I am Back! (New project)

[+Trotski 936]

It is indeed an interesting theatre of War, with many possibilities,  I would be tempted though, to veer away from the Excepted norm, as we see it today, Ie. Paran is Red Force, therefore they MUST be supplied and equipped by the "Evil Empire" As the 2 countries are fictional, it therefore follows , that the equipment scales, and suppliers of their equipment, can also be fictional. My Vision for Paran in particular, was  one of the Country being ruled by factions, a bit similar to the Japanese during WWII. So for the Navy , the C in C of the Navy, may not like or want what the Air Force or the Army use, Sort of a tribal arrangement , deliberately done by Parans leader/Sheik/Mahdi, or whatever you envisage him ( or even Her ) as, to keep the factions at odds with each other , so no one group, can rebel and take over the country.....I hope I am explaining this well. So, by that coin, the Airforce may be using Soviet kit, for example, and the Chief of the navy hates the Russians, and does not trust their equipment and training, and prefers let us say, for arguments sake, British aircraft, and therefore equips the Navy with those aircraft. Maybe it is a little over complicated, but then, Arab politics do tend to get like that. Of course you can go with the way things are in the real world, but my argument, or rather, suggestion, is to be creative, and not follow the accepted Status Quo.

[Eagle114th 665]

3 hours ago, trotski00 said:

It is indeed an interesting theatre of War, with many possibilities,  I would be tempted though, to veer away from the Excepted norm, as we see it today, Ie. Paran is Red Force, therefore they MUST be supplied and equipped by the "Evil Empire" As the 2 countries are fictional, it therefore follows , that the equipment scales, and suppliers of their equipment, can also be fictional. My Vision for Paran in particular, was  one of the Country being ruled by factions, a bit similar to the Japanese during WWII. So for the Navy , the C in C of the Navy, may not like or want what the Air Force or the Army use, Sort of a tribal arrangement , deliberately done by Parans leader/Sheik/Mahdi, or whatever you envisage him ( or even Her ) as, to keep the factions at odds with each other , so no one group, can rebel and take over the country.....I hope I am explaining this well. So, by that coin, the Airforce may be using Soviet kit, for example, and the Chief of the navy hates the Russians, and does not trust their equipment and training, and prefers let us say, for arguments sake, British aircraft, and therefore equips the Navy with those aircraft. Maybe it is a little over complicated, but then, Arab politics do tend to get like that. Of course you can go with the way things are in the real world, but my argument, or rather, suggestion, is to be creative, and not follow the accepted Status Quo.

I enjoy the creativity of yours!  You made it even more interesting for Paran.  As I have stated in my first post:
 

Quote

- Keeping the mod semi-realistic.  There may be different ways to interpret the meaning of "Semi-realistic".  For me, it is about an alternative world where anything can happen in semi-realistic in creative ways.

I want to explain a bit more about my interpretation of the word "Semi-realism" and the aim of this mod:   will contain both situations from this timeline (the actual events and alternative worlds where the situation happens differently due to these reasons:   It is to give Dhimar and Paran the reasons to have certain technologies, aircraft, and ordinances in this mod project.

Hence, is why I like your story.  It is an interesting story and make sense.

I am familiar with the history about Japanese Air Force vs Navy in WWII.   I have not done any works on Dhimar and Paran navy yet.  I have been working on their Air Force.  This is an opportunity for me to contemplate on how the Navy should be designed as.

I want to hear more about your ideas about Paran Navy.

For now, I believe that Paran Navy would still have a few types of Navalized Soviet aircraft while obtaining France and other nation's naval aircraft.  About UK navy aircraft, since Dhimar is in war with Paran and is tied with UK.    Due to that, UK would not give Paran aircraft? (This part of the story is not yet written in stone.  I am open to any suggestions about Dhimar and Paran situation with UK.) 

About Dhimar Navy, let's say, Dhimar Air Force and small Navy are united, unlike Paran's large Air Force and Navy.  Since Dhimar, which differs from Paran, spend most of the financial on expanding Dhimar Air Force to defend the land, and into the technologies research and development for aircraft and weaponry.  

Edited July 3, 2021 by Eagle114th

[+Trotski 936]

Dhimar seems to me to be a more "traditional" and logical set up, akin to Saudi, or Oman for instance, therefore they are really the easiest to equip, as they would certainly have an equipment schedule that would be sensible in a logistical, and cost wise sense. Of course this would depend largely on exactly When, you are kitting them out, in other words what year period. When I started doing Paran/Dhimar stuff a while back, I started both countries from just after the First World War, and then equiped them with the likes of Hanriot HD's and other WWI types that could have possibly been around in the 20's and of course taking into account that the 2 nations were only just emerging, so they wouldn't have a huge amount of Shekels to chuck around. If however you are aiming towards a more modern time frame, say the 1960's on, which in my opinion is actually more interesting than more modern stuff. Then you cauold easily equip both sides with British/French/European aircraft, as in fact this did happen in the Middle and Near East during the 50's through 70's So the likes of Vampires, Meteors etc. could be found on both sides of a "Border Incident" No so much with US aircraft, or rather Fighters and bombers, as the Yanks were careful to only supply "the good guys" with their aerospace equipment. Same goes for the Warpac countries, they would only supply to a sure bet, come into my parlour, client state. The Brits and the French however had a more cavalier attitude. Or so it appears at least.So a situation as we see in Iran, with their use of F14's and F4's continued even after the Islamic Revolution. Thus the Iranians have or had, a mix of Western and Soviet airframes. 

As for the respective Navies, a lot depends on whether they have any sort of carrier capability or not. If not then "Navalised" aircraft are not a requirement, if on the other hand, they do have carriers, then again depending on when you are setting you time period, then really it is British, French and US aircraft on the table ( or Flightdeck) as the Soviets had little naval aircraft available until the Forger appeared, and the Forger was pretty rubbish really, and it wasnt until the 80's really that they had much worth using , then of course you get the mighty and most beaudacious  SU 29's which are awesome beasties indeed. I suppose if you wanted to look out of the box a bit, you could cast your eyes over to the Indians, with their Maruts, and licence built Gnats, also the navalised Jaguar !!  However, these are just ideas I am tossing around, which may get you thinking obliquely. I see no reason not to have British/French/Spanish/ Italian airframes in the Airforce, and also be equipped with Soviet or Pact aircraft, at the same time, as this did happen, as did the use of NATO kit to ex WARPAC countries after the fall of the curtain. Germany is a fine example of this, with Hinds, Fulcrums etc. in service and kept in service well after the re unification...........The main think to take away from my rantings and ramblings, is this, the 2 countries are mythical, so therefore by that premise, one does not have to follow ANY rules at all. Make it bright and different, if you want to have a Mig Squadron flying next to a F86 Squadron, then go for it, it isn't wrong, because the whole story is just that, a story, and it is YOUR story, built how YOU want to build it. I wish I had the ability to do it myself (With Elbonia and Slobogia) however as my hard drive with ALL my stuff on it now refuses to work, I am rather stuffed. 

[Eagle114th 665]

2 hours ago, trotski00 said:

The main think to take away from my rantings and ramblings, is this, the 2 countries are mythical, so therefore by that premise, one does not have to follow ANY rules at all. Make it bright and different, if you want to have a Mig Squadron flying next to a F86 Squadron, then go for it, it isn't wrong, because the whole story is just that, a story, and it is YOUR story, built how YOU want to build it. I wish I had the ability to do it myself (With Elbonia and Slobogia) however as my hard drive with ALL my stuff on it now refuses to work, I am rather stuffed. 

I see, thank you very much for your insight about this mod project.  While I was finding the balance what happened in this world and from another world, bridging between both for Dhimar and Paran.  Then I realized, as you stated, it is my story.  The feedback from the community, including yours have shaped the ideas I wanted for Dhimar and Paran a lot.  I feel like I am able to express the creativity in full force now.

I also realize, I can't please everyone and that is okay. This is where I hope this mod will inspire people to make the mods based on this mod to modify or add the stories to this main story or create their own stories.  Prehaps, if you ever decide to work on the mods and want to use any assets from this mod, please feel free to do so!  I do not know when the mods will be released, I am working on it slowly through time though.

 

Quote

Dhimar seems to me to be a more "traditional" and logical set up, akin to Saudi, or Oman for instance, therefore they are really the easiest to equip, as they would certainly have an equipment schedule that would be sensible in a logistical, and cost wise sense. Of course this would depend largely on exactly When, you are kitting them out, in other words what year period. When I started doing Paran/Dhimar stuff a while back, I started both countries from just after the First World War, and then equiped them with the likes of Hanriot HD's and other WWI types that could have possibly been around in the 20's and of course taking into account that the 2 nations were only just emerging, so they wouldn't have a huge amount of Shekels to chuck around. If however you are aiming towards a more modern time frame, say the 1960's on, which in my opinion is actually more interesting than more modern stuff.

I wholeheartedly agree with you about 60s being most interesting.  My most favorite eras are from 1950s to end of 1980s.  That is where the combat are most balanced and interesting.  The pilot skills are still required.  it is also the era where countless technologies and innovations happened rapidly.  I consider late 1950s to early 1970s being most "hod rod" or "Thunder age" of the aircraft time.

Now with Dhimar and Paran, this is where I hope it will get most interesting.  Not only I have been working on creating skins, modifying the aircraft list, creating the mods with basic .ini, I also have been working on a modifying and creating new HUD for Dhimar and Paran.  

 

Quote

Then you cauold easily equip both sides with British/French/European aircraft, as in fact this did happen in the Middle and Near East during the 50's through 70's So the likes of Vampires, Meteors etc. could be found on both sides of a "Border Incident"

That is actually true. Initially I was thinking about only certain countries being able to supply aircraft and technologies to either Dhimar or Paran.  And now I am being flexible with that, and it will give Dhimar and Paran opportunities to modify and/or locally build their own versions of European and other countries aircraft.

 

Quote

 No so much with US aircraft, or rather Fighters and bombers, as the Yanks were careful to only supply "the good guys" with their aerospace equipment. Same goes for the Warpac countries, they would only supply to a sure bet, come into my parlour, client state.

As originally planned, USA will be directly tied with Dhimar while Paran being with Soviet. However, with your recent ideas, opened the door to additional ideas about Paran Air Force vs Paran Navy.  This will be more interesting stories for Paran side.  Paran Air Force will be using Soviet aircraft and weapons heavily with some of European and other nation's aircraft, while Paran Navy will be more focused on European aircraft instead of Soviet.  They, too, will have their own camo paints style and colors.

 

Quote

 I suppose if you wanted to look out of the box a bit, you could cast your eyes over to the Indians, with their Maruts, and licence built Gnats, also the navalised Jaguar !!  However, these are just ideas I am tossing around, which may get you thinking obliquely. I see no reason not to have British/French/Spanish/ Italian airframes in the Airforce, and also be equipped with Soviet or Pact aircraft, at the same time, as this did happen, as did the use of NATO kit to ex WARPAC countries after the fall of the curtain. Germany is a fine example of this, with Hinds, Fulcrums etc. in service and kept in service well after the re unification.

That is noted too.

Looks like I have a lot of homework to do with modifying the aircraft list this week.  If you don't mind, I would like your feedback on a new, updated Dhimar and Paran Air force and Navy list later this week.  I look forward to it.

All of you are awesome!

Cheers!

Edited July 3, 2021 by Eagle114th

[+Trotski 936]

do take a look at the skins I did a while back for Paran and Dhimar aircraft, including a Canadair Sabre, they were early works from myself, so not as good as some of my newer offerings, however they may be a good tool for you to glean some ideas from. I am really miffed that all my library of skins is inaccessible at the moment as I would love to give you a hand with some of the skins. As I said take a look at my back catalogue and see what you can extract ideas wise.

Like I said, I would love to do my Elbonia/Slobogia thing, and base them on Finnish and Swedish, maps with some North Atlantic thrown in for good measure. However, a lot of it is beyond my scope, as I am unable to do any modelling, and I am buggered if I am going to splash out a small fortune on 3DS Max !! 

I look forward to seeing what ideas you do come up with, as I feel that the whole idea of using theoretical nations adds a lot to this sim, as that way we are not bound by recorded or actual history.

[+Trotski 936]

Here's a Parani HE 51 for you to be going on with

[Eagle114th 665]

11 minutes ago, trotski00 said:

do take a look at the skins I did a while back for Paran and Dhimar aircraft, including a Canadair Sabre, they were early works from myself, so not as good as some of my newer offerings, however they may be a good tool for you to glean some ideas from. I am really miffed that all my library of skins is inaccessible at the moment as I would love to give you a hand with some of the skins. As I said take a look at my back catalogue and see what you can extract ideas wise.

Like I said, I would love to do my Elbonia/Slobogia thing, and base them on Finnish and Swedish, maps with some North Atlantic thrown in for good measure. However, a lot of it is beyond my scope, as I am unable to do any modelling, and I am buggered if I am going to splash out a small fortune on 3DS Max !!

I can understand you well. I am not able to do 3D modelling either. That is why I will update the aircraft list based on what is also available in both SF2 sim and as an add-on aircraft mods out there.  For now, all I can do is creating camo and do .ini coding.

 

Quote

I look forward to seeing what ideas you do come up with, as I feel that the whole idea of using theoretical nations adds a lot to this sim, as that way we are not bound by recorded or actual history.

I can agree with you wholeheartedly on this!  Experiencing an alternative, theoretical worlds in the sim / game gives us endless ways to enjoy it.

[+Trotski 936]

Yes it appeals to my sense of chaos, and I like to see what if scenarios, which are not necessarily aligned with what people think things should be,  because that is what historically happened or is happening in the present. I see no problem with nations having the same kit and then having a dust up, wasn't that what happened in the Football war in S America ? both sides if I remember correctly flew US types of aircraft varying from the F4U Corsair etc. The egyptians flew all sorts of things Soviet, British and Italian, as did a lot of other Arabian Countries, and clashes must have happened where the same types came up against each other. Even the French flew KI  43 Oscars after the war, also some German aircraft as well,  they even had a couple of Panther tanks, so, if one takes that idea and runs with it, boundless choices are open to you.

[Eagle114th 665]

Hello everyone,

It has been unique interesting days with many options, suggestions, and discussion going on.  I have made the final decision about where to go with Dhimar and Paran. I updated the first post.  According to my vision / stories about Dhimar and Paran:

- Dhimar have large Air force and small navy.  They both are unified and supports each other.  They all share one same flag and insignia of one nation.

- While Dhimar gets aircraft / technologies from the USA as Paran do with Soviet, both Dhimar and Paran uses aircraft and technologies from other nations too.

(Thank you trotski00 for this suggestion, it is what will make Paran situation more interesting.)

- Paran have large Air Force and Navy.  Paran Air Force and Navy leaders have their own policy and philosophy about the aircraft designs and politic.  They act as separated force.  They both have their own insignia for both forces while using the national insignia at the same time.  Paran Air Force will use many soviet aircraft and equipment, along with fewer other nation aircraft.  Paran Navy, in the other hand, disagree with the ways of Paran Air Force and Soviet. Navy leader would rather to focus on importing and using European and other nation's aircraft and equipment over Soviet, as much as possible.  However, both leaders have one thing in common, both must obey the national leader's order in any situations. 

I have recently created two new insignia for Paran Air Force and Navy:

Note: Paran Air Force is known as Royal Paran People Air Force (RPPAF).  Paran Navy is known as Royal Navy People Navy (RPPN).

Edited July 4, 2021 by Eagle114th

[Eagle114th 665]

Hello everyoone,

I have been doing a lot of work on decals and learning how it works while still contemplating on the aircraft list, which will hopefully be finished by end of this week.   I didn't realize how awesome the decals system are.  With it,you could change the nationality, squadron, number, or any decals on the plane WITHOUT having to paint new decals over plane skin.  I want to take full advantage of this.  That way anyone who downloads the mods and want to change anything related to the decals on the plane, can easily do this.

I have been working a lot on learning the tricks on placing decals over multi parts and have it align together properly.  While I already have some of the planes ready for RPPAF, here are screenshots:

NOTE: Imported aircraft will have nation's original skins.  However, Paran localized built aircraft will have Paran's camo, as shown on PF1-A below.

La-11

Tu-2S

MiG-15

FP1-A (MiG-15bis)

[+Trotski 936]

Yes, Decals are very versatile, and they can also cover a lot of mistakes you may have made in the colour scheme, I must say, I never used to be a fan of painted on markings, however,  do tend to use those a lot lately, as they become part of the paint scheme, and you can weather them better that way ( look at my Skyraiders for an example of what I am talking about.

 

[Eagle114th 665]

I have next updates for everyone:

I was looking through my older codes for decals in Dhimar aircraft.  Did major cleaning and re-coding, so it is easy to read for anyoen who want to modify the codes.  Here is an example of the codes in F-86Dh-A Decals.ini:

 

//--------------------------------------------------
// FUSELAGE (NOSE) - LEFT

[Decal001]
MeshName=Nose
DecalLevel=0
DecalFacing=LEFT
FilenameFormat=_Dhimar\Dhimar_Insig
Position=0.5,-0.00
Rotation=0.0
Scale=1.4
DecalMaxLOD=4

[Decal002]
MeshName=Fuselage
DecalLevel=2
DecalFacing=LEFT
FilenameFormat=F-86F-2\USAF\D\Fnum
Position=-3.504,0.020
Rotation=0.0
Scale=2.0
DecalMaxLOD=4

[Decal003]
MeshName=L_airbrake_door_outside
DecalLevel=2
DecalFacing=LEFT
FilenameFormat=F-86F-2\USAF\D\Fnum
Position=-3.504,0.020
Rotation=0.0
Scale=2.0
DecalMaxLOD=4

//--------------------------------------------------
// FUSELAGE - RIGHT

[Decal004]
MeshName=Nose
DecalLevel=0
DecalFacing=RIGHT
FilenameFormat=_Dhimar\Dhimar_Insig
Position=0.5,-0.00
Rotation=0.0
Scale=1.4
DecalMaxLOD=4

[Decal005]
MeshName=Fuselage
DecalLevel=2
DecalFacing=RIGHT
FilenameFormat=F-86F-2\USAF\D\Fnum
Position=-3.504,0.020
Rotation=0.0
Scale=2.0
DecalMaxLOD=4

[Decal006]
MeshName=R_airbrake_door_outside
DecalLevel=2
DecalFacing=RIGHT
FilenameFormat=F-86F-2\USAF\D\Fnum
Position=-3.504,0.020
Rotation=0.0
Scale=2.0
DecalMaxLOD=4

//--------------------------------------------------
// WING (TOP) - LEFT

[Decal007]
MeshName=LeftOuterWing
DecalLevel=0
DecalFacing=TOP
FilenameFormat=_Dhimar\Dhimar_Insig
Position=-3.5,-0.541
Rotation=0.0
Scale=1.5
DecalMaxLOD=4

//--------------------------------------------------
// WING (BOTTOM) - LEFT

[Decal008]
MeshName=LeftWing
DecalLevel=0
DecalFacing=BOTTOM
FilenameFormat=_Dhimar\RODAF_Insig
Position=-2.9,-0.355
Rotation=-28.0
Scale=6.0
DecalMaxLOD=3

[Decal009]
MeshName=LeftOuterWing
DecalLevel=0
DecalFacing=BOTTOM
FilenameFormat=_Dhimar\RODAF_Insig
Position=-2.9,-0.355
Rotation=-28.0
Scale=6.0
DecalMaxLOD=3

//--------------------------------------------------
// WING (TOP) - RIGHT

[Decal010]
MeshName=RightOuterWing
DecalLevel=0
DecalFacing=TOP
FilenameFormat=_Dhimar\RODAF_Insig
Position=2.9,-0.355
Rotation=-28.0
Scale=6.0
DecalMaxLOD=3

[Decal011]
MeshName=RightWing
DecalLevel=0
DecalFacing=TOP
FilenameFormat=_Dhimar\RODAF_Insig
Position=2.9,-0.355
Rotation=-28.0
Scale=6.0
DecalMaxLOD=3

//--------------------------------------------------
// WING (BOTTOM) - RIGHT

[Decal012]
MeshName=RightWing
DecalLevel=0
DecalFacing=BOTTOM
FilenameFormat=_Dhimar\Dhimar_Insig
Position=2.9,-0.3
Rotation=0.0
Scale=1.5
DecalMaxLOD=3

[Decal013]
MeshName=RightOuterWing
DecalLevel=0
DecalFacing=BOTTOM
FilenameFormat=_Dhimar\Dhimar_Insig
Position=2.9,-0.3
Rotation=0.0
Scale=1.5
DecalMaxLOD=3

//--------------------------------------------------
// VERTICAL TAIL - LEFT

[Decal014]
MeshName=VertTail
DecalLevel=0
DecalFacing=LEFT
FilenameFormat=_Dhimar\Dhimar_flag
Position=-4.95,1.75
Rotation=0.0
Scale=1.2
DecalMaxLOD=3

[Decal015]
MeshName=Rudder
DecalLevel=0
DecalFacing=LEFT
FilenameFormat=_Dhimar\Dhimar_flag
Position=-4.95,1.75
Rotation=0.0
Scale=1.2
DecalMaxLOD=3

[Decal016]
MeshName=VertTail
DecalLevel=0
DecalFacing=LEFT
FilenameFormat=_Dhimar\Dhimar_Name_Insig
Position=-4.7,1.3
Rotation=0.0
Scale=1.7
DecalMaxLOD=3

[Decal017]
MeshName=Rudder
DecalLevel=0
DecalFacing=LEFT
FilenameFormat=_Dhimar\Dhimar_Name_Insig
Position=-4.7,1.3
Rotation=0.0
Scale=1.7
DecalMaxLOD=3

[Decal018]
MeshName=VertTail
DecalLevel=2
DecalFacing=LEFT
FilenameFormat=F-86F-2\USAF\D\Snum
Position=-4.1,0.90
Rotation=0.0
Scale=0.75
DecalMaxLOD=3

//--------------------------------------------------
// VERTICAL TAIL - RIGHT

[Decal019]
MeshName=VertTail
DecalLevel=0
DecalFacing=RIGHT
FilenameFormat=_Dhimar\Dhimar_flag
Position=-4.95,1.75
Rotation=0.0
Scale=1.2
DecalMaxLOD=3

[Decal020]
MeshName=Rudder
DecalLevel=0
DecalFacing=RIGHT
FilenameFormat=_Dhimar\Dhimar_flag
Position=-4.95,1.75
Rotation=0.0
Scale=1.2
DecalMaxLOD=3

[Decal021]
MeshName=VertTail
DecalLevel=0
DecalFacing=RIGHT
FilenameFormat=_Dhimar\Dhimar_Name_Insig
Position=-4.7,1.3
Rotation=0.0
Scale=1.7
DecalMaxLOD=3

[Decal022]
MeshName=Rudder
DecalLevel=0
DecalFacing=RIGHT
FilenameFormat=_Dhimar\Dhimar_Name_Insig
Position=-4.7,1.3
Rotation=0.0
Scale=1.7
DecalMaxLOD=3

[Decal023]
MeshName=VertTail
DecalLevel=2
DecalFacing=RIGHT
FilenameFormat=F-86F-2\USAF\D\Snum
Position=-4.1,0.90
Rotation=0.0
Scale=0.75
DecalMaxLOD=3

//--------------------------------------------------
// Kill marks

[Decal024]
MeshName=Nose
DecalLevel=3
DecalFacing=LEFT
FilenameFormat=KILL
Position=2.7,-0.3
Rotation=00.0
Scale=1.0
DecalMaxLOD=2

So far, the decals are looking good on several of imported and local built Dhimar aircraft.  The imported aircraft will only have a minimum paint changes, except for the insignia and F-86F-2 (Due to the flag color).  The localized built aircraft will have Dhimar camo.

NOTE #1: The numbers on aircraft is a placeholder for now. I am working on squadron insignia and the wing numbers for Dhimar and Paran.

NOTE #2: All aircraft of Dhimar and Paran will have the kill marks on left side of aircraft.  I will see what I can do about changing the kill mark icons. For now it is the red stars from SF2.

 

AD-4 Skyraider

 

Meteor F.8

F-86F-2

F-86Dh-A (Dhimar Camo 1)

F-86Dh-A (Dhimar Camo 2)

Edited July 5, 2021 by Eagle114th

[Eagle114th 665]

Hello everyone, I finally finished cleaning the codes in decals.ini and fixed the camo for F-30Dh-A (Mirage IIICJ) and PF5-A (Mirage IIIC).  I hope they looks good in-game.   At once when I finish fixing decals for the remaining few aircraft, I will go back working on the aircraft list for Dhimar Air Force / Navy and Paran Air Force / Navy.  So far, I am happy with the results after learning a lot about decals.ini coding. I am amazed by how powerful decals features are.  It allow modders to simply apply any kind of decals without having to embed it into the texture.

Here are screenshots:

F-30Dh-A "Mirage"
 

PF5-A "Nasr"

[+yakarov79 11,103]

you know that you can have custom kill decals.

One thing with decals is,  that models with specular maps and bump maps have reduced the number of decals allowed per mesh. 

That is why I prefer to put as much as possible on the skin itself. If you will look at it from a game engine perspective. To load one skin with markings + approx 3 decals versus one skin and 12 decals.  The first load is 4 elements the latter is a load of 13 elements. 

But yes as for individual markings decals are a way to go. 

And the best thing with decals is that with some aircraft you can have cool individual camo styles for each aircraft in the squadron. 

 

check the left side of the nose on that Paran Mirage - the camo is not aligned...

 

[Eagle114th 665]

13 minutes ago, yakarov79 said:

you know that you can have custom kill decals.

One thing with decals is,  that models with specular maps and bump maps have reduced the number of decals allowed per mesh. 

That is why I prefer to put as much as possible on the skin itself. If you will look at it from a game engine perspective. To load one skin with markings + approx 3 decals versus one skin and 12 decals.  The first load is 4 elements the latter is a load of 13 elements. 

But yes as for individual markings decals are a way to go. 

And the best thing with decals is that with some aircraft you can have cool individual camo styles for each aircraft in the squadron. 

 

check the left side of the nose on that Paran Mirage - the camo is not aligned...

 

Thank you for the advice.  Just in case, if I am unable to apply any more decals, then I will apply some decals directly on the skin.

About the custom kill mark, that is a great new.  I will start making various kill marks for different squadrons from Dhimar and Paran.

About PF5-A nose, thank you for the head up. I will fix that.

Edited July 5, 2021 by Eagle114th

[Eagle114th 665]

Hello everyone,

 

Just to let everyone know, I am discontinuing the Dhimar vs Paran project.  I am working on the new project.  Please see the first post for the more information.

Thank you everyone for all the supports.

[+daddyairplanes 10,247]

i wouldnt consider it a discontinuation, say extreme back burner

with deeper research into the aircraft, general Cold War history, and build up of other skills, im sure you'll  come back to elements of this.

what you had proposed would be a complete revamp of hte SF2 universe* so to speak and that is massive. hell, there was alot that went into the new ODS and that is with established air arms, history and weapons and it was only 8 months timetable. your talking about alot from scratch over decades.

look forward to whatever you put out. just remember every meal, even a buffet, gets eaten one bite at a time.

 

*(ah shit, am i proposing we set canon for the SF2U )

[Eagle114th 665]

Hello everyone, I am back!

I have been working on an exciting project I dreamed of doing with a teammate.  Dhimar and Paran was the first step that pushed me into creating the completely new, fictional nations for SF2. A lot has happened since I canceled Dhimar and Paran expansion project.

Initially, I realized that it would be unwise to change the stories written by someone already.  TW already creates Dhimar and Paran.  Hence, it makes more sense to write my own stories instead.  And thank the community and friends, I was recommended to look into Africa for fictional nations.  That is what lead me to the mod project known as SFAW.  It stands for Strike Fighter Alternative World.

Without changing too much in the world of SF2, the fiction nations are being bridged into this world in semi-realistic ways.  I am fortunate to have a friend who teaches me a lot about the military's work.  It led me into research and creating the squadron, insignia, nation, history, nation flags, military branches standard, etc... I never realized this would lead me to make a book with many references.  It has been such a joy and blast being an author of the book for the first time.

What took me the longest time was researching the countries around the Horn of Africa and the Arabian Peninsula.  I intended to create nations with their own cultures, languages, and history.

I am working with a great friend who is also a teacher.  We are doing this as our hobby, hence flowing with the project.  I am working with a two-member team to bring the book into SF2 and FE2 world. 

An announcement about the SFAW project with details will be announced in a new thread.  For now, here is a preview of the SFAW mod from the book: