swambast

August 2, 1964…Beneath the intense Southeast Asian Summer sun, the warm waters of the Gulf of Tonkin shimmered in a deceptive calm, unaware of the turbulence that was to come. Aboard the USS Maddox DD-731, a steadfast Sumner-class destroyer, the crew remained on high alert during the first leg of a covert mission under Operation Desoto Patrol. Its objective was to deploy signal intelligence equipment to stealthily gather intelligence on North Vietnamese military activity. At 3:00 PM, the silence was abruptly broken and the mission in peril as radar screens came alive with hostile blips indicative of three rapidly approaching torpedo boats. Suddenly, the Maddox found itself in a precarious fate, as enemy vessels closed in with torpedo pods glistening in the sun. The Maddox responded by firing three distant warning shots overhead as the now identified P-4 torpedo boats broke within 10,000 yards. The warning shots broke the stillness, yet the tide refused to turn and the P-4s commenced their attack runs instead. Sensing an escalating threat, the Maddox radioed a desperate call for support, connecting with the USS Ticonderoga. The comm channels of the USS Ticonderoga, an Essex-class aircraft carrier denoted CVA-14, crackled with life. USS Maddox (DD-731): "Maddox to Ticonderoga, Maddox to Ticonderoga, over." USS Ticonderoga (CVA-14): "Ticonderoga receiving, go ahead Maddox, over." USS Maddox: "We are under threat by three North Vietnamese torpedo boats. Radar contact, visual identity confirmed. Range 1-0 thousand yards and closing fast. I repeat, imminent danger. Request immediate air support, over." USS Ticonderoga: "Roger, Maddox. Threat response protocol initiated. Scrambling fighters now. ETA ten mikes. Hold your position Maddox, over." USS Maddox: "Copy that, Ticonderoga. Tracking and engaging enemy with 5-inch guns. Possible enemy torpedoes in the water. Awaiting immediate air support, Maddox out." Suddenly, the USS Ticonderoga erupted in motion – colorful human support warriors sprinkled in random directions across the aircraft carrier deck, wide-eyed pilots scrambled up ready ladders with something to prove, and the roar of F-8 Crusader Pratt & Whitney J57 turbojet engines shot thunder in the sky. The F-8 Crusaders streaked off the carrier deck, hitting full afterburner seconds later leaving whirlwind shockwaves in their wake as they hurled towards the Maddox at supersonic speed. Meanwhile, the Maddox swung its bow in violent fashion over the waters, initiating full evasive maneuvers and jockeying into attack position, while her 5-inch deck guns blasted fire overhead and her crew eyed the deep for enemy torpedoes questioning if they were real or illusions. A heat blur on the horizon and perfect timing denoted the arrival of the F-8 Crusaders. Suddenly, the Heavens parted overhead, and birds of prey swooped down with lethal precision as 20mm cannon shells ignited the air. A symphony of 5-inch shells from the Maddox, 12.7mm enemy P-4 machine gun fire and 20mm cannons swirled in the afternoon skies looking to inflict punishment. But it was the 20mm Crusader firepower, with its angry and hungry strafing patterns, that took a bite out of the P-4 steel hulls, reverberating sounds of splintering steel and orders for immediate retreat. The combined fire from the Maddox and the F-8s proved too much, two of the P-4s hobbled along with damaged frames and egos. The third P-4 encircled the limping vessels, swiftly moving into lead position and escorting a full-speed retreat. August 2, 1964…And beneath the intense Southeast Asian Summer sun, the warm waters of the Gulf of Tonkin longed again for calm waters, but instead would remained parted by ships of war and churning foam for another nine years until the signing of the peace agreement…and only then this shallow body of the Pacific Ocean could begin to truly shimmer and shine once again.

Great news GKABS, made my day and may you continue to be blessed with strength, healing and greater health!

Dawn breaks, the sun glistens off an inbound F-105 streaking across North Vietnam....

@Soulfreak Super cool you acknowledged the source, and that is an AWESOME choice you made! Among the best I've seen, super nice low poly model with respective textures and even .PSD, what a great purchase. Hell if you guys need any .MAX updates or other help perhaps I could lend a hand, love working on well-balanced models like that. Cheers

Totally disagree. SAM Sites during the Vietnam War rarely ever used concrete roads; they were designed to be semi-mobile and temporary to begin with and they leveraged existing infrastructure including dirt roads, bamboo materials, natural objects such as trees/bushes, etc. The only known places where they were more permanent was outside major urban centers such as Hanoi, etc. where there was additional AAA protection, greater raw material access, etc. A majority of the sites were not this way, and the NVA strategy was based on mobility, deception, and concealment, not static hardened construction sites.

In other news, working up the 5 inch guns for the Maddox. Here is current WIP. Please note that NONE of the textures are final, these are all just placeholders for now until mesh is finalized and UV Maps updated, etc - see below. I don't want to model/mesh the target circle, be more practical to use a simple .TGA - does anyone have one available they could share with me, thanks.

Gep, we have alternatives to those - here's from WTR for example. I would say don't worry about those for now. I'm happy to share some of the WTR models if needed, spent like a year perfecting the SAM Sites and making custom models but give honor to Old Diego as he was the pioneer in this and I simply expanded and improved upon the foundation.

LOL, no it won't. This game engine has a polycount export limit as well...along with vertex limitations, animation limitations, texture map type restrictions, etc. Not sure what you are talking about unless you mean something else?

Hi @guuruu - thanks for jumping in here, really appreciate it. I know some of our most talented modders including you are absolutely swamped with real life priorities right now...! For the Sumner, I think I might have a similar reference model you're showing, but the mesh was a absolute mess with double-sided faces, needed to re-do the texture maps, etc. But anyway, I've started a scratch build and think will push forward with it, but maybe you might have a different version from what I'm thinking of. I'll PM you my contact details, and appreciate the offer very much. For the USS Ticonderoga (CVA-14) Essex-class Aircraft Carrier I took it out for bid but the pricing was too high for me to personally cover, >$400 on average. However, I've worked with one of these particular artists and their work/optimized models are absolutely among the best I've ever seen, so it does bum me out. Even though I have access to many of the YAP carriers, etc. with all due respect I'm not a fan of those as the polycount/texture is sky high and it's like a slide show performance wise - so any other options/considerations are always welcomed. Thanks, all the best for now!

Gepard, wow this is a wonderful surprise indeed, thanks so much!

Thanks for your message, I'll just answer here so all are in the loop....yes, as mentioned I plan to include a completely new USS Maddox. I'm not really a ship builder, but will try my best! Here is just first rough cut of mesh, hull, etc. - still long way to go.

I just love Del's haulers...

Side note and SitRep: absolutely limited support and interest but extremely grateful to the few who answered the call! USS Maddox (DD-731) Sumner-class destroyer: In-Development: early scratch/base model with most basic mesh now created (e.g., hull, guns, etc.) USS Ticonderoga (CVA-14) Essex-class Aircraft Carrier: No options yet F-8 Crusader – U.S. Navy fighter jets from the USS Ticonderoga (CVA-14) carrier group: Under Development and heaviest focus right now North Vietnamese P-4 Torpedo Boat: Under Development and nearing completion

Hi, I'm looking at what options might exist for the USS Ticonderoga (CVA-14) Essex-class Aircraft Carrier? I know YAP had a "stand in" but I'd like to give it proper justice. I reached out to @guuruu as he's damn good with these (and nearly everything else LOL) but didn't hear back so assume he's just busy or not interested. Anyway, appreciate any feedback/comments on this, thanks!

God Speed to you Mohamad, we are all thinking about you and wishing you a healthy and speedy recovery - you have been through much and endured it all, now we all look forward to hearing good news after your Doctor visits. You have a lot of prayers surrounding you.

Encouraging news considering the circumstances, stay strong mentally, physically and spiritually... we're all cheering for you. 🙏

Hi GKABS, as always thoughts and prayers your way and remember 17:81 to guide you and brighter days to come.

Wow, what good timing to see this as I’ve been out of action for a few months, but felt it important to respond to this. The original YAP project has a complicated history, and as someone who has been around since the very beginning, I’ve seen firsthand the issues that arose. Assets stolen directly from CombatAce modders and others, used without permission from nearly every category including terrains, aircraft, ground objects, effects and so on. In addition, it included numerous model rips from commercial games, “Russian” hosting sites, and so on. You also had many incidents where YAP artists/contributors were not being fairly paid, their intellectual property being abused and so on. Then monetization of the project leveraging existing freeware and stolen assets greatly complicated things. It was frustrating to say the least and obviously at that time caused a community divide. But time marches on. With John’s passing, a new leader took over and I’m going to be the first to acknowledge the march towards improvement. He has taken significant strides to address these piracy and theft concerns, and build something more respectful and ethical. Many mistakes have been corrected and problematic assets removed when possible. It’s not perfect, there is still cleanup needed and questionable models still exist. But let’s be completely honest here, shall we? Even sometimes renowned projects and assets here face the same challenges with “interesting model acquisitions.” So I bring that up in transparency, since it wouldn’t be fair to single out YAP-RW for that. While there’s still room for improvement—some of their modeling team certainly do better in maintaining higher ethical standards -- at least the leadership has demonstrated a clear willingness to course-correct and take greater care. I also appreciate the new protective clause they’ve added: "All models/assets in our project cannot be used anywhere else without our direct permission. They remain exclusive to this project as John would have wanted, allowing us to better manage artist permissions and prevent future concerns." This statement not only honors the project’s legacy but also helps establish better boundaries to protect the artists and their work. While the journey isn’t perfect, the team’s effort to rebuild YAP-RW with integrity deserves recognition. A hearty congratulations, the amount of effort put forth is amazing, especially the care given to the missions. Count me in. They’re on the right path, and I hope they continue to refine their practices and earn the broader trust and support of this community. Swambast

I'm confused by some of this, what version/year are you trying to create? Here is a SP-4 version, which I believe would be quite similar.

Thanks much for the consideration yakarov79, really appreciate it! If you ever get started on this, let me know - I'd be happy to support as needed with some of the modeling, texturing, etc. or whatever. This Raven is such a unique and interesting model that has rarely been done anywhere else. For the F-8 please let me know timing if you can; I am trying to push forward (although slowly) on the Gulf of Tonkin project I mentioned earlier as it's a smaller scope and probably just like you I'm extremely constrained with modding time. I already have some options from some generous modders for Crusader high-res texture skins, flight model enhancements, etc. so it would be wasteful to have that completed if you have a planned release coming soon. If not, no worries I can push forward and release as-is. Yep, I'm starting to better understand your whimsical ways... All the Best, and thanks for the consideration.

@yakarov79 Ever consider doing this rare and often overlooked Hiller OH-23 Raven?

Wow Dels, always first class quality work, looks amazing and that is quite a roll-out of goodies! I especially love how you have an exceptional ability to manage "polys for performance", and a new high-fidelity cockpit is so welcome and needed, what a great surprise - wonderful update indeed!

Thank you - you know who you are - deal was just completed!

If you speak Japanese or can refer me to someone that does, can you please send me a PM or email, need some assistance - thank you!

Gepard, that is absolutely the foundation to a great start - an enhanced terrain region that completely covers the "incident" - WOW! Count me in, happy to support however I can although I'm far from a terrain wizard, but could certainly help with _target.ini dance and coastal objects for sure including some of the 3d models required for coastal areas. I supposed more research would be in order to determine what other objects would be needed, but logic might suggest shipping yards, ship docks, any coastal defense areas, etc.