ThePony314

Yep.  Dumb question.

Big fan here of Stephen1918's two-seater add-ons, especially the DH-4 Liberty.   So here's the dumb question.

It appears that I can only operate as the pilot.  Is there a way I can be the gunner/observer?  I don't see any key two switch seats in the game.

Considering that you can only fly the fighters in the vanilla game, this did not surprise me.

So, is there a mod that allows this?  Just wondering, because I thought that would be cool.

Told you it was a dumb question.

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.

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.

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.

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...

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. 

On 5/27/2023 at 1:05 PM, VonS said:

Might be possible to solve that video effects/artifacts problem by using a third-party dx9 DLL (driver) solution.

It's worth an attempt at any rate. See the details in this post to try the custom solution (disregard any references to WineSkin in that post). The attempt involves downloading a third-party dx9 driver and placing that driver into the main folder directory of your First Eagles 2 install (where the game is actually installed -- not into the user's FE2 folder located under "Saved Games").

If that doesn't solve the problem, one other attempt involves opening the "Options.ini" file that is located in the Saved Games/ThirdWire/FirstEagles2 directory and setting the entries indicated below (located under [GraphicsOptions]) as follows:

AntiAliasing=2
UseAdvancedShaders=0
ForceDX9=TRUE
ForceVSyncOff=TRUE

 

Cheers,

Did like you said and it worked!  Glad it did, because this game has a style to it.  Already in love with the Spad XIII. 

Thanx so much for your counsel.

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.

28 minutes ago, VonS said:

Might be possible to solve that video effects/artifacts problem by using a third-party dx9 DLL (driver) solution.

It's worth an attempt at any rate. See the details in this post to try the custom solution (disregard any references to WineSkin in that post). The attempt involves downloading a third-party dx9 driver and placing that driver into the main folder directory of your First Eagles 2 install (where the game is actually installed -- not into the user's FE2 folder located under "Saved Games").

If that doesn't solve the problem, one other attempt involves opening the "Options.ini" file that is located in the Saved Games/ThirdWire/FirstEagles2 directory and setting the entries indicated below (located under [GraphicsOptions]) as follows:

AntiAliasing=2
UseAdvancedShaders=0
ForceDX9=TRUE
ForceVSyncOff=TRUE

 

Cheers,

I shall try that.  Thanx.

Well, already did that.  Set everything as low as possible and the problem persists.  I am starting to think that I wasted my money.  Sounds like a guy has to be a technocrat to play much of anything these days.  I never had this problem with Strike Fighters Vietnam.

Laptop is not overheating.  Graphic options on UNLIMITED is...well, I have no idea what that means.  And laptop probably about 10 years old.  The laptop

Okay, I searched this forum and I can't find any reference to this problem.  I hope that doesn't mean that I am the only one to experience it.

When playing, almost all the time the graphics go absolutely crazy.  Colors just bouncing all over the place, like a Pink Floyd laser light show.  It makes the game absolutely unplayable. 

I tried to take a screenshot so you could all see what I'm talking about, but all I got was a black screen when I attempted to post it here.  So there goes that idea.

This does not happen in loading or menu screens or anything like that.  It only happens when actually playing.  And once it happens, it keeps happening until I back out to the menus.

Sometimes, it happens immediately when a mission begins, other times, it take a few seconds.  But it happens every time.

Direct X us up to date.  My OS is Windows 7.  I have no mods installed.  I have uninstalled and re-installed, and have even uninstalled and re-downloaded from Third Wire.  Same problem no matter what I do.  Oh, and I am using an Intel(R) HD Graphics card, which is up to date.  Also, I have tried every variation of resolution and other things.  One last thing.  My FE 2 is up to date.

This is driving me crazy.  This game wasn't free, and I can't play it.  Any thoughts?  I thank you in advance for any helpful counsel.

I have purchased the First Eagles 2 for Windows 7 from the Third Wire site and never got an access code.  I also never got any returns from my e-mails concerning what happened.  The purchase went through, but I keep trying to get an access code, but Third Wire never responds.  Has anyone else been through this?  If you have, what did you do about it?  I hate being scammed, and I would also hate to think that this is what has happened.  If anyone has any advice, I am all ears and I thank you in advance.  I am about to throw my laptop through a window.