Tailspin

The Aldis sight worked well with an easy modification to the magnification. I don't know why TK eliminated it. Bad move.

Thats why the sticky was created. Since its creation I encouraged everyone to utilize that sticky for the very reason you state. Its there for everyone and anyone. Your ideas don't have to be some sort of ground shaking discovery that transforms the game. Its often the little things that make a difference. Why not use the sticky so everyone, especially the new folks, can more easily find your mods and try them without having to wade through pages of posts? You still have the ability to edit or delete anything you add to the sticky. Lastly, I'm not b*tching at the new guys. This has been an ongoing "problem" for a long time.

Me neither.

Thats not what I'm saying at all. I was merely trying to help you accomplish what you wanted (which I thought was a way to approximate navigation during WWI) working with what we already have available. Most mission distances aren't all that great, there are PLENTY of landmarks to use. I can do it without an in-flight map. You can do it with the mission planning map, your compass, clock, and your MK 1 Eyeball. Find your landmarks, figure out the best way for you to get to your "course correction" waypoint, figure your general heading from there to your next waypoint again noting landmarks on the way so you can make course corrections if you drift off course, which you will, and flight times. With some practice you should be able to find your target. Try flying by the seat of your pants. It can be fun and its about as hard as it gets.

You say navigation is too easy. I say it doesn't have to be if you really don't want it to be.

Well, I'm not sure what the difference is between an in-game map with no in-flight info on it and a printed map with no in-flight info on it...other than convenience. If you don't like the in-game map, don't use it in-flight. You're still going to have to use same method of navigation. Figure a general heading and use landmarks to check your course. In fact with a paper map you can plot more accurate headings. You can use the mission maps to place your waypoints and the game will figure flight times for you. Since there are no detailed maps (that I know of), you're going to have to make your own. You can use one of the Mission Builders to help with identifying locations by name. Point is, you can do what you want to do if you want to do the "leg work" involved.

It shouldn't be that difficult using the mission map screen. You can move any waypoint on the map except the departure point (W2), target, and approach point. The info for each waypoint also changes. You can plot a general course to landmarks, follow roads, rivers, etc. Flight time is given. Won't be exact and landmarks are crucial...just like they did it back then. AFAIK (at least with the stock A/C) the compass on the plane works. The one thing to remember is that due to a bug you have to fly through the departure point or your squadron may not follow you.

What I was getting at is that Jan's terrains aren't complete terrains, only new tiles and the necessary .ini files for them to work. You have to have all the other files from the originals for it to work.

Do you have the original Vogesen and Flanders terrains installed?

I don't know about FE2 but with the original FE/EP its fairly easy to modify cloud size and density to suit yourself. You'll need to extract the Environmentalsystem.ini from the FlightData.cat. Here's a version that I made. It just changes the Scattered and Broken clouds. This is based on one of Polak's ideas, IIRC. MaxClouds= is the number of cloud "groups" and MaxCloudParticles= is the number of clouds in a "group". Not sure what exactly the ParticleSize & Density numbers do but the rest is pretty much self explanatory. The numbers to play with are MaxClouds, MaxCloudParticles, Horizontal and Vertical Size, and Min/Max Base Altitude. [CloudsScattered] MaxClouds=50 MaxCloudParticles=55 3DCloudMaterial=CloudMaterial 3DCloudHorizontalSize=1000.0 3DCloudVerticalSize=800.0 3DCloudSizeDeviation=0.8 3DCloudParticleDensity=0.6 ParticleSize=200.0 ParticleSizeDeviation=0.4 MinBaseAltitude=600.0 MaxBaseAltitude=1200.0 UseBottomRow=FALSE [CloudsBroken] MaxClouds=64 MaxCloudParticles=64 3DCloudMaterial=CloudMaterial 3DCloudHorizontalSize=2000.0 3DCloudVerticalSize=1500.0 3DCloudSizeDeviation=0.3 3DCloudParticleDensity=0.6 ParticleSize=400.0 ParticleSizeDeviation=0.3 MinBaseAltitude=500.0 MaxBaseAltitude=1000.0 UseBottomRow=FALSE One of the drawbacks of modifying clouds is at some view angles some clouds will disappear/reappear. As far as I know the "rotation" effect is not fixable.

Actually, the Comms menu does have an effect on your wingmen...most of the time. When your wingies go wandering off, try "Rejoin" or "Return to base" if its time to go home.

The info I found lists the SPAD @ 138 mph at 6500ft. Top speed for the DVII was 124 mph with the BMW engine. No altitude was given. The DVII was much more maneuverable at all altitudes, especially high altitudes, but I don't think it was faster than the SPAD.

From what I've read, IRL, WWI pilots had no qualms about getting out of harms way if the odds weren't favorable. In the game if you are outnumbered by more than 2-1 your odds of survival greatly decrease. IMHO, the main "problem" with campaigns in FE is the requirements for success are way too difficult and unrealistic. BTW...using the F6 key you can look around and see whats in the air. Most flights will show up once they take off.

Flat out, side by side, the SPAD by about 15 mph.

Thats not it, MB. I copied both terrian folders and renamed the originals as backups so the .cat files are in there. Still getting CTDs after installing the new terrain. I'll try and narrow it down further by trying different A/C and missions to see if the problem is specific to something or just random.

Well, since CA didn't separate SF 1 and SF 2 threads for that forum I doubt that will happen here. It would help if folks would simply state in the thread title whether its for FE 1 or FE 2. As for the "jet jockey" thing, that other forum (you know, the one for the 12 year old sim that has less than 175 posts since October and no new traffic since early January) is for a prop sim. Go figure.

Thanks for the new balloons, Quack. Great job! Just to try them out I picked out a few that I like (1918 types), changed the active dates, and added them to the G.O. folder so they show up randomly with the stock balloons.

I'm getting the same, Bandy. Seemingly random CTDs either at 80% while loading or when exiting a mission. Also I'm getting around 15 FPS over large patches of forest. Its a beautiful piece of work but its really taxing my system.

I have XP and I don't plan on getting FE2 in the near future. That would certainly change if I upgrade to Win 7.

Hello Claudio. Good to see you. Try this airfield .ini. I have staggered the line up on the field so bombers don't take up so much space. They are packed in pretty tight but I think I have the take off order set so they don't crash. At least it works with Gothas. It also doesn't spread the fighters out too much. Put a copy in each terrain folder. WWI_AIRFIELD1.zip

I'm pretty sure TK has said the next EP will include more French aircraft.

OK, I want to do another WWII Pacific install since I've upgraded my machine. I have SF, WOV, WOE, and WOI. Since I'm not up to speed on the latest improvements...What is the best "platform" to begin with? Which patch? What upgraded terrains, effects, etc. Thanks!

Fly level and watch where your tracers are going. On the Dr.1 use the crossed wires in the center of your view. For the Albs, the small square "knob" sticking up from the top of the engine. For the Fokker DVII the aimpoint is centered between the gunsight rings and level with or slightly above the horizontal cross hairs on the sights. Once you get used to the correct aimpoint lining up shots will become more natural.

To confirm, the version date should be in the lower right corner of the opening screen.