decals question

[UllyB 1,206]

I read Wrench's tutorial for bringing your personal decals from SF1 to SF2. So , in SF2 , decals have a folder of their own, sort of, into OBJECT folder, instead of sitting into each aircraft texture subfolder (SF1), right ?

In this decals folder do you have to make a subfolder for all your planes, which have decals, and for each, you put there its decals, creating into decals folder a subfolder with each aircraft name ? Meaning you end up with thousands of decals if you have many planes and you have to put decals for each, instead of just showing a common path like in SF1? Or have I missunderstood ?

Could someone show  me , please, in a clear picture, all the subfolder structure for SF2 (ALL OF IT,  after adding everything you've got, including inside of a aircraft folder until the last subfolder). I think if I see that with my eyes I can understand better the phenomenon. Thanks

Edited January 31, 2019 by UllyB

[UllyB 1,206]

I found this:

 

….\StrikeFighters2\Flight

…\ StrikeFighters2\Sounds

…\ StrikeFighters2\Effects

…\StrikeFighters2\ Objects\Decals

…\StrikeFighters2\ Objects\Guns

…\StrikeFighters2\ Objects\Pilots

…\StrikeFighters2\ Objects\Weapons

 

Still the decals questions stands. Please let me know how do they work please.Bumpmaps bitmaps go into aircraft folder ?

Edited January 31, 2019 by UllyB

[+yakarov79 10,988]

In objects folder, you need to create new sub-folder - Decals. And inside should be all decals in a proper location described in Decals ini of specific aircraft. 

Usually, modders are creating decals and putting it into a folder named same as aircraft/skin

but don't need to be that way. Most important is a path in Decals ini.  - that is in each skin folder. 

Example:

Aircraft

Decals

entry in decals ini. 

[Decal001]
MeshName=NoseFront
DecalLevel=2
DecalFacing=LEFT
FilenameFormat=AV-8B-NA_89/MODEX/2Num
Position=5.75,-0.475
Rotation=0.0
Scale=0.7
DecalMaxLOD=3

[Decal002]
MeshName=NoseFront
DecalLevel=2
DecalFacing=RIGHT
FilenameFormat=AV-8B-NA_89/MODEX/2Num
Position=5.75,-0.475
Rotation=0.0
Scale=0.7
DecalMaxLOD=3

[Decal003]
MeshName=FlapLeft02
DecalLevel=2
DecalFacing=TOP
FilenameFormat=AV-8B-NA_89/MODEX/2Num
Position=-1.1,-2.27
Rotation=0.0
Scale=0.42
DecalMaxLOD=3

[Decal004]
MeshName=FlapRight02
DecalLevel=2
DecalFacing=TOP
FilenameFormat=AV-8B-NA_89/MODEX/2Num
Position=1.1,-2.27
Rotation=0.0
Scale=0.42
DecalMaxLOD=3

[Decal005]
MeshName=Tail
DecalLevel=2
DecalFacing=LEFT
FilenameFormat=AV-8B-NA_89/MODEX/2Num
Position=-6.7,2.4
Rotation=0.0
Scale=0.3
DecalMaxLOD=3

 

[Wrench 9,792]

just follow the instructions I wrote...

this keeps all the pathways in their correct order and syntax

yes, you will need a /Decals/*name of aircraft folder*/*name of skin folder*/D/ folder each and every single aircraft and each one of their skins, unless said aircraft use a "pool" of common decals.

[UllyB 1,206]

so, in other words I can still use the "common" trick by putting all decals I need (for the total of my aircraft) in a single created subfolder (in OBJECTS folder) and after that, writing the correct path in each aircraft decals.ini sections, as I did in SF1. Have I understand correctly ? Please confirm.

What is the MENU2 folder  I saw in your pic ? Or is it something for modded things ?

Thank you for taking the time to explain.

Edited January 31, 2019 by UllyB

[+yakarov79 10,988]

1 hour ago, UllyB said:

What is the MENU2 folder  I saw in your pic ? Or is it something for modded things ?

some folder with some old files nothing important, it is not related to the game in any way. 

[UllyB 1,206]

ok, thanks. I finished my sweep on the CATs. Where are the sounds ? I remember that in SF1 there were also no sounds in any CAT, but , at least, there was a folder in main one with sounds.

EDIT 1

Found just the speech ones. By the way , I copied the sounds I had for the menu (from my SF1 menu folder) into

C:\Users\NAME\Saved Games\ThirdWire\StrikeFighters2 Israel\Menu

but I can't hear them. Any idea please where they should be put to work?

 

EDIT 2

I think I know why I can't hear them,. What parameter should they be ? 8 bit, 16 bit ? How many Kbps ?

 

EDIT 3

I read into MIGBUSTER's KB thread about what is new in SF2. It says there that HELP command now works. I tried it in SF2 WOI and I get the same message like in SF1 ("no fighter available" even if there were 3 more allied flight not far from my position. I was engaging (me and 3 wingmen) 2 flights of 8 each, so 16 total).

Also I can't acces the default created missions. I used the extractor , made a separate folder, named it missions and put them there. In game, in the menu the part is grey, saying there are no mission to load. I don't figure out what I did wrong.

Edited February 1, 2019 by UllyB

[+Sundowner 4,812]

In all fairness you don't need to extract anything from any cats to run the basic game, all sounds etc should work fine, like wrench said you just needed to get used to running SF2 as stock for a few days to make sure everything was working as it should be, then and only then should you try to change one thing at a time, it's easier for people to give you an answer if we have a known good starting point.......which we dont. 

[UllyB 1,206]

Well I tried that, but after 12 years of modding everything I got in SF1 to LOVE the place, this new features blew off into my face with its ugliness. I hate the interface, I hate the 2cm letters in HUD, I hate the way clouds look in the stock game, I hate the barren stock tiles, I hate  that I can't zoom the map to the maximum , to see things, I hate the stock  menu interfaces, I hate the stock menus music etc etc etc so I need an urge to fix things as they were (the look of them and how they work) in SF1. But I must admit, there are good parts , too: I like the smoothness of the new shader effects, the clarity of textures, the 60 constant frame rate,  faster loading times, the new wingmen A.I., the missiles effects, the afterburner feature (finally is for every plane) etc

I am between happiness and agony LOL I just need a little help to put things how they were, that's all.

So far this is what I managed to fix:

- HUD fonts made them smaller, as they shoudl be

-I fixed the A.I. formation (I have custom AI formation setting from SF1)

-I fixed th tiles, replacing them all with high resolution ones, from SF1

- I replaced the clouds

- I fixed the views with my custom ones

- I fixed the 100% map zoom

- I replaced part of the menus, some I can't make them appear (I'm working on it)

- I replaced part of the menus sounds, I can't make them all appear so far (I'm working on it)

- I deleted the missions from the new folder I created for them in :

C:\Users\NAME\Saved Games\ThirdWire\StrikeFighters2 Israel\Menu

but they still won't show in game menu , it says "no missions available". They shoudl be there , but they aren't. Also I don't see where are the effects. I finally found the sounds.

 

Edited February 1, 2019 by UllyB

[UllyB 1,206]

Got a few more questions if you please:

 

- I can't make those missions to appear in game menu. You said that they don't need to be put anywhere, so I deleted them, but still they won't appear and I don't understand what is wrong, I need some intel on that.

- Do sounds for screens (menu, loading etc) etc need a certain quality ? I saw in some ini file something like 16bit 44010Hz. I also noticed that sounds in stock folder (the ones for screens) have 352kbps, mines (which went well in SF1 screens) have 1411Kbps. Is this the reason ?

- Some custom menu I changed, from SF1 work well, some won't appear. I don't know why.

- Custom JPG for Hangar won't appear, though the one for loading appears.

Edited February 2, 2019 by UllyB

[+russouk2004 6,958]

I customise my decal folders so it saves looking thru 1000`s of images for the ones i want

I put my missions in erm   missions folder ?  .lol

sounds should be certain quality yes...cant recall what...

custon menus?...check the ini files for typos...?

check aircrafts ini file that it states jpg ....silly but easily overlooked.

[+yakarov79 10,988]

11 hours ago, UllyB said:

- I can't make those missions to appear in game menu.

which missions ..because I'm bit confused now. 

ok to be clear and since you are talking about transferring to sf2 from sf1 .. so those are sf1 missions into sf2 ?

[UllyB 1,206]

4 hours ago, yakarov79 said:

which missions ..because I'm bit confused now. 

ok to be clear and since you are talking about transferring to sf2 from sf1 .. so those are sf1 missions into sf2 ?

no, it's about SF2 ONLY what I am talking about. SF2 comes with its own created missions (that  they are called into the menu of the game). There are 7 or 8 missions. About them I am taking about. I can't find them into the game, when I press the created mission button, though they are in the CAT (I can see them with the SF2 CAT extractor.) it is greyed and it says "no mission to load".

[UllyB 1,206]

6 hours ago, russouk2004 said:

I customise my decal folders so it saves looking thru 1000`s of images for the ones i want

I put my missions in erm   missions folder ?  .lol

sounds should be certain quality yes...cant recall what...

custon menus?...check the ini files for typos...?

check aircrafts ini file that it states jpg ....silly but easily overlooked.

I don't think it's the typos, because it's about original ini files for screens.The only thing that could change is either the name of the jpg or the graphic format, but I payed attention to those two. Where I could be wrong is the PLACE where these files should be, maybe they won't follow the pattern from SF1 as arrangement and that is why they don't work.

I am talking here about sounds from MENU folder, and not from the SOUND folder. In SF1 the menu sounds were not restricted as the ones from SOUND folder were, as quality . So I thought here it is the same.(sounds in SOUND folder, in SF1, needed to be 8bit mono, otherwise they wouldn't work). So following this logic, for SF2 menu I brought directly the menu sounds from SF1,and most of them work. I can hear for instance the main screen custom music I brought, but I can't hear my music in hangar screen or credits screen for instance.I noticed that in hangar.ini file the lines where in SF1 were written for sounds in hangar, are missing here. I added them but they won't work. Maybe some lines who would, theoretical, execute these ini lines are missing from the exe game file in SF2 (TK eliminated them, wishing to get rid of the sound in hangar) and that is why I don't hear sounds in hangar menu....but that is what I think, not what I...know.

I also know for a long time that hangar and loading screens are JPGs in SF2, so this is the very first thing I changed when I mod a plane.And here I have an example: The custom loading screen I made for the F-15A Baz, works, but the hangar one won't appear, even if is JPG and it is declared in plane's ini file.

Maybe it will help to see the custom files of someone in SF2 , for menus and the INIs he modified for that purpose.

Edited February 2, 2019 by UllyB

[+Nyghtfall 2,154]

Reinventing the wheel again and again and again and again...

You could ask billions of questions and it still won't work, because you just ask question after question. Just try out stuff...experiment with stuff...check released stuff versus yours...make a MOD-folder just to try things out. If it doesn't work...then who cares...start again. That's how many people here did it and obviously it worked! If you have serious questions, ask and I'm sure people WILL help you out.

You want much input...fair enough...we all want to...but the way you do it is not the best. ;) I like to help people out with my very limited knowledge of this game, but if I know from the beginning, that the answer to the actual question is of little interest, because the next bazillion questions are in the line already or you know it better anyways, then why care?

If your custom loading screen doesn't work, then it is on your end. I am sure (absolutely, to be exactly), that there are tons of working examples found here on this site or in the download-section(*), that you could just download, try out and check those files versus yours to find the error. At the moment I'm looking for some pilot-model that I can use (and repaint) for one of my mods....guess what? I am downloading stuff and look for myself, rather than asking 5 milion questions...

Sorry if I sound harsh, but checking the boards for news and only seeing tons of (often enough) pointless questions is a bit annoying. And yes, I am in a bad mood today, so sorry again :P

 

Edit: added (*) --> You even have some mod already to check your loading-screen-error already....remember the Malaysian Skyhawks Mod from your other question lately? Have a look...it has loading and hangar-screens...and both are working! So don't just ask - do! ;)

Edited February 2, 2019 by Nyghtfall

[Spinners 15,985]

^ It needed saying.

I'd also add that if your decals question has been answered then stop adding totally different questions here! Try to work it out yourself and if you can't figure it out then ask a new question in a new topic. I've moved from SF1 to SF2 recently and had a problem. I asked for help, received a helpful reply and thanked my helper. All done and dusted in three posts.

OK. Now to offer some help.

If your hangar screen isn't working and you are 100% certain that there are no typo's then check that your hangar screen doesn't have two (or more) layers and that the alpha channel isn't still there (in GIMP layer>transparency>remove alpha channel).

 

[UllyB 1,206]

ok I'll sort things out and I'll think how to plan things that need solving.

Edited February 2, 2019 by UllyB

[UllyB 1,206]

1 hour ago, Spinners said:

If your hangar screen isn't working and you are 100% certain that there are no typo's then check that your hangar screen doesn't have two (or more) layers and that the alpha channel isn't still there (in GIMP layer>transparency>remove alpha channel).

 

When I was using directly the plane's hangar bmp (which has alpha channel) from SF1 , for hangar screen for F-15 baz, it worked, it showed in the plane's hangar screen. I made jpg with alpha channel, but it doesn't work. The game loads its stock screen for F-15A Baz. SF2 doesn't accept jpg with alpha channel ?

Edited February 2, 2019 by UllyB

[Spinners 15,985]

No problem mate.

[+Nyghtfall 2,154]

59 minutes ago, UllyB said:

"pointless questions" ? If I knew the answer myself I wouldn't be here asking. Second, experimenting with something where you are new to, what would be the point if one doesn't have a clue what he is doing ? Third, I thought the forum is exactly for that, to help people who ask questions. You basically tell me not to ask questions if I don't know or if it doesn't work. That's your idea of helping people who really need that ? YES, I really need those answers. It might not be important for you who you are here from the beginning and maybe you learned from other things or in years by yourself, but that is NOT my case. I never play SF2 and if TK would've had these ideas of simplifying things BEFORE making SF1 , we wouldn't have this conversation I bet. You know what I noticed here , in ten years ? With very few  exceptions, NO ONE helps you , with exactly what you want to know. Do you know how many slaps I took in ten years just because I ask questions (which make part of the learning process, isn't it ?). They smacked me and slaped, on every corner, "you don't know that, you don't know to talk, you don't know how to ask questions  etc etc". You all, people who proceed like this with people like me forget one thing, once you were in my shoes and someone helped you when you didn't know things. If no one helps me with what I need, well..I guess I will have to quit, not bother you and forget about this game, 'cause that is what you are pushing me towards.

A quick last reply by me.

Some of your questions are pointless, because with little effort you could find answers or at least another option for further trials. I think you said somewhere in your posts, that you are a fast-learner and have experience with modding for years...really? The picture you're drawing in your answer is of a total newbie, that just discovered SF2 and TW out of the blue... SF1 and SF2 are different for sure, no question about that, but still there are a lot of things similar...and that should not be a problem for a fast-learner, with your background.

The boards are for helping people, yes. But excuse my ignorance...If someone wants help, everyone can expect at least a tiny bit of own effort, which IMHO you lack often enough... You ask a question, get an answer or at least a hint for further trial and all you do is ask more and more questions (and as spinners correctly mentioned...you ask tons of different questions one after the other in threads, that have nothing to do with it...if an answer is helpful, nobody will ever find it again in that mess), instead of just doing anything or test something. That's the picture I have of you. Your computer won't explode, if you just test something here and there. And excuse me again, maybe it's the language barrier (I'm also no native english-speaker), but for me your reaction to an answer is not always the nicest (I tried to sound as kind as possible here...).

The "no one helps you with what you want to know"-bit is actually YOUR problem...Sorry to say that. Remember your gunsight-thread? There are posts after posts of people trying to help you...and in the end you had a total different problem than people thought the whole thread... So it was actually YOUR problem to not correctly describe your problem...and as people said already....make screenshots...you didn't... Don't blame people for your faults...

People will help you in this community...they are just not always on your side when you snip a finger (actually a german quote...). This whole community-game-flight-sim-thing is a HOBBY of all of those people here... They relax while modding or playing the game. They are not here to answer your questions or do something for you... And yet they do! In the beginning my thoughts where exactly like yours...I asked and nobody was enthusiastic enough to help me out. Today I understand those! There are 2 options here...quit anything and be angry about all those egoistic people here or continue, learn stuff on your own, contribute to the community and be actually part of it. I chose the 2nd and it was the right decision. I learned Photoshop and Blender from scratch and although I still cannot build planes, I can make fakepilots for my favourite planes, which gives me more opitions to do more modding...an actual win for me!

Be part of this community, try things out and learn stuff...

Edited February 2, 2019 by Nyghtfall

[UllyB 1,206]

ok, I'll see , maybe I will adapt, even if I don't like it the way it is.

PS- and I ask other questions in the same thread because it scares me how many threads I should start to find out things and the second reason is because I think that people who will answer about a thing , would know too about the others. But I admit, if everyone would do that, it would be a chaos. I'll try to keep that in mind in the future.

Edited February 2, 2019 by UllyB

[Wrench 9,792]

I can merge ALL these into one massive thread it that's necessary....

we've done it before.

-----------------

I'm just curious to know WHY in hell you think hangar and loading screens require a alpha channel? I first started modding in 2004 by building hangar/loading screens . They were always single layer bitmaps (and now jpgs). 

[Spinners 15,985]

6 hours ago, Wrench said:

I'm just curious to know WHY in hell you think hangar and loading screens require a alpha channel? I first started modding in 2004 by building hangar/loading screens . They were always single layer bitmaps (and now jpgs). 

Kevin - Perhaps I've put the idea into his head.

As I make more tga's than jpg's my default new image is a transparency so when I do make a jpg I need to ensure that I remove the alpha channel.

[UllyB 1,206]

On 2/3/2019 at 3:51 AM, Wrench said:

I can merge ALL these into one massive thread it that's necessary....

we've done it before.

-----------------

I'm just curious to know WHY in hell you think hangar and loading screens require a alpha channel? I first started modding in 2004 by building hangar/loading screens . They were always single layer bitmaps (and now jpgs). 

I tell you why. When I first tried to modd something , 16 years or so for SF1, one of the first was the interface. When I tried to put just a simple image over the default one, there was something wrong with it, the mouse cursor was running wild and had million of shades etc. Then I asked here on this very website why is that. And someone told me that I need to have an alpha channel made for the bitmap. And when i did that , that anomaly disappeared and i could see my custom hangar screen I made working. And it was not just for the hangar screen. Almost all the SF1 screens (in WOI at least) needed that, otherwise the interfaces were all a mess. If you don't believe me, install WOI SF1 and try to put a simple image over the hangar  interface and tell me if you can read what is writes there. In a  way I am suprised that YOU ask such a question. I thought you knew that.

Here's the proof:

https://files.fm/u/3cp9bwfp

 

PS - At that time I was using WIn XP, not Win 7, which made things worse, the mouse cursor had shades all over the page, when it was without alpha channel.

 

Edited February 4, 2019 by UllyB

[Wrench 9,792]

whoever told you that was full of shit. What you describe is more video driver issue. And yes, my first installs were XP also. And I really DO know what I'm talking about.

and why do we have to go to some other site to view your images? Just attach them to your post. 

Remember, the  very last person you want to call out, is one of the Admins. So watch your tone