Vietnam Community Project Idea: Gulf of Tonkin Incident - Redux

[+Wrench]

weird, huh??? Not only in it's seperate folder, but I moved all the bits INTO the main DRV folder. Even dropped on on Da Nang AB, and it didn't show either. More strangeness!!!

was flying in 1967.

in fact, here's a test mission flying over the mountain

copy and save as "test mission usaf"

Quote

[MissionHeader]
AircraftType=F-4D
MissionMap=DRV
MissionType=CAP
StartTime=09:00:00
StartDate=04/05/1967

[MissionData]
FriendlyAirActivity=1
EnemyAirActivity=1
FriendlyAirDefenseActivity=3
EnemyAirDefenseActivity=3
PlayerMissionID=1
PlayerPositionID=1
MissionNumber=1
GeneratedMission=FALSE
AdjustStartPosition=FALSE
AdjustBaseWaypoint=FALSE
CreateStaticAircraft=TRUE
CreateHelpFlight=FALSE

[Weather]
WeatherType=CLEAR
WeatherAlt=3962.400146
WeatherThickness=304.800018
HasHighLayer=FALSE
FogAmount=0.600000
ContrailAlt=6400.800293
StartWindDirection=300.000000
StartWindSpeed=3.601108
WindGustingAmount=9.774436

[AircraftMission001]
Name=SHOWTIME
AircraftType=F-4D
Size=1
Alignment=FRIENDLY
RandomChance=100
MissionType=CAP
TargetArea=
ObjectiveID=0
RatingForSuccess=50
CarrierBased=FALSE
Position=436000.000000,126000.000000,3000.000000
Heading=0.000000
Speed=250.000000
StartTime=0.000000
BaseArea=
Nation=USAF
FormationType=USFighter
PilotTrainingStandard=EXCELLENT
Loadout=AirToAir
AmmoPercent=100
FuelPercent=100
TracerMixRatio=50
Texture=USAFCamo1
Squadron=1SOS
AircraftNumber=1
KillMarking=0

[Callsign]
GroundCallsignID=1
FACCallsignID=1
TACCCallsignID=1

I always have 2 of these, one for the blue side, the other for the red side. lets me check each (and every!!) target area. just change the Position= to whatever the target area coordinates are. Works great for checking your work!

[+Gepard]

Some eyecandy for the next update:

RSBN station (short range navigation system, comparable with TACAN) at vietnamese airfields.

And P-12 radar and PRV-11 altitude finder for vietnamese airfields

All objects are made by Yakarov.

[+Gepard]

Only an idea: Since DRV terrain covers mainly the territory of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam) it is focused on the American Air War against North Vietnam.

The Air War in the Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam) was a completely other kind of war. It was more focused on close air support and armed recon instead of strategic strikes and dogfights.

Could a South Vietnam (RoV) terrain be of interest for the community?

[+Sundowner]

I have my Vietnam set up just for missions south of the DMZ, plenty of mud moving and recon possibilities... 

[citizen67]

1 hour ago, Gepard said:

Only an idea: Since DRV terrain covers mainly the territory of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam) it is focused on the American Air War against North Vietnam.

The Air War in the Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam) was a completely other kind of war. It was more focused on close air support and armed recon instead of strategic strikes and dogfights.

Could a South Vietnam (RoV) terrain be of interest for the community?

Sure! I do love to fly Skyraiders and A-37s in Armed Reconnaissance missions!
And it would be nice if Combat SAR missions could be introduced.

Edited December 3 by citizen67

[+Flanker562]

4 hours ago, citizen67 said:

Sure! I do love to fly Skyraiders and A-37s in Armed Reconnaissance missions!
And it would be nice if Combat SAR missions could be introduced.

SAR Missions are "fun" in Arma 3 but for SF2 unless TK patches it with those style of missions...

[+daddyairplanes]

55 minutes ago, Flanker562 said:

 unless TK patches it with those style of missions...

or a modder gets a bug up and works a hell of a work around

[+Flanker562]

1 minute ago, daddyairplanes said:

or a modder gets a bug up and works a hell of a work around

Only Eagle114th knows the files better than most, so if he comes up with something then so be it, but as virgin there's no way you can do a SAR mission. I'm not against it, but you're fighting the game too.

[+daddyairplanes]

3 minutes ago, Flanker562 said:

Only Eagle114th knows the files better than most, so if he comes up with something then so be it, but as virgin there's no way you can do a SAR mission. I'm not against it, but you're fighting the game too.

work around would probablyl be more to the tune of scripted"strike" missions, lowering a PJ "bomb" onto a downed pilot "target" with no explosions

pretty sure even Eagle wont be able to play with the files to create a SAR mission, other than renaming a duplicate STRIKE mission

i gots ideas folks, just not enough know how to make em reality

[citizen67]

I'm not a modder but I assumed it wouldn't be feasible, or at least not that easily. Mine was more of a joke but... hey, if anyone wants to try! 

[+Gepard]

Unless real life has other plans for me, I will release DRV 2.1.1 tomorrow.

[+Gepard]

DRV 2.1.1 is uploaded some minutes ago. Waits for the ok of an Admin.

[+Flanker562]

Approved already

[+Gepard]

I was informed, that there is a strange grafic clitch is to see, when you are flying over the sea. It looks like far distant mountains. In the first screenshot you see it over the horizon.

The strange thing is, that the "mountains" also appear in directions, where no mountains should be.

I think it must be a problem of a mismatch between DRV_data.ini and the heightfield file DRV.hfd.

The hfd file i have taken from original DRV terrain, which is a 60% size terrain. The data.ini file i have modded by using some (header) lines from a 100% terrain.

In a 100% terrain the same area looks so:

As you see, there are no "distant mountains".

No idea, how to solve this problem.

[+Wrench]

what about the Horizon settings off the Options menu?

[+Gepard]

19 hours ago, Wrench said:

what about the Horizon settings off the Options menu?

No bad idea, but not the solution. If you take off east of Da Nang and look to the East you see mountains over the ocean. And the next mountains in that direction are the Andes in South America.

I think i found a solution in the settings of the data.ini, but i need a while for testing.

Give me 2 weeks,  or lets say till X-Mas.

[+Gepard]

I have seen pictures of the Ha Long Bay in northern Vietnam some hours ago in TV. And i remembered, that GKABS made rocks for terrain building. Ha Long Bay rocks would be a nice eye candy. So i was playing a little bit with this files.

A first test looked so:

The shape of the rock is not bad, but the color does not fit.

Lets see, what i can do.

[SgtSaunders]

I have a question: could you tell me the steps to install the complete Vietnam Mod for SF2,  that's in the download section? And if Gulf of Tonkin Incident - Redux is finished, it looks amazing graphically, very realistic. If it's in beta, I'll be eagerly awaiting it.

[+swambast]

@SgtSaunders   Thanks for your interest.  Unfortunately, overall community interest and support has been nearly non-existent with the exception of perhaps 2-3 fellow supporters (you know who you are and have my gratitude).  Therefore, due to personal real life conflicts myself, overall specific Gulf of Tonkin progress has been horribly slow perhaps with the exception of the incredible efforts exhibited by Gepard!  That being said, what's been done or in-progress is very high fidelity and exciting. 

Here is current SITREP:

• Custom and historically accurate North Vietnamese P-4 Torpedo Boat:  COMPLETE
• Custom and historically accurate USS Maddox (DD-731) Sumner-class destroyer:  Heavy Work-in-Progress and exhausting due to the research efforts/hybrid transition timing
• USS Ticonderoga (CVA-14) Essex-class Aircraft Carrier:  Base model outsourced, paid for and secured - NOT STARTED
• F-8 Crusader – U.S. Navy fighter jets from the USS Ticonderoga (CVA-14) carrier group:  WIP/NEARING COMPLETION:  Authentic F-8 skins/textures, complete high-res cockpit texture overhaul, authentic load-outs/high fidelity weapons and overhauled flight model and numerous other historical tweaks to increase immersion and accuracy.  

As mentioned real life has been challenging over the last several months, but I will continue to push progress the best I can along with the few supporters.  I hope to post more screenshots in the near future!

 

[+swambast]

@Gepard  Hi Gep, thanks again for all of your support on the terrain updates.  I could have sworn I did a Karst collections waaay back in the day.  And behold I actually remembered right and found some old screenshots.  These were from over 15 years ago under the Gen1 engine, wow!  Anyway, they can be upgraded with higher fidelity, smoothness and improved in a variety of other ways to meet today's standards.    When I get a chance, I'll give it a go and report back. 

[+Gepard]

I promised to solve the "distant mountain" problem till X-mas.

I thought, that i had found a solution, but after i while of testing i found, that the problem still sometimes appear and sometimes not appear.

I'm working on an update of DRV terrain, that will include the famous Halong Bay with the lots and lots of iconic rocks middle in the sea. For that i will need a little bit more time.

Edited Saturday at 04:52 PM by Gepard

[+Flanker562]

Take your time man, I still gotta fly it sometime anyway.

[+Gepard]

After hours of test flying and testing new settings in the DRV_data.ini i found something, that seems to solve the "distant mountain" problem.

Open file DRV_data.ini with notepad editor

look for line

TileToHeightGridRatio=8

change it to

TileToHeightGridRatio=4

save the file.

I hope that it is it.

[+Sundowner]

TileToHeightGridRatio=8 is for 250m heightmap resolution maps.

[+Gepard]

Halong bay rocks now in a darker color.