swambast

Monty, I hope you are doing well and am humbled by your comments, thank you! You have been a great supporter to me personally and an incredible contributor overall. Rest assured that if you're interested, I've added your name to the user list when the latest version/updates are ready. I'll reach out to you via PM and provide personal help as needed when the time is right; I'm still making slow but steady progress...

With the STT re-write underway to natively support Win 7 / Vista and Series 2 titles comes some additional improvements and advanced functionality. As promised, I made some quick videos demonstrating these features (note I did not include sound this time). The coding continues, probably another month or two and it will be there. First Video: On The Fly Additions: Click here to download All Target Entries within the .INI area are checked to determine if they have a corresponding library macro. The library macros are important since they define each objects width/length. If a macro entry is missing during conversion, you can now “on the fly” dynamically and very easily create one to update your library! No more painstakingly copying macros, editing each one’s individual code, etc. STT will now do all of the behind the scenes scripting for you after you simply tell it the dimensions of your object, how you would like to categorize it and other misc. project details. [AB: this one’s for you!] Second Video: STT Fast Convert: Click here to download With the re-write to Win7 comes speed and optimized array handling…WOW! In this example, a new capability I’ve coded allows you to select an area and use STT to fast convert. In the example, an airbase area with 223 entries was selected along with the “STT Fast Convert” option. The result was a conversion that took about 5-6 seconds to complete; it not only created the output file, but merged it back into the source _Targets.ini file, loaded the scenery designer for you and put you right back in front so you can continue your work - VERY NICE!!! Enjoy and thanks for the continued encouragement from all the PMs, emails, etc...! The true genius of efficiency... SS

Nice to see this come to life, as back in my Army Days I provided master-level radar/computer support for both the HAWK and PATRIOT Missile Systems... And while the Hawk was renown for its mobility, you would be shocked at how many fixed locations were hidden (I've seen a lot of sites, but never one that had a bunker like that). And I once literally walked through a freakin' tree door to a fire control center below...oops, can't say anything more or someone may come and take me back down there...nooooooooooo! Hmmm, wonder if I have some of my old photos around...

Merry Christmas Everyone! Guys, I am really sorry for the delay… ...not only is the project still alive and well, it’s completely being overhauled, updated and super charged! I’ve now built in native SF2 series support – working flawlessly between ANSI and UNICODE files, which was a major pain in the a$$. The biggest challenge also has been making this natively Win7/Vista compatible, which requires a huge re-write of the code which is still in progress but about 60% complete. In addition, for a few of my long-time beta users, I have addressed most things on our "wish list" and now it's soon to become our "test list". I’ve got a special surprise coming soon which was by far the most requested feature of the tool (guesses welcome...think "on the fly" object adds...). At the time, it seemed like such a simple request. Once I started delving into it, it was surprisingly complex but now getting close to completion. And another nice update is most of the objects have their width/length dimensions updated, so that scaling and placing of objects is more accurate than ever. Finally, I've made file management immensely better, where you can now create "Favorites", use drag and drop of any files, etc. that basically allows for one-click loading. And by far the most awesome feature of them all, is something I call "Quick Convert." But to fully appreciate it you have to see my quick video I made which I will post in the very near future. Don’t forget that we also have the SOC (STT Object Collection) function built in to the tool, which basically allows you to take any pre-defined target area (imagine an army camp with 100s of objects already placed) and move the entire camp to a new area using a simple drag and drop. The tool has exceeded everything I thought it was capable of doing, so it's just a matter of updating it. As some of the guys know, I also have a special version of the tool we're using for our SF2 Vietnam based project work that is helping out immensely with our terrain work. Finally, for my other projects I’ve been working on something I’ve called the “Swambast Thirdwire Developer’s Notepad.” Honestly, it’s something I wish I had coded years and years ago. I’ve got that just about out of Beta and created a bunch of quick and admittedly lousy videos for the team to show off what it can do (will connect with Dave to share). Admittedly, for quick fix target area work needed, I find myself using this even more that STT at times (and this tool has now recently been made SF2 series compatible). I hope to show off some updated screenshots of the tools soon…until then happy holidays everyone! Steve

An amazing accomplishment Dave - from one vet to another, congratulations and thanks for all of your years of service! Enjoy the civilian life, but what you will probably miss most is the "vet brotherhood" - nothing quite like it. Welcome to a new chapter in your life...

Fuza, I am thinking about dumping my Nvidia card and going to ATI. I've had a horrific experience with the GTX 460 1024MB PCIe card I bought and Nvidia's driver mess didn't help anything. I currently reverted back to a PNY 9800GT, but feel it's a little sub-par performance and was looking for some feedback on how you enjoy the card now and any suggestions you might have on some ATI cards...thanks if you or others have any feedback to share.

Sorry Panama Red for the late response - answer is that I truly don't know. I just recently purchased a SF2 Vietnam series title and have not been all that enticed with it right now, especially due to the terrain glitches. However, I thought my rusty memory recalled a few Beta Testers trying this with the series 2 titles successfully, but that is completely unconfirmed. Sorry I can't give you a better answer right now...

Nothing's changed from before...??? See above post or this one below:

Yeah Dave, guys have used it on all flavors of the Thirdwire sims. I had to add in ActiveYear capability which helped to improve the compatibility, but for the most part it works well from the reports I received.

+1: Perfectly said Rob - my thoughts exactly!

PureBlue's release is going to be worth the wait - knowing his style and approach, you will all be in for a nice treat!

Hmmm...I'd have to see the .inf you put together. But I think we should compare the 265.90 .inf with the 197.41 as a start. Don't want to keep bumping the thread to the top, so drop me a PM or email (see my profile)....damn I hope they update the drivers soon.

Wow, really...? OK, that's the information I was really looking for - what are the earliest known drivers we could use... Looks like you have the answer so very well done and thanks! Let's give those 197.41s a shot!

SFP1Ace, The ones I wanted to try based on my research is the 182.08 - if you could create the .INF that would be great. The Hardware ID for the GTX is 0E22 and the Subsys is 0865196E. Right now I'm using the modified 263.09 for the GTX460s, but they still suck overall (at least on my rig). My Specs: Intel Core2 Quad 9450 (2.66Ghz@1333MhZ FSB), 4GB DDR2-800MHz dual channel SDRAM, 1GB PNY NVIDIA GeForce GTX460, WD VelociRaptor 300GB 10K RPM Hard Drive, Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer, Windows XP Professional 32-bit

Boostjunky - I'll make it simple for ya and would even wager a bet on this one. The problem MOST LIKELY is with the GTX video cards and the 200 series DRIVERS on a multicore system using HDMI connection. For some there are no issues, but for many (myself included) it is very frustrating and disappointing! Not sure you saw this post of mine, but to share again: Well, the conclusion I have reached is with the new GeForce GTX460 graphics card the 260.99 drivers are total crap - but especially with older DirectX9 based games. This has been confirmed in numerous forums as well, and it appears most owners of this card are waiting for a driver update...myself included. With the 8800 series card I had, I was easily in the 50s-60s frame rates no problem at 1920x1080. But this problem is with the new FERMI architecture as it is causing some major problems with older titles resulting in an inappropriate GPU utilization which then adds unnecessary stress/allocation back to the CPU, as implied here: "We still have not yet determined the root cause but looks related to our multi-core optimizations. I expect that the fix will also address the low GPU usage issue as well. We haven't looked into DX10 but once we figure out what is causing this micro-stuttering issue and have a fix, I'll take a look at DX10. It is likely that is related." What the heck were the Nvidia Quality Assurance Testers smoking when they released this driver...??? Well, wanted to post an update just in case others with the GTX460 are experiencing this problem... I have also tried modified .INF files using the 263.09 and even a few hybrids, but none seem to make a difference. However, what DID provide me a temporary fix until Nvidia updates those POS drivers is to cap the frames using a limiter combined with a custom game profile using the Nvidia Control Panel. Time permitting, I would like to explore and test rolling back the drivers to the earliest versions that were created to support the GTX series, which I have not researched yet. Let me know what you might find and I would be happy to lend a hand in the research/testing. Steve

Gents, quick question as it's been a while, but how do I force VSync off in the Series 1 games? I have it turned off via the Nvidia Control Panel, but can't quite remember the steps to do so in-game. Thanks for any guidance...

Hey Ed, tried them both Enabled and Disabled along with a bunch of other tweaks/edit tests with little to no significant difference at all, thanks for the idea though. Still thoroughly convinced it's due to the GTX460 and 260.99 driver combo.

Well, the conclusion I have reached is with the new GeForce GTX460 graphics card the 260.99 drivers are total crap - especially with older DirectX9 based games. This has been confirmed in numerous forums as well, and it appears most owners of this card are waiting for a driver update...myself included. With the 8800 series card I had, I was easily in the 50s-60s frame rates no problem at 1920x1080. But this problem is with the new FERMI architecture it is causing some major problems with older titles resulting in an inappropriate GPU utilization which then adds unnecessary stress/allocation back to the CPU, as implied here: "We still have not yet determined the root cause but looks related to our multi-core optimizations. I expect that the fix will also address the low GPU usage issue as well. We haven't looked into DX10 but once we figure out what is causing this micro-stuttering issue and have a fix, I'll take a look at DX10. It is likely that is related." What the heck were the Nvidia Quality Assurance Testers smoking when they released this driver...??? Well, wanted to post an update just in case others with the GTX460 are experiencing this problem...

Thanks Ed...something's still terribly wrong. I'm getting frame rates in the single digits to 20 on a pretty decent rig...it almost seems like VSync settings are NOT overriding the game's settings...it's really strange...and frustrating!!! Intel Core2 Quad 9450 (2.66Ghz@1333MhZ FSB), 4GB DDR2-800MHz dual channel SDRAM, 1GB PNY NVIDIA GeForce GTX460 using the 260.99 drivers, WD VelociRaptor 300GB 10K RPM Hard Drive, Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer, Windows XP Professional

Kevin, did you mean have we addressed issues like that below...? :acute: This is from our ReadMe file: Hmmmmmm, we were off to a good start with updating these especially with help from Steffen leading the charge, but we were unaware of all the impacts and which objects were affected. Then, other things took priority... But anyway, yes we actually coded the relative offsets right in each of the very few individual macros we updated, and it was a total pain, but here is an example: So when you place some of the objects we did fix, they already represent their respective offsets... But, in all honestly I can't recall if I updated the translation piece on these macros....but at least from a placement perspective using the FSSC macros they are clearly accounted for. Here in the example below, you can see the centerpoint at 0,0 but the actual macro is displaced 38M to the east, just like it should be... Ah well, it was certainly a good start! Swambast

Guys, to respond to the many emails I've received... CombatAce I consider my home turf and so this should not be perceived as some mysterious tool with a secret following. All my updates are exclusively posted only here and I intend to keep it that way. I will go out in the open to say yes, the tool was attempted to be recruited for commercial purposes but at the time I decided against that. Quite frankly, if you are a CombatAce modder or anyone associated with my current project team, you are always given first priority and an open invitation. Other than that, if you're interested in trying the tool out, just drop me a PM and we can go from there on a case-by-case basis. I hope that clears some things up...

LONG OVERDUE STT UPDATE - NOV 2010 After quite a very long absence, I have returned with a vengeance … LOL! I’ll probably get the tool just perfect and then TK will update everything, but at least so far it’s been relevant over multiple patches… This functionality in a way is a tribute to the true trail blazer and object placement guru who really pioneered “lay-outs” – the one and only Kevin/Wrench! In addition, I would like to honor one guy that has stepped a little further away from the community to spend more time with his family. Steffen/Tannethal was always my go-to guy every step of the way - to test, make improvements and encourage me to push the limits. Without him, I would not be where I am today – Steffen, I salute you! Finally, one more guy that has really jumped in and kicked this tool around pouring his time, support and pokes for improvement (ok, ok I’ll make airfield parking support for ya!) I wish thank is Umut/PureBlue whose Anatolia project is really coming to life now! So here I share what in my humble opinion for me is an absolute break-through on the STT too. Leveraging some heavy use of complex geometric formulas and modified Pythagorean Theories (that others helped me with…LOL), I have really “revolutionalized” the tool in a way I never dreamed possible. Imagine having just one target object. Think about this one target object as being a box. This one single but very special target object “box” is technically referred to as a 'SOC'. ‘SOC’ stands for "STT Object Collection." But let's give this box a more meaningful name, maybe "SOC-SmallUSArmyCamp." Now, within this box are many individual target objects such as jeeps, M113s, tents, barracks, etc. that of course make up the small US Army Camp. Furthermore, assume these individual objects are neatly arranged exactly how I want them within the box: the tents and barracks are in a row, the jeeps are guarding the perimeter, watchtowers in the corners, etc. In the past, we would have to manually calculate all the offsets to these objects, or always place them at a pre-determined position in order to not disrupt the pre-defined offsets. Well, instead of having to move and manipulate the 100s of items in the box, what if I could just move the whole damn box where I wanted? And what if after I moved the box, it would automatically update ALL the individual target offsets depending on where I moved the box? Are you still with me…? If so, that’s the capability I can deliver! One macro can now represent 100s of objects - think of the possibilities everyone!!! Imagine having pre-defined SOCs for "AAA" emplacements where you have the AAA shelter, FireCans, SAMs, etc. already laid out! You just simply drag and drop the box wherever you want on the grid, and in one click you have just created a complete AAA site exactly where you wanted, made up of dozens of the respective target objects already aligned exactly as you wanted! Imagine entire villages added by placing a single macro! Imagine taking entire airfields and replicating them to any new location that you want - all by just adding a single ‘SOC’ macro! But wait, there’s more! You can also create any custom SOC collection you want! You can use FSSC or modify any one of my base template designs. And it’s easy to do, because you’re working with a graphical system, not an .ini with offset values. Want to move the truck park further south…? Just group the 10 red square trucks and drag them that way, save your SOC file and presto, you’re new object collection is ready. You can literally build your own custom boxes to hold anything you want! When the tool recognizes one of your special SOC objects / boxes, it automatically converts everything to it’s proper offset positions. Holy moly, talk about a real time saver! I can’t even begin to describe how much this has forever personally changed the way I think and perform target placement! Now it’s NOT perfect, it’s still in a beta state and right now there are some slight rotation limits, but I’m confident I’ll be able to work through those. Anyway, here’s a quick working example…probably not the best example but you'll get the idea. Here I create my custom SOC “Box” which is a small U.S. Army camp which primarily consists of trucks and tents… Here, I’m working with the default Da Nang Airbase. I use the graphical editor, and select my “SOC” macro. Next, you can see how I’m placing the small U.S. Army Camp “box” just west of the Da Nang airfield. The default Da Nang airfield has about 95/96 objects. Notice also how the box encompasses the proper width/length dimensions of the furthest objects. Next I just save my file and load up the STT tool. When I convert, the tool detects a SOC object, and translates the one “box” into it’s respective individual targets. Look here how the count went to 213 objects and each is properly displayed with it’s updated offset coordinates based exactly on where I placed the box. I’m done – no more tweaking or updates needed! Run the game, and here is an example of what I get. Start to finish time – about 5 minutes for me… Now imagine having predefined boxes for just about anything you might need, and the flexibility to put them exactly where you want them, create your own custom ones, etc. It really makes the modder's job a lot more manageable, and just might even be friendly enough for the average user to grasp. Well, more to come again soon but thought I'd share the latest updates since it's been a long time, and I really appreciate all the guys that PM me and ask what's been going on with this thing...!

Congratulations Dels and Team, truly a magnificent delivery...way to go guys!

Man, I have just got to share the news just in case... Has everyone interested in attack helicopters or not been paying attention to the absolutely incredible work being done on the AH-1G Cobra? Guys, hold your breath, this one is gonna be mind-blowing and it's catered for us Thirdwire nuts!!! For more of the details and to follow the progress, head on over to Master Diego's workshop here and offer a nudge of support (go to the last pages to see the most recent progress): http://combatace.com/topic/44508-ah-1g-cobra/ Can I please get production-ready model #1 when it's ready...it will be worth every penny! FREAKIN' AWESOME!!! Swambast