Tailspin

I believe most of the inline engined A/C did indeed have throttles. It was the rotary engines that were either full on or off...a feature that TK will be adding in the next addition to FE. I too have not found FE lacking in what it takes to make a sim interesting and fun. Same goes for the rest of the series. Some people just like to complain.

Like Buff says, Online play isn't really a priority with TK so if you are looking for something "big" in multiplayer support I don't think it will happen anytime soon. The SFP1e extractor is here in the downloads section under Utilities/Editors. As I said before the only campaign beginning in 1914 is Firecage's PlaneFest. Charles of the ATeam has just release a Bloody April 1917 campaign that I have been flying this afternoon that is very good. There are a couple of others available, too. They're all in the downloads section.

Hi Lakota. First let me welcome you again to CombatACE. I must say I am a little confused by your comments. Thirdwire has been very supportive of the series. I'm relatively new to them (only a little over a year) and I've seen several patches and upgrades and the introduction of WOE and FE. FE alone has had two patches in the six months since its release where some changes were directly related to consumer feedback. If you look at the genre you won't find too many developers as active and involved as TK and Thirdwire. I'll try and answer some of your other concerns. Hopefully others will help out too. 1. I think there is a little bit of an "intimidation" factor for people who are not familiar with the file structure of the sims. IMHO, once you get acquainted with that file structure its not that difficult. Getting most addons to work are really just a simple matter of Copy and Paste to the correct folders and most addons contain Readme files with instructions on how to install them. What you should do is unzip the addons into a Temporary Folder so you can see whats in them and where they go. I actually prefer this method to Auto-installers as sometimes Auto-installers sometimes overwrite things you don't want changed. Its been my understanding that this series has been very much "hands-on" since the beginning and if you are going to get the maximum enjoyment out of all the user made additions your're going to have to get used to doing some of the work yourself. :yes: 2. If you are looking for a ready made comprehensive campaign for FE, I suggest you visit the Downloads section here and look for Firecage's Planefests. There is one for both Verdun and Flanders Terrains. Alternatively, you can do some research and make your own...see the SF/WOV/WOE/FE Knowledge Base here at CombatACE. 3. Don't do online.... 4. AFAIK both online and offline players use the same terrain. 5. 6. If you're looking for a squadron to join or someone to fly with this forum is a good place to start. 7. Don't have Track IR but have seen many posts regarding it. Try using the search function here and the forums at Thirdwire. http://www.thirdwire.com/ 8. don't know.....

Alternatively, you can upgrade your Direct X to the latest rendition. http://www.thirdwire.com/downloads_woe.htm BTW...welcom to CombatACE!

Thanks Laton. I like it.

I'll bump this one in case anyone missed the new FMs. Sorry, Pete. I haven't had much time lately to try them out. Soon as I get a chance I'll post.

Excuse me...did anybody read the link I posted in the first response?

No problem Firecage. The mod works fine now. I was just worried that it may work too good.

http://bbs.thirdwire.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=4101

Don't mean to be a smart-arse BigRed, but you've got it backwards. Actually it was the Merlin engined Brit planes that had to roll inverted and dive to avoid temporary engine cutouts. You are correct about the "gravity" (actually the fuel was pressurized...its more about how a carburetor works) feed vs. the fuel injection but it was the action of attempting to nose over from level flight (forward stick=negative Gs) that caused the Brit planes to cut out and lose power. The action of the nose going straight down (negative G's) caused the reaction of the fuel in the carburetor to float to the top and interrupt fuel flow. In the fuel injected Luftwaffe planes the pilot could slam the stick forward without worry of power loss. The advantage the Luftwaffe had was they could dive quicker when pursued by simply nosing over while the Brits had to roll over first then pull back.

WOW!! Thats a beauty gambit. Really like the detailing...makes the skin really look translucent.

Well, the main problem with my terrain files as far as reposting them is I've copied the static aircraft from Edward's Flanders Terrain over to my Verdun Terrain along with the necessary additions to the Targets and Types .inis. Releasing those would be a no-no without permission. The advantage to doing the add on like I've done it is this method will work with any terrain that uses "stock" airfields. If I make the entire .inis they will overwrite existing ones and they would only work with the Verdun terrain.

Thanks v. Deutschmark. I'd like to add that this is just the basic mod. We may need to make some adjustments to the gun parameters to achieve better results. I'd like to encourage feedback from everyone. Also I realize the installation procedure is a bit tedious. The reason I did it this way was mainly to encourage people to "get under the hood" of the sim so to speak. Also the Terrain files in my version of FE are different from the stock files (i've been placing other objects in the terrain and such) so I didn't want to upload the entire Targets and Types .inis. If it gets to be a problem (too complicated) for some folks I suppose I could reextract the stock files and fix them up. We'll see how it goes.

File Name: AAA MG add on Installation File File Submitter: Tailspin File Submitted: 14 Jun 2007 File Updated: 7 Feb 2008 File Category: Ini Edits File Version: V1.0 Website: No Information AAA Machine Gunner Mod for FE. By Tailspin V1.0 06/14/07 This is a fairly simple mod to allow you to use the A Team's AAA machine gunners as separate Ground Objects in the game. Good news is this means that they will not be selected as AAA objects by the game and randomly interchanged with the Heavy AAA cannon already on the map, yet they will still function as AAA. Bad news is you will have to place them on the map yourself to get them to appear. As a starting point, I have chosen the airfields as an area to set up some MGs and will provide the necessary additions to the Terrain Targets.ini and Types.ini. This mod will require a little legwork on your part, so be prepared to get your hands dirty. ;) Don't worry, its not difficult. Even if you've never edited an .ini file before you'll be an expert in no time. :) Here's what you'll need: The ATeam's AAA Gunner set available at http://cplengineeringllc.com/SFP1/ The SFP1e file extractor utility available at www.combatace.com in the SF/WOV/WOE/WWI downloads section...under Utilities/Editors Windows Notepad or another text editor. Many thanks to the ATeam for providing the AAA Gunners and for permission to use them for this mod. Click here to download this file

Very nice!

Thanks for the details P10ppy. Certainly more food for thought. I'm in agreement with you about the Eindeckers. It was much more about the gun platform than its abilities as a fighter A/C, IMHO. It was effective against its contemporaries but was outclassed by the next generation of A/C. Interesting comment about the stock SPAD XIII and the AI. Not sure why the 3rd party AI has such difficulty? Perhaps new stuff from TK will help with the AI routines for 3rd party A/C too. Anyway, for the time being I'm enjoying Peter's FMs (and your Bullet too, BTW)...especially for the MS, Pfalz, Eindecker engagements. The balance is good and the dogfights can be challenging. Peter...let me revise my comments re the EI vs. MS L. It is difficult to get and stay behind the EI and with V3.0 my kills/mission have gone down but they still rarely shoot me down. I think with a human pilot in the Eindecker the MS L pilot had better be very good at deflection shooting to have a chance.

Congrats Stratos! Boy there sure are a lot of old farts hangin' around this forum.

Good post P10ppy. But I think we need more specific input. What exactly is your mild disagreement? What are your ideas regarding drag and how it should affect the FM? I know for instance some of the planes don't seem to bleed much energy (speed) in sustained turns...in fact they tend to acclelerate. Its difficult to coordinate turns sometimes because of the lack of rudder response. I know most of you have probable read this article but it provides some insight into flying the real thing. Torque effects, heavy roll response, light very responsive rudder...and this is the Bebe a "very manoueverable" plane of the period according to pilot reports. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa38...002/ai_n8887508 IMO the FMs in FE can be done with a reasonable amount of historic accuracy. But, once again, we are confronted with the damn AI.

Hurricane...missions, both randomly generated Single Missions and 3rd party scripted missions, are set up so you will encounter EA at the target area. One you accept the mission and go to the hangar screen you can open the planning map. There you will see a map of the area with your base and a series of waypoints leading to the target. The target is marked with a triangle on the map. You will also see a square. This is the IP or initial point. Unless its been written into the mission you will usually not encounter any EA until you reach the IP. In other words if you are just flying around and not flying to the designated target area you won't see EA. Campaigns are a little different as they aren't as restricted in scope and you will see different EA flying their own missions, however to succeed in a campaign you must still carry out your specific missions. Use your map [M] and fly to the target area. If you set enemy air activity to HEAVY as Peter suggests you will not be lacking for EA to engage.

Peter...I fly the Morane L all the time and am quite successful against the Eindeckers. The main problem with the AI is still lack of gunnery skills. They can't shoot and I have discovered their "achilles heel". There is a certain spot to aim at where you will get a major fire and crash almost every time.

If you mean I tend to balance realism with gameplay (a bit!), that is true. i'll try to keep it mind so I don't overdo it, but it does exactly relate to your very well put phrase "real differences were sometimes stark" - you know, do we have a game as a game for that period? I presume I am not alone - but i like to fly the E3 say against Moranes and Dh2 and N11s and Pups and Tripes. if the differences were more I'd probably only like to fly it against one or two planes - the rest would be too easy or too hard - the 1917-18 period is a lot different. And there is a lot more consistency there as well in FMs. But point taken. Yes. Thats the point I was trying to get across. IMHO it should be too hard to fly the EIII against the Pup or Tripe because you should get killed most every time. The Pup and Tripe were better than the Halberstadt and Albatros DI and II. Taking the EIII into early 1917 is a bit too much of a stretch, again IMHO. But in the greater scheme of things this is a minor issue AFAIC. You have already demonstrated great interest and care in making the game playable at different levels. The player FM work you have done so far is excellent. Your work with the AI is indispensible. That alone has made the game more enjoyable. Bottom line is its FUN. I haven't enjoyed a flightsim so much since the early days of EAW. Thanks to you and everyone else who contributes, that is.

Thanks for sharing your ideas Peter. IMHO, you are definately doing a great job. It surely must be difficult to balance the early war machines because the real differences were sometimes stark. This is where my only concerns about what you are doing arise. Early A/C development and improvements seemed to come in leaps and bounds, especially between different designs. Parasols vs. Eindeckers, Eindeckers vs. DH2s and N11s etc...for the most part. Not always the case with other designs though. For instance the Fokker DI and DIIs were supposed to be an improvement over the Eindeckers when actually they weren't appreciably more capable. Also within the EI, EII, EIII, EIV series, progression wasn't always improvement. The EIV was a total failure. Anyway, getting back to the "leaps and bounds". Personally I don't want to get TOO far away from the historical perspective in favor of evening out gameplay. Having to fight against the enemy in an outclassed (sometimes TOTALLY outclassed) aircraft was a very real aspect of the air war in WWI. Which bring us back to the Eindeckers and the "next generation" A/C....particularly the DH2. I always like to find quotes from the period and think this one will suffice. "... the de Havilland machine has unquestionably proved itself superior to the Fokker in speed, manoeuverability, climbing and general fighting efficiency." Sir Henry Rawlinson, 23 May 1916 So, please don't "dumb down" the DH2 too much.

Those figures are in meters.

I don't know what amazes me more, the depth and breadth of the .ini system or the lack of solid, definitive documentation on how it works. A lot of it surely isn't too intuitive, is it.

Wha???