SFCE project - Avionics overhaul - Discussion and resources

[Eagle114th 685]

Hello everyone!

I believe the topic related to avionics will eventually become very detailed discussion or resources sharing (information/data/pictures/videos), so I am creating a new thread that is all about avionics overhaul in SF2.

When I was taking a short break from SFCE to experiment with F-4B Phantom II new radar texture, I aimed to find the pictures.  Turns out it is very difficult to find the pictures, but thankfully I am able to obtain various F-4s manual books.  They gave me detailed information about the radar scope so I can picture how it would look like with the colors.

That is where I go deeper into the rabbit holes.  to my amazement, avionics is really such a very complicated topic, especially with the many upgrades being applied to different versions of aircraft (A-4s, A-7s, F-4s, Mirage series, etc...) from the post war onward to modern time.

For now, during my free time between SFCE project, I want to continue experimenting with avionics overhaul, so I can implement it as an optional add-on to SFCE and SFWA projects.

In the next post, I will share what I have learned about how the radar scope looks like in the early F-4B Phantom II and the latest progress on the new radar scope textures.


Cheers

[Eagle114th 685]

After talking with various modders with great knowledge about the radar technologies in F-4s and researching from the manual books.  Here is what I found from F-4B / J / N manual:






And here is the picture:






From what I have learned while modding avionics for SF2, there are limitation:
- The radar symbol's color can not be changed yet.
- The ability to modify the behavior of radar and avionics is very limited, it is tied to Avionics60.dll and Avionics70.dll
- Since SF2 default radar symbols are a little bright green by nature, I need to set the balance between the accuracy of radar scope colors and the readability of the radar scope comfortably.  The solution is to darken the CRT background color while adjusting the radar scope lines. 
- There is no red filter len option.  To solve this, I created two versions of radar scope; Regular and RF (Red Filter).

There is also another thing I also learned about the radar scope, there are various radar scopes with different colors and styles.  (Correct me if I am wrong), so this is why I created a few different radar scopes, so you can choose which you prefer the most.  It is based on what I have found from different resources.

However, I do realize my work may not even be accurate.  That is okay because I am doing my best as possible.

Here are screenshots with new different radar scopes:

Radar Scope #1


Radar Scope#1 with red filter len on:


Radar Scope #2


Radar Scope #3


Radar Scope #2 and #3 with Red Filter len on:



Eagle114th