Question about a particular mod...

[ThePony314 2]

Specifically this one:

https://combatace.com/files/category/379-spad/

I followed the readme and the Spad VII is now flyable (hoo-ray), but one issue.

I may have done something wrong.  Anyway, I copied the camo folders from the Spad13 folder to the Spad7 and Spad12 folders, but when I fly the Spad VII in game, it's white.  No camo.

Any idea what I did wrong?  Any insight would be appreciated.  Thanx.

Edited June 2, 2023 by ThePony314

[+daddyairplanes 10,118]

check the texture naming in the folders

case in point, im working A-7Ds, with an A-7D_75 and A-7D_78. skins practically the same

but if i forget to change from _75 to _78 when making a new texture, it will show up blank in game

so look at the jpg or bmp names in the SPAD13 folder, and the names of working skins in SPAD7

then adjust your imported skins accordingly

[ThePony314 2]

17 minutes ago, daddyairplanes said:

check the texture naming in the folders

case in point, im working A-7Ds, with an A-7D_75 and A-7D_78. skins practically the same

but if i forget to change from _75 to _78 when making a new texture, it will show up blank in game

so look at the jpg or bmp names in the SPAD13 folder, and the names of working skins in SPAD7

then adjust your imported skins accordingly

I have zero idea what any of that meant.  I am a lot of things, but I am no technocrat. 

[+VonS 1,424]

For any aircraft that were originally AI-flown in FE2, and then later made flyable via tweaks, mods, etc. -- best is to extract skins for said aircraft using the excellent program called "Mue's Cat Extractor" -- see this link for instructions and other important info. regarding the cat file(s) extractor. I also recommend, when you find time, going over the entire "New in FE2" thread since it's a good intro. to modding in FE2 -- the link to that thread is over here.

By the way, stock skins for the Spad VII (150 and 180 hp variants) are found in "ObjectData003.CAT" -- see the cat extractor link above for more info. on where those various cat files are located (in short, they are found in the actual FE2 game install folder, not in the FE2 user folder located under "Saved Games").

For illustrative purposes, see the pics. below that show extracted Spad VII skins and that I have then loaded into my middle eastern theater install, for a British-built 150 hp Spad VII. Pics. below point to the ThirdWire folder in "Saved Games," by the way (where all mods. and/or extracted files from the stock sim should be placed, etc.) -- not to the actual game install folder for FE2.

Happy flying,

 

Edited June 2, 2023 by VonS
Edited post.

[+daddyairplanes 10,118]

6 hours ago, ThePony314 said:

I have zero idea what any of that meant.  I am a lot of things, but I am no technocrat. 

dont have to be a technocrat

but if your going to mod (even as little as downloading stuff from here and adding it to your game) you need to learn a little lingo

no worries, you are me, around a dozen years ago.....

[ThePony314 2]

On 6/2/2023 at 6:50 PM, daddyairplanes said:

dont have to be a technocrat

but if your going to mod (even as little as downloading stuff from here and adding it to your game) you need to learn a little lingo

no worries, you are me, around a dozen years ago.....

And there I was, already learning French...

[ThePony314 2]

On 6/2/2023 at 3:58 PM, VonS said:

For any aircraft that were originally AI-flown in FE2, and then later made flyable via tweaks, mods, etc. -- best is to extract skins for said aircraft using the excellent program called "Mue's Cat Extractor" -- see this link for instructions and other important info. regarding the cat file(s) extractor. I also recommend, when you find time, going over the entire "New in FE2" thread since it's a good intro. to modding in FE2 -- the link to that thread is over here.

By the way, stock skins for the Spad VII (150 and 180 hp variants) are found in "ObjectData003.CAT" -- see the cat extractor link above for more info. on where those various cat files are located (in short, they are found in the actual FE2 game install folder, not in the FE2 user folder located under "Saved Games").

For illustrative purposes, see the pics. below that show extracted Spad VII skins and that I have then loaded into my middle eastern theater install, for a British-built 150 hp Spad VII. Pics. below point to the ThirdWire folder in "Saved Games," by the way (where all mods. and/or extracted files from the stock sim should be placed, etc.) -- not to the actual game install folder for FE2.

Happy flying,

 

Unfortunately, this did not work for me.  Mue's Cat Extractor didn't recognize the CAT files in my install folder.  It was just blank.  Another dead end.

I don't think I'm doing anything incorrectly, but it's simply not working.  I followed both the instructions in the post and the readme.  So I know I did it right.

Damn.  This is giving me a headache.

[+VonS 1,424]

42 minutes ago, ThePony314 said:

... Mue's Cat Extractor didn't recognize the CAT files in my install folder.  It was just blank.  Another dead end. ...

When the cat extractor opens, there should be a split window arrangement present. The top half should show a few (compressed) files, but in order to display all of the contents of each cat file within the second window (located below the main one), make sure to check the small box that is to the left of whatever compressed cat file is visible in the top window - might take about 10 or 20 seconds after that, but a long list of files should then become visible in the lower window.

Also make sure, in the first place, that you are navigating to the correct install directory with the cat extractor, to view the relevant cat files. The correct path is ThirdWire/First Eagles 2/Objects/ - once you navigate into "Objects," you'll find the relevant cat files there: ObjectData001.CAT, ObjectData002.CAT, ObjectData003.CAT, and ObjectData004.CAT.

Cheers,

Edited June 4, 2023 by VonS
Fixed typos.

[ThePony314 2]

12 hours ago, VonS said:

When the cat extractor opens, there should be a split window arrangement present. The top half should show a few (compressed) files, but in order to display all of the contents of each cat file within the second window (located below the main one), make sure to check the small box that is to the left of whatever compressed cat file is visible in the top window - might take about 10 or 20 seconds after that, but a long list of files should then become visible in the lower window.

Also make sure, in the first place, that you are navigating to the correct install directory with the cat extractor, to view the relevant cat files. The correct path is ThirdWire/First Eagles 2/Objects/ - once you navigate into "Objects," you'll find the relevant cat files there: ObjectData001.CAT, ObjectData002.CAT, ObjectData003.CAT, and ObjectData004.CAT.

Cheers,

Okay, I cracked one code.  I had to show the file extensions for Cat Extractor to see them.  I'm sure that was obvious to everyone else, but when you're a luddite, little is.

And I did like you did and copied the files from ThirdWire/First Eagles 2/Objects/  into the Spad7 folder.  The decals show up on the plane in-game, but the camo still doesn't.  Plane is still white.

I just plain old don't know what I'm doing.  I wonder if I'm just taking up too many people's time, and that uninstalling the game would be better for my mental health.

[+VonS 1,424]

No need to uninstall such a fine sim as FE2 - keep at it when you find some free time and eventually, once you've tuned your install to your liking, you'll have one of the best single-player WWI flight sims that are currently available -- with good flight models, excellent AI, and solid scenery too.

In terms of the continuing skin/camo problem for the Spad VII -- double-check the file organization indicated in the two pics. provided in this post.

Couple of important things to note, so that skins show up on aircraft properly, are as follows:

a) the skin files need to be in a separate folder, not thrown directly into the main level of the aircraft folder (e.g., my skins for aircraft "SPAD7_150_Brit" are located in "RAFTAN1," not directly placed into the 150_Brit folder)

b) continuing with the example mentioned above, both the "TEXTURESET" file located within "RAFTAN1" and the general "SPAD7_150_Brit" initialization file (the latter is located in the main aircraft folder itself) need to contain correct info. that corresponds with the actual folder that houses the skin files (with the "RAFTAN1" folder in this case)

In "TEXTURESET," there is the following entry:

[TextureSet]
Name=RAF Tan
Nation=RAF
Squadron=
StartDefaultDate=1916
Specular=0.400000
Glossiness=0.150000
Reflection=0.200000

In "SPAD7_150_Brit," there is the following entry:

[TextureSet001]
Directory=RAFTan1
Name=RAF Tan
Nation=RAF
Squadron=
StartDefaultDate=1916
Specular=0.400000
Glossiness=0.150000
Reflection=0.200000

Particularly important is to make sure that "SPAD7_150_Brit," to continue with the same example, contains the "texture set" section listed immediately above. Same rules apply for all other aircraft too that have custom skins, or extracted stock skins, installed. So, in short, missing "texture set" entries in the general initialization file for any given aircraft, as well as skin files not being placed into a separate folder within an aircraft folder, etc. - will create the kinds of problems (such as aircraft missing skins) that you've mentioned in this thread.

Anyway, I hope that some of this info. proves helpful. I might not be logging into the FE2 forums over the summer but hope to drop in again semi-regularly sometime by Sept. or so.

Cheers & happy flying in FE2,

 

 

Edited June 5, 2023 by VonS
Edited post.

[ThePony314 2]

I think I may have figured it out.  I shall keep you informed, so that you will know if your counsel has brought it home.