Just bought it

[Nakedyanick 0]

Hi there,

I bought the "First Eagles gold edition" in the past and really enjoyed it.

Now with my window 7 I choosed to buy First Eagles 2 and i'm going to fly again with my Albatros :x !

I have Rise of flight too but without joystick (I have a gamepad with little joysticks) I find the game too hard and I have lot of fun on First Eagles so let's go for the number 2 !

Can you tell me what kind of mod I should use with it? AI, graphics, skins or anything? My config should be ok.

There's mods for realistics campaigns? I heard about Armchair, not finished yet?

I've few questions about the campaign too. We cant paint our planes, add colours or emblems?

Campaigns are short 1917-1918 and not very detailed, pilot story, rank, medals, comrades, other battles... Is there something better?

I should go to rise of flight for detailed campaign?

 

Thanks a lot !

Have fun

[Panama Red 22]

If you go here, you can download all the mods you need (except for some planes over at DAT): http://combatace.com/files/category/358-first-eagles-by-thirdwire/

 

As for campaigns, we have ojcar's Western Front Armchair series which are month by month for vertually the entire war, Stephen1918 Eastern Front for selected months on that front, and quack74's Italian Front which is also a selected period at the moment (he's working on lengthing to more month).

 

You can paint any plane you want and install it into the game as long as you read the SF1 & SF2 Knowlwdge Bases. These Knowledge Bases will also tell you how to install new terrains, planes, effects, weapons, etc. With all the mods out there, you can make FE2 a whole lot larger and more custumized than any other WW1 flight sim out there at the moment.

 

I for example have 179 different planes for my Western Front mod, and you to can add or subtract to your base FE2 game.

[Nakedyanick 0]

Thanks Panama nice to meet you.

Nice but you what do you use for campaigns? Armchair is one of the best? I really want to find a nice and long one before to start my entire campaign. Armchair looks amazing but I dont see any talks about it.

For the painting of planes its only with external software, cant do it in game?

FE2 is better than RoF ? Even for campaigns?

In game when a plan has is engine destroyed and forced to land without damages, it count as a "kill"/"victory" or the pilot has to be killed? Thanks a lot i'm going to read the Knowlwdge Bases

[Padraig 1]

Thanks Panama nice to meet you.

Nice but you what do you use for campaigns? Armchair is one of the best? I really want to find a nice and long one before to start my entire campaign. Armchair looks amazing but I dont see any talks about it.

For the painting of planes its only with external software, cant do it in game?

FE2 is better than RoF ? Even for campaigns?

In game when a plan has is engine destroyed and forced to land without damages, it count as a "kill"/"victory" or the pilot has to be killed? Thanks a lot i'm going to read the Knowlwdge Bases

 

I am new to this but can maybe help a little.

Going down with damage can count as a success if targets are hit, as long as the pilot isn't hit.. so far I have not been, but I am also not on "hard" settings for most things.

Read the stuff around here as much as you can for how to make mods. Most of it is here somewhere. I learned a lot just from the Readme/instructions that come with planes and skins.

You will need to find some kind of software to make edits to the skins. I was lucky enough to have an old version of Photoshop kicking around. Can't do it inside the game.

As far as campaigns go - I must not be very good at it because it seems I have to repeat them.. like it's not saving or something, but again - I'm still in training. ;)

ROF I gave up on out of frustration for my limited bandwidth and older system ran a bit "choppy"

[Panama Red 22]

Out of the three current WW1 flight sims out there, each has it's own strengths and weakness.

1. ROF strength is FM's, weakness is no real ability to mod or add to the game. Campaigns are starting to come around.

2. OFF strength is Campaign, weakness is FM and adding to the game. Third parties are addressing the FMs.

3. FE2 strength is modding, weakness is stock campaigns. With FE/FE2, you can play all fronts (with the appropriate terrains), adding 100 or more planes, add any skin needed and add multiple campaigns to existing terrains. (Plus no DRM like ROF).

 

There are no "perfect" WW1 flight sims out there, so you have chose the one or ones you want to play and just realize that each is different in their own way.

[Nakedyanick 0]

What is OFF ?.. Okay thank you :)

[Panama Red 22]

OFF = Over Flanders Fields. It is also on CombatAces a couple of sections above the FE/FE2 section. It is a add-on to the old CFS3 game, but it is so advanced that you would not recognize that CFS3 is the base game.

[Padraig 1]

What is OFF ?.. Okay thank you :)

 

Over Flanders Fields

[Nakedyanick 0]

Looks great too... Damn I dont know what to play

[Panama Red 22]

There is nothing wrong with trying them all and then playing the one you want at that particular time.

 

Remember each has it's own strength and weakness.

 

You just have to own a copy of the M$ Combat Flight Simulator 3 (CFS3) to play OFF (you can find a copy on Amazon.com).

[Nakedyanick 0]

Yes I saw I need the CD... I think I'll try RoF and FE first and have a lot to do with that 2 games... And maybe OFF later. There is new WWI game coming soon?

[Panama Red 22]

The OFF team is working on WOFF, but they will not say when it will be ready. At this point they have been working on it for at least one year, and I expect it will still be a while to go before they "release it into the wild".

[33LIMA 972]

Hi Nakedyanick and welcome aboard!

 

Another campaign I would recommend is this one:

 

http://combatace.com/files/file/4860-bloody-april-1917/

 

It only covers a short period but it is the probably the most famous one of the air war and it features a good variety of planes and units, which complement the later 'stock' campaigns nicely.

 

Actually I think the basic First Eagles concept of campaigns based around major battles is quite a good one. As Padraig said, they may not be long but they are hard enough to survive. Also you can choose a set of flight-mates from the roster and try to get them thru the campaign as well, as Mick Mannock or the like would have done. It can add a real new dimension to the stock campaigns, especially after a bad mission or two, as you see your squadron burned away in the fires of war, wondering if replacements will arrive before you've all 'gone west'.

 

As for comparing the 'big three' WW1 air war sims, you may find my and others posts and my mission comparisons of interest, here.

 

http://simhq.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/3686260/17

[Nakedyanick 0]

Thank you Lima but Bloody april is for FE1 ? You dont talk about armchair? Dont use it? I'm going to read some topics and see what game and mod I'll play, thanks a lot

[Panama Red 22]

Anything from FE1 will work in FE2, UNLESS it has a DX10 EFFECT associated with it. That means things like: Effects, EnvironmentSystems or Terrains; everything else will transfer with no problems. This is where reading the SF1 and SF2 Knowledge Bases helps when they tell you what needs changing between the two gaming systems.

[Nakedyanick 0]

But english isnt my mothertongue so i'm a bit confusing with technical words...^^ Where can I find SF1 and 2 ? You didnt help me Lima now I'm confusing with all of those mods lol

[Panama Red 22]

SF1 Knowledge Base: http://combatace.com/forum/99-thirdwire-strike-fighters-1-series-knowledge-base/

 

SF2 Knowledge Base: http://combatace.com/forum/268-thirdwire-strike-fighters-2-series-knowledge-base/

[33LIMA 972]

Yes Bloody April will work in FE2 - that is what I play. I play Armchair Aces, too.

 

The most important thing is to understand the different install instructions you need to follow, for a mod that is designed for FE(1).

 

In FE(1), you install planes, campaigns, terrains and other mods into the normal game ('root') folder - for example, Program Files/ThirdWire/First Eagles.

 

But in FE2 - like all 'second generation' third Wire sims, like Strike Fighters 2, you need to install these things into a 'mods' folder. This is a separate folder in a different place.

 

The 'mods' folder's location depends on which version of Windows you have.

 

I have Vista 64 and my FE2 mods folder is at [my user name]/Saved Games/ThirdWire/FirstEagles2.

 

When you first install FE2, this folder is created for you, and your main options file is held there too (Options.ini).

 

You may need to add subfolders to the 'mods' folder - some of these subfolders are created when you install FE2, but not all.

 

One thing to be careful of is that in FE(1), extra terrains - like the Flanders terrain that Bloody April uses - go into Program Files/ThirdWire/First Eagles/Terrain (terrain - singular).

 

But in FE2, new terrains go into the folder [your user name]/Saved Games/ThirdWire/FirstEagles2/Terrains (terrainS - plural).

 

 

Edit - here's a screenshot showing my own 'mods' folder

Edited May 18, 2013 by 33LIMA

[+Stephen1918 1,474]

Welcome to the group, Nakedyanick.

When I first started here, it was very confusing because most of the posts assume that you already know what they're talking about. There are planes in our download section that just say "Install it in the usual way." Newbees will find this frustrating.

 

It took me a while to figure things out, but it was well worth the effort. One of the best things about First Eagles is the modding. So hang in there, it all makes sense in the end.

[Nakedyanick 0]

Thank you a lot I installed it and gonna try this mod.. But what I dont understand is to add planes. There's for exemple few kind of Albatros D.III on combatace, so which one I need to install?

 

Thank you Steph. I have few modding experiences in other games (elder scrolls, wargames...) so it's not really a problem but thank you all for your friendship

[33LIMA 972]

FE2 includes the Albatros DIII (early and late versions) so you don't need to install one.

 

There are really only two Albatros aircraft you really want to have:

 

http://combatace.com...ros-dii-2-pack/

 

http://combatace.com...-albatros-ciii/

 

Some campaigns may use earlier models of the DII but these are best replaced by the newer ones - you can edit campaign files with Wordpad to change the plane names to the new versions.

 

Read the FE2 install instructions with any of Stephen's planes, like the two I mentioned above. Stephen's instructions describe how it's done. You can then apply these to planes made also for FE(1).

 

If you play with the Flight Model on the 'Hard' setting - and it is not too difficult, and more realistic to do this - you should probably install Peter01's Flight Model set. Some planes made for FE(1) do not fly correctly, unless you use the 'Normal' flight model setting:

 

http://combatace.com...4-fe2-fms-2010/

 

Installing mods in FE2 can be slow and confusing at first but you will soon get used to it and it is very worth while, as the attached screenies - taken over the Flanders terrain, with both stock and user-made planes - show!

[Nakedyanick 0]

Thanks I tried Bloody april I dont really know what to do, there isnt a lot of interactivity in the campaign like medals, ranks, pilots details, informations-news.... I love to fly but for me the campaign itself is important too

[33LIMA 972]

I suggest that before flying each campaign mission, you go to the 'Roster' screen and select the pilots you want to be in your flight. Pick the same names each time, if they survive - I choose three, from the bottom of the roster.

 

Try to get these men through the campaign, and help them build their own scores as well as your own. Remember their names.

 

Watch out for your flight, during each mission, just as a real flight leader should. Don't just fight your own battle and forget about the others. If you see one in trouble, get over there and shoot the bad guy off his tail. If one is chasing an enemy, do not just steal his kill, stay above and cover him while he makes it for himself.

 

FE does award you medals - the extra medals pack recommended for Armchair Aces improves this a lot - but it doesn't have simulated newspapers or intelligence briefings. however, FE is better than the other sims at recreating the role of a patrol leader and the air combat itself. By using FE's squadron roster you can enhance this, so that you begin to care about your flight-mates and try to look after them. I'm not sure exactly why it is but in FE it seems a lot easier to fly the missions as I have described, to apply some teamwork and patrol-leading skills.

 

Newspapers and similar things are nice to have but they are no substitute for weaknesses in more important areas.

[vonOben 55]

FE2 includes the Albatros DIII (early and late versions) so you don't need to install one.

 

There are really only two Albatros aircraft you really want to have:

 

http://combatace.com...ros-dii-2-pack/

 

http://combatace.com...-albatros-ciii/

 

Some campaigns may use earlier models of the DII but these are best replaced by the newer ones - you can edit campaign files with Wordpad to change the plane names to the new versions.

 

Read the FE2 install instructions with any of Stephen's planes, like the two I mentioned above. Stephen's instructions describe how it's done. You can then apply these to planes made also for FE(1).

 

If you play with the Flight Model on the 'Hard' setting - and it is not too difficult, and more realistic to do this - you should probably install Peter01's Flight Model set. Some planes made for FE(1) do not fly correctly, unless you use the 'Normal' flight model setting:

 

http://combatace.com...4-fe2-fms-2010/

 

Installing mods in FE2 can be slow and confusing at first but you will soon get used to it and it is very worth while, as the attached screenies - taken over the Flanders terrain, with both stock and user-made planes - show!

Hi 33LIMA

 

Is that Edwards old Flanders terrain on those screenshots?

Looks very nice IMHO atleast at higher altitude....

 

Cheers

 

vonOben

 

 

 

Edited December 17, 2013 by vonOben

[33LIMA 972]

Yes vonOben that's Edward's Flanders terrain. Despite tile repetition being somewhat less well-hidden than in stock FE, I like it a lot. Apart from looking lower-res at low level its main disadvantage to my eye is the unsophisticated, high-contrast, too-unvaried reproduction of the 'shelled area'. It's the default terrain for the 'Bloody April' campaign which includes many of my favourite planes as well as being set in my favourite era so I use this terrain a lot.

 

Jan Tuma's replacement for stock seems possibly the most popular but I quite like the simpliflied but otherwise quite realistic stock terrain, which looks better low down.

 

 

At the moment of course I'm lapping up Gterl's Italian terrain, which sets a new standard as well as some new challenges!