Leaderboard

Fans of ThirdWire's Strike Fighters, I'm happy to announce an upcoming re-release of Operation Desert Storm: 30th Anniversary Edition, due between this December and next January (yet to be defined). Since the last public release in January 2022, the development team has worked in spare time for more than a year in overhauling the mod with brand new creations, tons of improvements and bug fixes, additional content and much more. Here below some sneak peeks at what's to come. With the intent of delivering the most complete Gulf War experience, players will now be able to fly with the three unique F-4G aircraft that were deployed to the conflict with Euro I camo (namely serial numbers 69-0269, 69-7566, 69-7234) and the only Grey colored F-111E (serial number 68-0050) deployed alongside the more common camouflaged F-111Es. F-4G aircraft 3d model and skins courtesy of @ravenclaw_007. To complement the already huge list of flyable aircraft offered by the mod, new aircraft have been added! Say hi to the wonderful, brand new Mirage F1EQ-5, Mirage F1EQ-6 and Mirage F1CR by @ludo.m54 and his Mirage F1 Team. Moreover, let's welcome a couple of two-seaters; the F-16D-40 Fighting Falcon by @ravenclaw_007 in its Bahraini livery (skins and decals by @Viper63a) and the F-5F available in Royal Saudi Air Force camo and Grey Bahraini livery (skins and decals by @paulopanz). I decided to allow players to choose from experimental camos devised before the Gulf War for some of the most known aircraft of the war. The A-10As are getting the experimental Flipper and Peanut camouflages (both were meant for the Gulf War, respectively for night time and day time missions) and the F-16C Block 25, serial number 84-1212, gets the unique desert camo it sported during Desert Shield, before it was later decided to remove it. These three new skins have been made by yours truly. The original Lizard camo for the F-16C Block 25 is from the Viper Team, it has been upscaled and detailed a bit more by yours truly, as a bonus. On the fun side of things, additional skins have been added to important aircraft of the war; these include prototype paint schemes for the F-117 and the F-15E, Iranian liveries for the F-5E, MiG-29, F-14A and F-4E, and the VX-4 black livery for the F-14A. These skins exist only for player use and won't be seen in normal gameplay during the campaign and single missions, so rest assured the mod won't be breaking any reality check by default. The F-117 skins are brand new and made by yours truly. Okay, so we get to see more variety and beauty in third-person view, but what about cockpits? Numerous cockpits have received a face-lift in the way of brand new textures, mapping fixes, recolouring, better calibrated and standardized HUD colors, corrected view-points and much more. The Mirage Factory's F-14A cockpit now takes the place of the stock one by ThirdWire which looked inappropriate for early 1990s Tomcats, alongside small texture improvements by yours truly. Cockpits for the F-15C, F-15E, RF-4C and for F-7s were revised by yours truly, given hi-res textures and/or proper recoloring for consistency's sake. The S-3 Viking is now flyable, with Foxmonter's original cockpit getting a fresh hi-res repaint by @Viper63a. MiG and Su cockpits received similar treatment by yours truly, and thanks to the works of @OlWilly and @michaelk. If you've had enough of the sky, do know that our master 3d modelers have been busy producing dozens of brand new 3d models for land and sea warfare. One huge, major update regards the Iraqi ground forces; @yakarov79 produced a vast number of brand new vehicles never seen in a flight simulator before; from exclusive Iraqi versions of known Soviet tanks to not-so common howitzers, proper Iraqi command vehicles, artillery units, APCs and more. The Iraqi ground forces have never been reproduced so accurately before, so you can be sure they are a real treat of the mod. Coalition units also got a high-definition treatment with brand new objects by fellow @guuruu, including the M270 MLRS, M102 and M110 howitzers; he also worked on brand new ship 3d models, from generic boats and bulk carriers and cargo ships, to the Iraqi Zhuk-class patrol boat. Moreover, he reworked all data and sound design of guns used by most ground objects; guns now feature unified warhead weight based on caliber and standardized light range and tracer size. Ground battles feel much more intense and gun-only dogfights now feel incredibly realistic, as you or the AI can survive multiple hits (whereas in stock Strike Fighters it's usually an unrealistic one-shot one-kill). The terrain has received noticeable improvements. All terrain objects have been given DetailLevel statements in order for them to be scalable depending on Ground Object graphics settings; this means that less important terrain objects will appear only at Medium, High or Unlimited settings as required. More importantly, Iraq got brand new airbase 3d models by @Jimbib accurately portraying the layouts of the time, alongside a proper Kuwait Int'l airport and Iran's Kharg island airport. Be on the look-out for easter eggs, especially at Iraq's Tallil Airbase. You'll be able to see @Jimbib's recreation of the Ziggurat of Ur, and you might find a bird by @guuruu inside one of the hangars, seemingly out of context. This actually is an historically correct easter egg; history aviation enthusiasts should know about it. There's also a not-so secret single mission available for you to experience. It's not Gulf War related, apart from the fact you'll be flying an F/A-18A of the VMFA-314 Black Knights. Mission date? July 4 1996. Hmm, what could it be? You can tell the amount of effort and passion that went into the mod by reading the complete changelog below. Changelog: Remade installer to allow users to install the mod folder to a path of their choice. Major overhaul of effects with great help by guuruu; improved Stary's Unified Effects package and fixed various issues. Modified DTV filter data for all avionics files to use a different BlendOp for better visibility at night. Resized various cockpit and aircraft .TGA textures to improve performance and reduce memory load. Cleaned up Pilots folder of unnecessary files, fixed few occurrences of missing textures. Optimized Decals folder, resized void and/or plain color decals to 1px, removed unnecessary decals. Standardized control keys for all kinds of animations on all aircraft. Standardized HUD color values, gunsight textures and night lighting for all cockpits. Added DetailLevel statements to all terrain objects in order for them to be scalable depending on Ground Object graphics settings. Added new runway models for major Iraqi airports (as well as Kharg Island and Kuwait Int'l airports) recreated very accurately by Jimbib. Added proper 3d model of the Ziggurat of Ur in the vicinity of Tallil air base, by Jimbib. Added realistic Easter Egg to Tallil air base, 3d model by guuruu; history aviation enthusiasts should look for an aircraft. Added four missing Saudi Arabian airports: Buraydah, Al-Artawiyah, Jubail and Al-Khafji. Added Veltro2k's C-2A(R) aircraft released by Wrench and properly reworked for the ODS environment. Added FastCargo's F-5F with brand new RSAF and BAAF skins made by paulopanz. Added brand new Mirage F1CR by the Mirage F1 Team, with specific tweaks for the ODS mod. Added brand new Mirage F1EQ-5 and Mirage F1EQ-6 aircraft by the Mirage F1 Team, with specific tweaks for the ODS mod. Added latest versions of the Mirage F1EQ-2, F1EQ-4 and F1EDA aircraft released by the Mirage F1 Team. Added proper Saudi Arabian E-3A (E-3A with CFM engines) 3d model made by Sundowner, with brand new skin and decals done by PeacePuma. Added huge ground objects update by yakarov79 with brand new 3d models for tanks, radars, SAMs, howitzers, anti-air guns, vehicles for the Iraqi faction. Added dozens of nicely detailed 3d models standing in as destroyed models for ground objects, by yakarov79. Added new, nicely detailed 3d models; M270 MLRS, RORO ship, Zhuk-class patrol boat, Bulk Carrier ship, M102 and M110 howitzers by guuruu. Added revised weapon data for all AIM missiles including additional sub-variants, all by Crusader, and revised loadouts for aircraft. Added missing CBU-78 and updated 3d models for some other CBUs, all made by ravenclaw_007. Added airburst version of the 1000-lb GP Bomb Mk.13 and more realistic SEAD loadouts for the Tornado GR.1, by dtmdragon. Added smokeless rocket effects by simonmiller416 for the AIM-120A and for all AGM-88s and all AGM-65s. Added specific Kuwait skin to the BMP-2 ground object by yakarov79, for use in the Invasion of Kuwait campaign. Added experimental desert camo skin applied on one F-16C Block 25 aircraft before Desert Storm began. Added experimental Peanut and Flipper A-10A paint schemes conceived for the Gulf War (scrapped before Desert Shield). Added prototype Lizard camo to the F-15E Strike Eagle as a fun bonus, with its correct serial number. Added prototype paint schemes to the F-117A Nighthawk as a fun bonus, with proper serial numbers. Added overhauled skins and decals for all Mirage 2000 aircraft, as well as new hi-res textures for fuel tanks, by ludo.m54. Added period correct Euro I camo and Shark Mouth skins to the F-4G aircraft with correct ODS serials and decals, by ravenclaw_007. Added overall grey skin for the F-111E representing the unique 68-0050 serial number that took part in Desert Storm. Added Improved Countermeasure Effect mod by simonmiller416, increasing realism and improving looks of flares. Added BQM-34 Firebee by yakarov79 as a target drone eventually for training missions for the Coalition aircraft. Added KDS-155 dispenser by Coupi to the MiG-25PD, with specific tweaks for use by the AI in the ODS mod. Added much better detailed AGM-62 Walleye bombs made by ravenclaw_007 in place of old ones. Added F-16D Block 40 aircraft made by ravenclaw_007, with Bahraini skin and decals previously made for ODS by Viper63a. Added new hi-res skins and decals for the KC-135s by daddyairplanes with templates produced by yakarov79. Added Lizard camo skin based on the F/A-16C proposal to the F-16C Block 25 aircraft as a fun bonus, with correct serial numbers. Added Iranian camo skin to the F-5E aircraft by Crusader as a fun bonus. Added Iranian camo skin to the MiG-29A aircraft by The Mirage Factory a fun bonus. Added Iranian camo skins made by ravenclaw_007 to the F-4E aircraft as a fun bonus. Added Iranian camo skins and VX-4 black livery skin to the F-14A aircraft as a fun bonus. Added improved sight textures by michaelk for Stary's Su-7 cockpit. Added M992A2 and proper V-150 APC, 3d models created by GKABS. Added MovementX and MovementZ data to all cockpits to allow XY slewing for TrackIR users. Added The Mirage Factory's F-14A cockpit in place of the stock one by ThirdWire, alongside reworked textures and data. Added Foxmonter's original S-3 Viking cockpit to make the aircraft flyable, with a hi-res repaint by Viper63a. Added working canopy animation to both aircraft and cockpit 3d models for all MiG-21s/F-7s. Added shells ejection update for the MiG-29s and reduced MiG-29UB's gun rounds to 50, as suggested by Crusader. Added KS-3 and KS-4 ejection seats created by 76.IAP-Blackbird and Flogger23 to all Iraqi Fitter aircraft. Added correct list of serial numbers to the Iraqi skin of the Su-24MK aircraft. Added reworked, higher resolution strobe light texture for aircraft and runways, for improved in-game looks. Added numerous real Gulf War pilots to the campaign data and correct ranks for the Iraqi air force. Added bonus Unknown Contact mission as a fun Easter Egg, inspired by a rare demo video of F22 Total Air War. Added more RWR sounds specific to certain aircraft in order to increase variety. Fixed many inaccurate hitboxes for most of the more 170 ground objects included in the mod. Fixed inaccurate hitboxes and/or collision points still present on few aircraft. Fixed weapon stations data for the F-117A so that now it carries LGBs only, including GBU-10s. Fixed weapon stations data for the UAE Mirage 2000s, the RAD variant now carries the Harold recon pod. Fixed weapon stations data for the F-15E in order to avoid weapon 3d models clipping between each other. Fixed data for the F-15E so that the AVQ-14 pod does not appear on loadouts with dumb bombs, by dtmdragon. Fixed wrong gun ammo count for the MiG-21F and the F-7s; the MiG-21F-13 carries 1x60 rounds, the F-7s 2x30 rounds. Fixed exaggerated BaseRCSModifier value for the F-117A, now it can be targeted by other aircraft. Fixed exaggerated jammer strength value for the MiG-25PD, now it can be properly locked on by other aircraft. Fixed AimAngles values for the internal gun on all F-15s, so that the HUD gunsight is properly aligned. Fixed Hawk's cockpit so that it features correct viewpoint, working HSI, lighter reflections and proper gunsight data. Fixed some cockpit data for all MiG-21/F-7 cockpits, as found in a topic written by Crusader. Fixed misplaced RWR screen on the Jaguar GR.1A's cockpit 3d model. Fixed misplaced wingtip vortex effects on all F-111s, all Su-20/22s, the MiG-23UB and the Su-24MK. Fixed missing exhaust emitters on the A-10A and OA-10A aircraft. Fixed exhaust emitters on the AV-8B so that they appear not just on thrust vectoring controls. Fixed nose landing gear being textured improperly on the S-3 aircraft. Fixed pilot's head stuck looking in the same direction on the AV-8B aircraft. Fixed excessive fuel flow values and sluggish flight model on all F-16C aircraft. Fixed wrong, outdated flight models and data for all F-15 aircraft. Fixed few loadout.ini files referencing the AGM-84A instead of the more period correct AGM-84D. Fixed few gun sounds not playing in-game due to their filenames containing a dot character. Fixed overlapping parking spot reported by Viper63a on Ali Al-Salem and Ahmed Al-Jaber airfields by Jimbib. Improved terrain target areas and objects, removed unused and duplicate terrain objects. Improved AI altitude and strafe, rocket and bomb attack values to reduce weird flight behavior at low altitudes. Improved ViewList.ini file, now you can take better screenshots of your preferred aircraft and gameplay instant. Improved and optimized all files of the Sounds folder, now being less than half the original size for faster loading, by guuruu. Improved guns data, now featuring unified warhead weight based on caliber, standardized light range and tracer size, by guuruu. Improved visibility of ground objects at night through the DTV camera by increasing MaxVisibleDistance, by guuruu. Improved aircraft data for all Mirage F1s for proper AI use of ECM and countermeasures, by pvince. Improved all MiG-21 cockpits with reworked gunsight and cockpit textures, removed gunsights embedded into the 3d models. Improved F-7B and F-7M cockpit textures by using the hi-res repaints of MiG-21 cockpits by comrad. Improved MiG-25 cockpit and avionics with tweaks done by OlWilly. Improved MiG-23 cockpits between variants with OlWilly's improvements and with different gunsight textures. Improved Su-7 cockpit with fixed typos and additional tweaks, by OlWilly. Improved A-6E cockpit by reworking few textures and by making the bombing gunsight reasonably sized. Improved RF-4C cockpit by using and tweaking hi-res cockpit textures by streakeagle made for the F-4 cockpits of SF1. Improved F-15C and F-15E cockpits, repainted HUD glass and needles, moved misaligned 3d model parts through .ini tricks. Improved F-16A cockpit with more accurate position of indicator light boxes. Improved little skin texture details on the MiG-23UB, added cockpit files to make it flyable by the player. Improved small texture details on the F-7B, F-7M and Hawk aircraft. Improved F-5E with flight model and cockpit tweaks by baffmeister. Improved exhaust emitter effect size on most aircraft, by guuruu. Improved viewing angles in all F-16C cockpits to feel more natural, as suggested by TaktischesGenie. Improved SpeechText subtitles, now on par with the Speech Enhancement mod by yours truly. Improved data and drag values of chaff and flare to be more realistic, by orsin. Improved FlightEngine.ini values to provide better texture quality on lower settings and to reduce out of memory events. Improved realSKY mod with modified cloud shaders, purple-ish twilight transitions and reworked lens flare textures. Improved SoundList.ini data for better doppler effects, extended sound range for engines and explosions, guuruu. Removed the Maverick EO aiming symbol from the A-10A's HUD, to reflect Gulf War avionics, as suggested by dtmdragon. Removed GBU-15 from being selectable for the F-15E, as no data confirms it was used by F-15Es during ODS. Removed double versions (EOGR and ASM) of AGM anti-ship missiles, now only ASM ones are selectable. Removed SA-13 9S80 radar as it is historically inaccurate for Iraq in 1990-1991. Removed anachronistic AIM-7 and AIM-9 missile variants from the Weapons folder. Removed RWR from the F-117A since it never had one in reality, as pointed out by dtmdragon. Removed ECM from the MiG-25PD aircraft as it did not have any in reality. Removed R-73 missile from the mod and corrected loadout of the MiG-29UB to use R-60s instead. Removed JATO from C-130s and from Tu-22s as they are not needed and not proper for the Gulf War scenario. Removed tracer texture from specific guns where tracers rounds were not used operationally, as suggested by dtmdragon.

My extended thanks to @yakarov79, @guuruu, @daddyairplanes, @GKABS, @Jimbib, @ravenclaw_007, @ludo.m54, @dtmdragon, @Crusader, @Coupi, @paulopanz, @TaktischesGenie, @simonmiller416, @pvince and @swambast for supporting me and the mod during its latest development. The year 2023 has been bitter for some members of CombatACE.com and it is marked by the sad loss of dear Marty ‘NIELS’ Nielsen. I send the CombatACE.com community all my heartfelt thanks and best wishes. The release of the mod is going to be dedicated to the memory of 'NIELS', who has been one of the major beta testers of the ODS 30AE mod before it got its official public release. Blue skies and tailwinds…

Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21MR, Fuerza Aérea Argentina, 4° Grupo de Caza, 1982 Credit for the front badge goes to Spinners

So gehen die Gauchos, die Gauchos gehen so.

NATO Tigers

Successfull strike.

Deep Blue

BAC Lightning F.3 - No.111 Squadron - 'The Black Arrows'

Russian Attack Helicopters Mil Mi-28N, Mi-28NM and Kamov Ka-52 Alligator ;)

Blender rigged 'universal soldier' .

more airfield action all that to set up the big Boss fight.......

Ukrainian sniper took it off. still RTB'd though

Russian Military Aviation Su-25A, Su-25UB ( Georgian camo ) style Mi-28N , Mi-28NM and Kamov Ka-52 Alligator

This mod is GREAT! Thanks for all your work here. I enjoy a lot flying it and will be looking forward to this next update. Thank you and good work!

Some sceenery shots from Jersey Airfield

To add new nations and have them with working insignia like on stock aircraft is not trivial, it is not just a matter of modifying the nations.ini file nor a matter of copying an insignia.tga file. Anyway, it is not necessary to reinvent the wheel, the People's Liberation Army Naval Air Force had been added already with the following mod:

An outstanding mod gets better. Truly appreciate the passion you all put into this mod.

Due to various reasons, my contribution is still very small. It makes me feel honored to be mentioned.

Thank you for your work! PS. If you want add and replace in Su-24MK_DATA.INI to this. [DiveBombAI] AimPitchOffset=3.0 [StrafeAI] ...... AimPitchOffset=-1.6 AI Su-24 will stop missing its target. Thanks, the best modification ever.

View File SF2 B-57B Canberra Ini, Skin & Decal Update Pak SF2 B-57B Canberra Ini, Skin & Decal Update Pak 11/30/2023 = For SF2, Any and All = * Full-5 Merged reccomended, but can be used in any game with access to the STOCK B-57B & F-4C_67 * ** Designed to REPLACE in total, any earlier mod packages of this type ** Some ini mods for the stock 3W B-57B that add a usable cockpit (albeit not perfect!, but VERY usable & functional), new avioncs ini, and adds the Nuclear Delivery Capability (tm) they had from inception. All this will make the aircraft Player Flyable (tm). Be advised, your game install MUST have access to the stock F-4C_67, as that cockpit is used in this mod. See "Notes" for more Whys. This mod includes a new skin, for the 499th BS, 345th BG with historical serial & Buzz Numbers for 24 aircraft. It should be noted, while correct for the 345th, I was unable to locate serials specifically for the 499th. The "Bat Out of Hell" nose art IS fictious, but historical as used on their B-25s during WW2 in the Pacific. I just thought it looked cool!. Also included (as seen in the SF2 CA Forum) is a new skin for the wing tip drop tanks as used on the Natural Metal Finish (NMF) skin. As of now, it's set up ONLY for the USAF NMF skin, but is easily used on any other NMFs. See "Notes" below are more instructions. The USAF NMF skin also gets 24 correct serial & buzz number decals, but they are 'generic' in nature, representing no specific unit. As always, fairly easy to follow, yet detailed install instructions are included. Please read them! You may with to unzip this archive FIRST before installing, to read all the crazed instructions. Also, please read the Notes section for more expositions on WHY I chose the cockpit I did. Happy Landings! Wrench Kevin Stein Submitter Wrench Submitted 12/08/2023 Category B-57  

(cough cough) many nose arts already available for VA ANG deep in the DL section. think i know the guy that did it.... Mandatory screenie

Salvage Project #4 : F-105D by ArmorDave. Even though we have the stock 3W one (which is MUCH better ...) 149th TFS, Virginia ANG

Putting together some static aircraft terrain object packs, these can be permanently placed on airfields to complement the game generated parked aircraft. Besides the 737, 747, A300 and TMF 707, these are from freeware sources and I have re-mapped some of them to use the same textures of mods available here at CA for some skin re-usability and variety.

Georgian Air Force Su-25A and Su-25UB Versions ( new camuflage )

Putting the earlier Phantoms on the deck requires constant power inputs. Cutting back with the gear & hook down and flaps out, it bleeds speed and sinks at a prodigious rate, so you're constantly putting on and pulling off power to keep a steady approach and not stalling. I try and stay between 160-165 knots. It's a little fast, but I find I can control it better.