Wings Over Israel Expansion Pack

[+streakeagle 871]

By the time this was released, SF2 was in full swing. This was released late, after SF2I. It shared many features with SF2I including some of the planeset. However, it was released and then abandoned. TK had promised to release this, and made good on his word. But unlike the past, there would be no patches despite some bugs. If you wanted to see Wings Over Israel with the Expansion Pack done more correctly and completely, you needed to buy SF2I. So the Wings Over Israel Expansion Pack faded into history with almost no one buying it except die hard Third Wire fan bois like myself that wanted to see TK succeed and continue improving the SF series.

 

I am sure I posted on some forum about this some time ago... but this version of the SFP1/WoX series is in many ways the most advanced and best, just a shade short of the early SF2 releases. To minimize duplication of effort, TK patched WoI up to nearly an SF2 standard so he didn't need to make duplicate 3d models of aircraft. What this means is that up to a certain SF2 version, the SF2 3d models/textures can be imported into WoI with the Expansion pack. While the aircraft data ini files won't work without some editing to compensate for differences in the electronic warfare modeling (especially the RWR), the much improved stock cockpits and external models that reflect all the subtle variants of the F-4 are a huge step up for SFP1/WoX veterans. But with SF2 available, why would anyone bother trying to retrofit WoI/XP1 with SF2 aircraft? In a word, multiplayer!

 

Not only does WoI support SF2 models/textures, but it has many improvements that were developed for SF2. One is much better dogfight AI that can be both very aggressive and very defensive compared to most previous versions of SFP1/WoX. Also, terrain and ECM on radar and radar homing missiles are modeled in a more detailed and realistic manner. One of the most obvious things in WOI/XP1 is that missile reliability is the same or worse than earlier SFP1/WoX patch revisions and radically different than what you will experience playing the final patch revision of the final SF2 series game release: SF2NA. Enemy AI will aggressively "beam" you to break radar locks and evade AIM-7 Sparrows. Hitting anything other than an oblivious, straight and high flying target with a Sparrow takes patience and luck very much reflecting real life data.

 

So what would be cool to have but would take a tremendous amount of work is trying to edit/add files as necessary to make WoI/XP1 as close to an SF2 install as possible in terms of plane set, weapons, terrains, and campaigns. At the end, the game wouldn't be too much different from the early revisions of SF2, but would be perfect for the most state of the art and diverse multplayer experience possible in the entire SFP1/WoX/SF2 series.

[+Gepard 11,287]

I agree with you, WoI Operation Kadesh is a must have for all friends of the WoX series. Its very close to SF2 in many aspects.

[Canadair 16]

Where to find this?

[+streakeagle 871]

On 1/30/2022 at 1:55 PM, Canadair said:

Where to find this?

I am sorry I didn't see your question sooner. The answer surprised me: it isn't available anymore. I went to the Third Wire online store and neither Wings Over Israel or the expansion pack is for sale any more.