YAP RW Team announces the release of Vietnam Air War "Phase One - Enhanced Edition (2025)"

[potentesciamano 27]

Dear All,

Today we proudly announce the release of a new, re-edited and upgraded version of the Yankee Air Pirate project known as: "YAP RW Phase One - Enhanced Edition (2025)".

We have spent more than a year and a half doing our best to correct all the issues, errors and mistakes contained in the original release.  This includes removing assets used without proper permission or those that came from unauthorized sources.  We apologize for the past. We were unaware of many of these aspects and concerns, and therefore we did not respect other's work as we should have done.

First, we would like to thank those who contributed to the project and gave us help, support, ideas or made their assets available.  We all know that without the brilliant creations of this site, YAP RW could not even exist.  So for that, I extend my sincere thanks to CombatACE for being such a great source of top quality works and talented modders.

For this release, we have paid special attention to the Credit List, doing our best to cite authors and ensure proper credit has been given.  We realize that with all the complexities and edits that have been done, it’s very possible we may have forgotten to include credits for certain works or there may be inaccuracies with our source citations.  If that is the case, please let us know and we will immediately correct it. 

That being said, people should fully respect that all of the models/assets in our project cannot be used anywhere else without our direct permission, they remain exclusive to this project like John would have wanted but also allows us to better manage artist permissions so we hopefully don’t have any future concerns. 

Please keep in mind that the YAP RW project is made by fans for fans. None of us were part of the original development team, and we never made a single cent out of the old payware products (plus we have no control over the old homepage and purchase options).  We do not have debts with anybody for the old assets bought by John Shelton during the YAP1/2/3 Era and are only looking forward at this point.  

We legally bought all the 10 asset packs, installed them while still running WOV and then decided to challenge ourselves by trying a conversion to the SF2 engine.  We knew we were going to lose many unique features including aerial refueling, low clouds, carrier catapult positioning and more.  But we thought it was still worth the effort.  We worked a lot before releasing this version, but we know it is not perfect. We tried to correct all the errors, but there are bound to be mistakes and oversights and for now we feel satisfied with the current state.   

If anyone has suggestions to make it better, well we are open to proposed fixes and improve what we can.  We have a group on Facebook, and because it is already well established we plan to continue to use this as a primary collaboration forum.  It's a private group, since we had to defend ourselves from hackers and so on, but the group is free and open to anyone who wants to join in. You are all welcome, just show us you want to support and appreciate the project and there will be no issues. Of course, we do not like denigrators, haters, detractors, generic trouble makers just like they are not welcomed here.  

That's all. The new YAP RW version is free and is available for download on our new, independent homepage: www.yap-revamp-works.com, along with all the other chapters we revamped so far.  This version there are 102 missions (92 combat plus 10 training), all revamped in chronological order and in logical sequence: we decided to go back to the original idea of reconstructing the Vietnam Air War per year and therefore will cover the early period from 1954 to 1966.

We will be honored to hear your comments, suggestions or any screenshots or videos you might make.  And maybe you would be willing to contribute even more to the project.  Thank you for your collaboration and have a nice day in the skies. 

The YAP RW Team

Website and download pages: https://www.yap-revamp-works.com/

[+swambast 730]

 

Wow, what good timing to see this as I’ve been out of action for a few months, but felt it important to respond to this.  The original YAP project has a complicated history, and as someone who has been around since the very beginning, I’ve seen firsthand the issues that arose.  Assets stolen directly from CombatAce modders and others, used without permission from nearly every category including terrains, aircraft, ground objects, effects and so on.  In addition, it included numerous model rips from commercial games, “Russian” hosting sites, and so on.  You also had many incidents where YAP artists/contributors were not being fairly paid, their intellectual property being abused and so on.  Then monetization of the project leveraging existing freeware and stolen assets greatly complicated things.  It was frustrating to say the least and obviously at that time caused a community divide.  

But time marches on.  With John’s passing, a new leader took over and I’m going to be the first to acknowledge the march towards improvement.  He has taken significant strides to address these piracy and theft concerns, and build something more respectful and ethical. Many mistakes have been corrected and problematic assets removed when possible.  It’s not perfect, there is still cleanup needed and questionable models still exist.  But let’s be completely honest here, shall we?  Even sometimes renowned projects and assets here face the same challenges with “interesting model acquisitions.”  So I bring that up in transparency, since it wouldn’t be fair to single out YAP-RW for that.  

While there’s still room for improvement—some of their modeling team certainly do better in maintaining higher ethical standards -- at least the leadership has demonstrated a clear willingness to course-correct and take greater care.  I also appreciate the new protective clause they’ve added: "All models/assets in our project cannot be used anywhere else without our direct permission. They remain exclusive to this project as John would have wanted, allowing us to better manage artist permissions and prevent future concerns." This statement not only honors the project’s legacy but also helps establish better boundaries to protect the artists and their work.  

While the journey isn’t perfect, the team’s effort to rebuild YAP-RW with integrity deserves recognition.  A hearty congratulations, the amount of effort put forth is amazing, especially the care given to the missions.  Count me in.  They’re on the right path, and I hope they continue to refine their practices and earn the broader trust and support of this community.  

Swambast
 

 

 

[+streakeagle 884]

Ironic that the master thief didn't want anyone stealing property that he had stolen. He didn't want anyone posting screenshots that he didn't approve of. He accused Third Wire/TK of trying to intentionally sabotage his project with the changes TK made to SF2. The goal of accurately recreating the history of Vietnam was great. His execution of that goal is not a legacy I would want to honor in any way. I respect his service to the country as a fighter pilot who risked his life in combat. But that doesn't pardon his behavior in this community.

[+EricJ 4,346]

1 hour ago, streakeagle said:

Ironic that the master thief didn't want anyone stealing property that he had stolen. He didn't want anyone posting screenshots that he didn't approve of. He accused Third Wire/TK of trying to intentionally sabotage his project with the changes TK made to SF2. The goal of accurately recreating the history of Vietnam was great. His execution of that goal is not a legacy I would want to honor in any way. I respect his service to the country as a fighter pilot who risked his life in combat. But that doesn't pardon his behavior in this community.

This.

[Wrench 10,098]

My opinion:  as someone who was to join the project, way back when, and declined ...

I think these new guys are starting to get it right. Good on you all!!

[aetios 36]

I know naught about old troubles so I can only say I'm excited to play 100 missions in the Vietnam theatre! Cheers guys!

[+daddyairplanes 10,938]

23 hours ago, Wrench said:

I think these new guys are starting to get it right. Good on you all!!

having given them small time help with it, i agree. they are working hard to bring the old upto the new standard, add to what was, and give credit where due (and remove when they need to)

[dsawan 635]

Any chance of someone here willing to burn to a USB or dvd the files. Still using an old os but would like to purchase a physic copy

[aetios 36]

8 hours ago, dsawan said:

Any chance of someone here willing to burn to a USB or dvd the files

Any reason you can't download the zip..? Regardless, it's 10GB, won't fit on a DVD without recompressing and I expect there will be updates down the line too...

[+daddyairplanes 10,938]

11 hours ago, dsawan said:

Any chance of someone here willing to burn to a USB or dvd the files. Still using an old os but would like to purchase a physic copy

physical copies of flight sims in 2025? come on

[+DoctorQuest 129]

I'm enjoying it so far. Install was flawless. I had to tweak the debug option and put the Alt-D binding back in the Default.ini for controls. It looks like I need to put the Ctl-I back as well.

The terrain is very nice. I've just been playing around with build your own missions. I'll dig into the supplied missions eventually.

I did have one problem with an SR-71 mission I generated. I started out in a field somewhere with no runway in sight. I am assuming it was a CIA black site. :)

Runs great on my Dell G5.

Kudos to all involved. I can tell this was a lot of work.

[citizen67 59]

On 12/03/2025 at 3:48 AM, DoctorQuest said:

I did have one problem with an SR-71 mission I generated. I started out in a field somewhere with no runway in sight. I am assuming it was a CIA black site. :)

Same problem with an A-1H in a random generated mission, along with aircraft exploding at start or CTD during an F-105 YAP mission.
Otherwise a great number of beautiful eye candy, especially on carriers.

[Sheriff 88]

What happened to cockpits? Many of the aircraft have partial cockpits.See F-4B and A-7 below.

I looked in cockpit folders and they only contained radar scope and a few instruments. No Panels?

I used North Atlantic for base install. Will I have to retrieve cockpits from backup files?

Edited March 13 by Sheriff

[+EricJ 4,346]

I'm not sure, as I let them use the Super Hornet cockpits and I'm under the impression that they were going to use all of the files. You may want to try the Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/196048232552494

[mono27 86]

I am having this issue. I cannot get rid of all that information on the screen. Even tried HUD toggle but nothing. Any idea, please?

[mono27 86]

Nevermind. I found the problem. This addon is a hell to configure and bind the keys. The key selected does the action of the line above in the menu. What a mess, but finally I have it working.

[+DoctorQuest 129]

Not sure what you fixed. I mentioned the missing Alt-D binding. The debug info is further controlled by the "debug" option in huddata.ini (in the FLIGHT folder).

I am giving the dev team some grace here. This mod is huge and required a lot of hours to develop. I'm good working through and reporting any hiccups.

Edited March 14 by DoctorQuest

[potentesciamano 27]

Thank you all for the posts and replies.

 Sorry for the bugs, looks like there always is something to fix. Once we have gathered a number of issues and fixed them we will release an updated version.

The "white information text" on the screen is the DEBUG we use while working and editing the game. We forgot to switch it off, sorry. But you can easily make it disappear by pressing the NumPad "." key (also CANC/DEL) in the right side of the keyboard. That will cycle 4 modes (ON/OFF/partial/no pop-ups). Otherwise, you can also edit the HUDData file inside the FLIGHR folder. See the picture below.

As for the exploding planes and CTDs, YAP RW (as the original YAP3 was) is not designed to play random missions, but only to be played within the inluded, manually edited missions. As far as we know, those issues happen because if you try to generate a random misson, the game engine looks for objects which are not included in the package and then crashes. Exploding planes are also caused by the game, which puts an aircraft over another on the runway, making them crash before starting.

If the mission starts in the middle of the jungle or just nowhere, is because in YAP there are many more "airfields" than in the stock game, but some of them are fake. They are in fact cities and this trick was made to make them light up at night and enhance the night experience. As you can see, there are a few restrictions, caused by the fact that the 1st and the 2nd Gen of the game are not fully compatible, but if you just play the 102 included missions you'll be fine.

Tha's why we also obscured the "Campaign" button, which also caused the game to crash.

Thanks.

[+DoctorQuest 129]

Thanks for the feedback!

[+Hornet54 15]

18 hours ago, mono27 said:

Mám tento problém. Nemohu se zbavit všech těch informací na obrazovce. Dokonce jsem zkusil přepnout HUD, ale nic. Nějaký nápad, prosím?

As already mentioned, the problem is in the (Flight) huddata.ini file. I solved it myself without much research by copying the file from the "healthy" FS-RW mod and overwriting it in the faulty mod. In my case it was YAP-RW.

[mono27 86]

Thanks for the information! I did that changes and now the debug data is finally gone. Thanks.

Another issue I have when binding the keys is the following: The action description on the left does not correspond to the key on the right, but it does with right and one below. This picture will explain it better.

Every action has its key on the right and one below. I only marked one as an example.

Well, now I know this and I can setup my controls but it is a bit confusing.

Anybody else has this strange issue?

Edited March 14 by mono27

[Sokol 448]

i want to thank the team for their hard work and the joy it provides.

may i show a minor glitch ? the vietnamese air force did many surpring thinges, but i guess this one was beyond their cabapilities ,-)

[Sokol 448]

things - not thinges

capabilities - not cabapilities

sorry

[Wrench 10,098]

Isn't that one of the experimantal Hybrid Migs? (and yes, "thingies" would be the correct term)

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

that's what happens when game generated parked aircraft spawn where a 'static' (terrain object) is placed.  You can fix that by editing the _targets ini for that airfield, and removing references of the static (compare parking slots in the airfield ini, to locations for said airfield in targets ini)

Noting that the Fishbed has a tarp covering the canopy, THAT's the static object. Look for "Mig-21PFS_1"

[potentesciamano 27]

16 hours ago, Sokol said:

i want to thank the team for their hard work and the joy it provides.

may i show a minor glitch ? the vietnamese air force did many surpring thinges, but i guess this one was beyond their cabapilities ,-)

Hello! Above you will find the instruction to get rid of the DEBUB informations on your screen. Here is also the correct HUDData.ini, yoy can put inside the FLIGHT folder. Could you please tell us in what mission are you experiencing this issue? As Wrench said, there is a super-imposition of a game generated parked plane (camo MiG-17) over a static terrain static plane (silver MiG-21). This should not happen within the 102 included missions, but we could have miss something. We always advice not to create random missions, but only to play the given ones. Finally, looks like the best base game to play YAP RW PO EE (2025) is definitively Strike Fighters 2 Complete Edition (SF2CE).

HUDData.ini