Caesar

Probably MiG's being targeted for the kill. As Gocad and Blackbird have said: out of box, you cannot fly any Warsaw Pact A/C. However, you are in luck as there are massive quantities of MiGs, Sukohi's, et al that you can download and fly right here at CA.

One of them fancy tanker thingamajigs, eh? Cool.

Well, key/stick mapping is really up to you. Get a feel for it and assign a button that works for you. I've got a Saitek X52, have the radar, firing, air to air weapons selections, HUD mode, ECM/Chaff/Flare and camera controls on the stick, and the throttle the air to surface weapon selection, air/wheel breaks and flaps. Other visual commands and extra radar commands are handled on my keyboard. In TW, the acronyms you've got listed are as follows: RWS: Range While Scan (I don't think this one is modeled) TWS: Track While Scan ACM: Air Combat Maneuvering (or, with respect to radars, "ACM mode" or Boresight, i.e. locks up the first thing that flies into the beam) A2G: Air to Ground STT: Single Target Track (when you've got lock on a single target) SAM: Surface-To-Air Missile, though the context makes me think otherwise...

Quite a fun game, not really a sim, though it feels more like a sim than prior versions of the AC series. Also has online play, but I find it gets redundant.

If you're willing, the Martin Baker GRU-7A and NACES

File Name: Fictional VF-1 Wolfpack squadron scheme File Submitter: Caesar File Submitted: 2 Mar 2008 File Updated: 2 Jul 2009 File Category: Fictional/What If Skins Fictional VF-1 Wolfpack squadron by "Caesar" Install Instructions: Copy XVF1 folder into your F-14A folder, and add the following to F-14A.ini: [TextureSetxxx] Name=VF-1 Wolfpack Nation=USN Squadron=VF1 Specular=0.300000 Glossiness=0.500000 Reflection=0.000000 If you have not done so, add the following to your squadronlist.ini [squadronxxx] Name=VF1 DisplayName=VF-1 'Wolfpack' Nation=USN This is a fictional paint scheme for VF-1 Wolfpack, and is also my first low-viz scheme relying heavily on decals. This scheme is designed to combine the late 1970's to early 1980's low-viz scheme worn by the Wolfpack with the original scheme from 1972 before all aircraft had been delivered, providing hi-viz colors to the CAG and XO a/c. Aircraft numbers, BuNo's and notes are as follows: Aircraft BuNo Notes: NK100 158979 CAG bird in 1977 NK101 158627 XO's bird from 1973-1979 NK102 158984 NK105 in 1974, stricken 20 November, 1997 NK103 158625 Became NF-14 testbed NK104 158993 Stricken 1 June 1992 NK105 158986 VF-2 NK206 in 1977, rendered to AMARC in 1991 NK106 158996 Crashed with VF-2 on 26 June 1977 at NAS Miramar NK107 158616 "Deer Slayer"; struck and killed a deer on landing in 2001 with VF-101. NK110 158633 SARDIPed, stricken 25 Sept 2003 NK111 159000 Stricken 1 June 1992 NK114 158985 VF-2 NK200 (CAG Bird) in 1977, stricken 31 March, 1992 NK115 158629 Lost on 18 June 2000 at NAS Willow Grove, both crew killed Thanks to the Mirage Factory for this amazing aircraft, and if you haven't gotten it already, I'd strongly reccomend the Tomcat cockpit repaint by The Trooper. It rocks, baby! -"Caesar" Click here to download this file

And you've got the F-4's radar screen; that ain't right. This might sound stupid, but did you put in the cockpit.ini and avionics.ini into the F-14A main folder, and did you check to see if your avionics dll is avionics70.dll instead of 60?

I thought Kei got the Russian model to do a cobra in a video ???

Congratulations on the release!

Though I gotta say, LAN play rawks when everyone has a bunch of add-on a/c and effects.

Or grape-shot "flak"...fired out of a culverin... On topic: I'd love an SR-71!

Good job on the beta FM. The Gripen handles quite admirably now in WoI!

WombRaider: check the deploy and retract value of the glove vanes in your F-14A_DATA.ini, listed under LeftGloveWing and RightGloveWing respectively. Deploy should be 1.39, retract 1.41.

FRAPS and then Windows Movie Maker. That's the free way. Sony Vegas is pretty kickass for making videos but is also expensive as hell.

That is nuts.

Not sure if this is your problem but the AIM-7M got no joke heavier. It would show up on the master list but I couldn't load it to anywhere but the number 4 position on my F-14 (to make the plane TARPS capable, I fooled around with the weapon stations) which was rated to carry 1000kg for the TARPS pod. I checked to see what was up and noticed the sparrow stations weight limit of 230kg. The old AIM-7M weighed 228.4kg, the new one 231.33kg, or 1.33kg over the limit; had to fix the max carry weight on the other three pylons. Not sure if this is your problem, but you might want to look into it.

He beamed me the first time coming from head on, then he turned around, so technically the second shot came from his 6-o'clock. Hard. Not sure what its exact envelope is but the Mirage Factory's AIM-7M can be fired at 70km Rmax and 1.5km Rmin and lock must be held throughout the flight. @CoolHand: After he broke my lock the first time, the first sparrow did go dumb and crash into a mountain, I fired a second missile after I got lock the second time.

Sixgun, I finally got the F-16 to depart, but it wasn't easy. 20K feet, full lateral stick and pull with opposite rudder. After about 3 revolutions it turned into a flat spin. I recovered by cutting the engine (literally), rudder opposite spin and full pull on the stick. While the F-14 took 11K to recover, the F-16 took 2K. I agree the -16 shouldn't spin, but I do keep in mind that there was a point in time when the Viper was also called the Lawn Dart because of computer malfunctions, and I'm not even sure if the plane would allow such inputs that would depart it.

Haven't departed the Viper yet. I have departed the Tomcat and was able to recover; it took positive counter-spin action and about 11K feet, but it did come out. Did you try to recover the plane? EDIT: And either it's just me or the differential horizontal tail mod for the Tomcat makes it handle better in WoI. After I re-applied the mod the plane feels like it has better roll performance and doesn't buckle back under G as much...

Hello, and welcome to the basic definitions of the ThirdWire series! This is a simple overview of the terms that you will run across when running and modding games from the ThirdWire series. 3DSMax – An abbreviation for “3D Studio Max,” a program which with its plug-ins can export “Homeworld Level Of Detail” or “.LOD” files, which are used by the ThirdWire series for aircraft, weapon, ship, etc. models. Avionics – Normally a reference to an aircraft’s “avionics.ini” file, which defines the systems such as the HUD, RADAR and gauges of an aircraft. .BMP Files – .BMP files are known as “Bitmap” files, and are generally used as the base “skins” for aircraft and weapons in the ThirdWire series. Targa files (.TGA) are used as the decals atop bitmap files. Bitmap files can be made by every readily available paint program including Microsoft Paint. .CAT Files – .cat files are known as “Security Catalogue” files, and with respect to the ThirdWire series, .CAT files are where most of the game’s core components can be found: for example the flightengine.ini, environmentsystem.ini and easyavionics.ini data files can be found in the FlightData.CAT file. If you wish to modify these files in order to run some of the mods available to you, or the instructions of the mod require modifications to .ini files like these, you will need to use a .CAT EXTRACTOR. .CAT EXTRACTOR – As the name implies, a .cat extractor is a utility that allows you to extract files from a Security Catalogue. “SFP1E – Strike Fighters Project 1 extract utility 1.0” is one such extractor that can be found at Combat Ace’s downloads section under ThirdWire Series (SF/WOV/WOE/WWI)>Utilities/Editors>SFP1/WOE/WOV CAT File Extract Utility. Note that although called the Strike Fighters Project 1 extract utility, the extractor works with any of the ThirdWire series games for file extraction. Countermeasures – Sometimes abbreviated “CMs,” countermeasures are chaff and flare, designed to fool incoming missiles. They are not modeled with high accuracy and are very hit-or-miss, no pun intended. Decals – Decals are Targa (.TGA) files applied on top of a “skin,” and are usually the aircraft’s number, national insignia, tail code, bureau number, etc. Decals are normally parts of the aircraft that are incremented, such as the numbers, because the ThirdWire series can increment .TGA files (example: file000.tga, file001.tga, file002.tga). Decals can be used to make an entire skin, but this is difficult, and normally the skin of an aircraft or weapon is a bitmap, and the decals add specifics to the skin. .DLL Files – “Dynamic Link Library” files are known as .DLL files. These files cannot be edited and are necessary for the games to run. FM – FM is an abbreviation for “Flight Model” which defines how an aircraft flies. Flight Models take a long time to complete and are modeled as accurately as possible. Keep in mind that the ThirdWire series of simulations are “light” sims, so accuracy is not always 100%, but it should be noted that in the latest iteration, Wings Over Israel, departures and spins have been modeled. Note, a Flight Modeler might decide to spend a lot of extra time to force an aircraft to depart under certain conditions in prior versions of the TW series, but this is not easy and it is time-consuming. .INI Files – .INI files are known as “Initialization” files and are the files that define just about every aspect of the game, aircraft, weapons, etc. Flight models, aircraft limitations, ordinance points, fuel capacities, dates of service, availability, who flew it…all of these are decided by the .INI files. Knowledge of the .INI files is necessary to modify any aspect of the ThirdWire series games, from adding skins to adding weapons to modifying aircraft. The more you work with them, the easier it becomes to mod. .LOD Files – “Homeworld Level Of Detail” files, abbreviated .LOD, are exported files from 3D Studio Max that cannot be reverse-engineered. They are the actual model files that are used in the ThirdWire series. Without a “skin” attached, they appear in the shape of the aircraft, but are flat white. In order to use some of the mods available, .LOD files are necessary from different games in the ThirdWire series, for example, to use the Tu-22 mods in Wings over Vietnam or Europe, one must first have the .LOD files found in Strike Fighters Project 1. .LOD files made by ThirdWire unique to individual games cannot be posted online, this would be illegal. Mod – “Mod” is short for “modification” and is a term used to describe any modification to the ThirdWire games. Mods can be full add-on aircraft, weapons, campaigns, or simple single-line .ini file edits to change a value of an aircraft or game file. Modder – Someone who makes modifications to games is called a “Modder.” .MSN Files – Mission files, made using WoVQMD (Quick Mission Designer) or similar mission editing programs are saved in the .MSN file format. These are custom missions that can be loaded from the Single Mission option in the game interface. OPFOR – An abbreviation for Opposition Forces, meaning the enemy. Patch – Patches are modifications to the game core released from ThirdWire. They address issues and bugs, and also many times add new functionality to the games. Read Me – As the name implies, a “Read Me” file is a simple text file that explains any information or offers instruction, especially related to mods such as, but not limited to add-on campaigns, aircraft and weapons. Read Me files also are hardly ever read…be sure to read them as most questions are answered in the Read Me. RL – Real Life, or, the thing that overrides any modding/skinning/etc. Usually gets in the way of stuff at inopportune times. Skins – The term “skin” refers to a design applied to a 3D model so that it doesn’t appear as a big white plane-looking object in the sky. Skins can be thought of as a “paint job” or “color scheme” for your aircraft, ship, etc. Note that a skin is not actually an aircraft, but instead the “paint” that will appear on an aircraft, i.e. you must first download or have the full aircraft on your computer to use a new or custom skin on that aircraft. Skinner – Someone who specializes in skinning for 3D models is called a “Skinner.” .TGA Files – Targa media files are usually referred to as .TGA files. These files are used for decals and may be incremented to change as the basis for a numbering system or custom decal. If you were to make a nose decal showing a number starting at 200, for example, you would save the 200 decal as nose000.TGA, 201 would be nose001.TGA, etc. Targa files are also used for effects, such as after burners or explosions. Targa files must be saved at 32 bits/pixel to work in the ThirdWire series. Adobe ImageReady is one program that can create Targa files. ThirdWire – ThirdWire, sometimes abbreviated TW, is the company that developed Strike Fighters Project 1, Wings over Vietnam, Wings over Europe, First Eagles, and Wings over Israel, usually called the ThirdWire series. TK – “TK” is Tsuyoshi Kawahito’s name abbreviated. TK is the designer and creator of the ThirdWire series. He previously worked on European Air War. Two Weeks – An ambiguous amount of time rarely ever equivalent to two weeks in truth, usually given as a response to the question of when a mod will be complete. Realistically, it could mean a few months, to over a year, to (rarely) as little as a day. .WAV Files – “Wave Audio Files” are known as .WAV files. The ThirdWire series uses .WAV files for its sound effects. Weapon/Gun Editor – The Weapon Editor is included in Bunyap’s Weapon Pack and more recently the Mirage Factory Weapons Pack, or directly from www.thirdwire.com. This utility allows for easy editing of weaponry in the ThirdWire series, and is necessary for adding certain weapons. There is also a Gun Editor designed to modify gun data. The latest version is required to edit weapons with the latest patches for the ThirdWire series, and to work in WinXP or Vista, must be run in compatibility with Windows 98/ME mode.

Finally got a BVR SAHM kill: AIM-7M fired at 17 miles at a MiG-21bis. The first missile went stupid about 10 seconds after I fired it at 24 miles. The second one tracked and the Fishbed attempted to beam me. Did some funky maneuvers and prevented it, Sparrow hit and killed the Fishbed.

I decided to try to do a whole squadron of a/c. A few of them have customized features, different marks, etc. This also meant doing a bunch of decals. XO's A/C The famous "Deer Slayer" (nailed a deer on landing while part of VF-101, number was AD120 at the time) CAG's bird Still not finished with it.

It beams you (the player) after you fire either a SAHM or an AHM, but if they break your lock and you've already launched an AHM, it's too late for them most of the time. I haven't had any wingman fire at BVR, but within visual range it's tough to say. I've had them fire AIM-7's but in close they miss easily. Even AIM-9's aren't as good as they used to be, but then we finally have to follow missile envelopes and not just fire 40*off angle and get a hit.

Flippin' amazing. First Raptor, then Gripen, now Eurofighter. Good job on the progress thus far, and can't wait for the release!