader

[Panama Red 22]

You never touch the Weapondata.dat in FE2. All new weapons/guns get installed by the SF2 "folder" method.

 

Fooling around with the FE2 Weaponsdata.dat will cause you nothing but grief in the end, so just leave it alone.

[DARoot 6]

Excellent information! Thank you both!

@ Panama Red -- That is Good News, and very helpful. [Didn't make sense to me why Thirdwire would change the file structure for FE2 if one still had to revise/recompile Weapondata.ini and Weapondata.dat in addition to editing separate weapon-specific folder files. You've now cleared that up.]

 

Hmmmm.... So, does that mean I can safely DELETE the additional "Weapondata.ini"

and "Weapondata.dat" files that Peter01 supplied with his "REALLY Fixed FE2 Game

Files ..etc." download (his files are dated 3/15/2010, whereas my FE2 is the 7/6/2010

version), so they don't (possibly) "...cause [me] grief in the end..." [they don't seem to have.. yet..]???

 

@ Crusader -- Thank you kindly for the information and clear explanation. Very helpful to me!

1) Yes, I sorta figured the "Attachment Angles=" parameter controlled the position of

the whole Gunpod (e.g., as it appears in an External View), and editing those numbers would mess up the intentions of the Modder who worked so hard to get the Gunpod to appear on the airplane model wing or fuselage in the first place. You've now confirmed that.

 

2) Excellent! The "AimDirection=" parameter does work as you describe. Thankfully, I

can now freely do "trial-and-error" experiments with edits in the individual Gunpod data files in FE2, rather than have to keep editing and recompiling "Weapondata.ini" and "Weapondata.dat" [which can add additional possible sources of errors and glitches when experimenting].

 

Thanks to you both, I can now spend endless hours "tweaking" my FE2 flyable aircraft so they work the way I prefer.

[Errr... well, perhaps that's not exactly the way to put it ...]

What I mean is, thanks to you, I have a better understanding of FE2, and can save

time and effort on what I may wish to do, and work with much more confidence (and

fewer false starts and dead-end efforts).

Here's an example --

This is the cockpit view of my "stock" FE2 Spad7_180, with an upper-wing-mounted

Lewis Gunpod (Peter01's) added. As you can see from this screenshot [or, maybe you can't -- since I fly in "Cockpit Wide" view, the tracer path is kinda small -- but I've

confirmed it in the other, close-up views], the tracers from both the Vickers (Internal

Gun) and Lewis (add-on gunpod) are now dead-center in the aiming reticle, thanks to you guys.

Incidentally, for anyone who is interested, and might not otherwise be aware of it, it is

a VERY easy edit to make the aiming reticle (which you see if you turn off the cockpit

graphics) appear when the cockpit is turned on (as here).

Simply change the entries in your plane's _cockpit.ini file to read:

"HasGunsight=TRUE" and

"FixedSight=FALSE."

[And, if you are editing a 3rd-party _cockpit.ini that has NO gunsight entry, make sure you also add a "Gunsight=GunsightFront" line just above the "Instrument001=" entry].

You can adjust the size (diameter) of the sight by making the entry

"GunsightMilSize=" number larger or smaller. Theoretically, if the target's wings fill the ring, you are in range to fire (so, don't make it too small).

Then, by adjusting the cockpit Position=, Offset=, and ViewAngles= numbers, you can place the reticle right on the front cowling (or wherever you prefer).

[i use a custom "Spad13_Ironsight.tga" with silver highlights around the rings -- makes it easier for my tired old eyes to see it against light (sky) and dark (ground)

backgrounds].

There's probably a way to make the "other" ringsight on the left disappear, but since

it's part of the default Thirdwire aircraft model .lod, I'd just as soon not try to mess with it. Easier (and safer) just to ignore it.

 

Thank you again for your help. Great to know the Community is there when one needs it.

 

DARoot

[DARoot 6]

Addendum

After the euphoria of initial success and making progress, one must face the cold hard reality -- changing the "AimDirection=" parameter in the gunpod's _data.ini will affect every instance of the use of that gunpod in FE2, on every aircraft.

The numbers that "work" for the Spad 7 probably won't be right for the Nieuport 17.

(Sigh)

This leaves us with more or less the same position we started with, except that, like a broken watch [which displays the correct time twice per day], we at least have an accurate gunpod on one aircraft model.

 

So, more work --

 

1) Probably try adjusting the "Attachment Angles=" parameter in the individual aircraft's _data.ini first. If one can get the bullet pathway correct, and the resulting placement of the external gunpod model on the external airframe is not too bad, we're done with that specific aircraft.

 

2) Based on Panama Red's information, one could try duplicating the gunpod folders in \Objects\Weapons and re-naming them for use on specific aircraft [e.g., "Lewis01_S7," "Lewis01_N17," "Lewis Balloon_N16," etc.]. Allows full control over the gunpod's "AimDirection=" parameter for any specific aircraft MODEL [e.g., the Spad7_150 and Spad7_180 share the same model; the Nieuport17s and Nieuport23s share the same model; the Nieuport 11s and Nieuport 16s share the same model, etc.] and preserves Peter01's concept of using various gunpod armaments selectable via Loadout.ini.

A single model-specific gunpod should work for all aircraft using the same model.

In any event, a dozen individual gunpod subfolders take up a lot less hard drive space than a dozen different Nieuport aircraft folders representing different armaments [although one still needs separate aircraft folders for the variants in engines and performance characteristics].

 

3) If all else fails (or, if you prefer a single specific armament all of the time), one can always go back to defining the gun as an [internalGun] in the specific aircraft's _data.ini (and adjust the bullet path there), and define the external gun model as simply a dummy [e.g., fuel tank] to show up on the external view, just like was done originally in FE1. The obvious disadvantage here, of course, is that the gun is permanent [and will still fire, even if the external gun model is not loaded/attached -- unless you turn it off manually with <BACKSPACE> or <;> or <'> -- but, who's gonna do that? And you know the AI won't...]

 

4) Naturally, one can always forget the whole business, and just learn to live with what we are given. Sometimes I feel that way. [And, I've been known to fire off all of my Lewis ammo on the way to the target area, and not reload, and just rely on my internal Vickers, if the Lewis aim is so far off I cannot compensate, and don't want to be distracted by it during the mission].

 

Well, we're not about giving up and going home, No, Sir! So, perhaps this discussion can continue with additional input from others in this Community.

 

DARoot

[Panama Red 22]

peter01's Weaponsdata.dat is for FE1, not FE2.

 

You are correct in the aspect of making multiple copies of a particular gunpod (naming each one a different name) if you want to adjust their aim direction.

[DARoot 6]

Greetings, Panama Red

 

Really? One wouldn't know that from Peter01's ReadMes --

Peter01 -- "Really Fixed FE2 Game Files and 4 FE2 FMs March 2010"

"An update, mainly to fix gun jams on gunpod/loadout guns in FE2....Please install

both gundata files and the entire "Weapons" folder in your "Objects" folder, as per the zip directory structure."

[Note: said "Weapons" folder contains the aforementioned Weapondata.ini and .dat,

dated 15 March 2010, that are 74kb and 46kb respectively.]

 

In addition, from Peter01's ReadMe for his "FE1 and FE2 FMs and Game Files 2010"

"There are four major directories with files in this download: "ESSENTIAL FE1 Game Files", "ESSENTIAL FE2 Game Files", "FE Optional Game Files" and " FE1 and FE2 FMs" that have files stored in the correct First Eagles subdirectory structure so that you can just copy all files across with one copy by placing the appropriate highest level directories into your main First Eagles game folder."

[Note: The "Essential FE2" game files includes Weapondata.ini and .dat files dated 9

March 2010 that are 73kb and 45kb respectively. The "Essential FE1" game files, in

contrast, includes Weapondata.ini and .dat files dated 11 March 2010, that are 36kb

and 26kb respectively.]

 

But, I trust you.

[However, I think I'll just move those files to a temporary location for the moment ...]

 

Thanks for the information, and confirmation of the feasibility of the separate gunpod

folder method.

 

DARoot

[Panama Red 22]

I know what he said, but I have been down this road before and it did not turn out pretty. I learned the hard way that in SF2 and FE2, you use the folder method to add weapons and guns, which in the end is far easier that the old mehtod.

 

But as they say "this is a free country and you can do as you want".