streakeagle

The shuttle is more correctly called an "orbiter" because it goes into orbit. SF series games have small square maps with magic barrier walls. There are better sims for conducting shuttle missions. One of them is open/moddable and free. Can you guess the name of this program? ...wait for it... Orbiter I highly recommend Orbiter. With mods, you can recreate Mercury, Gemini, and the stuff available for Apollo makes DCS look like a sim lite!

Title says it all. I can take an FC3 F-15C down to ground level at 250-350 knots and feel like I am going fast without zooming out. I am going to venture that this has to do with the level of detail for the terrain. Who knows? Games sometimes mess with the 3d graphics and/or time scaling. Regardless of how they do it, it looks and feels good.

The truth is always better than any fiction. I just wonder how many stories as great as his were lost over the centuries. Some of the best stories become myths and legends, but I can only imagine how many died with the people that lived them. In this case, he lived a long life, 93 years! <S> to him and the unsung heroes like him.

I will post pics of the seat parts once I get a semi-scale seat bucket built to use them, but here are the AMARC tags identifying the parts and what aircraft they came from: Uploaded with ImageShack.us

I have fully re-engineered the F-4 stick into its best form yet. No more hacked up joysticks and rotary pots. The PC interface is now a BU0836X USB board with industrial grade linear pots that precisely match the range of motion provided by the stick. I had to do some grinding to create a slot in the aluminum tube for the pitch pot, but it has worked out extremely well. Some springs were installed to provide centering for both the pitch and yaw axis. The pitch springs are fairly tight, so it takes some force to pull back 100%. The overall feel of the stick is amazing: like a Warthog stick with an extension shaft and no detents around the center range. The bit resolution is 0-4095 versus the Warthog's 0-65535, but I would know the difference while flying as I can make very subtle roll/pitch adjustments--this is much better than the resolution provided by the SIdewinder or X-45. But the really big news is that I have used sketchup to design a cockpit installation. I am going to make a wood replica the aluminum box that covers the stick along with a cloth "boot" similar to a stick shift boot. I am going to use wood to make the ejection seat "bucket" and back rails to go with the real survival pack, cushions, and parachute pack that I just bought. The survival pack/lower seat cushion is out of F-4C 63-7704, a MiG killer! I will also make the left console and install the Warthog throttle in it (though I may make my own F-4 throttle handles at some point and connect them to the BU0836X at some point). I am excited. I am very close to having my own replica F-4 cockpit :) F-4C 63-7704 is now a gate guard with a fictional number painted on the tail: My upper "lumbar" back cushion came out of 72-1482:

I am exclusively speaking of SF2. The only time I touch WoX is WoI with expansion pack 1 for multiplayer with SF2-like AI and graphics features.

Bingo! Assigned the Spitfires to be "FIGHTER" rather than "ATTACK" and changed its primary/secondary roles to be like the F-4 except deleting the anti-ship. The Spitfires immediately turned to engage the Mustang as it crossed visibility range. While I haven't done any other tests, I can only speculate that there might be different rules depending on the actual mission assigned and current waypoint type (IP, OBJECTIVE, etc). No telling without extensive testing. When they were ATTACK, they immediately made a shallow check turn (10 or 20 degrees?) when I first got within visual range, then returned to waypoint path (perhaps not spotting me because the turn wasn't wide enough?). As "FIGHTER"s, they broke hard to the left as soon as I entered maxVisibleDistance, clearly spotted me, and engaged. I stand by original assessment: the AI does have 360 degree vision, if they don't automatically engage you, it is because some other constraint is forcing them to remain on course, whether it is their assigned role, fuel/ammo status, or whatever. In my particular case, where I was trying to recreate historical Vietnam missions, the criteria I was using ensured that I never once saw the "steady state" flight pattern permitting a bounce. In one example, I struggled to get the AI to replicate the response of the real pilots per fluid four training and the documented actual response of the pilots. I achieved the best results by assigning a flight of 1xF-105D on a strike (or maybe SEAD) mission, made the player F-105D with wingman with an escort mission, and created a 2xF-105D flight assigned to escort the lead strike F-105D. Per reality, all planes dropped their ordnance with the lead F-105D going pure defensive, his wingman trying to clear his tail, and the remaining pair trying to support/clear the tails of the lead pair. This was optimum for the scoring of the player since his real life counterpart would shoot down a MiG while trying to cover the lead, the goal not being to get a kill but to make sure his lead survived. To keep the player from being able to kill all four MiGs and give the MiGs a historically good chance of hitting the lead on the first pass, I had to give the MiGs the best possible pilot skill. To keep the F-105s from getting unrealistically slaughtered, I had to give them the best possible pilot skill as well. If I tried to start the MiGs at a longer range, the F-105s would magically engage the MiGs despite the fact that the MiGs were in a blind spot. So I had to start the MiGs at firing range to even have a chance of duplicating historical results.

Well, it might be fair to say that after the introduction of jets, props were mainly used for attack, as the P-51 and F4U in Korea. Of course, in their SF2I Expansion Pack role, they might still be regarded primarily as fighters? But I think all aircraft were used as multi-role (at least recon and strafing if not outright bombing?).

This project has updated their website to reflect the loss of Ed Rasimus. It also stated their intent to finish the project and provided updated screenshots.

It is not listed in the data ini file RWR = FALSE, same as the prop planes. When I substitute and F-4 for a P-51 vs the Spitfire, The Spitfires still fly straight no matter what range. But no matter what range I start the F-4 at, the MiG-17Fs always engage. It has proven very hard to isolate what is going on. The AI for the MiG-17Fs may somehow be different than the Spitfires. The only key difference I see in the data.ini files is that a MiG-17F is a fighter while a Spitfire is listed as an attack. Ran out of time to test that angle last night, maybe more testing tonight.

I have varied the response of my original posted mission by switching to P-51D vs 4xSpitfire IXc and altering the starting range. I have gotten both immediate engagement and steady straight behavior. In the steady straight behavior, I have to get very close (< 0.2 nm) before I see engagement behavior. I still need to do more testing to isolate what triggers engagement behavior. Possibly related to whether the mission starts near max visible detection range or inside it? I need to move my IP and objective waypoints further out to make sure they aren't triggering behavior changes.

Keep in mind the MiG-17F has no RWR and is specified to be completely blind to the rear: [DetectSystem] RadarType=RANGING VisualBlindArc=5,6,7 VisualRestrictedArc=4L,8L,12L MaxVisibleDistance=6000.0 HasRWR=FALSE It seems to be no small coincidence that the MaxVisibleDistance for the F-4 is 10000.0 meters, about 5.4 nm. So I don't understand what would be different in an F-86 vs MiG-15 mission that you wouldn't see the exact same results I get in an F-4C vs MiG-17F mission.

Duplicate those results with the mission I provided. The F-4C is 3,000 feet lower and trailing by 6 nm. The instant you hit 5 nm, All four MiG-17Fs turn left to engage. Don't know what you are doing different in your mission. I don't have any mods installed. Give me a stock mission where you can approach from dead 6 without AI reaction so I can duplicate the performance. There will have to be some difference in AI settings/mission/waypoint or something else. By TK's own words, the AI is programmed to be visually aware 360 degrees, the blind arcs listed in the ini files are disregarded. This was a feature he added to address complaints about flights not reacting to approaching enemies. Usually, when they go straight and level without reaction it is either due to out of fuel/ammo or pilot skill. I cannot have AI approach my flight from the rear or approach an AI flight from the rear without the flight being bounced magically reacting. I discussed this fact on the Third Wire forums and TK was pretty clear on why that was.

Simply the sound of a single unopposed enemy aircraft can cost sleep and cause stress. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washing_Machine_Charlie But actually dropping bombs and doing meaningful damage provides even better results. Imagine being in Iraq when the F-117s were coming every night. As soon as the AA guns lit off, everyone knew some very specific target was going to be utterly destroyed.

This is a very simple mission I created starting with the stock F-4J vs MiG-17F: 1xF-4C flying from the low 6 (a blind spot for every single seat aircraft) of 4xMiG-17F. Try getting less than 5nm from the MiGs before they all magically reverse to engage. I cannot construct a fighter vs. fighter mission where one side does not automatically spot the other and engage WVR. [MissionHeader] AircraftType=F-4C MissionMap=DESERT MissionType=CAP StartTime=14:30:00 StartDate=03/18/1966 [MissionData] FriendlyAirActivity=1 EnemyAirActivity=1 FriendlyAirDefenseActivity=0 EnemyAirDefenseActivity=0 PlayerMissionID=1 PlayerPositionID=1 MissionNumber=5123 GeneratedMission=FALSE AdjustStartPosition=FALSE AdjustBaseWaypoint=TRUE CreateStaticAircraft=FALSE CreateHelpFlight=FALSE [Weather] WeatherType=SCATTERED WeatherAlt=3962.399902 WeatherThickness=304.799988 HasHighLayer=FALSE FogAmount=0.570000 ContrailAlt=7924.799805 StartWindDirection=180.000000 StartWindSpeed=2.573764 WindGustingAmount=2.573764 [AircraftMission001] Name=SHOWTIME AircraftType=F-4C Size=1 Alignment=FRIENDLY RandomChance=100 MissionType=CAP TargetArea=Al'Duhok ObjectiveID=2 RatingForSuccess=100 CarrierBased=FALSE Position=479521.640606,461348.984340,2000.000000 Heading=39.543674 Speed=240.279465 StartTime=0.000000 BaseArea= LandArea=D7 Airfield Waypoint[01].Command=WAYPOINT Waypoint[01].Position=517605.248866,507476.414779,2000.097534 Waypoint[01].Size=1500.000000 Waypoint[01].Speed=240.389557 Waypoint[02].Command=INITIAL_POINT Waypoint[02].Position=522119.846570,512217.369865,3000.146484 Waypoint[02].Size=1500.000000 Waypoint[02].Speed=240.389557 Waypoint[03].Command=OBJECTIVE_POINT Waypoint[03].Objective=TRUE Waypoint[03].Position=537093.750306,531464.843754,3000.146484 Waypoint[03].Size=1500.000000 Waypoint[03].Speed=240.389557 Waypoint[04].Command=WAYPOINT Waypoint[04].Position=443548.256816,533580.780085,3000.000000 Waypoint[04].Size=1500.000000 Waypoint[04].Speed=240.279465 Waypoint[05].Command=WAYPOINT Waypoint[05].Position=468492.565498,524644.052383,3000.000000 Waypoint[05].Size=1500.000000 Waypoint[05].Speed=240.279465 Waypoint[06].Command=APPROACH Waypoint[06].Position=399093.365024,532251.109278,1524.000000 Waypoint[06].Size=1500.000000 Waypoint[06].Speed=139.554001 Waypoint[07].Command=LAND_LINEUP Waypoint[07].Position=392999.999190,549740.000000,762.000000 Waypoint[07].Size=1500.000000 Waypoint[07].Speed=83.357964 Waypoint[08].Command=LAND_TOUCHDOWN Waypoint[08].Position=393000.000000,558081.500000,0.000000 Waypoint[08].Size=50.000000 Waypoint[08].Speed=74.860001 Nation=USAF FormationType=USFighter PilotTrainingStandard=EXCELLENT Loadout=AirToAir AmmoPercent=100 FuelPercent=100 TracerMixRatio=6 Texture=USAFCamo1 Squadron=391TFS Aircraft[01].AircraftNumber=0 [AircraftMission002] Name=BANDIT1 AircraftType=MiG-17F Size=4 Alignment=ENEMY RandomChance=100 MissionType=CAP TargetArea=Riqdur ObjectiveID=1 RatingForSuccess=100 CarrierBased=FALSE Position=487190.000000,470265.000000,3000.000000 Heading=38.210281 Speed=166.423233 StartTime=-112.143585 BaseArea= LandArea=P5 Airfield Waypoint[01].Command=WAYPOINT Waypoint[01].Position=514557.400924,505029.926389,3000.146484 Waypoint[01].Size=1500.000000 Waypoint[01].Speed=166.265152 Waypoint[02].Command=INITIAL_POINT Waypoint[02].Position=518972.166573,511372.035793,3000.146484 Waypoint[02].Size=1500.000000 Waypoint[02].Speed=166.265152 Waypoint[03].Command=OBJECTIVE_POINT Waypoint[03].Objective=TRUE Waypoint[03].Position=535082.031399,531289.062680,3000.146484 Waypoint[03].Size=1500.000000 Waypoint[03].Speed=166.265152 Waypoint[04].Command=WAYPOINT Waypoint[04].Position=494551.272570,443295.933045,3000.000000 Waypoint[04].Size=1500.000000 Waypoint[04].Speed=166.423233 Waypoint[05].Command=WAYPOINT Waypoint[05].Position=500146.272570,448428.433045,3000.000000 Waypoint[05].Size=1500.000000 Waypoint[05].Speed=166.423233 Waypoint[06].Command=APPROACH Waypoint[06].Position=534563.406941,444016.969278,1524.000000 Waypoint[06].Size=1500.000000 Waypoint[06].Speed=95.472000 Waypoint[07].Command=LAND_LINEUP Waypoint[07].Position=546999.999190,457740.000000,762.000000 Waypoint[07].Size=1500.000000 Waypoint[07].Speed=67.822495 Waypoint[08].Command=LAND_TOUCHDOWN Waypoint[08].Position=547000.000000,466081.500000,0.000000 Waypoint[08].Size=50.000000 Waypoint[08].Speed=53.040001 Nation=Syria FormationType=SovietFighter PilotTrainingStandard=EXCELLENT Loadout=None AmmoPercent=100 FuelPercent=100 TracerMixRatio=6 Texture=SyAAFSilver1 Squadron= Aircraft[01].AircraftNumber=0 Aircraft[02].AircraftNumber=23 Aircraft[03].AircraftNumber=56 Aircraft[04].AircraftNumber=15 [Callsign] GroundCallsignID=1 FACCallsignID=1 TACCCallsignID=1

I have played the current patch revision quite a bit. Quite a few patch revisions ago, TK took away the visibility arc functionality. The enemy can always see you... just a matter of whether he chooses to react to you. In my historical Vietnam missions, MiG-17s coming into the blind spots of F-105s never ever worked due to the visual spotting arcs being disabled. I had discussed this on the Third Wire forums with TK, and he favored the dogfight over the old fly straight and level behavior using this simple cheat. I am not sure what sim you have been flying if enemy fighters allow you to bounce them... unless the AI skill levels are set low where they may act oblivious to your aircraft?

While modding SFP1 guarantees nothing will get broken in a patch, SF2 may have reached the point of no more patches. Stable since July 2012 patch. The last hope for SF2 is that all the mobile SF releases draw in new SF2 PC customers to generate demand and cash for continuing SF2 addons. But the fact that TK only posts in his own forums to announce the latest mobile release or a desperate tech support issue ignoring questions/comments by long time SF/SF2 fans is a very bad sign.

It was never realistic to come across a flight of 4 attack planes and have them hold formation straight and level as you gun each one down. It works for B-17s/B-24s in massive formations in WW2. But in the Vietnam time frame the game is supposed to be about, no one held formation under attack. Wingman blows up... you break hard and scramble to figure out what is going on before you blow up too. SF2 swings to the other extreme. It is fairly easy to drive enemies off their intended paths, since they see you coming even when you approach from below and behind. The inability to surprise an enemy creates more interesting dogfights, but makes it impossible to properly simulate historical combat where 4 out of 5 targets died without even knowing they were under attack. So, when I make historically based missions, my only recourse to start the fight at the point where visual contact was made. Neither friend nor foe can be "bounced".

The problem with Oct 2008 level is that the AI has a good chance of running into the ground, but is otherwise far superior to the AI in any previous release.

No contest for me despite liking/loving most of the major Vietnam movies: The Green Berets But a close second might be We Were Soldiers.

Call me slow, stupid, or whatever, but I finally got around to renewing after the last subscription recently (past month or two?) expired. I took the 2 year option.

For those that don't know it, Ed Rasimus has died. I wish this project would be finished in a way that would honor his memory. I am guessing that the total lack of activity on the WTR website combined with TK's migration to mobile apps is a sign that this project will never get any further than this old announcement. <S> to one of the greatest fighter pilots of all time.

The only option that might work is porting over the terrain and aircraft from FE2 into a version of SF2 that supports the mission editor. Create your missions via SF2. Then copy the missions back over to FE2. But, I don't know if FE2 terrain and plains are supported well enough in the latest SF2 engine or whether the mission editor output will be fully compliant with the mission file standards of the earlier FE2 patch level. The key is that missions are simply text files anyway. Let SF2 do most of the work for you and if there are any minor incompatibilities, you should be able to edit or delete them.

+1 Same job, same pay, same standards. Why are two bathrooms needed? Used to be called segregation when you had one facility for one group and a separate facility that was reserved for another group. If they have to add anything to submarines to permit women to serve, then they aren't really "equal" are they?

There are those in the DCS world that detest the very idea of even bothering to release the P-51D who have no objections to the T-38. They see DCS as a "modern" jet sim. Personally, I want a complete simulator that is capable of simulating all aspects of flight and combat to the highest practical realism level, which really translates into a complete physics model: aerodynamics, mechanics, the Earth, etc. for flight, avionics, sensors, weapons, etc. and decent AI. If DCS succeeds in doing all that, why can't it be a replacement for FSX? Won't a T-38A modeled on a DCS:A-10C level be equal to or better than any T-38 ever released for FSX? What DCS needs right now as much or more than a rapid expansion in the range of flyables is realistic terrain other than Georgia. I would prefer a full blown globe that could even be flat and/or mostly blank until filled in by addons. Adding in land combat and presumably sea combat is icing on the cake.