swambast

Was wondering the same thing; if there were any updates...this looks awesome and I hope the work continues!

Hi Mue, any chance this can work for earlier patches yet?

Does anyone know if the FlightEngine.ini and Options.ini files are the exact same no matter which Thirdwire Title you own (e.g., if I own Strike Fighters 2 Vietnam would it be the same as you would find in SF2 North Atlantic)?

Thanks guys, really appreciate the info...

Stuntman, a beginner moving right into plane or cockpit modelling in my humble opinion is going to cause much frustration and disappointment for the average person. Might I suggest you start with some basic box/poly modelling...using standard primitives such as Box and Cylinders and modifiers such as extrude, bevel, etc. Maybe consider some basic ground structures like a shed, factory, warehouse, etc. to get down the basics. Then work towards understanding texture mapping, such as UVW Maps and Unwrap UVWs. Fair disclosure: I am NOT a 3d modeller/texture artist, everything I learned was on my own so more experienced modders might have a different and better path to advise you!

For what it's worth, I strongly disagree - in my opinion it should remain a "Viewer" just as Mue said it would.

Wow, fantastic work...!

terrain_tile_size Can you elaborate?

Mue, I know we’ve shared a few private messages back and forth… But I wanted to publicly acknowledge the awe and incredible admiration of your work. As the years passed by personally hacking together a target placement tool, I one day dreamed of being able to reach a tool as powerful and impactful as yours. Even though the tool isn’t actually showing any of the target objects for me for whatever reason, I know that improvements and greater compatibility are still to come. I just wanted to truly thank you and salute you for your incredible talent and helping to make this dream tool come true – and I know the best is still to come!

Well now that Centurion's back, I am absolutely sure he has a lot of things competing for his time from his "to do" list... ...so maybe here is another addition to consider!

All, Since I have owned Wings Over Vietnam, I have always been annoyed and disappointed by how barren and lifeless the airfields and target areas have been. After my initial complaining, I began to slowly educate myself on adding/placing objects. My insight led to a huge admiration first and foremost for the work and sharing by Comrpnt on statics and “populating airbases”, the many objects that Rebel Ryder created (PM me rebel!), CA_Stary’s mesmerizing “world makeovers” and Tannethal’s densely packed airfields (Ubon is a masterpiece) – just to name a few!!! I started to learn the internal structures of the Sim and began focusing on exploring methods/tools to place and manipulate target objects. As most realize, common techniques leverage using HUD debugs and hand-placement of target objects….but that all changed for me when I found an old forum thread on the work Polak had been investigating. Out of complete fascination and awe, I read everything I could about the ideas Polak pioneered, which focused on integration with another program called “Flight Simulator Scenery Creator (aka ‘FSSC’ written by the great Derek Leung).” I began to really get excited about this discovery, and was absolutely confused why the community had not adopted this solution or taken it any further. I corresponded directly with Polak who shared his knowledge, offered his encouragement and gave me a heads-up about current limitations and challenges. Ironically enough, I had worked with FSSC years ago during my MS Flight Simulator days, so I picked it up again and started dabbling around. Yes, the possibilities were still as relevant and achievable as they were during the time Polak uncovered them! Based on my rusty programming ability, I could see that a “target translator” interface would be needed between the Sim and FSSC. And so this Spring I kicked off my efforts and started work on picking up where Polak’s masterful idea had left off…and as usual, real-life “start-and-stops” jumped in the way. But, I have made some progress perhaps you may find interesting, so thought now might be a good time to share a sneak-peek, despite the enormous amount of work left… Quick Info: • Designed specifically to support Wings Over Vietnam with Patch v08.30.06. • Since still in Beta, converted Thirdwire .INI target areas are not currently imported / integrated directly back into the Targets.ini file (i.e., VIETNAMSEA_TARGETS.INI). Future releases will support this ability. • With one click, filter out Thirdwire target areas without target objects • Target .INI file conversions support ALL known parameters including Active Year, Location, Airfield Data Files, Num Squadrons, etc. • Conversions to FSSC .SCN files check for and report missing Target Objects against a “master” Target Object Library to report out missing / blank target objects • Over 75 .API custom macros programmed for FSSC each sized with width x length dimensions which greatly assists with object placement / scaling • Fully integrated Target Object Library that can be completely customized and freely updated by the user using just notepad Enjoy the screenshots, while it won't be the ideal target placement program we have all "dreamed of" - my "Swambast Target Translator (STT)" as I've named it, breaks the boundaries of what we have now in my humble opinion, but I must fully acknowledge that I am just carrying on the torch that Polak already lit some time back...

Thanks for the inquiry, I'm sorry to report that I'm just too tired and burned out these days... Well, I guess there is one thing that has my interest and would warrant additional investigation - the potential to use the tool to plant trees. But since I'm not a Terrain Editor guru, I don't have enough background to make a go at it but who knows, some day...

Thank you and Amen!

Fubar, my comments aren't directed towards you. But showing a technique that uses a ripping tool to freeload Google Earth models I doubt is permissible...LOL...whatever...

Damn, are there any ethics left anymore...? Where does the license permit you to rip off Google Earth models? I hate posts like this that are clearly a violation of legal use, unless someone else can point out otherwise.

I would suggest there is so much powerful, underlying truth to this. I no longer program as a career. But, I would suggest most programmer's are naturally hesitant about sharing their source code with others. That is, unless they are done in support of collaborative, open-source projects. But when you have a programmer like TK that has built an entire game engine over who knows how long, and is still using components of it within mobile games (which I would bet certainly is the case), then what really is the incentive to offer anything more? In a way that may be confusing to some, it goes beyond just talk about money and more into a control issue, in my opinion. That's why I still think as I posted before, even if parts of the code were somehow offered in a module that could be compiled as an alternate .dll for example, that seems like a fair and logical approach.

Hey All, My younger son (age 10) is starting to get really interested in some of the World War II aircraft, and no surprise his love is the P-51D Mustang. I'd really like to get him into a good flight sim to see how he enjoys it. Any suggestions you guys have to share on some good WWII combat flight sim options out there? For example, what about some of the Thirdwire World War II options? Or of course, the first thing that really jumps out to me is good 'ol IL2 - but I'm really out of the loop on all the mods/upgrade packs, etc. Or what else might be out there for consideration? Any and all advice/suggestions would be welcomed - thanks for your time and sharing your thoughts if you care to!

Thanks everyone...! Looks like Wings of Prey is a "must". I'm trying to get him into a cockpit so he has to work for his success...! Kevin, what about some good ol' fashioned SF2 World War 2 action? Any big European-theater WW2 packages "ready to go" that you might recommend? The IL2 path is still of interest to me, but seems like a witch hunt on figuring on even where to start - so any IL2 gurus please feel free to chime in. Man, CFS3 - that is one I had forgotten about, and I do own that title. Any big upgrades made to that title? I always thought it had great potential back in the day. But the one thing that really sticks out for me is the "neverending turning" dog fights where the AI would just circle and circle and circle...although some of the ground pounding stuff was decent.

Man, I was just thinking about this again...just wondering how things were going?

I don't know, here's a super quick and dirty mock-up to think about...? Here's what I mean by adding the mesh edge, you can simply have more verts you can pull to make it look more natural/irregular vs. adding that .tga texture. But trust me, I'm an amateur and I'm sure those much more skilled than I can chime in...

Guys, just something to consider and a personal preference.... I absolutely HATE using .tgas for textures in the Gen2 engine, the way it renders tends to introduce nasty flickering especially at altitude and they are a performance hog on top of it. I might suggest as another option, to build the detail you need using an addiitonal low-poly primitive mesh instead (like a simple plane object or box).

+1 Ummm, that about nails it absolutely perfectly in my book. I know you have good intentions and want the best of the sim brought out as well just like most of us. But having someone with "experience in programming games" is meaningless...unless that person can also decompile binaries and spend weeks upon weeks translating machine/hex addresses into meaningful use. And then, any additional patches/upgrades could potentially negate your entire efforts, and that's coming from some personal experiments. For what it's worth once again, in my humble opinion based on the current conditions, you're much better off building hooks that overlay on top of the game engine rather than into it at least as a starting point.

Wow, why not add to the post...would love the opportunity to be considered... And here is a postcard for your "modding office" that I think will fit in well...

Thanks Fubar, I actually remember purchasing that title during a Steam special, but never had the hard drive space to install, the thing is a whopper but it sure looks like a great option to consider. THANK YOU for the recommendation!

Damn that is some cool hardware Dave, congrats man!