FastCargo

All Northrop 2 seaters (except T-38C) have been combined into one download for SF2. http://combatace.com/files/file/11128-northrop-2-seaters-for-sf2-version-20/ Includes: T-38A AT-38B F-5B F-5F Sagheah CF-116D Ya know, maybe I do need to list that in the File Description... FC

By Sean Rayment, Defence Correspondent, The Telegraph (UK) Armoured vehicles will use a new technology known as "e-camouflage" which deploys a form "electronic ink" to render a vehicle "invisible". Highly sophisticated electronic sensors attached to the tank's hull will project images of the surrounding environment back onto the outside of the vehicle enabling it to merge into the landscape and evade attack. The electronic camouflage will enable the vehicle to blend into the surrounding countryside in much the same way that a squid uses ink to help as a disguise. Unlike conventional forms of camouflage, the images on the hull would change in concert with the changing environment always insuring that the vehicle remains disguised. In Helmand, for example, all armoured vehicle have desert sand coloured camouflage, which is of little use in the "Green Zone", an area of cultivation where crops are grown and the Taliban often hide. Up until recently such concepts were thought to be the stuff of science fiction but scientists at the defence company BAE Systems now believe battlefield "invisibility" will soon become science fact. Scientists at the BAE hope the new technology will be available to use with the British Army fighting in Southern Afghanistan and in future conflicts. The concept was developed as part of the Future Protected Vehicle programme, which scientists believe, will transform the way in which future conflicts will be fought. The programme is based around seven different military vehicles, both manned and unmanned, which will be equipped with a wide variety of lethal and none lethal weapons. The unmanned vehicles or battlefield robots will be able to conduct dangerous missions in hostile areas, clear minefields and extract wounded troops under fire. The vehicles include: * Pointer: an agile robot which can take over dirty, dull or dangerous jobs, such as forward observation and mine clearance. * Bearer: a modular platform which can carry a range of mission payloads, such as protected mobility, air defence and ambulance; * Wraith: a low signature scout vehicle; * Safeguard: an ultra-utility infantry carrier or command & control centre; * Charger: a highly lethal and survivable reconfigurable attack vehicle; * Raider: a remotely or autonomously controlled unmanned recce and skirmishing platform – similar in design to the "Batmobile" * Atlas: a convoy system which removes the driver from harm's way. BAE's Future vehicle project is, in part, a reaction to the Ministry of Defence's (MoD) 'Capability Vision' for armoured vehicles, designed to spur development along different paths from the MoD's previous research. Commanders are aiming for a prototype within four years and an experimental operational capacity by 2013. The brief is for a lightweight vehicle, weighing 30 tonnes, powered by a hybrid electric drive, with the same effectiveness and survivability of a current main battle tank. The UK's current tank, the Challenger 2, weighs 62.5 tonnes, and runs a 1,200hp V12 diesel engine. Britain's current fleet of armoured vehicles are also close to approaching the end of their service life and armoured vehicles designed specifically for use in Helmand, such as the hugely successful Mastiff, may be inappropriate for use in other operational theatres. Scientists at BAE are also looking at a number of revolution battlefield inventions which will increase troop protection as well as making the vehicles more lethal. One concept being developed is to develop technologies, which will cut the use of fuel on the battlefield. In Afghanistan, the cost of fuel is 50 times that of the pump price. All fuel currently used by NATO troops comes in via road convoys which are often attacked by insurgents which are responsible for 80 per cent of US casualties. Scientists are close to developing a form of transparent armour - much tougher than bullet proof glass – which could be used in turrets of on the sides of armoured vehicles which would improve the situational awareness of troops inside. Also being developed is a technology known as "biometric integration which uses advanced algorhythms to analyse crowds and to search for potential threats from suicide bombers by analyzing suspicious behavior in groups or individuals. Electronic scanners would search for suspicious behavior, inappropriate clothing or individuals on wanted lists who can be identified through facial or iris recognition. The information would then be displayed on screen within vehicle or handheld vehicles carried by dismounted troops. Hisham Awad, the head of the Future Protected Vehicle project said: "The trick here is to use machines to do what they are best at (and humans are not) - ploughing very quickly through dull, repetitive data to strip out the overwhelming bulk which is of no use and would take a long time and enormous human resources to process. "Then you can quickly bring human intelligence to bear where it excels - making life-or-death decisions based on 'real time' information on suspicious activity flagged up by the machines."

Well, that's a bummer, but not unexpected. FC

Steam is a distribution service for games run by Valve software (makers of Half Life) and is a form of DRM. It works similar to Rise of Flight, in that if you are online, it verifies the game before you start it. HOWEVER, it does not have to be online...if you are offline, the game will still play normally (except for multiplayer games, obviously). There are pros and cons for such a system as you can find discussed in other places. The main reason I like Steam is that my account is tied to me, not to a specific computer. So I can play a game on one computer, save my progress, then go to another computer to continue the game from that point, all seamlessly...very useful because I'm on the road a lot. In addition, if you blow up your computer, any Steam games you have can be restored from online backup...simply reinstall the Steam client, login, and choose the games you want restored. Depending on the game, even your save points will be restored. FC

Maybe a better question is if I blow up my computer and want to use Steam on a new computer to get my games back, will NON-Steam games be restored as well (basically turning Steam into an online backup service)? If so, that would be the MONEY! FC

Wait...you can add NON-Steam games to your Steam library? FC

And then there is the matter of how easy or difficult the SDK will be to use. I like the idea...but until I see real results and not a video, I'm not holding my breath. FC

Hawker Hunters have been available for purchase for some time. The CEO of Critical Techologies owns one (or used to I think). FC

Talk is cheap. I'll believe it when I see it. FC

I was going to say, TK himself on the TW boards said only the F1 was in the next Expansion Pack. FC

Eric, Once you're done with the panel lines and rivets, could you PM me the templates so I can start working on the bump mapping? Unless you would like to take a crack at it... FC

Thread cleaned up, again. I will start banning folks next time. FC

Download the B-1B Redux package. It includes the B61, B83, and SRAM, with correct delivery profiles and working weapon effects. FC

I doubt it. FC

Ace888, You can use a hex editor to try to figure out what the mesh names are for the stock F-15A LOD file...just make sure you don't change anything...and yea, it's not as easy to figure out unlike using a OUT file in most 3rd party mods. FC

Here's what I use as a primer: http://combatace.com/topic/21867-definitions-of-aero-coefficients/ That page helps a lot in figuring out what each surface does or should do. Now typically what I do with blended inputs is use invisible 'links' so I get proper effects (visual and aerodynamic) with particular inputs. That's the only thing I can think of.... FC

KB, Stop lurkin' man...that's two jarheads we haven't seen in a while... (you and Jarhead1).. FC

As someone married to a Canadian, how about you take a close look at your Diefenbaker government if you want to know who killed the Arrow. Blackfly is doing an Arrow...as well as some other folks. http://combatace.com/topic/54885-where-is-avro-canada-cf-105-arrow/ FC

Folks, does everyone understand that TK is NOT talking about completely (or even mostly) hardcoding the sim? He knows that mods are what help keep the sim alive. But he has to walk a line between testing for everything mod related with each new change and not testing at all. If you read the information on Dec2010B, you realize that the prop/shadow issue was unanticipated because the 'flags' in the previous versions of the exporter were not used. His mistake was rushing out the C patch. I think once he had figured out what was happening with the props, a simple message stating what the issue was and that it will be fixed after some more testing would have helped. People would have been a lot more tolerant of some props acting weird vs not being able to takeoff from airfields. Also, reading what he has posted, the idea is by hardcoding constraints, mods won't break the sim to the point everyone complains about it. The trick is to allow enough freedom to mod without feeling overtly constrained. Most sandboxes do have walls. And I'd agree with Dave that I would love some detailed information about how the sim works and the direction he is going with it. I think that information on it's own would be worth it's weight in gold to modders, so we could capitalize on the sims strengths and avoid or at least mitigate the weaknesses. FC

Well, to be fair, I don't think he was saying anything about hi res skins. However, the enviromental mods are what have me concerned if he decides to hard code certain things. I also don't think you will see TK make the series completely mod unfriendly, but there may be limits imposed on certain aspects of modding. FC

Awesomeness! FC

MB, I think you're reading that incorrectly....'nuclear capable' means able to carry nuclear weapons - NOT nuclear powered. I still think a 2 tiered bomber force would be more cost efficient in the long run...smaller stealthy penetrator for Week 1 ops, then larger COTS platform for sustained standoff ops and low IADS locations. FC

http://combatace.com/topic/44026-converting-older-planes-to-work-in-sf2-a-basic-guide-by-migbuster/ FC

When it is finished and not one second before. FC

Yea, I just read that myself Ant, and it concerns me. But now I can see the logic...if tons of people come on the TW forums and bitch about this mod or that mod screwing up their game, other folks not familiar with the series may think the game is unstable and not buy it. It's a Catch-22...market the game as mod-friendly, but you can't make it too moddable or folks will fill the boards with their complaining about their mods. FC